Chapter 3

At this time, it was already past noon, and the sun was hanging high in the sky.

But because the well had been dug deep, they couldn't see anything at the bottom of the well. They could only rely on the oil lamp that was brought down the well for illumination.

Zhang Xiaohua's face couldn't see any determination under the flickering light. He thought for a moment, then raised the hoe and dug in a direction. "Dang, dang …" The sound continued. He changed a few more directions, but it was the same. What should he do?

It seemed that he was really at the end of his rope.

Zhang Xiaohua wanted to give up a little. It was better to go up first. After a while, he would expand the well and take a look.

But his mother hadn't sent him food yet. Should he dig from the bottom first?

Thinking about it, Zhang Xiaohua didn't stop. He continued to dig from the front, waist-deep place, and found a direction to dig.

When he was digging, he suddenly heard a "dang" sound. Xiaohua couldn't help but be surprised. Another stone?

But then he used the hoe again, and there was no more sound.

Zhang Xiaohua was surprised, but he didn't think much about it. Maybe it was a small stone. As long as it wasn't a big stone, it was fine.

After digging about a step forward, Zhang Xiaohua tried to dig down again. He hoped that he wouldn't hear any annoying sounds. In the end, he didn't have much comfort. The next step in this direction was also the same stone.

Just as Zhang Xiaohua was about to take a break and change the direction, Zhang Xiaolong's voice came from above. "Xiaohua, come up and eat. Mother has sent food."

Zhang Xiaohua was pulled up from the well by his brother. Looking at Zhang Xiaohua's face, Zhang Xiaolong didn't ask anymore. He just brought him food and watched him wolf it down.

Then he comforted her, "It's okay, Xiaohua. If this place doesn't work, let's go somewhere else. The hillside is so big, there must be a place to dig a well."

After eating, Zhang Xiaohua's complexion was clearly much better. She didn't seem to be gloomy anymore. Seeing the people digging the well going into the well, she smiled and said to Zhang Xiaolong, "I know, big brother. I'm going to take a look at the field. I'll come back later." Zhang Xiaolong patted Zhang Xiaohua's shoulder. Without saying anything, he took the empty basket and walked away.

Zhang Xiaohua carried her hoe and walked up the hill. She came to the side of the field and put the hoe aside. She sat on the ground and looked at the field that couldn't be watered. She wondered if she should fetch water from the river in the future.

When his eyes fell on the hoe, he noticed that there was a piece of mud on the hoe. It was probably brought up when he was digging the well.

Zhang Xiaohua used her foot to rub the hoe, but it didn't come off.

She picked up the hoe and used her hand to clean the mud. She discovered that the hoe was wrapped in a round object and was quite tightly stuck. Zhang Xiaohua tilted her head and thought about it. She guessed that when she was digging the well, the "dang" sound was probably the sound of the hoe digging into the ring.

No wonder there was no sound. It was wrapped around the hoe.

Zhang Xiaohua wanted to remove the ring from the hoe. She found a tree branch to pry it open and a rock to gently knock on it, but it didn't work.

If she used all her strength to knock it against the rock, she might be able to remove it, but she couldn't guarantee that it wouldn't break.

She couldn't bring this thing down the well to dig, right? Zhang Xiaohua felt a bit helpless.

In the end, Zhang Xiaohua hardened her heart. She used half of her strength to lift the hoe and knock it against the rock. A "dang" sound was heard, but the ring didn't break and didn't come off the hoe.

Zhang Xiaohua also used all her strength. After knocking it a few times, she finally removed it. That strange ring didn't break either. It seemed to be very sturdy.

Zhang Xiaohua picked up the ring and used her clothes to wipe the mud off it. Only then did she see clearly that it was a bracelet. It was about two fingers wide, black, without any patterns, and flat. She didn't know what material it was made of.

Zhang Xiaohua was about to take a closer look when she heard Zhang Xiaolong's joyful voice from down the hill. "Xiaohua, come quickly. There's hope."

When Zhang Xiaohua heard this, she jumped up happily. She didn't have time to look at the bracelet she picked up. She put it in her arms, picked up the hoe, and slipped down the hill. She didn't notice that when she held the bracelet, it was light as a feather.

When Zhang Xiaohua ran to the bottom of the hill, she saw the smiles on Zhang Xiaolong and Zhang Xiaohu's faces. She also saw Zhang Cai's slightly bitter face.

