Utter exhaustion.
Extreme rage.
Everyone felt a sense of powerlessness.
After so much effort, holding such great hope in their hearts, everything instantly returned to zero.
"What are you all so disheartened about?!" Li Zheng sternly scolded, "You are all the pillars of your homes. If you fall, who can your families rely on? When you encounter a difficult problem, you should think of a solution! We can't deal with the large boulder, but can't we even deal with the trees over there? Tomorrow, everyone will chop trees together for three to five days. I don't believe we can't clear that path!"
Everyone looked towards the ancient forest.
At night, the wind blew, and the shining torches reflected the shadows of the trees, making the already tall trees appear even taller, piercing straight into the dark sky.
Everyone fell silent, not because they were disheartened, but because this task was too difficult to complete. Chopping trees was certainly possible, but three to five days was impossible. It would take at least half a month to complete. But if that were the case, the rice would all be dead in half a month. What good would digging a ditch be then?
Cheng Loan Loan stood beside the boulder. At this moment, a historical anecdote suddenly came to her mind: Yu the Great controlling the floods.
It was clearly a drought, so why did she suddenly think of flood control?
She remembered that in a Chinese language class before, the teacher had told the class the story of Yu the Great controlling the floods. Digging ditches to divert water was exactly what they were doing now.
It seemed Yu the Great also encountered trouble, seemingly related to rocks.
Cheng Loan Loan tried to recall. She paced back and forth, then stepped on a rock, and then she saw a torch being held high.
Some women casually threw torches by the roadside, leaning over to talk to Li Zheng. There happened to be a rock next to a torch, which was burning red hot.
Her eyes suddenly lit up: "Uncle Li Zheng, I know what to do now."
Everyone simultaneously turned to look. Some were doubtful, some were mocking, but everyone was utterly exhausted, so no one spoke.
Li Zheng grasped at this lifeline: "Da Shan's mother, quickly tell us."
"Ni Qiu's father, Tie Zhu's father, everyone bring all the torches over here, then place them on the large boulder and heat them," Cheng Loan Loan said methodically. "Then send four more people to carry several buckets of water down here."
The men were too exhausted to move, so the women voluntarily took on the responsibility of carrying water.
Five or six women went up the mountain together. In less than half an hour, they carried down ten buckets of water. The large boulder was now burning red hot, and those standing nearby were sweating from the heat.
Cheng Loan Loan checked the water temperature with her hand. The cool and refreshing spring water in the middle of the night was most suitable.
She opened her mouth and said, "Everyone, simultaneously pour the water onto the rock and quickly retreat backward, as far as possible."
"Whoosh!"
Ten buckets of water were poured simultaneously onto the heated boulder.
Crack! Crack!
The large boulder suddenly emitted a cracking sound, and four or five cracks appeared in the middle of the rock.
Surprise was clearly visible on everyone's faces.
The exhausted men immediately felt a surge of strength. They turned to find firewood: "Let's do it again!"
Heating the rock, pouring water, repeating this four times.
The large boulder broke apart and became smaller stones after repeated expansion and contraction due to heat. The ditch was now clear.
By this time, it was already the hour of Chou, and the sky would brighten in two more hours.
"Everyone, go back and rest!" Li Zheng said excitedly. "Tomorrow, after noon, everyone will gather here again!"
That night, the exhausted men slept until the sun was high before waking.
Cheng Loanloan and Wu Huiniang collected the stone flower seeds in the courtyard, peeled the lantern fruit, and put the seeds into baskets.