Zhang Daren lowered his head and asked, "Did you hear that? If you interfere with other people's lives and refuse to change after repeated admonitions, even if you are a scholar, you will be punished according to the law."
Wang Wen wanted to bury his head in the ground since then. He was scolded by adults in public about the stench in his home. If this word got out, how could he hold his head up in the academy in the future!
His face flushed, and he replied, "Your Excellency, this was done by my relatives. Due to the disaster, they came from the countryside to the city to seek refuge with the students. The students were burdened, so they neglected discipline."
Students, remember this: from now on, you must strictly control your family's behavior and not interfere with the normal lives of your neighbors."
Lord Zhang turned his head to look at the elderly people behind him, his expression softened, and he thought that the man was still quite filial and his behavior was understandable. He encouraged him a few words and then returned home.
The onlookers covered their noses and whispered to each other, and some even glanced into the yard.
Wang Wen's face darkened as he called his family in and closed the gate tightly.
He stared at the old lady with a fierce look in his eyes and said word by word, "From now on, you must keep this house clean! If I catch you dumping feces or urine anywhere other than the toilet again, I will report you to the police and have them take you away and put you in jail!"
These termites that only hold us back should have been driven away long ago!
Everyone was so weak that they immediately agreed to clean the place every day.
Jiang Jiacai finally took off his mask. It was really difficult.
March has brought the start of summer, and the air is not pleasant. It's hard to prevent even the smallest mosquito bites. Not only do I get little pustules, but they're also incredibly itchy.
Jiang Nian wanted to turn into a wolf and lick her, saying that wolf saliva could relieve the itch.
Jiang Yue: Thank you for the invitation, but I am very moved but I decline.
There's a saying that saliva can stop itching, and if you draw a cross on your small bump and then smear it with saliva, it won't itch. Regardless of whether this is true or not, she felt sick when she saw her arms covered in bumps and the thought of saliva covering them.
Jiang Yue regretted not bringing a few bottles of floral water. She had no choice but to pick some mint leaves and make a simple mint solution according to the instructions in the medical book, and apply it to the exposed parts of her body.
Jiang Nian really liked the refreshing smell. He smeared the mint liquid all over his chest, back, and arms, and then he could walk around the house shirtless, feeling very cool.
Jiang Yue couldn't stand him being so cocky, so she ordered him to clear out the place where he had previously raised poultry. Jiang Yue couldn't stand the disturbance of mosquitoes, so she killed and pickled all the newly raised chickens and more than 30 rabbits of all sizes. After all, she still had eggs left for breeding.
Jiang Nian wore a double mask and worked diligently. He not only cleaned it up, but also flushed the house with water.
After finishing, he drew water from the well and took a shower directly in the yard. He didn't stop until he was clean and smelled good.
Seeing him looking into the well, Jiang Yue was afraid that he might jump into the well to cool off, but he said with a serious expression, "Yueyue, the water level has dropped."
Jiang Yue pursed her lips and walked over. When the snow melted, the water in the well was still full. In just ten days, the water depth had dropped by half.
I don’t know which one will hit the people harder: the snow disaster or the severe drought.
The smile on the face of the old farmer in Jiangjia Village disappeared again. He had just plowed the land, but before he could borrow money to buy seed, the water level in the river had dropped by half.
The village chief sat on the edge of the field, staring at the empty fields in a daze.
"Dad, should we still farm this land?" Jiangshan's expression also became nervous.
The village chief pondered for a while, still hesitant. "In five days, if it rains, we'll hurry up and plant. Even if it's a few days late, it won't matter. But if it still doesn't rain, we won't plant."
Although the fields are still moist now, there is no water in the river to irrigate the land. Even if the rice seedlings can grow, they will not produce grain.
Jiangshan understood his father's concerns, but were they going to eat the expensive grain worth three taels of silver as if it were ordinary food? He frowned, thinking that his family would grind up the rice husks and swallow them all.
You know what, rice husks and wheat bran are really being sold in large quantities in this city.
After the snowstorm, people outside the city have to start growing vegetables, crops, and raising livestock such as chickens and ducks. People inside the city who cannot raise livestock have to open up fields in their own yards to grow vegetables. All these expenses are a huge expense.
After buying rice husks and wheat bran, people can mix them with grains and eat them to fill their stomachs, and they can also be used to feed livestock.
The grain store didn't take these things seriously and sold them at a low price. But unexpectedly, the sales of these grain "scraps" became more and more prosperous, and even the supply could not meet the demand.
After a while, things gradually returned to calm.
Because everyone noticed that the water level in the well had dropped! The people had just experienced a disaster and were very sensitive. They immediately left the food store and rushed to the grocery store to buy large buckets and bathtubs.
When the grocery store was out of stock, he would rush out of town to visit relatives in the countryside or to find unfamiliar farmers, and specifically ask them to make large wooden barrels and bring them home to store water.
The people were also smart (scheming), and they separated their families to work at the public wells in each alley.
"Hey, Lao Wu's wife, don't you have a well in your backyard? Why are you trying to steal water from us?"
The fifth brother's wife said with a wry smile that the water in the well at home was gone, and was ridiculed and squeezed by the people around her. Even though her face turned red and her eyes were wet, she stood there motionless.
"Young man from the Zhang family, that bucket you're holding is bigger than you! Can you carry it back by yourself?"
This was a boy of fifteen or sixteen, who actually brought a wooden bucket half the height of a man to queue up to draw water. By the time he finished drawing, would there still be water in the well for them to take their turn?
"Liu, your family is truly shameless! The government has already said that no family is allowed to grab too much water. I just saw your eldest son queuing at the well in the back street. Why are you coming here again?"
"Hey! Then why did you go to the back street? You were just trying to grab some water! You're so shameless, and you still dare to talk about our family?"
“We have a big family!”
“We have quite a few family members too!”
As they argued, the two started pulling each other's hair.
The people behind looked at each other, calmly pushed the two out of the line, and continued to queue up for water.
After a while, the yamen runners came and scolded the troublemakers, forbidding them to cause trouble again or to steal water maliciously.
The weather was getting warmer day by day, and the weeds on the roadside were scorched, as if they were about to melt the earth.
Walking on the road with thin soles feels like walking on a pile of charcoal, which will definitely burn you and cause blisters.
Apart from people going out to fetch water, the only people seen on the streets were yamen runners patrolling the streets.
Even if craftsmen were hired to dig the well deeper and deeper, the water level gradually decreased. The amount of water people could draw went from a full bucket to half a bucket and then to a thin bucket that only covered the bottom of the bucket.
One day in April, everyone exclaimed, "There's no water in the well!"
"The river has dried up too!"
The severe drought has officially arrived.
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