"Mother, I found a strange thing, digging a pond ......," Zhao Lan said excitedly to Zhao Shen.

"Sister, why did you become a clay man."

"Clay man, clay man!"

Before Zhao Lan finished speaking, she was interrupted by Zhao Ju. Zhao Ju, who came out of the house, saw Zhao Lan covered in mud and shouted. Zhao Qiu, who was trotting behind Zhao Ju, parroted her to speak.

Seeing Zhao Lan's dirty appearance, Zhao Shen didn't listen to what Zhao Lan wanted to say at all, and urged Zhao Lan: "Go take a shower and change your clothes, what else is more strange than you like this!" ”

"Mother!" Before the words could be spoken, Zhao Lan was very anxious and stopped Zhao Shen to speak.

Zhao Shen waved at her and said disgustedly, "I'll talk about it after taking a bath." Look how dirty you are! Also, don't walk around and make your house dirty. ”

If you don't say it, you'll really suffocate people, you know?

Zhao Lan watched Zhao Shen finish talking to himself and turned around, not caring about Zhao Lan's eagerness to speak at all.

It's really depressing. I finally found out such a strange thing, and no one wanted to hear it. Zhao Lan thought uncomfortably.

There was no listener, so Zhao Lan had to take a shower in frustration.

After taking a bath, Zhao Shen shouted to eat breakfast again.

"How did you do that?" Zhao Shen sat down on the table and picked up the bowl before remembering to ask Zhao Lan.

Zhao Lan swallowed the food in her mouth, and she no longer had the desire to speak urgently when she first came back, and when she saw Zhao Shen asking, she said perfunctorily: "I got it in the field." ”

Zhao Shen was unhappy when he heard this, and asked: "There is no water in the field, what can you do?" ”

Zhao Lan stopped eating, looked up at Zhao Shen, thought about the puddle, and said, "Mother, I found that there is a place in the field where water comes out. ”

Zhao Shen lowered his head and took a pair of chopsticks and capers. It's really sour, Zhao Shen, who has eaten it a few times, still thinks so.

Zhao Shen thought about the capers in his heart, and asked unconsciously on his lips: "What kind of water comes out?" Why don't you understand. ”

"That's it," Zhao Lan didn't care about Zhao Shen's expression, just thinking about what had just happened in the field, thinking and thinking in her heart, she didn't know how to express it, so she had to explain slowly while thinking, "It's water coming up from the ground." It's like a well. ”

"You said there was a well dug in the wasteland?"

Zhao Shen was so surprised that he forgot to put the capers on the chopsticks in his mouth.

Zhao Lan didn't notice Zhao Shen's surprised expression, she lowered her head and thought about it, "Well, it's a well." ”

"Really?"

Hearing Zhao Shen's suspicious question, Zhao Lan frowned and said, "There is water, can I fake?" Otherwise, where else would I get the mud on me? ”

Zhao Shen threw down his chopsticks, put down his rice bowl, and said to Zhao Lan: "Let's go and have a look." ”

"Mother, I haven't eaten this meal yet!"

Zhao Lan raised her head and said to Zhao Shen in surprise.

"I'll come back later."

Zhao Shen and Zhao Lan walked towards the pond one after the other. Zhao Shen was in front, walking quickly and fast, if it weren't for Zhao Lan exercising every day, she really couldn't keep up with her pace.

Soon, Zhao Shen stopped.

There was a pit and a half in front of it, and there was water in the pit, and the water was so turbid that the depth of the pit could not be seen.

Zhao Shen found a long branch from the field and tried to insert it into the water. The branches were slowly inserted to the end, and then taken out, and the branches that were about half a person tall were wet.

How tall is this puddle?

After Zhao Shen looked at the branches, he turned around and asked Zhao Lan, "Isn't it the water you poured in?" ”

Zhao Lan heard Zhao Shen's suspicion, although she was unhappy, she still shook her head and replied, "No." ”

"Go home and get a barrel and see if you can scoop it dry."

"Okay."

Zhao Lan trotted all the way back, took two wooden barrels to carry water, and trotted all the way back.

