Chapter 2: Dashing a well ()

The mountains in the afternoon were still cold, and Zhang Xiaohua was still enthusiastic. However, the afternoon reclamation progress did not go smoothly as in the morning. There were many rocks on the wasteland, many of which were buried in the ground. It was not easy to dig the ground and pry up large stones. When the sun set and twilight came, Zhang Xiaohua only moved a few rocks. His hands were injured first, and the tiger's mouth was cracked. He blew in the cold wind, feeling a sensation of pain.

After all, he is still a young man.

Looking back at the wasteland where I had been busy for a day, although I was a little reluctant, Zhang Xiaohua still carried a hoe and a water jug ​​and walked back. It was getting late. If she didn't leave, her father and brother would come to find her, and her grandmother would be worried.

The wasteland is a distance from home, and you don’t have to come to deliver food at noon. Walking on the rugged mountain road home, Zhang Xiaohua was in a very good mood, and the progress of the land reclamation was not fast. It was also a reminder from my father that if it could be done in a few days, the villagers would have already filled the hillside with fields. This is just the beginning. In the future, they would have to cultivate carefully, sow seeds, water, etc., and there were many troubles. Suddenly, Xiaohua thought of a little, watering!!! Yes, the hillside is so high and so far from the river in the village, so the water should be done like this, and there are no springs around? Why didn’t you think of it? What should you do? Thinking of this, Zhang Xiaohua couldn’t help but speed up and run home.

When we walked into the entrance of the village, it was already dark, and there were still many naughty children in the village laughing and playing. Seeing Xiaohua carrying a hoe, some familiar villagers stopped Xiaohua and asked him about the land reclamation. Xiaohua also answered one by one. It seems that the land reclamation on the hillside is also a very concerned thing for villagers who do not have enough food. However, Xiaohua was also very absent-minded. Everyone thought he was tired, so they didn't ask carefully. Xiaohua ran home.

Zhang Xiaohua's home is in the south end of the village. From the perspective of Feng Shui, it is a place to go down. However, the area is not small. With Zhang Cai's efforts, there is a small courtyard. The wall of the courtyard is not high and is made of yellow mud. You can see inside from the outside. Through the fence door from afar, Zhang Xiaohua saw grandmother with a crutch. Because her eyes couldn't see, grandmother didn't go out much. Now she was holding the fence door, and she thought she was paying attention to her youngest grandson. Hearing the footsteps approaching, grandmother smiled, "Xiaohua, are you back~ Are you tired today?" Zhang Xiaohua ran a few steps tightly

, after entering the door, put down the hoe and the water jug, held the grandmother's arm, and quickly replied, "I'm not tired, grandma, I haven't done farm work before." Grandma held Zhang Xiaohua's hand with relief and said, "Our Xiaohua is already an adult, grandma has forgotten it!" Grandma's hand happened to touch the place where Zhang Xiaohua's tiger mouth was cracking. Zhang Xiaohua took a breath of air conditioning in pain. Although she didn't scream, grandma had heard it and said loudly: "Xiaocai, come and see the child quickly." Zhang Xiaohua's father had just returned and was cleaning in the yard. When he heard the voice of his mother-in-law, he felt like he came over and took a closer look and said:

"It's okay, mom, Xiaohua works too hard and her hands are cracked. She will be fine in a few days."

Grandma said, "Why go to Lao Chen at the village entrance to get some medicine for the child?"

Just as he was talking, Guo Sufei came out of the house with something and said to Zhang Xiaohua's grandmother casually: "No need, mom, didn't Xiaohu use it last time? There are still some left. When Xiaohua sleeps at night, apply some, and it will probably be better tomorrow. Mom, you feel like you are going back to the house. It's cold and the wind is getting up. I'll send you food later. Xiaohua, please help your grandmother back to the house."

Zhang Xiaohua carefully sent her grandmother back to the house, and her anxiety about watering was behind her mind.

After dinner, my parents weaved baskets under the oil lamp as big as beans, and the three of Zhang Xiaohua and his brothers were also helping each other. Zhang Cai then asked Zhang Xiaohua about the situation of the land reclamation. Zhang Xiaohua also came one by one, and Zhang Cai said:

"You are really slow to do it alone. When Xiaohu helps Xiaolong to help the land on the river, I will go over and help you."

Zhang Xiaolong also said: "Don't worry, Xiaohua, after finishing your work, my father and I will go over to help, and we will finish it before winter."

Zhang Xiaohua said, "Why am I anxious? Didn't my father say that you should be careful when you open the land. Just slow down, just open it more finely, and plant crops again. It will grow well." At this point, he thought about watering and asked his father quickly: "Dad, I remembered that the hillside is so high and there are no springs nearby. How can I water the crops in the future?"

Zhang Cai stopped the work in his hand and said, "It's hard for you to think of this. What do you think should you do?"

Zhang Xiaohua asked for help and looked at the two brothers and said, "Our land was watered by watering. The hillside is so far and high, so it's not okay to carry water, right?"

Zhang Cai smiled and said, "Xiaohua, what is behind our slope?"

Zhang Xiaohua thought for a while and said, "Isn't there a very deep pit behind it?"

"Yes, there is a small hill nest with three hillsides crowded together. You can dig wells there. Then, we can go from the well to the entire path in the ground, and we can drink water and water the fields." Zhang Cai said confidently.

"It seems you have planned a long time ago." Guo Sufei praised her man with a smile.

"Then, dad, when will we dig the well?" Zhang Xiaohua asked impatiently.

