Gu Jinli was so astonished that he immediately sat up and ran to the mud pit, asking, "Is water coming out?"
"Yes, water is coming out, really coming out. Xiao Yu, we are saved." Mrs. Cui cried happily. She, along with Gu Damu's family's Ms. Yan and Gu Dalin's family's Ms. Xie, had been transporting soil. As soon as water was discovered, they knew.
Luo Huiniang, supporting Third Grandma, walked over followed by Gu Jinxiu and Brother Cheng, with Old Mrs. Yan from Gu Damu's family following behind.
Old Mrs. Yan, supported by her granddaughter Cuiniu, pointed at the mud pit and asked in a hoarse and rough voice: "Is water coming out?"
Earlier, Old Mrs. Yan had been so thirsty that she couldn't speak until Third Grandma gave her the little remaining water, forcing her to drink so she could speak again.
Ms. Yan and Ms. Xie walked over with tired steps, faces full of joy, saying: "Mother, water has emerged at the bottom of the pit. We are saved."
Upon hearing this, Old Mrs. Yan repeatedly said 'good' three times, tears spilling from her eyes.
Third Grandpa was awakened by the noise, knew that water had appeared, and hurriedly asked the Luo Family father and son to pull up the people below with ropes.
The one pulled up was Uncle Tian.
He and Gu Dashan had been digging soil. They were about to take a rest when Brother Dashan and Brother Dalin were replacing them in the pit, and water unexpectedly began to seep out. Brother Dashan said they had reached an underground water channel.
Third Grandpa quickly asked, "How much water is there? What color is it?"
Uncle Tian's face was all muddy, his lips pale from fatigue, yet he joyfully said: "The water just started flowing, not much yet, just above the ankles, it's mud-yellow."
"Mud-yellow? We are really lucky." Third Grandpa smiled, his face wrinkles squeezing together in relief that it was not mud-gray.
He then asked the Luo Family father and son to pull up the other people from the bottom of the pit: "Water has come, but we can't stay long at the bottom, it might drown someone."
The Luo Family father and son pulled up each person from the bottom of the pit with smiles on their faces.
When Gu Damu, Gu Dalin, Uncle Tian's son Tian Daqiang, Gu Jin'an, and Gu Dashan were pulled up, each one was covered in mud with completely soaked trousers.
Gu Dashan, the last one up, took a few breaths before saying to Third Grandpa: "Third Uncle, the water at the bottom of the pit is good. When I was coming up, it was already above the knees. I tested the wall of the pit three times, it's quite solid, but there are sandy layers inside the walls."
Third Grandpa frowned as sandy layers in the pit walls could cause a collapse.
He instructed: "Don't go down anymore. Use a rope to lower water containers, it's better for us to put effort into drawing water than to risk accidents."
Everyone nodded in agreement, not wanting to risk lives over the newly discovered water.
After water is sourced, it needs time for the mud to settle. Third Grandpa decided: "Everyone rest first, after half an hour we will draw water."
Gu Jinli said, "Third Grandpa, we can actually start drawing water now; I have a way to filter out the dirt and clear the water."
They had been digging for water for a long time, and it was nearly dawn; they didn't have much time to wait for the water to settle.
Now very trusting of Gu Jinli, Third Grandpa quickly asked her to explain her method.
"Take a jar, break open the bottom, layer it with straw mats, sand, and broken stones, then pour the dirty water through the top. After passing through the stones, sand, and straw mats and flowing out of the bottom, the water will become clear." Gu Jinli repeated the method and added: "This method was taught to me by the grandparents among the disaster victims."
Luo Huiniang, who previously thought Gu Jinli was foolish to always help those displaced people, now felt quite envious: "Helping others does have its benefits."
Gu Jinli smiled and said: "Yes, those grandparents are old and have experienced a lot. They know many traditional methods."
Third Grandpa looked at the sky and made a quick decision: "Let's follow Xiao Yu's method. Everyone quickly draw water, filter it, and get enough clean water before dawn."
Upon hearing this, everyone sprang into action. The men from several families tied jars to ropes and lowered them into the pit to start drawing water.
