Villagers carrying buckets, upon reaching the newly dug well near the Qin family's home, discovered the Qin family's eldest daughter arguing with the well-digging crew.
This was quite a spectacle.
Qin Junyao, the Qin family's eldest daughter, usually presented an unapproachable demeanor. Although those close to the Qin family said she was easy to get along with, most people believed what they saw.
The villagers coming to fetch water were curious as to why the Qin family's eldest daughter would be arguing with anyone.
They quickened their pace to join the commotion.
"Uncle Xu, why can't this well water be drunk? Why not?"
"My family borrowed money from my future in-laws to dig this well. Why can't the well water be drunk?" Qin Junyao covered her face with one hand, feigning tears like Qin Xiaoyu.
"Uh~~" Uncle Xu, who was digging the well, hesitantly responded to Qin Junyao.
"How can well water from the same village be bitter? Life is already hard enough. If the water is also bitter, what are we to do~~"
The villagers who had gathered at Qin Junyao's words pursed their lips. If their lives were hard, then theirs were hellish.
"Qin family's eldest daughter is truly a comedian. I've never heard of well water being bitter."
"Exactly. You don't want us to drink from your well, do you? How stingy."
"If you ask me, now that you've hitched onto a high branch, you don't want to acknowledge us common folk."
"Sister-in-law, speak softly. Be careful the whole family comes to your courtyard to argue, and smashes it while they're at it."
Through his mask, Qin Sen saw that the women speaking with not-so-quiet voices were all familiar faces, always present at any commotion involving the Qin family.
He wanted to step forward but was stopped by Qin Junyao's arm. The speakers were women, and it wouldn't be appropriate for a man to get involved.
Besides, without hearing the content about stealing luck just now, Qin Junyao didn't want these people with ulterior motives to drink their well water.
Qin Junyao wiped away nonexistent tears. "If you all don't believe me, you can taste the water."
She had just added some bitter melon powder to the bucket.
"Who knows if you've added something harmful to the water? Now, dig a fresh bucket and let us see."
Upon hearing this, Qin Erniu raised the shovel in his hand and pointed it at the speaking woman. "What do you mean? This is our family's well. You want to drink it, you drink it? Who gave you the nerve?"
The man standing next to the woman stepped forward. "Kid, put down the shovel. It's not your place to speak. Let your elders come. Don't forget, your family has used a lot of the village's well water."
Qin Sen pressed down Qin Erniu's shovel and then said to the man, "Have you forgotten? General Zhao provided the money for the well."
"So what if he provided the money? Your family uses more water than ten households. If you have to pay, you'll have to pay tenfold."
Qin Erniu raised the shovel again. "Say that again. How much?"
"Kid, who are you pointing your shovel at?"
Seeing that the situation wasn't improving, Qin Junyao spoke loudly to her eldest brother standing next to Qin Erniu. "Eldest Brother, draw a bucket of water and let the villagers taste it."
"Younger Sister?" Qin Erniu, holding the shovel, turned to Qin Junyao in confusion.
Are we really doing this?
Qin Sen glanced at his confident niece and said to Qin Da Niu, who hadn't moved, "Da Niu, draw water."
The villagers who had come to fetch water, upon hearing Qin Sen's words, gathered around the well. Some even helped Qin Da Niu operate the well windlass.
When the water was drawn up, Qin Junyao was the first to help, and as she did, she added the bitter melon powder to the water.
Fortunately, the well had just been dug, and the sediment at the bottom had not fully settled, making the water somewhat cloudy. Otherwise, the bitter melon powder would have been discovered immediately.
"Let me taste if this water is bitter." The man who had argued with Qin Erniu was the first to reach into the bucket.
He cupped his hands, took a mouthful of water, and before anyone else could ask, he spat it out with a "噗."
He instinctively wanted to rinse his mouth and went to drink the first bucket of water that had been drawn.
"Pfft."
Just as Qin Junyao expected, he spat it out again.
"It's bitter! Ugh~~ The water is really bitter!"
Qin Junyao didn't understand why the bitter melon grown in her space was exceptionally bitter, more so than even Huang Lian (a very bitter herb).
Zhao Liangcai had previously mentioned that he was sometimes not mentally alert during training because he couldn't sleep well, and would be hit by his subordinates.
His intention was to make Qin Junyao feel sorry for him. He didn't expect Qin Junyao to directly make bitter melon powder for him to refresh his mind.
Zhao Liangcai, who had eaten raw meat and gnawed on tree bark, found the bitter melon powder mixed with water difficult to swallow. The unprepared villagers, on the other hand, felt nauseous from the bitterness.
Despite some people tasting it and confirming the water was bitter, some still refused to believe it.
The first to disbelieve were the well-digging crew. When the water came out, they tasted it; it was good. How could it be bitter?
One by one, they tried to drink it, and one by one, they spat out the water in their mouths and felt nauseous.
Uncle Xu, the well digger, was also a sharp-minded person. He remembered what Qin Junyao had told him to act out earlier.
"Alas, it seems this is the legendary bitter well. Alas," Uncle Xu said, wiping his mouth and shaking his head.
"Well digger, what is a bitter well?" Some sharp-eared villagers quickly asked upon hearing Uncle Xu.
"It's a rule passed down from our ancestors. It cannot be spoken, cannot be spoken. Alas."
Uncle Xu's words caused another wave of discussion among the villagers.
At this moment, Grandma Qin, along with Father Qin and the others, arrived.
Qin Junyao ran over and called out "Grandma" with a tearful voice.
This cry of "Grandma" sent shivers down the old woman's spine.
Qin Junyao hooked her arm through Grandma Qin's, tilted her head, and leaned against her shoulder as she walked towards the well, quickly explaining the current situation.
"Heavens, it's a bitter well?" Grandma Qin's shock seemed entirely genuine.
She walked somewhat unsteadily to the bucket, her hands trembling as she cupped some water and drank it.
Everyone watched as Grandma Qin trembled even more violently.
Grandma Qin gritted her teeth and swallowed the water in her mouth, mentally scolding Qin Junyao from head to toe.
"Eldest son, go buy some incense, candles, and paper money. Then go home and get the three steamed buns we eat for the festival tomorrow. Go to the land temple and offer incense to the Earth God."
Father Qin didn't understand what had happened but obediently left.
Grandma Qin sighed and shook her head, then stood up. "Second son, take Da Niu and the others back to remove the door panel. Cover this well. Alas."
Grandma Qin's performance almost convinced Uncle Xu that the bitter well he had fabricated was real.
When villagers came forward to ask what a bitter well was, Grandma Qin also sighed and said it couldn't be spoken, couldn't be spoken.
Some persistent villagers still went to draw water. Qin Junyao slipped a paper packet into Qin Sen and Qin Xiaoyu's hands.
Qin Xiaoyu, a child, acted even more naturally than Qin Junyao. She even openly poured the bitter melon powder from the paper packet into the bucket. The villagers merely thought the child was being mischievous.
The door panel was used to cover the well, and a large stone was placed on top. The Qin family removed the rope and bucket from the windlass and, along with the well-digging crew, returned to the Qin household.
On the way, Qin Junyao gave Uncle Xu a packet of bitter melon powder.