Point B on Su Hao's map was at the foot of a hillside in the south of Caijia Village. After a short walk, everyone arrived. Wang Tiangui and Cai Youshou had already heard the news and rushed over. Su Hao pointed to a field in front of him and said, "Just
In this area, if you drill a well about 80 feet high, you should be able to produce water. If my prediction is correct, the water produced will be about 200 tons per hour."
Cai Youshou asked: "Master, are you saying that any of these fields will work?"
"Exactly." Su Hao replied.
Cai Youshou nodded, then turned around and said to a follower beside him: "Go and call Mrs. Cheng's family. Let's dig this well in her field."
The follower left in response. Cai Youshou led Su Hao and others a few steps forward and came to a field with sparse rice. He said to Su Hao: "Master, look, in this field
Is it appropriate to dig a well in the area?"
Su Hao said: "The location is suitable, but once the well is dug, the field will be abandoned. The county government requires that if the land is expropriated when drilling the well, compensation must be based on the market price. Did you know?"
"I know, I know." Cai Youshou said, "No, I have sent someone to call the landowner, just to talk to her about compensation."
Just as he was talking, the follower sent by Cai Youshou to call people came out of the village. Behind him, followed a young peasant woman. I saw that this person had a bun and a turban on her head. She was clearly unmarried.
She is dressed like a woman. But looking at her figure, she is already quite plump, as if she is in her early 20s. In those days, it was very rare to be in your 20s and not yet married.
Cai Youshou's follower walked quickly, and the woman followed him without missing a step, seemingly in a hurry. The two came to Cai Youshou and Su Hao, and the woman bowed down to Cai Youshou and said: "
Cheng Yi paid a visit to the chief of the village, but I don’t know what the chief’s instructions were when he summoned the little girl.”
"Madam of the Cheng family, please rise." Cai Youshou said slowly, "Madam of the Cheng family, the magistrate has sent a messenger to our village to help dig a well. Do you know about this?"
"Cheng Yi knows."
"The matter of digging a well is related to the livelihood of our whole village. No matter who it is, everyone must contribute. Now Mr. Su from the county government has determined the location of the well. This well location happens to be in your field. Look...
"
"Ah!" Cheng Yi raised her head in surprise. She looked at the people around her and realized that what Cai Youshou said was not a lie. She suddenly knelt down on the ground, kowtowed to Cai Youshou and said, "Long, these two acres.
The field is the only source of livelihood for the little girl and her brother. I beg the village chief to show mercy and dig a well in another place!"
"Ms. Cheng, what are you talking about?" Cai Youshou said with a straight face, "The underground water veins are fixed. If you change the place, you won't be able to dig a well. Besides, the village is drilling in your field.
Well, it’s not like I won’t compensate you, the young crops you’ve trampled can all be converted into silver taels.”
Cheng Yi knelt on the ground and said: "Master, although the little girl has little knowledge, she still knows how to dig wells and destroy fields. The little girl and her brother are helpless in their hometown, so they live on these two acres of thin farmland.
If this field is destroyed, the little girl and her brother will starve to death."
Cai Youshou said: "It's ridiculous, didn't I say that if I occupy your family's land, the county government will compensate you. Your two acres of land are originally cold water fields with very little yield. According to the market price, one acre will definitely
It's not worth four taels of silver. The village will give you ten taels of silver to buy your two acres of land, why wouldn't you want to?"
"Li Zhang, no matter how much silver you have, it will be used up, but with these two acres of land, we can support the two little girls and my brother. Li Zhang, please take pity on my sister and brother.
, find another place." Cheng Yi laid her head on the ground and said sobbing.
"Chang Cai, what's going on?" Su Hao couldn't bear to see this miserable situation, so he pulled Cai Youshou aside and asked in a low voice.
Cai Youshou shook his head and said: "This woman's name is Cheng Yi. She fled from other places and came to our village six or seven years ago. She also brought a younger brother named Cheng Dong who was less than ten years old. She still had some silver with her at the time, so she came to our village from
People from the village bought this piece of land, plus a thatched house, and lived here. Over the years, she cultivated these two acres of land by herself. In her spare time, she would spin some yarn and chop some firewood to sell at the market.
In this way, my brother has grown up.
She was sixteen or seventeen years old when she came here, and now she is in her twenties, but she is still not married. She said she would not consider getting married until she had to support her younger brother."
"What do you mean by offering it as an offering?" Su Hao asked.
Cai Youshou sneered and said: "This sister and brother of the Cheng family claim to be from an official family before the family was in trouble. Her younger brother is named Cheng Dong. He has been full of good articles since he was a child. He is thinking about winning the imperial examination and becoming a Jinshi. Cheng Yi thought
, probably she will wait until her brother wins the imperial examination before getting married."
"So that's it." Su Hao nodded. He felt that the situation of this family was somewhat similar to his own. In comparison, his family still had more than ten acres of land, and his family's financial situation was considered decent.
Siblings Cheng Yi and Cheng Dong live on these two acres of cold paddy fields, and one can imagine their embarrassment.
"In that case, why don't we change the land." Su Hao suggested, "It's also possible to move the well a few dozen steps to the side and move it to another family's field."
Cai Youshou shook his head and said: "Master is working as an errand in the Yamen. He doesn't know how difficult it is for us. No matter who owns the matter of digging wells, there will be such trouble. If you look at someone's pity,
Just change it to another one, and then I, the manager here, won’t be able to do anything.”
Why can't you do anything? It's obviously the land you chose, okay? Su Hao despised Cai Youshou in his heart. He understood that Cai Youshou did this because Cheng Yi and his brother were outsiders in the village and were the easiest to bully. If it were someone else,
I'm afraid it's not so easy to talk about other people's fields.
