Dressed as a farmer's widow, she brought her daughter to stock up on food and reached the top

Zhou Dazhu was speechless, but he still refused to dig a well. He lowered his head, avoided looking, and refused to give in.

In the end, Li Gang had no choice but to leave with the men who were digging the well in disappointment.

After coming out of Zhou Dazhu's house, Li Gang angrily led the well-digging team towards Zhao Cunliang's house.

Arriving at Zhao Cunliang's house, Li Gang stood in the yard and shouted, "Zhao Cunliang, come out!"

Zhao Cunliang walked out of the house slowly, looking at everyone with a puzzled look on his face: "What's going on? What's going on?"

Li Gang said, "The village needs to dig a well to combat the drought. Your family has five laborers, so you must provide one!"

Zhao Cunliang listened, but he looked unconcerned: "Li Gang, stop joking. How can this land be so dry? I don't believe it."

Li Gang's eyes widened, staring at Zhao Cunliang in disbelief. "It's already this late, and you still don't believe it? Go to the fields and take a look. The crops are almost dead!"

Zhao Cunliang curled his lips and said, "Maybe it's not that serious. Maybe it will rain in a few days."

Li Gang stamped his feet anxiously. "How could you be so foolish! What if it doesn't rain? Are we just going to watch the fruits and vegetables in the fields die of drought?"

Zhao Cunliang remained unmoved, with his hands folded across his chest, looking indifferent.

Li Gang pointed at Zhao Cunliang, his fingers shaking with anger: "Zhao Cunliang, you...you are so infuriating!"

Zhao Cunliang didn't take Li Gang seriously at all and cursed: "You believe what Xiuying said. She is just a useless woman!" He had a look of disdain on his face and a scornful smile on his lips.

Li Gang was furious when he heard this and retorted loudly, "Zhao Cunliang, what are you talking about! Why is Xiuying useless? What's wrong with her idea?"

Li Gang was so angry that his face turned red and the veins on his neck were bulging.

Zhao Cunliang snorted coldly, "What can a woman like me understand? You guys really take it seriously!"

The surrounding villagers also accused Zhao Cunliang: "Don't talk nonsense, Xiuying is doing this for the good of our village!"

"That's right, why are you so unreasonable!"

Zhao Cunliang still stiffened his neck and said firmly: "Anyway, I don't believe it. I think you are just messing around!" He put his hands on his hips, looking arrogant.

Seeing her husband quarreling, Tian Guilan stormed out, spat on the ground, and cursed, "Xiuying only eats and drinks for free at home, and when she goes out, she cheats you, the unpaid laborers!"

She put her hands on her hips, the flesh on her face trembled as she yelled and cursed, her eyes full of fierceness and arrogance.

Li Gang glared at Tian Guilan and said sternly, "What nonsense are you talking about! Xiuying is giving advice to the village, how can it be as bad as you say!

Besides, the idea of digging a well to combat drought was something we all discussed together.”

Tian Guilan raised her voice and shrilly replied, "I'm talking nonsense! She's an outsider, what right does she have to dictate what happens in our village?"

The surrounding villagers could no longer bear to watch and began to criticize: "Tian Guilan, don't go too far! Xiuying also has good intentions. Xiuying is from another family, aren't you?"

Tian Guilan ignored her and continued to throw a tantrum: "Good intentions? I think she has ulterior motives! She wants us to work for nothing!"

The more she cursed, the more excited she became, and her ferocious look made everyone angry and helpless.

Finally, Li Gang looked at the unreasonable appearance of Zhao Cunliang and Tian Guilan and shook his head helplessly.

He shouted to the well-digging team behind him: "Forget it, let's not waste time with them. We can't let these two families delay us!" Li Gang's face was gloomy, and his eyes were full of anger and disappointment.

The members of the team also looked at Zhao Cunliang and Tian Guilan indignantly, then turned and left with Li Gang.

As Li Gang walked, he shouted, "Let's work harder and dig a well as soon as possible so that those who don't believe can see it!"

The crowd walked with firm steps towards the well-digging site. The sunlight shone on them, reflecting their unyielding and united figures.

Li Gang led the well-digging team to the selected location, and everyone immediately started working enthusiastically without saying a word.

Li Gang was the first to pick up the shovel and shoveled the ground hard, shouting, "Brothers, work harder!" His forehead was soon covered with sweat, but his hands did not slow down at all.

The strong young men followed suit, some digging the soil with all their might, others carrying baskets full of soil on shoulder poles, their arm muscles tense and their clothes soaked with sweat.

The older villagers were providing guidance, reminding everyone from time to time about safety and digging techniques.

An old man squinted his eyes and said loudly: "Dig deeper here, yes, yes!"

Everyone worked together, the sound of shovels hitting the ground, the squeaking of shoulder poles, and people's heavy breathing intertwined together.

Amid the flying dust, everyone's face was filled with determination and hope.

The sun was high in the sky and the heat was unbearable, but no one stopped their work. Everyone was working hard to dig out water as soon as possible.

The women sitting under the old locust tree were discussing while sewing shoe soles.

"Fortunately, I followed Xiuying to plant drought-resistant and high-yield rice this year, otherwise we wouldn't have any harvest in such a dry weather." Mrs. Sun spoke first, her face full of relief.

Aunt Li nodded and said, "Who says it's not true? If it weren't for Xiuying, we would still be foolishly planting the old varieties. I'm afraid we wouldn't get a single harvest."

Aunt Wu also chimed in, "We also harvested the sweet potatoes early with Xiuying, otherwise they would have rotted in the fields."

"Although Xiuying is a young girl, she is very smart." Aunt Zhao praised with a smile.

"That's right, if it weren't for her, we wouldn't have had a hard time this year." Everyone echoed.

The women talked to each other, their words full of gratitude and praise for Xiuying.

The gossipy ladies thought of the families of Zhao Cunliang and Zhou Dazhu, who neither planted drought-resistant and high-yield rice nor sweet potatoes.

"Hey, why are Zhao Cunliang and Zhou Dazhu so stubborn that they just don't follow the instructions and plant crops?" Liu Erniang curled her lips, her eyes full of disgust.

"Those two families can only wait for the worst. They won't listen to such a good suggestion." Sister Ma shook her head, looking regretful.

"I think they are just jealous of Xiuying's ability and deliberately sing a different tune." Mrs. Wu said in a firm tone.

"Hmph, when they have nothing to show for it, we'll see if they can still be tough." Aunt Qian snorted coldly.

The women became more and more excited as they spoke, with different expressions on their faces, some angry, some mocking, and some helpless.

When the women thought of the food stored in the cellar, their faces were filled with satisfied smiles and they were full of hope for life.

"We have all that food stored in our cellar, and I feel much more at ease. We can get through this difficult time." Aunt Sun said with a smile, her eyes narrowed into slits.