From that day on, almost everyone in the Li family changed their daily routine.
Jiayin sleeps all day and stays at the well to release water at night.
The old lady naturally stayed with them, and the whole family kept bringing water to irrigate the plants.
It was tedious, boring, and arduous, but no one in the Li family complained.
Compared to when they lived in the borderlands, where the whole family fled famine and were constantly in danger of having their heads chopped off by barbarians, this time they were much better off.
Compared to the despair of that night at the dock, this hardship was just hardship, but it brought me peace of mind!
They are fighting for their lives, giving it their all.
The villagers come to the Li family's house to fetch water every day, silently watching the Li family do "useless work".
Some of them wanted to fetch water to irrigate their fields, but they didn't have a vehicle, and even after carrying water all night, they could only irrigate one row.
I gave up on it immediately after just thinking about it.
As the days went by, most of the mountains and forests had turned yellow, and even breathing under the sun felt like being scalded.
The river outside the village began to crack, and the wells in each village dried up.
Those with relatives in the city began to flock there. Those without relatives in the city dragged their families to the more remote mountains.
Many people also went to Qingshui Village to seek refuge, without mentioning how much they had previously disliked the village for its bad luck.
The reason is the well in the Li family's house.
Although it often dries up, it is always quickly filled up again.
Each family is not greedy; they have a bucket of water a day, enough to keep the children and elderly from getting thirsty, and enough to cook a pot of porridge so they don't starve.
But with more people, there will always be some trouble.
Originally, there were only a dozen or so households in the village, and they would all queue up to get water. But now that there are more than twenty new households from the village, they are always arguing and fighting over water.
The village chief couldn't stand it, so he came to the Li family every day to oversee the distribution.
People from other villages not only need water for their families, but also for their livestock. So they wanted to fetch two more buckets of water.
Everyone disagreed, of course; there was only so much water. If someone filled two extra buckets, the person at the end of the line might run out of water.
And the well would refill with water at any time, it was completely unpredictable.
The people from other villages who were stopped became unhappy and started shouting.
"Aren't you bullying us? You won't even let us get two extra buckets of water. The Li family even hauls a whole cartload of water to irrigate their crops, why don't you say anything then? Why should we be allowed to do this?!"
The courtyard fell silent suddenly because of those words.
Grandma Li sat in the shade of the eaves, holding her granddaughter.
Jiayin has lost a lot of weight these days due to exhaustion, and her face is also a bit pale.
Grandma Li was already heartbroken and couldn't help, so when she heard these words, she immediately became furious.
"Why should I? Because this is my family's well! At a time like this, letting you draw water is out of consideration for our fellow villagers. It's not something you owe me!"
Our well is so big that even if we just dump water in the yard and don't let us use it, we wouldn't have any problem getting water from it.
"What, you're going to get us arrested by the government? Have we broken the law? You have quite the nerve!"
The old woman was always smiling in the village. Her sudden coldness and scolding really surprised everyone.
But soon, Aunt Wu and Sister Zhang Er joined in.
"That's right, we drink their water and expect to be told what to do. Who do you think you are, the county magistrate!"
"If you're so capable, don't come and live in our village! We've lent you our house and shared our water with you. You can't even appreciate this help? You're such an ingrate!"
The man from the other village was scolded until his face turned red and his neck became thick. He wanted to leave but couldn't bear to, so in the end he could only stand at the back of the line.
Everyone took turns fetching water, one bucket per person, which was barely enough.
Just as everyone was walking out, on a mountain path not far from the Li family's house...
Suddenly a cloud of dust appeared, and three or four large wild boars came running down, followed by Uncle Zhao and a few other old men, shouting loudly.
"Kill them! They're going to ruin our crops!"
It turned out that since Uncle Zhao and the others couldn't help with watering the fields at night, they volunteered to take over the job of watching over the fields.
They worked in shifts during the day and night, fearing that wild animals in the mountains would damage the crops.
