Inside the room, the women had already been woken up and were still sleepy.
Upon hearing that there was water, everyone's eyes lit up.
They were reluctant to drink much of the muddy water they collected on their journey to escape famine, their throats were so dry they felt like they were on fire.
"Oh! Great! There's water!" Mrs. Wu was the first to get up.
“This water is so clear!” Mrs. Ma also came over.
"Oh my, line up, line up! Everyone gets a share!" Aunt Zhang said with a smile and her voice was exceptionally warm.
She picked up a wooden ladle and bent down to scoop water into the bucket.
Jiang Chan's mind went blank.
There was no time to think!
She rushed over in one stride, a grateful and understanding smile on her face, and reached out to take the wooden ladle from Zhang's hand.
"Aunt Zhang, you've worked so hard!" Jiang Chan said quickly and urgently. "Carrying such heavy water and having to divide it is exhausting! Let me do it! I'm young, let me divide it! You all take a rest!" As she spoke, she gently pushed Aunt Zhang back and firmly gripped the wooden ladle handle herself.
Aunt Zhang was taken aback by the sudden action. Her hand was pushed away, and the smile on her face froze for a moment.
The two women from Wengjia Village nearby exchanged a glance, said nothing, but didn't leave either; they just stood by the bucket, like supervisors.
Jiang Chan ignored their stares; her heart was pounding like a drum.
She forced herself to remain calm and bent down to scoop up a full ladle of water.
The wooden ladle is very heavy.
She turned to face Qian, the woman from Liushutun who was closest to her.
Just as she turned around to block the view of the woman from Wengjia Village, Jiang Chan frantically activated her will!
The space opened up instantly.
The "water" in the ladle disappeared without a trace!
At the same time, the clear and pure drinking water in the space was instantly poured into the ladle!
The movements were lightning fast, executed in one smooth motion!
"Aunt Qian, here you go!" Jiang Chan handed over the wooden ladle with a sweet smile on her face.
Qian gratefully accepted it and eagerly tilted her head back to gulp down a large mouthful!
Glug... Glug...
Her eyes lit up suddenly, and she exclaimed in delight, "Wow! What great water! It's so sweet! It tastes even better than the well water in our village!"
Upon hearing this, several women from Liushutun nearby became even more eager.
"Really? Let me try some!"
"Is it really that sweet?"
Hearing Qian's praise, Zhang's wife curled her lip, a hint of smugness and disdain flashing across her face, but she said, "That's right! This water was hard-won! It's precious! If it weren't for your pitiful plight as refugees..."
She didn't finish her sentence, but her tone clearly said: Giving you such good water is a waste!
Jiang Chan handed it over several times, just about to scoop out a ladleful.
"Move aside!" Liu's impatient voice rang out. She pulled Wang and squeezed through from the side, almost knocking over the ladle in Jiang Chan's hand.
"Why are you taking so long to divide the millstone?" Wang muttered, without even glancing at Jiang Chan.
The two men took out a bowl from their respective bundles, walked directly to the bucket, stretched out their arms, and scooped up two large bowls of water from the bucket!
"Oh dear, ladies, please slow down..." Zhang's wife said politely, but a hint of disdain flashed in her eyes.
Liu and Wang didn't care about anything else and picked up the bowls to their mouths.
Jiang Chan's heart leaped into her throat; it was too late to stop it!
Liu gulped down several large mouthfuls, her throat bobbing, her face showing no particular expression.
She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, glancing at Wu and the others who were still praising the water's sweetness. She rolled her eyes inwardly: "Tch! A bunch of bumpkins! It's just water! They're making it sound like celestial dew! What a show-off! How is this any different from that old well water? It's terribly bland!"
Wang finished her drink too, and showed no reaction. She just muttered, "It's alright, it quenches my thirst." Then she stuffed the bowl back into her bundle, pulled Liu back to their bunk, and lay down.
Jiang Chan composed herself, not daring to delay, and continued scooping water.
The liquid in the ladle was silently replaced—
Once, twice, three times...
"Mmm, it's sweet and refreshing!"
"It tastes so good, my throat feels much better now."
Xiao Tao held the ladle and drank in big gulps, whispering, "Sister Jiang, this tastes just like the water we usually drink." Her eyes were clear.
Finally, the water in the bucket was almost gone.
Jiang Chan scooped out the last ladleful and handed it out.
As soon as she put down the empty ladle and straightened up, she felt three pairs of eyes fixed on her!
It was Sister Zhang and those two women from Wengjia Village!
They stood by the bucket, their eyes fixed on her.
In a flash, Jiang Chan seemed to suddenly remember something, and a slightly annoyed and shy smile appeared on her face. She said to Aunt Zhang apologetically, "Oh dear! What a forgetful thing I am! I've been so busy with chores that I haven't had a single sip of water myself. My throat is parched!"
As she spoke, she quickly dipped the ladle into the bottom of the bucket, scraped it hard, and scraped out a small half ladle of "water from the bottom of the bucket".
Under the watchful eyes of Zhang's wife and the other two, Jiang Chan casually picked up the ladle and gulped down several large mouthfuls of water, as if she were truly thirsty.
Water droplets slid down her chin.
"Ah...so sweet! My throat feels so much better!" She put down the empty ladle, gave Aunt Zhang and the others a satisfied, even slightly silly, smile, and casually wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. "Aunt Zhang, this water...it really quenches my thirst! Thank you so much!"
Aunt Zhang looked at the cleanly scraped bucket, and her tense lips finally relaxed.
She forced a smile and said, "Alright, you've finished drinking, so hurry up and rest! We have to travel tomorrow!"
She waved and, together with two other women, carried the completely empty wooden bucket away.
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