My 1995 Small Farm.

Chapter 117 Carrying Water
The foundation was dug deep and solid, and the house and yard were raised high. The foundation alone was more than a meter high. After the house was built, it would be more than twice as tall as the previous house. The materials used could have built a two-story building in the past.

But that's not an exaggeration at all.

why?
Following Wang Lixian's advice, fearing another flood, they even repaired the courtyard dam this time.

Although we still need to build more walls and install steps at the gate, at least we feel more at ease living here.

As soon as the idea was proposed, the villagers followed suit.

Anyway, this time the government is providing assistance, so what if we use more materials? We don't have to pay out of our own pockets. It just takes a lot of effort, but are farmers afraid of putting in more effort?
They were all working with great enthusiasm.

"Brother Fugui, I've heard you're going to build a new house, but there's still no sign of it."

That morning, Chen Ling and Wang Susu were having breakfast at home when several men from the city's construction team each carried two buckets into the yard.

Upon hearing this, Chen Ling simply said that there was no rush and that they should finish helping Wang Jusheng first.

He then got up and helped tidy up the things next to the hand pump so they could draw water.

After the flood, it wasn't just the houses that collapsed in the village.

Many people's wells were also affected.

The once clear and sweet well water has become murky and muddy, and some has even turned into yellow muddy water. Not only people, but even livestock will not drink it.

Needless to say, the water in the reservoir and the old river bend is also out of the question.

Not long after the flood receded, the water was full of all sorts of filth. Even if the people from the county and township didn't come to warn them, no one would dare to drink the water from such a place. Our ancestors had learned a lesson from this: drinking this kind of water could sometimes kill people.

Only Chen Ling's well in the whole village was unaffected.

Previously, the villagers couldn't get clean water and had to fetch it from the mountains, a journey that was exhausting. After Wang Susu loosened her grip, they started coming to Chen Ling's house more often, knowing that Chen Ling was helping Wang Jusheng. So, the mornings and evenings were the busiest times, and sometimes people would even line up at night.

The workers on these construction teams were no exception.

"Then remember to let me know when you start construction, and I'll make sure you have enough materials."

"Haha, you're right. If we're not busy, we'll come and help you out too."

"..."

The men were all smiling and very enthusiastic.

Chen Ling had seen this kind of situation many times in the past few days, so he took a few steamed buns and gave them some to eat.

"Oh dear, I can't accept this."

"When you're away from home, it's not easy to get a simple home-cooked meal, so please don't be shy, gentlemen."

"Brother, what you're doing..."

"Take it."

Chen Ling shook his head and smiled, then saw them out the door.

Before he could even sit down at the table, a number of village women and young wives came to fetch water. He had gotten used to it these days and sat down to eat, though he couldn't help but chat about everyday things.

As the sun rose, fewer and fewer people came to fetch water, so they locked the door and hurried to Wang Jusheng's house.

It took more than ten days to build the house and repair the courtyard.

Actually, when we say it's been built, only three main rooms are fully completed.

The others were just there to build a foundation for the courtyard; there was no rush to finish the construction.

Wang Jusheng's requirements were not high; he only needed two or three rooms that were habitable. He and his wife could take their time to fix the rest, or they could hire someone else later.

After all, no one is free these days, and he was too embarrassed to trouble the Chen and Ling families too much.

Once the three rooms were completed, he invited both families to a big meal to express his gratitude.

When Chen Ling was told to remember to call him whenever he was planning to build a new house, Chen Ling agreed verbally, but in reality, he wasn't as anxious about building a new house as before.

Leaving aside the Wang Lixian and Wang Jusheng families, Chen Ze, Chen Jiang, and other relatives, as well as the younger generation in the village, all said they wanted to help him build a new house. And they weren't just saying it; they actually came to his house to ask him to come along whenever he wanted to start construction.

Actually, to be honest, he didn't have a good relationship with these young people before, much like with Chen Ze; things had gotten quite tense a few years ago.

People don't even respect him.

A good-for-nothing and a lazy bum can't accomplish anything; he's hopeless and only annoys people.

It's only in the last six months that he's started to behave more like a normal person, willing to settle down and live a proper life, which has changed people's opinions of him quite a bit.

However, things have improved, but when we meet again, it's just the same old story. We exchange greetings and jokes, and that's it. It's not much different from before.

What truly eased their relationship with Chen Ling was the contamination of the well water after the flood.

Every household is running out of clean water, and these days they've been going to Chen Ling's house to fetch water quite often.

If you've accepted someone's favor, you have to acknowledge it.

After getting to know him better, I found that Chen Ling is actually a pretty good person now.

Judging from Chen Ling's recent performance, he truly deserves to be called a fine young man. Not only is he very family-oriented now, but he's also incredibly strong and works very quickly.

They did a lot of work to help the Wang Lixian and Wang Jusheng families. The three families helped each other out, and their relationship was so good that it was enviable.

You can't go wrong befriending someone like that.

So recently, a group of people in the village have been urging Chen Ling to build a new house every time they see him, saying they'll come and help him and they want to freeload off him for a few meals.

