The high-hanging moonlight was so clear it could illuminate people.
Su Qingci looked at the other person with shining eyes, as if possessed by seven wolves.
Broad, powerful shoulders, a tall stature, a majestic chest, and a slender waist—all exuding masculine strength.
Just as Su Qingci was about to continue scanning downwards, Song Jingzhou vanished in a flash, looking as if he had encountered a ghost.
Bang!!
The loud slam of the door slammed down suggested the turmoil in his heart.
"Hey hey hey~"
Why are you running?
"I didn't do anything to you, look at you with such a petty attitude."
Thinking back to the scene just now, Su Qingci felt a little unsatisfied, as she hadn't seen the most crucial part yet.
Bang, bang, bang! A hand pounded on the door opposite.
"You've brought honor to your family, are you alright?"
"Do you need to use the toilet? You can go ahead, I don't need it!"
"I got up to put the bowls away!"
"What's with all the shyness? Really."
"One should be open and honest. I'm a girl and I'm not shy at all."
After knocking for a while, seeing that the inside was as if it were dead, they knew that there was no hope for today.
He pursed his lips speechlessly, "Weren't you going to apologize to me?"
........
The next morning, Su Qingci woke up to find that Song Jingzhou was gone.
On the dining table outside was a bowl of white rice porridge and a fried egg.
"Are you too ashamed to face me? You ran away first thing in the morning?"
He shook his head, sat down and ate breakfast without any ceremony, and then sauntered towards the security point.
The security checkpoint was bustling with activity, everyone was talking about it.
Su Qingci walked in and saw Xiao Li'an there, standing by the window with his hands behind his back, looking out with a worried expression.
"Mayor Xiao? What brings you here?"
Su Qingci subconsciously looked at Song Jingzhou.
She shouldn't be late, right?
Xiao Li'an turned around and nodded at her as a greeting.
"Now that everyone is here, let's have a meeting together."
Xiao Li'an looked serious.
"It's the crucial time for the rice to head in the fields right now, and it hasn't rained for over two months."
"The production teams upstream are afraid that continuing to work will affect the harvest, so they have started to block the water."
"In the past two days, there have been several disturbances in the lower brigades, and the disturbances have even reached the commune level."
"If things continue like this, something bad is bound to happen sooner or later."
"You guys have been working hard lately. Go down and check on things. If you encounter any problems, try to mediate them if you can. Just make sure no one gets killed."
After Xiao Li'an left, everyone fell silent.
Liu Siqing hesitated for a moment before speaking.
“Not only the production teams downstream, but even our Gaotang brigade is starting to experience water shortages.”
"The upstream water supply is blocked, and the water level in the reservoir is dropping day by day."
"Not long ago, even within our own team, production groups were fighting each other for water."
"Things are getting out of control now."
“Since the upstream area wouldn’t allow us to go into the water, my dad could only arrange for the team members to carry water from the reservoir one load at a time, or use oxcarts to haul water to the fields.”
"But this is far from enough; everyone is working themselves to death and still can't keep up with the demand."
"The rice roots were soaked the day before, and the mud surface was exposed again the next day."
“My dad and Uncle Luo have been so anxious these past few days that their mouths are covered in blisters.”
Xiao Yuehua also had a blank expression. "That's right, my Jianjun's shoulders have been chafed raw these past few days."
"We didn't have this much manpower during previous years' harvest season."
"It's one thing for the upstream to block the water, but we also have to guard against the downstream stealing water."
"These past two days, we've arranged for able-bodied men to take turns keeping watch at night."
"The day before yesterday, the reservoir's sluice gates were secretly opened in the middle of the night by the Wunitang Brigade downstream, and they stole a lot of water."
"Several old folks in the village were so angry they were jumping up and down."
“The water is blocked from above, and people from below keep stealing water. If the little water stored in the reservoir is stolen, our production team’s harvest for this season will be ruined.”
Song Jingzhou frowned. "Didn't your uncle try to negotiate with the team responsible for blocking the flood?"
"The drought has only just begun, how could it have reached the point of blocking the water?"
"Besides, it's the heading stage now. Once this stage is over and the ears of grain turn yellow, we won't need any more water."
"Even if it doesn't rain, there's absolutely no need for them to block the water!"
Liu Siqing looked extremely uncomfortable.
"Brother, have you forgotten what village is upstream from us?"
“Our upstream neighbor is the Xie family. Just think how many times bigger their village is than ours.”
“They usually bully other villages because their village is big, let alone now that it involves the grain harvest.”
"For farmers, grain is their lifeline!"
The Wang brothers remained silent. Although their brigade was small, it was located upstream and did not lack water.
In addition, with the mayor's wife in their team, everyone would be somewhat wary.
Su Qingci waved her hand, "Alright, stop arguing, let's go for a walk."
Wang Dachui remained at the guard post as usual, while the others rode their bicycles towards the countryside.
At this moment, there was a strong smell of gunpowder next to the reservoir below the Gaotang Brigade.
Two groups of people, carrying carrying poles and hoes, were facing each other.
Liu Dazhu and Luo Weiping stared at the troops from Wunitang across the way, their faces ashen.
"Jiang Dapao, don't go too far. This small reservoir was built by our brigade over several generations to store water."
“If it were built by the government, I wouldn’t stop it, but this property belongs to our brigade.”
“Last time you came to steal our water, we didn’t cause trouble because we were neighbors. Now you dare to come again?”
Changjiang Dapao, the brigade leader of Wunitang, looked at the two young men pinned to the ground with a grim expression.
"Release our people first!"
“Captain Liu, you are also a farmer, I thought we felt the same way.”
“I admit that this reservoir was indeed built by your Gaotang Brigade.”
"But you can't just stand by and watch all the rice in our Wuni Pond wither and die, can you?"
"Without this season's harvest, how are we, the entire brigade, supposed to survive?"
"You're not giving us any way out at all!"
The men behind Jiang Dapao were holding weapons and shouting excitedly.
"Release the water, release the water, give us water."
"Our rice paddies need water."
Luo Weiping waved his hand, "Don't try to morally blackmail us."
"You've been given the reservoir's water storage, so what are we supposed to do?"
"We don't even know where our own livelihoods lie, how can we possibly care about you?"
"If you're really pushed to that point, go up to the Xie family and fetch water down from there!"
"That's right, you don't dare to confront the Xie family, all you do is steal our water storage, you cowards, you useless trash."
“Thieves who steal chickens and dogs, beat them to death! Beat these two who steal water to death!”
The members of Gaotang Brigade also looked indignant.
Driven by his rage, he lashed out with his hands and feet at the two young men who were pinned to the ground and stealing water from the muddy pond.
The atmosphere at the scene was tense and ready to explode.
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