As June approached, the temperature continued to rise, but it did not rain. Even though the strong laborers in the village went to the mountains to fetch water every day and brought it back to the village to irrigate the fields, they were unable to prevent the further drought from breaking out.
Lu Boyuan led the elders and old masters to the farmland in the village and found that all the crops in the fields had died. If they took action this year, there would be no harvest at all.
"Village chief, the water level in the mountains is getting lower and lower, and people from the other brigades have also arrived." The villagers were all very worried. They didn't have much food stored at home, and now they were counting on the autumn harvest.
Now, the weather is dry and there is not a drop of rain. The conditions of poultry and fields are not good. How are we going to get through the year?
"I remember there was a mountain stream in the deep forest, but we couldn't go into the mountains to fetch water." The elders of the tribe remembered that there was a drought when they were young, and the elders could not go into the mountains to fetch water. Each family provided a strong laborer, but few of them survived.
"No!" Lu Boyuan refused. "I'd rather go to the county town to ask for relief food, or ask Lu Shiyi to intercede and borrow food from the team. I can't let everyone take such a risk."
Lu Boyuan's voice was so loud that the villagers working in the fields heard it. Each of their families had an elder who had died due to water shortages. From then on, every household had made it a point that no matter how difficult the situation was, they were not allowed to go into the mountains to fetch water.
The words of the elders angered the crowd, and the villagers put down their work and gathered around.
"Elder, the village chief is in charge now. According to your traditional ideas, why should we listen to you if the village chief can spare everyone's lives?" The villagers were very angry with the elder.
They were unable to resist before, but now the village chief is leading the resistance. They stand firmly behind the village chief and will never let their family members die again.
"Elder, when our elders passed away, they specifically warned us not to go into the mountains to fetch water." The villagers told each other about the situation here and immediately gathered around, all opposing the elders' opinions.
The elders found that the villagers no longer obeyed their arrangements and could only look at Lu Boyuan, hoping that he could say a few more words for them.
"Village chief, we will listen to you and do whatever you arrange." The villagers hurriedly expressed their opinions.
The educated youth who came from the village stood far away and were not prepared to get involved in the disputes in the village. When they arrived in the village, the elders started to complain that the educated youth were a burden and even asked the village chief to arrange a lot of things for them.
The educated youth had heard the older educated youth mention the status of the village elders, and as long as the elders' demands were not excessive, they would acquiesce.
"Village head, the elders have been accepting money from the educated youth. I heard some of them aren't well off." Many villagers have heard this from the elders' children. "We didn't take it seriously at first, and the educated youth didn't come to the village committee to complain. But now, the educated youth have to go to the county town for meetings every five days. If Director Jin says a bad word about the village, the village will suffer an unprovoked disaster."
As soon as he finished speaking, the villagers asked the village chief to find a solution. No one could damage the reputation of the village. All the children of marriageable age in the village had to get married. If the reputation of a village was ruined, it would be difficult for the children in the village to get married.
"Liu Zhiqing, you are now the oldest in the Zhiqing Youth Institute. Please come over here to discuss things." Lu Boyuan said to the Zhiqing youth in the distance, "You can nominate a female Zhiqing to attend the meeting."
Liu Zhiqing looked in the direction of the female educated youth. Wang Dahong walked out from the crowd of female educated youth and came to Liu Zhiqing's side.
"Liu Zhiqing, I'm the representative of the female educated youth. Let's go to the meeting together." Wang Dahong walked over with Liu Zhiqing. "Village head, any female educated youth who come here must pay 4 yuan, and Xiaojin's share is no exception."
Wang Dahong remembered that Su Jin had been in the village for a few days, so he specially asked someone to go to her house to ask for 4 yuan. Su Jin thought it was the Youth League Office that asked for it.
"What?!" Lu Boyuan listened to Wang Dahong's complaint and stared at several elders.
The homes of the elders are all built with bricks and tiles, and even the younger generations either work in the county town or work as workers after graduating from school.
At this moment, they finally understood how the elders had made their fortunes. After the educated youth came, their families became even richer.
The elders told the villagers that their children all worked in the county town and received a fixed salary every month, and they handed over most of their salary to the government.
The villagers only said that the elders had foresight to let the children go to school, and everyone was at most envious in their hearts.
"Elder, are the words of the educated youth true? Most of the jobs of your four families were bought with money, right? I remember that the elder's family has formal jobs in the fertilizer plant, textile plant and steel plant. People in the county town said that one job costs 300 yuan." The villagers have relatives in the county town, and they have heard from their relatives that the three factories bought jobs to replace each other.
The villagers were stunned after hearing this. To make the elders’ families have so much money, each of them must have at least 3 or 4 jobs, which means almost 1,000 yuan.
In that era, a worker’s monthly salary was only 30 yuan, and he would have to save at least 300 yuan for a month without eating or drinking to earn that much.
"Village chief, shouldn't you check the homes of the elders? Everyone is equal now, and there shouldn't be any phenomenon of elders exploiting others," Liu Zhiqing listened to the villagers and thought that the elders were a bit too presumptuous.
"Liu Zhiqing is right, the clan elders have gone too far." The villagers all stood behind the village chief, and they all understood that the clan elders were using the educated youth to make money.
The villagers were waiting for the village chief's reply, as long as the elders were abolished and their privileges within the family were gone.
"From now on, the elders must go to work and leave on time. The previous system of 7 work points guaranteed by the elders will be gone. In addition, the amount of work done by the elders' family members will be recorded." Lu Boyuan said in public.
The elders and family members wanted to object, but seeing the angry eyes of the villagers, they swallowed what they were about to say.
"Village chief, we all got our jobs through exams. My brothers and I all graduated from junior high school, and the lowest standard for the factory is a junior high school graduate." The few people did not want to be blamed by the elders, so they all said that they got their jobs through exams.
The villagers have preconceived ideas, and no matter how much these people explain, they will not listen.
"You should solve your own problems behind closed doors. There's no need to tell the villagers. No one has time to ask." Lu Boyuan waved his hand, refusing them to chat any further. "Now that the drought is so severe, you should first think about how to live after the autumn harvest."
"Village chief, there is no irrigation water now. Let's gather everyone to the threshing ground for a meeting to arrange the more important things later." The villagers suggested.
The educated youth put down their farm tools and walked over, ready to go to the threshing ground for a meeting.
Lu Boyuan stood on the platform and talked about the next arrangements for the village. The strong laborers had to go to the stream halfway up the mountain to fetch water. During this period, they would try to work in three shifts, with each family sending two strong laborers. Except for a part of the water to irrigate the farmland, the rest would be put into the water storage well.
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