Chapter 40: Completion of the Irrigation Canal

When Lin Yan woke up, the house was already empty.

It seemed that Hua Hong had indeed left early in the morning. She wondered how successful her harvest would be.

It was already seven o'clock, and the people digging the irrigation ditch were about to gather.

She ate two boiled eggs and roasted a few wild chestnuts. Not long after, Hua Hong returned.

Before she even saw them, she heard their voices. The laughter of Hua Hong and Ye Zi drifted in from outside.

Judging by the sound alone, they were quite happy, so it must have been good news.

Seeing Lin Yan in the courtyard, Hua Hong said happily, "Lin Yan, that Pheasant Forest really lives up to its name. Wild eggs are everywhere, and everyone went there. Fortunately, Mother has sharp eyes and quick hands, and picked up half a basket of eggs."

She placed the basket of eggs in front of Lin Yan so she could see her achievement.

"Does Mother believe me now? Everything I said was true."

"I believe you, I believe you. If we didn't still have to dig the irrigation ditch, Mother would definitely have picked more." Hua Hong still felt a bit unsatisfied. "The jute in our fields is also growing well and is already quite tall. Once we harvest the jute, I'll make you a few outfits."

Looking at her daughter's tattered clothes, Hua Hong had finally noticed.

"Mother, Cao Zhi makes clothes very nicely. Once the hemp thread is spun, let Cao Zhi make them for me."

Hua Hong smiled and nodded. "Alright, alright, Mother's craftsmanship can't compare to Cao Zhi's. I'm off to dig the irrigation ditch. Be a good girl at home alone, don't run around, and play with Ye Ya."

Lin Yan, however, said, "Mother, take me with you. I want to see how the irrigation ditch is coming along."

They had been digging for seven or eight days, and she was quite worried about the progress.

Hua Hong didn't think much of it and took Lin Yan with her as she left.

When they arrived, some people had already arrived, and they were all very happy to see Lin Yan.

Nowadays, who didn't know Lin Yan? She had done so many things.

The second group had already finished digging their assigned section and were now working together with the first and third groups to dig a reservoir.

Following the undulations of the terrain, the irrigation ditch meandered along, about half a meter deep and over a meter wide. The reservoir was much larger, planned to be one meter deep and cover an area of about thirty square meters.

Half of it was already dug, and it would be completed in a few days.

Lin Yan sighed once again at the hardships of human labor. Wanting to accomplish anything was not easy.

She found a stone to sit on and watched the members of the second group working hard. The hemp garments they wore were styled like short sleeves and shorts, and some were already very worn.

Holding sharp wooden spikes or stones, they dug out the black soil bit by bit, then used baskets to transport the soil to the side, piling it into small mounds.

Fortunately, people possessed brute force; otherwise, with such ineffective tools, wanting to dig a ditch would have been extraordinarily difficult.

On August 8th, the irrigation ditch was completed, and many people ran to the source to witness it.

Hei Tu personally dug through the section connecting to the Sun River. A small opening linked the irrigation ditch to the Sun River, and river water surged in.

People followed the current, walking along the ditch, watching the water spill over section after section and pour into the excavated reservoir. Once the reservoir was filled to capacity, the water continued to flow downward through the outlet.

It took a day for the entire irrigation ditch to be cleared. As the turbid black water flowed and settled, it gradually became clear.

A major project was completed. From this day onward, there was a small irrigation ditch beside Sun City, named Drinking Water River, making it convenient for everyone to use water.

The Drinking Water River was only a li away from Sun City, so fetching water no longer required such a long walk.

Next, each group built a small path leading to the Drinking Water River.

By the time everything was finished, it was August 15th. Hua Hong was finally done with her tasks and had time to personally take care of Lin Yan.

The large water vat at home needed to be filled with water every day.

Watching her mother busy every day with an endless stream of minor chores, never having a moment to rest, Lin Yan looked at her own small arms and legs and sighed. She was still growing too slowly and couldn't do a thing.

