She leaned closer to the waterwheel to see if there was anything unreasonable about it. After looking at it for a long time, she felt that it was already perfect. The owner of Shuangdan was really amazing. Yesterday, she felt that the part that was stuck was changed so easily, which saved a lot of effort.
Even if the water level continues to drop, there is no need for manpower to help turn the waterwheel.
Should we prepare something to thank her when we go back? She may not have anything valuable, but her family certainly has plenty of local produce.
"Grandpa, what do you think? Would it be feasible to make it a large-scale operation?"
“Sure, why not? I’ll have your great-uncle gather all the carpenters in the village and we can make a big one as soon as possible.”
"What do you want to talk to me about?" Qian Baozhu was also called over by the villagers. He had been watching over the fields and was unaware of what was happening by the river.
The old man beckoned: "Baozhu, come and take a look at this."
Qian Baozhu, being somewhat knowledgeable, recognized it at a glance: "This is—a waterwheel? Who made this? This thing is great. Our village river is deep. As long as it doesn't dry up, with this, we won't have to carry water because of the water level."
"That's right. We all know this thing exists, but nobody really thinks about it. Our village can use it to help out. Erdan made it. He told me about it yesterday, but I didn't believe him. Look, he made a small one in just one day. He's really good."
"I was thinking of having you come over so that we could gather all the carpenters in the village and work together to build a big one. The sooner we finish it, the less tired we'll be. In this weather, even people who carry water every day can't take it."
"Okay, if you think it's a good idea, I'll gather the manpower right away, and we'll take advantage of the cool evening to speed up the work."
"Erbao, did you make this? You can lead everyone to make it together. You've done it once before, so you'll have experience."
Qian Erbao nodded: "Okay, Uncle, Erdan has told me the enlarged dimensions, so we can get started now. The question is, is there that much wood in the village?"
Each household has some timber, but not much; no one would store a lot of timber for future use.
Qian Baozhu turned to the villagers gathered around and said, "If anyone has any timber on hand, please bring it out for now. The villagers will help you cut more timber on the mountain later and return it to you, okay?"
“Sure, why not? This is a big deal. If we do it well, everyone will be less tired. I have some timber at home. I’ll move it there for you later.”
"Those who had extra timber at home moved it to the threshing ground. It was spacious there and easy to work in. We worked by torchlight at night, trying to get the waterwheel out in the shortest possible time."
"Erdan, it's tough for you to follow along. When the waterwheel is finished, Grandpa will give you a reward." Erdan was the designer after all, and with her by his side, it was less likely to make mistakes.
"Alright, Grandpa, I don't want a reward. This is all our own business, why would I need a reward?"
The old man laughed heartily: "Look at this, this is the Qian family's child, so magnanimous."
People at this time are truly hardworking. No matter how tired they are during the day, they all go to the threshing ground after dinner. Even those who don't know carpentry come over to help with whatever they can. The village is lively until dawn.
When the sun rose, everyone, with dark circles under their eyes, watched as Qian Erbao installed the last part. Cheers erupted instantly, as if they had won a battle, and everyone's face was filled with joy.
Qian Xiao was startled awake by the cheers. She wiped the drool from the corner of her mouth, and thought to herself, "Oh my god, that scared me!"
She hasn't stayed up all night since she came here, unlike in her previous life when she couldn't bear to sleep past midnight. This time, she just couldn't resist staying up all night and didn't even know when she fell asleep.
When Qian Xiao saw the waterwheel in the middle, her eyes widened in surprise. "My goodness, it was finished overnight! That's so fast! This is a purely handmade product!"
She jumped up and quickly checked the finished product: "Double Egg, scan it for me quickly and see if there are any data errors. We don't want to find problems after it's been in the water, otherwise it will be a lot of trouble to make changes."
"Oh, it's already scanning. It's perfect, exactly according to the dimensions you provided. No wonder everyone says you Chinese are infrastructure maniacs. It's true, you built such a huge waterwheel in one night purely by manpower?"
Speaking of this, Qian laughed proudly: "Of course! You don't know how amazing we Chinese are. You'll see even more of our amazing abilities in the future."
The old man came over anxiously. He had been persuaded to go home and sleep for half the night, so he came over early this morning to check on things.
"Erdan, what do you think? Is there anything that doesn't meet the standards?"
Qian Xiao shook his head: "The people in our village are skilled at this. I've seen it, and it's done extremely well. We can install it and try it out right now." As he spoke, Qian Xiao gave a thumbs up.
There are no precise professional measuring instruments here now, so the fact that they can do such a precise job with so many people working together is truly remarkable. No wonder people say that there are many masters among ordinary people.
"Alright, everyone take a break and have a meal. After we eat, we'll load the water truck in one go, and then we can finally relax at home today."
The joy in those "good" voices clearly reveals their longing for rest.
Then they thought, once the waterwheel is installed, will the village's harvest this year be much better? As long as they get a good harvest, they won't starve. This is the question that the villagers care about most.
For rural people, having enough to eat is the most important thing. As long as they can fill their stomachs, everything else is negotiable.
When the waterwheel was finally installed and started turning, the water flowed rapidly into the drainage ditch that had been dug in the village. The villagers cheered, knowing they would no longer have to fetch water from dawn till dusk under the scorching sun.
"Good heavens, this is wonderful! If I keep carrying water, I feel like I won't be able to keep going."
"Yes, yesterday I felt dizzy and disoriented, and I was thinking that if this continued, I might die on the spot."
"That's great, now we can take turns resting."
Everyone seemed to have all their fatigue instantly wiped away, and they started chattering excitedly. The old man's gap-toothed grin was clearly visible, and the village chief's face was beaming like a chrysanthemum, completely devoid of his usual serious and intimidating demeanor.
He waved his hand, and the noisy chatter, like that of a vegetable market, gradually subsided: "Alright, aren't you tired? Hurry up and go back to rest. Just leave one person from each family to watch the water. Only when you're all well-rested will you have the strength to face the difficulties ahead."
With this weather forecast indicating a potential famine, how can a single water source completely solve the problem? There's much more to come.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com