Chapter 292 All living beings suffer
The shopkeeper was delighted and laughed, saying, "It is also the honor of our distinguished guests. Just wait, when the grain shop makes more money, we will open a shop in the village."

The shopkeeper personally helped to load all the food onto the cart and asked with a smile, "Master, are you buying so much food? Is there something big going on?"

Pan Yun said, "There will be a temple fair at the Sanqingshan Mountain Temple on November 24th. This is the rice for the believers."

The shopkeeper suddenly realized what was going on, and hurried into the store, took out a small bag of red beans and a small bag of millet, and said with a smile, "So these are the rice from the temple fair. It is a blessing for our store to have the Taoist priest come. These two kinds of rice are my gifts. Please offer them to the mountain god, and then distribute them to the believers."

Pan Yun accepted it.

Seeing Pan Yun and the other two leading the cow to leave, the shopkeeper hesitated for a moment, but still stopped her and said, "Little Taoist priest, since you are in the county, why don't you go and see those little beggars you helped?"

Pan Jun turned his head and asked, "What happened to them?"

The shopkeeper smiled embarrassedly, "No, nothing, I just feel that this winter is particularly cold."

Pan Yun paused for a moment, nodded and said, "Thank you for your reminder, shopkeeper."

As they walked further, the three of them couldn't help but look at both sides of the street, and they found that there were fewer beggars in the corners. Even if there were still some, they were huddled together, hugging their legs tightly and shrinking back as hard as they could, as if they wanted to shrink their entire bodies into the wall.

Pan Yun frowned, and Miao Zhen also frowned, "Look at the clothes they are wearing, I'm afraid they won't be able to survive this winter."

"I remember that the government arranged houses for them to keep out the cold last year. Hasn't it started yet this year?"

Miao Zhen said: "Actually, it happens every year. I don't know if it got cold earlier this year or it got done later."

Miao He: "Master Junior, I've finished looking, Xiao Qi and the others are not there."

Pan Jun thought about it, then handed the rope to Miao Zhen, "You go back first, I'll go check on them."

Miaozhenmiaohe nodded. They had already been out in the world on their own, and the distance from the county town back to the mountain was not worth mentioning to them.

Because there was too much food on the truck, Miaozhen and Miaohe did not get on the truck. Instead, they followed on both sides of the truck. After they walked away, Pan Yun turned around and walked towards the street.

I walked all the way without seeing any of the fourteen children.

Pan Yun walked to Grandma Yu's house with a frown, and saw that the wooden shed next to her house had collapsed.

She frowned slightly and walked forward, then she heard a quarrel coming from Yu's house. "It would be fine if you just went home by yourself, but you brought so many people back with you. Are you really trying to drag us down to death?"

"They will stay for two days until the shed is set up again. They don't need a lot of space, they can just stay in the cowshed for two nights."

"No! If someone comes in, who knows if they will leave? You are my mother-in-law, I have no objection to you coming back to live here, but they can't!"

Pan Jun paused and pushed open the door.

The woman standing in the middle of the yard with her hands on her waist turned back angrily, "Who is so blind as to push my door..."

Seeing Pan Yun in a Taoist robe, she paused in anger and frowned, "Is this the Taoist priest from Mount Sanqing who brought you food?"

Granny Yu also recognized Pan Yun and quickly stood up, "Have you returned from your studies, benefactor?"

The children who were standing in a row with their heads down suddenly looked up and saw Pan Yun. Their faces lit up with light and they rushed up to surround Pan Yun, "My benefactor, you're back!"

"My benefactor, you have changed a little."

Pan Yun glanced at them one by one, nodded and smiled, "I'm back from my studies."

Pan Yun looked at the woman whose anger had subsided, bowed to her and said, "I pushed the door without permission. Sorry to bother you."

The woman's expression softened, but she still said sternly, "No need. Taoist priest, you are here to see my mother-in-law and these children, right? If you want to discuss something, go outside and discuss it. I can't keep guests here."

Pan Jun agreed with a smile, reached out to help Grandma Yu up and walked out.

The children followed in a hurry, and disappeared in an instant.

The woman stood there for a moment, then turned around and walked to the door, leaving it ajar, but did not leave.

Granny Yu looked ashamed and said to Pan Yun, "Excuse me, little Taoist priest. I don't have any bad intentions. It's just that our family is too poor."

Pan Yun nodded, "I know, your daughter-in-law has a good face and is a good person."

She said, "Who in this world doesn't want to be a kind person who is generous and charitable? It's just that we don't have money and limited ability, so we have the will but not the ability. It's very rare to see someone like my mother-in-law who devotes everything she has to help these children who have no relatives or friends."

Granny Yu wiped her tears and said, "Two nights ago, there was a strong wind and thunder, which blew down the shed. The children huddled under the wall for two nights. It was really cold, so we..."

"My son has gone to look for wood. We'll rebuild the shed and we can live in it. I'm just worried that the children will catch a cold if they live outside for the next two days..."

In the Ming Dynasty, the mortality rate from colds was still very high.

