The kang (heated brick bed) for left-behind women

"You're making fun of me," Li Ruoxue said awkwardly.

Lin Dachun moved closer to her, and the two of them sat on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed).

Lin Dachun looked at Li Ruoxue.

Her face was flushed, her head was down, she looked very shy and embarrassed.

"I like the way you are when you drink alcohol. You completely change. It's so weird," Lin Dachun joked.

"You're so annoying! I'm not talking about it anymore, I hate you so much!" Li Ruoxue's face turned bright red.

------

Springtime is slowly passing by.

Summer is coming.

The weather is getting hot.

Fortunately, the water cellar was built thanks to the joint efforts of the two people.

However, building this large water cellar cost a lot of money.

Life became even more difficult.

"Now all that's left is rain. With rain, there will be water."

Lin Dachun looked up at the sky.

The sky was clear and blue that day.

"It hasn't rained for a whole month. Looking at the sky, it's going to stay sunny." Lin Dachun became worried.

We finally dug out the water cellar, covered it with a waterproof membrane and cement, but it just wouldn't rain.

"If this continues, won't the sea buckthorn and jujube trees also wither and die?" Li Ruoxue also became worried.

"They are drought-resistant, so it shouldn't be that easy," Lin Dachun replied.

For more than half a month, not a single cloud was visible in the sky, the scorching sun baked the earth, and even the mountain wind carried a burning dryness.

The weather is getting hotter and hotter.

The water level of the stream on which Linjiatun depends for survival has dropped significantly. The small ditch where Li Ruoxue does laundry and Lin Dachun waters the sheep has completely dried up, leaving only a cracked mud bed and a few sun-dried white stones.

This poses a severe challenge to the newly formed sea buckthorn trees, which are in dire need of water, and the recently transplanted jujube trees.

Although they are known for their drought tolerance, prolonged extreme drought can still cause their leaves to wilt, affecting their growth and even jeopardizing their survival.

Lin Dachun frowned as he looked at some slightly curled leaves in the sea buckthorn bushes.

We can't wait, we must water it.

"What do we do now? All these seedlings have wilted. The ditches in our village are dry." Li Ruoxue also became worried.

Lin Dachun pondered for a moment.

"We can only fetch water from the distant river," he told Li Ruoxue.

The "big river" refers to the perennial river that is further away from the village and winds around two mountain ridges; a round trip takes half a day.

Carrying water by hand is too inefficient; you could work yourself to death and still not water many plants.

So unless there's a severe drought and there's absolutely no other way, people would go to the river to fetch water.

Lin Dachun thought of his family's old, but still quite strong, black donkey.

He could manage to pull a millstone or carry some things normally, and when he was strong, he was the family's pillar of support.

Now that he's old, Lin Dachun hasn't killed him.

He found the two largest wooden barrels and tied them securely to the sides of the wooden frame on the old donkey's back.

He also prepared two more carrying poles and buckets, so that he and Li Ruoxue could carry them together.

The battle against drought began before the first rays of sunlight appeared in the morning.

Lin Dachun led the old donkey, with Li Ruoxue following beside him, as they set off towards the river, their feet treading on the dew-covered grass path.

"Da Chun?"

Just then, a voice came from behind.

Lin Dachun and Li Ruoxue turned around and found that it was He Xiulan.

Instantly.

Li Ruoxue felt a surge of jealousy.

"Brother Dachun, I'm going to fetch water too, let's go together." He Xiulan ran over carrying two buckets.

"Okay." Lin Dachun nodded.

"Ruoxue, you're here too." He Xiulan was quite kind to Li Ruoxue.

"Yes, I was just helping out. Otherwise, it wouldn't be easy for one person to carry water," Li Ruoxue said sensibly.

"Yes, yes, yes." He Xiulan nodded.

We crossed two mountains.

We finally reached the riverbank.

This river is called the Bathing Woman River.

Legend has it that this was the river where the spider spirit bathed, and that drinking its water would make both men and women prone to longing for their beloved.

Women, in particular, have become increasingly obese and brainless.