Cultivating Immortality Begins with Selling Oneself

Chapter 171 Powerless
"Don't listen to their nonsense. They are all young ladies and masters who have never done any housework. How can they understand our suffering? Recently, the young masters and ladies have been helping us solve our food and clothing problems on a whim. But after a while, when they can't stand the hardship anymore and leave, who will take care of us? We might as well take all the food we can get now."

"Yeah, yeah, they're just a bunch of brats. How long can they be in charge? Look, the oldest of them is only fifteen years old, and there's no elders in the family to take charge. How can you trust what a bunch of brats say?"

"When the time comes, the elders in the family will take the food away. What can a bunch of little brats do?"

"And you, little girl, you're not even as tall as a bean sprout. How can you possibly make the decision?"

The old man in black robe hiding nearby almost laughed out loud when he heard the adjective "refugee".

Not as tall as bean sprouts...

The old man in black robe looked at Shen Fuyu and laughed.

It’s really not as tall as bean sprouts.

Shen Fuyu: "..."

She was angry, really angry.

Even though Shen Fuyu lived a comfortable life in the Shen Mansion and had grown a little taller, due to long-term malnutrition, his height lagged far behind his peers and he would not be able to reach the average height in a short time.

Height became Shen Fuyu's pain point. When someone pointed at him and said he was not as tall as a bean sprout, Shen Fuyu took a deep breath, barely suppressing his inner anger, and forced a smile at the many refugees.

"Since we can provide so much food, it means that the elders in our family have agreed. You don't have to worry about it."

Shen Fuyu glanced around and memorized all the refugees who had just spoken.

Shen Fuyu had a vague impression of two of them. They seemed to be people following Li Dazhuang. It was no wonder that they were causing trouble. After all, after what happened in the past two days, Shen Fuyu had a grudge with Li Dazhuang and others.

"Of course, I still say the same thing. If you want to steal food, come and take it. We won't stop you." Shen Fuyu pulled the Shen sisters aside and made way for the cart behind them. The huge pile of rice was immediately exposed to the refugees. "However, after you take this rice, we will not provide any further assistance. Even if you surround Qinchuan City, no one will help you."

Is it a one-time deal or something?

Shen Fuyu gave the choice to the refugees.

There was a group of people in the refugee group who wanted to snatch the food, but since most of the refugees were in poor conditions and were honest farmers, they did not dare to take the risk at all. They were really afraid that Shen Fuyu and others would not provide help in the future and they would not get any food at all.

"Why don't we grab the food and then give it to Brother Dazhuang to distribute it later?"

Shen Fuyu gave Cheng Ziqi a look, and immediately someone hid among the refugees.

"Bah! If you give the food to Li Dazhuang, you'll eat white rice every day and we'll have nothing to eat, right?"

"Yes, if we hand the food over to you, we will have to please you if we want to eat. If you are in a bad mood, we will get nothing. It is not worth it, it is really not worth it."

"The food is in the hands of the ladies. At least it can guarantee us two meals a day. Compared to Li Dazhuang, I still prefer to trust the ladies. They won't covet these foods."

"That's right. The ladies and gentlemen are willing to give out food, which means they really want to help us. How can we repay kindness with hatred? We have traveled through so many cities, and have you ever seen anyone so kind as to give out porridge?"

In the end, rational refugees were the majority.

Seeing that most of the people had green favorability indicators above their heads, indicating that they had a certain degree of favorability towards Shen Fuyu, a smile flashed in Shen Fuyu's eyes.

That's why Shen Fuyu dared to take the gamble.

Otherwise, the refugees would riot after stealing the food, and the situation would become even more difficult to control.

The reason why Shen Fuyu gave the refugees a chance to choose was because Shen Fuyu believed that most refugees would wait quietly for them to give them porridge.

"In that case, let's line up in a long queue." As soon as the words were spoken, most of the refugees lined up obediently.

The Shen sisters looked at Shen Fuyu with sparkling eyes.

As expected of Shen Fuyu, he can easily solve many crises. Look, these refugees who are difficult to control are all well behaved under Shen Fuyu's nose.

"Shen Fuyu, you are amazing."

Meng Yuan secretly gave Shen Fuyu a thumbs up. With just a few words, he was able to make the refugees give up on grabbing food. He thought there would be a fierce battle. Meng Yuan was still worried that the guards he brought were not enough.

"Okay, let's make porridge first."

Shen Fuyu did everything himself and did not delegate anything to others.

……

Here.

Madam Shen found the city lord.

She sat in the banquet hall and took a sip of tea.

The city lord's fat figure arrived late, and he forced a smile on his face when he looked at Madam Shen. His flesh was piled up together, making him look kind and festive.

"City Lord, many refugees have arrived in Qinchuan City recently. I'm sure you've already known about this."

"Ha ha……"

The city lord laughed awkwardly, scratched the back of his head, and didn't respond at all.

"Madam, is there anything you need help with? I've been quite busy lately, with many things to deal with at home. If you're not in a hurry, how about... coming back another day?"

The city lord avoided talking about Mrs. Shen.

If Madam Shen had not waited in the City Lord's Mansion for a long time, the City Lord would not have been willing to come out at all.

The city lord smiled bitterly. No matter what he did, it would be wrong. He didn't want to get involved in the party struggle at all.

"Sir, ever since you took office as the city lord, you have always been very kind to the people in the city. You have actively solved any problems of the people and never wrongly accused anyone. I don't understand why you didn't do anything when the refugees showed up this time. Sir, you know that the refugees have begun to oppress the people, and now the people dare not go out to set up stalls."

"Every household kept their doors and windows tightly shut, fearing that refugees might get in."

"Are you going to let this go on forever, sir? You know, the people in the city have been hoping that you can save them."

Mrs. Shen tapped her fingers rhythmically on the table to suppress her restless emotions.

Before deciding to come to the City Lord's Mansion, Madam Shen specifically inquired about the situation in the city. Some refugees forcibly occupied the widow's house in order to survive. If Madam Shen had not arrived in time, the widow would have...

Mrs. Shen looked up at the city lord, her eyes revealing a hint of dissatisfaction. The city lord should be responsible for the people in the city if he gets the benefits, instead of choosing to escape.

The city lord felt as if his heart was being bitten by ants and was extremely uncomfortable. Then he thought of the threat from the queen and could only forcefully turn his head away, refusing to answer Madam Shen.

"Madam, I am just a small city lord. Regarding this matter... I really can't do anything."

(End of this chapter)