"Listen to what he says for now, observe first," Cai Lihua said weakly.
A Jiu stroked the soft wool of the mother sheep. It leisurely lowered its head and nibbled on leaves from the ground.
Ma Peng emerged from the cave and shouted towards them, "Young and strong brothers, come help dig a water channel."
Dozens of young men instantly stood up and headed towards the cave.
"Mom, I'll go take a look." A Jiu followed Meng Shaode and a group of burly men towards Ma Peng.
Ma Peng didn't notice the small figure of A Jiu in the crowd. With a wave of his hand, he led the team around to the back of the giant round stone.
Then, one by one, they began to climb. A Jiu finally realized that the water source Ma Peng mentioned flowed from the top of the stone mountain.
The place where the water flowed was covered with moss, like a green ribbon that extended all the way to the foot of the round stone.
However, the difficulty was that the stone was round, so the water flowed straight into the ground. Unless one was thirsty and licked it, not a single drop could be collected.
"We'll dig a channel overnight... Chu Lin, hand out the tools."
A Jiu then noticed Chu Lin. He, along with two or three others, turned and went into one of the caves. Then, they came out with bundles of tools.
There were more than a dozen chisels, hammers, and some wedges.
"Jiu'er, you go by the fire. Dad will help here," Meng Shaode pulled A Jiu away from the crowd.
"Dad, there's no need for such a big fuss. A Jiu pointed in the direction illuminated by the torches: "Isn't it round? If we just carve a notch at the highest point of the arc, drive a wooden wedge on each side, and then fix bamboo there, we can divert it down."
Meng Shaode paused slightly, "Daughter, you're clever. Alright, I'll pass this suggestion to Ma Peng."
"Okay." A Jiu turned and obediently returned to the bonfire.
Cai Lihua had already started chatting with the woman holding a child. Judging by the steamed buns in her hand, they were given by her mother.
"Sister, thank you so much. We've been refugees for several years. My child's father fell ill and passed away on the way, leaving only my child and me. If it weren't for Master Ma, we would have starved to death long ago."
"We share the same fate. Who in this world has a better life than others these days?" Cai Lihua had also fled enough.
A Jiu grabbed a handful of leaves and placed them near the mother sheep's mouth. She took out two dry, crumbly steamed buns from her bag, poured some water, mashed them, and fed them to the sheep.
The woman stared, but didn't seem surprised. "Half a year ago, when we were in the mountains, we didn't lack food or water."
"Food? You still have food?" Cai Lihua learned from this younger sister that they had indeed gathered together as refugees and had only survived that difficult time by living in a bandit stronghold. But she hadn't mentioned being able to grow crops.
"Yes, at that time, the current leader wasn't the leader then. That leader specialized in robbery, while this Master Ma was responsible for managing the estate and building houses."
Cai Lihua became more and more surprised. "Oh, so one handles external affairs and the other internal. By the way, how did you manage to farm?"
If they could really reclaim land and farm, they wouldn't have to flee.
The woman told Cai Lihua everything in detail.
Cai Lihua was more and more shocked as she listened, and her gaze towards A Jiu was full of light, as if she wished she could immediately discuss farming with A Jiu.
As the aunt spoke colorfully, people by the bonfire in the distance also gathered around.
The stable life of reclaiming land and farming in previous years was described as a vivid paradise.
"Really? That's wonderful! There's hope," Cai Lihua couldn't help but smile broadly. Finally, she couldn't resist getting up and pulling A Jiu a few steps away:
"Jiu'er, do you think we can stay here? Now that we have a water source, you can save a lot of your water. And we still have seeds. So why would we keep fleeing?"