Chapter 70 A flash flood is coming! (1)
Taotao continued to look around Guan Haishan's studio.
There are many paintings on the floor and against the walls of the studio. However, they were all placed facing inwards.
Taotao walked over, opened a painting, and was stunned.
——It’s still her in the painting.
The person in the painting is wearing ordinary clothes, sitting on the edge of a field, holding a piece of grass in one hand, with the other hand resting on his knee with his elbow and his chin supported by his palm, looking into the distance at the endless rice fields where rice seedlings have just been planted.
The girl looked towards the rice fields with proud, playful eyes full of satisfaction and superiority, as if saying: Haha, this is my kingdom, my world, and my rice fields!
Taotao couldn't help but burst out laughing.
Guan Haishan was a little nervous, "This one is not finished yet, and the paint is almost gone."
Taotao carefully put down the painting and picked up another one. When he took a look, he was stunned again.
——Is it still her in the painting?
The girl in this painting is angry.
This happened in a farmyard. A big yellow dog knocked over a pot of flowers and was cowering in fear with its ears drooping. The girl was holding a broom and glaring at the big yellow dog.
However, although the girl's body language showed that she was angry: her lips were tightly pursed, her cheeks were slightly puffed up, and she looked pouty...but her eyes were bright and clear, without any anger in them, and she even felt like laughing. A hand reached out to the big yellow dog, seemingly scolding the dog, but also like wanting to rub the big yellow dog with shiny fur.
Taotao couldn't help laughing again.
Guan Haishan became more and more uneasy, "This, this is not finished yet..."
Taotao gently put down the painting and picked up another one.
She immediately exclaimed "Wow" to express her amazement.
——This is a picture of a production team planting rice.
Guan Haishan's vision is very broad, so the main subject of this painting is a large area of farmland. Many fields have been filled with water, and people are working in the fields. The men have towels wrapped around their heads and the women wear bamboo hats.
The most amazing thing is that the men and women in the paintings are only slightly larger than ants. In Taotao's opinion, they are just a few pieces of paint or pigment, but they can accurately express the gender of the people in the painting and what they are doing!
Most of them were standing in the paddy fields planting rice, some stopped to rub their backs, wipe their sweat, some were carrying seedlings, some were sitting by the edge of the field drinking water and taking a rest...
There are dozens of people with obvious movement characteristics, and not a single one is repeated!
Looking at the overall effect, the distant mountains are dark blue, the paddy fields reflect the blue sky and white clouds, and there are dots of wild flowers growing on the ridges of the fields...
Taotao exclaimed, "Oh my god, this painting is so beautiful!"
Guan Haishan said nothing.
In the past, if someone praised her paintings like this, she would only feel proud.
But for some reason, Taotao's praise of her painting made her... inexplicably feel ashamed.
It's like...
She doesn't deserve it.
Guan Haishan bit her lip, thinking that Taotao was an amateur who only knew how to give compliments, but she had instantly seen many places that could be further revised to make it better.
She had to make some changes to make the painting more perfect so that it would be worthy of Taotao's praise.
However, deep inside the content, there was something that made Kwan Hoi-Shan uneasy.
She quickly glanced at a tiny figure in the painting and prayed silently in her heart: Please don't let Taotao see it!
result--
Taotao pointed at a small figure in the painting with a smile, and said in a declarative and slightly proud tone: "...This is me."
It was the back of a girl running on the ridge of a field, she was holding her straw hat with one hand and holding a bag slung across her body with the other. Because she was running so fast, the bag flew up with her owner... so much so that the girl had to hold the bag tightly with her hands to avoid it becoming an obstacle that blocked her eager progress.
The girl didn't show her face at all, but Taotao could tell from her slender waist, long legs and the style of her hat that it was definitely her!
Guan Haishan's face suddenly turned red!
Taotao looked at several more paintings.
She understood a little.
[Kwan Hoi-shan’s frightened eyes: What do you understand? 】
In this studio, the only painting that was somewhat shocking was a picture of ghosts paying homage to the gods, covered with an old bed sheet.
