The afternoon sun grew hotter.
Under the pagoda tree, a woman held a child, seeking refuge from the heat, while in the open space, others gathered around the village head.
The village head walked through the crowd to a large rock. He waved his hand, and the scene quieted. The weather was truly too hot, and there was no drinking water. Everyone hoped he would speak quickly so they could go fetch water.
“This morning, Da Shan’s mother led me up the mountain and we discovered a water source there.”
The village head didn’t beat around the bush and went straight to the point.
Everyone in the village became agitated, then suppressed their excitement, waiting for the village head to continue.
“Not long ago, Da Shan’s mother discovered bamboo shoots on the mountain, and last night she found a water source. She quickly informed me of both.” The village head said seriously, “I know the villagers have a lot of animosity towards Da Shan’s mother, but from now on, she is the benefactor of our entire village.”
Standing in the crowd, Cheng Loanloan was stunned.
She hadn’t expected that the village head, who had just been discussing official business, would now publicly clear her name in front of all the villagers.
The original owner had a very bad reputation in the village and a strained relationship with her in-laws. She also didn’t get along with her neighbors.
After she transmigrated, although these relationships had improved somewhat, few people interacted with her. When they saw her, they would still say unpleasant things behind her back.
As a modern woman, she didn’t really care if people slandered her behind her back. Let them say what they liked; it wouldn’t cost her a piece of flesh.
“Da Shan’s mother didn’t need to tell me these things, but she still did. She truly regards all of you as family.” The village head looked at the crowd. “If you still feel you don’t need to be grateful to Da Shan’s mother, you can leave the Dahe Village meeting now.”
The village head’s attitude was very firm. No one dared to say anything, only hastily expressing their thanks.
“Sister-in-law Zhao, thank you very much this time.”
“Da Shan’s mother, I misunderstood you before.”
“Aunt Zhao, I have a big mouth, please don’t take it to heart.”
Regardless of whether the crowd was sincere or pretending, they at least had to show a friendly attitude.
Cheng Loanloan smiled and said, “Actually, I didn’t do anything, everyone doesn’t need to be so polite.”
She wasn’t so selflessly devoted.
Regarding the bamboo shoots, her family of six couldn’t dig them all, and they would rot in the ground, so it was better to do a good deed.
Regarding the water source, her family alone certainly couldn’t manage it; bringing water down from the mountain would definitely require the efforts of all the villagers.
“There’s a water source on the mountain. Once it’s opened up, a lot of water will flow out. It’s spring water, drinkable directly, and very sweet.” A smile appeared on the village head’s face. “Our village will have drinking water, and we won’t need to use grain to exchange for water with Chen Family Village or Guihua Village. Heaven blesses Dahe Village.”
“There really is water!”
“That’s great, we have drinking water!”
“…”
Everyone happily gesticulated. “Having drinking water isn’t enough; we want the rice paddies to have water too.”
Suddenly, the village head raised his voice. The excited crowd all froze. For the rice paddies to have water? How was that so hard to understand?
“Zhao Ergou, come up and tell everyone.”
The village head yielded his spot to him.
After coming down the mountain, Zhao Ergou had deliberately gone home to change into a set of clothes. Although the clothes had many patches, they were at least cleaner.
He walked forward, a little nervous. This was Zhao Ergou’s first time speaking in front of so many people.
"The water volume on the mountain is immense, more than enough to irrigate the rice paddies. As long as we can channel the water to the fields, we'll very likely have a bumper harvest this year!" Zhao Ergou gradually calmed down, speaking clearly and methodically, "I've calculated it. From the top of the mountain to the bottom is about three thousand zhang. The entire village has four to five hundred laborers. If everyone works together to dig a canal, we can dig a trench from the mountain down in two and a half days."