Chapter 58: Digging a Well
Each accusation was like a cold stone, hitting her head and face. Feng Lan then realized that these people had bad intentions.
She looked around and soon saw a familiar figure behind the crowd - Chen Kangnian.
He was huddled in a corner, a barely perceptible smugness and viciousness on his face. He said nothing, but the mouths of the villagers around him seemed to have become his mouthpiece.
Feng Lan understood instantly. This was Chen Kangnian's evil intentions. He didn't dare to intervene himself, so he incited these ignorant and selfish villagers to put pressure on him.
"Dear fellow villagers, dear uncles and aunts," Feng Lan suppressed her anger and tried to make her voice sound calm. "The division of our family is our own business. As for the conflict a few days ago, everyone has seen the right and wrong. We are also victims and never intended to disturb you. What happened today? Why are you all coming for me out of nowhere?"
"What's wrong?" Wang Er-Ma Zi's wife stepped forward, her hands on her hips, and stood in front of the well. "We just don't want to have anything to do with your family anymore! This well is our Pingjiang Village's public well, not the private property of your Chen family's eldest branch! Your family is so unlucky now, causing trouble every day. Who knows if the water you draw is clean? We don't want to drink the water you draw and be affected by your family's bad luck!"
"Yes! She is not allowed to fetch water!"
"Let her use the water from the canal behind her house!"
"We in Pingjiang Village don't welcome troublemakers like you!"
The crowd's emotions, instigated by those with ulterior motives, were completely ignited. Unwilling to provoke the evil spirit Chen Kangbo, they vented all their resentment and dissatisfaction on Feng Lan, who seemed relatively easy to bully. Jealousy, xenophobia, and a touch of ridiculous superstition intertwined into a ridiculous and powerful violence.
They surrounded Feng Lan and didn't let her get close to the wellhead.
Feng Lan looked at the faces in front of her, some of which were angry, some numb, and some gloating, and her heart grew colder.
She knew that reasoning with this group of people would not work. Once the evil in human nature was released, it was difficult to take it back.
She did not argue anymore, but silently put away her wooden barrel, turned around, and left the well platform under the contemptuous gaze of everyone.
Instead of going home, she went directly to the headman's house at the east end of the village.
The village head, Chen Dequan, is a thin old man in his fifties. He is a fairly fair person, but at heart, he is a typical peacemaker who always insists on "keeping things peacefully".
After listening to Feng Lan's narration, Chen Dequan twirled his goatee and sighed deeply.
"Lan'er, this matter... is difficult to handle." He frowned, looking troubled. "Legally speaking, the public well is open to everyone. They're wrong to stop you from drawing water. But morally speaking, it's hard to offend the public. Your family has really been... a bit too popular recently. It's inevitable that the villagers have some concerns."
"Mr. Lizheng, do you mean that we should just let them do whatever they want?" There was a hint of coldness in Feng Lan's voice.
"Alas, that's not what I meant." Chen Dequan waved his hand. "I'm saying that we need to take things slowly and not head-on. If your uncle Kang gets to know about this, won't there be another big fuss? And by then, things will only get worse."
He pondered for a moment and gave Feng Lan an idea.
"Let's put it this way, Lan'er. You know, most villagers are stubborn. The one who tied the bell must untie it. You go back and prepare some things. It doesn't have to be too expensive. Vegetables from your own fields or a few eggs you've saved will do. Send them to the families who started the riot, and say a few soft words to apologize. We're all from the same village, so if you can save face, the matter will be over."
After hearing this, Feng Lan's heart completely sank.
Asking her to apologize to those who are making trouble and distorting right and wrong? What's the difference between this and asking her to kneel down?
She looked at the headman's face that said "I'm doing this for your own good" and suddenly found it a little ridiculous.
"Thank you, Mr. Li Zheng, for your guidance." She stood up, her face showing no emotion. "I know what to do now."
After leaving the headman's house, Feng Lan did not go to any house to "apologize", but went straight home.
Chen Kangbo was weeding in the field with his daughters. When he saw Feng Lan coming back with an empty bucket and a bad look on her face, he immediately walked over.
"What's wrong?"
Feng Lan recounted in detail what had happened at the well and the village head's "brilliant opinion".
"Damn it!" Chen Kangbo punched the tree next to him, shaking the leaves. "These bastards who bully the weak and fear the strong! I'm going to go and settle the score with them right now!"
"Stop!" Feng Lan stopped him. "If you go now, won't you just fall into Chen Kangnian's trap? He's eager for you to make a move and escalate the situation. Then, the whole village will have even more reason to isolate us."
"What should we do? Just put up with it?" Chen Kangbo's eyes were red with anger. "Do we really have to do as the village head said and carry our belongings to apologize to those idiots?"
"Of course not." Feng Lan shook her head, her gaze passing the vibrant fields in front of her and looking further away.
The impending drought hung like a dark cloud in her mind.
Sooner or later, the village well would run dry. Even if they begged, they wouldn't be able to get a drop of water.
Rather than waiting to die at that time, it is better to completely give up this idea now.
"Comber," she raised her head and looked at her husband, her eyes flashing with a desperate determination, "If they don't let us use the well, we don't care. We have to draw this water ourselves!"
"Fight by yourself?" Chen Kangbo was stunned. "You mean..."
"Yes!" Feng Lan said word by word, "We can dig a well in the yard ourselves!"
Chen Kangbo's breathing suddenly stopped.
Digging a well? It's no small undertaking. Not only is it time-consuming and labor-intensive, but the expense of hiring a well digger alone is a significant expense. Furthermore, digging a well is also a matter of luck. If no water comes out, wouldn't that be a waste of effort?
But when he looked at his wife's determined and unquestionable eyes, and thought of her previous accurate predictions about the weather, the hesitation in his heart disappeared in an instant.
He recalled the severe drought in his previous life, when villagers fought over a sip of water, their heads bloodied and broken. He also recalled his daughters' chapped lips and sallow complexions due to lack of water.
If only they could have a well of their own...
Then, in the face of the impending natural disaster, they will have a foundation for survival!
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