Grandma Ye, Ma Ye and Ye Qingshui worked together to fill all the water tanks in their home with water before the villagers came to dig the well. The four large water tanks that had never been filled in more than ten years were filled for the first time in this water-scarce and drought-stricken day!

Mother Ye looked at the water tank at home with joy and said with a smile: "We can take a bath anytime tonight!"

Although the Ye family had a rickshaw, and it was not as difficult as others to fetch water from the mountains, Ye's mother and grandmother were reluctant to waste water. In this hot and unbearable season, they just used water to wipe their bodies every day. They only took a bath every few days, but compared to other members who had difficulty even getting water, taking a bath was a luxury.

If we dig a well now, we won’t have to worry about this problem anymore.

When Ye Qingshui saw the clear new well, he breathed a sigh of relief. The worry that had been hanging in the air for the past half month could finally settle down.

Zhou Tingting happily drank several more gulps of well water. She wiped her mouth and said, "It's really dry. I can't even drink water comfortably these days."

When it comes to the difficulty of water shortage, no one lacks water more than the female educated youth. They don't have the strength of men, and many of them are spoiled city dwellers who are extremely lazy. If one person goes to fetch water, the others will want to share it. It can be said that one monk carries water to drink, two monks carry water to drink, and three monks have no water to drink.

The problem is not the lack of water but the inequality of water. As time went by, the female dormitory of the educated youth site was seriously short of water. They were all young people, and they could not rely on the old farmers who were widowed and had no one to carry water!

The well was dug, and Zhou Tingting was so happy that she almost cried: the days of water shortage are finally over!

Ye Qingshui washed his face with cool well water, feeling the coolness of the underground spring, which was refreshing. The spring water in the deep mountains and old forests was sweet and pure, natural and pollution-free. Such good water was delicious for grinding beans and making tofu.

Ye Qingshui said: "We should not be short of water here. We are not located deep inland and we have had a lot of rain in previous years. The only problem is that it is difficult to dig for water in the karst terrain."

So, the costly and laborious reservoir project should be put on hold, right? If we put it on hold for the next two or three years, we can focus on farming to solve the problem of food and clothing. When the land is distributed to each household, Yejia Village will be a little richer.

Zhou Tingting kept nodding: "Qingshui, you are right!"

Zhou Tingting smiled, and she filled a tank with water before dawn.

The morning mist in the mountains was thick. The crowing of roosters woke up the members. The team leader led the entire production team and started a busy day of work. There were more than a dozen well digging sites scattered around the fields. When twos and threes passed by, no one paid attention to whether there was water in Ye Qingshui's well.

But when a group of people passed by, occasionally someone would stick their head out to take another look, and just this one look was enough to shock people.

"Wait, wait - Master's water girl has dug out water!"

Liu Yiliang and Shen Weimin also came to dig the well, each holding a piece of cake and eating as they walked. They were far behind, and could not hear any sound or know what was happening. From the foot of the mountain, they could vaguely see a group of people gathered around their well, a sea of heads.

At the well, which was usually deserted, the members of the cooperative were desperately turning the windlass, sticking their heads out and stretching their necks to look down, as if they couldn't wait to jump into the well.

Liu Yiliang and Shen Weimin looked a little strange.

The two men walked slowly, and Liu Yiliang asked: "What are they doing?"

Shen Weimin said, "Maybe they are here to help us dig a well. Tingting persuaded them." As soon as he finished speaking, Liu Yiliang rolled his eyes in contempt.

Shen Weimin took a deep breath and said unconvincedly: "It's impossible that our well has water, right?"

Liu Yiliang retorted: "I don't like what you said. Why can't our well produce water?"

Shen Weimin said reasonably: "Didn't they even dig ten meters? Others dug fifteen meters and still didn't find water. We are only eight or nine meters deep. Do you think it will be that easy to dig out water?"

After Liu Yiliang finished his pancake, he ran to his well with a sigh of relief. He saw different wonderful expressions on everyone's faces.

