Reborn in the 1980s: I made my fortune hunting wild game in Changbai Mountain

In the courtyard of Yue Feng's new house.

The drill rods, water pump platform, frame, and other components used for drilling small wells were all carefully unloaded from the delivery truck.

In his previous life, Yue Feng had learned how to drill small wells. Although he hadn't done it for a long time and his technique had become a bit rusty, he still understood the process of drilling a well.

To put it simply, the principle behind this is very simple, similar to using a Luoyang shovel with a pole attached to drill a hole and extract soil from the ground, as seen in movies.

The opening of a small-hole well is very small, with a diameter of less than ten centimeters, so the amount of soil removal work is not much compared to digging a large-hole well.

Under Yue Feng's command, a suitable location for the wellhead of the water pump was first selected, then the frame was placed in place, and the first section of the drill rod was installed.

The custom-made drill pipe tip is quite sharp, made of specially hardened tool steel. It is sharp on the outside and hollow on the inside.

Yue Feng held the pole by the waist and the end, and repeatedly struck the selected ground.

The hard soil on the ground was broken open, and then little by little a downward hole was formed.

With each strike, the hollowed-out soil inside the iron rod is lifted out, making the hole deeper and deeper.

After most of the pole had sunk into the ground, Yue Feng would attach a new pole and repeat the process.

The well opening was small, so the amount of work was naturally small. Before long, as more and more soil was taken out, the two poles were lowered into the ground.

Yue Feng lifted the pole and glanced at the soil adhering to the inner wall at the bottom.

The soil wasn't very moist, and there was still some distance between it and the water veins below.

continue!

Once the third section of the pole is added, it becomes less efficient to pull the pole out and knock out the soil from the inner wall.

At this moment, Yue Feng called out.

"Xiao Tao, bring me the wellhead from the hand pump, and the hard plastic pipe too!"

"Oh!" Xiao Tao immediately responded and, together with Xiao Wu, moved the wellhead frame to the side.

Yue Feng secured the pipe below the wellhead to the rigid plastic pipe with three layers of wire, and then inserted the other end of the pipe into a hole more than two meters deep.

When we first drilled the hole, the diameter was much thicker than the drill rod. Now that we've installed the plastic rigid pipe, the drill rod still has room to move around.

"Brother, it's all done. What's next?" Xiao Tao asked again.

Yue Feng instructed, "Go back to your hometown and get several carrying poles and buckets. Go to the big well outside and fetch plenty of water! We'll need it for digging the well later!"

"Use water from outside to dig a well? Didn't you say a ladle of water would be enough?"

After hearing Yue Feng's arrangements, Xiao Tao scratched his head in confusion, wondering what his boss was up to.

"Just go when I tell you to! What are you dawdling for? You'll see soon enough!"

"Oh, I'm going to fetch water! Come on, Xiaowu, come with me!"

"Um……"

……

Soon, Xiao Tao and Xiao Wu returned, each carrying two buckets of water.

Yue Feng pointed to the newly drilled well opening: "Pour it in, two buckets first!"

Xiao Tao did as instructed, and soon the murky muddy water rippled up.

Yue Feng assembled the key components of the hand pump well head, especially inspecting the rubber raft inside the well head cavity.
The core component of the raft, which is sealed to prevent water from entering, is crucial and cannot be leaking air; otherwise, the water will immediately leak out.

After assembling the equipment, Yue Feng scooped up another ladle of water and poured it into the head of the hand pump well.

Fortunately, the size was right, and it fit perfectly after getting wet.

Yue Feng held the well-pressurizing rod and pressed it up and down several times. Soon, the muddy water that had just been poured in was pushed up by atmospheric pressure.

Gulu gulu!

The muddy water, along with the soup, was pumped up and flowed out from the pump head.

Yue Feng casually used an empty bucket to catch the water he was carrying up, and gestured for Xiao Tao to come over and take over his position pumping the water.

Xiao Tao had never seen this kind of hand-operated well device before, so he easily started working on it as if it were a toy.

The water poured into the well would be contaminated with a large amount of loose mud and sand from the inner wall. Before the mud and sand could settle, they would be pumped up by hand.

The water that is pumped up is placed in a bucket to clarify a little before the clear water on top is poured back into the well.

After this process, water becomes the medium for transporting silt from the bottom of the well. All that's needed is to empty the silt accumulated at the bottom of the bucket every now and then.

After a while, the water became clear, which meant that there was less loose mud and sand inside the well below.

Yue Feng then pushed the drill rod down again, and the drill was repeatedly pulled and rammed by manpower to break it up.

Then continue filling the tank with water, pressurizing it, and pouring out the mud and sand.

