Chapter 15: Just build a waterwheel!

Longchang Academy arranges a day off every five days. On this morning, Zhu Lan and others gathered at the gate of the academy early, and everyone set out together to find Master Xie.

Hearing that Master Xie had returned to his hometown to farm, which was in a small village on the edge of Jiangzhou City, Liang Zhou hired two horse-drawn carriages and set off with everyone.

It was the transition between spring and summer. As soon as the carriage left Jiangzhou City, one could see large fields and many people working in the fields.

The sun shines on the green rice fields, and the breeze blows, mixed with the fragrance of rice flowers.

"Haha, that's great, it feels like a picnic!" Qiao Youyou looked at the scenery outside the carriage excitedly all the way.

Zhu Lan, Qin Yuwei and Xiao Wan were eating snacks, talking and laughing.

Since everyone traveled through time until now, they have basically never left Longchang Academy. Now that they have finally experienced the atmosphere of the countryside, they can't help but feel relaxed both physically and mentally.

The carriage arrived in less than half an hour. After asking along the way, everyone finally found Master Xie in a cornfield.

He was watering the land with his trouser legs and sleeves rolled up, looking like an old farmer in the fields.

"Thank you, Master. Thank you, Master!" Everyone saw him from afar and greeted him excitedly.

When Xie Ding heard the noise, he looked up and his face changed immediately with fear. He was about to hide in the cornfield.

Oh my god, how did these guys get here?

There are so many teachers in Longchang Academy, why did they pick on me alone? !

I feel numb!

Liang Zhou was quick-witted and quick-handed. He grabbed Master Xie's sleeve and explained his purpose.

The students behind him also bowed respectfully and asked him to go back and continue teaching.

Master Xie was resistant. "I haven't finished watering all the land at home yet. I won't go!"

Teach these guys a lesson, unless he doesn't want the few hairs left on his head anymore!

"You bunch of little kids, staying in the academy all day long, have no idea of ​​the sufferings of the people!" Master Xie scolded with a stern face.

It has not rained in Jiangzhou City for two months. The fields in the entire area have become dry. People have to draw water from the nearby river with scoops every day to irrigate the fields, otherwise the crops will wither and die.

A man with features somewhat similar to Master Xie came over from the ridge of the field and handed him a bowl of water. When he saw Zhu Lan and the others, he smiled honestly:

"Brother, are these all your students? The kids in the city are so pretty and beautiful. They will definitely be admitted to high school in the future! Well...if there is anything else at the academy, you should go back early. Xiaochun's mother and I can also finish the watering at home.

And the college entrance examination is only a few months away, right? You have to concentrate on preparing for it, and you can’t do farm work like this.”

As he said this, he tried to grab the tools from Master Xie's hand.

Master Xie dodged him and said, "That won't work. The land is so dry, how can you two finish watering it?"

Then he sighed again: "Alas, I have been studying and teaching for most of my life, but I am not even a scholar. I have wasted my time all these years, and now I have to rely on you and your wife for support. I am really ashamed!"

"Brother, what are you doing..."

Master Xie waved his hand and said, "Studying is useless. It is better to devote myself to the countryside. I will move back to our village and be an honest farmer!"

Zhu Lan and others have already heard that Master Xie has failed the college entrance examination for many years and has become discouraged and ready to give up.

Everyone was thinking about how to comfort her when they heard someone shouting in a hoarse voice in the distance:

"Xie Laosan, have you finished watering your land?"

Mr. Xie’s younger brother is Xie Laosan. He waved his hand to indicate that the watering was not finished yet.

Soon, seven or eight villagers gathered around, all with strong dissatisfaction on their faces:

"Xie Laosan, we asked you to water the land first, but your family has used up all the water. What should we do?"

"There's only so much water that can be pumped up every day, and who doesn't want to irrigate their fields?"

"Okay, don't water your house until you've finished watering it. Leave it for other villagers to use!"

Xie Laosan was so frightened that his face turned pale. He said in a sad voice, "But my land is the farthest from the river and is the most severely drought-stricken. If it wasn't allocated well in the first place, we could have irrigated it more... Otherwise, the crops would have been ruined."

A village woman said in a shrill voice: "That was the original distribution! It's been a drought these past few years, who doesn't lack water?"

She pointed at Master Xie and said, "Don't you have a man at home? If you need to water the land tomorrow, go to the river and fetch water yourself!"

"That won't work. My brother is a scholar..."

"What's wrong with scholars? Are scholars noble and great?!"

The village woman immediately put her hands on her hips and shouted, pointing at Master Xie: "You have studied for so many years, but you are nothing. You are not even as good as my son who kills pigs!"

"And you brought a bunch of brats with you. That's just right. You scholars look down on us country bumpkins, so you can find a way to water the fields yourself!"

Master Xie was so angry that his face turned blue and white, and his lips trembled for a long time, but he couldn't utter a single curse word.

Qiao Youyou shouted, "Hey, the water consumption was originally allocated, why do you want to change it?"

Other students also came to the defense of Mr. Xie's family and started arguing with the villagers.

A few rude ones came up and tried to snatch the tools that Xie Laosan used to water the fields. Several boys hurriedly tried to stop them, but they were all children after all. Zhou Da didn't know who pushed him back and he fell on his butt.

"Zhao Laoliu, how dare you push my student!" Master Xie suddenly shouted, rolled up his sleeves and rushed towards Zhao Laoliu.

The sound is like a loud bell, full of momentum!

The students and villagers had not expected Master Xie to have such explosive power and they were all stunned.

Master Xie sighed inwardly:

Alas, the fact that I am a Qigong master can no longer be hidden.

Zhao Laoliu was a big man, and was startled by him at first, then he subconsciously reached out and pushed him.

Mr. Xie also fell hard on his butt!

The villagers burst into loud laughter. Master Xie sat on the ground, feeling ashamed and angry. Xie Lao San hurried to help him up.

"Stop it!" The village chief heard the noise and rushed over, and finally calmed down the riot.

After hearing the whole story, the village chief said to Xie Lao San with a troubled look on his face:

"Third brother, your land is indeed difficult to irrigate, but our village is located at a high altitude, and we can only pump up a certain amount of water every day. If your family uses more, other families will have less."

Xie Laosan was so anxious that he almost cried.

Zhu Lan stood up and said to the village chief: "Since the dispute is caused by the water source, why not solve the water problem?"

"What do you know, little girl? It's going to be very hard to pull the water up from the river!"

"See, I told you, studying is useless, you don't even have this common sense! You are a bunch of kids who have never worked in the fields. Don't be like Xie Ding in the future. You didn't make any progress in your studies and you can't even have food to eat!"

Master Xie was still covered in mud, so he told the students to quickly return to the academy and not get involved in what was happening here.

Zhu Lan shook his head and asked him to borrow a pen and paper.

Having trouble getting water? Just build a waterwheel!