Lin Caisang was only jolted out of her thoughts when she was called upon. She looked at them, nodding acknowledgement to each one.
"The matter of water usage is of great importance, I shouldn’t be avoiding it. But as you all see, there are plenty of crops planted on my Manghuang Mountain, let’s not discuss the rice, even the sorghum. Just a few days ago, I harvested a batch of it.
You may have heard, I didn’t let people uproot the stalks, because once the head of the sorghum is cut off, they can still branch out and grow new heads before the weather turns cold, hence providing another batch of sorghum.
There are a host of other crops too, they all need water to grow."
Upon hearing her words, the faces of Clan Chief Ya and Land Officer Uncle Jin instantly fell.
They couldn’t exactly blame Lin Caisang for being selfish. After all, everyone is bound to prioritize themselves before thinking about others. If Lin Caisang is truly unwilling to share her water with everyone, there’s nothing they can do about it.
"So Sangsang, you mean..."
"Uncle Jin, please let me finish."
Before Land Officer Uncle Jin could ask anything, Lin Caisang raised her hand, interrupting him.
"When I speak about this, it’s not to deny water for everyone because of my own crops. After all, my family has already harvested a batch of rice. No matter how severe the drought, we won’t starve to death. But the same can’t be said for the rest of the villagers, their crops have not been harvested yet."
"Yes, yes." Clan Chief Lin kept nodding in agreement.
He thought to himself, Lin Caisang, despite being a young girl, is thoughtful and considerate, she’s a good child that makes the Lin Clan proud.
"Grandfather Clan Chief, what I mean to say is, the water on my Manghuang Mountain can be used, but we need to determine how to use it." Lin Caisang continued.
These words confused everyone present.
What could be the different ways to use water, naturally, it should be used as needed, irrigating the crops and ensuring their growth.
"Sangsang, do tell." Land Officer Uncle Jin said.
"Every household in the village is running out of water. To be honest, the river at the edge of our village is nearly dry. In a few more days, we can’t count on getting water from there. " Lin Caisang continued.
"This leads to the situation where the water on my Manghuang Mountain becomes ’lifesaving fairy water’ in everyone’s eyes. Let’s empathize. Uncle Jin, Grandfather Clan Chief, if you weren’t the Land Officer or the Clan Chief, wouldn’t you want to secure more water for your own families?"
Not to mention Uncle Jin and Clan Chief Lin, even the elders of the Lin and Ya clans appeared visibly awkward.
Even in their positions, they all want to secure more water for their families or to irrigate their lands better, wouldn’t others want the same?
"Empathy, wouldn’t everyone possibly think the same way?"
Seeing their expressions, Lin Caisang knew they must have guessed what she was going to say next.
"There is water, but only so much of it, right there. If it gets used up today, what do we do tomorrow? Or if everyone starts scrambling for water from the very beginning, exhausting the water in the pond on my Manghuang Mountain, what happens to the crops then?
This is what I meant by how to use the water."
Land Officer Uncle Jin kept nodding, thinking that Lin Caisang was speaking quite sensibly.