Li Qiao'er's thoughts were unknown to Wang Xiaolong.
At this moment, he had already reached the area of the East River Dam.
Xiao Xi Village had no mechanical wells and used to rely on the grace of God and the reservoir in front of the mountains to nourish the crops.
However, the reservoir's supply was indeed limited, and the flow was too weak; it could only irrigate the fields around the reservoir, unable to cover most of the farmland. As a result, the grain income decreased year by year.
Later, the higher authorities noticed this issue and approached the village head of the neighboring village.
Behind the neighboring village was a natural reservoir, not too far from Xiao Xi Village.
Together, the two villages repaired a canal on the east side and redirected the water.
Since the reservoir was not large, it only released water twice a year.
These days the weather was unkind, and it had been over a month without rain. When the villagers heard that the dam was releasing water, they all rushed over, hoping to save the crops that were on the brink of drying out.
By then, the edges of the fields were crowded with people; some were repairing the small canals beside the fields while others gathered to smoke and chat about the village's gossip.
Seeing Wang Xiaolong coming, many villagers cast mocking glances at him.
Before he had become foolish, everyone had fawned over him as he was the first college graduate from the village.
But ever since he became foolish, they had treated him as nothing more than an object of ridicule.
"Idiot, the gate hasn't even been opened. Go back and sleep with the pretty widow next door."
"Even if the gate opens, it's not your turn. Don't come over and make us sick. Wait until the day after tomorrow when we've all watered our fields, then you can come."
Opening the dam to irrigate the fields was done from north to south, in order.
The fields of Wang Xiaolong and Li Qiao'er were next to each other, both on the northernmost side; they could have been the first to irrigate, but time and again the villagers had deceived them into being the last.
Even if Li Qiao'er argued with them, it was to no avail.
To put it plainly, they were bullying them because one was a fool and the other a widow.
If it had been before, Wang Xiaolong would have definitely returned home, silly and grinning.
But now he had returned to normal and naturally would not let them manipulate him anymore.
Of course, he also did not argue with the villagers at that moment.
Difficult terrain breeds difficult people; arguing with them here would only waste time.
Wang Xiaolong cracked a smile and began walking toward the north.
He had decided, no matter how much the villagers made a fuss today, he would direct the water to his and Li Qiao'er's fields the moment it was released.
Should anyone dare to create a problem, he would take action.
After all, in everyone's eyes, he was just a fool, and a fool hitting someone is not against the law.
Soon, Wang Xiaolong reached his own field's edge.
Being close to the dam, even without opening it, a small flow of water still trickled out, and his corn was somewhat better off than others'.
The lush green filled him with joy.
But just as he was about to go in and pull out some weeds, a rustling sound came from the field.
Wang Xiaolong peered forward and saw in the center of the field, many cornstalks were collapsing with a crashing sound.
Suddenly, a conversation between a man and a woman also reached his ears.
"Don't... don't touch me, the villagers are all standing on the ridge, it would be bad if they saw us."
"See shit, those poor bastards are all eagerly waiting for me to release the water. And this field belongs to fool Wang Xiaolong; he's already dead and gone, he couldn't possibly show up."
As soon as he heard those words, Wang Xiaolong knew the man in the field was that bastard Liu Dajun!
Even though the release of water from the dam was a cooperation with the next village, he and Liu Erleng had managed to keep control of the operation in their hands to line their own pockets.
"Damn it, he hit me before, and now he's raiding my corn as if I'm some kind of pushover!"
After cursing under his breath, Wang Xiaolong groped his way forward.
As he got closer, he could see the woman clearly; it was Yang Cuihua, Old Hu's daughter-in-law from their village.
In the three and five villages around, Yang Cuihua was famously fickle.
Her melon-seed face bore a pair of phoenix eyes, which dazzled charmingly with every blink as if they could cast spells, a match for the millennial fox spirit, Su Qianqian.
The shape of her body was quite voluptuous, especially her pert buttocks, which resembled two big watermelons and had many of the village elders itching to give them a pat.
Her husband was a good-for-nothing. Earlier, there were rumors in the village that Liu Erleng had rolled in her big kang bed and when her husband walked in on them, he didn't dare to utter a word.
Before that, many men had wanted a taste of her.
Unfortunately, since she took up with Liu Erleng, the village tyrant, everyone else could only listen enviously from beneath her window.
Seeing her getting mixed up with Liu Dajun now, Wang Xiaolong felt quite astonished.
After all, the villagers had always said that Yang Cuihua was only Liu Erleng's lover, but it turned out she was also involved with Liu Dajun.
To those who knew they were father and son, it seemed like they were brothers-in-law.
At this moment, Yang Cuihua was being pinned to the ground by Liu Dajun.
She was only wearing a black tank top and as Liu Dajun grabbed and pulled at her, one of the straps fell off...
Liu Dajun pounced like a starving wolf and devoured her in a frenzy.
Yang Cuihua tried to struggle, but her strength was too little; she could only let him maneuver her while curiously asking, "Today is your wedding day, why aren't you at home cuddling your bride, but instead here?"
When this was mentioned, Liu Dajun was too annoyed to speak.
"It's all that idiot Wang Xiaolong's fault; he messed up my bridal chamber, completely ruining my good mood."
"He's just a fool; couldn't you have just driven him off?" asked Yang Cuihua with a smile.
Liu Dajun grinned and said, "Not just driven him off, I even beat him to death!"
Yang Cuihua looked incredulous, swore at him for boasting, then added, "With the troublemaker gone, you should have been cuddling your bride to calm down!"
Liu Dajun snorted coldly, "I wanted to, but when I undressed Liu Qian, I felt nothing."
Hearing this, Yang Cuihua reached over impulsively.
Even though Liu Dajun was quite heated, there was still no reaction.
"Could it be that Wang Xiaolong ruined you?"
"Nonsense!"
Liu Dajun cursed, but he felt somewhat uneasy inside.
An hour earlier, unable to find Liu Qian, he had gone home and found her having made a bed on the floor. Upset, he first shouted at her and then prepared to violently ravage her.
At that moment, he thought it might be related to the events of the day, so he decided to try with another woman.
But now, almost fully undressed and faced with such a beauty as Yang Cuihua, it just wasn't happening.
Gritting his teeth, he stood up.
Grabbing Yang Cuihua by the hair, he said, "Help me."