After returning home, Zhang Qiang didn't have time to eat, so he went door to door to inform the villagers to hold a meeting after the meal to discuss matters, as long as someone asked the reason, Zhang Qiang always replied that it was about getting water to irrigate the crops, which aroused everyone's interest.

At the beginning of the day, there were already three or two villagers heading towards Zhang Qiang's house, and gradually more and more people gathered together, and they couldn't help but talk to each other, most of them were very excited, and swept away the sad state of the day.

Zhu Laosi's family is located in the center of the village, and the scene of people coming and going has long attracted his attention, but seeing that everyone is heading in the direction of Zhang Qiang's house, he is patient and does not ask questions. But as time went by, it seemed that the whole village flocked to Zhang Qiang's house, and Zhu Laosi couldn't sit still anymore.

I just quarreled with Zhang Qiang tonight, and I was slapped by Cao Ang, and Zhang Qiang is not very popular in the village, isn't he having bad intentions and wants to unite with the big guy to abolish his position as the village head? The suspicious Zhu Laosi couldn't help but think about it secretly, and in the end, he couldn't sit still, stopped a villager and asked: "What are you going to do if you don't rest at home in the dark light, and you all run to Zhang Qiang's house?" ”

The villager was timid and cowardly, although he didn't have a good impression of Zhu Laosi, but he also replied honestly: "Brother Zhang said that he had thought of a way to solve the drought, so he asked the big guys to discuss it together." ”

Zhu Laosi's eyes shrank slightly, his eyeballs rolled around, a bright smile appeared on his face, and he said, "That's really a great thing, you go quickly." With that, he let go of the villager and turned to go back to the house.

"Zhang Qiang has thought of a solution to the drought." Zhu Lao said to the Yang family with anger and unwillingness.

Yang was grabbing a fat chicken leg and munching, with a pot of fragrant wine in front of him, his greasy face was drunk, and after listening to Zhu Laosi's words, he grinned slightly crooked and smirked, and said, "Nonsense... Zhu Laosi...... You...... You've drunk too much. ”

Zhu Laosi showed deep disgust on his face, glanced at Yang, and strode away with a flick of his sleeves.

After another quarter of an hour, the entire Xiangyang Village, except for Zhu Laosi's family, sent someone from every household. Some people are in a hurry, and they have been waiting impatiently for a long time, and they howl at the top of their throats: "Brother Zhang, if you have something to say, you have to let my brother and I wait so hard." ”

The people around him were also anxious to know how to solve the drought and responded one after another. Zhang Qiang looked at the people present, there should be nothing missing, then he nodded, stood up and said loudly: "We big guys are all small people who tend to the fields, and the harvest in the fields is our net worth, and this drought is really killing us." Fortunately, my husband, who was resourceful, quick-witted, and benevolent, finally came up with a solution to the drought and planned to teach us how to learn it. Next, I will invite my husband to explain to you. ”

A group of villagers looked at each other silently for some reason, and they all wondered in their hearts, when did Zhang Qiang's family have a gentleman? Only a few neighbors near Webster's house had seen Cao Ang and guessed some, and they immediately showed disappointment and low interest.

Cao Ang stood on a few cases, pressed down with his hands slightly, coughed lightly, and said: "Fathers and fellow villagers, my surname is Cao Mingxuan, and I am currently living in Brother Zhang Qiang's house. In recent days, the weather has been very dry, and I have finally come up with a way to solve this drought after thinking hard. In the following, I will tell you that if you think that the next method is feasible, we will start to arrange it together tomorrow. ”

Although Cao Ang was dressed in coarse linen clothes, he had a slender body, a well-proportioned body, and white skin, and Si Swenwen did not look like a farmer at all. The villagers couldn't help but be silent, not knowing how to answer.