After listening to Zhang Xiaolong, she knew that the bottom of the well wasn't a layer of stone. The stone wasn't too big. As long as the well was enlarged, the stone could be removed. However, the length of the expansion was at least three steps.

When the well was bigger, the amount of digging would be bigger. Of course, the time would be longer, and the money would be more.

However, it was good that they didn't have to choose a new place, open a new well, or water the ground. It was a good result.

Seeing the happy faces of the three children, only Zhang Cai was secretly worried. He hoped that such a stone wouldn't appear in the future. If it happened a few more times, the well wouldn't need to be dug anymore.

The work in the afternoon was simple. The people digging the well measured the well according to the size of the stone, planned how to expand the well, and dug again.

After such a small disturbance, everyone began to work in an orderly manner.

When they returned home in the evening, after dinner, before going to bed, Zhang Xiaohua didn't think about the bracelet in his arms.

It was only when he took off his clothes that the bracelet fell out. However, after a tiring day, he was too sleepy. He didn't think too much about it. He casually stuffed it under his pillow and fell asleep.

This night, everything in the Zhang family was the same as before. The oil lamps were extinguished early, and the wind blew the fence door and shook it.

The withered grass on the yellow mud wall was also blown up and weakly waved.

Only the moonlight from the sky shone through the window onto the shabby table and bedding. Everyone fell asleep. In the quiet night, there was only the sound of snoring.

The only difference was Zhang Xiaohua. No, it should be Zhang Xiaohua's dream!

His dream was no longer the streaky meat of the past, but full of flickering!

It was like a kind of breathing, a radiance that stretched and relaxed, flashing and moving.

On the morning of the first day, when the first ray of sunlight shone on Zhang Xiaohua's face, Zhang Xiaohua opened his eyes.

He looked around doubtfully, but didn't see anything flickering. Only then did he know that all the flickering was a dream.

He shook his head self-deprecatingly and prepared to go back to sleep.

However, at this time, he found that listening to his two brothers' snoring, he seemed to be unable to sleep. He was a hundred times more energetic, so he had no choice but to get up and get dressed.

When Zhang Xiaohua walked into the courtyard, he saw his mother cooking on the stove in the courtyard, so he went to the well in the corner to draw water to wash his face.

Guo Sufei saw Zhang Xiaohua come out and was very puzzled, saying, "Xiaohua, why are you up so early?

You were tired yesterday, so sleep a little more today. There's still a while to work. "

Zhang Xiaohua said as he drew water, "I'm not sleeping, Mother. I'm not sleepy. Moreover, you see, I've already rested. I'm full of energy now. I can break that stone with a shovel." As he said this, he put down the basin and made a gesture of hoeing the ground.

Guo Sufei said with a smile, "Good, good, good Xiaohua. You've grown up. You're a pillar of the family just like your father."

Zhang Xiaohua said with a red face, "Mother, I'm already so big. Don't call me good. It's so unpleasant to hear."

While they were talking, Zhang Cai came back from outside with a bunch of vegetables in his hand, asking, "Who's grown up?

Xiaohua, why are you up so early?

Don't you want to sleep a little longer? "

Then he handed the vegetables in his hand to Zhang Xiaohua's mother, saying, "Some of the grass in the vegetable garden has grown out. We'll have to pull it out when we have time. We've been busy with the well for the past few days, so don't let our vegetables go to waste."

Guo Sufei took the vegetables and said, "Aren't you talking about your son? It's the first time he woke up so early. He'll be good at work in the future."

Guo Sufei continued to cook for the whole family, and Zhang Cai also went into the house.

After Zhang Xiaohua finished washing his face, he had nothing to do, so he walked out of the courtyard.

Although it was still early and winter was approaching, farmers couldn't stay idle. There were already many people walking around in the village.

Some people were driving ducks and geese to the river, while others were gathering grass from the river to feed the chickens and pigs. There were also some people who had already carried hoes and were ready to go to the fields.

Zhang Xiaohua walked on the small path in the village and felt that today was different from before. He couldn't tell what was different, but he felt that he was full of energy. There was a feeling of endless energy, or it could be said that every part of his body was full of energy.

However, he didn't think too much about it. He just thought that he had slept well last night.

When Zhang Xiaohua walked back home, everyone had already started to eat.

He also hurriedly finished eating and followed his father and brother to continue digging the well.

