With grandpa Wang Jia Gui coming to help, the well digging could continue without stopping.
"Little girl, hurry and serve your grandfather some food."
"Ok."
A big bowl of steaming hot millet porridge, a plate of fat white steamed buns, a boiled egg, and a dish of crispy pickled radish.
Wang Jia Gui had already forgotten when was the last time he had such a sumptuous breakfast, or rather, he had never had such a sumptuous breakfast in his life.
It seems that although this daughter-in-law was fierce, she was still quite filial to him.
After eating his fill satisfactorily, Wang Jia Gui started digging the well. After all, he was getting on in years, and could not work as nimbly as a strong young man, having to come up and rest for a while after digging for about half an hour.
"Wang Er,"
Du Xiao Hui, the neighbor's eldest daughter, timidly called out to Wang Er from outside the yard.
"What's the matter?"
"Um... my mother asked me to come over and ask if you need any help."
"Wait a moment, let me go ask my mother."
Grandpa coming to help was not very surprising to Li Yao, but the neighbors coming to help as well made her quite surprised.
Since ancient times, mother-in-law, sister-in-law, and neighbors were said to be the three most difficult relationships to handle, and her original self had messed up every single one.
The Du family living next door, of course, gained benefits from their proximity, and were scolded by her at least every other day.
Over time, the neighbors avoided her like snakes and scorpions, and the two families became like strangers.
As for why they would suddenly come to help, it was probably because they thought that if water could be drawn from the well, their family could also conveniently use the water.
"Come on in."
Li Yao did not turn down this goodwill.
Du Jia Qing was an honest and hardworking man, and his wife Pang Shi was also very virtuous. Besides, they had no deep hatred to begin with, so she thought it would not be bad to take this chance to mend the neighborly relations.
Not long after, Du Jia Qing came over with an iron hoe, followed by his wife Pang Shi.
"Have some breakfast first before starting to dig."
"No need, no need," Du Jia Qing shook his head vigorously like a drum, "I'll go relieve uncle Wang right away."
With that, Du Jia Qing hurriedly went down the well to take over for Wang Jia Gui, and Li Yao could only let him have his way.
However, she did not go back into the house, but chatted with Pang Shi instead, catching up on things.
Pang Shi had never imagined there would be a time when Li Yao was so gentle, and felt very unaccustomed at first, unable to open up in the conversation. It was not until He Xiao Hua joined in that the atmosphere of the chat improved.
Before they knew it, it was noon, and Du Jia Qing emerged from the mud-covered well.
"We'll go home to eat and come back in the afternoon."
"Why go home to eat?" Li Yao said, "You came to help our family with work, so you should eat here."
"No need, no need."
The couple dashed home faster than rabbits, and were gone in a flash.
Li Yao shook her head helplessly. It seemed her image as a shrew, virago, and fierce wife had already taken firm root in everyone's minds.
Of course, grandpa Wang Jia Gui stayed for lunch.
To help the strong young man recover faster, Li Yao specially stewed pork ribs, adding a few large bones, so that the soup was rich and milky white, and the ribs were soft and flavorful.
A large plate of braised pork with thick sauce and pungent garlic aroma looked mouthwatering.
A plate of stir-fried liver and tripe, tender and crispy.
A plate of stir-fried vegetables, light and refreshing.
After the dishes were cooked, she scooped some of each along with a few buns, preparing to deliver them to the Du family.
Li Yao had originally planned to send Wang Xiao Si, but then changed her mind. That morning, she had noticed the way the neighbor's eldest daughter looked at Wang Er was definitely fishy.
"Wang Er, go deliver this."
"OK."
Since they were just neighbors, he was there in just a few breaths.
Although this Wang Er kid did decently in school, he was a complete clueless straight man. He just put the things at the door and dashed back without even exchanging a few more words with anyone.
But thinking back, Wang Er was only 13 this year...
At this thought, Li Yao suddenly realized she was becoming more and more accustomed to this motherly role.
Unknowingly, she had already started worrying over the kids in every possible way.
...
In the next two days, the well digging progressed smoothly.