By repeating this process repeatedly, the silt in the well is pumped up, and the actual depth becomes deeper and deeper.

After working repeatedly for more than three hours, Xiao Tao was a little tired from pressing the water pump.

"Brother, when will the well be finished? We've already attached the sixth pole!" Xiao Tao asked.

Yue Feng remained confident. Xing'an Village had no shortage of groundwater; according to his memories from his previous life, water could be found at a depth of six or seven meters.

It's almost there.

Yue Feng comforted him, "Don't panic, it should be soon. Just hang in there! If you get tired, let Xiao Wu take over for you!"

"It's alright, I can press it down a little longer! It's just that I can't see when I'll get water, so I'm not sure!" As Xiao Tao spoke, he jumped up on his tiptoes and used his weight to press down again, causing a stream of muddy water to rise from the wellhead.

Yue Feng drilled down a few more times and suddenly felt that the resistance below had decreased significantly.

After pumping out another bucket of water, the amount of mud decreased significantly, and fine sandy soil began to appear.

Seeing the sand, Yue Feng knew that they had basically reached the sand layer.

Groundwater also follows certain patterns. Generally, water veins are located on sandy soil layers. If you see sand, you will soon see water. However, the strength of the water vein varies and depends on luck.

For small wells, the difference is actually not significant. The water control in sandy soil is more than enough for daily life. It's not like we're connecting an electric water pump to irrigate the land, so there's no fear of the well running dry.

From the moment he saw the sand, Yue Feng stopped pouring water into the well, leaving Xiao Tao to continue manually pumping water up the well.

The more pressure was applied, the clearer the well water became. Even when the buckets were full, there was still no sign of the water being drained.

Yue Feng carried the water he had pumped up to the door and poured it directly onto the street outside the courtyard.

They kept pressing and pumping, and after pressing twenty buckets of water, the water that came up no longer contained any mud or sand.

Even a regular water tank at home couldn't hold twenty buckets of well water, which meant that the first small-hole manual well in Xing'an Village had been successfully tested.

Yue Feng scooped up a ladle of water and gulped down two large mouthfuls. The well water was sweet, clear, and of excellent quality, almost as good as the mountain spring water.

"Hehe, Xiao Tao, stop pressing, it's done!" Yue Feng muttered.

"Is this it?"

"It's been so long since we poured water in here, and now the water can't be squeezed dry anymore. Doesn't that mean we've hit a water vein down there?" Yue Feng explained with a smile.

"Hmm, that makes sense. I was wondering what was wrong with the water quality!" Xiao Tao breathed a sigh of relief and put down the pump rod to ask.

Yue Feng handed the water ladle to Xiao Tao, who gulped down several large mouthfuls.

Xiao Tao's eyes lit up after drinking it. "This well water is so sweet! It tastes even better than the water from the big well behind the village!"

"Let me try it!" Xiaowu immediately stepped forward and took the water ladle.

"Hehe, it really tastes much better, so sweet!" Xiaowu couldn't help but give a thumbs up after finishing his drink.

Yue Feng grinned: "How about it? I said it could work, so it definitely could! It didn't take much effort at all, and the well was dug!"

"What do we do next? We can't just leave it like this, can we?" Xiao Tao asked again.

Yue Feng glanced at the rigid pipe that stretched at least two meters below the wellhead and said, "Since the pipe is already connected, we won't untie it and re-cut it! Let's add another rod and drive it deeper so the water level can be higher!"

"it is good!"

After making up their minds, the brothers got back to work.

The drill rod was added and the drilling continued, while the water pressure was also increased.

The clear water started to turn murky again; there wasn't much mud, mostly just sand.

Xiao Tao and Xiao Wu took turns pumping water, and the water they pumped out didn't get collected; it flowed directly from the yard onto the street.

More than an hour later, the extra meter-long rigid plastic pipe was also fully inserted into the well.

Yue Feng simply cleared away the clods of earth around the small well, built a circle of red bricks close to the ground to serve as the well opening, and then mixed in lime and sand to build a well platform of suitable height.

Once the wellhead of the hand pump is adjusted to the correct height and position, and the attempt to drill a well in the yard of one's new house is successfully completed.

The brothers retaliated by pumping water, causing even more clean water to flow onto the street.

It wasn't even lunchtime yet when a neighbor on the back street, out of curiosity, pushed open the door and entered Yue Feng's yard.

"Secretary Yue, what are you guys busy with?"

Yue Feng grinned: "Hehe, at the last meeting, we talked about encouraging everyone to dig small wells in their yards! All the materials for digging the wells are ready. We tried it out in my new house yard first, and it was a success!"
Uncle Li, why don't you come and give it a try!

Old Li looked the strange-looking well pump head up and down: "This thing can produce water?"

