Crossing the farm gate, the whole family reunites in the disaster year

The sun gradually sets.

"...There is an underground spring on the mountain? Are you absolutely sure?" Lin almost couldn't hold back his voice.

There is no comparison with the chestnut forest.

Water is the root of all things. Especially in the current situation, the whole village’s thirst for water is growing day by day.

This is no small matter.

Seeing her mother being so serious, Cui Zhaozhao felt a little unsure. The map only marked an underground spring, but she had never seen it with her own eyes.

"How about we try digging first?"

Lin thought about it again and again. From the perspective of a senior executive in the company, there are countless unknowns before things are actually implemented.

Without seeing the results with your own eyes, no matter how beautiful the vision is, it is just empty talk.

"Let's go to the mountain early tomorrow morning." Lin used a wooden spatula to scoop the dumplings out of the pot.

It’s getting dark, no matter how urgent it is, we have to get through tonight.

Lin was cooking while thinking about the groundwater issue.

Xiaoliu came back excitedly, holding a stick with two burnt-black objects on it, and handed it to Lin like a treasure.

"Mom, you eat."

"What is this?" Lin's nose moved and it smelled a bit fragrant.

"This is a sparrow flower. Uncle He shot it with a slingshot. Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh - it's so amazing!" Little Liu's eyes were full of stars.

Seeing that his mother didn't eat it, Xiaoliu handed it to his second sister and said, "Sister, you eat it. It's delicious."

Cui Zhaozhao pulled off a leg and blew away the dust on the surface.

She had eaten roasted quail before, and this bird was smaller than quail.

"It's chewy, it's good, mom, you should try it too." Cui Zhaozhao tore off a piece of meat and stuffed it into his mother's mouth.

There is just too little meat. After eating both legs, the rest is barely enough to taste.

Lin was preoccupied with something, and besides, it was just two pieces of meat, with no special flavor to taste. She coaxed Xiaoliu with a few words and sent him back to the house to change clothes.

Xiaoliu generously shared the delicious food with her second sister.

"Uncle He said that this bird eats food and is a bad bird. It eats every bird it sees." Xiaoliu shared the same hatred for the enemy.

"Uncle He promised to make me a slingshot. Tomorrow I'll go kill some birds and eat them all!"

Thinking of the crispy bird meat, saliva flowed down the corners of my mouth.

In fact, bad birds are not completely useless.

Cui Zhaozhao pinched his thin little arm, unable to bear the heart to dampen his enthusiasm.

"Whether I can have enough to eat tomorrow depends on you."

"Look at me!"

Walking in the dim twilight.

An ox cart returned fully loaded with a string of smiling faces following behind it, and the village seemed to have come alive again.

Xiahe Village hasn't been so happy for a long time.

"Now I don't have to worry about not having enough to eat. I even exchanged some extra rice bran. One pound of chestnuts can be exchanged for five pounds of bran. It's better than eating grass roots."

"I've also changed to bran, so I'm not afraid of winter anymore." A yellow-faced woman smiled and said, "Why do I feel so light under my feet? Is this really a dream?"

She was not the only one who felt the same way; the entire Xiahe Village seemed to be floating in the air.

Looking along the way in the afternoon, I saw that the crops were withered and wilted, not even as tall as the grass in the fields. People were hungry and couldn't even lift hoes, so they could only watch the weeds grow wildly.

Their lives would have been much the same if chestnuts had not been discovered in the village.

"This matter is really thanks to Jingwen Niang."

"Yeah yeah."

The lively and joyful atmosphere flows into every household.

"Grandpa, Grandma! We are back!"

The grain bag was almost pressing Silang's head into his shoulders, but it couldn't stop him from smiling.

They, the brother and sister, will no longer have to go hungry!

Erlang pushed open the window and said, "Hurry up and put down the grain bag. Don't let grandpa and grandma do it. Send it to the upper room."

Silang shut his mouth, walked slowly and steadily, and carried the food to the upper room.

Before leaving, his grandparents asked him to help exchange ten kilograms of chestnuts.

"Fourth brother is showing his teeth, he is not afraid of poking a hole in the grain bag." Lidong's eyebrows curved, he hasn't been so happy for a long time.

Cui Jingwen dragged the grain he had exchanged back to the east room with great difficulty. Before he could catch his breath, he turned his head and met three pairs of bright eyes.

"How about it?"

"With your brother here, nothing will go wrong." Cui Jingwen held his waist and stood up straight with his spine straight.

"What did the county magistrate decide?" Cui Zhaozhao couldn't wait.

"Cough cough." Cui Jingwen pinched his throat. "I haven't had any water all afternoon, my throat is a little dry."

Cui Zhaozhao quickly poured a bowl of water and held it forward with both hands.

Cui Jingwen slurped a mouthful and said, "Hiss, it's a little hot."

Lin held up the spatula and slowly sat up from the stove.

Cui Jingwen jumped three steps away and said, "Mom, please sit down. I'll tell you right away."

Lin glared at him and sat back.

"...After reading my petition, County Magistrate Wang was so furious he couldn't contain himself," Cui Jingwen said smugly. "Without a word, he gave each of them twenty strokes of the cane."

"Tsk tsk, didn't you see that? Zhao Yougen was beaten to a bloody mess, covered in feces and urine."

"Gone?"

Cui Jingwen raised his eyebrows: "This is just the beginning, there is more to come."

Cui Zhaozhao set the table and the family of four ate while listening.

"...Just after the beating, Yougen's mother rushed in with a group of people from Liushu Village." Cui Jingwen picked up a fried dumpling and threw it into his mouth.

"The people of Willow Village say our village is unkind and blame us for not sharing chestnuts with them. They say it's our own fault."

The head of the willow villager was smoother than the burned mountain, and he stood in the hall and made a confident argument.

The scene was in chaos. If it hadn't been in the lobby of the county government office, the people from the two villages would have fought each other fiercely.

"If it weren't for us, they wouldn't even know that chestnuts are edible. How dare they blame our village?" Cui Zhaozhao was furious.

The chestnut forest didn't appear out of thin air. Why didn't they come to rob it before they came to Xiahe Village?

"That's what County Magistrate Wang said. He took out a map and, in front of the head of Liushu Village, divided Jishishan Mountain into two parts, clearly stating that Xiahe Village and Liushu Village each had half."

Jishishan Mountain lies between two villages. Usually, the village that is closer will own the mountain, and everyone knows it.

Originally, Liushu Village wanted to take advantage of the situation, but they didn't expect County Magistrate Wang to write it down in black and white on the spot.

The expressions of the people in Liushu Village were wonderful.

Cui Zhaozhao felt relieved. In previous TV dramas and novels, corrupt officials were rampant. Unexpectedly, after traveling through time, he met fair and strict officials.

"Since the people of Liushu Village couldn't persuade the county magistrate, they turned their attention to Zhao Yougen, saying he was the one who instigated it."

Yougen's mother originally thought that asking the head of Liushu Village to come over would help her plead for mercy and absolve her of guilt, but she didn't expect that she would end up shooting herself in the foot.

The last few strands of hair in Liushu Village were about to be plucked out by Yougen's mother.

"...Finally, the four men from Willow Village each received another forty strokes of the cane, while Zhao Yougen received sixty strokes and was exiled two thousand miles away." Cui Jingwen paused, a hint of regret in his voice. "However, after the sixty strokes, he couldn't stand up, so he had no choice but to be thrown into prison."

The ground vegetables were plump, crispy and refreshing, and the four of them ate them with relish.

With Zhao Yougen’s example in mind, I’m afraid no one would dare to do it again.