Chapter 17 Not far, only 20 to 30 miles
"Why, why is it over?" Ye Xiaowu's face turned pale with fright.
He really had never eaten a big chicken drumstick.
He was born during a severe drought and had never seen even a chicken feather.
But the chicken drumstick smells so good, why would I be doomed if I eat it?
"Because! Once you've eaten it, all you can think about is chicken legs! Everything looks like chicken legs! Even your dreams are of chicken legs! One time, I mistook Daddy's elbow for a chicken leg, and he beat me up. It hurt like hell! Tell me, isn't this the end?"
Xiao Wu, Xiao Jiu: "..."
Yunniang smiled and took out the cooled chicken legs on the side, put one in a small bowl for each of the three of them, and added some chicken soup and mushrooms.
"Try it now, the chicken has been cooked so much that you can hardly bite it."
The three little ones squatted in front of a small stool, and each of them grabbed a chicken leg and started to chew it.
"Yeah! This is the taste! I've been craving it for years!"
Ye Xiaowen took a bite of the fragrant and tender chicken leg and couldn't help squinting his eyes. He finally tasted the taste in his memory again!
"Brother and sister, I didn't lie to you, did I? This big chicken drumstick tastes..."
Ye Xiaowen opened his eyes and saw Xiaojiu and Xiaowu holding up their small bowls high.
Xiao Wu: "Mom, I want more food!"
Xiaojiu: "Ouye system!"
Ye Xiaowen opened his mouth wide: "You, you are too fast!"
He just took a bite!
Hey! Good things need to be chewed slowly! You guys are just like Zhu Bajie eating ginseng fruit, you can't taste anything!
It seems that as an older brother, there are a lot of things to teach.
…
After eating, Ye Yanping picked up the bucket and went out in high spirits.
Today, the family only got one bucket of water. Most of it was used to irrigate the fields, and the rest was used to blanch chicken and cook. Now there is no drinking water at home.
"Aping, go tell the village head that we've found a water source in the mountains," Ye Buwei said.
"Dad, I understand."
Ye Yanping carried an empty bucket to the village head's house. When he passed by the ancient well, he found that the village head and some villagers were squatting beside the well, looking into the well.
The village head saw Ye Yanping and thought he was here to fetch water. "Yanping, your family has already fetched water today."
"I'm not here to fetch water," Ye Yanping said. "My father and I discovered a spring in the mountains today. The water there is clear and sweet. I was planning to go into the mountains to fetch water!"
"There's water in the mountains?" The village chief stood up suddenly. "Where is it?"
The others also gathered around with a bang, each of them extremely anxious, "Where is it! Is it true?"
Everyone's face was filled with anticipation, their eyes sparkling. Seeing the water in the ancient well was getting less and less, they knew it wouldn't last much longer.
I thought there was no way out, but then Ye Yanping said they found a water source. Is there any better news than this?!
For Heihe Village today, water is life! If there really is water in the mountains, the whole village will be saved!
"Really!" Ye Yanping put down the bucket. "If you don't believe me, just come with me and you'll find out!"
Now everyone believed it and trembled with excitement.
"So, our village is saved!"
"Yan Ping, I'll go with you! I'll go back and get the bucket!" someone said excitedly.
"I just plan to take everyone to fetch water." Ye Yanping said with a smile.
The village head then asked, "Where is the water source? How far away is it?"
"In Wild Bear Ridge!" Ye Yanping said, "Not too far, probably around 20 to 30 miles!"
As soon as these words were spoken, the smiles on everyone's faces froze instantly.
"Wild Bear Ridge?"
"Twenty or thirty miles?!"
Ye Yanping scratched his head in confusion. "What's going on? That place isn't the deepest part of Wild Bear Ridge. There's no danger there! Besides, it's only twenty or thirty miles away. We can get there in an hour or so..."
Everyone looked at Ye Yanping speechlessly, their expressions filled with indescribable and inexplicable sadness.
Ye Yanping was completely bewildered. "What's wrong with you? Why are you looking at me like that?"
"What's the matter?" Everyone was like a deflated ball. "Twenty or thirty miles, you said it would only take you an hour, but we might not even be able to make it in two hours!"
Besides, that was Wild Bear Ridge, and a big tiger might jump out again. I was afraid that the water would not reach the person, and the person would be dead.
"Then will you still come with me to fetch water?" Ye Yanping asked embarrassedly as he saw everyone's dejected look.
He really didn't mean to discourage everyone. He had more than enough strength in his body and he really didn't know that a mere twenty or thirty miles could be so difficult for others.
"How are we going?" someone asked unhappily. "Even if we mobilize all the young and strong laborers in the family, it'll take four hours to go there and back. Fetching water will take a whole day, so who's going to do the farm work? And carrying buckets of water will keep swinging back and forth. How much water will be left in the buckets by the time we get home? If we run into a wild beast or something, we'll probably lose our lives!"
Everyone nodded, and for a moment they sighed and felt gloomy.
"Distant water cannot quench immediate thirst. That source of water is only useful to you, Yan Ping. We are not lucky enough to enjoy it!"
"Yeah! I thought God had opened his eyes, but I didn't expect there would still be no way out!"
…
Ye Yanping stammered, "I'm sorry, I thought this was good news."
Unexpectedly, it seemed to bring greater disappointment to everyone.
The village head said with a pleasant expression, "Yan Ping, thank you for telling everyone this news. No one blames you. If there's anyone to blame, it's that everyone else isn't as strong as you and can't walk as fast."
"Then I'll go up the mountain." Ye Yanping carried the bucket and walked away hurriedly with his head down. The eyes of the villagers, which brightened and dimmed, made him feel very uncomfortable.
He wished he could carry all the water for the village by himself, but he couldn't do it.
Two hours later, Ye Yanping came back carrying a load of water.
The village head and his men had already left. A group of old people and children were sitting by the ancient well, their lips cracked, staring at the water in his bucket with eager eyes.
Ye Yanping put down the bucket and said, "Come and have a few sips of mountain spring water, it will quench your thirst!"
After hearing this, those people picked up the water scoops from the well and rushed over.
After they finished drinking, only half of the bucket of water was left.
Ye Yanping went home, kept some water for drinking, and asked Ye Yan'an to use the rest to irrigate the fields.
In the evening, the Ye family had dinner with the leftover chicken soup from lunch.
The family was eating happily when suddenly a gong sounded outside.
In Heihe Village, the gong is only struck when the village head has something important to announce.
The sudden and intense sound of gongs startled everyone, and they vaguely felt that something bad was going to happen.
Sure enough, a crying voice was heard, "Oh no! There's no water in the ancient well!"
As soon as the words fell, the Heihe Village was filled with cries and shouts! The thing they were most worried about had finally happened!
Everyone ran out of their homes and gathered at the threshing ground.
In the threshing ground, several torches were burning.
The headman's old face was reflected in the firelight, his expression filled with grief and determination.
"Fellow villagers, the last well has run dry. I'm afraid our Heihe Village is doomed! Can you bear to see our village destroyed?!"
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