Gateway to Happiness - Chapter 81

Chapter 81: The Drought

“That can’t be possible!” Xiao Xue widened her eyes in astonishment. She was flabbergasted as she said, “Xiao Shu might have a temper and behave casually sometimes, but how could she hurt anyone? Besides, she’s a girl who’s weak and little. How could she beat you— up that badly? Can she even overpower you?”

Zhou Yuan smiled bitterly, “I knew that you won’t believe me. Even I can’t believe that happened. Her punches had so much force that I would shiver just by thinking about it! But you don’t have to worry. I’ve never told anyone about this other than you.”

Xiao Xue thought about it. She knew for a fact that her little sister was a little weird and snarky. Perhaps she did something to keep Zhou Yuan under her control, but she would never even consider that Xiao Shu would beat anyone up!

“How come you still showed up after knowing what she’s like?” Xiao Xue blurted out, but she immediately realized that she shouldn’t have said it.

As expected, Zhou Yuan looked at her affectionately and stuttered softly, “I, I, I came because of… you…”

“Xiao Xue!” Zhou Yuan called out when he noticed that she was just about to run off with her head lowered. He said earnestly, “I know that I’m not the most good looking and handsome guy out there, and I’m not that good with words too, but I, when I first saw you— anyway, I regretted my actions very much. I shouldn’t have caused the misunderstanding in the first place… Xiao Xue, can you stop hating me, please?”

Xiao Xue was very distressed with the whole ordeal. What’s his deal? Why did he bring this up now?

Actually, Zhou Yuan thought that she would understand the situation to some extent. Everything was fine before he revealed the truth, but once it was uncovered, nothing would matter anymore.

“Stop telling me those things! What’s passed is the past, so don’t bring it up again. I think, I think since it was just a misunderstanding, there’s no need for apologies and forgiveness… You— you shouldn’t come to my house in the future again!”

Zhou Yuan was startled and his heart suddenly sank. The only feeling he had was bitterness as he asked, “So, you really aren’t willing to forgive me?”

Xiao Xue was frustrated but slightly amused at the same time. She said patiently, “It’s not that. I just said not to bring up things that happened in the past. Next time, you should just stay away!”

“So, you forgive me?”

“Yes…”

“That’s great!” Zhou Yuan’s face turned into a relaxed smile, “Let’s forget what happened the other day. Xiao Xue, we can start again as if nothing ever happened!”

“…” Xiao Xue wanted to retort him, but she felt embarrassed to say it. At that moment, she admired her little sister because there was nothing she did not dare to say.

“We’re not compatible! Now that the canal is done, my brother will be heading back to the Lin Family’s pier to work. Lin Fang and you should not come to my house again after this! It would look bad if people noticed!”

Zhou Yuan was stumped for words while an emptiness in his heart grew. Looking at the delicately beautiful lady in front of him under the moonlight, somehow, he felt that she was miles away from him.

But of course, he would not give up so easily. He had not given up even after being beaten up terribly by Xiao Shu, why would he give up now?

“Fair enough. I won’t ruin your image.” Zhou Yuan grinned and added before she could say anything, “I’ll come to visit when it’s suitable. Xiao Xue, I won’t give up unless you are married, but if you’re not willing, I won’t rashly hire a matchmaker to ask for your hand. I’ll wait for you.”

Before Xiao Xue could turn away from him, he walked away from her.

She was shocked and rooted to the ground. Suddenly, a mixture of feelings welled up inside of her and even she was confused about how she felt.

After hanging around for a few more moments, the sky had gone dark. The group put out the fire, tidied everything up, and headed home.

Lin Fang chuckled as he said his farewells, dragging Zhou Yuan into the carriage and leaving after that. Meanwhile, the Lu siblings returned home and went to rest without saying a word.

Xiao Shu could sense something off with Xiao Xue’s mood. Before going to bed at night, she pestered her sister to know what happened.

How would Xiao Xue dare to tell her about it? So, she simply gave a vague answer. As sleepiness started to take over the both of them, Lu Xiao Shu gave up finding out and headed to bed.

It seemed like nothing was going to happen anymore. On the next day, Lu Qi returned to town to resume his work. The villagers of Feng Ye Village were still immersed in the opera. The topic of the opera was brought up after every meal, but life in general, had gone back to normal.

Since Miao Chu He could not be biased, he hired the opera troupe to perform for three nights at the Miao Family’s Village and it became very happening there too.

As expected, Lin Fang and Zhou Yuan did not drop by for quite a while. Sometimes, Lu Xiao Shu would go to Lin Fang’s manor to ride horses, but other than that, she would be at home.

It was not that she did not want to go out, it was the weather that was brutally stuffy and hot. She could not leave the house even if she wanted to. Even those skilled farmers could not endure it when they were out tending their crops. They could only rush their work in the early morning or the late afternoon after the sun had gone slightly down to the west. Other than that, they would be at home, cooling themselves off in the shade.

Sure enough, a drought was coming.

Days went by and the signs were getting more obvious. The water in the river was becoming less, pebbles and boulders that were previously hidden under the water could be seen, and the flowing of river water had also slowed down.

