In the end, the clan chief decided, "Tomorrow, everyone come with me to see that place. Koizumi, you can come too. We'll carry you; you can't walk very far now, right?"
Zhou Quan nodded and hummed in agreement.
“Alright, everyone, take a rest. We’ll go check it out tomorrow. If it’s alright, I’ll personally go to the town and ask the town magistrate. Our village has suffered such a calamity; the government can’t just ignore it, can they?” the clan chief said calmly.
"Then let the elders go too, and let's send more people," Zhou Quan said after thinking for a moment.
The clan chief agreed, thinking that it made sense for the clan elders to go.
The elders thought about it and realized that they were getting on in years, and it would be good if they could help their children and grandchildren.
When Zhou Quan and his father returned to their tent after the meeting, they saw that everyone else was lying down to rest, but Li Mai was still sitting on the side of the wooden plank, waiting for Zhou Quan.
After Old Man Zhou and Zhou Lei helped Zhou Lei back, they sat down quietly to the side. Li Mai went over to Zhou Quan's chair and stood there to take his pulse.
"Would you like some water?" Li Mai asked him.
Zhou Quan nodded.
Li Mai fetched water from the jar for him, but it was actually spiritual spring water released through space and thought that was brought to Zhou Quan.
Zhou Quan told her to drink first.
Li Mai chuckled, took two sips, and handed it to him.
Zhou Quan silently finished his drink. Seeing that his father and Xiao Lei were already lying down to rest, he could only let Li Mai sit on the small stool next to him so the two of them could talk.
Zhou Quan whispered to Li Mai what had just happened and asked for her opinion.
Li Mai thought for a moment and said, "Moving to another place is the right thing to do. After a flood like this, the ground will be damp for at least a few months, and it is also easy for some diseases to breed. If there is a suitable place, it is best to move the village."
"Moreover, nowadays everyone can take their belongings over there to build houses. As for the village here, the land can be leveled and some things suitable for growing in red clay soil can be planted."
"If it rains again, won't this place flood?" Zhou Quan asked instinctively.
“We can build a canal. Once the new village is built and everyone has a place to live, and since we can’t harvest anything from the fields anyway, we might as well build a canal from the western mountains to the river before next spring’s planting season. Then, when there is water, it will flow directly into the river and won’t flood these fields anymore.”
Li Mai had seen this kind of documentary before, so I told him about it. Of course, how to do it is still decided by the Zhou family members. She, as a young wife, certainly has no say.
She didn't take the lead. She could tell that Old Man Zhou and Zhou Quan seemed to have quite a high status among the Zhou family members. The clan leader and elders were willing to listen to what they said.
After listening to Li Mai's words, Zhou Quan remained silent, pondering the possibilities in her words. Gradually, his eyes lit up. It seemed that it was indeed possible, although the project would be quite large. However, they could build the canal slowly, and it would be better to build the house first and prepare the fields before planting next spring.
"Thank you. I think what you said makes a lot of sense. I'll talk to the clan chief about it when I have time," Zhou Quan said softly.
Li Mai nodded and hummed in agreement.
In the middle of the night, Zhao and Old Man Zhou got up and sat down to talk quietly, telling Zhou Quan and Li Mai to lie down and rest.
Because of the limited space, the two of them could only rest close together.
Zhou Quan was worried that Li Mai was cold, so he took off his robe and draped it over Li Mai.
Li Mai was already asleep and unaware of this; she only discovered it when she woke up in the morning.
I ate all the cooked food I brought yesterday, so starting today, I'll have to cook over a fire.
Zhao and Zhou Tao found an open space outside, built a simple stove with stones, and prepared to make noodle soup with the small pot they had brought.
Li Mai quietly took out a scallion from her spatial storage, broke off a section, washed it with water, and after the dumpling soup was cooked, she chopped it into small pieces with scissors and put it in. Then she took out a small jar of the scallion oil she had prepared earlier from the basket, scooped some in, added salt, and a pot of dumpling soup was ready.
With the three of them working together, their breakfast was ready in the time it takes for an incense stick to burn.
When Li Mai stood up to take a bowl from the basket, she noticed that the people around her were quietly sniffing and looking in their direction.
Li Mai saw a few families cooking over a fire not far away, but most people were eating steamed buns or vegetable pancakes.
Li Mai smiled helplessly and called her family to come and eat.
The family sat quietly around the stove, eating their meal.
Zhou Zhong and Zhou Zhang, each holding a steamed bun, came over with smiles.
Li Mai glanced at the two of them, nodded, and continued eating.
"Brother Quan, why does your dumpling soup smell so good?" Zhou Zhong asked with a grin.
Zhou Quan glanced at him, then at the empty pot, and asked, "Did you bring noodles? If you did, you can cook it yourself and light a fire."
"I brought it, but I don't know how to cook it. Could you help me, sister-in-law?" Zhou Zhong asked expectantly.
He had eaten his mother's cooking, but it wasn't as good as the noodle soup from Zhou Quan's family.
Zhou Quan looked at Li Mai.
Li Mai finished the last bit of soup in her bowl and nodded, "Okay!"
Zhou Zhong and Zhou Zhang happily turned and ran off to get their own flour and water.
When they brought it over, Li Mai discovered that their seasoning only included salt.
Zhou Zhong and Zhou Zhang, one took the water and the other took the firewood.
Li Mai could only help them make dumpling soup.
When it was cooked, it didn't look very appetizing, so I took some scallions from my own basket, chopped off a section, washed them, chopped them with scissors, put them in the pot, scooped in some oil from my own oil jar, and added some salt from his house.
She scooped some soup into her own bowl, tasted it, and nodded, "That's enough. Take it away, but remember to bring the pot back when you're done eating."
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