The daily life of a space tycoon raising children, doting on his husband, and farming.

Chapter 42: Did he cook himself to make do with a meal for everyone?
Lu Chengjing and several elderly people in the village have indeed come up with a solution: to record work points.

After major natural disasters, the imperial court would issue disaster relief funds, and local granaries would be opened to provide relief to counties and villages.

The villagers' labor was recorded as points according to established standards, and relief supplies were distributed based on these points. The more they did, the more they received; the less they did, the less they received. No one was allowed to complain.

Shang Wan felt that this was similar to the system in the post-apocalyptic base where killing zombies and mutated beasts could earn contribution points, which could then be used to exchange for supplies, but there was still a fundamental difference.

She glanced at Lu Chengjing. Had her vase been swindled?

"Scholar, can we earn some money?" Li Xiaoshan asked on behalf of a group of children in the village.

“Of course, regardless of age or gender,” Lu Chengjing scanned the villagers’ faces, “as long as the effort meets the standard, points will be awarded.”

The children cheered immediately, but only quieted down after being glared at several times by their parents. They then ran to the side and whispered among themselves.

Luo Er raised his hand and asked, "If I help with the work, will the village provide meals?"

The village elders had already discussed this matter, and Old Man Liu said, "We won't provide meals; from now on, each family will have to take care of their own food."

"Why aren't they providing meals? Eating from the communal pot is so much better!"

Old Man Liu was well aware of Luo Er's little scheme. He said, "Everyone has a different appetite, so it's hard to calculate the amount of food. Last night was a special case, so we cooked a large pot of rice. This morning, we steamed a limited number of buns. One for the child, two for the adults, and that's all."

Luo Er's face immediately fell.

Someone nearby teased, "Luo Er, you ate five bowls of rice last night, what, you want to eat five more today?"

"You eat less?" Luo Er glared at the people who were egging him on. "It's like you haven't eaten meat in eight lifetimes."

"Who are you talking about?"

"What are you talking about?"

Seeing that the two were about to start arguing, the people around them quickly separated them.

Li Dashan asked anxiously, "When will it start? There are still a lot of things buried under my house."

Old Wu waved his hand, "There's no rush. You need to be well-fed to have the energy to work."

The aroma of steamed buns had long been filling the air, and many people's stomachs rumbled as they frequently turned to look at the large stove.

Several aunties were standing by the pot, throwing fresh, crisp bok choy into the boiling water.

Old Man Wu called out, "Are the steamed buns all ready?"

"Alright!" Aunt Yao called out to her husband, and replied loudly, "The soup is ready too, let's eat!"

The children couldn't wait to run over and line up to get their steamed buns.

The steamed buns were round and bigger than an adult man's fist. They were white and soft. The children couldn't wait to take a bite, and even though they were so hot that they opened their mouths and breathed out, they didn't want to spit them out.

Clean bowls and chopsticks are placed in bamboo baskets. If you want to drink vegetable soup, you can take a bowl and scoop it out from the pot yourself.

Although the number of steamed buns was limited, the vegetable soup was plentiful.

Everyone ate and chatted, putting aside the slight unpleasantness from earlier.

"Here." Shang Wan handed a steamed bun to Lu Chengjing and placed the soup bowl on the table in front of him.

"Thank you." Lu Chengjing reached out to take it, but Shang Wan didn't let go. She tore off a piece of steamed bun and stuffed it into his mouth. "You don't have to say thank you next time."

Lu Chengjing, whose mouth was stuffed full of steamed buns: ?

If you don't say thank you verbally, how can you thank me?
Shang Wan stuffed the remaining steamed buns into his hand, thinking that he could only use his left hand now, and that he would have to put down the steamed buns if he wanted to drink soup, so she placed an empty bowl in front of him.

Little Yuanyuan tilted her head, glanced at her dad, then at the empty table in front of her, and immediately felt that she was being treated differently by her mother, Xiangxiang. The little one pouted unhappily and raised her little hand to slap the table to express her strong protest.

