Dinner was incredibly rich: a bowl of mushroom egg drop soup, a wild vegetable bun, and a bowl of noodles for everyone. Everyone looked satisfied.
After eating, while the sky hadn't completely darkened, Cheng Loanloan stood up and said, "Er Gou, you and I are going to the village chief's house."
Zhao Ergou knew what it was about and immediately stood up to follow her.
This was the most leisurely time of day. The women gathered to chat, the men sat smoking, and the children played together. The evening breeze seemed to blow away all worries... But upon reaching the village entrance and seeing the coffin of Granny Zhao Er, all the worries returned.
As long as it didn't rain for a day, this situation could still happen.
Cheng Loanloan arrived at the village chief's house. Several children were picking vegetables in the courtyard, and the village chief's wife was mending clothes. Seeing Cheng Loanloan arrive, she asked with a slight surprise, "Da Shan's mother, do you have something to discuss?"
Cheng Loanloan smiled and said, "I came to find Uncle Village Chief to talk about something. Is he home?"
"He's inside." The village chief's wife stroked a hairpin in her hair. "Your Uncle Village Chief was awake all night. Later, he still wants to go to the fields to observe the celestial phenomena..."
Observing the celestial phenomena to predict the weather.
All along the way, there were no clouds in the sky. Tomorrow, it would definitely not rain.
As Cheng Loanloan stepped through the door, she saw the village chief sitting at a table. In his hand was a book, a book about the weather.
She had been in this era for half a month, and it was the first time she had seen a book that moved her.
But the feeling of being moved didn't last long.
The village chief frowned and called out, "Tie Zhu, come here. How do you read this character?"
Zhao Tiezhu ran over and said with great confidence, "This is the character 'gao' (high)."
The village chief's frown deepened. He muttered, "If the clouds turn 'gao,' it will rain. What does 'gao' mean?"
Cheng Loanloan didn't understand this part either. She leaned closer to look. Her face darkened; that was the character 'hou' (thick). If the cloud layers become 'hou,' it might rain.
One wrong character twisted the meaning of the entire sentence.
The village chief smiled and said, "Da Shan's mother, the few characters I know, I learned from Tie Zhu. This child is smart; he'll have a bright future."
Zhao Ergou admired, "Tie Zhu is so smart."
Zhao Tiezhu proudly lifted his chin, "I can even write characters."
He took a brush and wrote three characters on the paper: "This is my name. My grandfather gave me my name."
His name was clearly Zhao Tiezhu, but he had written Zhao Qizhu...
Cheng Loanloan suppressed the urge to correct the characters, turned her head, and said, "Uncle, I have something very important to tell you."
The village chief put down the book in his hand, his expression becoming serious. The last time Da Shan's mother came to tell him about the bamboo shoots, he felt this matter was even more important.
"I found water on the mountain," Cheng Loanloan slowly recounted. "The water between the two peaks has never been exploited. If we divert the water from the mountain down to the rice fields, we won't have to worry about not having food this year."
Suddenly, the village chief stood up, "Da Shan's mother, you mustn't speak nonsense, I'll believe it..."
For generations, the Zhao family had lived here for over a hundred years and had never found water on the mountain. It was normal for the village chief not to believe it.
Cheng Loanloan was about to speak again when someone rushed into the house, "Village Chief! This is bad! Something terrible has happened! The last well in the village has run dry!"