northernbook Chapter 19 Complaining to the Clan Chief
Chapter 19 Complaining to the Clan Chief
Don't think that people in ancient times were stupid. They just hadn't thought of this before. Now that Jiang Bai had taken the lead and she had successfully diverted water to the fields, they were quick-witted and immediately put their ideas into action.
Although you still need to fetch water by setting up buckets like this, it's much easier than carrying water by hand.
Each person could even be responsible for a plot of land, which could be completed in half a day at most.
The bamboo forest to the west of the village is very large. In a short time, the bamboo forest was full of people. One by one, the mature bamboo stalks were cut down and dragged back to the homes of the villagers.
While they were busy, Jiang Bai and Jiang Lu had already set up the framework for several other fields.
Instead of setting up another bucket, they simply drilled a hole in the original bucket, inserted bamboo through the hole, and successfully diverted the water.
After a long day of work, even with Jiang Bai's strength, his arms ached.
But the results are encouraging.
The rice paddies, which had been dry and cracked, were now moist, with a small layer of water on the surface.
"If we work one more day tomorrow, it should be about done."
I walked around all the fields, checking for any leaks and making sure to fix them as soon as possible.
"Sister, you are so smart."
Jiang Lu was drinking porridge and grinning foolishly.
She was worried about how the few of them could manage so many fields, but she never expected her older sister to come up with such a solution.
"What kind of cleverness is that? Haven't you seen everyone else learn it after just one glance?"
They only gained an advantage by being the first to act, and the villagers followed suit. A large section of the bamboo forest in the west of the village has already been bald. It just takes time to process the bamboo, otherwise other families would have built water diversion frames like them today.
"We've only brought in water; there are still many weeds to pull in the fields. I don't have any good solutions for that except for hard labor."
Jiang Bai had a slight headache.
The paddy fields are planted with rice, and the key is to get the rice grains ready for harvest. The dry fields are currently empty, and we need to find time to turn them over and see what to plant.
After dinner, Jiang Bai checked the rice jar and found that the remaining grain was dwindling.
While there was still a sliver of light in the sky, she took the bucket and headed towards the river.
Thinking that the temperature would be lower at night and the water wouldn't evaporate as easily, I decided to fetch some more water and turn off the water in the fields earlier so I could go into the mountains.
Before he even reached his own field, Jiang Bai saw two dark figures.
'bump'
'bump'
'bump'
The sound of bamboo tubes being crushed came from underfoot. Jiang Bai's expression turned cold, and he quickened his pace to move forward. He saw Jiang Songhu and Jiang Qian kicking over the tree branches supporting the bamboo tubes and stomping on them mercilessly until the bamboo tubes cracked.
"You are courting death."
He grabbed the two men with both hands and slammed their heads together, causing them to scream in agony.
"Jiang Bai, you brat, how dare you hit us?"
Jiang Songhu was a grown man; he struggled with all his might, but he couldn't break free.
Jiang Bai grabbed the two of them and headbutted them again, leaving them dizzy and disoriented.
He then took one person in each hand and led them toward the clan chief's house.
The two struggled but couldn't break free, and she dragged them all the way to the front of the clan chief's house.
"Grandpa, you have to stand up for me!"
Before the person arrived, the crying began.
Upon hearing that familiar crying sound, the clan chief, who was processing bamboo inside, suddenly felt a pang of panic.
"Little Bai, what's wrong with you now?"
The clan chief was quite busy; when he opened the door, he saw Jiang Bai holding two people in his arms.
After seeing what the two people looked like, he frowned deeply.
“Grandpa, do my grandma and the others just not want us to live? Er Ya and I are not strong enough, and we finally came up with the idea of using bamboo to draw water. But after only one day, they... they came to our field and sabotaged it. Now they have ruined all my bamboo pipes that draw water.”
"Without these bamboo tubes, how can Er Ya and I possibly manage our three acres of land on our own?"
"Grandpa, you have to stand up for us. If after everyone sets up the bamboo pipes to draw water, someone tries to sabotage it like they did, wouldn't that be deliberately preventing the crops from growing well?"
"Such behavior is absolutely outrageous. Grandpa, you must punish them severely."
Jiang Bai's rapid-fire delivery left the clan leader with a buzzing in his ears, but after listening for a while, he finally understood what he was saying.
"Tiger, is what Bai Yatou said true?"
Since arriving at the clan chief's house, Jiang Qian had huddled behind Jiang Songhu, not daring to face the clan chief.
Jiang Songhu felt a chill run down his spine when he faced the clan chief.
"I... I am..."
He tried to explain, but unfortunately, he had done it, and the evidence was still there. Jiang Bai caught him red-handed, and for a time, he couldn't deny it at all.
"You really did such a thing?"
"Foolish! For us peasants, the most important thing is food. What you are destroying today is not just a bamboo tube or two, but a waste of food."
"Come on, let's go to your house."
The clan chief was furious. After Jiang Bai came up with the idea of using bamboo pipes to draw water today, many families who didn't know how to handle bamboo asked Jiang Bai for advice. Jiang Bai taught them all, and only then did everyone know how to do it.
Unexpectedly, before a day had even passed, the seventh brother's children were already causing him trouble.
"Seventh brother, seventh brother."
The clan chief called out as he entered the house.
Jiang Bai followed behind him, looking at the family in the old house with a cold smile.
There was a large pile of bamboo in the yard, obviously they had cut the bamboo to make water pipes.
While using the method she came up with, they also destroyed the bamboo pipes they had set up. They really were harming others without benefiting themselves.
"Brother, why are you here?"
Jiang Minchang didn't want to see the clan chief at all, and when he saw Jiang Songhu and Jiang Qian following behind him, his heart skipped a beat.
"Why did I come? If I hadn't come, I wouldn't have known that you've raised Tiger and Qian to be like this."
"This... Brother, I don't understand what you're saying."
"Don't understand? Hmph, you can explain it yourselves."
The clan chief flicked his sleeves, making way for Jiang Songhu and Jiang Qian.
Jiang Songhu, being a married man, had a thicker skin and stammered out the details of what had happened.
Jiang Qian let out a loud cry and rushed into the room, leaving everything to Jiang Songhu to deal with.
"Brother, perhaps it's a misunderstanding. Tiger and Qian are both good children. How could they do such a thing?"
Wang, with her arm in a sling, glared fiercely at Jiang Bai. It was that wretched girl who caused all this trouble again.
"Misunderstanding? They clearly did it on purpose. Do you think a misunderstanding would cause that bamboo pipe to fall under their feet and make them jump up and stomp on it?"
Jiang Bai chuckled coldly. Her appearance was that of a delicate, innocent flower. Although she was speaking aggressively, she looked as if she had suffered a great injustice.
“Da Ya, Hu Zi and Qian Ya are your older brother and sister after all. How can you think of them like that?” Jiang Anlin asked with a gloomy face.
“My siblings are going to destroy my crops. I can’t accept siblings like that.”
"So what do you want? Do you expect your brother Tiger and sister Qianqian to pay with their lives?"
Jiang Minchang was also annoyed.
“We’re all family, but since your father passed away, do you still see me as your grandfather?”
You’re right, there really isn’t one.
Jiang Bai rolled his eyes, ignoring him, and turned to the clan leader instead: "Grandpa, you are the fairest of all. What do you think I should do about what they did?"