Free Web NovelChapter 33: Chapter 33
Chapter 33
"Xiao Long, don’t curse Uncle Liang like that. Uncle Liang is not dead; he is currently recuperating," Mu Heng told his younger brother, his thick brows furrowed as if he was deep in thought about something else.
"Really, big brother? Uncle Liang survived? That’s great news for Aunt Liao’s house. If they had lost Uncle Liang, their main support, Aunt Liao would have faced a lot of difficulties," Xiao Long was relieved upon hearing the news.
"But even though Uncle Liang survived, will others be as fortunate as him? Last year we lost Uncle Zhen, and the year before, we lost Uncle Dan, Uncle Da, and Uncle Guan," Huan’er said, her voice filled with sorrow. She knew that every winter, with the snowstorms, someone unfortunate would fall into the water and perish.
Huan’er was also worried about her own big brother. Every morning, he had to wake up and fetch water. Because of this worry, the children had to wake up earlier than others. They prepared things but their actual purpose was to wait for their elder brother to return from fetching water.
Everyone feared loss, and they were just lucky that nothing had happened to them yet.
The little girl looked at the water scoop pulley at their house. She was so happy when her sister-in-law had provided this special tool for her elder brother to make a special water scooping device so that he no longer had to risk danger. However, this kind-hearted child still worried about others.
"Big brother, sister-in-law, if we let others come to fetch water at our place instead, would they be safe?" the young girl asked. With her child-like innocence, she thought that just by not going to the stream, they could avoid death.
However, given such a distance, would people agree to carry water tanks to Mu Heng’s house and then walk back and forth like this, possibly dozens of times? And if they were even further away, what would they do?
In the end, this was only a solution for those living around their house. But what about those people who live farther away? What should they do?
"Huan’er, I understand your thought. But you should see who can reach your house. Our house is quite isolated, not in the center of the village like other families. Moreover, many other houses are also far from the village center, so they still face risks."
"Big brother, I just thought that if they didn’t have to face danger, then no one would have to die," the little girl said, nearly crying. In the end, it was still a cruel reality for many.
Their house, when their parents decided to split off, the Mu family threw them a plot of land far away to build their home. It was a small area, but their father spent money to buy the surrounding land and cleared it to make it as clean as it is today. Indeed, as the elder brother said, many other families live far away, and it would be difficult for them to come here to fetch water.
"Sister-in-law, do you have any ideas?" Huan’er suddenly thought, hoping that whatever problem existed, her sister-in-law might have a good solution.
Mu Heng also looked at Yueqian, his eyes holding a hint of hope. This situation made Yueqian feel a bit uneasy, but eventually, she thought of something.
"Actually, could people from far away bring their jars here to fetch water?" Yueqian said.
"That might work. However, there’s still a problem, since on their way here, the jars aren’t heavy, and they can carry them, but once filled with water, they wouldn’t be able to carry them back." He contemplated, but in the end, this idea seemed difficult to him.
The beautiful woman gently shook her head as she was about to propose her idea. She already had a solution for this issue, and she certainly didn’t envision requiring the villagers to help each other carry heavy jars.
"We could suggest that the villagers build sleds to pull."
"Hmm? Sleds?" Mu Heng raised his eyebrows, having never heard this word before.
Yueqian bit her lip softly. To simplify the idea, she then fetched some paper and a small brush from the house. Her slender fingers moved swiftly, gradually revealing the image of something before Mu Heng and his siblings.
The three showed considerable interest as Yueqian explained. They nodded vigorously like a good disciple until her idea was fully explained, appearing as if they had discovered a precious treasure.
"Sister-in-law, so we can use these sleds to carry heavy items in the snow, right?" Xiao Long asked excitedly.
Typically, moving around in heavy snow was challenging, especially if it involved transporting heavy items. If their sister-in-law’s idea worked, they could simply walk forward and pull these sleds. Or, if they had their own horses in the future, they could even use them to pull heavy loads.
"Yes, that’s possible, but we’ll have to try it out. If the snow isn’t packed down or even, the sled might tip over."
"That shouldn’t be a concern. If we use the roads we regularly travel, there shouldn’t be a problem. Let’s have everyone mark the roadsides with flags to signal where our roads are," Mu Heng suggested, showing greater local knowledge than Yueqian.
