Farming Family's Pocket Dimension: A Charmed Little Lady Comes to Farm

Chapter 73: Chapter 73: No One Has Any to Spare

A journey of over eighty li was about a full day on foot for them. Clearly, staying at an inn was no longer an option.

Everyone grew worried, their eyes fixed expectantly on Gu Zhang.

Gu Zhang had no other choice. "Why don’t we just rest here for the night?" he said. "At least there’s half an earthen wall left to block some wind."

Boss Zhang looked at him. "But what about water?"

Gu Zhang pondered for a moment. "This inn was open for years; it must have a well. Everyone, look around and see if we can draw any water."

Boss Zhang hurried off to find the well.

Everyone else scattered to search for the well. Just then, from behind a stretch of crumbling walls, Zhou Tieniu shouted, "The well’s over here!"

Everyone ran over.

The mouth of the well was covered in a pile of dead branches and fallen leaves. Gu Zhang brushed them aside and peered in, but it was too dark to see anything. He turned and said, "Er Lang, go get a bucket and the hemp rope."

Gu Erlang sprinted over to the cart and returned with a bucket and hemp rope. Gu Zhang tied the wooden bucket on and tossed it down the well. Nearby, Uncle Ma shook his head—the sound was all wrong. There was definitely no water.

Sure enough, when the bucket was hauled up, its outside was caked in sludge. Inside, there wasn’t a single drop of water.

Mrs. Chen let out a cry of dismay and quickly grabbed a handful of dry grass to wipe the sludge off the bucket.

Boss Zhang was overcome with anxiety. "What are we going to do? We’ll die of thirst without water."

Except for the Zhang family, every household still had a little water left. Gu Fei’s family had the most; they had over ten large waterskins and several wooden buckets, which they always filled to the brim before setting out each morning.

Gu Zhang looked at Uncle Ma. "What if I take a few men to look around? See if we can find any water."

Uncle Ma glanced at the sky and shook his head. "Can’t do it. It’ll be dark before long. It’s too easy to get lost out in this wilderness. We’ll look for water tomorrow."

Helpless, Gu Zhang nodded. "We’ll look tomorrow, then."

Just then, the women from the various families fashioned crude brooms from dry branches and swept the dead leaves aside, clearing a patch of open ground.

Uncle Ma called out to the group, "Unharness the mules! All you able-bodied men, lend a hand and arrange the carts in a circle along the base of this wall."

"The rest of you, go gather plenty of firewood. We’ll light a big fire in the center."

Hearing Uncle Ma’s commands, everyone quickly sprang into action.

Soon, the carts were arranged in a circle. Gu Sanlang went to their cart to get fodder for the mules. His family’s mules were large and ate a lot; luckily, there was still a day’s worth of fodder on the cart.

After feeding them the fodder, Gu Sanlang took out a waterskin and poured its entire contents into a basin, placing it before the mules.

Boss Zhang stared at the water and licked his lips. He couldn’t help but call out, "Sanlang, you got any spare water? Just give me a mouthful, I’m dying of thirst."

Sanlang turned to look at him. "Uncle Zhang, how can you ask that? Who has water to spare? I’m thirsty myself. But if these animals aren’t looked after, they won’t pull the carts tomorrow."

"Ah, forget it. I’ll spare some for you."

He took out a waterskin and uncapped it. Boss Zhang quickly held out a large bowl to catch the water.

Gu Sanlang poured him a full bowl of water. Boss Zhang gulped it down, finishing half the bowl in one go.

Gu Fei watched the mules and started to worry as well. ’Before, I thought we had too few mules,’ she thought. ’But with more of them, they eat more and drink more. The food isn’t so bad; mules aren’t picky. They’ll eat corn, beans, straw, bran, even leaves. But the water is hard to get. That’s the real problem.’