The sun is more intense in the afternoon.
The woman was standing in the shade of the big locust tree with her child in her arms. Others were in the open space, surrounding the place.
Li Zheng broke through the crowd and walked to a big rock. As soon as he raised his hand, the scene became quiet. The weather was really too hot and there was no water to drink. Everyone wanted to finish talking quickly and go fetch water.
"This morning, Dashan Niang took me up the mountain and found a water source on the mountain."
Li Zheng did not intend to sell anything, he went straight to the point and stated everyone's hopes directly.
The people in the village were all excited, but they suppressed their excitement and waited for Li Zheng to continue.
"Not long ago, Dashan Niang discovered that there were jade bamboo shoots on the mountain, and last night she found water on the mountain. She told me immediately." Li Zheng said seriously, "I know that people in the village have some criticisms of Dashan Niang, but from now on , Dashan Niang is a great benefactor to our entire village."
Cheng Wanwan, who was standing in the crowd, was stunned.
She didn't expect that Li Zheng would clear her name in front of the whole village before getting down to business.
The original person had a bad reputation in the village. His relationship with his husband's family was at loggerheads, and the neighbors were not harmonious. Everyone wanted to spit on him.
After she came, these relationships have improved, but people who don't have much contact with her will still say some unpleasant things behind her back when they see her appear.
As a modern person, she actually doesn't care much about what others say behind their backs. She just says what she says, and she has a lot of meat.
"Da Shan Niang could have not told me this, but she still said it. She really regards everyone in Dahe Village as a family." Li Zheng looked at the people below, "If you still feel that Dashan Niang is not worthy of a cry Thanks, you can withdraw from the meeting in Dahe Village now."
Li Zheng's attitude was very strong. Anyone present who dared to say anything could only say thank you.
"Sister-in-law Zhao, thank you very much this time."
"Da Shan Niang, I misunderstood you before."
"Aunt Zhao, I don't know what to say, so please don't argue with me."
Regardless of whether everyone is sincere or fake, at least the appearance is good.
Cheng Wanwan smiled and said: "Actually, I didn't do anything, so you don't have to be so polite."
She is actually not that selfless.
As for the jade bamboo shoots, their family of six couldn't dig them all out. Instead of rotting in the ground, it would be better to sell them to Xiang Lizheng.
It is even more impossible to rely on her alone to deal with the water source. To bring down the water from the mountain, it must rely on the efforts of the whole village.
"Where there is a water source on the mountain, once you dig it, a lot of water will come out. It is mountain spring water. You can drink it directly. It is very sweet." Li Zheng said with a smile on his face, "We have water in our village, so there is no need to use it. The food is exchanged for water in Guihua Village, Chengjia Village. Dahe Village is blessed by God, and God will not watch us suffer!"
"There is really water!"
"Great, we have water!"
"..."
The villagers danced excitedly.
"It is not enough for people to have water to drink, we must also let the rice have water to drink."
Li Zheng suddenly raised his voice, and the crowd who were excited just now were all stunned.
Let the rice have water to drink?
Why is this so difficult to understand?
"Zhao Ergou, come up and tell everyone!"
Li Zheng gave up his position.
After Zhao Ergou came down from the mountain, he went home and changed his clothes. Although there were many patches, they were at least a little cleaner.
He walked on stage, a little nervous. This was his first time speaking in front of so many people.
"There is a lot of water in the mountains, so irrigating rice is not a problem. As long as we can introduce water into the rice fields, we will have a bumper harvest this year!" As soon as Zhao Ergou opened his mouth, he slowly calmed down and said in an orderly manner, "I have calculated it. The distance from the mountain to the bottom is about three thousand feet. Four to five hundred laborers in the village worked together to dig a trench. In two and a half days, they could dig a trench from the mountain..."
"Er Gouzi, what are you talking about!"
"It's ridiculous to dig a trench down the mountain."
"The whole village went to dig ditches. Who will do the work in the fields? This is a joke."
Everyone in the village didn't believe it.
They had dug land before, and it would take many days for the whole family to dig an acre of land. It would be even harder to dig trenches down the mountain.
Ergouzi said lightly that it would only take two and a half days. This was probably a lie.
There were sarcastic voices and noise below.
Zhao Ergou had never faced such a situation before and stood a little helpless.
He was only sixteen years old, a high school student in modern times. If he could handle such a situation properly, Cheng Wanwan would praise him for his courage.
She stepped onto the stage and stood beside Zhao Ergou.
As soon as she went up, it gradually became quiet downstairs.
Everyone was not afraid of her, but more surprised. In their impression, Sister-in-law Zhao was just a rough village woman. Now she looked much younger, mainly because she was cleaner and not dressed so much. Sloppy, my skin seems to have turned white...
Cheng Wanwan used to be a boss and often gave various speeches. Everyone looked at her directly, and she didn't have any stage fright.
She said quietly: "Dad Tiezhu, can I ask you a favor?"
Zhao Anjiang nodded immediately: "Sister-in-law Zhao, just ask."
"Bring a shovel over here and dig a trench right here in front of everyone." Cheng Wanwan said in a calm voice, "Everyone can calculate how long it takes Father Tiezhu to dig a trench."
Zhao Anjiang was in his early thirties, which is when a man is in his prime. He was full of strength. When he shoveled down the shovel, there was a big hole in the ground.
He buried his head and continued to dig. In less than a quarter of an hour, he dug a trench that was one foot long.
Everyone was stunned. Is digging a ditch so easy?
"The soil on the mountain is relatively hard and mixed with sand and gravel. A quarter of an hour will definitely not work, so we will count it as two hours." Cheng Wanwan took a step back, "Ergou, you came up with this idea. Come and explain it to everyone." Said."
She stepped off the stage and gave up the home court.
Zhao Ergou had already calculated it countless times at night. He calculated the accounts with everyone without any stuttering. With Zhao Anjiang demonstrating in front of him and Zhao Ergou speaking with reason and evidence behind him, most of the people in the village were Already convinced.
At this time, Li Zheng walked up and said: "This is a major event for all of us in Dahe Village. Therefore, all the prime-age laborers over the age of 16 in the village must participate in digging ditches. Everyone goes back to prepare, bring farm tools, and wait for half an hour. After that, let’s set out to go up the mountain together.”
There are still a small number of people who are doubtful.
"Li Zheng, what if there isn't so much water on the mountain?"
"Li Zheng, what if half of the water stops flowing, and my field is far away and the water can't flow?"
"Anyway, I won't do anything!" Zhang Laihai snorted coldly, "Some people believe Sister-in-law Zhao, just a woman, and she's just having fun. She's just teasing the big guys. Why should she do whatever she says?"
A very small number of people in the crowd agree with this view.
For example, Aunt Fugui, her man is thinking about the widow Zhao Cheng, but she has been unhappy with Cheng Wanwan for a long time.
There is also Sun. She has always been ranked second among the three daughters-in-law of the Zhao family. Of course, if she can give birth to a son, she will definitely be ranked first. Now the eldest sister-in-law actually has the support of Li Zheng, which means that she will be the last among the three daughters-in-law. How could she be so happy...
"Shut up!" Li Zheng looked at Zhang Laiyi coldly, "You can do nothing if you don't contribute. When the water from the mountain is brought down, your rice will not even get a sip! Anyone else who has any objections can withdraw now! I don’t care if people with other surnames quit, but if it’s the Zhao family and anyone quits, then I will open an ancestral hall and remove them!”
Li Zheng rarely got angry. At this time, no one dared to say anything after all the harsh words. Except for Zhang Lai, everyone went back to get the farm tools.
