Chapter 75
75 Finding Water Source
The team walked to the foot of a mountain and Ruyi found Zhou Jia. “Young Master, the water is almost gone and there’s not much fodder for the animals. We have to find water and fodder.”
Li Yu turned to look at everyone’s tired and sallow faces and discussed with Zhou Jia, “I think everyone should rest here for a few days! If this continues, we’ll collapse.”
Zhou Jia turned to look at the exhausted villager and nodded. “Alright, let’s find a flat ground to tarry first before looking for a water source.”
Li Yu walked to the village chief’s ox cart and said to him, “Grandpa Village Chief, we don’t have much water and grass left. I think this mountain is quite delicate. I think we should find a place nearby to rest for a few days and let everyone recuperate.”
The village chief licked his dry lips and looked at the old yellow cow that was foaming at the corner of his mouth. “It’s good to look. The livestock’s fodder was gone yesterday. Where are the beans everyone fed to the cows and mules?”
Li Yu and the village chief discussed it and informed the team to stop. Everyone placed their things by the roadside. Li Yu stood at the foot of the mountain and looked around. She realized that the terrain of the mountain path in front of her was a little gentler. She picked up her machete and led Chen Yaohui and Ruyi towards the south mountain.
The village chief led everyone to cut the withered grass at the foot of the mountain and find fodder and tender leaves to feed the livestock.
Li Yu and Chen Yaohui pushed aside the grass and bushes and walked up the mountain. The few of them walked for about two hours and looked at a ridge on the mountain in front of them. There were also caves on both sides of the ridge.
Ruyi recalled the water she had replenished in the cave on the way and pointed at the cave with hope. “Miss Li, do you think there will be mountain spring water in the cave?”
Chen Yaohui stopped resting his hand on his knee and panted heavily. “Let’s go and take a look in the cave. There might really be water.”
The three of them cut through the bushes and vines on the way and walked to a cave. Mountain rats and hares ran out of the bushes that split open the cave. Li Yu blew on the fire and lit a dead branch. When they approached the cave, they saw that it was dry with only some animal feces. The three of them walked towards another cave in disappointment. They didn’t find a water source after exploring two places.
Chen Yaohui looked at the cave above in disappointment. “There’s no water in the three below Xiaoyu. We don’t have to look at the one above!”
Li Yu wiped her sweat and looked at the last cave above. “Since we’re already here, let’s go take a look at the remaining cave!”
Chen Yaohui could only nod in agreement. The three of them walked towards the last cave. Ruyi cut the bushes at the entrance and walked into the last cave. He heard the sound of dripping water.
Ruyi seemed to have heard the most pleasant sound and shouted excitedly at Li Yu, “Miss Li, come and look. There’s water here.” His loud voice echoed in the valley.
Ruyi shouted as she cut open the bushes at the entrance of the cave. Li Yu and Chen Yaohui also rushed to the entrance of the cave. They lit up the withered branches and walked in. When they walked into the cave, they saw a pool under the rock wall. There was water dripping into the pool from the top of the rock. The pool was so clear that the bottom could be seen. There was a stream of spring water as thick as a finger flowing out from the crack in the cliff wall.
Chen Yaohui pounced over and hurriedly drank two mouthfuls. He turned to look at Li Yu. “This water is so sweet. Let’s quickly call them up. We can rest here for two days before leaving.”
Li Yu nodded and drank two mouthfuls of water to moisten her dry throat. She brought Ruyi and Chen Yaohui down the mountain.
When the few of them reached the foot of the mountain, Chen Yaohui ran down the mountain, hugged the village chief, and laughed. “Father, we found water. There’s water.”
The village chief stiffened when his son hugged him. Then, he smiled and patted his son. “You’re not young anymore. Why are you still so rash?”
Everyone was happy to hear that they had found water. Zhou Jia looked at Li Yu’s peeling smile and walked over to hold Li Yu’s hand. He said gently, “You’re tired, right?”
Li Yu looked at him and nodded. “I’m a little tired, but I’m glad. We found water.”