But as they dug deeper, the difficulty also increased. By the fourth day, they reached the red clay layer that villagers talked about.
"Da Shuang's wife," grandpa Wang Jia Gui sighed lightly, "we've hit bottom."
"It doesn't seem possible there will be water." After working hard for three days, Du Jia Qing also felt a little regretful, "Why not try a different spot?"
"No need to change," said Li Yao. "Keep digging down."
"But..." Wang Jia Gui was surprised, "even if we dig deeper, it'll still be this red clay."
"There must be a sandy layer underneath, and where there's sand, there's water."
Red clay with sand underneath?
Wang Jia Gui had never heard of such a thing in his life.
"When you're eating well here every day, I tell you to dig, then you dig!" At critical moments, the mother-in-law still maintained control of the situation. "You've dug this much already, what's a few more digs going to do, dig you to death?"
"Dig, dig!"
Wang Jia Gui steeled his heart and started hacking away at the red clay with the iron hoe.
This was a rather solid hard earth layer, and took great effort to dig through. Fortunately, Da Shuang's injury had just about healed, so the three of them could take turns.
This went on for another two whole days.
The red clay had been dug down three meters, with a large pile of reddish-brown soil chunks stacked next to the yard, still with no sign of a sandy layer at all.
Naturally, this outcome drew ridicule from the villagers.
"Digging for so many days, still not a single drop of water."
"See, she thought she could just randomly pick a spot and dig out well water?"
Finally, Li Zheng couldn't stand watching any longer either.
He came to the door in person, took a look down the deep well shaft, shook his head and persuaded: "Stop this futile effort. Even if you dig deeper, it'll all still be this red clay..."
Crack—
Just then, a faint sound suddenly came from the well, instantly lifting Li Yao's spirits.
That was the sound of an iron hoe striking sand!
"Mother, mother!" Da Shuang's voice quickly carried up from the well. "Water, we've hit water!"
What?
Li Zheng stared in disbelief, hurriedly leaned over the well mouth to look.
He saw that under Da Shuang's feet was a small outlet, with clear water bubbling out.
"How...how can there be water under this red clay?"
But no matter how unbelievable, the facts were right before his eyes.
This news also spread across the village in an instant, leaving those who had gossiped behind their backs feeling hot in the face.
But striking water was just the first step. They still had to empty out this layer of sand, dig through to the next layer of red clay, then line the well with blue bricks, and finally build a proper well curb from stone slabs before the great undertaking was complete.
Of course these could be done slowly, with grandpa and Du Jia Qing's help, and Li Zheng's assistance here and there, it saved Li Yao a lot of worry, and did not further delay her pickled vegetable business.
"Da Shuang's wife," when the well was finally finished, Li Zheng finally swallowed his pride, "I'd like to discuss something with you."
Li Zheng Wang Jia Fu was the cousin of Li Yao's grandpa Wang Jia Gui, so she called him uncle.
"Uncle Li Zheng, speak your mind."
"I was wrong before to say you wouldn't dig out well water," Li Zheng said. "You see with so many people in the village, and the water in that old well is nearly dry..."
"If you want water, go dig your own well."
"That's a given," said Li Zheng. "I don't think anyone would be shameless enough to draw water from your well. What I meant is, I hope you can help scout some locations."
Li Yao's mouth twitched.
The logic was already so obvious - just dig down and there will absolutely be water - yet he still wanted her to scout locations?
But it wouldn't hurt to earn some goodwill either.
So she took Li Zheng around the village and mapped out some relatively low-lying areas for the new wells.
"If water really comes out, the whole village will owe you!"
Under Li Zheng's leadership, He Wan village embarked on a resounding well-digging campaign. In just a few days, several spots dug through the red clay layer, reaching deeper groundwater.
With the water supply issue resolved, even the wrinkles on Li Zheng's face relaxed. Without Li Yao this time, this matter would have been impossible to resolve so smoothly.
Grandma Wang also secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
This time, Li Yao had finally given the Wang family some face.
In the future, people could call Li Yao shrewish if they wanted.
But if anyone dared call Li Yao stupid again, she would be the first to tear their mouths to shreds!