"Yes," Xu Chang sighed, "but Immortals are benevolent, and they don't bring rain for free."
"That year, the village chief led the entire village to offer all the grain they could gather from their homes, and only then did the Immortal Master agree to help. This year..."
"Alas, everyone's rice jars are empty. How can we still have surplus grain to beg the Immortal Master?"
Yan Aini stopped what she was doing and looked at Xu Fan with worry, "Your father is right, Fan'er. If we plant things now, the water in the ditches is almost gone, and even fetching water is a struggle."
Xu Fan fell silent.
No matter in which world, doing things also follows the most basic principle of equivalent exchange.
It's better to rely on oneself than to hope for a vague Immortal.
Xu Fan looked at the worried expressions on his parents' faces and then at the few empty water jars in the corner of the yard, and a plan began to form in his mind.
"Father, I have a way for the vegetable garden."
He stood up, walked to the center of the courtyard, and stomped his foot on the solid ground.
"Father, Mother, let's dig a well."
"Dig a well?" Xu Chang and Yan Aini exclaimed in unison, as if they had heard something out of a fairy tale.
Xu Chang stood up excitedly, "Nonsense! Our village is on high ground, and beneath the topsoil, it's all hard, dry rock."
"It's not like no one has tried before. They dug dozens of feet deep and couldn't even find a trace of moisture, just wasted effort. The village relies entirely on the river at the foot of the mountain for water, and now the river water is low. Where would underground water come from?"
"Yes, Fan'er," Yan Aini also quickly advised, "digging a well is a huge project. Your body has just recovered a bit; don't overexert yourself."
His second brother, Xu Chengbo, who had just finished a set of stick techniques and was covered in sweat, walked over. Hearing this, he unhesitatingly stood by Xu Fan's side, "Father, Mother, I believe Big Brother. If Big Brother says to dig a well, he must have his reasons."
Xu Fan smiled, patted his brother's shoulder, and reassured everyone, "I have a plan. We can't just sit here and wait to die; we have to try."
The next morning, while Xu Chang was still hesitating, Xu Fan had already grabbed a hoe and, with Xu Chengbo, who was also carrying a small hoe, arrived at the barren land behind the house.
This plot of land had long been abandoned by the family due to its barrenness and distance from a water source.
It was covered with waist-high weeds, and the ground was cracked.
"Big Brother, this land... will it work?" Xu Chengbo looked at the land, his heart also pounding.
Xu Fan didn't speak. He squatted down and picked up a handful of dry, hard soil.
In his eyes, the information about this land was slowly unfolding.
The topsoil was cracked.
But half a foot down, the soil color was slightly darker, indicating that the former fertility was still present.
Most importantly, he could feel that this terrain was slightly lower than the other fields in the village, forming a small basin.
"Chengbo, today we're not tilling the land. First, clear the weeds, then dig ditches." Xu Fan stood up and drew a few lines on the ground with his foot.
"Dig ditches?" Xu Chengbo was even more puzzled.
"Yes." Xu Fan pointed to the nearly dry stream not far away, "We'll dig an irrigation channel to bring water over. Although the flow is small, as long as it runs day and night, we can store water in this land."
He then pointed to the center of the planned vegetable garden area, "Here, we'll dig a water storage pit, about one person deep. The water from the channel will first go into the pit, and then seep out from the pit."
"This way, even if it doesn't rain, the roots of our vegetable garden will still be able to drink water."
Xu Chang also walked over upon hearing this. Listening to his eldest son's plan, his cloudy eyes gradually brightened.
He had farmed all his life, only knowing to rely on heaven for food, but he had never thought that he could use such a method to forcefully steal water from the heavens.
This method sounded simple, but both the gradient of the irrigation channel and the location of the water storage pit required great precision.
Yet, Xu Fan spoke as if he had everything under control.
"Good! Let's do as Fan'er says!" Xu Chang gritted his teeth, grabbed a shovel, and joined in.