At this moment, a sharp cry came from the door: "Why hasn't anyone informed me of such an important matter?" ”

The villagers separated a passage, and Rong Zhu Laosi walked in. He wore a single coat, walked and swayed, looked directly at Cao Ang, and said with a smile: "If this gentleman really has a solution to the drought, he should explain to me that it will be convenient for me to call on the villagers." ”

Zhang Qiang stepped forward to block Zhu Laosi, and asked in a cold voice: "Why are you here, Lao Zhang didn't invite you to come." ”

Zhu Laosi sneered, his eyes swept over the villagers, and then he sneered at Zhang Qiang: "Zhang Qiang, you have a small belly, because you have some unhappiness with me tonight, you excluded me from such a big event." You can come without telling me, but I can't help but come. ”

Zhu Laosi said, with a serious look on his face, and said solemnly: "As the village head, I should seek well-being and avoid disasters for the villagers of our Xiangyang Village. Now the gentleman has come up with a well-intentioned solution to the drought, but it is still unknown whether it will be feasible or not. At this time, it is necessary to have a person who can make up his mind to make a decision, not Zhu someone boasting, who among the villagers present has more knowledge than me? ”

"You and I have small personal grievances, but all Xiangyang villagers are big. You excluded me from this matter because of personal grudges, once the villagers were confused and did not distinguish between them, they accepted this gentleman's method, and in the end the method could not be successful, resulting in no harvest in the fields, who should be responsible for such a disaster, and how should we, the people of Xiangyang Village, make a living? Zhu Laosi's tongue was like a spring, and after a speech, all the villagers agreed one after another, and some of them were anxious, and even began to take responsibility for Zhang Qiang, blaming him for making his own decisions and leaving aside the village chief.

Zhang Qiang was aggrieved and angry, pointing at Zhu Laosi and trembling angrily. But fortunately, Cao Ang had already told Zhang Qiang before that Zhu Laosi was likely to come to make trouble, and at that time, don't come by temperament, the most important thing is to persuade everyone to carry water.

Cao Ang's expression was very cold, and he asked Zhu Laosi: "Is Village Chief Zhu questioning?" ”

Zhu Laosi immediately showed a flattering smile and said: "Mr. is not an ordinary person when he thinks about it, how dare the villain question it, just talk about the matter." Besides, my husband has not yet said a solution to the drought, so I can't question it. ”

Cao Ang looked at him with a little vigilance in his little eyes, and he didn't want to worry more about him, so he turned his head to look at all the villagers and said, "The next way is to take water from the water to irrigate......

Before the words were finished, the bottom had already exploded, and the words were very lively.

"Alas, this man is a good man, and I really thought he had some brilliant idea, but I thought it was just such a bad idea. Who doesn't know that there is a lot of water and can be used for irrigation, but who has the ability to transport water from seven or eight miles away? It's too late to dig a ditch right away. ”

"Zhang Qiang must have known this so-called method for a long time, how could he, a person who has been farming for half his life, not know the stupidity of this so-called method, and even swore to inform us, it was simply playing tricks on us."

In the crowd, Zhu Laosi's eyes flashed a touch of happiness, and the whole person became a little calmer, looked at Cao Ang, and said: "What Mr. said is indeed a method, but the three-year-old child knows that the water is a big distance from our village, although there is a lot of water, but there is no way to take it, does Mr. want every man and woman in every family to carry the kettle to fill the water and transport it back?" ”

Cao Ang smiled and said unhurriedly: "Before I finished speaking, I was interrupted by you. Of course, I know that the water is far away from here, so why don't I dare to call everyone to discuss it if I don't want to get water? ”

The villagers quieted down again, although most of them did not have much hope in their hearts, but everyone had a fluke mentality, hoping for a miracle to happen, and stared at Cao Ang one after another.

At that moment, Cao Ang told everyone about the method discussed with the Huang family, and finally said: "The distance between the water and the water is calculated as ten miles, and it takes about 500 bamboos, and a family can cut them down in two days." Together with the arrangement of the keel car and the laying of the bamboo on the banks of the Weishui River, it will take up to five days. After five days, there will be an endless stream of water flowing into everyone's fields. ”

The villagers fell silent all at once, all of them thoughtful, some shaking their heads lightly, some scratching their ears and cheeks. Zhang Qiang was worried that Zhu Laosi would find trouble again, so he stared at him closely, but saw that he was also deep in thought. After a long time, someone finally spoke up: "It's not good, it's not good." Laying ten miles of bamboo to carry water is unheard of and unseen, how can it work. If there were a few more mistakes and delays for a few days, even if water could be brought in, the crops in the fields would have been killed by drought. ”

As soon as the man's voice fell, a second person said: "That's right, it will take at least five days to get it according to this method, and in these five days, we can look for water everywhere, and we can also water a few acres of land, and we can save a few harvests." But according to this method, once the method is not successful, or it takes too long, it will not be fruitful. I've never seen this method used, and I don't agree with it. ”

Then all the villagers spoke out one after another, all of them expressed their opposition, and none of them agreed.

