Chapter 218

Looking at the villagers before her—people who were clearly overwhelmed with grief after losing their loved ones, yet were comforting her instead—Song Nianchu felt even more miserable.

With red-rimmed eyes and her emotions tightly suppressed, she completed the handover with all the families of the victims.

By the time everything had been dealt with, it was already well into the night.

Whether they were alive or dead, everyone had been taken home by their respective families.

The site soon fell silent. Exhausted, Song Nianchu sat down on a nearby step. The lights stretched her shadow out long behind her, making her look even more lonely.

“Chu, why are you sitting here?” Wu Zhenggui found her.

“I’m a little tired. I just wanted to rest for a while.” Not wanting Wu Zhenggui to worry, Song Nianchu forced a faint smile.

“If you’re tired, hurry home and get some rest,” Wu Zhenggui said gently.

“I want to stay here for a little longer.”

Seeing her like this, Wu Zhenggui sat down beside her as well.

“Still thinking about the villagers who died this time?” His voice was hoarse too.

As the brigade leader, he was deeply upset by the sudden loss of so many people.

After Song Nianchu had gone to the front line to help with the rescue, he had stayed behind to comfort the victims’ families.

He had once been nothing more than the village chief of Qinghe Fishing Village, and there were many villages in the brigade that he had never even visited.

But this time, in order to console the affected families, he had practically traveled through every village.

He had gained a firsthand understanding of the conditions at the very bottom of society in those places.

Many villagers were living in circumstances even worse than theirs had been. Their homes could barely produce a single grain of rice.

Otherwise, they would never have been so eager to sign up for the collective construction project just for the five-yuan subsidy.

As a result, his heart had been heavy this entire time. When he had just seen those villagers home, his eyes had felt painfully swollen from holding back his tears.

“Mm.” Song Nianchu’s voice was muffled.

“Don’t put so much pressure on yourself. This wasn’t your responsibility to begin with.” Wu Zhenggui’s eyes grew moist. With no one else around, even he could no longer keep his emotions completely under control.

“I know. It’s just that after seeing what happened… I still can’t help feeling awful,” Song Nianchu said hoarsely.

“Those who have passed are gone, but the living still have to go on living.” Wu Zhenggui patted Song Nianchu on the shoulder. “All right. This matter is over now. You’ve worked hard these past few days too. Go home and get some rest.”

“Uncle Zhengui, I’d like to discuss something with you.”

Song Nianchu did not seem ready to leave. Instead, she turned her head and looked at him seriously.

“Go ahead,” Wu Zhenggui replied.

“I want to compensate the three hundred people who went to participate in the collective construction project this time,” Song Nianchu said firmly.

“I had the same idea before. What do you have in mind?” Hearing this, Wu Zhenggui stopped urging her to go home and rest.

“Money.” Song Nianchu answered without the slightest hesitation.

Whether now or in the future, when something like this happened, the best way to provide relief was to give people money.

“That’s possible. Do you have any idea how much?” Wu Zhenggui had never handled anything like this before. He had considered providing monetary compensation, but he had no idea how it should be distributed or how much should be given.

“We can divide it into different levels according to the severity of the injuries. For ordinary injuries that won’t affect their future lives or work after they recover, we’ll reimburse all their medical expenses and provide some compensation for lost wages.”

“For more serious injuries that leave lasting effects and affect their future lives and work, we’ll give them a larger amount at our discretion.”

“And finally…” Her voice became hoarse as she continued, “for those who died, we have to give their families more.”

“I’ve been worrying over this the whole time. I didn’t expect you to have already thought it through so carefully. We’ll do it your way.” Wu Zhenggui nodded repeatedly.

The two of them then discussed the compensation amounts for each category in detail.

For minor injuries, after all medical expenses had been reimbursed, there would be a one-time payment of one hundred yuan. Those with serious injuries would receive two hundred yuan. Anyone who lost the ability to work would also receive a five-yuan monthly subsistence allowance.

The families of the deceased would receive a one-time payment of five hundred yuan, along with an additional monthly subsistence allowance of ten yuan.

For this era, those were already very generous terms.

Those who died during a collective construction project would also receive some compensation from the organization, but the amount was far less than what Song Nianchu was offering.

Moreover, most of it was paid only once. Unlike their plan, there would be no monthly payments.

“Uncle Zhengui, the new factory in our village will be built soon. Based on our current profits, we can afford this expense.” Afraid that Wu Zhenggui might object, Song Nianchu spoke in a soothing tone.

“How could I possibly object?” Wu Zhenggui looked at Song Nianchu with affection.

This child, whom he had watched grow up, had already surpassed him by far—not only in vision and intelligence, but even in the way she handled matters.

“If your father could see you now, he’d be incredibly proud,” Wu Zhenggui murmured.

Song Nianchu froze, not expecting him to say that.

“But there’s one more thing we need to clarify. How long will we continue these monthly payments? Will their descendants receive them every month as well?” Wu Zhenggui suddenly thought of another issue.

“It probably won’t be possible to continue forever. Let’s set the term at fifty years.” Song Nianchu considered it for a moment.

At the very least, she wanted to take care of the older and younger generations currently alive on behalf of those who had died.

“That works.” Wu Zhenggui nodded repeatedly. “I’ll go find Accountant Mu later and tell him about this.”

But as soon as he finished speaking, Wu Zhenggui suddenly remembered something. He looked at Su Miaomiao hesitantly.

“Miaomiao, Mu Jingmei still hasn’t been found. How should we calculate her compensation?”

Song Nianchu’s gaze darkened slightly.

“I noticed today that no one from the Yang family came.”

“I heard that Yang Dafu fell ill. Apparently, he’s been staying at home and not going out at all,” Wu Zhenggui said.

“Fell ill?” Song Nianchu frowned.

Wu Zhenggui nodded. “The Yang family hasn’t let anything slip, so no one knows the details. In any case, Yang Dafu’s mother is the only one from their household who’s still going to work.”

“When did Yang Dafu fall ill?” Song Nianchu had a vague feeling that she had overlooked something.

“Seems like it was around the time everyone went to help with the dam construction.” Wu Zhenggui thought for a moment.

“Are you sure?” Song Nianchu asked again.

“I’m sure. I heard that on the very day everyone set out, Yang Dafu’s mother went around the entire village borrowing a handcart so she could take Yang Dafu to the hospital.” Wu Zhenggui nodded.

After receiving a definite answer, a dark glint flashed through Song Nianchu’s eyes.

“Chu, what’s wrong? Is there a problem?” Wu Zhenggui pressed when he saw her fall silent.