80s Taoism

"Ooooh!"

The high-spirited rooster crowed, waking up the mountain village that was silent in the morning light.

Zhang Jiaohua opened his eyes and put on his clothes rustlingly. Although it was a hot summer day, the morning in the mountain village was cool. The fresh and cool wind blows in through the window, bringing the crisp singing of the birds. This familiar environment made Zhang Jiaohua feel warm.

Pushing open the door and going out, a few turtledoves pacing in the yard were obviously unprepared for Zhang Jiaohua, who came unexpectedly, they were so frightened that they flew up in a panic, thumping and struggling to fly into the distance.

Zhang Jiaohua doesn't have anything here yet, and he has agreed to have dinner at Gu Baishui's house these days. But when Gu Baishui's family eats, Zhang Jiaohua can only make do with Gu Baishui's. Fortunately, Zhang Jiaohua is no longer as eager to eat as ordinary people. He eats purely because he doesn't want to get rid of this habit for the time being. Because that would be horrifying.

"This Yingpan Village is a good place to practice." In such a poor mountain valley, it is destined that there will not be too many intrigues. Everyone lives a simple and poor life. Although materially poor, there are too many worldly disturbances such as comparisons.

Zhang Jiaohua didn't want to spend the time casually here, he was still going to do something. The first thing to do now is to settle yourself down. Some daily necessities that need to be purchased will be ready at the next market. Since the distance in the village is very long, there is no means of transportation. But Zhang Jiaohua didn't want to get a car, but planned to buy a motorcycle. Although Yingpan Village is poor, there are still traces of motorcycle ruts on the road, which shows that some wealthy farmers in the village have motorcycles in their homes. Buying a motorcycle by yourself will not be too dazzling. With the motorcycle, Zhang Jiaohua can easily bring back some of the supplies he bought.

Not long after, a child in the village walked out of the village leading a cow. Yingpan Village still maintains a very traditional farming method. Cattle are still very important agricultural animal power. There are not many cows in the village, and most of them are raised by several families.

"Hey, look, there's a street bully (street bully, city guy) living in the village. His skin is really white, even whiter than our fat pig."

This kid really deserves to be beaten to death! Zhang Jiaohua glanced over there, and those little brats burst out laughing immediately.

Zhang Jiaohua was not angry, and wanted to know the situation in Yingpan Village as soon as possible, and these children were the breakthrough point.

"Hey, you little friends, come here." Zhang Jiaohua shouted.

Those children glanced at Zhang Jiaohua's side, but they all hesitated to come over.

"I have candy here, do you want to eat it? They were brought from the city. As long as you do something for me, the candy will be yours." Zhang Jiaohua was like a big gray wolf who lied to children.

The children couldn't move anymore. For the children of Yingpan Village, candy was only available during the Chinese New Year or when their parents returned from the city.

"Then will you let us do bad things?" A bolder child asked loudly.

"Of course not. I am a village official sent to your village by the superiors. How could I ask you to do bad things? I am not familiar with your village now, so I want to ask you some things. As long as you do me a few favors, you will always have good food." Zhang Jiaohua laughed.

Zhang Jiaohua grew up alone when she was a child, and she is very familiar with the psychology of children, so she naturally knows where their weaknesses are. In two or three strokes, these little brats handed in their guns and surrendered.

"What's your name?" Zhang Jiaohua asked the boldest kid.

"My name is Gu Chuangui, his name is Gu Dahua, her name is Gu Jinfang, and his name is Gu Guangping..." The child directly uttered the names of several brats.

"Where is your well here? Take me there, and I'll give you sweets." Zhang Jiaohua said.

"Yes. I thought you wanted us to do bad things. Then I won't do it. The well is on the mountain. It's almost dry now. You help me herd the cows, and I'll take him to the well. I'll share the sugar with you later. If you let my cow run away, you won't have the sugar," Gu Chuangui said.

"Chuangui, I will graze cattle for you." Gu Dahua said first.

Gu Jinfang also said hastily: "I will also herd cattle for you."

Gu Dahua saw that Gu Jinfang was robbing the business, so he hurriedly said, "Obviously I was the one who said it first."

Gu Guangping also quickly said, "Chuangui, I can also graze cattle for you."