——The meaning of redemption in that painting is too obvious.
Moreover, the painting is extremely large, and you can tell at a glance that Kwan Hoi-Shan put a lot of effort into it.
Most of the other paintings are records of rural life, covering almost all farming life in Ruyi Village.
No matter how realistic Kwan Hoi-Shan's painting style is, it also carries a subjective emotional rendering. Therefore, the paintings are visually exaggerated, with magnificent beauty, and each painting is full of vitality!
Tao Tao, "Are you going to take these to the competition?"
Guan Haishan breathed a long sigh of relief and thought to herself: She still doesn't understand.
There is an indescribable sense of loss in my heart.
But on second thought: Anyone with eyes in the village can see that Song Zhi is also pursuing Taotao, and perhaps Taotao herself is the only one who doesn't know it. Or rather, Taotao also knew it, but she didn't care. It was as if in her eyes there was no distinction between male and female humans, and she didn't understand the concept of love between men and women.
[Kwan Hoi Shan: If my own happiness is built on the suffering of others, then I would like to be happy every day. 】
[Song Zhi: Thank you. I feel touched by your words.] 】
Guan Haishan calmed down and felt much better. She said calmly, "Yes."
Then he pointed at the fairy picture and said, "That's the only thing you can't show to others..." The subject of ghosts and gods involves feudal superstition. Although the villagers are simple and honest, they still have to be on guard against villains.
Tao Tao was a little curious, "What kind of competition is it? Is it held every day?"
Guan Haishan said: "I don't know either, but Aunt Dong (Liu Xuexu's mother) has many connections. I will send my paintings to her after I finish them, and she will submit them after reviewing them. I have been in Ruyi Village for a year, and I have painted more paintings than in the past 20 years combined... This is really a good place!"
Tao Tao was happy, "Isn't it? Our village is the best! Beautiful mountains and clear waters, and delicious food!"
Then the conversation changed -
"Shanshan, let's go play in the mountains!" Taotao said, holding Guan Haishan's hand and dragging her out.
Kwan Hoi-Shan didn't want to go.
She wanted to strike while the iron was hot and make some changes to the painting that she had just discovered.
Suddenly, I felt reluctant to leave.
After all, Taotao doesn't have much time to ask her out to play.
"Wait, let me cover this painting first." Guan Haishan pulled away Taotao's hand.
She covered the painting with an old bed sheet and pretended to be normal while holding Taotao's hand.
Tao Tao didn't think much of it. She went out of the house with Guan Haishan and said hello to the Sixth Grandma who was sitting in the yard peeling green oranges and eating them, "Grandma, Shanshan and I are going out to play. Can you lend me a backpack?"
Grandma Liu smiled and said, "Go play! Shanshan, you need to exercise more!"
Guan Haishan nodded.
Tao Tao asked again, "Grandma, are oranges delicious?"
The Sixth Granny smiled and said, "It's very sour and tasty..."
Taotao laughed loudly, and hurried out holding the backpack in one hand and holding Guan Haishan's hand in the other.
It was midsummer.
It rained last night, and the woods behind the mountain are full of mushrooms. The bushes are full of various ripe berries and countless edible wild vegetables...
Many people in the village look for food nearby.
Zhou Xiaoni, Hongdou and Huangdou are also there.
Zhou Xiaoni came here specifically to pick mushrooms. She relies on these mushrooms to exchange for money and improve her life. Red beans come here to pick wild grapes and berries to take home as snacks, while yellow beans come here to catch small insects to feed the chickens and ducks.
——Speaking of soybeans collecting small bugs, it’s quite funny.
Taotao's family now has two big geese, seven or eight goslings, six big ducks, a dozen ducklings, and a dozen chickens...
During the day, the chickens, ducks and geese are all free-range in the bamboo forest behind the house. They will automatically come back when it gets dark.
