An orphan girl from a farming family: Everyday farming in the mountains during natural disasters

"The soil is wet, so there must be water underneath!?" Xia Qingyue felt that this was very likely.

She guessed that there must be an underground river or some other reason that caused water to appear in the soil below.

The reason is not important, what matters is that there is water!

"I should have noticed it sooner!"

Finding it early can save a lot of trouble.

It's not too late.

This discovery gave Xia Qingyue hope. She excitedly picked up the hoe and started digging along the track of the black soil. Only this place had water, which was slightly larger than a well.

When she thought that there was water in the sinkhole and she wouldn't have to run out to work, and maybe she could even use it to irrigate the vegetable fields, she became so excited that she waved the hoe in her hand with great energy.

After digging for more than ten minutes, my hands were sore, so I shook them and continued digging.

Before she knew it, the sun had risen. The scorching sun made her body feel hot and painful. Soon her arms were sunburned. She ran to find a straw hat and long-sleeved shirt to put on, and drank some water.

When she came back, the surface soil in the hole, which was about 50 centimeters deep, had dried up. But when she moved her hands, the soil underneath was still wet.

She continued digging, and after more than half an hour, she was exhausted.

"I can't dig anymore, it's too hot, I can't do it!"

She collapsed to the ground, rested for a while, and then climbed up, planning to start digging in the evening and continue digging until night.

Xia Qingyue was so busy thinking about digging a pond that she forgot to ask the man to fetch water every day. When she remembered, it was already afternoon.

"It's over, it's over, how could I have forgotten about that!"

She had just washed her hands and feet and went to bed to take a nap.

"It's been so long. If I hadn't gone, he should have left long ago."

The more she thought about it, the more she felt that this was the case, so she lay down on the bed and closed her eyes.

Meanwhile, over there.

The man stood under the tree and looked around, but no one showed up. He raised his hand and wiped his forehead. The water on his hand made his strong face red from the heat.

Xiaobai lay obediently at his feet, opening his mouth to breathe.

"It seems that she will not come today, so let's go back, Xiaobai."

The man carried the water on his back and walked away.

In the evening, after the sun set, Xia Qingyue was fully prepared and had candles and mosquito repellent on hand. She wore a convenient vest and shorts and dug with all her might.

After digging for three hours and taking several breaks, a shallow layer of turbid water appeared at the bottom of the cave.

The water was cool. She didn't think it was dirty at the moment. She just smiled foolishly at the water.

The deeper you dig, the more water you get.

It was difficult for her to move up and down because the digging was too deep, so she got a rope, tied one end to it and the other end to her waist.

After digging until around nine o'clock in the evening, she was extremely tired. She climbed up holding the rope, drank water and ate some dried meat to replenish her strength. After eating, she lay back casually, using the ground as her bed.

After lying down and resting for more than ten minutes, he went down to continue digging.

It is hot and sunny during the day, so we can't dig for long. It is cooler at night, so it is easier to work.

Besides, she would feel at ease only if they dug deeper and produced more water sooner, otherwise she would not be able to sleep well at night.

After digging for more than two hours, she reached a depth of three meters. The water just reached above her feet. She was so tired that her whole body ached and she had no strength to dig anymore.

She was extremely tired, but seeing the obvious results, she was so happy that her smile never fell.

It was already late at night, and her eyelids were drooping with sleep. She quickly packed up and went to bed.

When Xia Qingyue woke up, she saw through the crack in the window that the sky was already bright.

It's so bright outside, what time is it?

She was anxious to get up, and as soon as she moved, her whole body ached, especially her hands. They were so weak that it hurt a lot if she raised them the slightest bit.

She gasped and got out of bed with difficulty.

Heihei has already gotten up and run out to play.

Xia Qingyue, neatly dressed, limped out of the cave.

Heihei ran towards him with a smile on his face.

“Black.”

Heihei happily circled around his owner.

Xia Qingyue wanted to touch its head, but when she moved, her whole body hurt, so she gave up and looked up at the sky.

The sun is scorching, it should be nine o'clock.

She suddenly remembered that today was a new day and the man should deliver water to the agreed location.

It was rude to break your promise yesterday, and you must not do it again today.

Without having time to eat breakfast, she ran to the pond to look at the water.

After one night, the water came up a little.

"Great!"

So she felt relieved.

Xia Qingyue rushed to the agreed location. When she arrived, the man was waiting with four buckets of water.

She ran so fast that her face was red, she was sweating, and her hair was messy. It was as bad as it could be.

"Huh, huh..."

The man looked at Xia Qingyue in surprise and asked, "What's wrong with you?"

Xia Qingyue was panting heavily, her throat felt like it was burning. She couldn't speak and waved her hand to indicate that she was fine.

After a few minutes, she finally recovered.

"I'm sorry, I had something urgent to do yesterday and couldn't get here in time. I delayed your time."

The man said calmly, "It's okay. I didn't wait too long."

She felt relieved and smiled, "Thank you for your hard work."

The man nodded calmly, as usual.

Water has been dug out from the pond, but it is not clear whether there is enough water, so the water supply here cannot be cut off for the time being.

Xia Qingyue picked up two buckets of water and hurried back to the tiankeng.

The man who stayed there to guard the water watched her limping figure gradually go away. The moment her figure disappeared, he withdrew his gaze.

Noon.

After fetching water twice, Xia Qingyue cooked something to eat and made do with it for the time being until more water was available.

In the evening, she dug for several hours like she did yesterday, and reached a depth of nearly six meters. The deeper she went, the harder it became to dig.

It was pitch black down there, so we dug entirely by feel, putting the excavated soil into a backpack and carrying it up, then coming down to dig again, repeating this process over and over again.

She dug until midnight and then went to sleep.

The next morning, she dragged her exhausted body out to fetch water.

The man watched Xia Qingyue become increasingly thin and haggard, with a difficult gait. He took two steps forward and asked, "Do you need my help?"

Xia Qingyue turned around, smiled and shook her head, "Thank you, no need to bother."

Ever since she found water, she has been in a happy mood every day.

three days later.

The hole in the pond was dug to a depth of seven meters. Although the overflowing water was turbid, it was enough for Xia Qingyue to use.

She stood at the edge of the cave, her hands on her hips and laughing, "As long as God doesn't kill me, all the efforts will be worth it!"

It is no exaggeration to say that she was dancing around the pond and shedding tears of joy.

In order to make it easier to fetch water, she found a medium-sized wooden barrel and tied it up with a rope.

It was not very convenient to go up and down the pond, so she used a hoe to dig out several steps and stepped on them to go up and down.

The water was collected and put into several buckets for filtration, and then used for drinking and eating.

The vegetable fields were dry and cracked, so she fetched water to irrigate the fields.

After spending several hours watering the crops, she felt inexplicably more at ease.