Investigation Questionnaire

Zhou Sanlang straightened up and wanted to look around, but a whip suddenly struck the ground next to him. The overseer shouted, "What are you looking at? Get to work quickly." If this section isn't completed satisfactorily today, no one can leave!

Zhou Sanlang immediately nodded.

Man Bao roared, but when his brother didn't respond, he climbed onto Zhou Wulang's neck and shouted at the crowd, "Brother—"

Finally, the overseer noticed a few children and pointed with his whip, "Hey, what are you kids doing?"

Lao Ding also quietly raised his head to look. The overseer didn't recognize them, but the villagers of Qili Village easily did.

Wasn't Zhou's fifth and sixth sons, especially the one sitting on the neck, Zhou's precious little lump?

Someone immediately shouted, "Zhou Sanlang, your younger siblings are here to see you!"

Although the overseers were in charge, they were not strict enough to forbid the workers from speaking; they only prohibited them from slacking off.

Zhou Sanlang finally heard clearly and, ignoring the whip, raised his head to see Man Bao sitting on Lao Wu's neck. He widened his eyes and called out, "Man Bao, why are you here?"

The overseer glanced at the children and waved dismissively at Zhou Sanlang, saying, "Hurry, hurry, you have a quarter of an hour." Get back to work quickly.

Zhou Sanlang bowed repeatedly to express his gratitude, dropped his hoe, and ran over.

Man Bao finally recognized her third brother among the dusty crowd as he ran towards her.

Man Bao hugged Zhou Wulang's neck and was about to slide down, but Zhou Liulang quickly held her.

Bai Shanbao looked enviously and decided that when he went back, he would also ask Man Bao's brother to let him sit for a while. He had never sat on an adult's neck before.

Zhou Sanlang rushed over, initially wanting to hug Man Bao. Upon realizing he was covered in dust, he withdrew his hand and turned to Zhou Wulang, asking, "Lao Wu, is something wrong at home?"

"No," Zhou Wulang said with a forced smile, "Man Bao said she missed you, so she came to see you." Third brother, we miss you too. Serving is very hard, isn't it?

Just a few days passed, and he had become significantly tanned and lost a considerable amount of weight. All the weight he had gained before was gone.

Zhou Sanlang smiled and shook his head, "Not difficult." On such a cold day, Man Bao really doesn't understand why you both came all this way.

Zhou Sanlang rambled on, subconsciously reaching for money to buy candy for Man Bao to take home.

But Man Bao had already taken out a piece of candy from her pocket, unwrapped it, and stuffed it into his mouth. She looked at him with a pained expression and tiptoed to touch his face, "Third brother, you've gotten thinner."

Zhou Sanlang bent over, feeling extremely comforted. However, he wasn't good at speaking and just kept shaking his head, saying, "Not difficult, not difficult."

Man Bao curiously watched as they dug mud by the roadside. "Third brother, what are you doing?"

"Repairing the road," Zhou Sanlang said happily. However, not knowing how to express it, he continued to talk to Man Bao about their service, pointing to the two ditches by the roadside. "There's a lot of water here, see?" The official road is bumpy because rainwater is unable to drain away, leading to damage to the road. We are digging two small ditches here and then using the mud to fill the holes. In the future, the water on the road will drain into the ditches, and the road won't be damaged as quickly.

He also pointed to a row of thatched houses on the open ground in the distance, "That's where we live, all temporarily." We are responsible for maintaining the official road of Baili and the nearby water conservancy, so we eat and live here.

Man Bao listened attentively and asked several questions. Zhou Sanlang provided further explanation, detailing what water conservancy entails.

"It's actually very simple, just digging ditches, four feet wide and five feet deep, surrounding these fields, from here to there…" Zhou Sanlang said with envy. "I wonder when the county lord will allow people to repair the water conservancy in our village." "If our village also had such a ditch, it would be much more convenient."

"So, is repairing the water conservancy a good thing?" Man Bao asked.

Zhou Sanlang smiled and said, "Of course, it's a good thing."

Man Bao glanced at Bai Shanbao and scratched his head, whispering, "But didn't you say in the village that you didn't want to serve and didn't want to repair the water conservancy?"

Zhou Sanlang immediately looked around and, seeing that the overseer wasn't paying attention, whispered, "It's not our own village's water conservancy that we're asked to repair, so of course we're not willing…"

Serving is really very hard.

But as soon as the thought arose, Zhou Sanlang smiled again.

Man Bao vaguely understood that good things remain good things, but they do not come to those who repair water conservancy.

Man Bao wanted to ask more, but the overseer urged, "Zhou Sanlang, hurry back to work!"

Zhou Sanlang agreed and asked Zhou Wulang to take Man Bao back, then hurried over to work.

It was difficult for them to come here, and while Man Bao was willing to go back, Bai Shanbao was not.

The two of them took out a small notebook from their bag, grabbed their pens, ground ink on the spot, and started asking people questions.

Zhou Wulang and Zhou Liulang looked on in awe. Their little sister was truly remarkable, writing at such a young age. They were curious and followed to see.

With the assistance of Keke, Man Bao, and Bai Shanbao, a straightforward and concise questionnaire was formulated, and the questions were recorded in the notebook.

The two children squatted in front of Lao Ding, asking about the size of their family, the number of strong men, how labor was divided at home, what preparations they had made for the trip, and under what circumstances they would still be eager to repair the water conservancy and official road if the court did not issue a labor order.

The laborers didn't want to answer at first. They were already tired from work. Who had time to deal with two little kids?

One of them was holding a notebook and a brush, while the other was holding an inkstone, giving them a very high-class appearance, suggesting that they were scholars.

Although no one had the opportunity to read and write, they respected scholars.

So, everyone began to take the time to answer their various strange questions. An overseer noticed the situation and walked over with a whip. He saw Bai Shanbao squatting and taking notes, frowned, but didn't interrupt. When he raised his head, he said, "Young master, young lady, this is not a place for you to play. Go somewhere else quickly."

Bai Shanbao said, "This is the assignment our teacher gave us." We have to complete it.

The overseer thought their teacher was just fooling around by allowing such young children to come here. What if something happened to them?

He said, "You can ask me any questions you have. I can answer them all."