The mother and daughter scooped up the water, and the other poured the scooped water into the ditch.

According to Zhao Lan's calculation of the current time, Zhao Shen's scooped up the water for less than half an hour, and the water was a little bottomed out. However, the last bit of water is always scooped up, and there is and there is scooping, and it goes back and forth, and the water is always there after a while, and it is always unclear. Zhao Shen, who was standing below, looked at the bottom of the pit and could clearly see that there was a place in the middle that kept bubbling out, or seeping out.

Zhao Shen stood there with an uncertain expression and did not speak.

The water reached the soles of Zhao Shen's feet after a while.

"Go home and bring the shovel." Zhao Shen instructed Zhao Lan.

Zhao Lan trotted all the way back to get a shovel.

Zhao Lan stood there panting, she was really tired.

In the morning, after digging a pit for a long time, and going back to take a bath, before the meal was finished, he ran again and again to the field, and when he arrived, he ran back to the wooden barrel, and brought and scooped up the water, and when he had finished scooping, he ran back to the shovel.

These little legs, these little arms are really tired.

Zhao Shen took the shovel that Zhao Lan brought, and continued to dig down against the small puddle of water. After digging for a long time, the amount of water produced is not much larger.

Zhao Shen stopped in disappointment.

At this time, Zhao Shen's family was also like Zhao Lan who returned from the field in the morning, covered in mud, unable to see the color of the fabric of his clothes, and even splashed mud spots on his face.

Zhao Shen stood at the bottom with a shovel on his body, and said, "The water outlet is estimated to be still below, I'll stop for a while, and then think about it, and see what to do later." ”

Zhao Shen climbed up from below, went back, took a bath, sat down, and called Zhao Lan to come over and sit down to discuss this matter.

"It's not easy to dig any further down. Lan'er, what do you think? Zhao Shen waited for Zhao Lan to speak as soon as he sat down.

"I think so, even if it's easy to dig, if you dig down, I don't know where the outlet is? How deep do you have to dig? I thought, since we can get water, we can use it. Why do we have to find the water outlet? Zhao Lan analyzed Zhao Shen's family, "However, since the water is out, what I think is whether we should make a well, or connect it to the pond without making a well." ”

Zhao Shen sat on a stool and thought for a while before he said, "To make a well, you have to invite craftsmen to build it with bricks." The well is of little use in the fields, and everyone uses water in the river. Or it will be connected to the pond. ”

Zhao Lan proposed: "If we connect together, I'm afraid that we will raise ducks and dirty the water." I thought, originally we had to dig a pool of water, but now there is a water outlet, I don't think there is a need to dig another one, we will widen the surrounding along the water outlet, and the pool should not be dug deep, anyway, there is no water here. ”

Zhao Lan thought for a while and said, "In this way, in a dry year, maybe we can have more water to save the emergency."

Dry year!

Zhao Shen couldn't help but think of that year, there was no rain for several months. There is almost no harvest in the fields. If you don't have some savings in your hand, and you only have one child, Zhao Chun, it is estimated that you will be like other people, selling children and daughters. Chun'er didn't eat well when he was a child, so his body was thin, he couldn't pick his shoulders, and he couldn't lift his hands, so he had to go to school. Otherwise, if Zhao Chun is physically strong, he can learn to be a blacksmith from his father. His father's craft also has a heritage, and he can also have a craft and a bowl of rice to eat......

"Mother!"

"Mother!"

Zhao Lan looked at Zhao Shen's expression and felt very sad, and hurriedly shouted.

"Mother, what's wrong?"

