Chapter 73
73 Water Storage
Zhou Jia looked at Li Yu and thought to himself, ‘The heavens are still fair. If they hadn’t pressed me step by step, I wouldn’t have returned to my former residence and met Yu’er. It seems that my grandfather’s advice to me in the past was reasonable. Meeting Yu’er was the compensation from the heavens.’
Seeing Zhou Jia smiling foolishly at her, Li Yu pointed at the road ahead. “What are you smiling foolishly for? If you don’t watch the road, the mule will go into the forest.”
Zhou Jia looked at the children behind him and swallowed the words that were about to come out of his mouth. “We can only reach a village in front before it gets dark. We’ll stay there tonight.”
“Alright.” Li Yu calculated the water in her space and looked back at the nearly 100 villagers who were panting. She felt that the water was just a drop in the bucket for so many people.
“The villagers have run out of water. It would be best if we could find water ahead to replenish it. Would the village well be adequate?”
“I don’t know what the water source is like there now, but under these circumstances, even if there was water, the people wouldn’t give it to us.”
Li Yu sighed. “That’s true! We can’t snatch it by force!”
Zhou Jia smiled. “Sure! Why don’t we go up the mountain and be bandit chiefs?”
Li Yu rolled her eyes at Zhou Jia. “Go to hell! You’re more like a bandit chief’s little husband.”
“Alright, if you become the bandit king of the mountain, won’t I be your little husband?”
The children applauded. “Oh, Mr. Zhou is going to be a bandit chief’s husband!”
The twilight was dim. The villagers dragged their exhausted bodies and gritted their teeth as they struggled forward. A wisp of the setting sun stretched the shadows of the exhausted migrants.
The cart turned the corner and navigated through a bare forest. Li Yu saw the village in front of her and turned to shout at everyone, “There’s a village in front of us. We’ll stay in the village in front tonight.”
Chen Gui’s wife looked up and roared, “I really can’t walk anymore.” After saying that, she put her backpack on the ground and sat there paralyzed. She looked up at the sky with tears in her eyes.
When the little girl in Li Yu’s car saw her sitting on the ground, she shouted anxiously, “Sister, what happened to my mother? I want to go down and see my mother.”
Li Yu endured the bitterness in her heart and comforted her softly, “Your mother is fine. She’s just too tired. She’ll be fine after you go down and rub her.”
The little girl nodded unhappily. Zhou Jia stopped the mule cart. Li Yu carried her out of the car and watched her run toward her mother.
Li Yu carried the children to the ground. Little Bean pointed at Chen Zhong. “Sister Xiaoyu, look, my father is here.”
Li Yu smiled and patted him. “Alright, go find your father!”
Everyone unloaded the cart on empty space by the roadside. Chen Gui looked for Li Yu worriedly. “Xiaoyu, my Ah Yin, Ah Tai, and Ah Chun are all injured. Is there anything we can do?”
“Where are they hurt? I have Golden Injury Medicine here. Bandage their wounds first.”
Chen Gui gestured at his body. “Ah Yin was slashed on the arm. Tai is on his shoulder and Ah Chun is on his back. They’re not bleeding anymore. It’s so hot that I’m afraid the wound will fester.”
“Zhou Jia, help Uncle Chen bandage them.” Li Yu took out wine and clean cotton from the bamboo basket and handed them to Zhou Jia so he could bandage Chen Yin, Ah Tai, and Ah Chun’s wounds after rinsing them with wine.
Zhou Jia smiled. “I understand. Go and rest.” Li Yu nodded but helped unload the luggage.
Zhou Jia followed Chen Gui over to take a look at their wounds. Indeed, they were a little red. He lowered his head and patiently bandaged them.
Chen Baozhen stole glances at the handsome Zhou Jia from the side. When she heard his low and gentle words, ripples appeared in her heart.
Uncle Zhou, Auntie He, and the others got busy. The villagers living by the roadside looked at Li Yu and the others from afar, their expressions revealing nervousness and wariness.
Zhou Jia and the village chief walked toward the villagers. When the villagers saw someone coming, they retreated behind the fence and closed the gate.
