Chapter 1934 Acting on one's own initiative
Although the two cousins were very wary of Zhou Man, they could not stand the fact that Zhou Man held an official position and was followed by a large group of adults. So when she walked into the yard, the three of them stared at her with wide eyes, but did not dare to speak out to drive her out.
But when he saw her step into the main room, he couldn't help but shout, "You, you can't go in!"
Manbao looked back at him and said, "I'm just here to see how this house needs to be repaired. You can't live like this. Look at this thatch, it hasn't been replaced in years. If it rains in a couple of days, are you going to live in water?"
After saying that, she reached out and lifted the curtain and went in. Seeing the dirty and messy appearance inside, she sighed repeatedly. She only turned around and then came out and said to a group of young people, "We can't just sit there like this. I wonder if anyone has extra straw? Everyone can bring out a couple of handfuls. Let's help Uncle Yitang clean up this house so that it can be habitable."
Seeing his daughters folding their sleeves to get ready for work, Old Zhou glared at his two sons and said, "Hurry up and help."
Zhou Dalang and Zhou Wulang hurriedly rolled up their sleeves and went forward, but Xia Yi's house was so dirty and messy that they didn't know where to start. They were not good at housework either.
So the two brothers looked up at the roof and decided to find a ladder to pull off all the thatch on the roof.
But Xia Yi's family didn't have a ladder, so they could only climb up the half-collapsed wall and pull off the thatch on it.
Xia Yi's eldest son couldn't help but yell, "What are you doing? This is my house. You are not allowed to do anything. Come down quickly!"
Manbao glanced at him and said, "Can't you see that my eldest and fifth brothers are repairing your roof? The thatch hasn't been replaced in years. If it rains in a couple of days, are you going to sleep in the rain?"
The young man behind him also pulled him back and said, "Da Lang, your cousin is doing this for your own good."
After saying that, he turned around and said to the people in the tribe, "Let's go back and find some thatch. Each family can contribute some to repair his roof first."
Many people are not happy about this. Cutting the thatch, drying it and tying it up is very tiring. How can it be easy to tie it up one by one?
But seeing that Zhou Mandu had rolled up her sleeves and was ready to take action, they were reluctant to embarrass themselves in front of her.
They said they were from the same family, cousins, but they didn't change their surnames, so they couldn't help but treat her as an outsider.
Since I am an outsider, I don't want to lose face.
After a moment's hesitation, some people turned back to get their things, and when someone started going, the others also went home.
Some of them were headed by their parents, brothers and sisters-in-law. When they saw them taking the thatch and ladders from their homes out, they couldn't help but curse.
Old Zhou pulled out a broom from somewhere and handed it to Qian. He then perfunctorily patted the wall and picked at the dirt. Listening to the different shouting and muttering coming from afar, he couldn't help but say to Qian, "Xia Yi is such a bad person. When something happened, no one in the family was willing to help."
Qian stood there holding the broom, nodded slightly, and did not move.
If she wants to do something, she will do it well. If she doesn't want to do something, she would rather stand by and do nothing.
She glanced at Old Zhou, who was pretending to be diligent even though he clearly didn't want to move, and said, "The customs in the village and the clan are pretty much the same. After all, we're all from the same clan. As long as they haven't made a big enemy, and they've come back in dire straits, if you don't help them, then let your children help if they want to. Why stop them?"
Qian also listened to the scolding that continued to rise from the villagers. She glanced at the two young men and the little girl standing in the yard with green faces and shook her head. "If you help someone and end up getting into trouble, why bother?"
That’s right, someone at home has already helped, so if you continue to scold them, wouldn’t that destroy all the kindness shown in the day’s help?
I'm afraid it will only lead to more hatred. Old Zhou also thinks that those who curse others are a bit stupid.
If it were him, even if he didn't want to help, he would still walk over here and say a few nice words. Even without extending a hand, he would still be able to get a few nice words.
Xia Yi and his wife were away, leaving only their three children at home. However, these three children were neither old enough to refuse other people's kindness nor young enough to forget other people's insults.
Qian raised the corner of her mouth, turned around and saw Old Zhou still patting the wall, so she reached out and patted his hand, and with a loud slap, the back of his hand turned red.
She glanced at him and said, "What are you standing there for? Can't you see there are holes in the wall? Go ask someone where they got the mud for the wall, and then go dig some up and fill it up."
Old Zhou couldn't help but growl, "We still need to patch up the wall for them?"
"It doesn't cost you a penny, and you don't have to put in much effort. Don't you see all these young and strong people here? The benefits are yours, why are you so dissatisfied?" Qian said, "Manbao is an official, and his reputation is the most important thing. I don't want people in the capital to say that our Manbao abused his power and robbed someone else's house."
Although Old Zhou was very unwilling, he could only hold his breath, force a smile, and go to ask a young man who looked older some questions.
You know what, he actually knew it, so Old Zhou smiled and persuaded several young men to go back and pick up baskets to dig mud together.
By the time Chief Xia and the elders were alarmed by the scolding from the villagers and came over following the noise, Zhou Dalang had already brought a group of young men to tear off the roof of Xia Yi's house.
Patriarch Xia's eyes widened. His first reaction was that the Zhou family and the Xia Yi family had completely fallen out. He immediately stepped forward quickly with his crutches and shouted, "What are you doing!?"
Man Baozheng and Bai Shan were moving the furniture placed under the courtyard wall to a position a little closer to the center. Upon hearing this, they looked back and immediately smiled and said, "The clan leader is here too. We are helping Uncle Yitang repair and tidy up the house."
Xia Dalang's face was expressionless at this moment. He obediently moved things out of the house with his younger brothers and sisters. When he saw the Xia clan leader, he called out "Grandpa Clan Leader."
The heart of Patriarch Xia finally settled down. He glanced at Xia Yi's family, which was in a completely messed up state, and felt that there would be another big commotion when Xia Yi came back, so his heart began to rise again.
He couldn't help but look at Zhou Man, not knowing whether she was sincere or unintentional. He sighed and said, "Let Xia Yi handle such a big thing as repairing the house himself. How could you..."
Replace him?
Manbao said, "But Uncle Yi has been home for three days, and the house is still so messy. It's obvious that he doesn't know how to clean it up."
"Auntie Yi just came back, we can't let her work so hard, right? After all, there are many people in the clan, and if everyone helps, things will be done well."
A group of young people who rarely took action thought it was quite amusing and nodded in agreement, "Yes, yes, we can do it if everyone helps out."
Chief Xia lowered his head to look at them, and saw that they were squatting on the ground making thatch. He looked around the yard and found that there was quite a lot of new thatch, but it was obviously not enough.
He took a deep breath, turned around and said to his son, "Go back and bring twenty bundles of straw."
See you at 6pm
(End of this chapter)
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