Otherworldly Days

In my impression, the water in this creek has always flowed happily, only in winter when the top is frozen, the water below is still flowing.But now the stream is dry, the fish in the creek are dead, and the pit is full of dead fish, which stinks from the sun.

"It seems that the water here has been dry for some time." Cao Xiangnan said.

"I think so, the fish here have been dead for some time." The person behind responded, "It hasn't rained for so long, the water in the Fenshui River is going to dry up, let alone this stream gone."

I am most afraid that if one day the water in the Fenshui River is dry, they will have no water here, and they will move south with the refugees.

The fish in this creek are not big, and some seasonal fish pass here. They are close to the Difenshui River, and the fishers also go to the big river to catch fish. Few people come to fish in this creek.In the past, their family would come here to pick up snails and go back. Later, there was no shortage of fish at home, and they seldom came to pick up these few snails to eat. In addition, after they moved to live in the town, they never came here again.

If someone hadn't mentioned it, Cao Xiangnan wouldn't have noticed it.

They walked up the creek and reached the foot of the mountain. Looking at the mountain above, Cao Xiangnan didn't dare to go up, "Let's just walk here and not go up." There are many dangers in the mountain, It's not a few of them who can go in. It's not a joke if they encounter wild animals in the mountains.

Looking at the mountain in front of me, the leaves on the mountain are all withered and yellow, and the yellow leaves are falling on the ground. This autumn is here.

When the leaves are all gone, it is winter.

It is impossible for such a large area of ​​mountains to have no water source. The water in this small stream has dried up. Thinking of the water in the Fenshui River falling again and again, Cao Xiangnan thought about this question in his heart, where did all the water go?Water is moving, and the water on the ground may have gone underground. There must be an underground river below.

"Let's go back first, and we'll discuss what to do when we go back." They walked back.

They also went back to see the well in the village.

The well at the head of the village is shared by everyone in the village, and the water in the well has been drained to the bottom.There is an old well at the end of the village. The well at the head of the village ran out of water, and people in the village went to the old well at the end of the village to fetch water. There were many people fetching water, and the water in the two wells was drained. The source of water is not as fast as the water fetched by everyone, and people in the village line up to fetch water early in the morning.

When they built the yard, it was too far to go back to the village to carry water, so they built a well at home, which was enough for their own family.If it hadn't been said that the wells in the village were about to run out of water, Cao Xiangnan didn't even know about it, so he went to Lizheng and told Lizheng about the wells in the village, and they decided to dig more Two wells to see if they can solve the water problem in this village.

"Yes, there is one more thing." Cao Xiangnan talked about the water in the creek, and also expressed his doubts, so he wanted to go into the mountains to see if there was a source of water. If they could find a source of water, they would There is no need to worry about the water in the village.

If they could find a water source on the mountain, they would collect the water from the mountain, so that it would be even more convenient for every household to use water.

"Can this still happen?" Lizheng heard Cao Xiangnan's words, and knew in his heart that if he dared to say it, there was a way. Hearing what he said, he became expectant in his heart, and said, "I I will tell you boy, I will find a few more people to go into the mountain with you tomorrow, there are many dangerous places in the mountain, so don't worry about bringing a few more people in."

It's just that Cao Gang is not in the village. Cao Gang is the best person in their village to go hunting in the mountains. He is also familiar with the other side of the mountain.Thinking of that kid Cao Gang, you said you finally came back, married a wife, gave birth to a few boys and lived a good life?What are you going to do there!

"Brother Cao Gang has his work to do, he is a person who does great things, and we can't stop him from doing what he wants to do. If it weren't for them, Zinu would have gone to Fengdu long ago. If the dynasty changed, Our life is definitely not easy. Seventh Grandpa, don’t worry about brother Cao Gang, he will come back safely.” He was complaining that Cao Gang left his home and went to the war, although he was complaining, but he was caring in his heart And worry is true, Cao Xiangnan said a few words of relief.

Waiting for the next morning, a group of more than a dozen men headed towards the mountain with thick sticks in their hands.

For a few days, Cao Xiangnan took people up the mountain to find the water source. As he walked further and further inward, he was most afraid of encountering man-eating wolves in the deep mountains. There are so many of them who are not opponents of wolves.Cao Xiangnan still thought that if he couldn't find it again today, he would give up and never go into the mountain again. He didn't expect to see a place that was different from other places.

"Everyone, stop." Shouting to stop everyone, Cao Xiangnan directed people to pull up the place covered with grass and trees. The grass and trees in other places were all withered. no.

A few people went forward and pulled it out, and saw a hidden hole was exposed. Looking inside, it was dark and could not see the end. He picked up a stone and threw it in, and there was a thumping sound.

"I think this hole is very deep." Someone said.

"I don't know if there will be beasts hiding inside." Someone was worried.

Standing here, you can feel the humidity blowing towards your face. Cao Xiangnan is [-]% sure that this is the place they are looking for, a smile appeared on his face.Since they found this place after a lot of hard work, someone suggested, "Let's go in and have a look inside, maybe there's water inside."

"Yeah, let's go inside and have a look."

These men only knew that there is a river underground after hearing what Cao Xiangnan said. They were looking for this underground river. As long as they found the underground river, even if it didn't rain for three years, they would not be afraid of running out of water.

Compared with dying of thirst and drought on this day, going in to find water and encountering wild animals seems insignificant.

