Chapter 6 Misunderstanding resolved Almost everyone in Zhoujiazhuang has the surname Zhou. Even if their bones are broken, their tendons are still connected. Almost every household is related. For example, Zhou Yimin and the old branch secretary's family are strictly speaking relatives, but they are beyond the five degrees of mourning, so they are not that close. Outside the five degrees of mourning, men and women can get married even if they are not related by blood. Generally speaking, the five mourning levels represent the range of relatives, including great-grandparents, great-great-grandparents, grandfathers, fathers, and one's own brothers and sisters, a total of five generations. In other words, people of the same generation as you, if they do not have the same great-great-ancestor, are considered outside the five degrees of mourning. After five generations, one no longer has to mourn for the deceased; this is called "out of mourning", also known as "out of the five mourning periods". In ancient times, the earliest five mourning clothes referred to the five levels of mourning clothes for the emperor, dukes, ministers, officials, and scholars. In the common people, they became five kinds of mourning clothes according to the degree of closeness. I'm afraid many people don't understand this. People from Zhoujiazhuang soon arrived at Shangshui Village, and people from the two villages began to confront each other. Speak first and explain the reason! But who knew that Shangshui Village was also wronged because there was not much water in their section of the river.
"Just take a look for yourselves!" said the head of Shangshui Village in a very straightforward manner. This time, the people in Zhoujiazhuang were dumbfounded. It cannot be said that there is no water at all, but there is very little water. Even if Shangshui Village does not use it at all, it may not flow to Zhoujiazhuang. For a moment, people in both villages were worried, and the atmosphere was a bit heavy. If this continued, food would be greatly reduced, and people would really die. The head of Shangshui Village took a puff of his pipe and asked the old Party secretary of Zhoujiazhuang: "Old Zhou, does your village still have food? Give some to us, etc...." Before he could finish, the old Party secretary interrupted him and said, "It won't last for a few days. I want to borrow some from your village!" Ok! Brothers in distress. The misunderstanding was resolved, and the old branch secretary returned with the people of Zhoujiazhuang. The water problem was still a headache. There was a spring in Zhoujiazhuang, which was used for daily water for the villagers. After the original well dried up, everyone went there to fetch water to drink. Now it seems that the spring has to be used for irrigation. Then, it is necessary to limit everyone's domestic water use. Zhou Xuqiang's plan to pick up a few more buckets today will fail. "Uncle San, it's okay! I'll go back to the city and take a bath." Zhou Yimin said to him. The whole village is like this, he can't be treated specially, right? However, for the sake of his grandparents' quality of life, Zhou Yimin thought of a hand-cranked water pump. If one was built next to the house, it would be convenient to use water. Despite the current drought, groundwater is abundant and has hardly been developed. In this case, as long as you drill ten meters below the ground in the right place, you may be able to drill out water. Unlike later generations, groundwater was overused and dropped sharply, and some water even had to be drilled into rock layers hundreds of meters deep to be produced. The hand-cranked water pump has a simple structure and can pump up groundwater within a depth of ten meters. He also had one in his hometown in his previous life, so he knew it quite well and it didn't require much technical knowledge. There are only a few parts for a hand-cranked water pump, which may be a little difficult for others to deal with, but he works in a steel factory, and it is not difficult to find an old craftsman to help him make it. It is not like making an airplane or a cannon. Thinking of this, he wanted to go back to the steel plant immediately.
"Yimin, you go back first, I'll take a look." Zhou Xuqiang hasn't given up yet. Zhou Yimin was thinking about the hand-cranked water pump and ignored him. When he returned to his grandmother's house, he began to draw parts with paper and pen. In addition to the parts needed for the water pump itself, he also had to build a drill rod. Grandpa and grandma watched him writing and drawing without disturbing him, and even drove Lai Fu and the other three children away. By the evening, Zhou Yimin had completed the drawings of the parts. Uncle San came back carrying water. "Didn't they say that each household will have a fixed amount of water in the future?" Zhou Yimin asked in surprise. Zhou Xuqiang smiled slyly and said, "The old branch secretary knew that I picked it for your family, so he didn't stop me." Not only did the old Party secretary say nothing, but other villagers also had no objection. There was nothing they could do! They were grateful for what they had received, and they were soft-hearted. Their children had eaten Zhou Yimin's food, so what was wrong with using a few more buckets of water? Zhou Yimin shook his head slightly: "It doesn't matter if it happens once or twice, but don't do it again in the future. It's easy to make people hate you." The old man also agreed with his good grandson's words: "Yi Min is right, we will follow the village rules tomorrow." Especially in such difficult times, we must be more fair and avoid making exceptions, otherwise it will be difficult to unite and overcome difficulties. Since Yimin and the old man said so, Zhou Xuqiang did not insist, but felt relieved. The villagers said nothing, but who knows what they think? "The old branch secretary plans to organize some people to go into the mountains tomorrow." Zhou Xuqiang changed the subject. Zhou Yimin knew this best, so he was not surprised. Going into the mountains to hunt or go fishing and encountering old cadres seems to be a plot that many time travelers like. But Zhou Yimin feels that it is redundant, whether it is hunting or fishing, it is just for obtaining supplies. He has the golden finger of the store. As long as he has money, he will not lack resources. There is no need to go through all that. As for the black market plot, he would probably secretly resell some of it, otherwise how would he make money? Just by providing some meat to the steel mills? The premise is to ensure your own safety. As for meeting a retired old man, how could it be that easy? It's simply outrageous. "Yes! We should go into the mountains to beg for food." Grandpa Zhou thought it was natural. It is said that if you live by the mountain, you can eat from the mountain; if you live by the sea, you can eat from the sea. If you don't know how to ask for food from the mountains when the crops in the fields are not enough, you are mentally ill. Rather than starve to death, it is better to take the risk and go into the mountains to fight. Zhou Yimin didn’t eat much meat at night, mainly because it was not cooked well. Without seasoning, just adding some salt and cooking or frying it, it would be strange if it tasted good. Grandpa and grandma thought that their good grandson was deliberately letting them eat more, and they were moved again. The old lady kept picking up meat for Zhou Yimin, which made Zhou Yimin laugh and cry. Lai Fu, Lai Cai and Lai Fang must have been warned by their mother, so they only ate three pieces and didn't dare to take more. But they already feel very happy, because they are the only ones in the village who eat meat. The next day, Zhou Yimin woke up and found that his grandmother had made steamed buns and boiled eggs. Both of them ate the cornmeal steamed buns. In order not to let Zhou Yimin see them, they woke up early and ate them early. Although the eldest grandson brought back a lot of food, the two elders still wanted to leave some for him and let them just eat whatever they wanted. When Zhou Yimin noticed the steamed bread residue, he immediately "lost his temper" and "threatened" her: "Grandma, if you still eat steamed bread next time, I won't come back." Seeing that her eldest grandson had seen through her plan, the old lady quickly promised, "Okay! I won't eat cornmeal next time. I'll ask your aunt to bring all the cornmeal back to eat later." If they really make their grandson angry and he doesn't come back, the two old people will cry to death.
"Big brother, big brother..." Lai Fu and the others ran in, but when they saw their eldest brother eating breakfast, they sensibly left. (End of this chapter)
