The Wealth in the Old Well chapter 1

Old Tom is the head of the villagers in a small town called Rockdale. Being the head here is no easy job. You see, there are two major family names in this town, the Johnsons and the Smiths. These two families are always competing with each other, and poor Old Tom, being from a small family, gets caught in the middle and suffers from both sides! Lately, he’s been going out early and coming back late, avoiding everyone. No one knows what he’s been up to.

One day, before dawn, Old Tom slipped out of his house quietly when he thought no one was around. Suddenly, a big guy jumped out from the bushes by the road. “Old Tom, stop right there! Trying to run away again? You’re too scared to handle something as simple as cleaning the well. Do you even deserve to be the head of the villagers?”

The one speaking was Jim Smith. Old Tom knew exactly why he was angry. Due to a severe drought, the town was facing a water shortage. Actually, all they needed to do was clean the old well at the bottom of the main pond, and the problem would be solved. But Old Tom had his own difficulties. “It’s not that I don’t want to handle it. You two big families are just too much. Take the well – cleaning in previous years for example. When the pay was low, no one wanted to do it. But when there was a bit of profit, you all fought like crazy. How can I manage this?” He continued, “Alright, alright, I won’t run away. I’ll have to deal with it sooner or later. Let’s have a meeting today!”

Around mid – morning, Old Tom gathered the villagers in the town square. He squatted on a big rock, smoking a cigarette in silence. When he saw that everyone had arrived, he crushed the cigarette butt on the ground, frowned, and said in a gruff voice, “Let’s start the meeting! These days, some people have been calling me a coward for hiding. Well, I’m going to step up now. Today, we’ll clean the well according to my plan. My plan is absolutely fair. Everyone should be more understanding. If anyone causes trouble, I won’t care about this anymore!”

Then, Old Tom raised his voice and said, “Now, those who want to bid for the well – cleaning job, please sign up. You have five minutes. Start the clock!”

“I… I want to bid!”

The first one to sign up was a widow named Linda Johnson. She lowered her head, blushed, and stood in a corner behind the crowd. Her thin body was shaking like a blade of grass in the wind. Old Tom waved his hand. “Okay, you’re in.”

“Hey, I’ll sign up too! I’m so poor, what can I do? Don’t get me wrong, folks. I’m not pretending to be poor!” Jim Smith stood up right after, his words full of sarcasm.

Old Tom knew that Jim’s family was well – off. He wouldn’t do such a dirty and tiring job. He signed up just to oppose Linda and stop her from getting the job.

Jim had his reasons for causing trouble. Ten years ago, in this small town, there were two well – known figures: the town councilman, Jack Smith, Jim’s uncle, and the mayor, David Johnson, Linda’s husband. Both of them got into trouble. One went to jail for corruption, and the other died under suspicion of corruption. Each family spread rumors that the other had framed their man. Jim’s implication was that David was a corrupt official before his death, and Linda had money but was pretending to be poor to take the job and clear her name.

After that, the Johnsons and the Smiths signed up one after another, acting like fighting roosters. Old Tom remained calm. He took out a stack of small pieces of paper from his pocket and distributed them to the bidders. With a straight face, he said, “Now, let’s start the competition. Write down the amount of money you want for the job. The one who asks for the lowest pay will get the contract!”

This method was indeed fair, and everyone nodded in agreement. After all the bidders handed their papers to Old Tom, he announced the bids in public. The highest bid was $400, and the lowest was from Linda, only $180, more than $100 less than the previous years!

No one said a word. A smile appeared on Linda’s pale face. Old Tom seemed a bit worried and reminded Linda not to back out at the last minute. Linda shook her head. “Would I make fun of everyone? I’m just sitting around anyway. Every dollar counts. My son needs money for school…”

Old Tom felt a sharp pain in his heart. This woman had a tough life. After David’s death, she did all kinds of farm work, raised her son alone, and sent him to high school. Now, she was about to send him to college. She was so exhausted that she was as weak as a reed. Recently, she had been worried about her son’s tuition fees, and a large part of her hair had turned white.

After the meeting, Linda and her son went to the old well. She clumsily set up the water pump and the windlass. Because of her husband’s incident, the Johnsons blamed her, and the Smiths hated her. For so many years, no one had been willing to help her with anything, big or small. Under the scorching sun, her bitter tears silently fell into the muddy well water…

In the afternoon, the muddy water in the well was drained. Linda tied a big basket, squatted in it, looked at the mud in the well, and with red – rimmed eyes, she told her son, “I’m going down. Turning the windlass is tiring. If you can’t handle it, tell me, and I’ll take less mud each time.”

The basket slowly descended to the bottom of the well.

Suddenly, the basket under her feet started to shake violently, and there was a strange “scratching” sound from the bottom! Linda was startled. She thought it was a big snake. She gasped for breath, picked up a shovel, and stared nervously with wide – open eyes. She saw the mud at the bottom of the well slowly moving. Taking a closer look, she exclaimed in surprise, “Turtles! So many turtles!”

Linda’s hands were shaking as she used the shovel to stir the mud. Goodness, there were still turtles under the mud! How many turtles were there? How much money would they be worth! Her heart was pounding with excitement.

Soon, a basket full of turtles was pulled up, and then another! The turtles were of different sizes, but they were all wild. They filled two big sacks. When the villagers heard the news, they rushed over. Everyone was stunned. Some were annoyed, and some were jealous.

Jim came with a scale. He silently weighed the two sacks of turtles. As soon as he announced the weight, someone shouted, “Wow, these turtles can be sold for over $10,000! It’s really unpredictable. Her son’s tuition for two years is covered!”