Jiang Ling continued to encourage Jiang Yaojie to continue speaking.
Jiang Yaojie took a deep breath and continued, "We can line the dug ditches with bamboo. Bamboo is extremely resistant to decay and won't rot even after being soaked in water for three to five years. The bamboo on the back mountain is thick enough, so we can split it in half and put it in pairs in the ditch."
"If we encounter bent bamboo, we can cut it into smaller sections. Although it will still leak water, it is much better than directly guiding the water into the ditch."
Jiang Yaojie's words stunned Old Lady Lu, but soon discordant voices emerged from the crowd.
"Jiang Yaojie, you're so weak you can't even kill a chicken. You have no idea how hard it is to dig a ditch! Not to mention how deep we have to dig, do you know how far it is from the White-Haired Goddess Cave to our field ridge?" Wang Laizi, who was stirring up trouble, said impatiently while picking his nose.
Wang Laizi was notorious for his laziness in Lujia Village. Whenever the village organized collective work, he would try to avoid it or run away. Today, when he heard that they were going to dig ditches, he was the first to object. Since Wang Laizi was not from the village, the village chief could not say anything and could only glare at him fiercely.
Jiang Yaojie was somewhat bewildered by Wang Laizi's words, and stood awkwardly in place, looking in the direction of Jiang Ling.
Jiang Ling didn't speak, but picked up the prepared shovel and walked to the wasteland next to her. She said to everyone, "Digging ditches is all about working together. There should be quite a few young and middle-aged men in our village. If everyone digs a little, that will cover a very long distance!"
As Jiang Ling spoke, she picked up a shovel and began digging in the wasteland. Before long, a ditch was beginning to take shape. Jiang Ling stopped digging, wiped the sweat from her forehead, and said to everyone, "If a weak woman like me can dig such a long ditch in such a short time, are the able-bodied men in our village not as good as me?"
Upon hearing Jiang Ling's words, everyone turned their attention to the ditch she had dug, and the whispers gradually grew louder.
“Village chief, my son Xiaohao is the first to volunteer for digging the ditch. I’m not from your Lujia Village, but when you found grain before, you took pity on my widow and her orphan and gave us twenty catties. Without those twenty catties, I probably would have hanged myself from the roof beam by now. Village chief, please don’t look down on my son Xiaohao because he’s young. He’s very strong!”
The woman who spoke was named Sun. Years ago, she fled to Lujia Village with her son to escape famine. The village chief took pity on them, a widow and her son, and allowed them to stay in Lujia Village. He even temporarily gave Sun two acres of wasteland on credit to solve their livelihood problems.
Over the years, Sun had always been grateful to the village chief for saving her life as a widow and her son. Now that no one was taking the lead in digging the irrigation ditch, she quickly pushed her son, Feng Hao, forward.
"Grandpa Village Chief, don't underestimate me just because I'm young, I'm incredibly strong!" Feng Hao said, patting his arm.
Seeing this, the village chief narrowed his eyes and praised them repeatedly. Then, his expression turned cold as he looked at the crowd and said, "I don't care about people from other families in the village, but at least one person from each household of the Lu family must participate in digging the ditch! Don't try to take advantage of this situation. I will keep a record of everyone who sends someone..."
The village chief paused for a moment, then looked around at everyone and continued, "Digging ditches is not mandatory, but those who don't participate without a valid reason will not have the water from the ditches diverted to their own fields!"
"Alright, everyone, get ready and we'll meet at the Lu Family Ancestral Hall in a bit!" After saying that, the village chief waved his hand to signal everyone to disperse.
"Yaojie, don't overwork yourself, you hear me?" Jiang Ling whispered in Jiang Yaojie's ear.
Jiang Yaojie nodded, then glanced hesitantly at Jiang Ling before cautiously asking, "Mom... just now... I didn't embarrass you, did I?"
"Silly son, what are you saying! How could you possibly embarrass your mother? You are my pride!" Jiang Ling smiled gently and comforted him.
Jiang Yaojie was in a great mood after hearing Jiang Ling's words, and he gradually became more confident, even walking with his back straight.
Jiang Ling was very happy to see the changes in Jiang Yaojie.
I'm home.
Jiang Ling briefly explained what the village chief had just told her. Jiang Ling originally didn't want her two daughters to get involved, but then she thought that she couldn't assign all the hard work to Jiang Yaojie.
But we can't bring our little one with us.
Jiang Ling considered for a moment and looked at Jiang Suihe, saying, "Suihe, can you and your mother go cut bamboo to make firecrackers later?"
Before Jiang Suihe could speak, Jiang Wenxi ran over.
She wriggled and climbed onto Jiang Ling like a piece of chewing gum, whispering sweetly, "Mom, don't let my older sister go, I'll go with you! My older sister has been so diligent lately! I've seen her secretly writing something on the ground several times!"
Jiang Wenxi's words served as a reminder to Jiang Ling.
Jiang Ling suddenly remembered that she had promised Jiang Suihe that she would send her to school.
The recent issues with the boulder and water source have been troubling her, and she had completely forgotten about such an important matter!
Jiang Ling quickly patted her head and thought to herself, "Once the water source problem is solved, I have to go to Changning Town. Suihe is getting old, and her studies can't be delayed even for a day!"
"Wenxi, you and your mother will go to the back mountain to cut bamboo later. Suihe, take good care of Nianci!" Jiang Ling instructed.
Jiang Suihe looked at Jiang Ling and Jiang Wenxi with some hesitation, but Jiang Wenxi winked at Jiang Suihe and secretly made a shushing gesture to her.
Jiang Ling saw all of this and felt that her three children were truly unique in their own way.
Although Jiang Yaojie is sensitive, he has excellent observation skills. Jiang Suihe is a girl who is very talented in reading and writing. The youngest, Jiang Wenxi, seems to be very emotional, but in fact, she is the most cunning of the three children.
"Yaojie, Wenxi, let's go. Suihe, take good care of Nianci!" Jiang Ling said, taking one child in each arm and walking towards the Lu family ancestral hall.
Jiang Ling and her two children walked to the Lu family ancestral hall, where a large crowd had already gathered. Lu Gousheng, the village chief's grandson, was sitting in a chair, earnestly registering the names of the visitors.
Jiang Ling walked over and said to Lu Gousheng, "Gousheng, two people from our family are Jiang Yaojie and Jiang Wenxi."
Lu Gousheng looked up at Jiang Ling, then lowered his head and wrote earnestly on the paper: "Quan Quan Jie and Quan Quan Quan".
Jiang Ling looked at Lu Gousheng's crooked handwriting, and her temples twitched involuntarily. In her memory, there didn't seem to be a single scholar in Lujia Village. Lu Gousheng had studied reading and writing with an old master in town for a few months before, which made him the most educated person in Lujia Village.
Jiang Ling couldn't help but sigh. The idea of sending all four children away grew stronger in her heart. Jiang Ling really didn't want her four children to live out their lives in such a dreary way, toiling in the fields.
“We need to split into two groups now. One group will go to the back mountain to dig bamboo, and the other group will dig ditches. Now I’ll assign the personnel list…” The village chief said, standing up from his chair as soon as he saw that almost everyone was there.
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