Chapter 31

Granny Ye, Mama Ye, and Ye Qingshui worked together and, taking advantage of the time before the rest of the villagers came to dig wells, filled all the water vats at home to the brim. The four large water vats that hadn’t been filled in over a decade were, incredibly, now full in this parched, drought-stricken weather!

Mama Ye looked at the full vats with a radiant smile and said, “Tonight we can finally bathe as much as we want!”

Even though the Ye family owned a foreign bicycle and fetching water from the deep mountains wasn’t as grueling for them as it was for others, Mama Ye and Granny Ye were always reluctant to waste water. In this sweltering heat, they had only been using small amounts to wipe down their bodies. A full bath only happened every few days — and that was already a luxury compared to other commune members, who had trouble even finding drinking water.

Now that they had a well, they no longer had to worry about water.

Looking at the clear, fresh water from the new well, Ye Qingshui finally let out a breath of relief. The burden she’d been carrying for over half a month could finally be laid to rest.

Zhou Tingting happily took several more sips of well water and wiped her mouth. “I thought I was going to die of thirst. These days, we haven’t had one satisfying drink.”

When it came to water shortages, no one had it worse than the female educated youths. They lacked the strength of men, and most were pampered city girls, incredibly lazy. If one person went to fetch water, everyone else wanted a share. It was like the saying: one monk carries water to drink, two monks share the burden, three monks go thirsty.

It wasn’t about scarcity but about unfair distribution. Over time, the girls’ dormitory at the educated youth station suffered extreme water shortages. They were a bunch of young people — how could they compete with the old farmers who lived alone and could still carry water?

With the new well completed, Zhou Tingting was so happy she nearly cried — the days of water shortage were finally over!

Ye Qingshui splashed her face with the cool well water, feeling the refreshing chill of the underground spring — it was crisp and soothing. The spring water deep in the mountains was naturally sweet and pure, uncontaminated by any pollution. This kind of water was perfect for soaking soybeans and making tofu — it would taste amazing.

Ye Qingshui said, “This area shouldn’t be lacking water at all. We’re not deep inland, and it used to rain quite a lot. The real problem lies in the karst terrain, which makes it hard to dig for water.”

So… perhaps that labor-intensive, expensive reservoir project could be postponed? If they delayed it for two or three years and focused fully on farming and solving the food shortage, things might get better. Once the land is divided among households, Ye Family Village could start to prosper.

Zhou Tingting nodded repeatedly, “Qingshui, everything you say makes sense!”

She smiled and, before dawn, had also filled a water vat of her own.

In the early morning mist of the mountain, roosters crowed to wake the commune members. The team leader led the production team into a day of hard labor. Over a dozen well-digging spots were scattered all over the fields. As small groups passed by, no one paid attention to whether Ye Qingshui’s well had water.

But then, when a larger group passed by, one person happened to glance over — and that single glance was enough to shock everyone.

“W-wait — damn, Water Girl really struck water!”

Liu Yiliang and Shen Weimin were also coming to dig their well, each holding a flatbread and eating as they walked. They were lagging far behind and couldn’t hear anything, so they had no idea what was going on. From the base of the mountain, they could vaguely make out a crowd gathered at their well — a dense sea of heads.

Normally, no one even went near their latrine-like well. But now, commune members were frantically turning the crank at the well, craning their necks to peer inside, as if they couldn’t wait to jump in themselves.

Liu Yiliang and Shen Weimin both had strange expressions on their faces.

As they strolled along, Liu Yiliang asked, “What are they doing?”

Shen Weimin replied, “Maybe they’re here to help us dig. Tingting probably talked them into it.” After saying that, he earned a big eye-roll from Liu Yiliang.

Taking a deep breath, Shen Weimin insisted, “There’s no way our well has water, right?”

Liu Yiliang shot back, “I don’t like what you’re implying — why can’t our well have water?”

Shen Weimin reasoned, “We didn’t even dig ten meters. Others went fifteen and still found nothing. We barely hit 10 meters. You think it’d be that easy to get water?”