"Yes! There are pipes buried down there! A ladle of water can be used as a guide to bring up the water from the well down there!"

"I'll give it a try!"

Old Li, who was almost fifty, came to Yue Feng and, following his instructions, gripped the hand pump rod and pumped it down several times, causing clear water to gush out of the nozzle.

"Hey, water's coming out! This thing is great! With it, we won't have to risk going to the big well to fetch water in winter! We're always worried about the freezing temperatures!"

You asked me last time how much it cost to dig a well, what was it? Drill one for my family too!

"The price for well drilling hasn't been set yet. Last time we talked about the wellhead and water pipes, which cost around 20 yuan per kilogram. If we buy in bulk, we should be able to control the price down to 17 yuan per kilogram. If we include the labor cost for drilling, it should be around 25 yuan per kilogram!"

"Okay, 25 it is. It can be used in winter, right?"

"It works, you only need a ladle of water to draw it in. The rubber inside needs to be replaced regularly, about once every few years!"

"Alright, I'll go home and get the money right away! Make a note of my name first, I'll be the first to support your policy!"

"Great! The experiment has been a success. I'm going to the village office to announce it over the loudspeaker. Any villagers who are interested can come and see for themselves!"

Yue Feng greeted them and then strolled over to his father-in-law's house.

They easily found their way to the village office's loudspeaker.

"Hey! Attention all villagers! Attention all villagers! The issue of drilling small-hole wells, which was mentioned at the last village meeting, was successfully tested at my new house this morning!"

Villagers who are interested are welcome to come to my house for a site visit. If you are satisfied, you can make an appointment in advance! We will organize well drilling and well head installation for everyone based on the order of payment and registration!

Around noon, when everyone was having lunch at home, the villagers immediately stopped eating and rushed to the village secretary's house to see what was going on after hearing the village loudspeaker.

The fact that water can be pumped up by hand, eliminating the need to fetch water from a traditional well, is quite a novelty for the villagers in the mountain village. Whether or not they plan to dig a well and install a wellhead, it's worth coming to see for yourself.

Before long, villagers came to watch the excitement in the courtyard of Yuefeng's new house.

Everyone found this new invention very strange. People would hold the pump rod and press it up and down a few times, and sweet water comparable to mountain spring water would flow out of the spout. It was amazing!

For a time, regardless of age or gender, everyone held onto the well pump and pumped it a few times to get a feel for it.

The water pressure was too high and there was nowhere to hold it, so it flowed down the drain in the yard all the way to the street, and it seemed to be flowing more and more.

"Tsk tsk, if we can get water at home like this, we won't have to queue up to fetch water from the big well! And this well water is cleaner and tastes better than the water from the big well!"
"Secretary Yue, how much was it again? Give me a pipe!"

"My family also needs a pump! Where do we pay?"

"I've signed up for the well-drilling team. When can I start learning how to drill a well? My family wants to drill one too!"

After seeing the actual hand pump well and its effectiveness, the villagers, who were initially undecided, eagerly signed up, fearing they would fall behind and miss out on a spot.

Yue Feng cleared his throat: "Everyone, don't panic. After you've seen the hand pump well, if you're interested, go to the village office to register later. After I've tallied up all the quantities, we'll order the materials together!"

The fee is charged in advance: approximately 17 yuan for materials and 8 yuan for labor to drill the well, totaling 25 yuan! This is a preliminary estimate; the final price will be based on the actual quantity, with refunds or additional charges as needed.

"Didn't you say it would be 20 last time? How come it's gone up by five yuan and now it's 25?"

At this moment, Zhang Junhong's father, Old Zhang, raised a question with some dissatisfaction.

Zhang Junhong, who is currently the village chief, has clearly felt the sense of crisis brought about by Yue Feng's series of actions after the beginning of spring.

Take the village's mountain produce purchasing and sales point, for example. It has truly benefited the villagers. The fact that most villagers actively participated in the last meeting organized by Yuefeng is the best proof of that.

Old Zhang naturally sided with his son. Now that he felt he had caught Yue Feng red-handed, he immediately questioned him in public.

Yue Feng glanced at Old Zhang's position, then grinned and explained, "Grandpa Zhang, don't get excited. The price mentioned in the meeting is the cost of making the wellhead and adding the rigid plastic pipe."

I previously said 20, but in the quote just now, the estimated price was 17, which is three yuan cheaper than before.

The extra money is for the labor costs of drilling the well!

A well like this would take at least four men a whole morning to work on! If they run dry and no water comes out, they'd have to start all over again!

Bringing tools and personnel, and risking rework, eight yuan is a reasonable wage for a well, isn't it? (End of Chapter)