The whole family worked together, even ten-year-old Xu Huining brought her younger siblings to help pick up small stones from the field.
Their enthusiastic efforts quickly attracted the attention of the villagers.
"They're crazy, the Xu Family is truly crazy! In this great drought, instead of saving their energy, they're going to reclaim barren land?"
"Isn't that right? I saw them digging ditches. Are they perhaps trying to move that nearly dried-up stream over here?"
"Heh, they just made a little money and now they don't know who they are. Just wait and see, in a few days when the sun gets even more scorching, they'll be crying."
The whispers drifted into their ears, and Xu Chang and Yan Aini's faces showed some embarrassment, their movements slowing down.
"Father, Mother." Xu Fan didn't even lift his head, his hoe steadily digging the soil, "Dogs only bark when they're hungry. We just need to fill our own stomachs; we don't need to pay attention to them."
He brought the hoe down with clean, precise movements.
You are Excavating a ditch, unlocking a new skill: Excavation (Beginner 0/100)
Excavation proficiency +1
A warm current surged again. Xu Fan only felt the soreness in his arm disappear, and his strength increased by a few points.
Just as the villagers were discussing and pointing, Xu Laosan, who had been taught a lesson by Xu Fan a few days ago, limped over.
The red marks on his face from the thorny ball hadn't completely faded, and seeing the bustling scene at the Xu Family, the jealousy in his eyes almost overflowed.
"Oh, isn't this Xu Family's Eldest Son? What, is money in town so easy to earn that you're idle enough to start digging in the dirt for fun?" He spoke in a sarcastic tone, just loud enough for everyone around to hear.
"It hasn't rained for so long; even the heavens aren't providing food. Are you trying to go Heaven-Defying?"
"Who do I see, if not Third Uncle." Xu Fan stopped, straightened up, wiped his sweat with his sleeve, a gentle smile on his face, "Have the injuries on your face healed completely? You should be careful when walking; don't accidentally fall into another pit."
"Pfft..." A villager couldn't help but laugh aloud.
Xu Laosan pointed at Xu Fan, his hand trembling with anger, "You... you little brat, don't get cocky! I'd like to see if your land can grow a gold ingot!"
"I don't know if it can grow gold ingots." Xu Fan's smile remained, but his eyes gradually grew cold, "But I know what I'm planting is grain, it's hope."
"It's certainly better than some people whose hearts only grow weeds and whose mouths only spew filth."
"You!" Xu Laosan was so angry that he almost couldn't catch his breath.
Just then, Xu Chengbo, who had been working diligently, plunged his hoe into the ground with a "bang," hitting something hard.
"Big Brother, there's a big rock here!"
Xu Fan walked over, pushed aside the mud, and found a greenish-gray rock, right in the middle of the irrigation channel.
This rock was huge; the exposed part alone was as big as a millstone.
At this, even Xu Chang's expression changed.
To go around it, the entire channel plan would have to be redone.
To dig it out, relying only on them, the father and sons, would be impossible in less than three to five days.
Seeing this, Xu Laosan immediately cheered up, all his previous frustrations swept away, and he laughed gleefully, "Hahaha! See! Even the heavens can't stand it anymore!"
"Let you mess around! I'd like to see how you dig that out!"
The surrounding villagers also shook their heads, feeling that the Xu Family's efforts were in vain this time.
Xu Fan, however, walked around the rock, squatted down, and tapped it with his hand.
Appraisal proficiency +1
Green sandstone, relatively loose in texture, with natural cracks in the middle. Weakness: thermal expansion and contraction effect
He stood up and said to Xu Chengbo, "Second Brother, go into the woods and cut a few of the hardest pieces of wood, then sharpen them into wooden wedges."
He then turned to his mother and said, "Father, you and Mother go fetch more water, as much as possible."
Although they didn't know what Xu Fan was going to do, Xu Chang and Xu Chengbo immediately complied.
Soon, several hard wooden wedges and several buckets of water were ready.