Liu Yiliang finished his flatbread and rushed over to his well. What he saw stunned him.

There were people wiping away tears, people gulping down water straight from buckets, and others clicking their tongues in amazement.

He saw their well — barely eight meters deep — with water calmly and steadily flowing up. The sunlight danced on the surface of the well, and the shimmering reflections lit up the joy in everyone’s eyes.

It was a complex scene. Some people were crazily scooping up water to drink, some feverishly cranking the well rope, others leapt with joy to spread the news, and children stood outside the crowd, staring hungrily at their empty buckets… Despair and hope mingled. Tear-streaked eyes that had once been full of doubt and ridicule were now filled with astonishment and affirmation.

The golden morning sunlight shone down on everyone’s face — this moment became etched in Liu Yiliang’s memory, something he would never forget even in old age.

Basking in the sunshine, Liu Yiliang dropped his tools and stretched, feeling an inexplicable sense of joy and contentment.

This… this was the sweet reward of honest, meaningful labor.

He beamed at the just-arrived Shen Weimin and said cheerfully, “Why can’t we find water at eight meters? Man’s gotta have hope. With hope, you can survive slander and endure hardship. Have faith — even if we had to dig fifteen meters, I’d still believe we’d find water!”

When Shen Weimin saw the buckets of water being pulled up, his expression became just as complicated.

Liu Yiliang grabbed a bamboo pole, smacked it on the ground, and barked, “Out of the way! What are y’all crowding around our well for?”

“If we’re drawing water, we go first!”

He pushed aside the dense crowd, guarded their well, and shouted to Shen Weimin, “Go home and grab some buckets. Ask Qingshui and Tingting while you’re at it — are their water vats full yet?”

…

The news that Old Grandma Ye’s “Water Girl” had randomly struck water spread like wildfire. In less than half an hour, the whole brigade knew. By noon, the neighboring villages had heard too.

That day, no one worked or dug wells anymore. Every household lined up at the new well with water buckets, forming a long queue. Ye Family Village had three production teams, with over nine hundred people in total. The line for water at the well was a spectacular sight.

It could be described as “so crowded not even water could get through.” Liu Yiliang and Shen Weimin, who had personally dug the well, acted like landlords—drawing as much water as they pleased for themselves before letting others have a turn. If they didn’t like someone, they simply wouldn’t let them draw water.

Liu Yiliang, who usually smiled pleasantly, clearly remembered every villager who had mocked or ridiculed them. When it was one of those people’s turn to fetch water, he’d block them with a shoulder pole and retaliate with sarcasm:

“Well, well, isn’t this the one who said we’d never get water out of this well? What wind blew you here, huh? There are elderly, women, and children behind you—how about you go queue up at the back and wait until everyone else is done?”

Not only did people from their own village want to fetch water, but folks from neighboring villages who heard the news came too. After all, hauling water from the deep mountains was exhausting—it was five or six kilometers away. With a closer water source, why wouldn’t they come?

But the people of Ye Family Village tightly surrounded the well, guarding the only precious water source their village had.

Now that Ye Qingshui had already fetched water, she was relaxing at home, reading a book in the sun and preparing to take a cozy nap. She was completely worn out from the past few weeks.

Zhou Tingting, excited, described the lively scene at the well outside, laughing uncontrollably.

Mid-sentence, Zhou Tingting suddenly said, “It’s a pity we didn’t see He Fang and Sun Lingyu and their gang—otherwise I’d tell you all about it.”

“They looked down on people, judging others through a crack in the door. Let’s see if they dare avoid you next time they see you. I remember they said they were going to apologize to the Water Girl and hold a criticism and self-reflection meeting.”

Ye Qingshui gave a light “mm” and said, “I remember.”

Zhou Tingting asked her, “Now that one well has water, it proves our divining tool works. When are we going to dig a few more?”

That same question was being discussed by the three production team leaders.

