Chapter 2

In the afternoon, the mountain was still cold, and Zhang Xiaohua was still enthusiastic.

However, the progress of the reclamation in the afternoon was not as smooth as the morning.

There were a lot of rocks on the wasteland, and many of them were buried in the ground. It was not easy to dig up the ground and pry up the big rocks. When the sun set in the west and dusk came, Zhang Xiaohua had only moved a few rocks. His hand was injured first, and the web between his thumb and forefinger was cracked. In the cold wind, he felt a burst of pain.

After all, he was still a teenager.

Looking back at the wasteland that he had been busy with for the whole day, although he was a little reluctant, Zhang Xiaohua still carried the hoe and water jar and walked back.

It was already late, and if he did not leave, his father and brother would come to find him, and his grandmother would also be worried.

The wasteland was a distance away from home, or else his mother would not have come to deliver lunch at noon.

Walking on the rugged mountain road back home, although Zhang Xiaohua did not have any strength, he was in a good mood. The progress of the reclamation was not fast, and his father had already reminded him. If it could be done in a few days, the villagers would have already reclaimed the hillside.

This was only the beginning, and in the future, they still had to carefully cultivate, sow seeds, water, and so on. There were many troublesome things.

Suddenly, Xiaohua thought of something, water!!!

Yes, the hillside was so high, and it was so far from the village river, how should the water be watered, and there was no spring around?

Why didn't he think of it earlier?

This … … What should he do?

Thinking of this, Zhang Xiaohua's little face was immediately filled with worry, and he could not help but quicken his pace and run home. How could a child hide his emotions?

When he walked into the village, the sky was already dark, and there were many children laughing and playing in the village. Seeing Xiaohua carrying a hoe, some familiar villagers stopped Xiaohua and asked him about the reclamation, and Xiaohua answered them one by one.

It seemed that reclaiming the wasteland on the hillside was also a matter of concern to the villagers who did not have enough rations.

However, Xiaohua was also very absent-minded. Everyone thought that he was tired, so they didn't ask in detail. Only then did Xiaohua rush home.

Zhang Xiaohua's house was in the south of the village. From the perspective of Feng Shui, it was downwind and water.

However, the area was not small. With Zhang Cai's efforts, there was actually a small courtyard.

The walls of the small courtyard were not high. They were made of yellow mud and could be seen from the outside.

From afar, Zhang Xiaohua could see her grandmother's figure leaning on a walking stick. As she was blind, her grandmother did not go out much. Now that she was leaning on the fence door, she must be worried about her youngest grandson.

Hearing the approaching footsteps, Grandma smiled. Although she looked at Zhang Xiaohua blankly, she was unusually kind. "Xiaohua, you're back. Are you tired today?"

Zhang Xiaohua ran a few steps, entered the door, put down the hoe and water jar, and held her grandmother's arm. She quickly replied, "I'm not tired, Grandma. It's not like I haven't done farm work before."

Grandma held Zhang Xiaohua's hand and said, "Our Xiaohua is already an adult. Grandma forgot!"

Grandma's hand happened to touch Zhang Xiaohua's hand where the web between her thumb and forefinger was cracked. Zhang Xiaohua gasped in pain. Although she did not cry out, Grandma heard it and said loudly, "Xiao Cai, quickly come and see the child."

Zhang Xiaohua's father had actually just returned. He was washing in the courtyard when he heard his mother-in-law's voice. He looked carefully and said, "It's okay, Mom. Xiaohua worked too hard and her hand was cracked. It will be fine in a few days."

Grandma said, "Do you want to go to Old Chen at the village entrance to get some medicine for the child?"

As they were talking, Guo Sufei came out of the house with something. She casually said to Zhang Xiaohua's grandmother, "No need, Mom. Didn't Xiao Hu use it last time? There's still some left. When Xiaohua sleeps tonight, apply some. It should be better tomorrow.

Mom, quickly go back to the house. It's cold and the wind is blowing. I'll send food over to you later.

Xiaohua, quickly help your grandmother back to the house. "

Zhang Xiaohua carefully helped her grandmother back to the house. She also put her worries about watering the plants to the back of her mind.

