"It’s just two bamboo poles, I can handle dragging them."
If it wasn’t for the possibility of scaring her family by producing bamboo right in the yard, she would have wanted to bring more back.
"Grandpa Clan Chief, what brings you here? Is the water tank below the mountain empty? I didn’t think it would be that soon. If it is, I’ll have my brother release some water from the mountain in the evening."
At her words, Clan Chief Lin paused, then understanding dawned on him.
It must be the idea of cutting off the village’s water supply wasn’t Sangsang’s, but rather Lin Laogeng’s and Lu Qiubo’s, acting on Sangsang’s behalf due to their frustration with the gossip of the village women.
Lin Caisang was baffled by the question and looked confused.
She had handed over all the water affairs to Clan Chief Lin and hadn’t inquired about it. What could she know?
"Grandpa Clan Chief, are you here because..."
"No, I just came to talk to your Grandpa." Clan Chief Lin interrupted her, saying.
Since the girl didn’t know, he might as well talk to Lin Laogeng. They had the right to vent, but they couldn’t offend everyone in the village, right? Once everyone realized their mistake, a little compensation would suffice.
"Oh, my Grandpa is at home."
Without asking further, Lin Caisang continued dragging the bamboos, entering the courtyard with Clan Chief Lin.
Inside, Lin Laogeng and Lu Qiubo had heard Clan Chief Lin’s voice long ago but, they were too angry to step outside. Only when Clan Chief Lin entered did they greet him.
"Clan Chief is here."
"Laogeng, Sister Qiubo, whose idea was it to cut off the water supply?" Clan Chief Lin glared at the old couple, asking unhappily.
Having just put down the bamboos, Lin Caisang heard the words ’cut off the water’ and immediately turned around to look at her grandparents.
"Why would we want to cut off the water, Grandpa? This is the time when we need water the most. If the water is cut off, we certainly won’t be able to harvest much grain this year. How is it possible?"
"Why is it not possible?"
Lu Qiubo retorted with a question of her own.
"Our water isn’t meant for others’ grain. Why should our family care about whether others have grain or not? It’s our water. We can give it to them if we want to. If we don’t, not a single drop will be taken away!"
She raised her voice so high it could be heard several miles away.
"Our Sangsang needs water from Manghuang Mountain for many things. Why should we give it to those gossiping folks? To feed their mouths just so they can turn around and bite our Sangsang? Why should we help such people? Who do they think they are? Without them, can’t our family survive?"
Outside the courtyard, two men who had come to eavesdrop secretly heard Lu Qiubo’s words. Their hearts skipped a beat and they exclaimed, "Oh no!" under their breaths.
"It’s all those women’s fault. Why do they have to gossip so much? There are so many people they could talk about, but they just had to choose Lin Caisang. This is like digging their own graves and dragging us into it!"
"But we can’t blame them either. They were just passing on what they heard and accidentally said too much. However, I heard that these rumors all came from Clan Elder Ya Ji’s house."
The two men began to discuss quietly outside the courtyard.
"That Ya Ji is in cahoots with Clan Chief Ya. They didn’t get anything from Sangsang so they want to drag us all down. I’ll teach them a lesson when I get back!"
If the Lin family really stopped supplying water, they would definitely settle this score with Clan Elder Ya Ji!