"When the ground is flat, it's almost impossible to get the ground level. Before winter comes, before the land is frozen, we ask the help of those who can drill wells in the neighboring village, and we will do it!" Zhang Cai finished speaking and started his life.

After getting a satisfactory answer, Zhang Xiaohua finally felt relieved. The family was busy with their work. After doing it for a while, Zhang Xiaohua was obviously exhausted and her eyes were confused. Guo Sufei asked him to go to bed first with distress. Zhang Xiaohua agreed and walked to the kang of the three brothers, threw herself into the worn quilt, and fell asleep tightly. She didn't even know that her mother applied medicine to her hands at night.

A busy day passed in such a hurry.

In the following days, Zhang Xiaohua could still stand it, but she was devoted to leveling her land and no longer worried about watering. That night, Zhang Xiaohua cleared the weeds, knocked the big lumps of soil, and was about to finish work and go home. On the way, Zhang Xiaohua couldn't help but think in her heart that she saw that her slope turned into flat farmland, and she was almost able to sow seeds by ploughing. When would this well be able to start fighting?

When he turned the hillside, he saw several wooden racks standing in the deep depression below the slope. Zhang Xiaohua ran over and looked over. Sure enough, a round platform was flat at the bottom of the pit, with circular wooden boards on it, and six long wooden sticks were placed around the wooden boards. The bottom was deeply inserted into the soil and built into a tower shape. Zhang Xiaohua was so happy that she almost jumped up and ran down the hillside and came under the wooden rack. There was no one now, and she probably went to rest after she set up the rack. Zhang Xiaohua patted and touched it. It was very strange. With these racks, she could dig a deep well? When Zhang Xiaohua was strange, someone called him on it:

"Xiaohua, where are you?" Hearing the voice was the second brother Xiaohu. Xiaohua quickly answered:

"I'm here, second brother, come and see, we're ready to dig the well."

Zhang Xiaohu also slipped down the slope, grabbed Zhang Xiaohua and said, "Okay, I know, my elder brother and I helped get these things in the afternoon. My elder brother said he would give you a surprise, but he didn't tell you. Now, my parents are waiting for you to go back. Let's go quickly."

The two brothers trotted all the way back home.

There was already a dining table in the cottage at home. Dad and brother sat next to the table, but they didn't see anyone else they didn't know. Zhang Xiaohua couldn't help but ask, "Dad, where are the people who dug the well?" Zhang Cai said with a smile, "They are all back. Our family doesn't have much money. We agreed to them that they just care about lunch and don't care about it at night. Moreover, our family also needs to help, so that the wages can be less." Zhang Xiaohua responded and went out to help her mother prepare dinner.

After dinner in the evening, Zhang Cai assigned tasks to everyone in the family. The three brothers Zhang Xiaohua were of course helping on the spot. Xiaohua's mother was responsible for cooking and delivering food, Zhang Cai had to buy materials, ask someone to help, etc. In short, except for Xiaohua's grandmother, the whole family had to do it. Of course, grandmother had to watch the house and feeding chickens was also busy.

Early the next morning, Zhang Xiaohua got up early and drove two brothers on the kang to dig wells together. Zhang Xiaohua's mother insisted that they eat something before leaving, saying that Zhang Xiaohua's father had already gone first, and it was time to agree with others that he had gone early and there was no one. The three of them could not dig wells, so it would be useless to go there. Zhang Xiaohua had to accompany them to finish their breakfast. When they came out to the hillside, the sun had already risen.

Seeing that there were already a few people in the mountain nest, Zhang Cai hurriedly called them to come and help, and moved some of the dug stones and soil blocks to the side, so everyone started working hard.

After working like this for a few days, Zhang Xiaohua realized that digging wells is also a very simple thing. It is to build a place, open the shelf and dig it down. However, finding a good location and ensuring that the dug place does not collapse, requires experience to do it. For example, it is a wooden shelf, which is necessary. Otherwise, the deeper the people dig, how can the soil be transported from the underground and how can people come up? However, when it comes to the location, Zhang Cai was lucky. The place he discussed at home was just to get closer to the field. He didn't expect to dig out water. The master who dug the wells searched all over the mountains and fields, and finally settled in this place. He said that there might be a spring below, so try digging. If it was a sweet mountain spring, it would be better to eat and use it yourself. After hearing this, Zhang Cai thought it was windy. How could he carry water so far away from home? Could it be that he would pick up a few buckets from here every day and go home to cook?

The days of digging wells have passed day by day. The wells are getting deeper and deeper, but there are more and more difficulties, and the progress has slowed down significantly. Because it was dug from the low-lying places on several hillsides, many stones will be dug from it from time to time. Fortunately, they are not too big, and they have not encountered the so-called large-area stones. Otherwise, the well will have to give up before it is excavated.

A few days later, maybe Zhang Cai's luck ended, and he finally encountered big trouble when he dug a well.

At noon that day, Zhang Xiaohua went down to the well and swung his hoe and began to dig the soil. Who knew that the first time he hit the stone that seemed to be hard, which made Zhang Xiaohua's hands numb. According to previous experience, Zhang Xiaohua chose a place far away from the moment, and another hoe. With a "double~~", it was obviously the stone again. Zhang Xiaohua couldn't help but feel a little panicked and hoeeded several times around the well, without exception, all of them were stones! Zhang Xiaohua pulled the rope tied to his waist, and asked someone to pull him up, and told his father with a calm face. Zhang Cai and the person who dug the well went down to see it, and after coming up, he remained silent. The person who dug the well discussed with Zhang Cai and asked the others to rest next to him first, and then came to help after lunch, and finally confirmed whether it was a big stone or a layer of stone.
Chapter completed!