Gu Chuangui hurriedly shouted: "Why are you arguing? You two will herd my cows together, don't eat other people's crops. We will share the candy when we get it later."

This Gu Chuangui is actually about the same age as the other children, but Gu Chuangui is obviously much bolder than the other children, and he is very righteous. Most importantly, he has leadership skills.

After Gu Chuangui arranged for the children to herd the cattle, he turned to Zhang Jiaohua and said, "Come with me. The road in the mountains is not easy, and the road there is so far away. In the past, there was a bamboo stream to draw water down, but later the water dries up, and the bamboo stream can no longer draw water. Every time I carry water, I have to walk a long way."

"Are you also going to the mountains to carry water?" Zhang Jiaohua asked.

"Of course. My grandparents are getting old, and my parents are not at home. I am a man, so I have to take care of my grandparents. My father told me this when he went out." Although Gu Chuangui was young, his eyes showed determination.

"Since when did your wells run out of water? Why didn't you dig a well near your house?" Zhang Jiaohua asked.

"It's been many years. I heard from my grandparents that the well started to dry up before I was born. In the past, the water was so big that the rice fields in the village depended on the stream here. Later, the villagers built several wells at the foot of the mountain, but there was no water. We had to go to the water outlet to fetch water." Gu Chuangui said.

This road is not easy to walk. Although people often carry water from this road, due to the steep mountains and rocks in many places, it is very difficult to walk all the way. When I think about going back, I have to carry a load of water, which is really not easy.

"Is there a river near here?" Zhang Jiaohua asked.

"Why not? But the hydropower station was built over there, blocking the water from our side. There used to be a canal to irrigate the water. Now that canal is also abandoned." Speaking of this, Gu Chuangui's eyes showed hatred. This kind of hatred is shocking and shocking. What kind of hatred can be deeply planted in the hearts of children.

After walking three or four miles in the mountains, I came to the well mentioned by Gu Chuangui. It is better to say it is a small puddle than a well. There is a cave on the puddle, the opening of the cave is not very big, and it is not easy for people to get in. A small stream of water flows out of the cave, and it falls into the puddle with a tinkling sound. The water in the puddle is very clear, and people surrounded it with stones to form a pool to protect the water in this puddle.

"That's it. I heard from my grandfather that there used to be a lot of water here, and it flowed along the bamboo stream to our village. The water is still very big. But now there is only such a little water left." Gu Chuangui looked sad.

"Then how do you villagers eat, bathe, and wash clothes?" Zhang Jiaohua asked.

"What else can we do? Those of us who go to school change clothes and take a bath at school, and try not to take a bath when we come home. People in the village moved out as much as possible." Gu Chuangui said.

Zhang Jiaohua realized a problem. That is the population of Yingpan Village. Maybe the population is not as large as Zhu Qingdong said.

"Do you know how many people there are in the village?" Zhang Jiaohua asked.

Gu Chuangui shook his head: "I don't know. There are only more than fifty people in our yard."

"How many yards as big as yours are there in the village?" Zhang Jiaohua asked.

"Five or six?" Gu Chuangui was not sure.

If five or six yards of this size were similar to those in Yingpan Village, the left-behind population would be less than 300 people, which is quite different from the 400 people Zhu Qingdong said. But this question is not important, no matter how many people are left behind. It is very difficult for this village to change.

The biggest problem is the water problem. Now that the two water sources are almost cut off, it may be easier to solve the problem by releasing water from the other side of the river. But there are also many problems involved. It was not an easy task to rebuild that canal. Another way is to find out the reason why the mountain stream is dry.

In other places, if you want to get rich, build roads first. For Yingpan Village, water needs to be fed first. Without water, the survival of people and animals in the village is very difficult. Let alone growing crops.

Wait, no. Zhang Jiaohua suddenly thought of a question. Such a high mountain, when it rains, streams will definitely form in the mountain. When the streams come together, they will definitely flow down the mountain. If the village builds ponds in the valley to store water, it should be able to solve the problem of farmland irrigation. Could it be that Yingpan Village didn't think of this?

"There is no pond in your village?" Zhang Jiaohua asked.