Because of these egg-laying livestock, Taotao's family can now achieve the goal of having one egg per person every three days; but the problem that comes with it is that feeding these livestock on a regular basis has become a burden.
Fortunately, these livestock are usually free-range, and they cannot be allowed to go out only on rainy days... At this time, they have to be fed some bran, bean dregs, etc., or they have to go up the mountain to cut some goose grass.
Every day Huang Dou would carry the special small waist basket made for him by Song Zhi - a small iron mesh box inside the bamboo basket. Huang Dou would put a large leaf in the iron mesh box every day, and when he saw fat, soft and wriggling insects, he would catch them and feed them to the chickens and ducks when he got home.
But there are many women in the family, and most of them are afraid of and hate insects.
Huangdou likes to catch insects and bring them back to feed the chickens and ducks. There are always a few that escape, which always scares the people at home!
However, seeing that the chickens and ducks at home always lay double-yolked eggs after eating insects, even if they are not double-yolked eggs, the yolks are still bright red, and they are always particularly fragrant whether they are boiled or made into soup as poached eggs. So you might as well be patient!
Because they always eat eggs, the brother and sister have grown taller in the past year.
Huang Dou had already caught half a box of bugs and wanted to go home. When he saw Tao Tao, he quickly called her, "Fourth Aunt, come quickly! I have caught a lot of bugs..."
Then he suddenly realized that no one in his family liked bugs except him, so he quickly said, "There are so many fruits here! And so many mushrooms!"
Everyone also greeted Taotao enthusiastically and told her where to find wild goods.
Tao Tao said to Huang Dou, "Pick more Sanyue Bulbs to feed the geese. If there are still a lot, I will make sweet sauce for you to dip into the steamed buns."
——March bubble is raspberry. The ripe berries are bright red and taste as sweet as honey.
Huangdou's eyes lit up and he nodded vigorously, then went to pick tung leaves to make Sanyue bubble.
Taotao went to pick mushrooms.
After picking up half a basket of mushrooms, she stopped - after all, Guan Haishan and Sixth Grandma didn't cook, and after picking these mushrooms and drying them, she would save them as a return gift. For example, if someone gives something to Sixth Grandma, it would be nice for Sixth Grandma to give something in return, right?
After picking enough mushrooms, Taotao picked two more tung leaves, gave one to Guan Haishan and took one for herself. She then rolled it into a cone shape, picked the ripe March bubble and put it in the leaf cup.
After a while, I picked enough leaves, rolled them up, and then picked another big tung leaf...
Taotao was in a good mood and picked a lot of fruits in one breath.
Until someone's younger brother or sister came running to call me back home.
Everyone was shocked to realize that the sun was already setting!
Taotao looked around and found that Guan Haishan had stopped picking berries early in the morning.
She was sitting aside, staring at Taotao.
As soon as Taotao saw her, she immediately turned her head and pretended to look at the scenery somewhere else.
——The summer here is also the rainy season. On the distant mountain opposite, several streams of spring water fly out from the top of the mountain, stirring up countless white mists. Coupled with the majestic and green Cangshan Mountain, it feels like a fairyland.
Tao Tao walked over with a smile and asked Guan Haishan, "Shanshan, do you want to draw me picking March bubbles again?"
Guan Haishan blushed for no apparent reason.
She looked at Taotao again - the girl had just been picking berries and eating them, so her rosy and fair cheeks were stained with a few light berry-red marks, making her look even more beautiful and lovely.
"Well, draw one." Guan Haishan said with her head down.
Taotao was not surprised at all. After all, Shanshan had also drawn many pictures for Sixth Grandma!
"It's getting late, you should go back too. Remember, when you take these mushrooms back, spread them out in a sieve, and take them out to dry them tomorrow morning... Also, you and grandma can eat these packets of March mushrooms together, and you must wash them thoroughly before eating." Taotao instructed.
Guan Haishan said "hmm", stood up, put on the backpack and left.
After walking a few steps, Guan Haishan couldn't help but look back at Taotao again.
