Ordinary observers in fast time travel

Chapter 1205 Carrying Water
The old well in Xinghua Village has a history of hundreds of years. Even from a distance, you can see the bluestone-paved ground and the well rim made of bluestone. A well pulley is placed above the well.

At that moment, someone was fetching water. It was a middle-aged woman with dark skin, and Shi Jia felt that she looked familiar.

The man heard someone approaching and turned around while drawing water. He was startled when he saw Shi Jia, then his expression changed. Shi Jia noticed that the man had increased the speed at which he turned the waterwheel.

Did she and Li Xiaohua have a bad relationship?

Shi Jia tried hard to think, but Li Xiaohua's memory was incomplete, and she really couldn't remember who this person was.

As she got closer to the well, the man moved faster and faster. Before the bucket was fully raised, she couldn't wait to reach out and grab it, quickly pouring the water into the bucket at her feet.

He tossed the wooden buckets of water on the ground, then quickly carried them away without glancing at Shi Jia once more.

Shi Jia didn't mind. He placed the wooden bucket next to the well, picked up the large bucket, and approached the well opening. The well opening was surrounded by bluestone and was 80 centimeters high, which was a bit tall for Shi Jia's current height. However, he didn't need to worry about accidentally running into the well.

The well opening was only seventy or eighty centimeters wide, and the water was very deep. Shi Jia couldn't see the water surface at a glance. If it weren't for the coolness emanating from the well opening, it would be easy to suspect that it was a dry well.

She carefully lowered the well pulley; having not used one in a long time, she was still a bit rusty. The first time, she only managed to fill half a bucket with water.

She carefully poured the water into the two dry wooden buckets she had brought, which seemed to have been dry for a long time. After pouring in half a bucket of water, Shi Jia felt that the buckets absorbed about one-tenth of the water.

The second time Shi Jia drew water, he was much more skilled and filled the bucket to the brim. Why did Shi Jia know the bucket was full even though he couldn't see it? The reason was that as the well was turning the windlass to raise the bucket, there was a series of gurgling sounds coming from the well.

So when the bucket was pulled up, it was only eight-tenths full.

The third time she fetched water, Shi Jia learned from her previous two experiences and didn't fill the buckets completely. When the third bucket of water was poured into the main bucket, both of her buckets were already about 60% full. She only needed to fill one more bucket to about 80% full.

"Oh, Xiaohua's here to fetch water? I haven't seen you all day, have you gone into the mountains again?" The person who came was a middle-aged woman, with dark skin. She wore a blue headscarf, had high cheekbones, and slightly crooked teeth.

This time, Shi Jia recognized the person at a glance: "Auntie Kapok."

Aunt Kapok was considered one of the nicer people to Li Xiaohua in Xinghua Village. After her parents passed away, Aunt Kapok even gave her a bowl of cornmeal.

"Hey, did you encounter any danger on the way up the mountain?"

"No." Not only did they encounter danger, they lost their lives.

"That's good," Aunt Kapok said. "I saw your aunt come to fetch water just now, did you see her?"

Auntie-in-law? Shi Jia instantly recalled the information about the middle-aged woman from earlier: He Chunhua, Li Xiaohua's auntie-in-law.

"I saw it." She nodded.

"Sigh, your two uncles are really something, how can they bear to leave their niece all alone out there... They should at least give her something to eat and support her, sigh~" Aunt Kapok muttered softly.

Shi Jia didn't hear clearly, but from Aunt Mu Mian's words, Shi Jia understood one thing: Li Xiaohua still had relatives, instead of only remembering herself.

But it was clear that these relatives hadn't treated her well, so they weren't part of Li Xiaohua's fragmented memories. Shi Jia didn't reply, placing the bucket on the well's edge. "Aunt Mian, I'm going back."

After she finished speaking, she picked up the carrying pole and lifted a bucket of water onto one end. Once the bucket was full of water, it became difficult to walk.

Relying on his memory, Shi Jia put the carrying pole on his shoulder, spread his legs to steady himself, took a deep breath, and stood up with a burst of strength.

"Hey, watch out!" Aunt Kapok was startled when she saw her movement.

Sure enough, because Shi Jia's movements were too large, the two buckets of water shook like angry children, each in a different direction. "Splash!" A lot of water spilled out at once.

Shi Jia was startled and immediately stopped shaking. The two buckets awkwardly ceased swaying. But the buckets, when full of water, weighed at least 50-60 jin (25-30 kg), a heavy burden for a body suffering from long-term malnutrition.

"Slow down, no rush. Do you want me to help you carry it back?" Aunt Mumian said, preparing to put down the bucket and come over to help.

"No need, thank you Aunt Mian." Shi Jia shook her head.

She took a deep breath, thinking that she would have to go up the mountain to find some meat tomorrow. She tried to take a step, but as someone who doesn't know how to carry water, the more careful and nervous she was, the more the bucket shook.

She quickly reached out to grab the thick hemp rope suspending the bucket, trying to stabilize it. Fortunately, her attempt was effective, and the bucket's swaying decreased significantly.

Gradually, Shi Jia's body adapted to the weight of the two buckets of water, and she gradually relaxed, her walking becoming more rhythmic.

The bucket swayed slowly with her steps, but not a single drop of water spilled.

Behind her, Aunt Kapok watched the little girl walk away unsteadily, nodding with satisfaction. The little girl was finally growing up.

By the time I got home, the sun had already set behind the mountains. People who had been busy in the fields were gradually making their way home, and the yard became lively. A few barks of dogs could be heard interspersed among the wisps of smoke rising from the chimneys, creating a harmonious pastoral scene.

The village, which had been silent all day, seemed to come alive at this moment.

Shi Jia poured a bucket of water directly into the pot, and a roaring fire ignited in the stove, gradually warming the water in the pot. He then used a ladle to scoop the water back into the bucket. At first, it was easy to fill the ladle, but as the water in the bucket increased and the water in the pot decreased, the ladle gradually became empty. In the end, the little bit of water at the bottom of the pot could not be scooped out no matter what he did.

There was no bathroom at home, so she took a shower in the kitchen. Standing in the small wooden tub, she carefully wet a towel whose original color was indistinguishable, and then carefully wiped her body. She then carefully wet her hair and vigorously rubbed it with soap.

Shi Jia had never taken such a stifling bath. She immediately decided that, in addition to hunting for meat, she would build a bathroom next to the kitchen before autumn.

There were no candles or kerosene in the house, so she ate a handful of wild cherries and went to sleep.

The next morning, Shi Jia woke up just as dawn was breaking. She dressed, stuffed a bag of wild cherries into her pocket, grabbed her machete, and headed up the mountain.

This time, she went directly into the mountains from behind the house. Because the mountains behind the house were close to the village, they hadn't been converted into a ball yet and were already a desolate wasteland. Along the way, she only saw some small, broken branches; the more intact, withered branches had already been collected by people to use as firewood.

When she stood on the mountaintop, she looked around and found that many of the nearby peaks were bare, with only the distant mountains retaining their greenery.