Chapter 596: Chapter 583: Drought
“Anyway, I can’t carry all this stuff. Take it back first, and whatever is missing at home, I’ll mention it later.”
Zhuang Qingning originally wanted to dissuade everyone from politely giving her more things, but as soon as the words came out, someone picked up the conversation and said, “No problem, if you can’t take it, I’ll deliver it to your house.”
“Exactly, it’s just a couple of steps away. You go ahead with your chores, and I’ll deliver it to your house.”
“Xiangqiao should be at home too, let her keep them, you don’t need to worry about it…”
And so, the crowd ignored Zhuang Qingning, and took and carried their stuff, heading towards Zhuang Qingning’s house.
Zhuang Qingning looked at everyone cheerfully giving away their stuff and was momentarily speechless.
She had only been away from home for a short 20 days, did they already miss her this much?
As Zhuang Qingning was contemplating this, Zhuang Jingye walked swiftly towards her. Seeing her, he grinned, “Ning girl, you’re finally back.”
“Uncle Village Chief.” Zhuang Qingning looked at Zhuang Jingye, who seemed extremely delighted, and his eager eyes made her feel like a prey. She hurriedly stepped back, “I have too many things at home, we can’t finish them all.”
Upon hearing this, Zhuang Jingye chuckled, “You girl, I haven’t said anything and you’ve already guessed what I’m going to say? I didn’t say I’m going to give you more things.”
Realizing that she had misunderstood Zhuang Jingye, Zhuang Qingning felt somewhat embarrassed and coughed lightly, “There’s no need to give anything, that’s good.”
“We slaughtered a lamb at home, your aunt is about to roast the whole leg. You just came back in time, come over to my house, we’ll have roast lamb for dinner tonight.” Zhuang Jingye grabbed Zhuang Qingning’s hand, and without saying a word, began walking home.
Zhuang Qingning, “…”
Actually, what he said was not wrong.
He indeed did not have to give her anything, but just directly took her to eat something.
Seeing Zhuang Jingye’s determination and sensing that he wouldn’t let her go unless she went with him, Zhuang Qingning did not refuse much and followed him first.
As for whether to eat dinner or not, she would decide later.
When they got to Zhuang Jingye’s house, Mrs. Ye was also very happy to see Zhuang Qingning. She gave her apricots and sweet melons, and while feeding her, she kept praising, “This time, we really owe it to Ning girl.”
Owe her… what?
Zhuang Qingning was a bit confused for a moment.
“Isn’t it because of Ning girl?” Zhuang Jingye lifted his chin, “If it weren’t for Ning girl finding such a good variety of wheat, our crops this year wouldn’t have grown so well, and we wouldn’t have harvested so much grain!”
Having heard this, Zhuang Qingning completely understood, it was about the new type of wheat she had promoted.
The seeds provided by someone had a yield that was half as much higher as the local common wheat.
No wonder the village people were so enthusiastic. It was probably because of the bountiful harvest in their fields that they remembered her kindness and wanted to return the favor by giving her some food and items, to express their gratitude.
“That’s what I should do.” Zhuang Qingning replied with a smile.
“That’s not how it should be said. It’s because you were kind and wanted to help others, that’s why you were willing to share the wheat seeds with everyone. You’re indeed a kind-hearted person who has done a great deed, you deserve to be praised, it’s not simply what you should do.” Zhuang Jingye argued.
Seeing how earnest Zhuang Jingye was in saying those words and recalling the previous conversations about ‘grudges being taken over gratitude’, Zhuang Qingning knew he was just looking out for her and nodded her head slightly, “Yes.”
“What your uncle said is right. It’s not merely your duty, but because you’re kind-hearted. Although the previous years have been smooth, and everything has followed the order of nature, if there’s drought, it can also be an issue.”
Mrs. Ye joined in and also gave Zhuang Jingye an approving look.
Usually, she would dismiss Zhuang Jingye’s ideas with disdain. However, the words that Zhuang Jingye just muttered to Zhuang Qingning, she agreed to.
All in all, this Zhuang Jingye was quite a sensible person; she didn’t pick the wrong man.
Hearing Zhuang Jingye’s and Mrs. Ye’s words, Zhuang Qingning didn’t pay much attention to how well the wheat was harvested, instead, she was more focused on the drought.
Speaking of which, the newly bought maid, Xiangqiao, was also struggling because her family had to leave their home due to drought. They had no choice but to sell her to buy food for the family.
Zhuang Qingning was usually busy and hardly paid attention to the farmland. She had not noticed the drought. Now, hearing about it from Zhuang Jingye and Mrs. Ye, she felt a sudden sense of unease.
“Recently, it hasn’t rained at all. How can we do the autumn sowing?” Zhuang Qingning asked.
“It can’t be helped. It must be sown first and watered later. The households that don’t have time to fetch water are all waiting, planning to sow a bit later.” Zhuang Jingye replied, “Our village’s tofu and tofu skin workshops consume a large amount of beans every year, so beans are mostly sown around this time. Beans are harvested later than cotton in autumn. Even if they are sown late, it won’t affect the wheat sowing.”
“But what if it doesn’t rain? What should we do?” Zhuang Qingning frowned, “What about the crops then?”
“No rain? That’s unlikely…” Zhuang Jingye scratched his ear, “Every year around this time it rains, it will always come.”
“Not really, Ning girl is right to worry. Every year when the wheat turns slightly yellow, it usually rains and carries a wind, causing the wheat to lie down, and it can be challenging to cut. But this year, this kind of rain did not occur.” Mrs. Ye said.
Not only did it not rain, but it hasn’t rained since the wheat started to form grains until now.
While peace and stability have always been appreciated, they can also turn into a disaster if a drought occurs.
Zhuang Jingye’s expression suddenly became grim.
“It seems like we have to talk about this to everyone. The water in the river and the water in the channels, has to be used when needed. Before, some wells were closed to avoid children falling in, now, those wells need to be opened.”
“We need to prepare wooden barrels, shoulder poles, etc. If the drought continues, we need to gather all the young labor in the village to dig channels to irrigate.”
By gathering all the labor in the village, they can irrigate all the fields to ensure that every field is watered, and no family lacks manpower and as a result, can’t sow.