Chapter 29 Even if the bone is broken, the tendons are still connected.

The sky gradually brightened.

Cheng Wanwan went outside and saw the village patrol team passing by.

Two hundred people participated in the patrol team, divided into fifty squads. Five groups took turns patrolling every day, and each person only got to patrol once every ten days. They only needed to be on duty three times a month, for two and a half hours each time, which was not as time-consuming as one might imagine.

A roadblock was set up at the village entrance. Villagers could come and go freely, but outsiders had to be asked a lot of questions before being allowed to enter.

As Cheng Wanwan walked under the big locust tree, she was surrounded by a group of women.

"Sister-in-law Zhao, your idea is really good."

"Have you heard? Those bastards from Guihua Village sneaked in last night."

“It just so happened that my husband was on duty. As soon as he shouted, the ten men on duty immediately pounced on him and arrested him.”

"Guihua Village only sent seven people, yet they dared to come and steal grain. It's laughable."

What happened to those seven people?

"We didn't let them succeed, and since no one was caught red-handed, we had no choice but to release them."

"Next time, don't shout it out so early. Catch the thief red-handed, let them get away with it first, then arrest them and send them directly to the authorities!"

"I'm afraid there won't be a next time. I heard that Guihua Village is holding a meeting and is holding back the villagers to prevent them from causing trouble in Dahe Village, saying it's shameful."

Cheng Wanwan smiled and said, "I just offered an idea. It was mainly thanks to everyone working together that the village's food was saved."

She smiled, and something seemed to flash in her eyes.

Everyone stared at her, somewhat stunned. How come Sister-in-law Zhao looked so much fairer, and her demeanor was different from before?

The person who used to only throw tantrums now seems rather gentle.

Cheng Wanwan felt inexplicably uneasy being stared at by so many eyes.

She coughed and said, "I'll go check on Old Zhao's family."

She walked towards Old Zhao's courtyard.

A group of women started talking again.

"Didn't Sister-in-law Zhao have a falling out with Old Mrs. Zhao? She hasn't stepped foot in the Zhao family's house for a year."

"We're all family. Blood is thicker than water. How can we really stop seeing each other forever?"

"That's true..."

Cheng Wanwan stood at the gate of the courtyard and called out, "Mom, are you there?"

When Grandma Zhao heard the sound, she stepped over the threshold and came out, and was genuinely taken aback.

Although he has become much closer to the eldest son's wife recently, she has never come here in person since she moved out.

This sudden turn of events startled the old lady.

After sending food for so many days, are you going to ask to take it back now?

No matter how many reasons or excuses this little prostitute has, no matter how much she cries, she can't be soft-hearted!

Grandma Zhao said calmly, "Aunt Dashan, what brings you here?"

Madam Sun also came out of the house: "Sister-in-law, come in and sit down."

Cheng Wanwan walked in and sat down on the low stool opposite the two of them. She paused for a moment before speaking, "I came here today mainly to inquire about someone."

Sun lowered her head and rolled her eyes.

My sister-in-law clearly wants to move back; she should just say so directly. Why beat around the bush?

Grandma Zhao remained calm and said, "Go ahead and tell me."

“A girl surnamed Sun, nicknamed Shuiqin,” Cheng Wanwan began. “She seems to be from Guihua Village. I wonder if Mother has heard of this girl?”

Old Mrs. Zhao rarely left her home; her activities were confined to Dahe Village, so naturally she had never heard of it.

Madam Sun spoke up: "I know this girl. Her father and my father are cousins. She was only three or four years old when I got married. Now she has grown into a beautiful young woman. Why is my sister-in-law asking her about her?"

"Isn't this to find a wife for Er Gou?" Cheng Wanwan said with a smile. "Let's find out about this girl's character. If she's good, we can go and propose marriage."

Grandma Zhao was very pleased. She had been worried about Er Gou's marriage, but before she could even remind him, this woman was already making plans for Er Gou.

As long as the eldest son's wife can finalize Er Gou's marriage, it wouldn't be a problem for the eldest son's family to move back.

The old lady had no idea that she had already happily agreed in her heart before the other party even asked to move back.

Sun was about to laugh.

Her uncle was a good-for-nothing who was good at eating, drinking, gambling and whoring. He angered Shuiqin's mother to death, and the family relied entirely on Shuiqin to support them.

If my sister-in-law marries Shuiqin, it'll be like getting a scoundrel as a father-in-law, and she'll have a lot to do from now on.

Sun casually said, "Shuiqin is a good girl. I won't go into how pretty she is, but more importantly, she's hardworking and can do all the work in the fields. She's better than many men. If you marry such a wife, you'll enjoy great happiness in the future."

As soon as Cheng Wanwan saw Sun's expression, she knew that Sun was lying against her conscience.

It's impossible to find out anything specific, but the Sun family is definitely not simple.

She stood up and said, "Then I'll go back and think about when to propose marriage. I'll be going now."

Grandma Zhao was taken aback: "Won't you sit for a while?"

They haven't even gotten to the point yet, and they're already leaving?

Could it be that they want her, as the elder, to take the initiative to suggest that the eldest son's family move back?

Cheng Wanwan nodded: "I have things to do at home, so I'll head back first."

She got up and walked out of the courtyard, disappearing from the gate shortly afterward.

She thought to herself that she should go to Guihua Village to inquire for herself. She couldn't just listen to one side of the story, nor could she only trust her own feelings. What if the girl was just a reserved person?

However, that's not important right now; the key issue is the water source.

In the afternoon, Cheng Wanwan carried mugwort on her back and took her four sons up the mountain.

With the patrol team from Dahe Village around, there were no more people from Guihua Village on the mountain, and there was no one at the lotus pond either, making it very convenient for Cheng Wanwan to carry out her plans.

The soil dug out of the dried-up pond was already cracked beyond recognition after just one day of being exposed to the sun.

Cheng Wanwan walked to a slightly damp spot and had her four sons take out mugwort, pile it on the ground, and light it with a tinderbox.

Artemisia produces a lot of smoke, and the smoke tends to sink downwards to find its way out. When there is water underground, the smoke will evaporate and rise along with the water. Where the smoke rises, there must be a water source.

Zhao Ergou was very curious: "Mom, what do we do after we burn the mugwort?"

Cheng Wanwan looked in the direction of the smoke: "Follow them."

A large pile of mugwort burned, producing a lot of smoke that drifted downwards towards the valley.

The group of five followed the smoke through a dense forest and arrived at the edge of the valley. There was a gap there, a recessed area between two mountain peaks. The vegetation here was exceptionally lush, and many mosquitoes were flying around.

The smoke suddenly started to rise here.

"Mother, there's water here!" Zhao Sanniu's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. "There's water flowing out of the cracks in the rocks!"

In this dry season, there is actually running water on the mountain!

Zhao Dashan collected a few drops of water, tasted it, and exclaimed, "So sweet! It's spring water!"

Cheng Wanwan smiled. It seemed that this method had worked; they had actually found the source of the groundwater.

The fact that water can seep out of the rock walls from underground is enough to show that the groundwater is very abundant.

The drought problem is half solved.