Unexpectedly, wild boars have indeed set their sights on the Li family's land, and today they've come in groups to feast.
Uncle Zhao and the others kept a close watch and soon discovered it, banging on the copper basin to drive it away.
The wild boar was startled and ran straight towards the village.
The crowd screamed in fright and scattered, none daring to confront the wild boar head-on.
Just then, Li Laosi climbed over the courtyard wall.
He was holding a thick wooden stick and smacked the leader of the wild boars on the head.
The wild boar let out a miserable cry, its brains splattered, and it fell directly to the ground.
Jiayi squeezed out of the gate, but he was a step too slow. He panicked and jumped onto the back of a wild boar. He drew his dagger and plunged it into the boar's eye.
The wild boar suddenly went blind, flew into a rage, and charged wildly. But Jiayi pulled out a dagger and slit its throat.
Seeing this, the village chief shouted to the villagers to help pen up the remaining two smaller wild boars.
Li Laosi also joined in, striking twice more with his stick, and then it became completely quiet.
Pig's blood and brains splattered all over him, making him look exceptionally fierce.
The outsider who had been making a scene and being scolded earlier, who had initially been somewhat indignant, now shrank back, becoming obedient and barely daring to breathe.
Don't mess with the Li family; their sons and grandsons are too fierce. Their heads aren't as hard as wild boars'...
Everyone was shocked, but then they were overjoyed to see the fat pigs all over the ground.
"Haha, we can finally eat pork!"
"Exactly, this is like meat being delivered to your door."
"Luckily, the fourth brother and Jiayi were home, otherwise it would have been a real disaster."
"It looks like it's quite dry up in the mountains; even the wild boars have come down here."
"Who cares? At least we'll have pork to eat!"
The village chief went over to take a look and found that the wild boars were indeed dead.
He thought for a moment, then said to Old Lady Li, "Sister, what do you think we should do with this wild boar?"
After thinking it over for a while, Old Lady Li had an idea.
She kept all four wild boars at home; it wouldn't be right not to share them with the villagers. But even if she did share them, she couldn't bear to part with them.
So she simply said it.
"Let the fourth brother take the two big ones to the city to sell. We'll use the money to pay for my son Jiaren's schooling. The remaining two small ones have more tender meat. Let the village chief decide to share them with everyone, so that everyone can have some meat and the children can have a treat."
The village chief thought the same thing and quickly agreed.
"Okay, then I'll thank your family on behalf of everyone."
The crowd wasn't greedy and loudly thanked them in unison.
"Thank you, ma'am!"
"Thank you, Auntie!"
Soon, the mule cart was harnessed, and Li Lao Er and Li Lao Si went into town to sell wild boar.
The other two were not carried away; they were skinned and gutted right in front of the Li family's house.
There are only about thirty households in the village now, including those who have come from outside and are staying temporarily.
The two wild boars together weighed over 300 jin (approximately 150 kg). After removing their heads, hooves, and internal organs, they yielded 200 jin (approximately 100 kg) of meat.
The newcomers each received three jin (1.5 kg), and the villagers each received eight jin (4 catties). The remaining thirty-odd jin (15 kg) were all given to the Li family.
The bones removed from the bones can be given to families with children, elderly parents, or other elderly members to make soup.
As for the head, hooves, and offal, the village chief decided to leave them all to the Li family.
Tao Hongying is a skilled cook; after braising the meat, each family only needs a bowl. It doesn't matter how much, it's just about enjoying the delicious flavor.
A disturbance caused by wild boars rushing into the village was no small matter, but it was resolved so easily in Qingshui Village that every household was overjoyed.
No one was envious of how much silver the Li family made from selling their two large wild boars.
The wild boars came down the mountain because they wanted to ruin the Li family's crops, and it was the Li family who killed them all.
Even if the Li family left the wild boars behind, no one had the right to say a word. Besides, they had already divided such a large portion among themselves.
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