I became the Counterpart of the Winner in a Period Novel-Chapter 400 - 339: Jixiang of the Desert’s Edge

Jiang Mingyue opened the courtyard gate and went in, just latched the door, and heard footsteps behind her.

"You’re back?"

Jiang Mingyue’s tense nerves finally relaxed, "I thought you wouldn’t be back so soon!"

Yan Jinzhi took her hand, "Did you think a thief got in just now?"

"Wasn’t it?"

"Don’t worry, no one dares to come in."

"Are there guards on duty?" If that’s the case, she’d better come less often.

"No, the guards follow me, wherever I am, they are."

Jiang Mingyue understood, this meant that she could leave when he was not there, otherwise it would be easy to expose.

"Not really, I have them outside the yard, they can’t peek at anything inside the courtyard, feel free." He didn’t want to restrict her, this hard-won reunion shouldn’t be ruined.

"That’s good! Have you eaten?"

Yan Jinzhi gently pinched her fingers, "What are you thinking? I come back naturally to have a meal with you. I brought a lunchbox. Let you taste the food here."

Jiang Mingyue was a competent elder sister, not forgetting her brother at this time, "Xiao Ran has nothing to eat."

"I knew you’d say that, let’s go, let’s eat."

Going in, naturally means entering the space.

Apart from the lunchbox, there was also a pot of butter tea. Jiang Mingyue poured three cups, took out barley bread, clear broth lamb, and dipping sauce from the lunchbox. Just these three items, but plenty in quantity. Besides the initial unfamiliarity, it was quite delicious to eat. Jiang Mingyue took out Xiao Ran’s portion.

The little guy was hungry, looking around but didn’t see his sister coming back, regretting not cooking, wondering if it would be too late if he started now.

"What are you thinking? Let’s eat?" The person carrying the lunchbox came out from the stone arch of number 43, and Xiao Ran bounced out, extremely surprised.

"Sis, you’re back?"

"Hmm, hungry? Come and eat." Jiang Mingyue didn’t explain much, anyway, she had told them about taking leave, so roaming around wasn’t strange, a tacit understanding was reached about not coming back for meals.

"Not hungry! Not hungry!"

Jiang Mingyue didn’t expose him, handed him the barley bread, "Try it, I traded with an uncle in private, see if you like it?"

Xiao Ran, who had a belly full of words, lost all attention upon seeing the different bread and the never-before-seen butter tea. He eagerly took a bite of the barley bread, his eyes lit up, then impatiently took a big sip of butter tea, accepting it well.

Jiang Mingyue wasn’t worried that he wouldn’t be accustomed to it. If he could eat these two things, clear broth lamb surely wouldn’t be a problem.

"You eat, sister already ate. Arrange your time after eating."

"Sister, where are you going again?"

"I’m not going anywhere, I’m going to sleep, you eat up, it’s all yours."

Xiao Ran was relieved, buried himself in eating the fragrant lamb, occasionally sipping a sip of the soup with scallions, looking every bit a little foodie.

"He can eat it?"

"Yeah, children are greedy, adapt well."

"That’s good. Let’s eat quickly then."

"This tastes really good."

"It is quite good! Made by the staff at the mess. Fresh vegetables are not supplied there, often having only this gets tiring."

"Then don’t eat it. Leave it for us. I’ll make you something else."

"Is it convenient?"

"There’s ready-made stuff."

"Alright then!" Yan Jinzhi was more than happy, over there it was unavoidable, but now he could change flavors, and since it was made by her, naturally it made him happy.

In the afternoon, Yan Jinzhi returned to the experiment base, while Jiang Mingyue awaited the arrival of Jixiang.

"Sister, where else would you like to go? I’ll take you."

"Jixiang, can I visit your home?"

The little guy cheerfully beamed, "Of course, let’s go, I’ll take you now. You don’t know, my grandma also wants you to come."

Jiang Mingyue strapped on a basket and locked the door.

"Sister, that’s our clan leader."

At the end of a row of prayer wheels, an elder in local attire was tying prayer flags to a tree branch, praying for the gods to bring rain.

"How long has it not rained here?"

Regarding this question, Jixiang remembered particularly well, "Ninety-one days. Sister, several households’ water storage ponds in the village have dried up, livestock are driven to the clan leader’s pond to drink. If the gods don’t bring rain soon, even the clan leader’s pond will dry up."

Even the livestock ponds were drying up, what about drinking water for the villagers? Moreover, after storing for ninety-one days, there are surely many microorganisms, is it still safe to take the water?

Jiang Mingyue worried for the villagers.

"Hasn’t your clan leader thought about organizing people to dig a well?"

"What is digging a well?" Jixiang tilted his head, puzzled.

Jiang Mingyue sighed, he was still a child, no matter how smart he seemed, he couldn’t speak of things he hasn’t seen.

"Digging a well means digging a hole underground. Beneath our feet, it is possible there is an underground river passing. If we strike it, the underground river’s water will gush up to the surface, then the village will have endless water."

"Really? That’s amazing! I’ll go tell grandpa clan leader."

Before Jiang Mingyue could stop him, Jixiang was already running far like the wind.

The child didn’t know, but the clan leader surely did, so what was the reason for not digging a well? Or were there no capable people for this? Jiang Mingyue’s instinct said no, with the experiment base backing them, the country took care of them, even exempting their grain taxes. It shouldn’t be difficult for the state to dig a well for them.

Jiang Mingyue didn’t understand.

When the clan elder, Jiang Mingyue greeted him, but their languages differed, creating a communication barrier, needing Jixiang to mediate.

"What did your clan leader grandpa say?"

Jixiang was a little confused, "Grandpa clan elder said that digging a well would anger the mountain god."

Jiang Mingyue opened her mouth, but in the end, said nothing. She knew some places had such customs, they had such beliefs. She didn’t consider herself influential enough to do something the state couldn’t. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Indeed, when the clan elder said such words, Jiang Mingyue understood. The country surely wanted to solve their water issues a long time ago, but they delayed it, fearing to disturb the mountain god.

What...what could she say?

Bidding farewell to the clan elder, she went to Jixiang’s home.

The house of the grandmother and grandson was just as she imagined, small and old, but fortunately not broken, so there was no worry when the wind and rain came.

"This was fixed by the liberation/army uncles, they are so good."

"Yes! They are the loveliest people!"