The wind carried the coolness of the spring water, yet the group of people still felt restless.

Zhao Anhe’s denial left Zhao Ergou unsure whether to continue speaking.

Cheng Wanwan spoke calmly, “Other than digging a canal, can any of you think of a better solution?”

Silence. No one could.

“Ergou, go on,” Village Head Li Zheng took a puff of his dry tobacco. “What if it works?”

Zhao Ergou hadn’t slept all night—not because of heartbreak, but because he had been thinking about the best way to dig the canal and divert the water.

This was the most important issue for the entire village, far outweighing his personal matters.

“Ten or so miles sounds far, and walking takes over half an hour. But if we break it down into countless small sections, with each person responsible for a part, then it’s not so difficult.”

He stood up, took three or four large steps, and continued.

“This is roughly one zhang. A person can dig this much in about an hour. However, since it hasn’t rained, the soil is dry and hard, and there are rocks in it, let’s assume it takes two hours to dig one zhang.”

Zhao Ergou spoke fluently, “Yesterday, I measured the distance. It’s roughly three thousand zhang. If one zhang takes one person two hours, then three thousand zhang would require six thousand work-hours.”

He used the calculation method that Cheng Wanwan had taught him the day before, making his calculations much faster.

Li Zheng, who was used to doing mental math when managing the village’s farmland, immediately reached a conclusion.

Dahe Village had about four to five hundred able-bodied men between the ages of sixteen and forty-five.

If they all worked together, they could finish in around fifteen or sixteen hours.

Since people couldn’t work at high intensity all day, splitting it up meant it would take about two and a half days.

Two and a half days to divert the mountain’s water to the fields—this was something Li Zheng had never even dared to dream of before.

“Ergou, you’re really smart…” Lizheng was in disbelief. “I used to think Tie Zhu was the smartest kid in Dahe Village, but from today on, you count as one too.”

Zhao Sidan pouted, “Then what about me? Am I not smart anymore?”

Lizheng burst into laughter. “If you can recognize ten characters, you’ll be the third smartest kid in the village.”

Zhao Sidan immediately grabbed Zhao Tiezhu’s hand. “Tie Zhu-ge, teach me ten characters! I’ll buy you candied chestnuts.”

Zhao Tiezhu started drooling instantly. “One character for one chestnut.”

Zhao Sidan nodded without hesitation.

With a solid plan in place, village head Li Zheng felt much more at ease.

Standing on a high rock and looking down at the winding mountain path, he asked, “Dashan Niang(Chen Wanwan), which route do you think is best for digging the canal?”

Normally, Lizheng would consult the village’s experienced farmers on such matters, but today, he wanted to hear Cheng Wanwan’s opinion.

If she could teach Zhao Ergou to be so sharp, she had to be capable herself.

Moreover, she was from the Cheng family—a family with a child scholar, the youngest in all ten neighboring villages.

After some thought, Cheng Wanwan replied, “The water source is at the valley bottom. We should dig the canal from there, looping eastward and then downward. That side isn’t exposed to direct sunlight, so the soil is softer.”

Lizheng nodded repeatedly, and together they outlined the canal route, marking spots along the way.

By the time they finished, it was midday.

The group prepared to head down the mountain.

Halfway down, Cheng Wanwan recalled something Zhao Sidan had mentioned the day before—how nice it would be if they could hatch chicks.

The two hens she had were clearly not wild chickens, and they might attract unwanted attention.

But if she found a rooster in the mountains right in front of Lizheng, that would justify the existence of her chickens.

Without hesitation, she purchased a breeding rooster from the marketplace for eighty coins. It had bright feathers and a vivid red comb.

Falling back a few steps, she released the rooster.

“Cluck cluck!”

The rooster flapped its wings and lunged straight at Zhao Ergou.

Zhao Ergou had been lost in thought about the canal.

Even though the plan was set, there were many details to refine, and he had been deep in concentration.

Suddenly, something charged at him.

Startled, he instinctively dodged.

“What a huge chicken!” Zhao Tiezhu’s eyes lit up.

Before anyone else could react, he pounced, grabbing the rooster’s wings. “Hahaha! Grandpa, Dad, Second Uncle, I caught a wild chicken! We’re having chicken tonight! Hahaha!”

The kid was practically laughing himself silly.

Zhao Ergou was frustrated.

A chicken had flown at him, and he had dodged it.

This was a fat rooster, at least four jin.

Since it wouldn’t lay eggs, they could just wring its neck and either make soup or roast it…

Just thinking about it made his mouth water, and he became even more annoyed.

Cheng Wanwan: “…”

She miscalculated.

She hadn’t expected Zhao Tiezhu to react so quickly.

No wonder he was the village’s smartest kid.

She took a few more steps to the side and bought another rooster for eighty coins… This time, it flew toward Zhao Dashan.

Zhao Dashan had sharp reflexes.

Zhao Ergou, now fueled by his earlier frustration, lunged forward.

Zhao Sanniu moved like a mountain, while Zhao Sidan feared the chicken might escape.

The four boys pounced at once.

“Cluck! Cluck!”

The rooster ended up at the bottom of the pile, screeching in distress.

Cheng Wanwan quickly pulled the kids off.

If they crushed this one, she’d have to buy another.

Fortunately, this rooster was strong enough to survive. It flapped its wings wildly, trying to escape.

Zhao Dashan twisted a straw rope, tied up the rooster, and tossed it into a basket.

“These two chickens look exactly alike,” Lizheng said in amazement. “Nowadays, wild chickens are even fatter and better-looking than domestic ones. There must be some kind of grain growing in the mountains that we haven’t discovered yet. We should search for it later.”

Cheng Wanwan resisted the urge to roll her eyes.

Lizheng, you’re overthinking it—these roosters were raised on modern feed, of course they look good.

The group returned to the village, each family carrying a rooster, drawing a crowd.

“There are so many treasures in the mountains!” Lizheng said excitedly. “Spread the word. In fifteen minutes, everyone should gather under the old locust tree. I have good news to share!”

The village buzzed with anticipation.

“There’s no water today—it must be news about water.”

“Did Lizheng strike a deal with Guihua Village? Maybe they’ll let us fetch water.”

“Guihua Village is tough to negotiate with. They might ask for half of our village’s grain.”

“What grain? We have nothing left. If it doesn’t rain, we won’t harvest a single grain of rice.”

“Forget the fields. Right now, we don’t even have drinking water…”

Slowly, the villagers gathered under the old locust tree.

Dahe Village had 197 households, including some large extended families and some smaller ones with just a few members. Old and young, more than a thousand people filled the clearing.