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Chapter 3: Water / Air / Roof (repair)
After three hours, the family of six finally returned to the village and saw their own house from afar.
Zhou Sanlang, standing beside Wu Meili, was very excited to say.
"Ma, you are actually powerful, we all made it back, still windy but no rain!"
Wu Meili slightly smiled, replying in disapproval.
"This is nothing powerful, you will know it later."
Joking and moving on, the family returned to their doorstep. Wu Meili took the house key from her sleeves before opening the door to the courtyard.
"Old First, you lead the cow into the shed and make sure to feed it some water and grass so that it doesn't go hungry. Old Second, I will give you the warehouse key. Put the cart into the warehouse and make sure the door is closed before returning the key to me later. Old Third, you are still young. Just help send your sister-in-law to your big brother's room. Luya, remember to clean up the clothes in the yard before going into the house."
When the words were finished, the door to the yard opened. Wu Meili opened the door of the courtyard and took the lead. Then she glanced at the bamboo shelf in the yard to see that the clothes that were twisted and pinched by the wind.
The sons and daughter-in-laws immediately began to follow the instructions of the head of the family, Wu Meili.
Wu Meili was not idle. She took the buckets and the pole on one side and went straight to the courtyard. Before leaving, she looked at her sons and told them again.
"Sons, after you have done the work, remember to add some dry straw to clean up our roof. It must prevent the wind and rain or else we will lose our roof when it’s raining again."
When the three sons were on their way to follow her instructions, Wu Meili nodded with satisfaction before taking the buckets on her way to the village well.
It was very costly to have a well. There are not many people in the village who have private wells. Therefore, most of the people in the village, including the water used by Wu Meili’s family, rely entirely on the public well at the entrance of the village.
As she was leaving home, Wu Meili met acquaintances in the village. There was a middle-aged man who was thin and weak but also had two buckets on his shoulders.
"Zhou Dalang’s wife isn’t fetching some water again?"
The man sighed as he looked at Wu Meili, who was not tall, and there was a trace of pity in his eyes before he shouted with enthusiasm.
Wu Meili nodded, returning the same level of enthusiasm.
"It’s Uncle Gen! You are also coming to fetch water? It will be raining soon. I will take some well water back and fill my big water tank. I don’t know how long this rain will last but I estimate it won’t be a short period of time that we will be unable to draw water from the well."
Uncle Gen smiled and replied.
"Yes, ah, Xiaojie Wu*, I think so too. This is not my idea. My wife specially asked me to come out to fetch water but also to fill the water tank so that there is some water to be used. Although the rain is also water, it needs to sit for one day and one night before it can be used and it is not known why. "
T/N: Xiaojie = little sister
“I have heard that too, I don’t know who to listen to. To say that the rain is not clean is to make it seem like there is something that cannot be seen by the naked eye in the stuff."
Wu Meili walked forward as she said these words.
Uncle nodded and asked inexplicably.
“How can the rain not be clean? I look very clean!”
Wu Meili was dumbfounded and shook her head and replied carelessly.
"You ask me, how do I know? But I heard that some people in the neighboring village drank last year's rain and following that, hurt for several days.”
Uncle Gen heard this and couldn’t help but shudder. He touched the goosebumps on his arm with one hand as if to cover up his fear.
“Don’t listen to this old man’s words. We had better obey our elders and abstain from taboos. Very important to abstain from taboos."
"Yes!"
Wu Meili echoed the sentence and continued to move forward. After a while, they met a young man carrying a big bucket.
“Shi tou, you are also coming to fetch water?"
Wu Meili and Uncle Gen greeted in unison.
The dark-skinned young man nodded, before shouting in greeting.
"Aunt Wu, Uncle Gen.”
After the three met, they continue to move forward at the same speed as before. In the next part of the journey, Wu Meili did not meet anymore people who fetched water like them.
On the contrary, they saw a lot of people picking up buckets, carrying buckets, either slow-moving or rushing from the village well to the home.
When they came to the well at the entrance of the village, the three people saw a large group of villagers lined up. They did not directly join the line.
There are many people waiting in line, most of them are men and only a few are women. Wu Meimei, by coincidence, came to a stop just beside another woman.
"Meng Family’s Sister-in-law, your family is still looking for work and has not come back?"
Wu Meili put down the buckets on her shoulder and asked about it while exercising her body.
Meng Family’s Sister-in-law nodded and said hopelessly.
"Yes, didn’t return. I did not know until today that he would unable to return. I can only hope.”
I Want Some More