"Mother, are you going to the Pheasant Forest today?"

"Yes, I'll go as soon as I finish feeding the hares. I need to cut some grass and bring it back; these hares eat too much."

"Take me with you. I'll help Mother cut grass."

Hua Hong agreed, "Alright, but don't run around when we get outside. A lot of people are going to the Pheasant Forest and the hare grounds now. It looks safe, but you're still young and can't go alone."

"Mother, I won't go alone," Lin Yan quickly promised. With so many people in the wild, it might look safe, but what if something happened? Her little frame couldn't outrun danger.

Though she occasionally thought about dying, a poor life was better than a good death. She did not want to be swallowed alive by fierce beasts; just thinking about it was unbearable.

Hua Hong stroked Lin Yan's head and praised, "You've been sensible and obedient since you were little, always giving Mother peace of mind. Now that conditions are better, you will definitely grow up, grow strong, and become the most powerful person in the tribe in the future."

"Am I not powerful now? Aren't I the smartest person in the tribe?" Lin Yan frowned, expressing her dissatisfaction with Hua Hong's words.

Among a group of savages, she was undoubtedly the most brainy. After all, being born with innate knowledge wasn't something just anyone could claim.

Hua Hong laughed heartily, "You're powerful, you're the most powerful. Mother misspoke. Now, whenever anyone mentions you, they say you're the smartest, smarter than anyone else."

"Hehe, I'll definitely be even more powerful in the future." Seeing that Hua Hong had finished feeding the hares, Lin Yan picked up the basket and turned to leave. "Mother, when are we going to go look for that flock of geese we talked about the other day?"

She had never forgotten about the goose flock. It would be even better if they could capture a few. Besides having parts that were useful for everything, geese were also fierce and could guard the house and courtyard.

"We're really going to look for them?" Hua Hong was startled. That was a flock of geese, looking extremely fierce. Who would dare to provoke them voluntarily? People fled for their lives the moment they saw them.

"Of course we're going to look for them, Mother. Don't you want to eat those goose eggs?"

"I want to eat them. But geese look fierce and aren't easy to mess with." Although Hua Hong wanted to eat goose eggs, the ingrained fear of animal herds still lingered in her bones.

"We're just picking up goose eggs; we won't actively provoke the goose flock. Mother, look at how many people are picking up eggs in the Pheasant Forest, and we haven't seen any pheasants come out. The goose flock is probably the same."

Hua Hong was half-convinced. "Pheasants can fly and don't attack people; when there are many people, they just fly away. Are geese really like pheasants?"

Lin Yan hesitated. Geese were extremely fierce, and she couldn't be certain either.

As the mother and daughter chatted, they arrived at their own fields. The jute was growing encouragingly, but weeds had overtaken the interior.

The newly reclaimed land could never quite be cleared of weeds, even with daily maintenance.

When cutting grass for the hares, they would pull up the wild weeds in the fields and bring them back, serving two purposes at once.

"These weeds grow too fast. No matter how much we pull them every day, we can't get rid of them," Hua Hong said while pulling up weeds.

Lin Yan joined in pulling weeds. "Mother, newly reclaimed land is always like this. Weeds are hard to get rid of, but it will be better in a few years. I heard Old Woman Mao say yesterday that Water Woman's family in the sixth group has also reclaimed land, a really big patch of land. Is that true?"

"It's true. Water Woman's family has many people, and the whole family pitched in to clear a large piece of land. They planted jute there, along with wild chestnuts and fruit trees transplanted from other places, filling the whole space. So many people are envious and jealous. Then, many families followed suit and started reclaiming land. Our family cleared this land early; otherwise, we wouldn't have been able to grab land this close now. Right now, all available reclaimable land has been taken."

Mentioning this, Hua Hong felt very fortunate. Because she had listened to her daughter and reclaimed land early on, they had this plot.