The wives gathered every possible water-holding container, putting jars, pots, bamboo tubes, and water bladders all on the ground.
Third Grandma knocked open the bottom of a jar and handed it to Gu Jinli. "Xiao Yu, take this."
Gu Jinli took the jar and took out the sand and pebbles she found while transporting soil, cut open half a straw mat, cut the straw mat into small pieces, and put them at the bottom of the jar along with the sand and stones.
"Done," she held the jar and said, "Add water now."
Luo Wu, having strong arms, took the jar and said, "I will do it."
Gu Jinli handed him the jar, found a pot herself and placed it under the jar, ready to collect water.
Father Luo fetched a jar of water and poured it into the jar Luo Wu was holding. The dirty water filtered through the layers of sand, stones, and straw mat, and when it flowed out, it was not as muddy, but still not clear enough.
Seeing that Gu Jinli's method was effective, Third Grandpa made a tough decision, asking Third Grandma to open another jar and line it with straw mat, sand, and stones, then re-filter the already filtered water through it. This time, the water came out clear.
"Wow, Xiao Yu is so amazing, this water is as clear as the water drawn from the village well."
Third Grandma was overjoyed and couldn't wait to fill a pot with water to show it to Third Grandpa and Old Mrs. Yan. "Old sister-in-law, look, we have clean water now, drink it without worry, don't save it."
Old Mrs. Yan's throat had been ruined by thirst.
Old Mrs. Yan watched the clear water, her murky old eyes shedding tears continuously...finally, they had water, she no longer feared her children would die of thirst.
Feeling emotional, Third Grandma brought the water to the fire, boiled it, let it cool down, and offered it to Old Mrs. Yan in a wooden bowl. "Old sister-in-law, drink quickly."
Old Mrs. Yan didn't refuse and drank a bowl of water.
By now, they had filtered three jars, four pots, four bamboo tubes, and two water pouches of clean water.
Looking at all the clean water, Gu Jinli finally dared to make her proposal: "Third Grandpa, those wealthy households must also be short of water. Why don't we exchange clean water for their food?"
Food was scarce in their homes, especially hers, which was exceptionally lacking!
Upon hearing this, everyone's eyes brightened, all turning to look at Third Grandpa.
Third Grandpa was resolute, knowing the importance of food, and made a firm decision: "Good, let's take the water to the wealthy households to exchange for food."
Uncle Tian voiced his concerns: "Third Uncle Gu, if we exchange water for food, won't the village expel us after finding out?"
His family, being outsiders, treaded carefully in the village, afraid to violate village rules.
Third Grandpa scoffed, "The underground waterway was discovered by Xiao Yu, and we dug out the water ourselves. What can the village say? Exchange it, and only tell the village about the water after we've exchanged for the food."
It made no sense for them to toil back and forth and end up with nothing.
Father Luo, who had experience dealing with the wealthy, took charge of negotiating with them.
Not wanting to create grudges, he brought with him Gu Dashan, Uncle Tian, and Gu Dalin.
They didn't bring a lot of water, only four bamboo tubes, and rushed to the resting place of the wealthy families.
The wealthy families were huddled together for a rest, keeping the disaster victims at a distance, and around the perimeter of the wealthy's resting area were servants and protectors guarding, enclosing the wealthy families' tents and carriages in the middle.
Just as Father Luo and his company arrived near the wealthy families' resting area, a patrolling protector admonished them, "Stop, take one more step and we cannot guarantee safety!"
Father Luo said, "Brothers, we mean no harm, we just have extra water and want to exchange it with the masters for some food."
Father Luo rolled two bamboo tubes into the middle, saying, "Here are two bamboo tubes of clean water, one for the brothers to moisten your throats, and the other one, please trouble you to bring to the masters. We'll wait here for news."
The wealthy escapees were also short of water, and their protectors, who only received a small cup of water daily, were extremely thirsty. One protector allowed two servants to run over and fetch the water. Upon opening the bamboo tubes and seeing the clean water by torchlight, he took a sip and told Father Luo, "Wait here."
Fifteen minutes later, the head protector came out with a person who looked like a housekeeper and called to them, "Come over and talk."