"Yes. But the water in the pond is very dirty. It is used to feed livestock. There is also farming. People can't drink it. The pond can't keep much water. Once the sky is dry, the water will be gone." Gu Chuangui said.

That's a leak! Zhang Jiaohua thought of another way to solve the water shortage in Yingpan Village, which is to build a water storage reservoir. If there is a small reservoir to store the water in the rainy season every year, it can also solve the problem of water shortage in Yingpan Village.

But Zhang Jiaohua didn't understand. If the problem is so easy to solve, why has the problem in Yingpan Village not been solved after so many years?

"Uncle, will you come here to carry water in the future?" Gu Chuangui asked.

Zhang Jiaohua nodded: "Yes."

"If you want water, I can pick it up for you," Gu Chuangui said.

Zhang Jiaohua glanced at Gu Chuangui to see what he wanted.

"As long as you give me the money." Gu Chuangui lowered his head embarrassedly facing Zhang Jiaohua.

"What do you want money for?" Zhang Jiaohua was very curious.

"I want to buy some painkillers for my grandfather. When my grandfather's foot hurts, he sweats all over his body. It must be very painful." Gu Chuangui said.

"Okay." Zhang Jiaohua nodded.

"Aside from here, is there any other place where the water comes out?" Zhang Jiaohua asked.

"Yes, there is. After crossing the top of the mountain, there is a water outlet over there. The water is very large. Unfortunately, the terrain is very low, and it cannot be led to the mountain. It cannot reach our village either." Gu Chuangui said.

"Can you take me there to have a look?" Zhang Jiaohua asked.

"Okay." Gu Chuangui continued walking with Zhang Jiaohua.

The next road is not as easy as it was at the beginning. Because very few people go there, there is hardly a ready road. Fortunately, Gu Chuangui wore a sickle on his waist for mowing grass and feeding cattle. He walked all the way, cutting off the bushes he passed. Shengsheng opened a way.

"Uncle, do you often climb mountains in the city?" Gu Chuangui asked.

"No, but I was also in the countryside when I was a child. The mountains in our hometown are not shorter than those here." Zhang Jiaohua said.

"No wonder you can keep up with me." Gu Chuangui said.

After climbing over the top of the mountain and walking down for a long time, I came to the mountain stream that Gu Chuangui mentioned. The water was really big, rushing out of a small cave. This cave seems to be bigger, and the entrance of the cave can be drilled with a slight bow.

"Has anyone been inside?" Zhang Jiaohua probed into the cave. You can faintly hear the sound of ding-dong water inside.

Gu Chuangui shook his head: "Few people come to this place. We children dare to drill into it casually. My grandfather said that some people drilled into the cave before and never came out. Let us children never drill into the cave."

Zhang Jiaohua nodded: "Well, this kind of cave extends in all directions. If you get lost in it, you can't get out no matter how you go. It's very dangerous. Children, please don't go inside. Come on, let's go back."

"Uncle, you won't drill that cave in the future, will you?" Gu Chuangui asked.

Zhang Jiaohua shook his head: "No, it's too dangerous. I'm afraid of death."

Gu Chuangui chuckled.

When he returned to the village primary school, Gu Chenglin, the grandson of Gu Baishui, had already come to ask Zhang Jiaohua to have breakfast. Zhang Jiaohua took out some candy to distribute to these children, and grabbed some more for Gu Chuangui.

"I will look for you in the future." Zhang Jiaohua said.

"If you want to carry water, just call me." Gu Chuangui was most concerned about carrying water to make money.

"Alright." Zhang Jiaohua said.

"Actually, you don't give them so many candies." Gu Chenglin felt that Zhang Jiaohua was a guest of their house, and these candies should belong to him alone. Now Zhang Jiaohua is distributed to other children. He was a little dissatisfied. Their family also entertains Zhang Jiaohua with rice.

"I'm asking them for help." Zhang Jiaohua said with a smile.

"I can help you too!" Gu Chenglin said dissatisfied.

"They said to help me carry water, can you carry it?" Zhang Jiaohua asked.

"I can do it when I grow up." Gu Chenglin scratched his head.

"Then you'd better grow up quickly, and you have to wipe your nose clean. Oh, I'm not asking you to wipe it with your clothes."