The whole village is starving, but I have a full warehouse of meat in the mall

Chapter 36 The most critical issue now is to bring the water down

"Take a shovel and dig a trench in front of everyone." Jiang Wan said calmly, "Everyone can calculate how long it takes Stone Dad to dig a trench."

Ye Xing was a man in his prime, full of strength. He dug a big hole on the ground with a shovel.

He continued digging with his head down, and in less than a quarter of an hour, he had dug a two-meter-long trench.

Everyone was dumbfounded. 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 is definitely not enough, so let's say half an hour." Jiang Wan took a step back, "Er Hai, come and talk to everyone."

Ye Erhai had already calculated it countless times at night, and he quickly explained the account to everyone. With Ye Xing's demonstration in front and Ye Erhai's well-reasoned words in the back, most people in the village had been convinced.

At this time, the village head walked up and said, "This is a big event for everyone in Hehua Village, so all the able-bodied laborers over the age of fifteen in the village must go dig ditches. Everyone go back and prepare, bring farm tools, and go up the mountain together in half an hour."

There are still a small number of people who are skeptical.

"Li Zheng, what if there is not so much water on the mountain?"

"Village head, if the water stops flowing halfway, my fields are far away and the water can't flow through, what should I do?"

"I won't do anything anyway!" Wang Dashan snorted coldly, "Sister-in-law Ye is a woman, but some people actually believe her nonsense. She is just messing with us. Why should we take her words as the final word?"

Among the crowd, very few people agreed with this view.

For example, Aunt Liu, her husband has been thinking about the widow Ye Jiang, and she has been unhappy with Jiang Wan for a long time.

And Li, she has always been ranked second among the three daughters-in-law of the Ye family. Of course, if she could give birth to a son, she would definitely be ranked first. Now the eldest sister-in-law has actually received the support of the head of the village, which means that she will be ranked last among the three daughters-in-law. How can she be happy about this...

"Shut up!" The head of the village looked at Wang Dashan coldly, "You don't have to contribute, but when the water from the mountain is diverted, your rice won't be able to drink a sip! Anyone else who has any objections can withdraw now! I don't care if outsiders want to withdraw, but if anyone withdraws from the Ye family, I will expel them from the clan temple!"

The headman rarely got angry, but after hearing his harsh words, no one dared to say anything, except Wang Dashan, who all went back obediently to get their farm tools.

There are about 500 young laborers in Hehua Village. A large group of them went up the mountain carrying shovels and hoes.

The route had been planned long ago. First, a team was assigned to cut down trees and level the ground. Big trees were cut down and big rocks were moved away, so that the planned road was cleared cleanly.

The remaining people were divided into two groups to take turns digging ditches, with each two people responsible for three meters, and slowly moving towards the foot of the mountain.

They rotated every hour so that the people digging the ditch would not get tired.

The women in the village would carry buckets up the mountain to fetch water. They would bring back two buckets at a time, which would be enough for a day if they were frugal.

Ye Dahe and Ye Erhai were also among the working people. When the women passed by Ye Erhai, they couldn't help but stop and chat with him.

"I watched Erhaizi grow up. He was sloppy and had a runny nose when he was little. How come he is so smart when he grows up? He will definitely have a great future."

Ye Erhai: “…”

Please don't mention the past when he was a sloppy kid, okay? Doesn't he have any dignity?

"Er Haizi, you are fifteen or sixteen this year. Have you found a wife yet? Do you want me to be a matchmaker for you?"

Ye Erhai: "No, no need." "Erhaizi, my mother's family has a niece who is fifteen years old this year. She is so pretty. I will bring her here for you to see tomorrow."

"Your niece from your mother's side is no good, she is too lazy. My daughter is hardworking, Erhaizi, you also know my daughter, her name is Liumei, I asked her to come over now..."

Ye Erhai was surprised by the woman's enthusiasm. Didn't he just say a few words in front of the whole village? Why was he so popular?

He said dryly, "My family is poor, and I can only sleep on the floor after I marry my wife. I am afraid of injustice to the girl, so I will not consider this matter for the time being. Thank you all for thinking of me..."

After he said this, several aunties who had been overwhelmed by the excitement finally remembered that no matter how smart or promising Erhaizi was, it would be useless because his biological mother was Ye Jiang!
Although Ye Jiangshi looked different now, everyone in the village knew her reputation for mistreating her daughter-in-law, so it was better not to marry my niece to her and let her suffer...

Several aunts were carrying buckets up the mountain to fetch water. Just after they took a few steps, they suddenly saw a few people acting suspiciously in the woods ahead.

"Those people over there seem to be from Huaihua Village!"

"Why are the people from Huaihua Village here again? What do they want to do? Are they trying to steal the water from Hehua Village?"

"Whoever runs faster, go back and inform the head of the village!"

At the foot of the mountain, the village head and Jiang Wan were talking under the big locust tree in the middle of the village.

"Make a living here. When there is enough water in the rice fields, fill it with stones to block the ditch. When needed, move this big stone away."

The village head nodded repeatedly: "I just don't know how many years this ditch can be used after it is dug."

"The soil will become soft after being soaked in water. Over time, the ditch will be filled with mud and naturally become unusable. Can we put stones in the ditch so that the soil on the side will not be washed away and bury the ditch?"

The village head's eyes lit up: "Dahe mother, your idea is good, I will go up the mountain right away."

"Don't worry about it." Jiang Wan said hurriedly, "The most important thing now is to divert the water."

"That's right, that's right."

As the two were talking, Ye Mao ran over quickly, panting and saying, "Uncle Lizheng, it's bad, the people from Huaihua Village are here again!"

The headman frowned, then sneered: "This hilltop belongs to Lotus Village, so the water on the hill naturally belongs to us. Also, this hill is closer to Lotus Village, so we gathered several hundred people to start the work. The headman of Huaihua Village has done a lot of disgusting things over the years, so the villagers will not willingly go up the hill to dig ditches."

Having said that, the village head still decided to go up the mountain.

When Jiang Wan returned home, Gu Xiaohui had made a lot of wild vegetable buckwheat pancakes and placed them on the table, with an egg secretly sandwiched in the middle of the pancake.

She took two cakes with her and went up the mountain. When she was almost there, she saw her two sons digging holes with farm tools. They were sweating profusely but didn't even have time to wipe their sweat off. They didn't even notice her coming.

Jiang Wan did not disturb them. He sat aside and waited for a while. Then Ye Dahe and Ye Erhai were replaced to rest.

"Mom, why are you here!" Ye Dahe wiped his sweat, "It's not sunny now, why is it still so hot?"

Ye Erhai glanced at the sky and said, "I don't know whether I should continue working tonight or go back to rest."

(End of this chapter)