After discussing it, everyone decided to go in and take a look inside. A few people stayed outside to guard, and the rest went in with torches in their hands.The bats hiding inside flew out, and those who drove in were not timid, hoping to find water in their hearts, everyone waved away the flying bats, insects and ants with torches, and walked inside.

At the sound of the dripping water dripping from overhead, some of them cheered joyfully, and cried, "We've found it."

Walking in carefully step by step, they encountered crawling snakes and insects on the road, and they drove them away carefully to avoid danger.When an underground river appeared in front of everyone, everyone had smiles on their faces.

The village invited people to dig wells, and the wells were drilled in several places until they were deep enough to get water.

After half a month of busy work, through the efforts of everyone, some old bamboos were selected and chopped, and the pipes formed by connecting bamboos were connected to the water on the mountain, and the water on the mountain was connected to the village below by using the high and low terrain. .When the first injection of water fell into the tank, the onlookers in the village cheered.

"We have water..."

"There's water, there's water!"

Standing in the crowd watching, Li Zheng smiled and narrowed his eyes, "It's you who can do it, you really have it." He patted Cao Xiangnan who was standing beside him, and this kid has a way, so they don't have to worry about it There is a problem of drinking water in the village. This water is next to the fields in the village. It will be much more convenient to use water in the future. It is really the descendants of Fuze Caojia Village.

Cao Xiangnan was embarrassed by the praise, and hurriedly said, "It's the result of everyone's hard work. How can I do such a big thing by myself, I still need more big guys. Everyone has worked hard during this time."

"Yes, yes, everyone has worked hard."

With water, they no longer have to worry about running out of water to eat. The arrival of this water has greatly relieved people's anxiety and worry. It is said that it is the water in the underground river.

As long as the underground river doesn't change its course, people who want to come to Cao's Village for a hundred years will not be afraid of running out of water.

People from other villages saw that their village was connected to the water on the mountain, and Li Zheng and the village chiefs from the village also came to ask about it. As for these matters, Cao Xiangnan didn't care about them, and left it to Li Zheng and Cao Gui to deal with them. .

On this day, Cao Xiangnan returned home and fell asleep on the bed without taking off his shoes.

"Really, I didn't even take off my shoes when I went to bed." Qi Wanfeng entered the room and saw that Fulang was sleeping at an angle, his feet were still hanging outside the bed, and he fell asleep without taking off his shoes.Seeing that Fulang is dark and thin these days, and he has lost a lot of weight, his heart is very distressed, but he knows that Fulang is busy with things every day, and he can't stop Fulang from doing these things.

Knowing that Fulang was exhausted, Qi Wanfeng lightly took off Fulang's shoes, and covered Fulang with a thin quilt, and left the room for Fulang to have a good sleep.Coaxed little Bao'er to go out to play, and told everyone in the family to speak softly so as not to wake up the master.

This time Cao Xiangnan slept until dark before waking up, only to see figures shaking in the room when he woke up, he called out, "Night Breeze."

"Huh?" Qi Wanfeng put down the clothes he was holding, turned around and saw Fu Lang, who had slept on the bed for a long time, woke up, walked over and sat by the bed.Cao Xiangnan buried his face in his daughter-in-law's stomach, hugged his waist with both hands, and Qi Wanfeng's hand stroked her husband's hair, with a slight smile on his face, he asked, "Have you had enough sleep?"

"When is it?"

"The sun is setting, and it's just getting dark outside. At dinner, I saw that you were sleeping and didn't call you to get up for dinner. There was hot food in the pot for you. Are you hungry? Do you want to get up and eat?" Qi Wan Feng was afraid that Fulang would be hungry after sleeping for half a day, and he was just thinking about whether he should call someone up to eat.

"Hmm, I'll eat later, I'm still not hungry."

The two got bored for a while before Cao Xiangnan climbed up to eat. The children in the family were all asleep now, saving a bunch of small light bulbs to shine brightly beside him. He enjoyed the service of his wife and felt that this day It's really wonderful.

The refugees from the north have been resettled one by one by the government. When winter comes, there are many things to do, such as food to eat, and firewood to use. In winter, it is snowing and freezing, and there is no firewood for heating. No way, a lot of firewood needs to be prepared, and these things have to be chopped by the refugees themselves.

There is still a lot of wasteland under Fenshui Town. Some of the refugees who came here arranged to reclaim the wasteland. Before the heavy snow came, they could grow a little vegetable, and then they could pick it up and store it for a bite to eat.

Prophet Zhao is also very busy every day, and Cao Xiangnan picked out a lot of people, and there are some men in his place who seem to be dishonest, and there are officials who carry big knives staring at him, just want to make trouble You have to tighten your skin.

"If you are dishonest, clean it up!" Prophet Zhao gave the order.

No matter how merciful they are at this time, something will happen sooner or later. With their lord's orders, the officials below will safely follow their lord's orders.

Hearing that Cao's Village went to the mountain to find water, Prophet Zhao quietly went to Cao Xiangnan's place with an old servant.Knowing that Prophet Zhao came to find a water source in the village, Cao Xiangnan also took the county magistrate to see the next water, but there were not many of them, and the mountain was dangerous, so they didn't go up to see it, and made an appointment to wait. Next time I will bring people to go up the mountain together.After seeing the water, Zhao county magistrate quietly went and returned quietly.