Pan Yun glanced at the collapsed wooden shed and said, "Since it has collapsed, why not build two mud-brick houses? They will be more resistant to cold and stronger."

Grandma Yu: "It's a lot, isn't it? One mud-brick house, not counting the bed, costs five taels of silver. Two rooms would cost ten taels."

Pan Yun said: "I'll pay for this money, but this land..."

Granny Yu was hesitant. She did have land, but she wanted Pan Yun to pay for it... "Young Taoist priest, we have received a lot of favors from you. After you went to learn your skills, a young Taoist priest came to deliver food to us every month. Later, the Taoist priest stopped coming, saying that he was going to take an exam. It was a villager from Fenshui Village who came to deliver the food, saying that the young Taoist priest had given the money in advance. I... We have already received a lot of favors, and now we are asking you to build a house for us..."

Pan Yun said: "This is the grace of the mountain god. I am just doing it on his behalf."

She said, "Yushan County is within the Sanqing Mountain and is protected by the mountain god. The mountain god must have heard your prayers, so he let me come."

Grandma Yu immediately clenched her fist and placed it on her chest, silently chanting: "May the infinite blessings of the Heavenly Lord be bestowed upon me, may the mountain god bless me, may the mountain god be magnanimous..."

Pan Yun waited for her to finish reading before continuing, "I heard that this year will be much colder than previous years?"

Grandma Yu nodded, "This year is a little colder than previous years."

"So we have to build a mud-brick house. The wooden shed is leaking everywhere, and the elderly and children are weak. I'm afraid you can't stand it."

Granny Yu thought for a moment and said, "I have land."

She pointed to where the wooden shed had collapsed and said, "This piece of land is mine. You can build on it. It includes the land that has been built."

"Will your son and daughter-in-law have any objections?"

Grandma Yu shook her head. "There's no use keeping this land. My father-in-law bought it to build a house for his children, but I only have one son, so there's no need to expand it."

"As long as I don't take money from them to build a house, they won't care. It's up to me."

Pan Jun nodded, "That's good, build two rooms, one for the boys and one for the girls."

The children nearby listened with bright eyes.

Pan Yun glanced at them and said to Grandma Yu, "I know that the food I gave them is not enough. I will give them more later. Grandma, find them a place where they can learn skills as apprentices, or send them to school for two years."

Grandma Yu looked at her blankly, "How much does this cost? Why are you so nice to them?"

Pan Yun lowered her eyes for a moment, then raised her head and said, "Mother-in-law, I'm not that good to them. I help them within my ability. What I give is very little to me. It's you, mother-in-law, who has been doing everything to help them."

"You can help them like this, so why ask me why?"

If there really needs to be an answer, it would be compassion.

Pan Yun was once an orphan like them.

However, she had the support of the country, so she lived a good life and never had to worry about food and clothing.

Seeing the other orphans like her living like this in Ming Dynasty, besides missing her previous country so much, she felt sad, distressed and soft-hearted.

She was willing to let this compassion spread because she could afford to help.

Pan Yun said to them, "You have to work hard to survive. I will have someone give you a sum of money every year. Your food, clothing, and study expenses will be deducted from this money. I hope that one day you will be able to survive without this money. Only in this way can you live up to your mother-in-law's expectations of you."

Xiao Qi asked: "What about my sister? What does my sister expect from us?"

Pan Jun smiled and touched her head and said, "Live on. My expectation for you is to live well, live brilliantly, and see the beauty of this world."

Xiao Qi nodded vigorously, and the other children followed suit.

"Let's go, let's find you a place to live first." Pan Yun looked around, "Do you know where to rent a house? Let's go rent a house."

Grandma Yu was restless and said quickly, "It's too expensive. I'll go back and talk to my daughter-in-law. If she knows you're willing to pay for the house, she'll believe we're only staying for a few days and might even agree to let us stay."

Pan Yun: "It's not good to live in the cowshed. There are 14 children and a cow. Where can we live?"

She said, "Let's rent one, Xiao Qi, do you know who is renting a house nearby?"

"I know!" Xiao Qi led the way happily, "Over there, they have the whole house, they will definitely be willing to rent it to us."

Grandma Yu looked unhappy.

Pan Yun supported her and said with a smile: "Mother-in-law, your daughter-in-law is really good. If it were me, I might not do as well as she does. I know you are a good person, but she is not a bad person either."

Pan Yun turned to the children and said, "You should not only remember the kindness of Grandma Yu, but also the kindness of Aunt Yu."

Xiao Qi: "I know that when someone in the village scolds us, Aunt Yu scolds us back for us. With her around, no one in the village dares to bully us. She is a good person."

Pan Jun smiled and nodded, "We should allow others to help us less vigorously, and even be tolerant of others not helping us."

Xiao Liu said: "This is the same as when we beg for food. If we get something, we should say auspicious words and sincerely wish the benefactor. If we don't get anything, we should not be angry. Everyone has a hard time, and no one has to help us."

Pan Yun nodded: "Yes."

　good night

　　(End of this chapter)