"Folks, don't be anxious. Let's go to a young man first. There are too many and I can't arrange them all at once."
"If you have any ideas, come to our house later and take your name. I'll take you into the city myself when the time comes!"
After saying that, Gu Wensheng turned around and walked home with his hands behind his back.
The villagers seemed to have received a savior. Some ran home immediately, while others followed Gu Wensheng happily, but some did not want to believe it and chose to continue to rely on the village chief.
"I heard that Mr. Gu is personally taking down the names of the villagers."
"No, I'm leaving tonight. I don't know if I can find a job smoothly. If I can, I can get through it if I come back with something in time..."
When the village chief and Gu Jiu took the rope and went back, they heard the villagers on the roadside discussing in low voices.
At the moment, many people are still in a wait-and-see mode. If Gu Wensheng succeeds, they will be happy. If not, they will not suffer any additional losses.
"Xiao Jiu, what do you think... Vincent, what are the chances of your uncle's side?"
After walking far away, the village chief suddenly asked. These were words that I shouldn't have said to a child, but I somehow managed to get them out.
Maybe it's because Gu Jiu has also lived in the city for a while!
Gu Jiu was silent for a moment. It was really hard to say this, but judging from her understanding of Gu Wensheng, the probability was a bit slim.
And...even if it does happen, it would be a very tiring job to think about.
"It's unlikely to succeed. Firstly, there won't be any sudden calls for people in the city, and secondly, there are a lot of people going to the city. With such a good thing, it's impossible for there to be no news at all."
The village chief nodded: "Xiao Jiu, wait until the village chief comes down. You are too dangerous as a child."
Gu Jiu shook his head.
"After more than ten meters down, the soil becomes moist, and if the weight is too heavy, there is a possibility of slipping."
"Besides, it's not easy to relay. You need help when you come up. If you are the village chief and you go down, I may not have the strength to pull you up."
The village chief nodded silently: "Then be careful. If anything happens, just shout and I will pull you up immediately!"
"Um!"
When he arrived at the place, after squeezing the two bundles of rope together, Gu Jiu slowly climbed down.
The rock was too smooth to use force, so Gu Jiu's feet suddenly slipped and he fell quickly.
Seeing the rope suddenly speeding up, the village chief quickly pulled it with his hands and leaned back to control the rope.
"Xiao Jiu, what happened? Don't be afraid, the village chief will call you up immediately!"
"It's okay, I just didn't stand firm."
Gu Jiu clung to the rock in shock.
The palms were slippery and there was a lot of water seeping out of the rocks, which meant there must be abundant water nearby.
"Village Chief, it's too slippery here. I can't use your strength. Slowly lower the rope and I'll look down again."
"Okay." The village chief held the rope with one hand and wrapped several turns of the rope around his wrist with the other hand to prevent the speed from falling too fast if he failed to control it properly.
This is... underground water!
Gu Jiu couldn't help but be a little shocked when he looked at the natural grooves in front of him.
The water on the stone wall slowly flowed down, and drop by drop gathered into the ten-square-meter hole in front of you.
Gu Jiu grabbed the rock wall and stood on the edge of the hole. He picked up a little with his hand and brought it to his mouth to taste a little.
Slightly sweet, it is actually mountain spring water.
"Village Chief, you have found water, you can go up." Gu Jiu shouted to the village chief after filling a gourd of water.
"Really? Okay! Wait!"
The village chief's voice was full of uncontrollable joy. He looked at the gourd that Gu Jiu had tied around his waist, and his eyebrows were filled with anticipation.
"There is a natural pothole of ten square meters below, which is completely enough for the villagers."
The village chief took the gourd and took a bite. Hearing Gu Jiu's words, he suddenly beamed with joy. It’s really a perfect road!
"Is it really ten square meters?"
"Yes, it's just that it's more troublesome to mine. We have to find a way to transport the water up."
The village chief said excitedly: "How about digging a ditch? This is how water has been diverted for many years."
"There are rocks underneath, so it's hard to dig."
"Then we'll fight again and again. The villagers have nothing to do now. Just fight every day as before."
Gu Jiu didn't speak, but looked in the direction of Taohua Village.
"Taohua Village is so close to us. Our Gujia Village is completely cut off from water supply. It is only a matter of time before Taohua Village is cut off from water supply. Village Chief, I'm worried that they will come to snatch our water source after they cut off water supply."
This back mountain is located between Taohua Village, Zhaojia Village and Gujia Village. Although it is closer to Gujia Village, there has never been a rule that only people from Gujia Village are allowed to come to this mountain.
"Well, Xiao Jiu, we'll tell the folks about finding the water source tomorrow afternoon. Let's both think about what to do when we go back today."
"There are many people in the village who are closely related to Taohua Village and Zhaojia Village. If someone lets the news slip and let others take over this place, it will be troublesome."
Gu Jiu nodded: "I brought back some sweet potatoes. I'll share half of them with each family later to give everyone a break."
"Okay, okay. Xiaojiu, can you tell me in detail what is going on down there?"
…
After going down the mountain, Gu Jiu saw the shadow of the carriage in the distance.
"There are actually people in our Gujia Village who can afford a carriage." Gu Jiu exclaimed deliberately as he looked at the passers-by.
"You don't know? That belongs to your cousin's husband. He is a real scholar, and he always rides in a carriage when he goes out."
