I was divorced because I got pregnant during the lean years, so I went back to my parents’ home and

Most people know that it is because of the draft problem.

A lot of people gathered by the river this afternoon.

Lin was in a hurry to go out.

"Mom, don't go. It's useless to go. Just wait to hear the news! Let Shitou go." Ji Xiaobei said lazily as he leaned his head out of the window.

"Okay, let Shitou go!" Lin didn't want to see those old women in the village. Damn it, although the problem of wasteland was solved, her hatred for those old women did not diminish at all.

As an important representative of the Ji family, Shitou washed his face clean and went out.

A lot of people gathered under the big locust tree in front of the ancestral hall.

Ji Lizheng stood on a tall wooden pile, cleared his throat and said, "The problem of water supply in the village has really become a problem. I heard that several villages upstream are digging wells. Our village should also consider digging a well."

"Yes, Ji Lizheng, after drinking this water, my throat is full of earthy smell. Let's dig a well!"

"Let's dig a well. My baby has diarrhea and his belly is swollen..."

"Whose family has no one here? Raise your hands!" Ji Lizheng asked loudly.

Everyone below stopped talking, looked at each other, and no one raised their hands.

Ji Lizheng glanced around but didn't see anyone from the Lin family.

"Has anyone from Daniu's family come?" Ji Lizheng asked loudly.

Shitou raised his hand from behind and said, "Here I come!"

"Where are your mother and your elder sister?" Ji Lizheng asked.

"No! Shouldn't each family send one person?" Shitou puffed out his chest.

Ji Lizheng: How can a little brat like you make decisions?

But we have to admit that Shi Tou is not a person, and he is about to get married!

Ji Lizheng retracted his gaze and said, "To dig a well, you need to hire a craftsman, and you also need to buy blue bricks to build the well wall, which all costs money.

I heard from the head of the upstream village that the well in their village cost 10 taels of silver. Now that many villages are digging wells, 10 taels of silver may not be enough..."

After listening to Ji Lizheng's words, no one clamored to dig a well anymore. Digging a well was the village's business, not their own family's business, so people chose to keep quiet.

When Ji Lizheng saw this, he was furious.

Ji Ergou spoke up: "Village head, can't we dig a well ourselves? The men in our village are strong enough."

Ji Lizheng's face changed slightly and said, "Are you going down the well? Don't you know that the village next door dug a well and buried several people in it!"

Ji Ergou lowered his head and said nothing.

All the men in the village bowed their heads.

Song Laohei spoke up: "Li Zheng, let's dig a well. What else can we do?"

Aunt Song hit him on the head and whispered, "If you don't speak, no one will think you are dumb!"

"Wells need to be dug. It's okay for us old folks to drink muddy water, but it would be bad if the children got sick!"

Kiritsugu finished, glancing at the crowd.

Ji Dazhai stepped forward tremblingly and said, "I have lived for many years, and this is the first time I have seen the water in the stream become muddy. Is this a natural disaster or a man-made disaster?"

As he said this, he threw away his crutches, knelt on the ground, looked up to the sky and started crying.

As the head of the clan, he was penniless and powerless.

His old cry made the woman with shallow tear dimples start crying too.

The scene was chaotic for a while.

The young men pulled up the crying patriarch and leaned him against a big tree.

Ji Dasheng paused and said, "Every year we look forward to good weather and good harvests, but it has been like this for two consecutive years.

The older generation often said that in years of famine, if you fight alone you will starve to death, and only if the whole clan and the whole village work together can you survive.

I won’t live for many more years. I have watched all the children in the village grow up. I can’t bear to see you starve to death or die of thirst!”

People looked at each other, not knowing what he was going to say.

The old man wiped his tears, stood up straight, gritted his teeth and said fiercely:

"There are only one or two families in our village who are doing well, and they have given you money.

Some people complain about the small amount of money, the hard work, and use tricks to scheme against others behind their backs.

No matter whether your last name is Wang or Ji, this is just this once. Next time, if I know, I will remove you from the family tree and expel you from the village."

After saying this, the old man started coughing and trembling all over, and was helped away by his two sons.

What people don’t know is that this afternoon, my grandfather spent a long time wandering around the river at the foot of the mountain.

He went to find Ji Lizheng to discuss digging a well.

My grandfather suggested that Ji Xiaobei's family contribute a little more and the villagers contribute a little less to get the well digging done.

But when I heard that Ji Xiaobei's family's wasteland was abandoned by a woman in the village, I was furious.

How could Ji Xiaobei still have the nerve to beg for help when the villagers treated him like that?

Grandma Ayun stood in the crowd with her head down and her face red. She was so angry that she thought to herself, "What a jerk of a daughter-in-law!" She would go home and beat her up to vent her anger.

Erya's mother thought to herself: Ji Xiaobei's family affairs have nothing to do with me, it's that Ayun who is causing trouble.

Erya was so angry that she gritted her teeth and almost tore the corner of her clothes into pieces. When she got home, she was scolded by her father.

Ji Li was standing on tiptoe on a wooden stake, pressing his arms down, and then he said, "There are 32 households in our village. If we divide the tax equally among each household, how much does it cost? Ahem, Shugen, you do the math."

Shugen took a small stick and started counting stroke by stroke.

The villagers gathered around and watched the tree roots write on the ground like drawing talismans.

They all hope that this number is within their acceptable range.

People stared with their eyes wide open until they were tired. They spent half an hour drawing the tree roots and drew a circle around the wooden stake, but still couldn't figure it out. They were so anxious that beads of sweat were dripping from their faces.

The numbers on the ground were soaked with sweat and could no longer be seen. With so many people watching, the tree roots' eyes turned red.

Ji Lizheng coughed again and said, "In short, digging a well will cost at least 10 taels of silver. So, go home and calculate for yourselves, and share the cost among each household to see how much money you should get."

Shugen then straightened his aching back and looked at his father. It was impossible to calculate such a huge number in such a short time.

"Li Zheng, how can we count? We can't even count the roots of a tree..."

"That's right, Li Zheng. If you don't tell us how much it is, I won't be able to sleep at night."

"We are not in a hurry, let the tree roots do the math!"

The clothes on Shugen’s back were soaked, his face was flushed, and his hands were shaking. Why did you give me such a heavy burden!

Shi Tou squeezed into the crowd and looked at Shu Gen's red and swollen face. He thought to himself that he must be in a hurry. This is what happens when he can't count.

Ji Lizheng had put his son on the stage, and he couldn't get off the stage anymore. He was so anxious that he was rubbing his teeth...

The people around were also worried about the tree roots...