Chapter 35 (Bonus Chapter 1)...
Chapter Thirty-Five
The well at Lu Yuanqing's house has a fairly large water output, which is enough for both Lu and Chen's families.
After a well is dug, it cannot be used immediately. The water inside must be pumped out until the water that flows out is clean enough before it can be used.
Therefore, Lu Yuanqing specially borrowed a water pump from the logistics department; otherwise, it would have taken a long time to scoop the water out manually.
Previously, wells were dug in the yard. To save trouble, Yuanqing didn't transport the excavated soil out, and instead filled in the vegetable garden, raising it a bit. As a result, they had to build a brick wall next to the vegetable garden.
However, once the water pump was used, the commotion couldn't be kept secret. As soon as the machine started running, the whole residential compound knew that Yao Anhui's family was digging a well.
"Let me check the water flow."
"Since they're using water pumps, the water output must be huge."
Really? Really?
A group of family members gathered in the yard to watch the water being pumped out.
"You'll see, there will definitely be some shameless people who want to add water pipes too," Hua Fangling said confidently.
"There's nothing we can do about it. We can't keep this a secret forever. We can't just do it ourselves to keep it from you, that would be exhausting. Besides, even if we keep it a secret for now, it won't help. We can't keep it a secret for long if we don't go out to fetch water." Yao Anhui sighed. In a society where relationships are important, there are bound to be problems like this.
"It's just a bit annoying that I didn't think of this before." Hua Fangling genuinely hadn't thought of this; she was from a later era.
"There seems to be a lot of water. Let them add pipes if they want. If we don't give them to their family, they can just come into the yard and fetch water, which will be even more inconvenient." Yao Anhui sighed again. What else could she do? Next time, she would definitely think things through before taking any action.
"I'm sorry to have troubled you." Hua Fangling was genuinely a little embarrassed, since she had gotten all the benefits while leaving all the trouble to Yao Anhui.
If this well were dug at her house, it would be even more troublesome, since she has quite a few secrets. So, although she said sorry, she was indeed relieved.
Hua Fangling thought to herself that she would make up for it by cooking some of Yao Anhui's favorite dishes later. Also, since Yao Anhui was so beautiful, she should dress her up more often. She would give her some nice fabric to make clothes later.
To be honest, Hua Fangling, who is obsessed with looks, has the ability (golden touch). If the circumstances didn't prevent her from dressing Yao Anhui up like a Barbie doll, she could wear a different outfit every day without repeating herself.
"Commander Lu, look how much water your well has. Could you please add a pipe to my well as well? Don't worry, we definitely won't affect your water supply. If the water runs low, we'll just stop using it."
"Yeah, yeah, Commander Lu, since there's so much water here anyway, we might as well make it convenient for others."
A bunch of people were talking at once, and in the end they concluded that they were thanking Commander Lu repeatedly, and that when they bought water pipes and other things, they would ask Lu Yuanqing to come and help them.
Lu Yuanqing was speechless. He had only thought that if Yao Anhui was not at home, it would be inconvenient for her to use water. In case he was on a long mission and needed help for a long time, it would not be good to ask someone for help. That's why he thought of digging a well. He just didn't expect this to happen.
But he couldn't bring himself to say no, even if he was unwilling, because it would be detrimental to unity.
Lu Yuanqing was reluctant because he knew that once he agreed to one person's request, the others would be unable to refuse. Therefore, even when surrounded by a group of people talking to themselves, Lu Yuanqing remained silent.
"I'm telling you, you guys are really something. Xiao Lu dug the well because his son, Xiao Yao, isn't in good health. He was probably worried that if he went on a mission, there would be no one to help him at home, so he dug your well. Your family members are all strong and healthy, and they can work just as well as men, or you have strong laborers in your family. Is it necessary for you to take advantage of others here?"
Yao Anhui was surprised to find that the speaker was Aunt Li, the mother of Wu Cheng'an who had complained that Yao Anhui was too beautiful, had poor health, and was infertile.
“Aunt Li, that’s a really harsh thing to say. What do you mean by taking advantage of others? It’s just adding another water pipe. We’ve already said that we won’t use it if the water runs low,” said Ba, who had spoken earlier.
“That’s right, we didn’t say we were going to take water from Xiao Yao. The well water is leaking out every day, it’s a waste to leave it there. What’s wrong with doing us a favor?” Someone said in a particularly self-righteous manner.
"Does digging a well on a side road take no time? The steel bars and cement for the well ring don't cost money. They put in money and effort to do it, so your water pipes can use it conveniently, right? If this isn't taking advantage, what is?" Aunt Li glanced at the others present, her words sounding righteous and selfless.
"Well... we just didn't think of it for a moment. I'll just contribute some money too."
"What are you saying? Even if you paid for it, the water from this well wouldn't be enough for the thirty or forty households in our old residential compound, would it?"
"How can it not be enough? Everyone goes to the big well every day and there's enough water to go around, with some left over. How can this well not be enough?"
"Don't you even look at how big this well is, or how big that well is? There are four or five large wells with springs. How many springs does this well you dug have?"