——Taotao bent down and listened to Hongdou and Huangdou carefully, then looked at Hongdou's backpack. Taotao carried the backpack. It seems that the backpack is a bit heavy. After Taotao put it on her back, her steps became less relaxed. But the smile on her face remained unchanged. Holding Hongdou in one hand and Huangdou in the other, the aunt and nephew walked away with a smile on their faces.
Guan Haishan stared at Taotao's back for a while before slowly going down the mountain.
Taotao brought the red beans and yellow beans back home, sorted out the March beans she had picked, and found that there were as much as five or six kilograms? !
A whole basin!
Needless to say, make jam.
Soak the berries in water, wash them for a while, then put them in a sieve and dry them.
After dinner, Taotao started making jam.
Pick out the fully ripe berries and put the less ripe ones aside to improve the geese's diet tomorrow.
Then light a charcoal stove, set up a casserole, add water, pour the ripe berries into the pot after boiling, and stir constantly with a wooden spatula for more than half an hour. When the water is basically dry and the flesh is cooked into a paste, it will become a thick jam.
Pour the jam into a large bowl and let it cool down to a certain temperature, then take out the wild honey that Song Zhi had brought back from the deep forest - it was milky white semi-crystalline. Taotao was reluctant to put too much, so she just scooped out two pieces with a small wooden spoon and stirred them into the jam.
Melt the honey in the lukewarm jam and place in glass canning jars with tight fitting lids.
Tomorrow morning, I will steam a pot of plump white buns and make a cup of milk powder for each person...
The breakfast was perfect!
Well, there is still some jam residue in the big bowl that can’t be scraped clean.
Taotao poured some boiling water, stirred it, and made three small cups of juice, which she brought out to red bean, yellow bean, and mung bean.
Green Bean is already one and a half years old. He speaks fluently and can say short sentences of less than five words. However, he still has trouble walking. Not only does he walk slowly, but he also needs support. If there is nothing to hold on to, he will plop down on the ground and crawl quickly... until he finds a wall or furniture to hold on to, then he will stand up and walk again.
The little guy was born prematurely and was born weak, so he gets to eat all the good things in the house first. Eggs and milk are available every day. Tan Fenghui was afraid that he would think that this was what he deserved, so she kept teaching him, "Green Bean, you are the youngest. When your family gives you something to eat, you must first ask others if they want to eat it, and you must share it with your family."
No matter whether he can understand or not.
However, Tan Fenghui also warned her family that if Green Bean offered food or other things to him, it would be best for them to share them with him. We must never spoil him and let him develop an egocentric character.
So when Taotao brought out three glasses of juice and handed them to the three children, the sensible Hongdou led his younger brothers to show courtesy to the elders.
Taotao only gave the three little ones because there was too little juice...and of course the elders wouldn't share theirs.
However, after receiving the hint from Tan Fenghui, Tang Liren thought about it and said to Green Bean, "Green Bean, Grandma is too full for dinner and can't eat anymore. I won't share your juice with you today. Tomorrow morning when you eat steamed buns, you can share some of your jam with Grandma, okay?"
"Okay!" Green Bean said generously, "The steamed buns are for... Grandma!"
Everyone in the family laughed.
The children drank the sweet and sour juice and smiled with joy.
Song Zhi came back from outside.
As soon as he entered the yard, he put down his hatchet, turned off the flashlight, put away his umbrella, hung his raincoat behind the gate, took off his rain boots, put on cloth shoes, and then entered the main room.
Taotao hurriedly poured Song Zhi a large cup of cooled licorice and chrysanthemum water.
Song Zhi took two breaths, took the cup and drank it all in one gulp, then he breathed a sigh of relief.
"Are you okay?" Bai Zhenggan asked.
Song Zhi shook his head, "It's okay."
——Now is the rainy season, water resources are abundant, and streams of water frequently emerge from the mountains opposite, like a bottle with several holes punctured in it, with water gushing out from the holes.
When Song Zhi saw the situation on the opposite mountain, he became worried whether the mountain where he lived would be the same.