The young woman nodded in agreement, and the small family of four was excited about this. There was still time left in the day, and the children decided to skip their writing lessons to help the villagers instead. They no longer wanted to see anyone die by drowning. ƒrēewebnovel.com
"Husband, but the idea of having them come to fetch water at our house isn’t very good, I think..."
"It’s alright. I’ll have the village leader come and see our setup. Then we can build something similar in the village square. There’s a stream behind the village square too," Mu Heng told his wife. He understood her concerns because if people frequented their house, they would lose their privacy.
Moreover, Mu Heng was reluctant to let other men easily enter his home. He had a beautiful wife and a sister, and he and his younger brother alone feared they couldn’t adequately protect them. He was worried that if someone flirted with the women, it would ultimately be his problem.
To put it bluntly, Mu Heng was very protective of his wife.
"That would be better," she said, not wanting strangers to scrutinize what was in her home. Besides, if the people of the Mu family were to gather at their house, wouldn’t that bring daily chaos?
Yueqian did not want that.
If others had such valuable resources, they wouldn’t want to share; they would prefer to gain prestige. Having others rely on their household could make them influential in the village over time, easier to ask others to do a favor for them.
It would be like the current village leader, who, despite being old, had villagers helping him out or sharing resources with him whenever possible, all because he held an important position in the village.
But Yueqian did not want that. If she really desired such a life, she wouldn’t have caused chaos in the capital to begin with. She could have become a benevolent and famous woman endowed with all the virtues expected of a good lady.
She never thought being a prominent figure would be difficult, but Yueqian did not want the exhaustion that came with it. She regretted a past life spent always considering others’ opinions, even down to lending money to friends; if she refused, she would be seen as a miserly person.
In a society where people behaved such a way, she felt suffocated.
Living this new life as the villainess of the story, Yueqian didn’t feel bad at all, especially knowing the other party’s end was simple and modest. She wished for such an end herself.
After escaping the tumult of the capital, how could she now play the saint and draw further attention to herself? She preferred to live quietly, happily with her husband and family, without anyone else’s interference.
However, for the small things she could assist with, she wouldn’t turn a blind eye. Having once faced death, she knew all too well that life on this earth wasn’t easy. To reincarnate, she was fortunate to have accrued some merit in her past life, it took her nearly twenty years this time to live a comfortable life.
She had no idea if being evil in a past life would have offered her another chance at life, or if she would have faced some otherworldly form of justice, possibly reincarnate as a pitiable beggar. She wanted none of that to happen.
Yueqian was simply aware of her actions, preferring to harm others as little as possible while enjoying her current life.
Mu Heng acted much faster, having deeper ties to everyone in the village than Yueqian. His younger siblings were also eager to assist, and so the sled was quickly completed. The wooden board they had gathered seemed not very durable, but it served as a good prototype for others in the village.
The children climbed onto the sled and had Mu Heng test it by pulling them. It turned out that pulling the sled was only strenuous at the start; once it was moving, the weight of the children didn’t strain his arms anymore.
Eventually, Mu Heng pulled the two children and Yueqian all the way to the village leader’s house. Villagers who saw them along the way showed great interest since they hadn’t gone out hunting or foraging recently, and hearing the sled’s scraping noise, many came out to look.
“Is that Mu Heng?” a villager called out.
The large man noticed Mu Heng pulling his two younger siblings and wife amid the biting cold and couldn’t help but be interested. Mu Heng didn’t look troubled at all, despite the significant weight of the three people. Normally, who could transport their family like this? Why did Mu Heng have enough strength to do so?
“Yes, A’Rui.”
“Hmm, and where are you off to? What is that thing you three sitting on? It was quite odd-looking?” He even stepped out of his house to get a closer look at what Mu Heng was pulling. A’Rui’s family often had goods to sell at the market, so they frequently saw Mu Heng when they went to town. Moreover, Mu Heng’s wife had recently rented them more land. If the four were struggling, he would be ready to help.
“This is called a sled. We are on our way to see the village leader to propose an idea for water collection from the stream.”
“Oh, really? I heard that Brother Liang fell into the stream today, another one who fell. It’s quite dangerous. I’ve been a bit scared myself. Last year someone died, and this year it nearly happened again. Just waiting and relying on luck to see who dies first. Sigh. It’s good that Brother Liang survived. I heard it was thanks to the advice and dowry from your wife, right? What’s the plan now? Got any good ideas?”