After dinner, her parents were weaving baskets under the pea-sized oil lamp. Zhang Xiaohua and her brothers were also helping them.

Zhang Cai then asked Zhang Xiaohua about the progress of the land reclamation.

Zhang Xiaohua also said one by one. Zhang Cai said, "You're really slow by yourself. When Xiao Hu helps Xiao Long with the land on the other side of the river, he'll go over to help you."

Zhang Xiao Long also said, "Don't worry, Xiaohua. When we're done, Dad and I will go over to help. We'll finish before winter."

Zhang Xiaohua said, "Why am I in a hurry? Didn't Dad say that we have to be careful when reclaiming land? If we're slow, then so be it. When we plant the crops, they'll grow well."

At this point, he thought of the matter of watering the plants. He quickly asked his father, "Dad, I just remembered that the hillside is so high and there's no spring nearby. How are we going to water the crops in the future?"

Zhang Cai stopped what he was doing and said, "It's hard for you to think of this. What do you think we should do?"

Zhang Xiaohua looked at her two brothers for help and said, "We have to carry water to water the fields. The hillside is so far away and high. Carrying water won't work, right?"

Zhang Cai smiled and said, "Xiaohua, what's behind our hillside?"

Zhang Xiaohua thought for a bit and said, "Isn't there a very deep hole behind?"

"Yes, it's right there. It's a small cave where three hills are squeezed together. We can dig a well there. Then, we can make a small path from the well to the ground. Not only can we drink water, but we can also water the fields." Zhang Cai said confidently.

"Looks like you already have a plan." Guo Sufei smiled and praised her man.

"Then, Dad, when are we going to dig a well?" Zhang Xiaohua asked impatiently.

"Wait until the ground is flat. Before winter, before the ground freezes, we'll ask the people in the neighboring villages who know how to dig wells to help us. Then we'll start!" Zhang Cai finished speaking and began the work in his hands.

After getting a satisfactory answer, Zhang Xiaohua was finally relieved. The family busied themselves with the work in their hands.

After working for a while, Zhang Xiaohua was clearly exhausted. His eyes were blurred.

Guo Sufei's heart ached for him, and she told him to go to sleep first. Zhang Xiaohua agreed, and woodenly walked over to the three brothers' kang. He threw himself into the shabby quilt and fell into a deep sleep. He didn't even notice that his mother was applying medicine to his hand at night.

Just like that, a busy day passed in a hurry.

In the next few days, Zhang Xiaohua was patient. He only focused on leveling his own land and didn't worry about the problem of watering.

That night, Zhang Xiaohua finished clearing the weeds and smashing the big clumps of dirt. He was ready to call it a day and head home. On the way home, Zhang Xiaohua could not hold it in any longer. He could not help but think to himself. Seeing that his slope had become a flat farmland, all that was left was a fine plough to sow the seeds. When would the well be dug?

As soon as he rounded the slope, he saw several wooden shelves rising from the deep recess at the bottom of the slope.

Zhang Xiaohua quickly ran over and looked. Sure enough, there was a circular platform at the bottom of the hole. On top of it was a circular wooden board. Around the wooden board were six long wooden sticks. The bottom of the wooden stick was deeply inserted into the soil. The top of the wooden stick was in the shape of a tower.

Zhang Xiaohua was so happy that he almost jumped up. He jogged down the hill and came to the bottom of the wooden shelf.

There was no one at the moment. They probably went to rest after setting up the shelf. Zhang Xiaohua patted and touched here and there. It was very strange. How could they dig a deep well with just these few shelves?

Just as Zhang Xiaohua was feeling strange, someone called out to him from the top.

"Xiaohua, where are you?" It was Second Brother Xiaohu.

Xiaohua quickly replied,

"I'm here. Second Brother, come and see. We're ready to dig a well."

Zhang Xiaohu also slipped down the hill. He pulled Zhang Xiaohua and said, "Okay, I know. Big Brother and I helped get these things here in the afternoon. Big Brother said it was a surprise for you, so he didn't tell you.

Right now, Mom and Dad are waiting for you to come back.