Zhou Jia and the village chief walked to the outside of the fence and cupped their hands at an old man with tattered clothes and white hair. “Greetings, old man. We’re villagers from Clearwater Town in Green Mountain County, West Mountain Village. We came to your place because our hometown was attacked by locusts. We’ll stay in the empty space in front for the night and leave tomorrow morning.”
The old man saw that the older ones were covered in dust and looked tired, and the younger ones were also covered in dust. They were quite handsome.
The old man felt that the two of them did not look like bad people. He pulled open the fence door and walked out. He said to the two of them with a bitter expression, “We also suffered a disaster here! Look, there’s not even a leaf left in the field!”
Zhou Jia took out a string of money and handed it to the old man. “Old man, please accept this. I want to ask you where there’s water nearby. We want to get some water.”
The old man looked at the copper coins in his hand and then at the dry lips of village chief and Zhou Jia. He sighed and quickly pointed at the mountain behind the house. He lowered his voice and said, “There’s a path behind my house. Follow the path up the mountain to the saliva pool. There’s still water inside. You can go there to get water. Remember to make less noise. Remember not to go to the well in the village. You’ll be chased away.”
“Thank you, old man.” Zhou Jia and the village chief bowed and thanked the old man before returning to the camp. They whispered to Li Yu, “The old man in the village said that there’s a pool halfway up the mountain. There’s still water in it but we have to make less noise. Let’s go now!”
Li Yu’s eyes lit up when she heard that. “Alright, get everyone to take out all our containers and hand them to us. We’ll go up in batches and fill up everything that can be filled with water.”
Everyone got to work. Auntie He and Uncle Zhou emptied the wooden buckets and tied them with ropes before handing them to Ji Xiang. Ruyi and Zhao Cai brought the buckets with them. Li Yu looked at Ruyi and instructed in a low voice, “I’ll bring two up first. Everyone spread out and don’t squeeze together.”
The few of them nodded. Li Yu picked up the machete and carried the wooden bucket. She led Chen Yaohui and Chen Yaozu into the forest and walked toward the path behind the old man’s house.
When the three of them reached the back of the old man’s house, they saw a narrow path leading up the hill.
Li Yu led the two of them up the mountain. The path became more and more rugged. After walking for more than an hour, the leaves on both sides of the path turned green. The mountain breeze was also a little cold. Li Yu thought to herself that they should be arriving soon.
The three of them walked for another half an hour before seeing a cave ahead. The wild grass at the entrance was lush and green. Li Yu pointed at the cave and said to the two of them, “The pool should be in the cave.”
The three of them approached the hole and stuck their heads out to look. They could only see that it was dark inside and could not see anything clearly. They could hear water dripping.
Li Yu took out a lighter and blew on it to illuminate the cave. She saw a pool the size of a large round table inside. The water in the pool was so clear that the bottom could be seen. Water droplets dripped from the top of the cave from time to time.
Li Yu happily handed the lighter to Chen Yaohui. “Uncle, quickly collect the water. I’ll go cut some firewood and brighten up the cave.”
“Go!” Chen Yaohui happily accepted the lighter. Li Yu put down the wooden bucket and walked out of the cave with the machete. When she walked out of the cave, she saw that Ruyi had also come up the mountain with two villagers. Li Yu pointed at the cave and found two dead trees in the forest from which she cut off a few wooden sticks. She also picked up some dead branches and leaves and carried them into the cave.
Ruyi quickly helped light the fire. Only then did everyone see that the water in the pool had gathered from the cave wall.
Chen Yaohui had already filled the wooden bucket. He closed the lid and smiled happily. “People with knowledge are indeed different. Look, Mr. Zhou’s bucket is like a wine jar. It can even be sealed!”
The villagers who came later were also amazed. “As expected! If we had known, we would have made two wooden buckets like this.”
Ruyi said to Li Yu, “Miss Li, wait for the other villagers here. I’ll carry the water down first.”
Li Yu took a wooden stick from the cave entrance and handed it to Ruyi. “The way down the mountain is not easy. Use the wooden stick to support yourself.”
“Thank you, Miss Li.” Ruyi squatted down and carried the wooden bucket on his back. Using the wooden stick, he quickly walked down the mountain.
Everyone was busy filling up everything that could be filled with water. After eating, they arranged for the people on duty to rest in rotation.