Otherwise, if you could smell the delicious aroma wafting from his house all day but couldn't taste it, it would be incredibly tempting.

Chen Ling simply said there was no rush, and that he would build it after everyone had finished their household chores; with more people, the work would be faster.

But the sheer number of people asking him questions was giving him a headache.

The guy, who used to be quiet, suddenly became very enthusiastic, and he found it hard to handle.

I talk to people every day and chat about everyday things more than I used to say in the whole year.

However, having someone help with building a house is never a bad thing, so he could only manage to cope.

You gradually get used to it and realize that it's actually not bad.

At least under the villagers' enthusiasm, he and Wang Susu unconsciously smiled more than before, and were happy, lively and cheerful every day, with a completely new look.

Much later, Chen Ling suddenly realized that he had unknowingly integrated into this era and deeply rooted himself in this small mountain village.

……

In the blink of an eye, more than half of the seventh month of the lunar calendar has passed.

In the sweltering summer heat, the weather is unbearably hot.

More than a month has passed, and the damage caused by the flood is gradually healing.

The mountains and fields are even more beautiful after the flood.

The once dry and barren mountain gullies have been soaked up like sponges, and everywhere you look, there are puddles of water of all sizes, scattered across the fields, revealing pools of clear blue water.

Not to mention that, even the old river channel has widened considerably, now about ten meters wide. It has become crystal clear, and under the scorching sun, the slowly flowing water sparkles and shines brilliantly.

While strolling around, Chen Ling tested the water and found it to be about waist-deep. After swimming a while further south at the foot of the mountain, he suddenly realized that the dried-up mountain spring on the south mountain had been revitalized and flowed into the old river bend, making it clear quickly.

The mountain spring was cool and sweet. Chen Ling swam to the water, scooped up a handful of spring water to wash his face, and roughly washed off the mud on his body. He thoroughly enjoyed the refreshing spring water before returning to the shore. He then draped his clothes over his shoulders and walked shirtless into his own field.

New crops have been planted in the fields. Corn, soybeans, peanuts, cotton, sorghum, sweet potatoes and other crops have sprouted. Each family has also reopened their vegetable gardens, creating a vast expanse of lush greenery.

The fields were lush with flowers and grass, grasshoppers and crickets hopped around, and every now and then all sorts of birds would take flight, prompting the two dogs to chase after them. Now they were agile and quick-witted, and if they were lucky, they could actually catch a few birds and bring them to Chen Ling.

However, there weren't many wild birds that could be kept alive, and Chen Ling wasn't interested in these things, so he let them eat them all.

They were only allowed to stay if they caught pheasants or rabbits.

As he walked, he looked around at the changes after the flood. When he reached his own field, Chen Ling found that it was not quite what he had expected.

Surprisingly, the saplings were not affected much and actually grew quite a bit.

In contrast, the vegetables were not so good, tangled together by dense weeds and wild vines, making a mess.

Perhaps in order to compete with the weeds for space, the loofahs and beans started to climb up the trees. Although the eggplants and tomatoes were piled up and clustered on the branches, they matured slowly without Chen Ling's watering. They were almost shaded by weeds and trees, and the tomatoes were still green. When picked, they were as hard as stones and grew crookedly, some big and some small, all looking messy.

The chives are the same; they never see the sun and their living space is squeezed out by weeds. Now they're almost turning into yellow chives.

"Sigh, I'll wait until it cools down in the evening to weed and water it."

Chen Ling sighed and continued walking deeper into the area.

The couple hadn't come since the flood; they'd been busy with other things and probably hadn't had time to come over. They didn't know what the situation was like in the fields, but it seemed like they couldn't just ignore it now.

At a time when vegetables are in short supply, these are all things that can be sold for money, so we can't let them rot in the fields.

As Chen Ling ventured deeper into the field, worried about snakes or something in the grass, he took a long stick from the cave and kept poking at the grass. Before he had gone far, the two dogs suddenly perked up their ears and barked loudly as they leaped out of the grass and ran wildly towards the other end of the field.

"Have they found something else?"

Chen Ling stood on tiptoe to look, but still couldn't see what was going on.

However, his dog gets excited whenever it sees rabbits or pheasants, so he didn't pay much attention to it.

It wasn't until he heard the strange cries that Chen Ling realized something was wrong. However, the forest was deep and the grass was dense, so he couldn't see what kind of poisonous creature was hiding there. He didn't dare to be careless and waded through the forest, so he went around to the edge of the field and quickly walked over.

As they walked over, they found that Heiwa was pinning down a strange wild beast and biting it from the bushes beside them, while Xiaojin was frantically digging at a hole in the bushes. There seemed to be something hidden inside the hole as well. The two dogs were so frightened that they howled incessantly along with the wild beast outside.

"Holy crap, what the hell is this thing?"

When Chen Ling saw the beast's appearance, he was stunned. It was about the size of a small wild boar, with a long snout and tusks, short limbs, several white vertical stripes on its head, grayish-brown fur that was coarse and stiff, and a completely white tail...

Now, with his face covered in blood and gore from Heiwa's bite, he couldn't tell who he was for the time being.

(End of this chapter)