Let's go quickly. "

The two brothers jogged all the way back home.

The dining table was already set up in the small house. Dad and Big Brother were sitting at the table, but they didn't see anyone else that they didn't know. Zhang Xiaohua couldn't help but ask, "Dad, where are the people digging the well?"

Zhang Cai smiled and said, "They all went back. Our family doesn't have much money. We promised them that they would only take care of lunch and not dinner.

Also, our family members also need to help. This way, we can give less money. "Zhang Xiaohua agreed and went out to help her mother prepare dinner.

After dinner, Zhang Cai assigned tasks to everyone in the family. Zhang Xiaohua and his brothers were naturally to help out. Xiaohua's mother was in charge of cooking and delivering food. Zhang Cai had to buy materials and find people to help out, etc.

In short, other than Xiaohua's grandmother, the whole family had to help out.

Of course, Grandma had to look after the house and feed the chickens.

Early the next morning, Zhang Xiaohua woke up early and rushed her two brothers, who were on the kang bed, to dig the well together.

However, Zhang Xiaohua's mother insisted that they eat something before leaving. She said that Zhang Xiaohua's father had already gone. Moreover, they had agreed on the time. If they went early, there wouldn't be anyone. The three of them didn't know how to dig a well, so it would be useless even if they went.

Zhang Xiaohua could only be patient and accompany them to eat breakfast. When they came out to the hillside, the sun had already risen.

Seeing that there were already a few people working in the cave, Zhang Cai hurriedly called them over to help. They moved some of the stones and soil that they had dug out to the side. Thus, everyone started working in full swing.

After being busy for a few days, Zhang Xiaohua found that digging a well was a very simple thing. They just needed to find a place and pull out a frame to dig down. However, finding a good place and ensuring that the dug place wouldn't collapse required experience. For example, this wooden frame was necessary. Otherwise, if people dug deeper and deeper, how could the soil be transported up from the ground and how could people come up?

However, speaking of the location, Zhang Cai was also lucky. His family had discussed the location with him because it was close to the field. He didn't expect that they could dig out water.

The master who dug the well looked all over the mountain and finally settled on this place.

He said that there might be a spring below and he wanted to try digging. If they dug out sweet mountain spring water, it would be better to use it to water the field than to eat it.

Hearing this, Zhang Cai ignored it. It was so far away from home. How could they carry water? Could they carry a few buckets of water from here every day to cook at home?

The days of digging the well passed. The well was dug deeper and deeper, but there were also more and more difficulties. The progress was obviously slowing down.

Because they were digging from the low-lying areas of a few hillsides, they would dig out a lot of stones from time to time. Fortunately, they weren't too big. Moreover, they didn't encounter the so-called large stones. Otherwise, they would have to give up before the well was dug.

After a few more days, perhaps Zhang Cai's luck had reached its end. Digging the well finally encountered a big problem.

This afternoon, Zhang Xiaohua went down to the well, picked up the hoe, and began to dig. Who knew that the first time she dug, she hit what seemed to be a hard stone. Zhang Xiaohua's hand was numb. According to her previous experience, Zhang Xiaohua chose a place further away from the previous one and dug again. "Dang ~ ~" It was obviously the same stone again. Zhang Xiaohua couldn't help but be a little flustered. She dug a few more times around the well. There were no exceptions. They were all stones!

Zhang Xiaohua pulled on the rope tied around his waist and had someone pull him up. With a sullen face, he told his father what had happened.

Zhang Cai and the well digger also went down to take a look. When they came up, they were silent.

The well digger discussed with Zhang Cai and asked the others to go to the side to rest first. After lunch, they would come back to help. Finally, they confirmed whether it was a very large stone or a layer of stones.

Seeing that everyone had dispersed and sat on the ground to rest, only Zhang Xiaohua looked at the well that wasn't dug well. She felt uneasy. She was really afraid that it was a layer of stones. If she couldn't dig further, her many days of hard work would be wasted. Perhaps she couldn't dig the well anymore.

Zhang Xiaohua asked Zhang Xiaolong to put her back to the bottom of the well. She didn't give up and started digging again.