Chapter 51

Li Yao was most annoyed by moral kidnapping.

Therefore, no matter how tragically Zhu Yougui's old mother cried or how pitifully she pleaded, Li Yao was not moved at all.

If you indulged people like this once, there would be a second time, a third time, and countless times more. If you did not discipline them thoroughly, they would never change.

"Xiao Si," she called.

"Mother, what is it?"

"From now on, you keep watch here during the day. At night, have your eldest and third brothers take turns keeping watch," Li Yao said. "If they dare to come draw water, tell me immediately."

"I understand, Mother!"

Seeing that she was truly so ruthless and resolute, Zhu Yougui's old mother knew that continuing to cry and plead was useless.

But when she thought that they would have no grain harvested next year at best, and would have to flee the famine at worst, the uneasiness in her heart grew stronger.

"Li Yao," she came before Li Yao and fell to her knees with a thud, "I know we were in the wrong before, but this time I'm begging you, let us use a little water to plant the seeds. Otherwise we really won't have any way to survive next year!"

"Impossible."

"Then...then what do I have to do for you to agree?"

Seeing that she was starting to soften, Li Yao pretended to think before saying, "If you want to use the water from this well, you have to contribute money or labor like everyone else."

"But where would our family get money?" Zhu Yougui's old mother said mournfully, "What's more, the well is already dug, we can't contribute any labor..."

"The well may be dug, but the roads in our village are still in poor shape," Li Yao said. "Your family should repair the road from our village to the market town. I won't ask you to repair the whole thing, just our village's section. Then you can use the well water like everyone else in the future."

Zhu Yougui's old mother was old but not stupid at all. Even if they only repaired the section for He Wan Village, that was still three li.

She knew best what kind of person her son was. She was also advanced in age and couldn't do much work in a day. By the time they finished repairing the road, the final planting time would certainly be missed.

"Li Yao, please, do me a favor. You know my son is useless. He definitely won't repair the road, so I'd have to do it alone. How long would that take me? So can't you let us plant first, and then repair the road?"

"No. It's your business if your son doesn't listen to you," Li Yao said coldly. "Do you expect me to let you use my family's well water and help you discipline your son too?"

Having said this, Li Yao didn't want to waste time bargaining with this old woman. She turned to go back home. The original body was an unreasonable shrew, and she wasn't some softhearted philanthropist either.

But before she had taken more than a few steps, Zhu Yougui's old mother agreed: "Fine, I'll repair it."

Li Yao did not look back but continued swiftly towards home.

Not long after, villagers saw Zhu Yougui's old mother shouldering a hoe and starting to repair the road. The villagers did not continue to make things difficult for her. After all, these were the conditions Li Yao had proposed, and everyone agreed with her approach.

It was just that seeing the old woman digging there alone without any sign of Zhu Yougui, the villagers couldn't help but shake their heads.

The fault lies with the father for failing to discipline his adopted son. Who else could be blamed?

...

At dusk, Wang Yuanbang came to the door covered in dust.

Today he and over a dozen villagers had carried bricks all day. As head of his household, he naturally had to tally the number and report it to Li Yao.

"There were exactly 5,000 bricks today, not one more or less."

Having seen Wang Yuanbang violently beat someone earlier, Li Yao knew he was quite strong. She hadn't expected him to be so meticulous as well.

"Thank you."

"Sister-in-law, you're too polite," Wang Yuanbang scratched his head. "Well, I'm heading back now. I'll come move more bricks tomorrow."

After interacting a couple times, Wang Yuanbang was no longer as afraid of Li Yao. After reporting the numbers, he would chat with Wang San'er.

The uncle and nephew were both fans of brute force. As soon as they started talking, it was about how to wage war at the frontiers, how to kill enemies, and how to win achievements and promotions... Two snotty brats who hadn't seen any blood were miming excitedly in the yard.

This made Li Yao shake her head repeatedly. This was how men were, liking to wield blades and fight battles. She was different.

She liked to suddenly make her move when her opponent was unprepared, delivering a fatal blow...

...

Baiyun Village suffered the most severe drought in Baichuan Market. Therefore, the county magistrate chose it for the first emergency relief well.

If plentiful water could be drawn here, the other villages would likely be fine too.

But this drought relief well was quite large, and the digging progressed slowly. By the evening of the third day, they had only gone down more than ten meters.

The county magistrate had not returned to the county office these past few days. Instead he stayed in the head family's home in Baiyun Village. He kept watch until midnight every night, and got up before dawn every morning. As a result, he had lost a whole circle around his waist.

Seeing the county magistrate share their hardships like this, the villagers of Baiyun picked up their pace as well.

But unlike Li Yao's village, the well diggers of Baiyun returned home every day to eat a bit of wild vegetables. They no longer had any strength left, so progress was truly slow.

Watching the sky darken as another day passed, the county magistrate grew increasingly anxious.

"How is it going?"

"Sir," the accompanying Captain Zhang reported, "they've broken through the fifth layer of red rock, but there's very little water. They're digging the sixth layer now."

So they had reached the most critical juncture?

If he remembered correctly, the shallow well in He Wan Village had also broken through the sixth layer of red rock.

"Let's go, I want to watch them dig."

"Sir, you've been working nonstop for days. Please rest first," Captain Zhang said. "I'll come get you when they break through..."

"Rest? What rest?" The county magistrate flung his sleeve. "The commoners can barely afford meals. How could I think about resting? Send two men back to the county office and tell my wife to take 5 taels of silver and buy noodles. The well diggers are exhausted and should enjoy a full meal today."

Captain Zhang cupped his fists in acquiescence. He wanted to dissuade the magistrate further but knew it was futile.

This new county magistrate was hard to describe.

To the common people he was certainly a good official, but governing like this, he would go bankrupt sooner or later.

How could a bankrupt county magistrate curry favor with the prefect? How could he get promoted?