Early in the morning, while Su Muyao was still asleep, she heard someone howling in her yard.
She immediately sat up, "I knew these old women were going to disturb my precious baby."
Wang Taoxiu was furious when she saw her daughter wake up.
The old women in the village thought that the village chief's well was dry, so they came to Old Su's well to fetch water before dawn.
But everyone in the village came to each household to carry two buckets, and just now the water in the well had run out.
"Mother, I'm not going to sleep, I'm going to get dressed."
"Dress your baby properly."
When Su Muyao came out after getting dressed, she saw several old women from the village crying and shouting in the yard.
"This well is dry, there's no water left. It's like God isn't letting us live anymore."
There was a younger person nearby who pulled the old lady aside and said, "Mom, please keep your voice down. We're in someone's yard."
"Waaaaah, I can't hold back anymore, this is no way to survive!"
Another old lady started rambling on.
"These households don't have enough money to dig a well. Even if everyone pools their resources to dig a well, they won't have enough water for more than two days. What are we going to do?"
At this moment, the old village chief also walked towards the Su family's house, thinking about what Old Man Su had said yesterday.
He also brought his three sons along, thinking they could go up the mountain together to scout things out first, and then, if they were sure, he would bring the villagers over to start digging.
The lack of water is even more terrible than the lack of food.
"Waaah, will everyone in our Peach Willow Village starve to death like Granny Wang?"
"The feeling of starving to death is unbearable. I might as well just find a crooked tree and hang myself."
The courtyard was noisy, with several old women talking amongst themselves about how they should die.
The old village chief had just arrived when he heard these people talking about starving to death.
He was so angry that his hands were trembling.
"Then let them die sooner and be reincarnated sooner. Those who starve to death first will at least have a coffin, while those who starve to death later can just be wrapped in straw mats and thrown into a mass grave."
Upon hearing the village chief's words, many of the already sensitive people panicked.
Several elderly people, upon seeing the village chief, began to wail and cry. "We people of Taoliu Village have never done anything wrong, why must Heaven punish us like this? It's truly a tragedy..."
"Quiet down!" the old village chief shouted from the crowd.
"I don't know if God is truly heartless, but we all have to find our own way to survive."
Then, the old village chief had figured it out last night: the wild fruits and vegetables on the mountain, as well as some pheasants and rabbits, were all thriving, which meant there must be a water source on the mountain.
Therefore, what Old Man Su said was based on some truth, and now Taoliu Village can only hold onto this hope.
“Every household still has some water, so let’s use it for now. I’ll go up the mountain with my brother Su to see if there are any other water sources. Everyone should go about their business and not make a fuss at Old Su’s house.”
Although the Su family said there is water on the mountain, it hasn't been verified yet, so it's best not to reveal too much for now. In case there isn't any, it might put Xiao Fubao in the spotlight.
The old village chief had served as the village chief for over 30 years and still held considerable authority in the village. After hearing this, the villagers gradually recovered from their panic.
Yes, what if we find water? These people who keep talking about death are actually the ones who are most afraid.
People left one after another.
After everyone left, Old Man Su and the village chief waited in the main room for Su Muyao to finish washing up so they could go up the mountain together.
Before they even had time for breakfast, Old Man Su stuffed two boiled eggs into his arms, and carrying Su Muyao, they followed the old village chief up the mountain.
The village chief's youngest son looked up at the sky and saw a few white clouds drifting lazily by. He asked his father, "Dad, these clouds are so high in the sky, is it going to rain?"
For a moment, everyone looked up and saw a few scattered white clouds floating in the sky, appearing very high and distant.
After watching for a while, the old village chief sighed softly.
"Based on my many years of experience in farming, today should be another sunny day, and it will probably be the same for the next few days."
"But the book says that when the clouds get higher, it rains. Isn't that what the book at home says too?"
The village chief's youngest son spoke with great seriousness, saying that either the book was wrong or his father had misremembered.
"You silly boy, go home and take a good look at yourself. You can't learn anything useful."
"Fool, you've only learned a half-baked thing."
Not only was the old village chief scolding him, but his two older brothers also chimed in with their own criticisms, making him blush with embarrassment.
Before long, the group arrived at the valley of the mountain that the wolf cub had mentioned.
As soon as you step inside, a cool, refreshing breeze blows in, making you feel invigorated.
Old Su strode forward, and when he saw water slowly seeping out from the middle of the stone wall, he was extremely excited.
Most importantly, the pool below is completely full of water.
"There really is water! Thank goodness, Peach Willow Village is finally saved! Saved!"
Old Su wasn't the only one excited; the village chief was trembling with excitement.
“There was never a shortage of water here before, and no one noticed. Luckily, we have our little Fu Bao, otherwise at least half of the people would probably have died this year.”
Who doesn't know? If there's no water or people flee to escape famine, very few can actually survive.
Upon hearing this, Old Man Su quickly waved his hand, saying, "It's our village that's blessed."
The village chief's three sons had already stepped forward with shovels and spades, and without saying a word, they began to dig.
As soon as a small opening was dug, a clear spring gushed out from the ground.
The group drank with great gusto.
"If we can divert this water down the mountain, the rice will be saved."
The old village chief counted on his fingers, calculating according to the normal season, that this should be the grouting and ripening stage.
However, due to the prolonged drought, the rice in the village is wilting and showing signs of ceasing to grow.
Now is the time when water is in great need, and it is better to bring water down the mountain sooner rather than later, especially since the village has already been cut off from water.
But the water source is too far from the foot of the mountain. It would take an hour to go there and back. Even if people were used like animals, it would be impossible to irrigate all the rice fields in a few days. This matter is still a bit tricky.
The old village chief took a couple of puffs of his pipe, but all he could think about was digging up the whole place.
Water is no longer a problem, but how to irrigate the land is a real headache!
As soon as Su Muyao called out "Grandpa Village Chief," the old village chief's eyes immediately lit up as he looked at the little dumpling.
He knew this little lucky star was the most capable, and that calling him now meant he must have some idea.
“Good boy, you speak, Grandpa Village Chief is listening.”
"Grandpa Village Chief, why don't we dig a ditch all the way down the mountain and lead it to the fields..."
The old village chief had thought about this, but the journey was so long, even longer than the flood control dam.
By the time we dig up the village, how long will it take?
Then the little dumpling continued, "Although ten miles sounds like a long distance and it takes half an hour to walk, it's not that difficult if we divide the ten miles into countless small sections and each person is responsible for a small section."
"And it's not just people from our village digging!"
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