Chapter 2: Digging a Well

In the afternoon, the mountains were still bleak and cold, but Zhang Xiaohua remained highly enthusiastic. However, the progress of the afternoon's reclamation was not as smooth as in the morning. There were many rocks on the wasteland, many of which were buried underground. Digging up the land and prying out large rocks was not an easy task. When the sun set and dusk fell, Zhang Xiaohua had only moved a few rocks. His hands were already injured, with his palms split open, and the cold wind made them hurt even more.

After all, he was still a young man.

Looking back at the wasteland he had been busy with all day, although he was a bit reluctant, Zhang Xiaohua still shouldered his hoe and carried the water jar, heading back. It was already late, and if he didn't leave, his father and brother would come to look for him, and his grandmother would worry.

The wasteland was quite far from home; otherwise, his mother wouldn't have had to bring lunch at noon. Walking on the rugged mountain path, although Zhang Xiaohua was exhausted, his mood was surprisingly good. The progress of reclamation was slow, which his father had warned him about long ago. If it could be completed in a few days, the villagers would have already turned the entire hillside into farmland. This was just the beginning; there would be a lot more work to do, such as tilling, sowing, and watering. Suddenly, Xiaohua thought of something: watering! Yes, the hillside was so high, and the river in the village was so far away. How would they get water? There were no springs nearby. Why hadn't he thought of this earlier? This... What should he do? Thinking about this, Zhang Xiaohua couldn't help but quicken his pace and run home.

When he entered the village, it was already completely dark. There were still many children playing and laughing in the village. Seeing Zhang Xiaohua with his hoe, some familiar villagers stopped him to ask about the reclamation. Zhang Xiaohua answered them one by one. It seemed that reclaiming land on the hillside was also a matter of great concern to the villagers who lacked enough food. However, Zhang Xiaohua was distracted, and the others thought he was just tired, so they didn't ask in detail. Thus, Zhang Xiaohua rushed home.

Zhang Xiaohua's home was at the southern end of the village, which, from a feng shui perspective, was the lower wind and lower water area. However, the area was not small, and with Zhang Cai's efforts, they even had a small courtyard. The courtyard's wall was not high, made of yellow mud, and could be seen from the outside. Through the fence gate, Zhang Xiaohua could see his grandmother's figure leaning on a cane. Because she couldn't see well, she rarely went out. Now, leaning on the fence gate, she must have been worried about her youngest grandson. Hearing the approaching footsteps, a smile appeared on her face, "Xiaohua, you're back~ How tired are you today?" Zhang Xiaohua ran a few steps, entered the door, put down the hoe and water jar, and held his grandmother's arm, quickly answering, "Not tired at all, Grandma. I've done farm work before." His grandmother, pleased, held Zhang Xiaohua's hand and said, "Our Xiaohua is already a grown-up, and I almost forgot!" Her hand touched the split on Zhang Xiaohua's palm, and he sucked in a cold breath, though he didn't cry out. However, his grandmother had already heard and called out loudly, "Xiaocai, come and take a look at the child quickly." Zhang Xiaohua's father had just returned and was washing in the yard. Hearing his mother-in-law's voice, he came over and examined carefully, saying:

"It's nothing, Mother. Xiaohua worked too hard, and his hands split. It will be fine in a few days."

His grandmother said, "Should we go to Old Chen at the village entrance and get some medicine for the child?"

Just then, Guo Sufei came out of the house with something in her hand and said to Zhang Xiaohua's grandmother, "No need, Mother. Didn't Xiaohu use some last time? There's still some left. We'll apply it to Xiaohua when he goes to bed tonight. It should be better by tomorrow. Mother, you should go back inside. It's cold, and the wind is picking up. I'll bring you dinner later. Xiaohua, help your grandmother back inside."

Zhang Xiaohua carefully escorted his grandmother back inside, and his worries about watering were temporarily put aside.

After dinner, his parents were weaving baskets under the oil lamp, and the three brothers were helping. Zhang Cai then asked Zhang Xiaohua about the reclamation. Zhang Xiaohua recounted everything, and Zhang Cai said:

"You are indeed slow on your own. When Xiaohu finishes helping Xiaolong with the land by the river, he will come to help you."

Zhang Xiaolong also said, "Don't worry, Xiaohua. After we finish, I and Father will also come to help. We'll finish before winter."

Zhang Xiaohua said, "Why should I be in a hurry? Father said that reclamation must be done carefully. It's fine if it's slow. If we do it carefully, the crops will grow well." At this point, he remembered the watering issue and quickly asked his father, "Father, I thought of something on the way back. The hillside is so high, and there are no springs nearby. How will we water the crops in the future?"

Zhang Cai stopped his work and said, "It's good that you thought of this. What do you think we should do?"

Zhang Xiaohua looked at his two brothers for help and said, "Our land is watered by carrying water. The hillside is so far and high. Carrying water won't work, right?"

