Chapter 49: If the Snow Isn’t Cleared Soon, It Will Bury People

Chapter 49: Chapter 49: If the Snow Isn’t Cleared Soon, It Will Bury People

The villagers were filled with deep emotion. In peaceful years, they couldn’t afford a single bite of meat, and even during bountiful harvests, they only dared to buy it once to satisfy their cravings. Yet here they were, in the middle of a disastrous year, gorging themselves on meat, with everyone eating eight or nine pieces! It was all thanks to the Goddess’s grace. Everyone’s faith in Yun Zhen grew even stronger.

"Mother, you eat."

The village chief’s wife had piled Yun Zhen’s bowl high with meat, at least a dozen pieces. Since Yun Zhen had already eaten in the cafeteria, she gave two pieces each to her parents and fed the rest to Xiaobao. She only ate the white rice drenched in braised pork sauce.

She picked up a handkerchief and wiped Xiaobao’s mouth. "Mother already ate in the Immortal Realm. You go ahead and eat, Xiaobao."

As the handkerchief got dirty, she thought of the snow-white, soft paper tissues in the Immortal Realm. The first time she saw them, she couldn’t believe it. She marveled that the people in the Immortal Realm actually used such white and soft paper to wipe their bottoms, tossing it away after a single use. It was incredibly extravagant. She thought about when she would buy a bag for her family.

Xiaobao stubbornly insisted, "Mother, eat the meat."

Yun Zhen smiled and rubbed the little girl’s thin, sallow hair. "Okay, Mother will eat the meat."

She ate a piece of meat. It was savory and rich, stewed so tenderly that it melted in her mouth without needing to be chewed. The rich flavor of fat and spices exploded on her tongue.

BURP!

BURP!

BURP...

After finishing the white rice and braised pork, the crowd began letting out satisfied burps, one after another.

Tian Ergou cradled his full stomach. "I’ve never eaten this well before, and I’ve never been this full!"

Coarse grains were filling, but they couldn’t compare to the deep satisfaction that fine grains and meat brought.

Zhou Dashan savored the lingering rich aroma in his mouth and sighed, "I never thought I’d get to eat this extravagantly in my lifetime. I’d be willing to freeze to death right now."

His wife, Li Cuilan, patted his shoulder. "What nonsense are you spouting? With the Goddess here, our real blessings are still to come!"

Granny Wu looked up at the relentlessly falling snow, her face filled with melancholy. "We can eat our fill now, and wear cotton-padded clothes so we won’t wake up freezing in the night. If only the heavy snow would stop sooner and the snowdrifts melt. Then everything would be perfect."

The snowstorm was terrifying. Before the Goddess appeared, Granny Wu had already resigned herself to freezing or starving to death. Even her old hens had frozen to death, and she felt she was less useful than them—that her staying alive was just a waste of food. But the Goddess had appeared. Just like the myths passed down by the elders, she possessed a holy and ethereal aura along with a compassionate heart. She rushed back and forth between the Immortal Realm and the mortal world for the villagers, providing them with white rice, fresh vegetable leaves, cotton clothes, and Immortal Fruit they had never tasted before. Now, she had even let villagers who had spent their entire lives eating thin porridge and wild herbs enjoy a solid meal with meat!

It would be even better if the snow in the sky stopped. Unfortunately, the heavens were not as selfless and merciful as the Goddess. The snowflakes landed coldly on their faces, bringing shivers, while on the ground, the accumulated snow grew deeper layer by layer.

"Granny Wu, the fact that we have food, clothes, and are still alive proves that God doesn’t want us to die! That’s why He sent the Goddess!" someone urged her to look on the bright side. With the Goddess here, there was nothing they couldn’t achieve. It was only a matter of time before the snow stopped.

Despite this, most people still sighed in despair. As long as the snow continued to fall, the drifts on the ground would keep growing. The problem of food and warmth had been solved, but a greater crisis loomed.

Yun Zhen also furrowed her brows. "If the snow doesn’t stop, the snowdrifts will bury people alive."

Yun Xiu, knowing his daughter’s abilities, asked for her opinion. "Zhen Niang, do you have any ideas?"

Yun Zhen said, "I’ll go to the Immortal Realm tomorrow and see if there are any solutions."