"Sir, has he come to the village?"
"No." The man shook his head: "Your uncle borrowed it. They are going to the city tonight."
Are you in such a hurry? Gu Jiu vaguely felt something was wrong, but he couldn't tell what was going on.
"Village Chief, have you thought of a solution? Now I can only chew the leaves and drink some water. It has just begun spring and there are not many leaves. Look, the leaves that have just grown are still yellow!"
The man took out a handful of yellow and green leaves from his arms and complained.
The village chief nodded, and before the man was happy, he said first: "I have an idea, but I don't know if it will work yet. Just wait, the results will be available at this time tomorrow. Go home first, Xiao Jiu will bring him from the city I returned some sweet potatoes and will share half with the next family."
"Hey, that's okay, then I'll go back right now!"
When Gu Jiu and the village chief went to the mountain, Aunt Xia helped Gu Jiu pack the bedding.
"Xiao Jiu, you sleep with your aunt today, and let your uncle Zheng sleep with your brother Cheng. You see, my aunt is afraid that you will not sleep well, so she specially made an extra quilt for you!"
"Thank you, aunt."
"Thank you. Now that you have rested, you will have the strength to continue looking for water tomorrow, right? By the way, have you discovered anything today?"
Gu Jiu nodded, opened his bag, took out two sweet potatoes and handed them to Aunt Xia.
“I have an idea, but I don’t know if it’s feasible yet. I’ll have to check it out tomorrow.”
"It's definitely no problem. Your Aunt Xia is a good judge of people. Ever since the incident with Tudou last time, Auntie has known that you are definitely much smarter than your cousin who is studying."
"Gu Zheqi is like that and still wants to be a scholar? Bah, a toad wants to eat swan meat, what a dream!"
Aunt Xia took the sweet potato and continued to be indignant. She just couldn't bear to see the old man Gu and his family. Her man had given so much without any consideration of remuneration, and they just wanted to get something for nothing? What a beautiful thought!
"Okay, Xiaojiu is still so young, why are you talking to her?" The village chief said and waved to Gu Jiu: "Xiaojiu, let's go and deliver things to everyone first. Everyone has been thirsty for such a long time. broken."
Aunt Xia was stunned. She looked at the more than twenty sweet potatoes in the bag and subconsciously reached out and grabbed the bag: "Who are you sending it to?"
"Give it to the villagers, half a family."
Hearing this, Aunt Xia was a little reluctant to part with it, but after all, it was not hers, and she had no right to interfere if others wanted to divide it.
"Then you come back quickly."
"good."
Gu Jiu thought for a while, counted them roughly, and before leaving the house, he took out five more sweet potatoes and handed them to Aunt Xia.
"Auntie, I'll leave dinner to you."
"Ouch." Aunt Xia assured her while looking at Hongshu and patting her chest.
"Don't worry, Auntie will definitely make you full!"
Although one person can get eighteen or nineteen sweet potatoes, the villagers have been thirsty and hungry for a long time. If there is a mad rush, one person may not be able to control it.
"Just give me half!"
Lao Shatou looked at the sweet potatoes in his hand, then squinted at the ones in the bag, and said with some disgust: "Aren't there still so many? You have to give me a whole one anyway!"
The village chief pulled Gu Jiu back, took a step forward, and scolded: "It's not like you don't know what's going on right now. This kid bought this with his own money! Take it if you want it, or give it back if you don't want it!"
As he spoke, the village chief reached out to take the half sweet potato in Lao Shatou's hand.
Lao Shatou shouted and quickly took a step back into his yard.
"Look, look, I didn't say no..."
After Lao Shatou entered the house, Gu Jiu and the village chief continued to the next house.
"Xiao Jiu, don't you... look at your grandparents?"
Passing by Mr. Gu's door, the village chief asked hesitantly.
"No."
Gu Jiu went directly to the next house without stopping at all.
"I said when I signed the guarantee that I don't need to provide them with anything." They are unkind, so why should I value justice.
While dividing the sweet potatoes, Gu Jiu discovered that some families actually looked okay, but others were visibly reaching their limit.
"Didn't you say half a family?" An old lady holding a cane and leading three seven or eight-year-old children looked at the half-and-half sweet potatoes in front of her and asked uncertainly.
"Grandma, you are the last family, these are all for you."
After Gu Jiu finished speaking, the village chief continued: "The water source problem will be solved soon, and we will have accurate information tomorrow at the latest. It will be over soon after a while."
"Hey, okay! Tiedan, Caohua, and Daliu, thank the village chief and sister quickly." The old lady wiped away her tears and pushed the three children.
"Thank you village chief, thank you sister."
…
Dinner was very simple, two roasted sweet potatoes, three raw sweet potatoes, a large plate of unknown wild vegetables and a few roasted mushrooms.
Gu Jiu gnawed on the sweet potato and thought about how to draw the water out.
They don't need to pump out all the water, they just need to ensure that the villagers have normal water for a month or two. When the time comes that other villages want to fight over or make trouble, just let them do it.
"It would be great if our village had something that could store water. When we transport the water down, we wouldn't be afraid of other villages making small moves."
Something to store water...
The village chief stared at the sweet potatoes and thought: There are not enough pots and tiles for every household.
People in the village are used to fetching water and using it on the same day, and no one would put so many things to store water.
The village chief frowned and sighed.
"How about building one?"
