Zhan Jun was shocked: "This is impossible! You don't know how hard it is to carry a load of water."

Luo Xuan insisted,

In the end, Zhanjun had no choice but to ask his mother-in-law to find the bucket and pole for Luo Xuan.

In addition, there is actually a big hammer and a steel drill!

It's just to carry water, why do you need a hammer and a steel drill instead of smashing rocks?!

Luo Xuan endured the confusion in his heart, picked up the burden and went out.

Then he waved to Xiao Rongrong, "Do you know where I can get some water?"

Xiao Rongrong nodded, "I'll take you there."

Zhang Xiaoli and Peng Yong will naturally not be idle and will follow them.

The road to get water is not easy to walk.

The Loess Plateau looks like the terrain is very gentle on the plateau, but when you actually walk on it, it is not the same!

The path is rugged and difficult to navigate.

Under the leadership of Xiao Rongrong, Luo Xuan carried the bucket and the steel drill.

A group of four people walked for more than half an hour before they arrived at the water collection point halfway up the slope.

"That's it?"

Facing the puddle under the gravel cliff, Zhang Xiaoli was at a loss, "Is this their drinking water source?"

Peng Yong's cheek twitched: "Can people drink the water taken back here?"

I saw only the bottom of the cliff,

There is a small puddle, probably only about 2 square meters in area.

Around the puddle, there are white flowers of alkali. The water contaminated by high concentration of salt and alkali tastes very bitter.

High-concentration saline-alkali water is highly corrosive.

So many people here have black and yellow teeth.

There are many big girls in Zhimi County who look pretty.

But it's better if they don't open their mouths. When they open their mouths, the blackened front teeth are like an old smoker who has been smoking for a lifetime: black, yellow, and rotten.

It can really scare people!

If this kind of bitter alkali water were stored in the Bashu area,

It's used to feed pigs. I guess the second senior brother would rather starve to death than take a second sip.

But people living on the plateau have no choice because this is their only source of drinking water.

Between dying of thirst and suffering, Zhanjun and his family chose to suffer.

——And he will suffer for a lifetime.

It was winter at this time, and the water dripping from the cracks in the cliffs had already been frozen into strings of small ice hangings.

Luo Xuan sighed, "Throw away the word "?". Just carry this water back, and others still regard it as a treasure.

First scoop a small ladle to wash your face, and use the water after washing your face to wash your feet.

By the time I wash my feet, the water has turned into a dark soup."

Luo Xuan asked Peng Yong, "Guess what they will do with that small basin of water that has been used to wash their feet and is already dark, sticky, bitter and astringent?"

Zhang Xiaoli pouted: "Of course I'll throw it away. What else can this water be used for?"

Luo Xuan shook his head, "They are reluctant to waste any drop of water. They will use this water to feed chickens and sheep."

"Hey, let's get to work."

Peng Yong sighed, "I was still wondering why we had to carry a big hammer to carry water? Now I finally understand. It turns out that we were asked to smash ice to get water!"

There is snow everywhere on the loess slopes, especially in the shade, which is more than two feet thick.

It stands to reason that this snow can also be used as a source of water.

But in fact, the snow looks very white. When it is really melted, the soot and yellow sand mixed in the white snow will be revealed.

That kind of water is even more undrinkable!

And the snowflakes are so weak that no matter how hard they are pressed, two buckets will be filled with them.

The snow water that melted out in the end was probably not even half a bucket.

Therefore, melting snow to obtain water is more time-consuming and laborious than melting ice.

Over time,

No one wants to do the inefficient task of collecting snowflakes in exchange for drinking water.

Now that we have figured out how to carry water back to the Zhanjun family, the next few people will do it together.

Cut out the ice and put it in buckets.

Doing these tasks is not particularly strenuous. If you are tired, you just have to carry a bucket with sharp ice cubes and walk up to the plateau.

Moving forward with a heavy load is not easy.

What's more, you still have to carry a heavy load, and you have to carry a steel drill and a big hammer.

It weighs over a hundred kilograms! You still have to hold it with both hands.

Under such circumstances, when carrying a load up a steep slope, it is not easy to even reach out to hold the pole on your shoulders.

In order to retrieve this load of ice, I had to go back and forth for almost two hours.

It was not easy to pick the Zhanjun family.

This time Luo Xuan went to carry water and came back. Several people were there to help with the work, which took two hours.

It is conceivable that

How difficult it must be for Zhanjun to fetch water alone!

Today, someone helped pick up ice cubes, which saved her family the effort of two bowls of rice. Luo Xuan, Zhang Xiaoli's move moved Zhanjun's family so much that they thanked them repeatedly.

Through this matter,

Luo Xuan, Zhang Xiaoli and Peng Yong have deeply realized that the lives of the people living on the plateau are hard, and their lives have already reached this level.

Zhang Xiaoli and Peng Yong thought to themselves: We cannot continue like this. We must do something for the folks in the Shilipu production team!

Put the ice cubes in the bucket into the large water tank at Zhan Jun's house and let it melt slowly.

Later, Luo Xuan and others resolutely declined the Zhanjun family's warm invitation to stay for dinner.

Several people said goodbye and left.

The journey down the mountain is not short.

Not long after the group left, the sky began to turn gloomy, and it seemed like it was going to snow again.

The wind is biting and biting.

Peng Yong kept booing as he walked, "It's easier to go up the mountain than it is to go down the mountain. You're right, I'm exhausted."

Zhang Xiaoli laughed: "Are you embarrassed? Look at Xiao Rongrong, she is walking so easily. Did you hear her say a word?"

Taking a look at Rongrong who was following Zhang Xiaoli, she could not even take a breath except that her face was red from the cold.

Peng Yong asked her curiously: "Xiao Rongrong, are you tired? Do you want me to carry you?"

The little girl shook her head,

He said nonchalantly: "What's the point? In the summer, my father asked me to carry grass from the bottom of the ditch, and I had to carry a very big bundle.

Then we walk up from the bottom of the ditch and back again. We have to run several times a day."

Peng Yong muttered, "Your father is very cruel to you!"

Xiao Rongrong shook his head: "Actually, my father is usually very good to me, but sometimes he gets upset and scolds me."

"Actually, that's good. Because my dad scolds me, so he won't scold his younger siblings..."

Luo Xuan and several people heard this,

I couldn't help but sigh secretly: It is said that the children of poor people have become rich early. This little girl is so sensible and heartwarming.

Xiao Rongrong pulled a dry dogtail grass and held it in his mouth.

Jianshengsheng explained, "Actually, my father is also very tired. Every day he drives the donkey cart, takes care of the crops, levels the land, and learns the spirit of his superiors. All day long, he has no time to idle.

By the time my dad got home, he was already paralyzed from exhaustion. Many times, even if he wanted to hit me, he didn't have the energy to do so."

"It's winter now, so there's nothing to do. So I'll get beaten more often."

Xiao Rongrong calmly recounted the incident of being beaten.

It seems that she has become accustomed to this: "Every winter, I get a few more beatings. I'm used to it."
To be continued...