Hearing Xie Laifu's distorted words, Xiao Li'an quickly waved his hand.

"Oh, Captain Xie, you've misunderstood, you've misunderstood."

“I have no intention of cutting off your Xie family’s water source to carry out the work for the production team below.”

"The weather is indeed quite dry, but the water is still flowing down, isn't it?"

"The water flow is a little less than usual, but it won't affect your irrigation of the crops."

"Moreover, you also have the Xie Family Reservoir, a large water storage reservoir."

"Even if all the crops in the province suffer from drought, your Xie family won't be affected much."

"Then why be the villain and cut off the livelihood of the downstream production teams?"

Xie Laifu's face showed a mocking expression.

"Mayor Xiao has quite the big mouth."

"You've made it sound like we're deliberately making things difficult for the downstream production teams by saying this, avoiding the main issue."

"You just say the water flow is low, but do you know how low it is?"

"The water level is less than half of what it used to be."

“Our Xie family does have the Xie Family Reservoir, but the water in the reservoir doesn’t just disappear if it’s not used.”

"If we don't pump water in every day, the reservoir will drop a section."

"As you know, our reservoir's drainage outlet is quite high."

“If the water level drops below the outlet, it won’t flow out on its own. We commune members will have to use hand-operated waterwheels, or even buckets and basins to scoop it out by hand.”

Do you know how much effort we'll put into just these two projects?

“I advise Mayor Xiao not to waste his time on this idea.”

"Don't say I disagree. Even if I did agree, the dozens of small production groups under the Xie family would never agree."

"This water passes through our Xie family's area, so we can't use it. Instead, we should prioritize the use of the smaller villages below?"

"You can argue until the heavens break, but there's no way that makes sense!"

"The old adage 'whoever is weaker is right' doesn't apply anymore!"

"You...you..."

Xiao Li'an was speechless after being stumped by Xie Laifu's series of fallacies.

Even if the water were released downstream, it wouldn't have much of an impact on the Xie family, yet they chose to stand on the high ground.

They were accused of being big spenders on grain taxes, wasting manpower, and even misrepresenting it as favoring the production teams below them and not providing water to the Xie family.

Su Qingci and Song Jingzhou exchanged a glance, both with somber expressions.

Captain Xie even disregarded Xiao Li'an's feelings; if they try to get the water out of there, it'll probably be difficult.

Xie Ping, who was carrying a teapot, noticed the awkward atmosphere, put the teapot on the table, and quietly turned and left.

They soon arrived at the big tree in the center of the village and started shouting at the top of their lungs.

"Third Uncle, Seventh Uncle, the town leaders, a group of them came to steal water and blocked my dad at home."

"What?"

"You cornered the captain?"

Isn't this bullying?

"Everyone, come with me and see who has the audacity to come and steal water from our Xie family!"

"Pingping, go to the field and call for help."

"Dayou, go and inform the clan chief."

Several elderly clan members walked together from the village's central activity center toward Xie Laifu's house.

The group grew larger and larger along the way, and by the time they arrived at Xie Laifu's house, the group consisted of dozens of people, including the elderly and children, as well as onlookers.

Xie Laifu was sitting in the courtyard, dealing with Xiao Li'an's earnest but ultimately stern lectures and attempts at "moral blackmail."

Hearing the noise outside, I looked up and felt a chill run down my spine.

"Third Uncle, Seventh Uncle, what brings you here?"

"Come in, come in and have a seat."

These two elders are senior in kinship, have bad tempers, and usually act superior to others in the village.

The times are different now than they were decades ago.

Although Xie Laifu did not intend to let things slide, he also did not intend to offend Xiao Li'an and his gang.

Hopefully, these two old folks won't cause him any trouble!

The third and seventh uncles gave Xiao Li'an and his assistant Xiao Bang a haughty sidelong glance.

His gaze swept across the faces of Liu Siqing, Xiao Yuehua, and their group.

He then snorted coldly before sitting down on the stool that Xie Laifu had pulled out.

"Laifu, did they bully you?"

"Third Uncle, no, no."

“Our Xie family consists of over a thousand households, with nearly four thousand people in total, young and old.”

"It's not comparable to those small villages with only a hundred or so people."

"If they want to behave properly, we will naturally treat them with proper etiquette."

"If there are any blind fools who want to use the name of saving all living beings to harm the collective interests of our village, we naturally don't need to be polite to them."

"Just unleash the dogs and chase them out."

Uncle Qi had a long face and spoke in a soft voice, but what he said made Xiao Li'an and his group's faces darken instantly.

Xiao Yuehua had a fiery temper, and upon hearing the other party's veiled insults, she couldn't hold back any longer.

"Hey old man, you're so old, half your body's buried in the ground, can't you at least do yourself a little good?"

"You think you're so great just because your village is big? We're all people of the Party, why are you bullying us like this?"

"When we first arrived, we took a stroll around your Xiejia Reservoir."

“Your water supply is more than enough for six months, not to mention that the water supply hasn’t been cut off yet and has always been available. There is absolutely no need to cut off the water downstream.”

“The rice in this field will be ripe in just over half a month if it is irrigated, but you have to block the water at this time.”

"Isn't this deliberately sabotaging things to cause famine in several production teams downstream?"

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!