"Chief..." Su Hao wanted to insist, but he saw Chen Guanyu standing aside and winking at him desperately, so he hesitated and stopped talking.
Su Hao's hesitation was not because he accepted five taels of silver from Cai Youshou, so he did not dare to challenge Cai Youshou. In his previous life, he had practical experience. He knew that the cooperation of village cadres was very important when digging wells in the village.
If they struggle with the village cadres, they may incite the villagers to come and cause trouble, and nothing will be done. Today, Su Hao is just a temporary master appointed by the county magistrate. It sounds impressive, but if it is true
If he causes some trouble in the countryside, I'm afraid the county magistrate won't protect him.
"Actually, this wife of the Cheng family is also having trouble with herself. A few days ago, Foreign Minister Li, who opened a sauce shop in the county town, fell in love with her and wanted to take her as his concubine. She promised to support her brother in studying for the exam, but she thought that Li was too old.
, He refused to agree. Mr. Li asked the county government's Registrar Wang to try to reconcile, but there was no result. The Registrar Wang somewhat blamed the common people for this matter." Cai Youshou seemed to complain to Su Hao unintentionally.
So that's it... Su Hao secretly felt aggrieved for Cheng Yi in his heart. This kind of thing is really not something he can interfere with. Even if he insists on moving the well location away from Cheng Yi's family's field, Cai Youshou may not do it.
Find another opportunity to make things difficult for Cheng Yi. In the final analysis, it is because Cheng Yi is helpless, like meat on the chopping board, and can only be slaughtered by others.
"Chief... can you please do something good and give the little girl and her brother a way out? The little girl will work as a cow and a horse in the next life to repay your kindness." Cheng Yi was still kneeling on the ground, crying and begging Cai Youshou.
"This is Master Su who was sent by the county government to survey the well location. This well location was determined by Master Su. If you have anything to say, just tell Master Su." Cai Youshou kicked the ball directly to Su Hao. He believed that,
After talking to Su Hao just now, Su Hao should know how to deal with it. As the head of the district, it is inappropriate for him to appear to be too ruthless, so it is logical for Su Hao to say these words.
Hearing this, Cheng Yi immediately turned around and kowtowed to Su Hao. While kowtowing, he said: "Master Su, these two acres of thin farmland are the basis for the survival of the little girl and brother. Can you please ask Master to survey another area?"
Well location, give the little girl and her brother a way out?"
"Uh... Madam of the Cheng family, right?" Su Hao said in embarrassment, "I really can't make the decision on this matter. You know, this underground water has a trend, and this place happens to be where the underground water veins are.
, if we change the well location, I’m afraid we won’t be able to get water out.”
"This..." Cheng Yi was speechless for a moment. She raised her head and looked at everyone. The health workers and government officials who were watching were also silent. Everyone actually knew that the well position should be moved a few steps away.
It's a problem, but this area is all fields. Moving a few steps away will of course bypass Cheng Yi's family's fields, but it will also involve other people's fields. How can outsiders make the decision in this kind of thing?
While everyone was in embarrassment, a fifteen or sixteen-year-old boy emerged from nowhere. He rushed into the crowd, ran to Cheng Yi, pulled Cheng Yi's arm with his hand, and shouted in his mouth: "
Sister, what are you doing, get up quickly!"
"This is Cheng Dong, Cheng Yi's younger brother." Cai Youshou introduced Su Hao in a low voice.
"Xiaodong, please ask the village chief and this master on behalf of my sister. They want to dig a well in our field. If these two acres of land are destroyed, we will have no way to survive." Cheng Yi struggled not to get up.
, but instead pulled Cheng Dong, wanting him to kneel down with him.
Cheng Dong turned around and glanced at Cai Youshou hatefully, then turned his gaze to Su Hao. Su Hao read an extremely angry emotion in his eyes.
"Are you the county government official who came to survey the well?" Cheng Dong asked.
"That's right." Su Hao responded with some guilt in his heart.
Cheng Dong stretched out his hand, pointed at Su Hao's nose, and said in a cold tone: "Don't think that I don't know your thoughts. You officials are protecting each other, just to use this method to force my sister and brother to live, so that you can
I wish to let my sister marry that bad old man. I tell you, don’t even think about it!"
"Xiaodong, don't be rude." Cheng Yi saw that her brother not only did not plead with Cai Youshou and Su Hao, but also cursed the master who represented the county government, she couldn't help being shocked and quickly pulled Cheng Dong with her hand, trying to get him to
shut up.
Cheng Dong said: "Sister, we are not afraid of them. If a good person is bullied by others, if a good horse is ridiculed by others, they are bullies!"
"Uh...Brother Cheng, I misunderstood. I'm just here to dig a well. It has nothing to do with the bad old man you mentioned. As for bullying people, I don't even know who the two of you are. Where does this word bullying come from?
Talking about it." Su Hao explained in a dumbfounded way, he really didn't want to have the reputation of being a collaborator.
Cheng Dong ignored Su Hao's explanation. He turned around, pulled Cheng Yi up hard, and said, "Sister, we won't beg them! We won't be allowed to live here, let's go. The world is so big, I don't believe we can't find it."
To the place where we, brother and sister, can survive."
At this point, he turned around again, glared at Su Hao and Cai Youshou fiercely, and said: "I will remember you. As long as I, Cheng Dong, don't die, I will be named on the gold list. At that time, I will come back to settle the score with you.
. I tell you, don’t bully young people into poverty!”