Zhao Shen came back to his senses in Zhao Lan's repeated calls, and said to Zhao Lan in a firm tone: "Just dig a reservoir, so that you can drink more water in a dry year." ”

Zhao Shen stared out of the door and said to Zhao Lan faintly: "That year! Your brother is only 2 years old, and you haven't been born yet. There was no snow that winter, and only two or three light rains fell in the spring, so it was so small that the ground didn't even get wet. The summer was hot, not a drop of rain fell, and the ground was so dry that it cracked finger-thick cracks. That year, there was almost no harvest in the fields, and there was not enough water to drink. The water in the river to the east is running out of water, and there is really only some water in the low-lying areas. The lieutenant also took everyone to dig a well at that time, but after searching the whole village, they couldn't find any water, so they had to give up. Fortunately, the river to the east of us is the deepest, and in the end, the water has not dried up. Originally, there was a fight to carry water to irrigate the fields, but later, there was not even much water to eat. Fights are even more common, and people from this village fight with people from that village, and people from the same village fight with people from the same village, and people are killed. Our village is better, but in other villages, they really don't even have water to drink, and many people have died......"

"And then?"

Zhao Lan saw a scene of floating corpses in front of her, and couldn't help but ask in a creepy way.

"Our village is called Zhao Li Village, and half of them were originally surnamed Zhao and half were surnamed Li, and there were very few foreign surnames. Because of that drought, many people died, and many people with foreign surnames from other places left their hometowns and settled here. In the current Zhao Li Village, there are less than 20 households surnamed Zhao, and there are slightly more people surnamed Li. Most of the other surnames have come and settled down at that time. ”

"A lot of people died that year, old people and children ,......," Zhao Shen choked up, tears hanging on his eyelashes.

"Mother, it's all over, and it will be better in the future."

Zhao Shen lowered his head and wiped it, pretending to be happy and said, "Yes, we Lan'er can make money, and it will definitely get better and better." ”

Zhao Shen finally came out of the sad memories and happily joked with Zhao Lan.

The economy determines life, and food determines destiny.

Zhao Lan suddenly wanted to change her life. It's not the life of one person, it's the life of everyone.

"Mother, the pool, let's discuss it again," Zhao Lan said to Zhao Shen, who had calmed down, "I think, let's ask Uncle Shi to help, the south side has been dug for so long, let's dig it further north, dig half the length of the south side, and I think it's almost big enough if the width is not widened." If it's too small in the future, it's not too late for us to expand, what do you think? ”

"Lan'er has a point."

Zhao Shen looked at Zhao Lan with mixed feelings, Lan'er was really big, and her idea was right.

"Also, don't spread the word about the water coming out of our wasteland, otherwise, some people don't know what to say, and if something happens, it won't be beautiful. Isn't it? ”

Zhao Shen was very touched by what Zhao Lan said just now, and she completely agreed with Zhao Lan's point of view: "Yes! Some people are jealous of others and can't see you as better than her. Human nature is the hardest to guess, maybe it won't be able to dig a pool by then, and the worst may be filled. ”

"Uncle Shi, I don't talk much, let's tell me again, Uncle Shi will definitely not spread it. We were still looking for him alone, and we had been digging the pond in front of us for four days, and we would have been able to dig for another three or four days. Mother, what do you think? ”

"Lan'er is older, and she is thinking more and more thoughtfully, my mother thinks that what you say is right, and she thinks more carefully than her mother, so she will do what you say."

Looking at Zhao Shen's praising expression and listening to Zhao Shen's words of praise, Zhao Lan laughed happily in her heart.

Zhao Lan went to invite Siqi's father in the afternoon.

Siqi's father agreed very happily. Didn't ask much.

When he arrived in the field, the stone was surprised to see the puddle of water.

Siqi's father asked, "How can there be water?" ”

Zhao Lan didn't hide it, and said directly: "Just that wetland, after you left, I dug down half a person high, and there was water below." My mother and I discussed digging a bigger pond, and it would be much easier to water it when the time came. ”

The stone stared at it for a long time and asked, "How big do you want to dig?" ”

"From here to the north, dig about thirty paces, not too deep, but still deeper than the pond on the south side, and the width is slightly widened on both sides."

"Okay."

Siqi's father dug north, and Zhao Lan dug a ditch in the south by the water outlet not far from the dam, where ducks should be raised, and they could not be mixed with the water from the pool, so as not to be too dirty to import. If there is no water in the pond, you can make a hole in the dam, flow in water to replenish it, and then fill it with soil. This does not pollute the water in the pool, which is equivalent to well water, which can be boiled and drunk.