Old Mrs. Zhao and Old Mrs. Yuan were covered in dust from the ground. They dusted themselves off, but ended up coughing incessantly.
“Ladies, I don’t see anything serious on your part. Let Zhang Yufang fetch water for you. Hurry up and finish, everyone is waiting,” Zhao Tingzhang continued.
Old Mrs. Zhao and Old Mrs. Yuan were furious. "What's wrong, Pavilion Chief? This isn't fair! Zhang Yufang pushed us down, how are you going to settle this?"
"Alright, Granny Yuan, we all saw you fall down on your own." Zhao Yanniang stirred things up from the crowd. "Everyone agrees, right? You all saw it, didn't you?"
"I saw it."
"I saw it too."
Seeing that so many people weren't on their side, the two old women grumbled and left with the half-bucket of water.
The water they had prepared earlier was taken quite a while before their sons and grandsons came to collect it.
Zhao, the village head, took a closer look at the only remaining well, but it didn't seem to have much water left. This wouldn't do… if this well dried up too, the village would be in chaos.
This water-grabbing incident today shows that if there's really no water, no one will care about the bonds of kinship or community.
The next day, all the villagers rushed to the fields to dig ditches. Just then, a horse-drawn carriage suddenly sped along the wide country road.
The carriage was made entirely of deep blue silk and ebony. The horses were tall and imposing, exuding an air of great power.
The horse-drawn carriage sped through the fields, attracting the attention of all the villagers who stopped to watch.
Good heavens! Who's suddenly become rich? How come they have such a beautiful carriage? Some people in the village have lived half their lives and have never even seen what a carriage looks like.
Those horses ran so fast! They were gone before they could even get a good look at them.
Zhao Xiaohe jumped up and down, looking at his father with some confusion.
"Father, why does this carriage look like it's heading home?"
Zhao Tingzhang kept his head down and didn't even look up. "Don't talk nonsense. We don't have any relatives that are that wealthy."
"Oh..." Zhao Xiaohe continued working with his head down.
After a while, Liu was seen rushing over from home, calling out, "Old man, old man..."
Zhao, the village head, was definitely annoyed at being constantly interrupted. "What's wrong? Are you in a bind?"
Liu had come running here in one breath, panting heavily. She was out of breath and it took her a while to catch her breath before she said, "The magistrate's order is for us to go back immediately!"
"What?!" Zhao Tingzhang's mouth dropped open.
"The county magistrate has sent someone, hurry home!" Liu urged.
Zhao Tingzhang served as Tingzhang for thirty or forty years, and usually only went to the government office for a meeting with other Tingzhang at the end of the year.
Normally, Magistrate Liu would never even remember that he existed.
Zhao, the village head, quickly threw his shovel on the ground and excitedly ran home. After running a few steps, he seemed to remember something and turned back, shouting, "Everyone, put down what you're doing! The county magistrate has sent someone. Come back with me right now!"
Upon hearing this, the entire village carried their tools and ran to the village head's house.
This time, it was Zhang, the county magistrate's advisor, who came, accompanied by a junior yamen runner.
The two men got out of the sedan chair and explained their purpose, but the village head's family not only didn't offer them a stool to sit on, but instead made them stand at the door.
The young constable felt this was very disrespectful and muttered, "Sir, what's wrong with Chief Zhao? We've been waiting for so long and he still hasn't come back. Aren't you hot?"
As he spoke, the young yamen runner plucked a banana leaf from the side and began to fan Master Zhang, as if trying to curry favor.
Master Zhang stood upright and said calmly, "It's alright. I'm tired after the long carriage ride. Standing is fine too."
The young clerk pursed his lips and said nothing more.
When Zhao Tingzhang and the whole village saw Zhang Shiye standing at their door from afar, they quickened their pace.
"Master, I'm late." Zhao Tingzhang walked up and clasped his hands in front of him.
The villagers following behind stood there dumbfounded. They had never learned any of these customs and naturally didn't know what to do.
If I were to learn from Chief Zhao, it would seem rather strange.
Master Zhang gave a perfunctory gesture of support, then cleared his throat and coughed, saying, "To convey the magistrate's oral decree."
Upon hearing this, Zhao Tingzhang immediately knelt down, and the villagers behind him followed suit when they heard that the county magistrate was kneeling.
"The local officials are hereby ordered to go to the government office at 7:00 AM tomorrow to discuss matters."
"I will obey the magistrate's order." Zhao, the village head, kowtowed respectfully, and the villagers behind him followed suit.
Master Zhang calmed down and said, "Chief Zhao, it's still early. I need to go to Cheng Family Village to inform Chief Cheng."
Zhao, the village head, quickly nodded and quietly stepped forward to ask in a low voice, "Master, why is the magistrate in such a hurry to call us all over?"
Master Zhang glanced at Chief Zhao and said calmly, "Currently, there is a severe drought in various parts of Changning County. The most severely affected areas are Wanjiacun, Chengjiazhuang, and hundreds of other villages north of Changning County."
"Ah, hundreds of villages..." Zhao Tingzhang was very surprised.
“I think your Changfeng Village is doing relatively well. In other villages, the crops have all died from drought, and there’s not a drop of water in the river,” said Master Zhang.
Zhao, the village head, respectfully saw Zhang, the clerk, off. The villagers were all curious about what Zhang and Zhao had said to each other. They all stood on tiptoe, watching Zhao with anticipation.
Zhao, the pavilion chief, frowned, looking distressed.
He solemnly announced, "Starting today, our village must finish digging the irrigation canal overnight. While there is still water in the river, we must quickly divert the water to the farmland."
“Now there are hundreds of villages in the county that are short of water, and the crops are dying in the fields. There is no food to eat, and everyone is waiting to starve to death.”
In another month or so, the first crop of grain will be ready for harvest. We can't afford any more mistakes at this crucial juncture.
All the villagers were astonished by these words.
"Oh no, the crops have all died from drought! What are we going to do if we have no food to eat!"
"Yes, people are definitely going to starve to death. No wonder our county magistrate is so anxious."
“The situation in our village can’t be leaked. What if those people come to our village and steal our grain?” Zhao Yanniang said from the crowd.
Upon hearing this, everyone realized that it was indeed a very serious problem.
"Then we must take precautions when it's time to harvest the grain."
The crowd discussed it animatedly, and that night, every household lit torches and dug irrigation ditches in the fields.
Everyone worked until the moon hung above the treetops before going home to rest. The next day, just as dawn was breaking, the villagers were back in the fields with their hoes and shovels.
Zhao Tingzhang went to the county in an oxcart, without Zhao Dahai and Zhao Xiaohe this time. He specifically left his two sons at home to dig irrigation ditches.
When they arrived at the government office, dozens of people were already standing outside early in the morning; they were all local officials in charge of the village affairs.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