Chen Baozhen looked at Zhou Jia’s gentle expression as he looked at Li Yu. Her heart ached as she muttered softly, “Vixen, shameless.”
Madam Li saw her jealous look and whispered in her ear, “You’re the shameless one who dares to covet Xiaoyu’s fiancé. Why don’t you take a look at yourself? Are you worthy of Mr. Zhou? I advise you to behave yourself and not embarrass our family.”
When Chen Baozhen heard Madam Li’s words, tears welled up in her eyes. However, she did not dare to talk back to Madam Li. She stepped on the mud on the ground and rubbed it back and forth hatefully.
Madam Li looked at Chen Baozhen disdainfully and thought to herself, A shameless woman will suffer in the future.
Everyone worked together to climb up the mountain. The weaker ones split the bushes on the mountain in front of them, while the stronger ones pushed the mule cart up the mountain behind them. It took them more than four hours to reach the ridge and untie the livestock from the cart so that the cows and mules could gnaw on the grass.
Chen Yaohui pointed excitedly at the three caves below and said loudly, “We saw that there was no water in the caves below. At that time, my heart turned cold. I told Xiaoyu to forget it since there was no water below, so there was no need to look above. Xiaoyu said that since we were already here, we should leave after looking. Fortunately, we listened to her, or we would have missed it.”
The village chief patted him with a reproachful smile. “Look at you. You’re already decades old, but you’re still not as steady as a child.”
The older man chuckled and looked at the father and son. “You should be beaten up. You’re so rash.”
Everyone lit their torches and walked into the cave. When they saw the pool, they cheered. They scooped up the water with a ladle and slowly swallowed it. It was as if they had drunk nectar. It felt so sweet and delicious.
The village chief shouted excitedly to Chen Yaohui and Chen Zhong, “Quick, quickly bring the bucket over and fill it up.”
After everyone drank the water, He Xiaoyu pulled Zhaodi and Laidi along. “Zhaodi, Laidi, let’s go. We’ll cut the grass for the cows.” Madam Li looked at the three of them and instructed, “There are wild beasts on the mountain. Don’t go far.”
The three of them agreed happily. Zhaodi touched the grass on the ground. “In the past, it was annoying to talk about cutting grass. Now, why do I feel so happy looking at this grass?!”
He Xiaoyu wrinkled her nose playfully. “I’ve seen dead branches and hay every day for the past month. It was bare everywhere. I’ve not seen anything green for a long time. Of course, I’m happy!”
Li Yu asked Auntie He to take out the big iron pot and smiled at the Lin family. “Let’s celebrate finding a water source. We’ll eat a big pot of rice tonight.”
Madam Lin smiled and clapped her hands. “Alright, let’s eat a big pot of rice.”
“Alright.” Li Yu agreed and took out the sausages and cured meat from the bamboo basket. Madam Li brought over dried peas. Auntie He and Li Mei washed the rice. The other women found a few stones and cut some firewood to prop up three large pots. After Li Yu stir-fried the sausages and cured meat in oil, she placed the dried peas to stir-fry before pouring the rice in and boiling it with water.
Auntie He and Li Mei washed some streaky pork and pork ribs. They took out dried pickled vegetables and cooked a large pot of pickled vegetable soup. The fragrance of sourness and cured meat assaulted their noses, causing the children to drool around the pot.
Two large pots of yam, sausages, cured meat, dried rice with peas, and a large pot of pickled vegetable soup. Finally, they even added some dry food. Everyone ate until they sat on the ground and did not want to move.
The village chief looked at the sky and kicked Chen Yaohui. “Xiaoyu and the others have cooked food for you. Hurry up and clean up the cave and cut some firewood to pile up at the entrance. Everyone can sleep peacefully tonight.”
Chen Yaohui got up and led his men to clean up the cave with a makeshift broom of withered grass and cleaned up the feces and stones in the cave. They also went to cut some wooden sticks and dug a hole to bury them in the ground. They dug a hole and mounted a wooden stake. They led the livestock into the cave and tied them to the wooden stake. The luggage was also moved into the cave. They lit the firewood at the entrance and everyone went to rest.