It was soon the Yu Family's turn, and Yu Hai let his older sister and brother-in-law go ahead of him. When the people from the yamen was filling the grain for Yu Caifeng, a sharp voice suddenly sounded, "Can a married daughter also take the food for the disaster relief?"
Magistrate Zhao, who happened to walk by for inspection, heard this and said with a frown, "If she married someone in this village and their household registration belongs to Dongshan Village, then of course, she can receive food from the disaster relief."
The Yu Family looked towards the voice and found that it was Li Guihua, who was gluttonous and lazy and liked to cause trouble for others. With a hand on her waist, she pointed at Yu Caifeng, who was getting grain, and spluttered, "Yu Caifeng married out of the village, all the way to the northeast. Everyone in the village knows about this matter. She fled to Dongshan Village in spring. Can she be counted as a part of Dongshan Village?"
Li Guihua was harming others without benefitting herself. It wasn't like she would be able to get an extra catty of grain if Yu Caifeng couldn't get any of the food. Even if Yu Caifeng got the grain, it still wouldn't affect how much grain she would receive. What did food mean during a year of famine? They were all precious living lives ah! Li Guihua stopping others from getting food was no different from killing others for money ah! What grudge and enmity did she have with Yu Caifeng for her to be so vicious?
The villagers of Dongshan Village all looked at Li Guihua with complicated gazes. This woman was a poisonous snake that might suddenly jump out and bite people. When they returned home, they must tell their wives to stay far away from people like her.
The village head, who was busily helping to distribute the grain, pulled a long face and scolded her, "Li Guihua, just go and get your food. Why are you talking so much?"
Shaking the fat on her body, Madam Li smiled at the county magistrate and said, "Aren't I helping my lord, the magistrate, pick out the people who are trying to take advantage of the situation? The food distributed by the imperial court can't be taken by these random people! Village Chief, you can't s.h.i.+eld the Yu Family just because you're close with them ah!"
Madam Li's heart was full of resentment towards Yu Hai's family. Liu Hu was an outsider with a different surname, yet he took him in, supported his family with food, and let them live in a brick and tiled-roof house. He also helped them build a house, while telling others that it was built with the money that Liu Hu earned himself. In the past half a year, besides selling watermelons outside of the village, when did Liu Hu ever go out to make money?
Yu Hai would rather help an outsider than do small favors for Yu Dashan. Allegedly, Yu Hai's family ate meat and fine grain every day. She, on the other hand, could only eat the little coa.r.s.e grain and flatbread given by her mother-in-law. Her maternal brothers were also becoming annoyed with her going home to take things. Her older sister-in-law, in particular, always made harsh remarks. She was bringing back less and less food each time, which wasn't enough for her to eat at all. The feeling of hunger was so unbearable, and she even dropped down a size!
After Old Yu divorced Madam Zhang, Madam Li repeatedly clamored about dividing the family. However, Madam Zhang threatened that they would have to leave empty-handed. With Madam Zhang, they could at least eat something every day. If they really left the house with nothing, then they would need to do everything themselves. Madam Zhang still had several hundred taels in her hands, so she couldn't just readily give it all to that good-for-nothing Yu Bo. There was also another advantage of not splitting from the family. If Yu Bo pa.s.sed the examination to be an official, her family could also benefit.
But, every time she saw Old Yu, who had a ruddy and healthy complexion from being nourished, Madam Li couldn't sit still anymore. Exactly how much money did Yu Hai's family have? They were able to restore a nearly dying person's body to become even more hearty than before he had gotten ill. She didn't get any of these benefits at all. There was no way that she would be satisfied without causing some trouble for them. With such a rare chance, Madam Li immediately jumped out.
County Magistrate Zhao looked doubtfully at the village head and raised his voice, asking, "Village Chief, what is going on?"