Although Zhang Qiang expected that some people would disagree, he really didn't expect it to be a one-sided situation, and he was very depressed. He glanced at Zhu Laosi, and saw that he was still deep in thought, but his face showed a little pleasure, and his little eyes became brighter and brighter, and he was suddenly very unhappy, and said viciously: "Zhu Laosi, why don't you speak?" ”

Zhu Laosi came back to his senses, and immediately looked happy, and shouted: "Everyone, thank you quickly, sir, this method is feasible, everyone is saved." ”

Zhang Qiang's expression froze, full of doubts, he looked at Zhu Laosi blankly, and then at Cao Ang, he really didn't understand how Zhu Laosi, a person with a small belly, could suddenly speak out to help him.

Cao Ang watched quietly, no matter what, as long as many villagers could accept Cao Ang's method, it would be fine.

"Village chief, don't talk nonsense. Ten miles away, the water has been lifted up from the water, and it has not run out of water to flow here? And the bamboo tube is so thick, how much water can it hold? ”

Zhu Laosi's face straightened, and he said, "Don't talk nonsense, you have wasted a piece of this gentleman's hard work." Ten miles is a bit long, but those rivers are hundreds of miles away, and I haven't seen all the water run out. And all this water flows in the bamboo, everyone has used a bamboo tube to fill the water, right? There won't be a trace of it coming out at all. Besides, although this bamboo tube is not very thick, there is water flowing all the time day and night, and the total amount is not a lot. ”

The villagers thought about it again and gradually began to move, but there was still an important problem that had not yet been solved, and someone asked: "What the village chief said sounds reasonable, but what if there is a problem in the process and the time is delayed according to this method?" The seedlings in the field can't wait for a few days, and if they are delayed for a day, a large number of seedlings will die. ”

"You are just timid and suspicious. This gentleman is not an ordinary person at first glance, and besides, there is also the son-in-law of our Xiangyang Huang family here, what are you worried about? Let's do as the gentleman told us, and try to bring in water as soon as possible. Zhu Laosi tried hard to persuade the people, but the villagers still didn't dare to make a decision, but under Zhu Laosi's repeated urging and assurance, they agreed to it one by one.

Cao Ang and Zhang Qiang glanced at each other, although they had doubts in each other's eyes, but they were more relaxed. Cao Ang walked to Zhu Laosi's side, bowed his hand, and said: "Village Chief Zhu doesn't care about personal grievances, and Cao is deeply admired. ”

Zhu Laosi glanced at Zhang Qiang and said, "Sir, don't be polite, Zhang Qiang's bad mouth is known to everyone, as the head of a village, how can I ignore the interests of all the villagers because of personal grievances." It should be Zhu who thanked Mr. for his generosity and selflessness. ”

Cao Ang gave in again and again, but the villagers shouted: "Thank you, sir, the village chief is benevolent." Thank you, sir, the village chief for his benevolence. ”

Zhang Qiang was disgusted and uncomfortable like eating flies on the side, especially when he saw Zhu Lao's smug face and pretending to be in a posture, he felt even more unhappy. But in the end, it was up to him to persuade everyone to agree to Cao Ang's method, and Zhang Qiang couldn't do too much, so he had to sulk alone.

Cao Ang looked at Zhu Laosi and enjoyed everyone's respect, couldn't help laughing in his heart, and gradually retreated outside. After glancing at it, he saw a ray of coldness and cunning flashing in Zhu Laosi's eyes, and he couldn't help but feel a sudden burst in his heart. Zhu Laosi looks like a monkey spirit, and he is by no means the kind of person who can laugh and grudge for the sake of righteousness. There must be other reasons for helping Cao Ang this time. Looking carefully, seeing that he was smiling all over his face, talking and laughing with everyone, without the slightest abnormality, Cao Ang had no choice but to be secretly vigilant and slowly left.