Some people covered their faces and wiped away tears, some drank water from buckets with gulps, and some marveled in amazement.

Liu Yilian saw that they had only dug a well eight meters deep, and water was bubbling out calmly and gently. The sun shone in the well water, and the rippling water surface was reflected in everyone's eyes leaping with joy. He also saw that the pairs of eyes reflected in the ripples of the well water were full of hope.

What a complicated scene it was. Some people were madly drinking well water, some were shaking the wheel at the wellhead feverishly to draw water, some were jumping for joy to spread the good news, and there were also children standing outside the crowd staring at the empty buckets in their hands... Despair and hope were intertwined, tears flowed from pairs of dark eyes, and all the ridicule, opposition and doubt that had existed before turned into joy and affirmation at this moment.

The bright morning light shone on everyone's face, and this moment was frozen into a picture that Liu Yilian could not forget until his old age.

Liu Yiliang basked in the sun, threw down his farm tools, stretched himself, and felt inexplicably happy and comfortable.

The rewards of proper labor taste damn good.

He said happily to Shen Weimin who arrived a step later: "Why can't you get out of the water at eight meters? People must have hope. With hope, you can withstand slander and stand the test. If you have this kind of confidence, I can still look forward to getting out of the water even if I hit fifteen meters!"

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

Liu Yiliang picked up a bamboo pole and patted the ground, saying with a stern look on his face: "Make way, make way, make way, what's the point of surrounding someone else's well!"

"We have to get water first!"

He pushed aside the dark crowd, stood guard at his well, and shouted to Shen Weimin, "Go home and get a bucket of water. By the way, ask Qingshui and Tingting if their water tanks are full."

…

The well that the maid from Grandpa Ye's family dug at random had water coming out of it. The news spread like wildfire throughout the entire brigade in less than half an hour, and reached the other village in just one morning.

On this day, no one worked or dug wells. Instead, every household lined up around the new well with buckets to fetch water. There were three production teams in Yejia Village, with a total of more than 900 people. The long queue of people fetching water was a spectacular sight.

It can probably be described as being packed with water. Liu Yiliang and Shen Weimin, who dug the well themselves, were like landlords. They dug as much as they wanted and only gave it to others after they had enough for their own use. They would not give it to anyone they didn't like.

Liu Yiliang usually had a smile on his face. He remembered clearly all the mocking and ridiculing members in the past. When it was the man's turn to fetch water, he hit him with a carrying pole to stop him and mocked him back even more:

"Hey, you are the one who can't get any water no matter how hard you try. Which east wind has brought you to our well? There are many old and weak women behind us. No matter how hard you work, you should line up at the back and wait until everyone else has finished drawing water."

Not only the villagers wanted to get water, but also the people from other villages wanted to get water after hearing the news. After all, it was hard and tiring to carry water from the deep mountains, which was five or six kilometers away. Why not go to a closer water source?

The people of Yejia Village surrounded the well tightly, protecting the only precious water well in the village.

Ye Qingshui, who had already fetched water, was at home this time, reading a book and taking a rest, and preparing to take a good nap in the sun. She was really exhausted during this period of time.

Zhou Tingting excitedly described to her the lively scene of fetching water outside and couldn't help laughing.

Zhou Tingting was halfway through her study when she suddenly said, "It's a pity that I didn't see He Fang and Sun Lingyu's group, otherwise I would have told you about them."

"They looked down on people through the cracks in the door. Let's see if they will avoid them next time they see them. I remember they said they would apologize to Shui Ya and hold a criticism and self-criticism meeting."

Ye Qingshui hummed softly, "I remember it."

Zhou Tingting asked Ye Qingshui: "One well has produced water, which proves that our instrument works well. When will we dig a few more wells?"

The leaders of the three production teams were also discussing the same question.

The leader of the first team was Ye Laoliu, the oldest. The leaders of the other two teams were Ye Xianjin and Ye Jinfu.

Xianjin and Ye Laoliu said: "The kids in your team are really amazing. It's only been a few days, seven days--"

He gestured with his thumb.