Zhang Cai smiled and said, "Xiaohua, what's behind our hillside?"

Zhang Xiaohua thought for a moment and said, "Isn't it just a deep pit?"

"Right, that's it. It's a small mountain hollow squeezed between three hills. We can dig a well there. Then, we can build a path from the well to the fields, which can be used for both drinking and watering the crops." Zhang Cai said confidently.

"It seems you've already planned this out," Guo Sufei said, smiling at her husband.

"Father, when will we start digging the well?" Zhang Xiaohua asked eagerly.

"Wait until the land is mostly leveled. Before winter, while the ground hasn't frozen, we'll invite people from neighboring villages who know how to dig wells to help us, and we'll start!" Zhang Cai said, then resumed his work.

With a satisfactory answer, Zhang Xiaohua finally felt relieved, and the family continued their work. After a while, Zhang Xiaohua was clearly exhausted, his eyes blurry. Guo Sufei, feeling sorry for him, told him to go to bed first. Zhang Xiaohua agreed and walked woodenly to the bed he shared with his brothers, threw himself onto the old cotton quilt, and fell into a deep sleep, not even aware that his mother applied medicine to his hands at night.

The busy day passed quickly.

In the following days, Zhang Xiaohua was patient, focusing solely on leveling his land and no longer worrying about the watering issue. One evening, after clearing the weeds and breaking up the large clumps of soil, he was about to head home when he couldn't help but wonder, seeing his hillside land almost ready for plowing and sowing, when would they start digging the well?

As he turned the corner of the hill, he saw several wooden frames standing in the deep depression below. Zhang Xiaohua ran over and looked down, indeed seeing a circular platform leveled at the bottom of the pit, with a ring of wooden boards on top. Six long wooden poles were attached around the boards, deeply inserted into the ground, forming a tower. Zhang Xiaohua was so excited that he almost jumped. He ran down the hill to the wooden frames. No one was there, probably resting after setting up the frames. Zhang Xiaohua patted and touched the frames, wondering how these few frames could dig a deep well. Just as he was wondering, someone called from above:

"Xiaohua, where are you?" It was his second brother, Xiaohu. Zhang Xiaohua quickly replied:

"I'm here, Second Brother. Come and look, we're going to start digging the well."

Zhang Xiaohu also slid down the hill, grabbed Zhang Xiaohua, and said, "I know. I helped set up these things with Big Brother this afternoon. Big Brother said it would be a surprise, so he didn't tell you. Now, Father and Mother are waiting for you to come back. Let's go quickly."

The two brothers ran back home.

In the small house, the dinner table was already set, with Father and Big Brother sitting at the table, but no other unfamiliar people. Zhang Xiaohua couldn't help but ask, "Father, where are the well-diggers?" Zhang Cai smiled and said, "They've gone back. We don't have much money, so we agreed to provide lunch but not dinner. Besides, our family will also help, so the wages can be lower." Zhang Xiaohua responded and went to help his mother prepare dinner.

After dinner, Zhang Cai assigned tasks to everyone in the family. The three brothers would help on-site, his mother would be responsible for cooking and delivering meals, and Zhang Cai would buy materials and find help. In short, everyone except Grandma would pitch in. Of course, Grandma would stay home and feed the chickens, which was also a busy job.

The next morning, Zhang Xiaohua got up early, woke up his two brothers, and went to dig the well. His mother insisted they eat something before leaving, saying that Father had already gone and that they had agreed on a specific time with the well-diggers. If they arrived early, there would be no one, and the three of them wouldn't know how to dig a well. Zhang Xiaohua had to accompany them to finish breakfast before heading to the hillside, by which time the sun had already risen.

Seeing several people already busy in the mountain hollow, Zhang Cai quickly called them over to help, moving the stones and soil to the side. Everyone worked enthusiastically.

After a few days, Zhang Xiaohua realized that digging a well was not a complicated task. It was just a matter of setting up a frame and digging down. However, finding the right location and ensuring the dug area didn't collapse required experience. For example, the wooden frame was essential; otherwise, as the well got deeper, how would they transport the soil out and get people back up? As for the location, Zhang Cai was lucky. The place they chose was close to the fields, and they hadn't considered whether it would yield water. The well-diggers searched the entire area and finally decided on this spot, saying there might be a spring below. If they dug out sweet mountain spring water, it would be better for drinking than for watering the fields. Zhang Cai dismissed this as idle talk; it was too far from home to carry water for daily use.

The days of digging the well passed, and the well got deeper, but the difficulties increased, and the progress slowed. Since they were digging in a low-lying area between several hills, they often encountered rocks, though not too large. If they had encountered a large area of rock, they would have had to abandon the well.

A few more days passed, and perhaps Zhang Cai's luck ran out. The well-digging encountered a major problem.

One noon, Zhang Xiaohua went down the well and started digging with his hoe. The first strike hit what seemed to be a hard rock, numbing his hand. Following his usual practice