Time Travel: A Fisherwoman Goes to the Sea to Raise a Baby

Chapter 555 Xu 11 Pays the Money

"Ah Da, go to the coffin shop in town and order a few coffins."

……

"Virtue!"

"Chieftain."

Xu Mingde bent down slightly, his eyes fixed on his great-uncle.

"Take some people and help the villagers clean up their houses. If any were burned down, arrange for them to stay in other people's homes first..."

Uncle Grandfather kept talking and giving instructions on one thing after another.

“You and Lao Lu returned just in time last night, and with Uncle holding them off for a while, the clan’s losses weren’t too severe. It’s just that the houses near the river were burned down by the pirates, and about ten people in the clan died…”

Xu Anyang sighed.

Xu Yiyi stood to the side without saying a word.

As Uncle was speaking, Xu Mingyi spoke up from the crowd.

"Uncle, what should we do with the ancestral hall?"

He pointed to the charred ruins behind him, his voice urgent: "The New Year is just around the corner, what are we going to do with those ancestral tablets? We still have to worship our ancestors, we can't just burn incense in front of a broken shed, can we?"

Another uncle next to him chimed in: "Before the New Year, seven or eight families had daughters getting married, and the wedding banquets were all held in the ancestral hall. Now the hall is burned to the ground, so where are the brides going to perform the wedding ceremony?"

Uncle remained silent, his hands resting on his knees, his knuckles turning slightly white.

Xu Pinghai put down his pen, looked up at the ruins, then lowered his head again without saying a word.

When the old man came back this morning and found out that the ancestral hall had been burned down, he almost beat him so badly that he couldn't get out of bed.

“My father was beaten by my great-grandfather,” Xu Anyang said in a low voice as he stood to the side.

The surroundings fell silent for a moment.

“Rebuilding an ancestral hall would cost a lot of money. The New Year is just around the corner, and some people’s houses have been burned down. All their hard work for a year has been for nothing.”

Ah Da has a deep understanding of this matter.

His family was among the most severely affected when a hurricane hit the land recently.

The house collapsed, and the boat was damaged.

His son, Yuanbao, is still sick.

All the money he had earned was gone, and it still wasn't enough. He had to borrow money from his eldest niece to slowly recover.

"If we have to pool our money, some families might not be able to make it through the New Year," Xu Mingde said helplessly.

“We can’t just not build the ancestral hall, can we? If your father knew that the ancestral hall had been burned to ashes, he probably wouldn’t even be able to hold it down in his coffin.”

Xu Mingyi retorted.

Xu Mingde glared at him. "Who said we won't build it? But if you want to rebuild the ancestral hall, you have to wait for the right time. Now... that's not the time."

“Pinghai, you say something! Weddings have always been held in the ancestral hall! Your Honglian is getting married soon, and now it’s all burned down. If you don’t repair it quickly, where will your daughters hold their wedding ceremony? What kind of image will it be for the ancestors to see with a dilapidated shed!”

"It needs to be repaired, of course it needs to be repaired." Xu Pinghai's voice was not loud, but muffled. "But now is really not the time."

He pointed and said, "Yesterday, the pirates landed and burned and looted. Go ask around and see how many families still have spare money. Ah Lin's goods are all gone, Ah Gui's house has been burned down, and some people have had all their savings from the past year taken away... Now you want them to raise money to repair their ancestral hall?"

He paused, looked down at the broken tiles on the ground.

"That would make it so that they can't even have a good year."

"okay!"

Uncle sat on the bamboo chair, remaining silent the whole time.

He slowly spoke after everyone had finished speaking.

"Let's get through this difficult time first."

His voice wasn't loud, and he didn't look at anyone, just staring at the chaotic scene before him.

"Those who are gone should be buried. For houses that have burned down or collapsed, help rebuild them so that people can live in them for the time being."

He paused for a moment, then said, "The rest can wait."

Upon hearing this, Xu Mingyi immediately became anxious.

Xu Yiyi stood to the side, remaining silent the entire time.

She only spoke after her great-uncle had finished speaking.

“I can pay.”

Xu Anyang immediately chimed in, his voice low but earnest: "Grandpa, Father, uncles, and elders, I have a little money in my pocket, not much. If we pool our resources, it should be enough."

Xu Yi glanced at him and nodded.

"Those with money should contribute money, and those with strength should contribute strength."