Great Song Dynasty Writer

Chapter 132 You're in big trouble!
"Let's go back to the state school first." Lu Beigu was in a state of turmoil. "Change into clean clothes, don't catch a cold and risk your life."

Holding an umbrella and carrying a bag of rice, he embarked on his journey back to the state school.

The cityscape of Luchuan has indeed changed.

As the floodwaters recede, many residents who were forced to move to higher ground due to the flooding are now carefully returning to their homes, which are now in lower-lying areas but are no longer flooded.

Although the house is still damp and dilapidated, at least it can provide shelter from the wind and rain and give people a place to stay.

From the streets and alleys, faint conversations about surviving the ordeal could be heard.

"Have you heard? It was a student named Lu Beigu from the state school who installed some kind of 'water window' to drain the stagnant water that had been flooding the city!"

"Oh my, that's truly a great act of kindness! If it weren't for him, we don't know how long we'd be stuck in this dilapidated house, without even a place to stand!"

Obviously, the news of the opening of the floodgates at Dingbo Gate has spread widely because some time has passed.

"Yes, this young man is really capable. But while the house is now habitable, the rice jar is almost empty. What are we going to do?"

"That's right! Normally there are so many people in the city, and no land to grow food, so we rely on imports from outside. Who would have thought that we'd be stuck with this awful weather and not even be able to leave the house?"

"Ugh"

The conversations of the people, filled with gratitude mixed with deep anxiety about their future livelihoods, clearly reached Lu Beigu's ears.

He kept his head down, his steps unwavering, showing little pride, but his heart grew increasingly heavy.

As soon as I stepped through the rather deserted gates of the state school, I bumped into a familiar figure. He was clutching a small cloth bag tightly in his hand and walking hurriedly out, his face full of anxiety.

"Brother Chen?" Lu Beigu recognized the man as Chen Yuan, the minor official who had taken good care of him in the state academy's library.

Chen Yuan looked up at the sound and saw Lu Beigu. He stopped in his tracks and forced a smile: "It's Scholar Lu, you're back? I was just about to rush home."

He subconsciously tightened his grip on the cloth bag in his hand; it was bulging and looked like several hard, dry steamed buns.

Lu Beigu's gaze swept over the man's tightly clenched pockets and the worry between his brows, and he understood: "Is the family short of rice?"

Lu Beigu set aside three dou of rice and handed it to Chen Yuan.

"Take it. I was very grateful for your help in the library."

Chen Yuan was startled, as if what was being handed to him was not rice, but a red-hot branding iron.

He hurriedly took a step back, waving his hands repeatedly, his voice trembling slightly: "No! Absolutely not! Scholar Lu, this is too precious! I only ran errands for you a few times and bought some inexpensive food, how could I accept such a generous gift!"

His rice jar was indeed almost empty, and his wife, children, and elderly parents were eagerly waiting for him to bring food back.

These three bushels of rice might not seem like much under normal circumstances, but at this critical juncture when rice is as precious as firewood, they are a lifesaver!

But he knew in his heart that he had only taken care of Lu Beigu out of a little compassion and duty, and it hadn't cost him more than a few dozen coins.

These three bushels of rice, according to what he had heard, were worth over a thousand coins at the "Fengyu" rice shop!

This gift, which could be described as "repaying a drop of kindness with a spring of gratitude," made him feel ashamed to accept it and even more afraid that he would not be able to repay it.

Although he was very rational and verbally declined, Chen Yuan still found it hard to take his eyes off the bag of rice.

"There's no need to refuse."

Lu Beigu stepped forward and forcefully stuffed the rice bag into Chen Yuan's stiff hand.

"A few bushels of rice won't solve the big problem, but at least it can give my family a few more meals. Take it!" Chen Yuan held the heavy bag of rice, feeling the weight of hope for survival in his palm, and his eyes instantly reddened.

His lips trembled, as if he wanted to say something to express his gratitude, but the words stuck in his throat, and in the end, he could only manage a heavy nasal "Hey!"

Chen Yuan bowed deeply to Lu Beigu.

Lu Beigu helped him up and whispered, "Go back quickly, your family is waiting for you."

Back in the dormitory, Lu Beigu met with the teaching assistant and handed over one of the two remaining bags of rice.

Upon seeing the rice bag, the teaching assistant immediately swallowed back the displeasure that Lu Beigu had felt due to being away for too long, and his face lit up with joy.

"Go back and change your clothes and rest. You don't need to fetch water."

The fickleness of human relationships is laid bare before a few bushels of rice.

Lu Beigu remained unmoved, simply nodding silently. Carrying his last small bag of rice, meant just in case, he finally returned to the school dormitory.

Although it is unlikely that students in the state will starve to death, it is always good to have some emergency reserves, just like Lu Beigu always sewed a gold bean he ate on Buddha's Birthday and a few copper coins into his inner garment.

The waterlogging situation in the schoolyard remains severe.

The state school was built on a small hill. Although the terrain was relatively high, the buildings were a series of stacked platform structures.

This design allows for drainage along the mountainside during heavy rains, preventing complete flooding like on flat land. However, while the flooding in the city has eased, the state school, due to its multi-level platforms, suffers from "dammed lake"-like water accumulation on each level, which cannot be immediately improved.

With the drainage system already operating at full capacity, the only solution is for people to work harder and bail water out.

After wiping his body with a hemp towel in the dormitory and changing into dry clothes, Lu Beigu lay on the bed covered with a quilt for a while before he felt the chill in his body being driven away.

Just then, Zhou Mingyuan returned, and as soon as he entered the door, he loudly complained.

"This is so awful! My arms are about to break from scooping all this water!"

Zhou Mingyuan certainly didn't like doing these kinds of jobs. After all, he never did any physical labor at home. Here, he was being forced into hard labor and there was really no way to escape it.

Then he asked Lu Beigu, "What have you been doing all day?"

Lu Beigu opened his eyes, sat up, and briefly explained the situation regarding the prefectural government's recruitment, the construction of water windows, the successful drainage, and the soaring grain prices in the city.

"What?!" Zhou Mingyuan's eyes widened in disbelief, his mouth agape. "You built a water gate and drained all the floodwater from the city?! You did a great job quietly and without a sound! You've saved the whole city from a dire situation!"

His surprise and admiration were genuine.

However, Lu Beigu's face showed no smugness, only deep helplessness and worry: "It's not a big deal. Although the flooding has eased, the price of grain in the city has risen to five hundred coins a dou of coarse rice! This is the real sword hanging over the heads of the people. I don't know how many people will starve to death."

Five hundred coins?!

Zhou Mingyuan also gasped. Although his family was wealthy, he wasn't someone who "why not eat meat porridge" and still had a concept of rice prices. This concept was truly driving him crazy.

But then, as if he had suddenly remembered something extremely important, the surprise on his face was instantly replaced by solemnity, and even a hint of lingering fear.

"You're in big trouble!"

Zhou Mingyuan suddenly stood up, rushed to the door, looked around nervously, and then slammed the door shut and bolted it!
After doing all this, he quickly walked back to Lu Beigu's bedside, lowered his voice, and said in an unusually serious tone: "Beigu! Listen to me! Recently—no, from now on—you'd better stay in the state academy and not go anywhere else! Don't leave the state academy gates until after the state exam!"

(End of this chapter)