"Why?" everyone asked.
"As you can see, there's only this one pool of water on the mountain. Although it looks like a lot, there hasn't been a drop of rain for months. No matter how much water there is, it will only decrease with use. If we build a pipeline to bring water down to each village, there will be too many people and not enough water. The water will be divided into countless streams, and it will be a question whether it can flow smoothly down the mountain."
"this..."
The disappointment on everyone's faces was hard to hide.
"You said you were leading us to find a water source, but now that you've found one, you won't let us bring it to our village. Sister Liu, are you just teasing us?"
That's how it is for people at the grassroots level.
They often only see the immediate, short-sighted benefits, and easily get angry over anything that is difficult to understand.
Fortunately, Liu Yingying had experience in this area. She calmly smiled and said, "Everyone, don't rush. Let me explain. It's unrealistic to build a pipeline down to every village. Besides, there are more than just a few villages around us that have been affected by the disaster."
"Think about it, if everyone around you is short of water, but your village is the only one with water, what will happen to those people when they have nowhere else to go?"
"There have been precedents for this!"
They will inevitably fight over water resources, and there may even be bloodshed and casualties!
Upon realizing this, everyone looked worried. "Then... what should we do?"
“Actually, it’s easy to solve. We can just share the water source we find.” Liu Yingying smiled slightly and said calmly, “What I mean is, three or four villages can share one water source, and everyone can help each other to get through this difficult time together.”
"Yes, the surrounding villages are full of our fellow villagers, relatives and friends... We can't just watch them die of thirst, can we?"
At this moment, Sister Zou also stood up and said, "I think Sister Liu's method is feasible. After all, we still need to cut bamboo and build it up section by section to bring the water down the mountain. If all of us were to do it, I'm afraid it would take us forever!"
If we gather manpower from several villages, the work can be completed in two or three days.
"Then it's settled! We'll go down the mountain now to inform everyone that we'll gather young and strong men to cut bamboo first thing tomorrow morning!" Aunt Zou's husband slapped his thigh and stood up, saying.
Just then, someone suddenly shouted, "Who's lurking around there like that?"
The women immediately began to whisper among themselves, "Could it be that there are still bandits who haven't been caught?"
Liu Yingying frowned slightly, "That shouldn't be possible!"
Soon, the group caught the four people who were hiding suspiciously behind the door.
"Is it you?"
Liu Yingying looked at the familiar faces in front of her and was slightly surprised.
"Young lady, do you know them?" Aunt Zou asked in confusion.
"This is the village chief of our Taoyuan Village, and several of his younger relatives."
"Let go! Let us go! In broad daylight, what kind of behavior is this, pulling and tugging like this!" Wang Delu twisted his body, his old face extremely embarrassed.
"Let them go!" Liu Yingying's smile vanished, and she looked at the Wang family members seriously. "Village chief, what are you doing? Sneaking around behind everyone like this, anyone would think you're trying to steal something!"
Few people in Taoyuan Village respected the original owner, especially Wang Delu's wife, who became suspicious and repeatedly went to her door to make veiled insults.
Therefore, Liu Yingying naturally didn't show any courtesy to the Wang family.
Wang Delu was so ashamed that he didn't dare to look her in the eye.
It was Wang Dabing who spoke up to explain: "Sister-in-law Zhu, don't misunderstand. We men just saw that you, a woman, had come up the mountain with so many outsiders, and we were worried about your safety, so we followed you up to check on you!"
"Pah! Have you no shame?"
"When Sister Liu was about to be dragged to the pond by her in-laws, you all cowered like bastards. Now that Sister Liu has brought us up the mountain to find water, you're all worried?"
Wang Dabing smiled awkwardly at Liu Yingying and explained, "My uncle really couldn't interfere with what happened before, after all, it was a family matter for your Zhu family..."
Moreover, the custom of drowning women who have lost their chastity has existed for a long time!
But he dared not say those words again.
"However, as long as you agree to share this water source with our Wang family, we guarantee that no one in Taoyuan Village will be able to bully you in the future!"
When Wang Delu and his men followed them up the mountain, they kept a certain distance from them to avoid being exposed.
Therefore, we did not hear about the plans that Liu Yingying discussed with everyone later.
Upon hearing this, a glint flashed in Liu Yingying's eyes, and she said calmly to Wang Delu and the others, "I thought it was something serious. It's just about wanting to use the water from this mountain, no problem..."
After saying that, she turned around and sat down on a white stone, looking like she was waiting for you to come and negotiate with her.
The Wang family, after all, had been hereditary village chiefs for three generations.
Wang Delu quickly understood her meaning and stepped forward with a hint of flattery.
"Then... what do you want?"
"As long as our Wang family has something to offer, this old man will never be stingy... But to be honest, after being robbed by the bandits, our family has very little food left..."
He assumed that Liu Yingying would definitely offer to exchange her grain for it.
To everyone's surprise, Liu Yingying chuckled.
“In these famine years, everyone is struggling. You still have six or seven people in your family to feed. If I take your stored grain, wouldn’t that be forcing you to die?”
"Yes, yes!" Wang Delu nodded vigorously, but suddenly came to his senses and looked at her; "So, you don't want food, then what do you want...?"
“Village chief, you should know very well how the Zhu family has treated me all these years.”
"Let's not talk about anything far away, just take what happened today. If it weren't for my friends who have been through thick and thin with me arriving in time, would I still be standing alive and well in front of you right now?"
"So... you want me to drive the Zhu family out of the village?" Wang Delu asked cautiously, knowing that this might be a bit difficult...
Liu Yingying: "That's not necessary. You just need to explicitly forbid the Zhu family from using the water source I found!"
"That's easy! Okay!"
Wang Delu secretly breathed a sigh of relief. He was scared to death; it was nothing serious...
After reaching an agreement, everyone went down the mountain to prepare for the start of work the next day.
Liu Yingying lied and said that she had left her ancestral amulet on the mountain and had to go look for it, so she did not go down the mountain with the others.
In reality...
She secretly boiled a pot of bathwater and took a bath in Meng Renhun's room.
People should enjoy themselves when they should.
Mmm, that feels so good!
Meanwhile, Shen Shangxu was also rewarded by the imperial court for his meritorious service in suppressing the bandits.
However, because he had offended someone in the capital with his careless words, his rank was not promoted.
He didn't seem to care much.
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