Chapter 39 Egg Turns into Chick
Extremely tired.
Extremely angry.
A sense of powerlessness also arose in everyone's hearts.
After so much effort and holding such high hopes, everything vanished in an instant.
"What's with all this dejection?!" the village headman scolded sternly. "You are all the pillars of your families. If you fall, who will your families rely on? Who will our Dahe Village rely on? If you encounter a problem, then find a way to solve it! We can't do anything about the big rock, but surely we can't do anything about the trees over there? Tomorrow, everyone come together to cut down the trees. In three to five days, I refuse to believe we can't clear the road over there!"
Everyone looked towards the ancient forest.
A night breeze blew by, and the torches cast swaying shadows on the trees, making the already tall trees appear even taller, reaching straight into the dark sky.
Everyone fell silent, not because they were discouraged, but because the task was too difficult to complete. Of course, they could cut down trees, but it would be impossible in three to five days. It would take at least half a month, and by then, the rice would probably all be dried up. What would be the point of digging ditches then?
As Cheng Wanwan stood by the large rock, a story suddenly came to mind: Yu the Great taming the floods.
Why did she think of flood control when there was clearly a drought?
She recalled that Chinese class, where the teacher vividly recounted the story of Yu the Great controlling the floods, digging ditches to divert water—exactly the same thing they were doing now.
It seems that Yu the Great also encountered trouble, which appears to be related to stones.
Cheng Wanwan tried hard to recall, pacing back and forth, her feet stepping on the stones, when she saw the torches held high.
Some women casually tossed their torches by the roadside and went over to talk to the village head. Right next to the torch was a stone, which was glowing red from the fire.
Her eyes suddenly lit up: "Uncle Village Head, I know what to do!"
All eyes turned to them, some questioning, some mocking, but everyone was exhausted and no one spoke.
The village headman seemed to have grasped at a straw: "Grandma Dashan, please tell me quickly."
"Mudfish Dad, Iron Pillar Dad, bring all the torches over and heat them on the big rock until they're red-hot," Cheng Wanwan said methodically. "Then send four more people up to fetch a few buckets of water."
The men were too exhausted to move, so the women took the initiative to fetch water.
Five or six women went up the mountain together, and after half an hour, they came down carrying ten buckets of water. By then, the big rock was glowing red-hot, and people standing next to it were sweating profusely from the heat.
Cheng Wanwan tested the water temperature with her hand; the spring water was refreshingly cool at midnight, perfect for the cold.
She said, "Everyone should splash water on the stones at the same time, and then quickly retreat as far as possible."
"Splash!"
Ten buckets of water were poured onto the scalding hot stones at the same time.
Crackling sounds!
The huge rock suddenly made a cracking sound, and four or five cracks appeared in the middle of the unshakeable boulder.
Everyone's face was filled with shock.
The men, who had been exhausted, were instantly filled with energy. They turned around and went to gather firewood: "Let's do it again!"
They burned the stones, poured water on them, and repeated this process four times.
The large rock shattered into smaller stones through repeated expansion and contraction, and that's how the ditch was completed.
By this time, it was already the end of the Chou hour (1-3 AM), and in two more hours it would be dawn.
"Everyone go back and rest!" the village headman said excitedly. "Come back here to gather again after noon tomorrow!"
That night, the exhausted men fell into a deep sleep and did not wake up until the sun was high in the sky.
Cheng Wanwan and Wu Huiniang were sorting through the agate seeds in the yard. They peeled open the lanterns and took out the seeds inside, putting them in a basket.
Wu Huiniang was very curious: "Mother, can this really be used to make desserts?"
Cheng Wanwan glanced at the basket. Two jin of lanterns could yield half a jin of stone flower seeds, and this basket could yield about five jin in total.
She stopped what she was doing: "Soak these shelled seeds in boiled and cooled water for a while."
Wu Huiniang immediately got up to boil water, let it cool, and then soaked a small bowl of agar seeds.
This stuff needs to be soaked for a while, which will make it easier to work with later. Cheng Wanwan put the agarwood seeds away and got up to prepare lunch for the boys in her family. After lunch, she would have to go up the mountain to continue digging ditches.
Just as I was busy working, I heard Zhao Sidan's startled voice from behind: "You stinky Da Hong, why are you bullying Erhuang!"
Zhao Sidan pounced over and lifted the rooster that was riding on Erhuang, making the rooster crow angrily.
Cheng Wanwan: "..."
Great, you've ruined the chance for the egg to become a chick.
She put down what she was doing, rescued the rooster Da Hong, and said earnestly, "Si Dan, didn't you want chicks?"
Zhao Sidan blinked and nodded: "Grandma said that a rooster is enough, but Da Hong keeps bullying Da Huang and Er Huang. Mom, let's kill Da Hong and make soup..."
His drool was flowing uncontrollably.
The rooster flapped its wings and flew away quickly.
Cheng Wanwan was convinced.
She bought the rooster to hatch chicks. If it were just for a bite to eat, why would she spend a huge sum of eighty coins? No, she spent one hundred and sixty coins.
She spoke gently, "Da Hong wasn't bullying the hens; she wanted to be friends with both hens. For example, your second and third brothers often bullied you, but you weren't beaten to death. Instead, you got along very well with them. Isn't that the logic?"
Zhao Sidan tilted his little head and compromised, "It seems so, then I'll just leave it at that?"
Cheng Wanwan nodded: "Children shouldn't worry about this. Let's wait until we hatch chicks later..."
She looked up and saw four children standing at the gate of the courtyard. The four little ones, about seven or eight years old, were pacing back and forth, some of them hesitant to come in.
Aunt Zhao has a bad reputation; she even abuses her own son. These children are afraid to come in asking for eggs because they'll get beaten up.
Cheng Wanwan said, "Four Eggs, go to the henhouse and see how many eggs there are."
This was Zhao Sidan's favorite activity, so he immediately ran to touch the chicken coop and exclaimed with delight, "Mom, there are four eggs again today!"
Cheng Wanwan handed four eggs to the four little children in front of her: "Take good care of them, and don't drop them and break them."
The four little children laughed happily: "Thank you, Aunt Zhao!"
Cheng Wanwan's mood brightened up. Children are the most innocent creatures in the world, and there is no pressure in getting along with them.
Wu Huiniang is kneading the dough and then rolling out the wrappers, preparing to make dumplings.
Last night, Zhao Sidan dug up a lot of shepherd's purse, and today the whole family is having shepherd's purse dumplings.
The only pity is that there's no pork. If there were a little pork in the shepherd's purse, it would be really delicious.
Cheng Wanwan's desire to make money grew stronger and stronger. She had to make the ice jelly as soon as possible. It was an open business, and she could buy whatever she wanted with the money she earned, and no one could say anything.
In the afternoon, the village head led a large group of people up the mountain.
Besides the labor force, the women in the village also spontaneously went up the mountain to help. Since there weren't enough tools to dig the ditch, they would scout out where there were large rocks in advance, and then use the method from the previous night to blast the rocks open and move them away.
Even the children were enthusiastic, some gathering firewood, others carrying water, and the work progressed much faster.
Cheng Wanwan spotted Zhang Dagang among a group of children. He was the one who tried to steal Si Dan's rabbit, and he was Zhang Wulai's son.
Zhang Wulai was the only able-bodied man in the village who had shirked his responsibilities and hadn't participated in digging the ditch, but unexpectedly, his son had volunteered to help.
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