Thank you Xia for the reward! Bonus chapter! My poor stockpile of chapters is rapidly decreasing.

Zhang Hongmei got up early the next day and walked to the village; her bicycle was still at school.

Upon arriving in the city, I went straight home. I spent half the morning cleaning the house and loosening the soil around the flowers in the yard. The hand pump is no longer working, so getting drinking water is now a problem.

There's still water in the big vat in the kitchen. I watered all the flowers. I'll have to ask around today where I can get water.

I wonder if we can find someone to dig the well deeper. Even if there's no water this year, the well will have water after the drought.

In the afternoon, I still put on makeup and went to the black market, where I saw Sun Changquan at first glance.

"Comrade, I came back last night and came to wait for you this morning."

"Thanks for your hard work, did you manage to get it?"

"Only one kilometer of ten rolls."

"That's already very good."

"And the price?"

"I got it for one yuan per meter, so you can give me fifty yuan as a tip for my trouble."

"No problem, I will keep my promise. We will meet at 3 a.m. at the gate of the abandoned winery where we made the last deal."

"Comrade, could you have more? I'm willing to pay extra."

"there is none left."

At 2:30 a.m., Zhang Hongmei arrived at the entrance of the winery, put out a cart with ten bags of corn on it, and waited for Sun Changquan by the cart.

About ten minutes later, Sun Changquan arrived. The two exchanged a few greetings and then began unloading and loading the truck.

Sun Changquan handed Zhang Hongmei the money, saying, "This is a deposit of two hundred yuan."

Zhang Hongmei took the money, counted out five large ten-yuan bills, and handed them back to Sun Changquan, saying, "This is your hard-earned money. Let's cooperate again in the future."

Sun Changquan did not refuse, took the money and said, "Think of me if there are any good things in the future." After saying that, he pushed the cart and left.

Zhang Hongmei put the car into the ring half an hour after he left, and took the stroller out when she got home. She planned to go find Liu Changhai later, since she had to go through the proper channels.

Liu Changhai looked at Zhang Hongmei with a complicated expression. "This girl is really capable." He said, "I'll have Xiao Wu drive you home."

"Third Master, could you get some fertilizer? Plastic film?"

"I don't think there will be much fertilizer, but I should be able to get some plastic film. Wait for my news."

On the bus, Xiao Wu finally couldn't hold back any longer and asked, "Hongmei, where did you get all these tubes?"

"I got it from the black market. I introduced my friend who buys grain to the pipe seller and that's how I got it."

Xiao Wu was stunned for a moment. "This is acceptable?"

"Uncle Wu, I got off at the village primary school. My bicycle is still at the school."

"Put it in the car and take it back?"

"No need, I can ride back myself." She also wanted to visit the supply and marketing cooperative.

When Zhang Hongmei arrived at the supply and marketing cooperative, she saw Comrade Xiao Jiang sitting there in a daze. She walked over happily and said, "Sister Xiao Jiang."

"Little girl, you're here again? We don't have any brown sugar to sell you today."

"Hehe, I just came to see you. I missed you."

What are you thinking about?

Zhang Hongmei drew closer to "your cowardly yet majestic image."

"Young lady, you have good taste. You're from Liujiatun, what's your name?"

"My name is Zhang Hongmei. I'll come visit you sometime."

"Zhong, you went to primary school in the village?"

"No, I attend junior high school in the county."

"You're already in junior high? I never would have guessed."

Zhang Hongmei: Can't we just have a pleasant chat?

"How can you not see that?"

Xiao Jiang scanned the room from head to toe and said, "I can't see anything else besides good news and gossip."

Leaving hurt my pride. "I'm leaving, I'll come back to be hurt again next time."

When Zhang Hongmei returned to the village and saw everyone smiling, she also felt that the weather was really nice today.

In the afternoon, the water was finally brought down the mountain. Although we still had to carry water for a while, it was at least about the same distance as last year.

Everyone was full of energy, and after dinner they discussed how to get the work done.

There definitely needs to be two people by the pool, and one of them needs to patrol back and forth to see if any joints have broken. The rest of the people can then rush to plant the seedlings.

Zhang Hongmei and Er Ya whispered to each other, "Er Ya, how about we go to the pond?"

"Yes, I want to do that too."

The two men found Wang Hongxi and explained the situation.

Everyone was reluctant, fearing that the two children would be in danger. Firstly, the animals had to go to the water's edge to drink, and secondly, neither of them could swim.

“Listen to me, everyone. I’ve been going up the mountain since last year, so I’m relatively familiar with the area. If we really encounter large animals, it doesn’t matter who goes. We two aren’t good at physical labor, so let us go for these tasks that don’t require physical strength.”

As for whether the water will be the same everywhere, we certainly won't get too close to the water.

Everyone fell silent; Zhang Hongmei was telling the truth. In the end, the two tasks were assigned to Zhang Hongmei, Er Ya, and Zhu Zi.

Zhu Zi also volunteered to patrol, which was the most tiring job, requiring constant movement and potentially encountering dangers along the way. However, Zhu Zi felt guilty and insisted on doing the job, so in the end, his request was agreed upon.

When Zhang Hongmei returned home that evening, Er Ya soon came over with her bedding. The two of them slept together. They would go up the mountain early the next morning, and Liu Maocai had arranged for them to release the water at 6:30 a.m. sharp. They wouldn't rest at noon, and the pipes would be pulled up from the pool at 4:30 p.m.

The next day, Li Cuihua and the others started working at three o'clock in the morning. Starting today, those who cook lunch also have to participate in the work. No one complained and they were all very enthusiastic.

The work in Liujiatun is in full swing. But the other villages are at a loss. They also planted sweet potatoes this year, but they all died from drought. They can't survive without water.

The village chiefs from each village went to the township head to complain, but what could the township head do?

"Let's go check out Liujiatun. I heard that no one from their village has come out lately. There must be something good going on."

“Yes, let’s go to Liujiatun. Liu Maocai is a real scoundrel, and Wang Hongxi is completely unyielding. They won’t say anything no matter what we ask. Since that’s the case, let’s go and take a look without being invited.”

"What's the point of going? They live near the mountains. We used to think we were better than them, but now we know they were just pretending."

The situation down there was chaotic, and the township head had a headache. There was no relief grain, no relief grain. It wasn't just one place that was suffering from disaster, and these people were just envious of others; there was nothing else they could do.

These people are about to go to Liujiatun. They're really brainless. Is Liujiatun not suffering from drought now?

"Ahem! It's a success. Go back and wait. I just got back from the county yesterday. We can only wait. If anyone has a solution, they can use it themselves."

He left the office after saying that. He had no patience to watch them argue; as the head of the township, he was more anxious than they were, but this wasn't something that could be solved by being anxious.

Those guys who were making a ruckus earlier were still unconvinced and felt they should go check out Liujiatun. But seeing that everyone else had left, and not wanting to be the first to stick their necks out, they chickened out. If they couldn't go themselves, couldn't they send someone to check? They had a feeling that something was fishy about Liujiatun.

There's a reason why everyone's making such a fuss. Life is tough, but we're not really going to starve to death.