Chapter 27 Punishment
Wei Zhong smiled and said, "What do you think, Mr. Zhou?"
Du Lao Zhuang sighed in his heart. He actually felt that what he had achieved so far was enough.
But Wei Zhong's words forced him to express his attitude, especially since Zhou Yunshu had just said that she had an idea to solve the water problem, and he didn't want to lose face in front of Zhou Yunshu at this time.
"Mr. Zhou, do you have any good ideas?"
"I think there's no order without rules." Zhou Yunshu looked at Du Mazi, who showed no sign of remorse, and said, "If the punishment for doing something wrong is insufficient or inadequate, it's inevitable that it will happen again."
"Fleeing famine is hard enough. Do you think everyone has to worry about not only guarding against outsiders but also guarding against their own people every day?"
After Zhou Yunshu finished speaking, everyone shook their heads. They didn't want to do it at all.
"Mr. Zhou, what do you say? We'll all listen to you!"
"Yes, Mr. Zhou, you tell us, we'll listen to you!"
Zhou Yunshu listened to the noises coming from all around her, looked at Du Mazi, who was looking at her with resentment, and said, "This time, I'm not targeting Du Mazi and the others, but everyone, including me."
"If there's someone among us who steals or betrays his own people again, it wouldn't be too much to kick him out of our team, right?"
“Not too much!”
"Of course not too much!"
Du Mazi and the other man breathed a sigh of relief when they saw that they still had one chance.
They were also afraid that they would really drag their families down with them and be driven out. If they were driven out at this time, there would be no other way but death.
After this matter was settled, people began to realize Zhou Yunshu's influence in the team again.
The crowd dispersed and the discussion continued.
They did not forget what Zhou Yunshu had said before: there was a way to temporarily alleviate the team's water shortage problem.
"Mr. Zhou, what did you just say about alleviating the water shortage?"
Everyone stared at Zhou Yunshu, as this was the key to their survival.
"There is a way, and this method can also prevent the incident of Du Mazi and others stealing water from happening again."
"What method?" everyone asked in unison.
“Distribute the water uniformly.”
"Ah?" Du Laosan asked in confusion, "But we're short of water now. Where can we find water for unified distribution?"
Zhou Yunshu continued, "That's why I said before that it's not easy to implement. Not everyone is willing to do it."
Even those who are sitting here trying to find water for the entire team may not agree.
The solution Zhou Yunshu came up with was unified distribution, a method borrowed from the collective economy implemented in the 1960s and 1970s when there was a shortage of materials and everything needed to be rebuilt.
"What do you mean, Mr. Zhou?"
Zhou Yunshu explained, "What this means is that we need to find someone trustworthy to collect all the water in the team and then distribute it uniformly."
As expected, as soon as Zhou Yunshu finished speaking, someone immediately spoke out in opposition.
"No, why should we give away the water we have saved with great difficulty? What will we drink if we give it away?"
The people sitting around the meeting were basically the more well-off families in the team, and also the families with a lot of water in the team. Wasn’t Zhou Yunshu trying to cut their flesh by saying this?
Zhou Yunshu looked at the people around her who echoed her sentiments and were equally unwilling to donate their own water, and continued, "I understand how you feel."
"But have you ever thought about this? The water theft incident that happened today wasn't the first and definitely won't be the last."
Du Youtian frowned and said, "But Mr. Zhou, you just said that if there is another theft next time, we will kick them out. They won't dare to..."
"Without water, people will die of thirst. Who cares whether you drive them out or not?" After Zhou Yunshu said this, the people sitting around fell silent.
"People are capable of anything when cornered. I'm afraid that when people are cornered and have nowhere else to turn, they might not only steal water but also kill to vent their anger."
Zhou Yunshu looked at the silent people around her and continued, "The unified distribution I mentioned will indeed be unfair to families with water, but we will also find ways to compensate them in other ways."
She looked at everyone and said, "I will also take out all the water from my home. I am not doing this for myself, but just want our team to work together and overcome the difficulties together."
Wei Zhong looked at Zhou Yunshu and said, "This can only solve the dilemma temporarily."
"So the most important thing for us now is to find a water source."
Zhou Yunshu twirled the stick in her hand and said, "Just like what Brother Wei said before, since there's a dilapidated temple there, and it hasn't been in ruins for very long, there must be a village or town around it."
"As long as we can find a place with human habitation, everything will be fine. If we can't find any, even if we can't tell the difference between water and water, we won't be able to leave Luzhou alive."
At that time, she could only escape with her people.
She had done everything she should have done. If these people still could not be saved in the end, she would not watch her family members die.
Zhou Yunshu said everything she needed to say. She stood up, looked at the people who were still thinking, and said, "Everyone, please think about it. Time waits for no one. It would be best if we have a result tomorrow morning."
Zhou Yunshu looked at Du Laozhuang, who had his head bowed, and Wei Zhong, who seemed to agree with everything she said, and continued, "I still say what I said before. What we need most now is to work together and not collapse from within."
After Zhou Yunshu finished speaking, she turned and left, with Feng Xujie following closely behind her.
When they returned to their position, Wei Zhong's four men had not left yet, or in other words, the people closest to Zhou Yunshu and the others were not Du Lao Zhuang, but Wei Zhong and the others.
When Li Jialan saw Zhou Yunshu coming back after the discussion, she immediately waved to her daughter.
"What's the matter? Is it resolved?"
Zhou Yunshu nodded. She looked at the four little ones who were whispering in the oilcloth tent, and then looked at Li Jialan, Fang Huiwen and Chunque, and repeated what she had said before in front of Du Laozhuang and others.
Fang Huiwen thought about the remaining water on his mule cart and guessed that his family should have the most water in the entire team.
"Is this really okay? What if..." Fang Huiwen was afraid that if the water leaked out, what would happen to the children at home.
Zhou Yunshu looked at Fang Huiwen and Li Jialan who were looking at her worriedly and said, "Don't worry, I've always prepared a way out."
Feng Xujie was originally worried that Zhou Yunshu might be too kind, but when he heard what Zhou Yunshu said, he looked at her curiously.
"You are my bottom line. If this team is really not suitable for me to stay in, I will take you away."
Family is her bottom line, and she will not wait for death with her family.
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