After all, there are only two families living on this side of the mountain, one with a big room and the other with a small room.
Although Bai Zhenggan and Tang Liren explained that this year's rainfall was not as much as in previous years, and there had never been a precedent of mountain floods before...
But after dinner every day, Song Zhi would still go to patrol the nearby mountains to make sure there would be no mudslides or mountain torrents before he could feel at ease.
It was now past eight o'clock in the evening, and the whole family gathered in the main room to read and study as usual.
Hongdou is nine years old. She likes Chinese and hates math. She had finished reading all the Chinese textbooks for the sixth grade of elementary school, and she had even done the elementary school graduation examination papers that Song Zhi found for her, and she could basically get more than 95 points.
Now she can write fairy tales one by one with her immature writing style, which is quite interesting.
Taotao made a booklet for Hongdou, with the front and back covers made of cut cardboard. As long as the story written by Hongdou was wonderful and was unanimously recognized by everyone, Taotao would ask Hongdou to copy the entire story neatly with a fountain pen... Taotao would help punch holes in the manuscript paper and store it in a booklet, making it like a very valuable book.
For Hongdou, this is the greatest reward for her!
So far, Hongdou has written nine very cute and interesting stories, and is racking her brains to come up with new stories every day.
But Song Zhi said that Hongdou cannot be biased towards one subject. So he supervised Hongdou's math every day, requiring Hongdou to learn at least two learning points every day according to the fourth grade math textbook and complete a whole sheet of exercises.
As for Huang Dou, he needs to practice reading the newspaper.
Every day Bai Zhenggan would give him a newspaper and circle a report in the newspaper. Huangdou’s task was to learn all the new words in this report and then recite them loudly and repeatedly.
At first, he could not pronounce a single word, but later he could barely read it. However, his family members had higher and higher expectations for him, always complaining that he did not read with a "broadcasting tone" enough. Huang Dou was also stubborn and had to get praise from his family, so he would read over and over again, even if it meant reading a hundred times a day...
Every night at seven o'clock, when Bai Zhenggan turned on the semiconductor radio to listen to the news broadcast, Huang Dou listened more attentively than Grandpa and Song Zhi!
After a year of practice, Huangdou's language level has surpassed that before the scare. Because he is exposed to a large number of new words every day, his vocabulary is even larger than Hongdou's!
In addition, Huangdou likes mathematics, so Huangdou helps solve many problems that Hongdou can't solve...
Hongdou was very unconvinced, and the two siblings began round after round of competition.
Bai Zhenggan and Tang Liren studied Selected Works of Marx, Lenin and Mao.
Tan Fenghui and Xingxing study English together. Their levels are similar, so they always practice conversations in a very rigid manner following the textbook. Song Zhi found a set of foreign elementary school textbooks from somewhere and asked them to study from them. Sometimes, Song Zhi would speak a sentence or two in English and talk to them...
Taotao is also learning.
Her Russian level is already very good, so she is focusing on English recently. Song Zhi gave her a Russian paper on mechanics and asked her to translate it into Chinese first, and then into English.
Many professional terms in the mechanical field are long and difficult to understand, so Taotao has to use a large dictionary all the time.
Taotao was busy at the moment, when Little Grape in the yard suddenly spoke up -
[Taotao! Something's wrong with Taotao! Peach peach! 】
Taotao was stunned and subconsciously put down the pen in her hand and put her right hand on Song Zhi's leg.
——In fact, she has already formed an inner elixir. The spiritual energy that Ping can absorb from Song Zhi can be stored in her inner elixir. When she talks with Xiao Putao, the spiritual energy will never be exhausted as before.
But that's it, practice makes perfect.
Song Zhi glanced at her and seeing that she didn't seem to want to talk to him, he lowered his head and continued to look through his information.
