Chapter 15 Is there really a water source?
"It's not that this place is bad, but we can't protect it." Sang Yu continued to wait and watch without turning his head.
"Oh, all right then."
Sang Xingjia lowered his head in frustration. What his younger sister said was absolutely right. If she said no, then it was no.
A mountain forest passed by in front of his eyes, Sang Yu's gaze suddenly stopped and then he squinted his eyes to take a closer look.
It was at the foot of the mountain, with a thatched roof that blended in with the surroundings and was very inconspicuous. If she didn't have good eyesight, she might not have been able to spot it.
But at this time the roof was in tatters, with several large holes.
Her eyes suddenly lit up. The presence of a roof meant that someone had lived there before.
If there were still people living there, it shouldn't be a problem for them to exchange some of their food for a place to stay for a few days. If no one was living there, that would be even better, as they would have a ready-made place to stay.
Sang Yu roughly estimated the distance between the dilapidated temple and the foot of the mountain, which should be about four or five miles. At their pace, it would take more than an hour to walk there.
Perhaps everyone is used to traveling every day, so even if they are traveling with their families, young and old, it doesn't take too much time to walk.
When I got closer, I saw that it was indeed a shed, but it was just a shed.
The four corners were randomly supported by a few thick wooden beams, and the height was uneven.
There were several large holes in the roof, and a few straws were sticking out of the holes, about to fall out.
The bottom was only roughly surrounded by thin branches, and it didn't look like a habitable place at all.
Sang Yu walked around the shed and found some coal fragments the size of stones in the corner.
In the corner opposite the coal debris, there were some clay pots and bowls piled up. There were small mud spots on the outside where mud and water splashed on them, but the inside was intact.
I think this place was used to temporarily store coal and provide a rest area for people, but for some reason it was abandoned later.
She brushed off the coal dust on her hands with satisfaction and said, "It's a nice place. We'll live here from now on."
"Huh?" Sang Yongjing glanced around, his face showing embarrassment. "Yu'er, it doesn't matter to us, but we can't let Grandmother suffer with us."
This place is even worse than the dilapidated temple just now.
"It's okay, just listen to me."
Sang Yu was not at all flustered. He assigned tasks to everyone without rushing. "Big brother, you and Dad go find some thick branches nearby. Little brother, you go pick up thin branches and hay. Mom and I will go find a water source."
After checking everyone in turn, she set her sights on the old lady. In the end, she couldn't bear to force her to work. "As for grandma, stay here and look after the house."
Originally, everyone was still a little confused and at a loss, but as she issued orders one by one, they inexplicably began to believe that she could really make this place better.
Grandma sat in the shed resting with two bags of grain seeds, while everyone else got moving.
Sang Yu led Xie Qiujin up the mountain. The grass and trees were lush and green, even though it had been autumn for a long time, they were still not withered.
Sang Yu held a long wooden stick in his hand, and before taking each step he would probe the grass with it a few times.
One reason is to prevent snakes from lying in the grass, and the other is to avoid stepping on empty air and falling.
The mountain was steep and there was no road. Xie Qiujin, a woman who had lived in a large mansion for a long time, ran out of strength after climbing for a while. She half leaned against a tree and called out to Sang Yu breathlessly.
"Hoo, hoo, Yu'er, take a break first. Mom can't walk anymore."
Sang Yu was holding a wooden stick and clearing the way ahead. He looked back when he heard this.
She saw Xie Qiujin, who had been following her silently, was now sweating profusely, with a few strands of hair stuck to her forehead by the sweat, looking very messy.
I think if she really couldn't walk, she wouldn't say anything.
"I'm tired too, let's take a break together." Sang Yu didn't choose, he swept the weeds in front of him with a wooden stick and sat down directly on the ground.
"Yu'er, if we keep climbing up, will there really be a water source?" Xie Qiujin asked after resting for a while to recover some strength.
Sang Yu nodded very confidently: "There must be."
Before coming up, she walked around the shed and found traces of water erosion over the years on the mountain wall not far away.
As she went up, she was also walking along the dry waterway.
However, the waterway is too small and some parts even pass through underground, making it difficult to find.
If she guessed correctly, there should be a natural spring on the mountain. After a series of subsequent diversions, the water in the spring was diverted down the mountain.
This is the main reason why a pergola was built at the foot of the mountain.
Whether it is transportation or storage, coal requires human participation.
There must be a water source around the temporary resting shed, otherwise people will be thirsty and have to look for water again.
What difference does it make whether there is a shed or not? It’s better to sleep outdoors near the water source.
Sang Yu’s only worry was that the spring at the end of the water source would dry up.
After resting for a while, Sang Yu looked at Xie Qiujin and asked, "Mom, are you feeling better?"
If it really doesn't work, she plans to go up and take a look by herself.
Xie Qiujin had already stood up by holding on to the tree: "Let's continue climbing!" She couldn't hold her daughter back.
Fortunately, it is autumn now, and the snakes, insects, rats and ants in the forest are not as numerous and scary as in summer. They also wear long clothes and long sleeves to avoid many mosquito bites.
The two of them walked and stopped from time to time. Occasionally, when they encountered a steep slope, Sang Yu asked Xie Qiujin to help him climb up first, and then he would pull her up. It was much easier than climbing alone.
After climbing up a little further, when they were about halfway up the mountain, Sang Yu swung the exploration stick towards the ground in front of him, but the feeling it brought back was completely different from before.
The mountain is mostly covered with soil and rocks. When swinging the stick, you will occasionally encounter some obstacles, which are rocks buried deep in the soil.
But this time it was different. The stick was swung over, bringing up a cloud of mud that splashed everywhere.
Xie Qiujin screamed and quickly dodged to the side to avoid the mud, but Sang Yu did not dodge and smiled: "Mom, we found a water source."
The tall weeds were trampled down, revealing the muddy ground.
Following the water marks on the ground, they finally found a spring next to a cliff. Only then did Sang Yu understand why the waterway at the foot of the mountain had dried up.
I saw that the spring next to the cliff in front of me was covered with mud and gravel, with only a few trickles coming out of the mud and flowing to the side.
It should be a small mudslide caused by a previous heavy rain, which collapsed and buried the outlet of the spring.
Sang Yu didn't mind the dirt, so he squatted on the edge of the cliff and started digging the soil with his bare hands.
The soil was fully soaked with water and was much easier to dig than the dry soil on the ground. She dug out a small hole in no time.
Xie Qiujin stood aside, somewhat hesitant. It was not that she did not want to maintain her dignity during her exile, but she was forced to do so by the circumstances.
Now that she is free again, her inherent reserve has emerged again.
Sang Yu didn't think too much about the twists and turns. Digging alone was too slow, so she urged without even looking up, "Mom, come and help me dig."
“…Okay.” Anyway, there’s no one else here to see us, so let’s just dig.
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