boyutpedia Chapter 226 The Lin Family is Here
Chapter 226 The Lin Family is Here
After the group of five walked for a while, Gu Wenxuan suddenly stopped and turned her gaze to a small group of people about thirty meters away from them.
Everyone followed her gaze and saw that it was a young man who was surrounded by a group of ragged people who were trying to snatch a few bundles of firewood around him.
The young man had a sallow complexion and was skin and bones. Although his clothes were clean, they were covered with patches of various sizes. They looked even more torn and worn than the rags of the refugees.
Gu Wenxuan and the others would certainly not sit idly by and watch him being bullied. Not only did they help the skinny boy selling firewood drive away those vagrants, they also paid to buy all his firewood.
The young man shed tears and bowed repeatedly to thank Gu Wenxuan and others.
Bai Jingzhou patted the boy's shoulder and talked to him in a gentle and friendly tone.
From their conversation, Gu Wenxuan and others learned that although the boy was a native of the county town, he became a homeless poor boy because his father died and his mother remarried, and his family's house was divided up by his eldest and second uncles.
He was forced to live in the beggars' base camp - the dilapidated and abandoned City God Temple in the west of the city, but he did not want to live like other children, relying on begging for food every day.
There is no shortage of workers in the city now. Even if he just wants to find a job with food and accommodation, there are plenty of strong and healthy refugees competing with him.
He had no choice but to get up early and go to the outside of the city to pick up dry branches and sell them.
He was efficient and honest, and every bundle of firewood was exceptionally neat, solid, dry and easy to burn. In addition, he sold it very cheaply, so he could earn a few copper coins every day.
If it weren't for the recent surge in prices in the city, the child wouldn't have starved himself to his current pale and skinny appearance.
After listening to his personal experience, Gu Wenxuan and others couldn't help but sympathize with this young man.
Of course, they admired him very much.
Bai Jingzhou even directly invited him to join the team. "Do you want to follow me? If you work for me, I will provide you with food and clothing. If you do a good job, I can also pay you."
The young man was shocked, but when he came to his senses, he immediately agreed without hesitation.
What Gu Wenxuan and the others didn't know was that this was not the first time those refugees had robbed him of his firewood and copper coins. If this continued, the young man's firewood business would definitely not be able to continue.
In addition, with the skyrocketing prices in the county, he really can no longer survive by his own efforts.
To the young man who was already at the end of his rope, Bai Jingzhou's proposal was as tempting as a pie that suddenly fell from the sky.
The other party agreed, and Bai Jingzhou and his team simply took him back to their temporary residence in the county town.
On the way back, Gu Wenxuan asked the boy's name and age.
He told Gu Wenxuan and others that his name was Yang Wandong and he was twelve years old.
Accompanying the newly joined young firewood seller Yang Wandong, Bai Jingzhou and his companions went to the big house where they had lived during the Lantern Festival.
Originally, Bai Jingzhou and Gu Wenxuan had prepared themselves for their house to be occupied by uninvited refugees, but to their surprise, the house was still empty when they arrived.
Bai Jingzhou had already paid the couple who had helped them look after the house, and let them go home to reunite with their families and help each other, but the couple still came to help clean the house every once in a while.
They used the newly bought firewood to heat up the kang, and then used the hot water that was heated while heating the kang to wash themselves, and then everyone settled down in the house.
All the bedding and other items in the house had been taken away, and Gu Wenxuan and the others did not bring any with them this time. Fortunately, they all had their own sheepskin coats.
As for Yang Wandong, the only one who didn't have a sheepskin coat, Bai Jingzhou gave him the old quilt they had placed on the ox cart.
Everyone stayed in the warm house for one night. The next day, Gu Wenxuan and others took Yang Wandong back to Baijia Village.
They first went to find Wang, the village head who was in charge of the area where his family lived, gave him some benefits, and smoothly moved Yang Wandong's household registration out.
In this way, when he returns to Baijia Village, Bai Jingzhou can ask Bai Lizheng to help register Yang Wandong's household registration in Baijia Village.
They went out for a trip and actually brought back a living person, which shocked the villagers, but everyone tacitly agreed not to meddle in Bai Jingzhou's affairs.
Bai Chong and Ning Cuizhi, who were most qualified to speak, did not say anything. They had already realized from what happened to Bai Jingshan's family that their son was intent on cultivating trustworthy and useful confidants.
They also hope that their son will have a bright future. It is rare that their son has his own plans, abilities and is working hard, so they certainly cannot hold him back.
Coincidentally, on the same day that Bai Jingzhou brought Yang Wandong back home, Gu Wenxuan's second aunt Lin Shuzhen's family also came to Baijia Village to join them.
Lin Shuzhen's maternal family includes Lin's father and mother, Lin's eldest brother and his wife, and their two sons and one daughter.
The Gu family's house was not big and could not accommodate their whole family. Fortunately, Gu Wenxuan had foresight and not only bought several empty houses at the end of the village in advance, but also organized people to repair the houses in the empty houses before winter.
After consulting with Mr. Gu and Mrs. Li, Lin Shuzhen arranged for her family to temporarily live in the sturdiest empty house.
Helping her with all the running around were her husband Gu Yongqing, as well as Gu Wenxuan's parents and her brother and sister-in-law.
Gu Wenxuan's younger brothers also showed their enthusiasm and sincerity as hosts to the three children of the Lin family, so that they would not feel out of place because they suddenly moved to Baijia Village, a place where they were unfamiliar with.
Like Lin Shuzhen, the other members of the Lin family are all truly well-educated, self-respecting and cultured people. Although they come from poor families and their situations are very different from before, they are all very likable.
Father Lin and elder brother Lin were unwilling to receive the favor from the Gu family for nothing. When they found out that several children of the Gu family were studying, they immediately took the initiative to offer to teach these children.
Both of them are well-educated, so the Gu family is of course happy for them to teach their children personally, but the problem is that the children who are studying in their family are not just the four boys.
Gu Wenxuan, Jia Yuelan, Bai Jingzhou and his younger siblings, Bai Jingshan and his younger brother, Ning Qirui, the Fang brothers... the number of students in their family's study class has been steadily increasing.
The Gu family was not shameless enough to ask Father Lin and Big Brother Lin to teach all these people, but they were also embarrassed to leave others out and only seek benefits for their own four boys.
Mr. Gu and the others looked embarrassed, wondering how to tell the Lin family father and son. However, Gu Wenxuan did not think it was difficult to talk about it.
Both Father Lin and Big Brother Lin are well-educated people, and are good teachers that they could never ask for. Now that God has thrown this big pie into their home, how can they not make full use of it?