Taotao, [Little Grape, what's wrong? 】
Little Grape, [Taotao, grandpa asked me to tell you that the village is in danger! 】
Taotao was shocked, [What do you mean? 】
Suddenly remembering the recent continuous rainy season, he asked again, "Will the recent rainy season cause mountain torrents?" 】
Little Grape, [That’s right! The old man said, even though the rain this year is not as much as in the past, there is a lot of water coming from upstream... The old man is now leading the big trees in the forest to absorb water desperately to protect mankind, but you also have to save yourselves. After all, we are plants and can't do much. 】
Tao Tao turned to look at Song Zhi and asked, "Song Zhi, what will happen if a flash flood breaks out?"
Hearing this, Song Zhi's eyebrows twitched violently.
——This is what he is most worried about, and he has been feeling uneasy recently.
Xing Xing said: "There won't be flash floods in our village."
Nothing like this happened in her dreams.
Tao Tao asked Song Zhi, "Can you deduce it?"
Song Zhi: "If a flash flood occurs, it must be because the mountain cannot store too much water, so the water will flow down from the upper reaches, destroying trees, scraping away grass and soil. Inertia and high terrain will make them invincible and directly cover houses and farmland... No grass will be left wherever they go."
Taotao was stunned.
She quickly asked Little Grape, "Little Grape, can you ask grandpa what we should do if we want to stop the flash flood?" 】
After a moment, Little Grape replied, "Hurry up and dig ditches to drain the water!" If the water is diverted, it will not knock down trees or carry away grass and soil. 】
Taotao, [But how can we know where to dig ditches to drain the mountain torrents? 】
Little Grape, [Grandpa said that you can ask a night owl to come out and circle around the hills near the village for a few times, and then you can use your spiritual power to communicate with the night owl, so that you can see which parts of the mountain where your village is located are high and which are low. 】
Taotao thought about it and said, "Not yet. I'll let you know in the evening." After all, I am just one person, alone and weak. I have to wait until everyone is asleep at night before I can weave dreams for Song Zhi and my father, and then I can borrow the vision of the night owl. 】
Taotao thought of something else and asked Little Grape, "Little Grape, could you please ask Grandpa, how long can it help us?" 】
Little Grape said: [At most half a month... It depends on the water level from upstream. If the water level is too high, it will take at most ten days. 】
[Little Grape, thank you. Please help me thank Grandpa too. 】
While Taotao and Xiaopuo were talking, Song Zhi had already talked to Bai Zhenggan about the flash flood.
Bai Zhenggan felt uneasy after hearing what Song Zhi said.
On the one hand, he felt that this was unlikely to happen; on the other hand, he was still a little worried, after all, human life was at stake.
Taotao thought for a moment and said, "Dad, the news broadcasts these days have said that there have been heavy rains in many places. Although the rain in our village is not as high as in previous years, all rivers in the world are one family. Maybe the water level upstream is already very high?"
That makes sense.
Song Zhi had thought of this early on, which is why he had been patrolling the mountains frequently during this period.
Upon hearing this, Bai Zhenggan became furious.
Tao Tao added: "Why don't we call on everyone to dig drainage ditches before the flood comes?"
Bai Zhenggan shook his head. "But this is not something the country has called for. If we want to call on everyone to work together, we have to pay them and calculate work points. If we don't calculate work points, who would be willing to come? Besides, what if there is no flash flood? Wouldn't it be a waste of effort?"
Taotao understood: you can’t work in vain.
After thinking for a while, Tao Tao continued, "We can dig a drainage canal down from the mountain and divert water to low-lying areas to intercept the flood water and form a lake. Then we can seal the entrance of the flood water. We can raise fish in the lake and sell them to restaurants in the city. If we can't sell them, we can share them among the villagers! Besides, with water, we don't have to worry about not having water to irrigate the farmland in drought years!"
Bai Zhenggan smiled bitterly, "Isn't that the same old problem? Why did the villagers dig this canal? What if there is no mountain torrent, or if we can't bring in water?"
Taotao bit her lip.
Since it doesn't make sense, don't force it in the short term to avoid a counterproductive effect.