"Sweetie, hold back a bit." Shang Wan quickly grabbed her little hand and stuffed a small piece of steamed bun into her mouth.

Sweet! Her round, big eyes crinkled into crescents as she chewed the steamed bun little by little with her two tiny teeth, looking incredibly satisfied!

Shang Wan chuckled and pinched her cheek. She was content with just steamed buns and was quite easy to please.

"Sister, you eat yours, I'll feed Yuanyuan." Xiao Huan noticed that Shang Wan had something to say to Lu Chengjing, so she took the initiative to reach out and hug Yuanyuan, tearing off a piece of steamed bun to feed her.

Shi Tou cooled the soup by shaking it, and then fed Yuan Yuan a little bit whenever he had a spare moment.

Shang Wan glanced at Lu Chengjing while eating her steamed bun. Lu Chengjing was a little confused by her gaze, so he stopped drinking his soup and turned to look at her.

Shang Wan asked, "Did you come up with this method based on the labor bureau?"

"Hmm," Lu Chengjing responded softly.

Shang Wan narrowed her eyes, looking at him suspiciously. "Were you tricked by those old men?"

Lu Chengjing was slightly taken aback. "What makes you say that?"

Shang Wan glanced around. They were sitting in a corner with no one else around, making it a good place to talk.

She lowered her voice and said, "The village suffered a disaster, and the things distributed by the imperial court should be given to everyone, regardless of whether they work or not. The way you've come up with this is like taking what should have gone into their pockets and putting it all together, and then they can only get it after they work. Aren't you treating people like fools?"

“Indeed, everyone gets a share.” Lu Chengjing stirred the overcooked, mushy vegetable leaves in the soup bowl, looking at the small vortex in the center of the bowl, his voice somewhat indifferent, “but they have to be distributed first.”

Shang Wan frowned. "You mean there's a problem with this disaster relief grain?"

“Indeed, that has happened before.” Lu Chengjing stopped stirring and glanced at Shang Wan. “There are plenty of shrewd people in the village. The reason they were willing to accept the method of recording labor points is because when we proposed this method, we were already making a promise to them that we would get the disaster relief grain.”

Shang Wan found it strange, "According to Shen Qi, the disaster relief grain will not be allocated until at least the day after tomorrow, but everyone has to start working today. Aren't they afraid that you won't be able to get the money and grain and will have to do your physical labor for nothing?"

“If you can’t get it, there’s always a way to get it.” Lu Chengjing’s voice was slightly cold. “There are people to take responsibility for it.”

Shang Wan understood the implication and raised an eyebrow. "Oh, so the scholar is quite the altruist? What, are you planning to cook yourself up for everyone to have a meal?"

Lu Chengjing: "..."

"Speak." Shang Wan nudged his shin with her toe.

A slight pain spread from the point of contact, his muscles tensed for a moment and then slowly relaxed. Lu Chengjing said helplessly, "I know what I'm doing."

Shang Wan glanced at him coldly. Didn't he have any self-awareness as a decorative vase? Didn't he know that vases are fragile and easily broken?

Lu Chengjing felt somewhat uncomfortable facing Shang Wan's cold attitude.

From their first meeting in prison, Shang Wan had never shown him such an expression, as if if he reacted incorrectly, Shang Wan would abandon him without a second thought.

He pursed his pale lips, his fair fingertips twitching slightly as he slowly, bit by bit, grasped Shang Wan's sleeve that was hanging down on the bench.

Shang Wan glanced down at him and clicked her tongue lightly, "You're angry. Acting cute won't work."

Where did he act cute?

Lu Chengjing's ears burned red, and his cool voice softened slightly, "Don't be angry yet, let me finish what I have to say."

As if possessed, he gently shook Shang Wan's sleeve twice, causing her long eyelashes to tremble violently.

(End of this chapter)