The first team’s leader was Ye Laoliu, the oldest. The other two team leaders were named Ye Xianjin and Ye Jinfu.

Ye Xianjin said to Ye Laoliu, “The kids in your team are really something. Just a few days—seven days—”

He held up a thumb.

“Seven days, six people, and they actually struck water. How did they do it so easily? We haven’t managed to dig a single working well.”

Ye Jinfu puffed on his water pipe and said, “Same here—nothing from our side either. Your team is really lucky! Your folks are doing great! With water coming out this fast, we might even be able to count on a late-season rice harvest.”

The two of them turned to Ye Laoliu with anticipation. His face lit up as if covered in gold—he was glowing with pride and joy. He never expected that the Water Girl, messing around as she was, would actually manage to find water.

Ye Laoliu remained modest, his eyes crinkling with deeper smile lines: “Oh, no, no. It was just those young folks stumbling into good luck.”

Ye Xianjin felt something odd about that. He was younger, and young people liked to gossip. He’d heard plenty of village rumors.

He said, “I don’t think it was just luck. I heard it was a girl named Ye Qingshui who invented a water-finding tool, right? That rumor’s been going around for a while… I don’t think those city youth could outdo an uneducated village girl.”

Ye Laoliu shook his head. “That was just something the Water Girl said during an argument with the educated youth—not worth taking seriously. Her family was too poor to afford books, she didn’t even finish middle school. They just got lucky this time with the well. The city youth are still more dependable.”

Ye Xianjin and Ye Jinfu both felt uneasy after hearing that. They didn’t say anything more and quietly left.

The two of them then headed over to visit Ye Qingshui at her house.

…

Back at the house, Zhou Tingting asked again when they’d dig another well. Ye Qingshui smiled and said, “We’ll wait for the right time. We’re not in a hurry—others are more anxious than us.”

Before, they had begged everyone for help digging the well, but no one would lift a finger. Now that there was water, everyone wanted a share. Although Ye Qingshui still planned to dig more wells, the six of them weren’t going to foolishly take the lead again.

Her grandmother and mother had exhausted themselves digging that well. Especially Grandma—an elderly woman working from dawn to dusk—it broke Ye Qingshui’s heart.

Zhou Tingting nodded. “Yeah, no need to rush.”

As the sun neared noon, Zhou Tingting rushed off to the educated youth’s cafeteria to grab food.

Ye Qingshui fetched a basin of water and thoroughly cleaned the house from top to bottom. Xie Tingyu watched her busily climbing up and down, cheeks flushed like apples, her body soaked with sweat.

While working, she had tied up her braids and made a hat from old newspaper to wear on her head. Xie Tingyu subscribed to a daily newspaper for one yuan a month, and had already accumulated a thick stack.

Bored of reading, he watched Ye Qingshui clean. She worked with such enthusiasm. Her dark eyes sparkled with joy, lively and bright, as if glowing. Most importantly, she wore a coarse, old, patched outfit while working—afraid of dirtying her better clothes.

She bent down to sweep, knelt to clean the bed legs, and stuck out her rear while picking up trash. Her two shiny, black braids bounced playfully by her sides—enough to make anyone restless and distracted.

Xie Tingyu moved his lips and said, “I need to go to the latrine.”

Ye Qingshui gave an “oh” and quickly wiped her hands, patting the dust from her clothes.

She helped Xie Tingyu up. He wrapped an arm around her neck, resting it on her shoulder.

Sometimes, he could nestle his head near her neck, and with a light pull, he could hold this slender woman tightly in his arms. She smelled faintly of flowers—delicate and elegant, sweet and pleasant.

Xie Tingyu’s thumb twitched slightly, his brows furrowing as his heartbeat quickened. It felt almost unbelievable.

Author’s Note:

Ping Sheng-jun: Scheming boy.

Feels nice to look at her, right? Feels even better to hold her, huh?

Brother Yu: It’s fine, it’s fine.

Ping Sheng-jun: Brother Yu, don’t get used to it too fast—you’ll end up embarrassed.

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