"In seven days, six people have pumped out water. How come they are so efficient in pumping out water? We can't even pump out water from a well here."

Ye Jinfu puffed on his water pipe and said, "We can't get any water here either. Uncle Liu's place is better! The members are so promising! We have water so soon, and we can count on the next rice season."

They both looked at Ye Laoliu at the same time, "When are we going to let that kid see where to dig a well?"

Facing the expectant gazes of the two people, Ye Laoliu felt as if his face was covered with gold, and he was very proud. He had never expected that Shui Yatou would dig a well for fun and actually get it out of the well.

Ye Laoliu was modest for a while, and the smile lines at the corners of his eyes deepened: "No, no, it's just a few guys trying their luck."

Ye Xianjin felt a little weird after hearing this. He was young and young people liked to hang out together, so he heard all the gossip in the village.

Ye Xianjin said, "It's not a matter of luck. I remember that it was a kid named Ye Qingshui who invented the water-finding device, right? It's been around for a long time... I think there are so many educated youths in the brigade, but it's not possible to rely on an uneducated girl to do it."

Ye Laoliu shook his head. "Those were just some words that Shui Yatou and the educated youth said during their quarrel. Don't take them seriously. Her family was so poor that they couldn't even afford to send her to school, and she didn't even make it to middle school. This time, she must have been lucky to dig a well. The educated youth is more reliable."

Ye Xianjin and Ye Jinfu felt a little strange after hearing this. They stopped talking and left quietly.

The two people left the village committee office and went to Ye Qingshui's home.

…

Zhou Tingting asked Ye Qingshui when they would dig a well. Ye Qingshui smiled and said, "We'll dig when the time is right. We are not in a hurry now. There are people who are more anxious than us."

In the past, they begged for labor to dig a well everywhere, but no one said a word. Now that water has been dug, everyone is drinking it. Although Ye Qingshui still wants to dig a well, this time the six of them will not be so foolish as to take the lead like last time.

Grandma and mother were exhausted from digging wells. Especially grandma, who was old and still had to go out early and come back late, which made Ye Qingshui feel very distressed.

Zhou Tingting nodded, "That's right, we're not in a hurry."

It was almost noon, and Zhou Tingting rushed to the educated youth canteen to grab a meal and said goodbye in a hurry.

Ye Qingshui fetched a basin of water and wiped the room thoroughly with deft hands and feet. Xie Tingyu watched her climb up and down diligently, her cheeks red as apples and her whole body covered in sweat.

While working, she rolled up her braids and folded a hat out of old newspapers and put it on her head. Xie Tingyu usually had the habit of reading newspapers. She spent one yuan a month to subscribe to a daily newspaper, and after a few months, she could save up a thick stack of newspapers.

Xie Tingyu was tired of reading, so he stared at Ye Qingshui sweeping the house. This woman was very diligent, and she was very happy when she worked. Her black eyes sparkled and flickered, as if they were emitting light. What's more, she was afraid of getting her clothes dirty when she worked, so she wore a torn and old coarse earthen cloth.

She bent down to sweep the floor, bent down to wipe the foot of the bed, and raised her buttocks to pick up garbage. Her two long, shiny black braids fell playfully at her sides, making people feel irritated.

Xie Tingyu moved his lips and said, "I need to go to the toilet."

Ye Qingshui said "oh", wiped his hands quickly and patted the dust off his body.

She helped Xie Tingyu up, and Xie Tingyu put his arm around her neck and placed it on her shoulder.

Occasionally, he could lean his head against her neck, and with a gentle pull of his hands, he could hug the slender woman tightly. She had a light floral scent on her body, light, elegant, sweet and pleasant.

Xie Tingyu slightly clenched his thumbs, frowned, and his heart beat slightly faster, feeling a little unbelievable.

The author has something to say:

Pingshengjun: Scheming boy

It's comfortable to look at, right? It's comfortable to hug, right?

Brother Yu: It’s OK.

Pingshengjun: Brother Yu, don’t get used to it too quickly, it will easily cause facial pain.