The next few days were peaceful. The surface of the well expanded, and they dug up the stones from the bottom of the well. The well also became deeper and deeper.

When the piece was dug out, it looked quite flat and was cold to the touch. Zhang Xiaohua asked her two brothers to put it under the tree at the head of the field. They were going to use it as a bed to rest in between work during the summer.

As for the bracelet, Zhang Xiaohua threw it behind his head and put it under the pillow. He had completely forgotten about it. However, his dream had already been replaced by streaky meat by Twinkle, but he didn't realize it.

After a few more days, there was still no water in the well. At this time, Zhang Cai was a little worried.

It was going to be winter soon, and the soil layer was about to freeze. Although the bottom of the well wouldn't freeze, it was not as smooth as before when they worked.

That night, the family gathered together to do farm work after dinner. Zhang Cai frowned and discussed with Guo Sufei that if the well didn't water in a few days, they would probably stop working. They would talk about it again when spring came.

At this time, Guo Sufei said,

"Father, do you know that Mr. Wu's family in the neighboring village also bought a piece of land on the southern slope?"

Zhang Cai said, "I don't know, but I heard that they are digging wells on the southern slope."

Guo Sufei said, "It's that well. It's dug by Mr. Wu's family. Like us, it's also used to water the fields.

Today, when I went to the river to pull grass to feed the chickens, I met Guo Quan's family at the entrance of the village. Didn't her sister-in-law marry Mr. Wu's brother? Guess what she said to me? "

"What did she say?

Is the well already filled with water? "Zhang Cai asked in surprise.

"Didn't they fill it later than us?

How can it be filled with water so soon? "

"You think it's filled with water quickly? There's something worse than that!" Guo Sufei said angrily.

"Hey, what's that?" Not only was Zhang Cai interested, but the three brothers were also curious.

"They dug a well and dug out a small broken box!"

Guo Sufei continued, "When the box was dug out of the well, it was broken by a hoe, revealing the things inside. Although it was covered with mud, you could still see the pearls and agates inside!

Why don't we have such good luck? We dug out a broken stone the size of a bed before they did. "

Just when the family was sighing over Mr. Wu's family's fortune, Zhang Xiaohua remembered that he had also dug out something from the well.

He said excitedly, "Father, Mother, I also dug out a treasure from the well."

Under the urging and eager gazes of his family, he took out the forgotten bracelet from under the bedding.

Zhang Cai took it and examined it carefully under the oil lamp. He saw that it was a black, flat object made of an unknown material. Instead of calling it a bracelet, it would be more appropriate to call it a metal ring.

He couldn't tell what it was, so he handed it to Guo Sufei. Guo Sufei took it, weighed it in her hand, and rubbed it with her fingers for a while. She said, "It's so light. It doesn't look like it's made of jade, and it doesn't have any patterns. It probably isn't jewelry.

It looks like a child's toy. Xiaohua, take it and play with it. "

Zhang Xiaohua took it dispiritedly and handed it to his two brothers, as if it was his fault that they didn't dig out the pearls and agates.

The two brothers turned the bracelet around in their hands and handed it to Zhang Xiaohua. It seemed that no one was interested in this ugly thing, so Xiaohua could only keep it in her arms.

Guo Sufei continued, "Sigh, if it's really a good piece of jewelry, we can consider keeping it and use it as a betrothal gift when we matchmake your eldest brother at the beginning of spring."

This time, the emotions of the whole family were ignited again.

Zhang Xiaolong would be twenty years old at the beginning of spring. It was time for him to find a girl and settle down.

Based on their own impressions, the family began to argue with Zhang Xiaolong one girl after another.

When the oil lamp went out, the family still wanted to continue, but for the sake of digging the well and doing farm work the next day, they could only go to bed on the kang bed.

Before going to bed, Zhang Xiaohua took out the bracelet from her arms and was about to put it under the bedding again when she changed her mind. What Mr. Wu dug out from the ground was a treasure. Mine is also a treasure. I have to take good care of it.

But where should I put it?

He thought about it and put the bracelet on his wrist. What a coincidence. It was actually a good fit on his wrist. When he waved his arm, the bracelet didn't slide up or down.

Zhang Xiaohua was secretly delighted. This bracelet was simply tailor-made for him.

Until he fell asleep, he didn't think about how he could put it on his wrist if it fit so well on his wrist without any gaps.

Not to mention that the streaky pork in his dreams had long disappeared. It only flashed endlessly in his mind.

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