Reborn in the 1980s: Nine Stunning Beauties Get Pregnant Before Marriage

After the police car left, the people from the two villages along the canal dispersed.

Chen Yongqiang looked at the thin stream of water in the canal. It was just a small trickle. How many acres of land could that little bit of water irrigate?

Yang Dahai walked over and said, "All this arguing about is for such a small amount of water. What's the point? Isn't it just for a good harvest from those few acres of land?"

The fight over this water source has been so fierce that people have fought tooth and nail, but in the end, it's all about a tiny piece of land.

This year marks the first year of the household-based distribution of production.

In the past, there were production teams. Everyone planted and harvested together. After paying the grain tax, the rest was divided up. You wouldn't starve, but you wouldn't starve either.

But things are different now. The land is our own, the harvest is our own, and whether we grow it well or not depends entirely on ourselves.

At the end of the year, we still had to deliver grain to the state; this was a strict task, and not a single grain could be missed.

On the way back, someone in the crowd suddenly blurted out, "Last year on Laba Festival, we even worshipped the water god, so why didn't he bless us?"

"Yes, I remember that ceremony last year was quite a big one."

"Hu Chuyao from Hujia Village presided over the ceremony and read a very long eulogy. People from our village also went. But what happened? Not a single drop of rain fell this year. It's as if the water god wasn't worshipped at all."

Several people started discussing it amongst themselves.

Chen Yongqiang certainly remembered the worship ceremony held on Laba Festival last year.

At the ceremony held by Hu Chuyao from Hujia Village near Qingba Reservoir, representatives from several nearby villages, including Shimen Village, were also present.

It hasn't rained at all this year; not a single drop has fallen since the beginning of spring.

The reservoir is holding up thanks to water releases, but the water level is almost gone.

She presided over the ceremony; she was the chief officiant. Now that the drought is so severe, how can the villagers not murmur amongst themselves? How can they not complain?

The atmosphere at the Hu family home was somewhat heavy at this moment.

Inside the ancestral hall, Hu Jiuhua sat at the head of the table, with several elderly clansmen sitting beside him, all of whom were prominent figures in Hujia Village.

"This year has been dry and without rain, as you've all seen."

"The crops in the fields are dying of drought. If it doesn't rain soon, this year's harvest will be ruined."

Several people nodded, their faces showing worry.

Hu Jiuhua continued, "I consulted a fortune teller last night."

"What does the divination mean?" Hu Chuyao asked.

"The Lesser Fullness of Grain is not full, and the field ridges are broken. The divination shows that if one sincerely prays for rain on the day of Lesser Fullness of Grain, one may be able to move the water god and send down sweet rain."

This ceremony naturally required someone to preside over it. And in Hujia Village, only Hu Chuyao was qualified to do so.

The problem now is that it hasn't rained all year, and people in the village are starting to talk about it.

They said last year's worship ceremony was ineffective, that Hu Chuyao did a poor job presiding over it, and that those rituals were just a charade.

Although no one said it to his face, Hu Jiuhua overheard some of those words.

Now they're going to hold another rain-seeking ceremony, and they want her to preside over it...

One of the clansmen hesitated before speaking, "Ninth Uncle, is it...appropriate for Chu Yao to preside over this?"

"Besides her, who else in the clan could do it?" Hu Jiuhua asked in return.

Despite the controversy, Hu Jiuhua made the final decision directly:

"It's settled then. On the day of Xiaoman, Chu Yao will preside over the rain-seeking ceremony."

In Shimen Village, the villagers returned to the construction site after the fight.

Although they won, everyone was injured except for Chen Yongqiang.

He took down three or five men single-handedly; those men couldn't even get close to him.

"Everyone, take a rest first. I'll go call Dr. Ding to come and check your injuries," Chen Yongqiang said before walking out.

Not long after, Chen Yongqiang led Ding Wanru to the work shed.

On the way, he briefly described what had happened: "I won a fight with the people of Jinjiatun over water, but many people were injured."

Ding Wanru carried her medicine kit and began examining the villagers' wounds as soon as she arrived at the work shed.

"Zhu Zi, raise your arm so I can see it." She examined Zhu Zi first.

"The bone is fine, it's just a soft tissue contusion. Go back and apply a hot towel and some medicated wine."

Zhu Zi smiled and said, "I told you it was nothing."

Ding Wanru went to check on Erniu's injury; his leg was badly injured, he had been kicked in the knee.

"Try to walk less and rest more these few days. Change the dressing once a day and keep it dry."

Erniu nodded repeatedly, saying, "Thank you, Dr. Ding."

Several people nearby gathered around, asking Ding Wanru to take a look.

Some had scraped skin, some had blisters on their hands…

Yang Dahai felt a little guilty: "Xiao Ding, thank you for your trouble. It's just a small injury, yet you still made the trip."

Ding Wanru said sincerely, "You're all doing this for the village's water source. I can't help fight, so I can only do what I can."

It's inevitable that the villagers of Shimen Village will sometimes engage in infighting.

However, when it comes to the overall interests of the village, everyone is still very united.

That's how the fight happened today. If there are conflicts, that's a family matter.

But when the people from Jinjiatun came to bully us, that was a different story. When it was time to stand up for ourselves, no one backed down.

"Fortunately, they are all superficial injuries." Ding Wanru carefully checked each one, disinfecting those that needed disinfection and applying medicine as needed.

At this moment, Qin Shan returned from the field carrying a hoe.

As I walked to the edge of the workers' shed, I saw a group of people gathered there. "What's going on?"

Yang Dahai said calmly, "It's nothing, I just got into a fight with the people from Jinjiatun."

Qin Shan has been helping Chen Yongqiang guard that apple orchard lately; he's too busy with fieldwork to think about anything else.

Besides, he didn't get involved in the water dispute; the irrigation canal couldn't reach that piece of land, so going there would be pointless.

Strangely enough, that land used to be notoriously dry. The villagers said it was a barren wasteland that nobody wanted, and nothing could be planted there.

But now, the field is lush and green, and the apple seedlings are growing vigorously with dark green leaves, even better than the fields in the village that can be irrigated.

Only Qin Shan knew that the reason that piece of land could grow so well was because of the pond that Chen Yongqiang had paid to build.

He spent the whole morning watering the seedlings, and he was exhausted, but looking at the lush green seedlings, he felt it was all worth it.

Just as Chen Yongqiang was about to say something, a system notification suddenly sounded in his mind:

[The Mountain God has detected a recent drought, which is affecting agricultural work. Please lead the villagers to the Mountain God Temple to pray for rain on the day of Lesser Fullness (Xiaoman). Rain will fall according to the number of participants and their sincerity.]

He silently asked himself: How exactly do I do it?

[It can make the fallen dragons in the space bring rain!]

"Where did the fallen dragon come from in this space?" Chen Yongqiang didn't understand.

The system didn't respond after I asked. Since the mountain god had given me a reminder, the rain-making attempt was probably going to succeed.

"How can I tell the villagers? I can't exactly say that the mountain god appeared to me in a dream and asked me to pray for rain, can I? Who would believe that?"

As Chen Yongqiang was pondering this, Qin Shan, who was smoking a cigarette beside him, suddenly sighed: "God, if it doesn't rain soon, my pond won't last more than a few days."

Chen Yongqiang glanced at him, and suddenly an idea came to him.