The water in the canal behind the Lu Family’s yard was getting lesser every day. After more than half a month, the flowing water had stopped turning the mill. Naturally, they could not produce tofu, so they halted the production for the moment.

The Lu Family’s house was halfway up the mountain. The water was spring water that flowed down from the mountain. In the mountain, the forest was thriving, especially around the spring. There were also lots of water bananas around it. Luckily for them, they still had water even if it was little.

Speaking of which, the little reservoir that stored water was still overflowing with water. They could still replenish the fish pond with a fresh water supply. However, no one knew how long this would last. The sun was burning hotter every day.

The well in the front yard was holding up better than the rest. The amount of water might be decreasing, but it made sure that drinking water was not a problem for the family. The plants that they had in the yard had drooped down as if they were tired. The tortoise that Lu Xiao Shu kept in the flower bed could not take it anymore as well. It would crawl out to look for water every day. Lu Xiao Shu could not bear with that, so she might as well just throw it into the fish pond. During this season, she hoped that it would be a smart tortoise because if it was thinking of running away, she was worried that it would turn into a roasted tortoise!

Luckily, the water canal and water reservoir were built in time. The crops had enough water to grow because of that, and it ensured that they would have enough food rations next year!

The people celebrated as they started calling Bi Teng Shan Ren the living reincarnation of the Buddha. He promptly suggested they carry out the task, but who would have expected it to be immediately useful? He was even better at predictions than the Buddha!

After praising Bi Teng Shan Ren, they praised the county magistrate too. If not for the county magistrate’s wise decision to lead the project after hearing from Bi Teng Shan Ren, the people might have no crops to reap! Who knew how many of them would be forced to leave their home?

In a short period of time, Bi Teng Shan Ren and the county magistrate’s reputation improved a lot. They became the most upright and honorable people of the generation!

As expected, the county magistrate was over the moon as he started showing off his polished work and accounts. With no exceptions, Bi Teng Shan Ren was happy about it too. With his reputation getting better, every artwork that he sold increased in price too.

It was just that Lu Xiao Shu felt sorry for her teacher, Mr Wu. In any case, Mr Wu was the one who predicted the disaster, but no one remembered his contributions now. While she had calmly accepted all the benefits of his cleverness, how could he not feel sullen about the whole thing?

Lu Xiao Shu felt very apologetic about it. Unconsciously, she grew more respect for her teacher, making Mr Wu feel puzzled and prompting him to ask her if anything was wrong, or if she cooked up some trouble and wanted his help.

Because of that, she was really upset to know that her teacher thought of her that way!

Eventually, she could not help asking Mr Wu about the unfairness that he was receiving. She said that Bi Teng Shan Ren earned a huge advantage because of him, and asked whether he was bothered by it and if he regretted it.

Mr Wu laughed after hearing it. He chuckled, “I never thought that a little girl like you would defend your teacher. As your teacher, I’m very proud of you! About the projects, it just needed someone to carry them out so that we can get the results that we need. Why would I care about the reputation?”

“Sir, do you really not care about it at all?” Lu Xiao Shu could not really believe him.

“What do you say?” Mr Wu smiled lightly, looking at her from top to bottom, he suddenly said, “That’s strange. Why do you sound like you’re— guilty?”

“I, I just think it’s unfair to you!” Lu Xiao Shu was like a cat whose tail just got stepped on, but thankfully, she did not jump. Not daring to say anything else, she mumbled a few words before escaping him.

Fine. There’s a saying that the teacher plants a tree, and the student will get to cool in its shade. I shouldn’t feel guilty because of that!

More than a month passed by and the sun burned brightly every day without any drop of rain. The farm crops could barely survive with the water from the canals. However, things were different for the lands in the other parts of the mountain as the land cracked. The earth was so dry that wind could blow it up into the air. The leaves on a lot of trees started turning brown and the ends started to curl and look yellowish.

The people had lost their motivation and patience to work in the mountains. However, the excitement started to grow in the village.

Soon, the imperial court made an announcement to temporarily cancel the Autumn exams and postpone them to next year. Meanwhile, the Spring exams had been postponed to another year.

Because of that, the people found out that it was not only Feng Ye Village that was suffering. The entire Southwest area was experiencing a drought that was never experienced in a hundred years. Meanwhile, one side of the Yellow River had flooded, putting five districts in a state of disaster and bringing hardship to more than hundreds of millions of people. Almost more than half of the Jiangshan county was either flooded or burning from the heat.

The imperial court was under pressure relieving the disasters. How would they have the time to care about anything else?

Up until September, it had been sunny for who knows how many days, and the people had gotten used to it by then. Finally in the evening one day, dark clouds gathered, blood red lightning struck down from above and thunder boomed across the sky. It rained heavily for the first time in a long while.

Pea-sized rain droplets fell onto the ground, bringing a dusty and fishy smell up into the air. Soon, the ground was damp and the rainwater slowly converged into a little trickle. Then, the trickle turned into a little stream. The rain came violently, causing water to accumulate torrentially. Everyone cheered and ran for shelter. They cried happily, as if it was the New Year.