Taotao and Song Zhi looked at each other, somewhat disappointed.
After everyone achieved their learning goals, they washed up and rested.
Taotao was lying on the bed and established communication with Little Grape, [Little Grape, I'm ready. Please notify the old man and ask Night Owl to come out! At the same time, I will communicate with the night owl and use its vision. 】
Little Grape, [Okay! 】
About fifteen minutes later, Taotao heard a familiar owl's cry.
She quickly released a wave of spiritual power——
Soon, she locked onto the owl's vision.
Is this how owls see at night?
——The whole world is not dark. To be precise, it is a world of black, dark gray, light gray, and white. Everything can be seen clearly and without omission.
The owl flew around the hill where Ruyi Village was located for a few times, and then flew around the nearby hills for a few more times...Finally, at Taotao's request, it flew to the hill opposite where a stream like a waterfall had emerged and flew around for several more times...
Taotao had a rough idea of the terrain nearby, so she thanked the owl and returned her sight.
Lying on the bed, Taotao began to use her spiritual power to create dreams for Song Zhi, for her father... After thinking about it, she decided to also create dreams for her second uncle and several elders in the village.
That night, many people in Ruyi Village dreamed of themselves soaring in the sky like a bird spreading its wings.
They circled around the hills near several villages...
Then suddenly, I heard a roar like the collapse of heaven and earth coming from afar.
In an instant, a rolling mudslide, carrying uprooted trees, boulders and other things, rushed towards the village. One familiar house after another was ruthlessly crushed, and then turned into a desolate place, silent as hell, without any sign of life.
At this point, Taotao quietly stopped dreaming.
Later dreams will be woven by people themselves.
Taotao felt sleepy and tired and fell into a deep sleep.
The next morning, Taotao got up with dark circles under her eyes and a tired body.
As a result, Bai Zhenggan and Song Zhi's faces were not very good. They looked at each other, both of them with a look of wanting to say something but stopping themselves.
Today, Xingxing got up early and steamed a big pot of white, plump and soft steamed buns and some salty scallion rolls. She also made milk powder for everyone and put out a bowl of sour and sweet jam, a bowl of shrimp chili sauce and pickled vegetables. The breakfast was quite sumptuous!
They love to eat red beans and yellow beans. They also eat green beans by breaking off the fat steamed buns and dipping them in sweet jam. They also try to dip the jam in milk to see what it tastes like out of curiosity...
Bai Zhenggan and Song Zhi were both a little distracted.
While still eating steamed buns, Bai Zhenggan discussed with Song Zhi -
"Song Zhi, um... let's discuss the feasibility of digging a drainage ditch!"
"Uncle, stop discussing, let's start digging! If others don't agree, then we can do it ourselves!"
“Dig from the east?”
"Yes, the terrain is lowest on the east side. Digging from there will save time and effort."
"Taotao's suggestion yesterday was good. Let's find a place to store water and build a barrier lake. We can use it to raise fish or irrigate farmland in the future..."
"Another major benefit is that after we intercept a portion of the mountain torrents, they won't cause too much damage downstream."
"Then let's go. After breakfast I'll go organize a meeting. If they don't want to, then we can find someone to do it ourselves!"
"Well, the sooner the better. I'll start the work today after the meeting."
Taotao didn't say a word the whole time.
She stayed close to Song Zhi, slowly absorbing the spiritual energy from him.
After finishing breakfast, Taotao regained a little bit of energy.
Then she also ran to listen to her father and others' meeting.
It can be seen that when Bai Zhenggan said he wanted to organize villagers to dig drainage canals, someone immediately opposed it.
Most of those who raised objections were younger village cadres.
But the vast majority of the elders still agreed.
However, the elders were not sure what to say. They thought Bai Zhenggan’s proposal was just what they wanted because they had a dream last night...
After a heated debate, Bai Zhenggan made a decision:
This was a spontaneous movement, with villagers deciding for themselves whether or not to participate in digging the drainage ditch. The village committee does not pay wages or calculate work points, but Bai Zhenggan will arrange for it to be recorded. Any villagers who participate in the drainage ditch digging project will have priority when the fish are distributed in the new fish pond.
