coobybook Chapter 359: Let’s Save the Water First
Chapter 359: Let’s Save the Water First
"Oh, I remembered it too! I didn't expect these two kids to be Fuxing's family. Oh my god! I actually met Fuxing!"
“When the boy walked past just now, the corner of his clothes touched my knife.
My knife has been blessed, and I will keep it in good condition."
Naturally, the brother and sister did not hear such exaggerated remarks.
What the brother and sister didn't know was that ever since the drought hit Jiangning Prefecture, thanks to publicity from the villagers of Taohua Village, their reputation as a lucky family had spread from just the surrounding villages to the surrounding counties.
Everyone who comes to Taohua Village to fetch water will listen to the villagers of Taohua Village explain why only their village has water.
That's all thanks to Qin Min'an's lucky family.
The village head happily greeted the brother and sister as they walked towards the village.
Along the way, we met strangers queuing up for water, and we all greeted them warmly.
When we arrived at the village entrance, the guarding became stricter.
A high wall was built around the originally wide entrance to the village.
There are two doors on the wall, one for entering the village to fetch water and the other for leaving the village.
At the entrance of the village, seventy or eighty officers armed with broadswords stood guard on both sides.
The head of the household registration office of the county government was responsible for checking and recording the household registration of people who fetched water, and strictly controlling who could enter the village, with a few of his subordinates.
This is also for the safety of the villagers in Taohua Village.
During the drought, water in Taohua Village was a hot commodity, and County Magistrate Xu was worried that bandits and other malicious people would sneak into the village.
That's when I came up with this idea.
Now Qin Wan finally understood why County Magistrate Xu personally helped distribute porridge.
Taohua Village allocated some manpower, and the county government obviously did not have enough staff.
Seeing the head of the village with two unfamiliar children, the official stepped forward and asked in a businesslike manner:
"Yeli Zheng, are these two also here to fetch water?"
The village head quickly explained:
"No, they are..."
"We were sent by the county magistrate."
Qin Wan handed over the token given by the magistrate before the head of the village could speak.
The officer who was questioning took the token and looked at it carefully before respectfully stepping aside and making way:
"You two, please come in."
Once we entered the village, we found that unlike the barren scene outside, the trees, grasses, flowers and other things in the village were full of vitality.
It's almost as if there was no drought.
It seems as if Taohua Village is a world of its own.
Qin Wan raised her eyebrows, thinking of the dry farmland she had seen along the way, and looked up at the head of the village:
"Grandpa Lizheng, how are the crops in the village? Have any died from drought?"
Speaking of crops, the village head sighed with regret:
“Although the well water in the village has not dried up, the water in the Baihua River that flows through it has long been dry.
The villagers originally wanted to draw well water to irrigate the rice fields.
But... you have seen the current situation. People in other places don’t even have drinking water.
How can we bear to use water to save crops but not save people?
So the villagers unanimously decided to let people from other villages come into the village to fetch water. As for our crops, let them die of drought.
Let’s save the water that keeps people alive first.
Fortunately, everyone in the village planted sweet potatoes to varying degrees at the beginning of this spring.
The drought was not at its worst when we harvested the sweet potatoes, so we managed to harvest some.”
Qin Wan thought of the sweet potatoes in the county soup kitchen and asked:
"The village also donated a batch of sweet potatoes to the county?"
“Well, there aren’t many sweet potatoes, but they are all gifts from the villagers.
Most of them were dug out from the sweet potato field planted by your father and donated.
Yuan Xiaozi said that it was your father who wrote to him and asked him to donate the sweet potatoes to the refugees.
For this reason, all the sweet potato workshops in the village were closed.
The villagers were also influenced by your family. They thought that as people from the same village, they would not bring shame to your family and they also wanted to accumulate more blessings for your family.
Only then did every family donate some grain to the county.
Over the past year or so, thanks to your family, every household in the village has had surplus money and food.
Plus, there is no shortage of water in the village, so even if we donate some of the food, it won’t affect our own food and drink.”
After the head of the village finished speaking, he looked down and saw two children looking at him with touched expressions.
He said dumbfounded:
"What's this expression?"
Qin Jingnian gave a thumbs up and praised generously:
"Grandpa Lizheng, I am proud of my fellow villagers."
Qin Wan curved her eyebrows:
"Good deeds will bring good results, Grandpa Lizheng, when this drought is over, the lives of the villagers in Taohua Village will be better."
The village head was delighted by what the two said, but when he thought of the drought, he sighed again:
“Alas, I don’t know how long this drought will last, and I don’t know how long the water in the village’s wells can last.”
How long will the drought last?
The brother and sister looked at each other and fell silent.
They don’t know this either.
"Grandpa Lizheng, please take us to the village well to have a look."
"Okay, there are five wells in the village for outsiders to draw water from. Do you want to go and have a look?"
Qin Wan nodded:
"Well, let's go check it out."
See why there is water.
The village head took the two men to check the wells one by one.
Just like at the entrance of the village, there were officials guarding every well.
Qin Wan and Qin Jingnian carefully examined them one by one.
He heaved a sigh of relief when he found no unlucky smell in or around the well, nor any signs of poison.
Originally, they thought that the water in the village well might be caused by the Changsheng Sect.
It is very likely that something was added to the water that shouldn't have been added. Now it seems that the water in Taohua Village has not been tampered with by the Changsheng Sect.
After finding out what they were most worried about, the two men said goodbye to the village head and returned to their own home.
Outside the old Su family’s yard.
Hearing that the brother and sister had returned, Qin Yuan was already outside the yard to greet them.
"Young Master, Young Lady, you are back."
Qin Yuan stepped forward respectfully and bowed to the two of them.
Su Mei, who was in the kitchen, heard the noise and ran out with a spatula in her hand.
"Wanwan, Jingnian, you're back. Come in and sit down. The food will be ready soon."
Just as he finished speaking, a little Taoist boy came out from the kitchen.
Qin Wan still had an impression of this little Taoist boy, the little Taoist boy named Qingxuan.
Su Mei turned to the little Taoist boy and said:
"It's time to eat. Please tell Taoist Qingxuan to come to our house for dinner."
"Okay, I'll go right away."
The little Taoist boy bowed and ran away.
Su Mei went to the kitchen to work again.
Qin Yuan explained with a smile:
"Master Qingxuan thought it was troublesome to cook in the mountains, so he gave Su Mei some silver and asked her to help cook two meals a day."
Several people walked into the main room while talking.
"When did Taoist Qingxuan return to Taohua Village? I thought he was in Baiyun Temple in the capital."
The last time I saw Qingxuan was last time.
After that, things happened one after another, and Qin Wan hadn't seen Qingxuan for a long time.
Unexpectedly, this person did not stay in the capital to maintain relations with his junior fellow Taoist Qingyun, but came to Taohua Village again.
"Master Qingxuan has been in Taohua Village for more than a month, and he came with his fellow apprentice Master Qingyun."
Qin Wan: "Hmm? Taoist Qingyun has also come to Taohua Village."