The day after the land-use compact was approved, residents held the next working assembly in an open-sided barn because the village hall still held medicine and grain. They already had homes and work sites; this meeting was for unresolved workshop, clinic, and school tasks.
Wind pushed the land-use map against the two posts where Ning had pinned it. She held one corner while families checked their home sites and work places. On the map, Olan’s temporary orchard plot sat beside the east ditch. A blue line showed the water route, but it stopped halfway across the field.
“This makes it look as if the whole plot can be planted,” Olan said. “The water doesn’t reach the far rows.”
Ning found the mark. “I copied the boundary before Hala checked the flow.”
“Then leave the boundary, but write that only the near rows are confirmed.”
She amended the note while he watched. Olan read it again and nodded. He had accepted the temporary paid job, but that did not mean he had accepted the whole plot as if it were ready for planting. The correction kept the work plan honest.
An older farmer beside him asked whether the ditch was likely to reach the far rows by planting week. Olan said he had not inspected the lower brace yet. “If it holds, we can bring water farther. If it fails, the map cannot make it hold.”