At the same time, because this is a spontaneous movement, the village committee will not provide any welfare, such as free meals.
The solution proposed by Bai Zhenggan is: everyone can bring their own ingredients, bowls and a little firewood, and send them to his house early in the morning, and his family can arrange for meals to be provided by everyone.
Next, Song Zhi went directly to the mountain to take the lead in digging the drainage ditch, and Tang Liren also went; the second family, the third uncle, the fourth uncle and Guicai got the news and also went there carrying hoes. Several other families who were close to Bai Zhenggan and Tang Liren also went...
At noon, people from several neighboring villages came to attend Taotao's literacy class. Taotao told them that she would suspend classes recently because the village was going to dig a drainage ditch, and asked the villagers to go back and tell their village cadres to take early precautions against the impending bad weather.
Bai Zhenggan took a pair of gongs and walked from one end of the village to the other, shouting until his throat was hoarse, mobilizing everyone to go up the mountain to dig drainage ditches...
He has always been popular and the villagers are willing to listen to him.
When the villagers from neighboring villages saw this situation, they became a little panicked and hurried back to their own village to report the situation to the village cadres.
On the first day, about fifty to sixty people from Ruyi Village, which had a population of more than 600, participated in the digging of the drainage ditch.
The next day, early in the morning, hundreds of villagers brought some rice, beans, grains, pickles, vegetables, firewood and other things from their homes and rushed to Taotao's house. The Taoxing sisters made a roster, recording which villagers had delivered food, and then packed up the ingredients to cook for everyone.
With so many people and a variety of food, the Taoxing sisters had to pay a lot for the cooking oil just to prepare the food for more than a hundred people.
However, the Taoxing sisters still managed to prepare the meal.
They separated the various beans that were mixed together with a sieve, and put the soybeans directly into the pot and stir-fried them over low heat. When the grains burst, add salt. This is fried soybeans, which are fragrant and crispy, and are best eaten with rice!
The red beans and mung beans were soaked in water early. The red beans are big and the mung beans are small, so they can be easily separated with a sieve. Then a little flour, yam sent by the villagers and red beans are mixed together to make dough, which is then kneaded into a hundred small red bean pancakes and steamed in a pot. It is also a staple food. As for the mung beans, the Tao and Xing sisters used them to make soup.
So on that day, every villager was given a big bowl of lunch.
They are: a small piece of white rice, a not-so-big red bean cake, a millet cake that is first steamed and then roasted, plus stir-fried vegetables and melons, some pickled vegetables, crispy fried soybeans, and a large bucket of mung bean and dried bamboo shoots soup.
A large bowl of food is filled to the brim, making people feel full and satisfied.
When food was delivered early on the third day, more villagers were willing to participate in digging the canal, totaling more than 200 people.
The Taoxing sisters are too busy to handle it.
So Tan Fenghui called her younger sisters, and all the young wives in the village rushed to their house to help. Everyone divided the work and cooperated, and under Taotao's arrangement, they still made a delicious lunch.
There is strength in numbers.
In three or four days, everyone dug a drainage canal from the mountain, winding all the way to the foot of the mountain. Then, under the command of Bai Zhenggan, they determined the size of the impounded lake, dug the edge of the artificial lake according to the terrain, and built up the lakeside with stones.
At the same time, because they were afraid that the impounded lake would not be able to accommodate the mountain torrents that were diverted down the mountain, Bai Zhenggan, Song Zhi, and several clan elders discussed it again. According to the terrain they saw in their dreams as flying birds, they chose another nearby depression and asked the villagers to dig another water diversion channel.
In this way, if the originally planned barrier lake cannot hold so much water, then this artificial lake can become the next backup option.
The villagers worked overtime because of their trust in Bai Zhenggan.
But, after more than ten days, the rainy season seems to have stopped? In people
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