"I only dug one well and then stopped. My well is too small, and it wouldn't be safe to dig any further." The well that Lu Yuanqing dug was only a little over one meter in diameter, and the well ring was only one meter wide. The well rings of the large wells in the family compound were six or seven meters wide, which is why there were so many springs.
"Aunt Li, after all you've said, do you have any solutions?" This was the question posed by the person who had been provoked.
“What I’m trying to say is that digging a well isn’t that difficult. Everyone has some strength. Since we can dig a spring out of a small path, why don’t we just dig a few more wells?” Aunt Li actually came up with a solution.
But after Aunt Li said that, no one responded. Digging a well is not something that can be done just by talking. If the price of hiring someone to dig a well were cheap, then everyone wouldn't still be fetching water to drink.
Digging a well takes time and effort, which all the men in the family can do, even young men can do. But cement, steel bars, sand, and stones cost money.
If you're lucky, you might dig a few meters, but if you're like Lu Yuanqing, and it takes more than ten meters to find a spring, then making a well ring is no small expense. Since he could take advantage of the situation, he didn't respond to Aunt Li's suggestion at all.
"Ha, you say you're not trying to take advantage, but when it comes to money, you all shut up. The person who dug the well is even providing the space," Aunt Li said sarcastically.
But she didn't stop there. Aunt Li continued, "My family is planning to dig a well. If anyone living in the same row as me wants to add pipes, they can have their family members come and help with the work. We can split the cost among ourselves."
The old residential compound has four rows, with nine households in each row.
After saying that, Aunt Li turned around and left, leaving everyone looking at each other in bewilderment.
Lu Yuanqing was busy pumping water, pretending not to hear the loud noise. Yao Anhui led Qi Mingzhe and Hua Fangling into the house, not giving them a chance to respond.
"What's wrong with Aunt Li? She used to look down on me, saying I looked bad and disliked her. Why is she suddenly talking to us today?"
Yao Anhui was very puzzled. The first time she met Aunt Li, she didn't know that she was Wu Cheng'an's mother. At that time, Aunt Li's eyes were full of disgust. The second time they met was after she started dating Lu Yuanqing. This time, she wasn't disgusted, but the way Aunt Li looked her up and down made Yao Anhui feel uncomfortable.
"Is it because her family is also digging a well that she's making plans in advance?" Hua Fangling felt that her statement made sense.
After all, the Wu family's situation was similar to theirs; both families faced difficulties accessing water when the men were not at home. The Wu family was even worse off, as they had an elderly man and a young child.
"Maybe they wanted to find someone to share the cost of digging the well?" That's what she said, but Yao Anhui felt there was something else she didn't know.
Yao Anhui always felt that things weren't so simple, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. She couldn't quite put her finger on what was wrong.
Therefore, we can only leave it at that. No matter what Aunt Li's reason for doing this today, it will eventually come to light.
There was indeed a lot of water in the well. Lu Yuanqing used a water pump to pump out the murky water for half an hour. The spring was also seeping out very quickly. Not long after the first well ring was drained, a small puddle of water appeared. By the time all the well rings were drained, the water had almost submerged the first well ring. As long as people didn't use the water in large quantities, this amount of water should be enough for nine households.
Lu Yuanqing pumped the water out of the well again. To maintain water quality, the water would need to be pumped out several times.
Everyone saw this. Lu Yuanqing and Shen Wenkang exchanged a glance and, without waiting for the other households to speak, said directly, "There's only so much water in this well. If everyone doesn't use it all at the same time, it should be enough for nine households."
Upon receiving Lu Yuanqing's confirmation, the residents living in the same row immediately burst into laughter, with several households showing obvious joy.
On the other side of Yao Anhui's house was Xiang Xiaowen, a distant relative of Xiang Jinghe's family. Ignoring the few people who were laughing happily, he said to Lu Yuanqing, "Thank you, Commander Lu. I'll have my old man Fei deliver it to you tonight. I'll shamelessly take over the well that you worked so hard to dig."
As soon as Xiang Xiaowen said this, the other households in the same row also said they would send the men in their families to bring the money over.
Aunt Li made herself very clear. Her family also needed to dig a well, and everyone who needed to add water pipes had to help dig the well and share the costs. They were already getting a good deal by only paying a small amount, but they couldn't refuse, otherwise they would be the ones losing face for their husbands.
Everyone present understood the same logic, so the others quickly echoed it.
However, this time no one dug the well, and no one came to add water pipes.
Because some clever person came up with this idea: since we're going to spend money digging wells anyway, why not just buy a water pump and let everyone draw water directly from the big well? Households that need water can just add water pipes and taps, and every household can have running water.
In fact, all the new residential buildings have running water, but the old residential buildings have not been equipped with it for various reasons. This time, since almost all the residents of the old residential buildings have this need, the logistics department arranged it for them, and the fee was not much.
Lu Yuanqing: ...
Shen Wenkang: ...
So what were they digging for all that time?
Why go through all that trouble, digging a well and making a well ring? And then everyone else has running water, but they have to use a pump?
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