Chapter 307

Everyone looked at Hu Shuiqing, waiting for her to speak.

Before this incident, they would have thought Hu Shuiqing was lucky to marry well, learning and becoming capable following her scholarly husband. Even though their own wives always praised her, they attributed her success to Fan Jin’s ideas, believing it was because of her husband’s prowess.

They had never imagined that a mere woman could be so clever.

Today, however, they deeply realized that intelligence was intelligence, and she was capable in every aspect!

She could solve problems without relying on her husband, and could handle things that even the men couldn’t!

There was no room for disbelief.

When the villagers were once poor and struggling to fill their bellies, they had felt that no one was as capable or strong as them. But as they earned more money and life improved, they realized they had been too useless in the past. There were countless capable people outside their village, and they wanted to learn from the strong and capable.

“No need to burn it, just redirect the water downhill,” Shuiqing waved her hand, expressing satisfaction.

She had gained another hill today, making a total of five including the three she got from the division and the one she bought from Fan Damu—the largest in the entire Shuishui Village.

One of the hills was covered in bamboo, a dominant plant that made it difficult for other trees to grow. Currently, its main function was to gather bamboo shoots and bamboo mushrooms.

The other hill was planted with arrowroot, prepared in case of flooding and famine. It was almost ready for harvest, and once processed into arrowroot powder, it could be stored.

The remaining two hills were dedicated to medicinal herbs, with the newly acquired one specifically for this purpose.

According to the old village chief, the newly allocated hill was adjacent to the bamboo forest, making it convenient for management and upkeep.

“Good!” the men chorused.

With so many people, no one was idle. They quickly finished digging the remaining channels, watching as the spring water flowed down.

It seeped into the soil along the way, gradually diminishing until it disappeared.

“Feng Da, you can go down to Bamboo Mountain to cut bamboo. Trim the joints of the bamboo and bind them tightly. This way, the spring water will flow smoothly into the medicinal workshop,” Wu Laoda happily instructed. Xu Laosan volunteered, “Let’s go, I’ll go with you! I have experience in picking bamboo, I guarantee to pick the thickest ones!”

“I’ll go with you guys too. I know how to handle the bamboo joints quickly and effectively.”

“In this time frame, going back won’t accomplish much. Let’s go together and sort out the water source.”

The water source was the most important thing. Once it was sorted out, the medicinal workshop could operate normally. When Hu Shuiqing sold medicinal herbs and earned money, every household could receive their share of wages!

Helping Hu Shuiqing was also helping themselves.

Feng Da, Feng Er, Hong Daniu, and others followed the lively crowd downhill, their minds still in a daze.

Resolved?

Those huge stones that seemed impossible to move, were they really resolved like this?

In less than half a day, the stones were cracked and cleared, the channels were dug, and now they were heading directly to Bamboo Mountain to cut bamboo. When they returned and connected everything, the spring water would flow into the medicinal workshop.

Feng Er muttered, “Did we waste over a year digging those channels?”

They had always believed that when faced with huge stones, there was no way to overcome them. It turned out there were ways, and it didn’t even take half a day. Now it seemed like all that effort was indeed wasted.

“Old Boss said it couldn’t be done, blamed it on our bad luck, and said we were destined to struggle for water. But it turns out, it wasn’t true?” Hong Daniu’s eyes flashed with confusion as he looked at his two sons. For the first time, he realized that fortune and misfortune could change, depending on who they followed.

It depended on whom they followed.

Following Old Boss, they were destined to struggle and toil for water, only fit to eat meager meals. But following Boss’s family, they could eat coarse grain and fine grain, with oil to spare. The work they did wasn’t just labor anymore.

With donkeys, cows, and tools to assist them, they exerted less effort but accomplished much more than before!

“Dad, I think the Madam is amazing! If it weren’t for her, we wouldn’t have succeeded in bringing the water down the mountain!” Hong Mancang exclaimed excitedly.

Hong Manku echoed his sentiments, saying incessantly, “Although we did a lot of work, it’s not important. Just brute force alone isn’t enough. You have to use your brain!” Both of them were filled with surprise and excitement.

Hu Shuiqing walked quietly behind the others on their way back.

Listening to their unrestrained praises, she thought to herself that she still needed to read and learn more. Only she knew that her ‘cleverness’ was thanks to the education and knowledge she gained in Hua Country.

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Once the water source was connected, it boosted everyone’s morale, and they were eager to finish the medicinal workshop overnight.

With everything prepared, the construction of over a dozen houses went much faster than before. Hundreds of men divided into several groups, each responsible for different directions—east, south, west, and north. Within each group, some were tasked with mixing mud, others with passing bricks, and some with laying bricks. Working together, they completed the houses in just five or six days.

While the walls were being built, the interior and courtyard were laid with coarse bricks and stone slabs.

After the houses were finished, both the inside and outside walls were coated with moist lime, giving them a bright and clean appearance.

Water from the mountain spring was directly piped into a large pool in the courtyard of the medicinal workshop through bamboo pipes. This made it convenient to wash the herbs. Below the pool, channels were dug to drain the water. During normal days, these channels would be blocked with slabs to store water, and when washing herbs, the slabs would be removed to drain the dirty water.

After completing the medicinal workshop, the men immediately set out to build the library.

Unlike the dozen or so houses and large courtyard of the medicinal workshop, the library consisted of only three main rooms plus a kitchen and firewood room. In front was a large drying ground, which served as a play area for children during study breaks and a gathering place for village meetings on normal days. During busy farming seasons, it could also be used for drying crops.

The villagers had already been content with their adobe houses built last year. However, after the medicinal workshop was finished and coated with lime, making the entire building appear much brighter, they suddenly wondered if they should also lime the children’s library.

While lime wasn’t expensive, it still required money to purchase. In the past, they would have considered it a waste of money. But now, they didn’t think it was unreasonable.

Fan Jin and Hu Shuiqing took full responsibility for the bricks and tiles of the library. So what if they used a little lime?

They immediately approached the old village chief and expressed their intention. He took the lead by contributing one hundred pounds of lime, and soon shouts rang out across the entire courtyard: “Thirty pounds!” “Fifty pounds!” “Seventy pounds!”

After Li Wen tallied everything, he smiled and said, “We’ll buy more next time we go to the prefectural city to sell rabbits.”