The village chief furrowed his brows and said in distress, "The villagers and I have been busy with this for the past few days. We gathered all the iron shovels, bamboo baskets, and wicker baskets in the village to dump the snow into the river ditch at the village entrance, but it hasn’t had much effect.

"Could the Goddess see if iron shovels and baskets are expensive in the Immortal Realm? If they aren’t, could you buy some more? Then our whole village can work together to carry the snow out and dump it into the ditch. That way, when the snow stops and melts, the village won’t be flooded. And if the heavy snow doesn’t stop, we can at least keep it shallow enough so it won’t bury anyone."

Yun Zhen asked, "Village Chief, how many iron shovels do we have in the village?"

Using shovels and baskets to carry the snow out to the ditch was indeed a viable way to solve the accumulation.

The village chief replied, "There are only three iron shovels in the entire village. Every household has a bamboo basket. We have twenty-three households, so there are twenty-three baskets. We have quite a few wicker baskets too, but they can’t hold much."

Yun Zhen thought for a moment. "I’ll look around in the Immortal Realm tomorrow. If they’re cheap, I’ll buy a few shovels."

Yun Xiu, the village chief, and the others didn’t hold out much hope. Iron shovels in the Immortal Realm surely wouldn’t be cheaper than those in the town or county. Iron was controlled by the government, and strict regulations governed how much each household could possess. Whether in town or the county, an iron shovel cost anywhere from 80 cents to 150 cents. The shovels in the village had been passed down from generation to generation and had long since rusted and dulled. Tools made of iron were not like grain; there was virtually no chance of their prices dropping!

The village chief said, "If the Goddess can’t buy shovels, you could buy a few more baskets. They can hold a lot of snow too."

It would just be hard on their hands! The snow was already waist-deep, and the bottom layers had long since frozen solid. Without a shovel, they could only dig with their bare hands, which was pure suffering.

Yun Zhen agreed. "Alright, I’ll keep that in mind." She then turned to the village chief. "Since everyone has finished eating, let’s head to my house first. I have some arrangements to make."

The sky wasn’t completely dark yet, so Yun Zhen decided to distribute bedding to the villagers.

The village chief called out loudly, "Everyone who’s done eating, come with me to the Goddess’s house!"

The crowd gathered at the Yun family home again.

Li Cuilan asked in confusion, "Goddess, what’s inside those plump bags on the ground?"

"It must be something good. Before we ate the white rice and braised pork, the Goddess said she had good news to announce," Zhou Dashan replied softly.

Only then did the crowd recall what had happened before the meal. The Goddess had indeed said that.

Yun Zhen said to Yun Xiu, "Father, bring out all the spare bedding we have at home."

Ever since Yun Zhen became the Goddess, Yun Xiu followed her every word. "I’ll go get it right now."

Eleven plump, large bags sat on the ground, along with smaller bags containing unknown items. There was barely any room for everyone to stand. The crowd stared at the bulging bags in confusion.

Yun Zhen looked at them. "I’m sure some of you have noticed the bedding on my family’s beds."

Over the past few days, the villagers had been in and out of the Yun family home and had long noticed the soft blankets and quilts laid out on their beds. They had all assumed this was an apprenticeship gift from the Goddess’s master.

It was thick cotton bedding! Only one store in the county town sold cotton quilts, and a single set cost hundreds of taels of Silver. They all guessed that the Yun family’s cotton quilts were gifted by the Goddess’s immortal master. They were filled with envy and longing but didn’t dare ask about their origins, afraid of offending the Goddess.

"Actually, those were given to me by kindhearted people in the Immortal Realm," she said, pointing at the bulging bags. "These are all bedding sets—eleven in total. They were all given to me by kind people I know in the Immortal Realm. I’m going to distribute them to the families with elderly members and children. Each family gets one bag. Those who don’t get one, don’t worry. There are also six bags of thick, fluffy blankets, which are even warmer than the cotton quilts.

"Families without elderly members or children shouldn’t be disappointed either. I asked a kind person in the Immortal Realm to buy three large bags of crocheting materials. As long as we sell a few more crocheted dolls, we will definitely be able to provide cotton quilts or fluffy blankets for all of you."