It's really hard to just farm peacefully.

Chapter 253

Early the next morning, Jiang Lu brought another pair of children to Dongshan Village, and the three of them were carrying large and small bags.

Jiang Yan was confused for a moment and then realized that they were preparing to move into Dongshan Village.

After watching Zhou Xun and Zhou Huan go to Grandpa Jiang Shun's house, Jiang Yan asked Jiang Lu, "Can't Grandpa Zhou come over?"

Jiang Lu waved her hand: "The three of us are here to lighten the burden on our family."

The Zhou family had just harvested the winter wheat in the fields. Although the output was nearly a quarter less than in previous years, combined with the leftovers from last year, they would not be short of food in the short term.

However, the three Zhou brothers have all married and have grandchildren, so there are quite a few people in the family now. The amount of water they get from outside every day is limited, and it is not enough to drink even if they distribute it all.

So, when Jiang Lu's in-laws heard her whisper last night about finding a small water source in the mountains, they quickly decided to let Jiang Lu and her child return to her parents' home. Not only would this save three servings of water, allowing the others to drink more, but it would also save Jiang Lu the arduous and unsafe trek back and forth every day to fetch water.

If outsiders asked where they were going, the unanimous answer was that they were worried about Jiang Yan, a girl, staying alone in the village at this time, so they went to lend a hand.

Anyone with an eye could guess that there was water available in Dongshan Village, but since only three people had gone there, no one would have thought that the water source they had found was of sufficient quantity and would have gone to great lengths to steal it.

Jiang Lu's two sisters-in-law were tempted to come, but they didn't know how much water they could find, and they were not at the end of their rope yet, so they couldn't bring themselves to move into their sister-in-law's parents' home for the time being, and their parents-in-law wouldn't allow it either.

But using Jiang Yan as a pretext is not a good idea. Jiang Lu looked at Jiang Yan gently and said, "When you come back from fetching water, remember to call us when you go out to the fields."

……

The four of them went into the reed marsh and quickly found the place where they had dug the hole yesterday.

Aunt Yu lifted the reed mat covering the pit and looked down. The pit was filled with water about the length of a palm and half a foot high.

The diameter of the pit is about the same as the small bamboo strips used to dry vegetables at home. Even if all the water is taken out without leaving a drop, it will only be enough to fill a small wooden barrel.

Jiang Yan estimated that it was about twelve or thirteen liters.

Fortunately, they dug five pits. Although the amount of water in the pits varied, even if only most of it could be taken out, it would be enough for one person to drink for four or five days.

Jiang Yan threw a medium-sized bamboo tube with a hemp rope strung on it downwards, shook the hemp rope slightly, pulled the bamboo tube to adjust the water-diverting posture, and soon the water flowed along the inner wall of the bamboo tube.

After a dozen or so attempts, the covered wooden bucket Jiang Yan had brought up the mountain was full. She thought for a moment, then tossed another bamboo tube down, scooping up half a tube of water and holding it in her hand. The water in the pit had dwindled by about two-thirds.

Aunt Jiang Lu and the others also had their own ways of getting water. Jiang Yan and others looked at the different types of water-getting tools in their hands and couldn't help but sigh at their thoughtful consideration.

For example, she only brought one type of water. If there is not much water in the pit and the water level is not high, how to get water will be a big problem.

Everyone was satisfied when they left.

Jiang Yan even had an irresponsible fantasy that it would be great if the water supply in the future could be as stable as it is today. That way, if she couldn't finish drinking all the water in her quota, she could give some to Aunt Jiang Lu. In this way, there would be a give and take, and she would feel at ease accepting their help.

Jiang Yan has a lot of work that he doesn't know how to do, so he waits for others to help or give him some advice.

If it was other people in Dongshan Village, such as Aunt Jiang Lu's father, Old Man Jiang Shun, or her nephew Jiang Ju, Jiang Yan would have been able to visit them without any scruples or psychological burden.

But facing Aunt Jiang Lu, Jiang Yan couldn't do it for the time being. She felt that it was most likely because they had met too few times, their feelings were not deep enough, and they had not yet established a tacit understanding of bothering each other.

Now, the opportunity has come.