Chapter 21 Villagers' meeting, post-mortem
When they arrived at the entrance of Huachidu Village, the old doctor did not allow Gu Xixi to continue to send him off.
"The old blind man has lived here for many years. He knows all the roads and paths around here. He won't get lost."
Gu Xixi couldn't persuade him any more, so she had to stop and watch him go.
The old doctor walked forward with the wooden box on his back and waved his hand.
"Wait until you have any good or bad news to tell me, then come to my house as a guest."
A meeting was held in the village that night, and the space under the big locust tree was brightly lit by torches.
Gu Xixi was busy for most of the day before she had time to take care of her experimental samples.
So she and Aunt Zhang arrived a little late and didn't know what had happened.
Then I saw Gu Laosan and Liu standing in the middle with their heads down.
The villagers stared at the two of them with serious expressions, and no one spoke for a while.
Gu Xixi had some guesses in her mind when she saw this scene.
As she was looking around curiously, the village chief walked up to her and said, "Everyone in the village knows that there was a thief in your house."
"In the afternoon, several people from the neighboring village came to claim the child, but I didn't agree to let them release him."
"You are the victim, so you decide how to deal with them."
The village chief, Lao Qian, is a tall and strong middle-aged man. Not only is he good at farm work, he has also made some friends by traveling on the business route.
So although he was young, he was elected as the village chief because of his knowledge and loyalty.
Gu Xixi said, "When I got home, Aunt Zhang and...my distant uncle had already tied them up."
"They are deliberately taking advantage of the situation to rob. If we only give them such a small lesson, I'm afraid they won't learn their lesson and will become a disaster to the village when they grow up."
The villagers nodded in agreement.
"These little bastards are always causing trouble. If we don't punish them, we will be ignorant of the world!"
"How dare you come to our Huachidu Village to take advantage of the situation and bully the villagers because there is no one left?!"
Lao Qian asked Xixi, "So what do you mean?"
Gu Xixi said sternly, "Those who violate the law should be handed over to the county government and punished according to the law."
"If you need a witness during the court session, I will be there whenever you summon me."
Old Qian looked at Gu Xixi deeply.
He didn't pay much attention to this little girl before, and only had some impression from other people's words.
This moment made him change his mind greatly.
The older people in the village were all timid when talking about meeting an official, but she, a little girl, was neither impatient nor irritable, and neither humble nor arrogant.
Old Qian nodded with a smile, "Okay, I'll do as you say."
"But I'm afraid it would be inconvenient to leave so many men in your home to look after them."
"Later I will bring a few young men to take them all to the land temple and watch over them all night."
"How about handing it over to the county government tomorrow in the name of the village?"
Gu Xixi bowed and said, "The village chief is so thoughtful, I will obey him."
Old Qian turned around to look at the third brother and his wife, and his smile disappeared instantly.
His face was as dark as thunder, and he shouted in a deep voice, "Gu Lao San! Liu! The two of you started a fire by burning wheat straw, which destroyed 18 acres of the villagers' fertile fields and a large amount of grain and vegetables."
"Now that we have all the evidence, what else do you have to argue about?!"
It turned out that Gu Tiezhu broke his leg just after Gu Laosan's family had finished harvesting wheat.
The family suddenly lost a laborer.
Gu Laosan thought that dealing with the remaining straw in the field was tiring and slow, so he decided to burn it all.
This morning he took a tinder and went to the field to start a fire.
It just happened to be seen by a family who also got up early to apply fertilizer.
In addition, Lao Qian brought people to visit and investigate in the afternoon, and it was most likely that the initial fire point was Gu Laosan’s own two acres of wheat field.
Judging from the ashes piled on the ground, this place was the most thoroughly burned.
Various clues confirmed Gu Laosan's guilt.
That's why we called the couple here tonight, with the whole village as witnesses, to settle the account.
The villagers were outraged after hearing what the village chief and the witnesses said.
Especially the families who suffered losses due to the fire.
Uncle Gu pointed at Gu Lao San angrily and said, "I told you guys not to put out the fire this morning, and you told me not to listen to Gu Xixi. It turns out it's all your fault!"
"You have to compensate me for my cabbage!"
Not only these losses, the fields were also charred, leaving behind thick ashes, and it is feared that nothing else will be grown until next year.
Liu grumbled unconvincedly, "Who among you has never been short of wheat straw?"
"It's not edible or drinkable. Even animals don't like to eat it. They burn it every year, in every household."
"This bad luck is God's will. If you want to find out, go ask God!"
Several victims were also dissatisfied and started arguing with Liu.
Gu Xixi looked at this scene and thought that the treatment of wheat straw had indeed been an agricultural problem.
Only by turning straw into treasure can we solve the adverse consequences of disorderly burning from the root.
Apart from this, is there any other way to solve the current losses?
Gu Laosan and Liu made it clear that "no compensation, but two lives". The two sides argued until the moon rose, but there was still no result.
The laws of this dynasty do not prohibit farmers from burning straw on their own fields, and there is no penalty for this kind of situation that is initially man-made and then turns into an accident.
As the village chief, Lao Qian could only try his best to mediate.
Seeing that it was too late, Lao Qian asked everyone to disperse first and he would call both parties to meet another day to discuss the matter.
On the way home, Gu Xixi kept thinking, what should be planted on the ashes?
Tea trees? The temperature is too high to plant them now, and it will take another year to see the results.
The northwest is freezing and cold in winter. After planting one crop of food, farmers usually continue to plant short-term, quick-maturing crops such as radishes and cabbages to store for the winter.
If it is not possible to change the type of crops, is it possible to start with the soil and make use of the ashes?
The next morning, Aunt Zhang went to knock on Gu Xixi's door before she even made dinner.
"Xixi, the government has sent people to our village! They will be at our house soon! Get up quickly!"
"Oh..." Gu Xixi sat up in a daze.
She hardly slept last night, and there were dark circles under her eyelids. She put on two sets of clothes like a sleepwalker, and she suddenly woke up.
She quickly put on her skirt and coat and ran out.
"Aunt, you said that someone from the government office came? Do you know why they came? Where did they go?"
Aunt Zhang was stunned for a moment and said, "I don't know why I came."
"Just now the village chief sent someone to inform us that someone from the government office is coming and the village chief has gone to meet him. Oh, the village chief also said that it is a good opportunity to hand over the robbers who broke into our house to the government office."
"When the time comes, the yamen runners may come to our house to inquire, so you should make preparations early."
Aunt Zhang thought for a moment and added, "However, the people in the government office didn't seem to know that our village caught fire yesterday. The village chief also said that it would be best not to make a big fuss about our internal affairs and cause trouble for the officials."
Gu Xixi's eyes were wide open, and she almost didn't hear what Aunt Zhang said later.
The surrounding villages are all poor and there is no oil or water at all.
The yamen runners would only go to the village on their own initiative when they received official errands.
If it weren't for the fire.
That……
Gu Xixi turned her head and looked towards the west room.
Oh no!
But before she could take any action, there was a knock on the door and Lao Qian's voice came:
"Niece of the Gu family, the envoys from the government are here, come out and greet them!"
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