kvmb Chapter 111 White Rat
Chapter 111 White Rat
Li Mazi, an old widower who lived at the entrance of the village, scooped a ladle of pond water into his broken pot.
Li Mazi's family was penniless. During the famine years in the early years, his parents used a bag of brown rice to find a wife for their son. But the good times did not last long. The woman unfortunately died during childbirth, leaving two lives.
The old couple were in poor health. They watched their son’s family line come to an end and died in depression.
Li Mazi also gained the reputation of being a bad luck to his wife, children and parents. In addition, his family was poor, so no one was willing to marry their daughter to him.
Li Mazi made a living by relying on his own two acres of thin land and helping others harvest during the busy farming season.
He touched the blood scab on his lips with his rough hands, and his bloodshot eyes stared straight at the bubbling pot.
He had few good friends in the village, and even his close relatives seemed distant because they had not been in touch for many years since his parents died.
Being alone is the best description of him.
Li Mazi, who hadn't had a drop of water for two days, didn't care about anything else. Before dying of thirst, he had to try whether the water in the pool was drinkable.
Jiang Jiang searched the original owner's memory and found her impression of Li Mazi. To be honest, Li Mazi was still the uncle of Li Xu and Li Sheng.
In the silent night, apart from the occasional sound of burning flames, the only sound was the gurgling sound of Li Mazi boiling water.
Except for Jiang Jiang, the rest of the sleepless people in Daxi Village were waiting for Li Mazi to drink the water, to see if he would get sick.
To be honest, for a moment, Jiang Jiang thought about whether she should share a bowl of water with Li Mazi, but she could help one person, but could she help the whole village? She could help for a while, but could she help for a lifetime?
Jiang Jiang sighed silently. She didn't mind helping others if she could protect herself.
Huang Ying woke up at some point. She quietly sat next to Jiang Jiang and patted her shoulder.
"Mom, you go and get some rest. I'll be on guard for the rest of the night."
Jiang Jiang looked at the bucket of water placed on the ox cart at home. When Li Xu and Li Sheng made the wooden bucket and lid with wood, they specially left protrusions that could fit together, so the lid of the bucket at home would not slip off due to bumps on the road, and the embarrassment of spilling water was avoided.
But the lid?
Jiang Jiang seemed to remember something and suddenly his eyes lit up.
She picked up the lid of the iron pot at home and walked towards Li Mazi.
At this time, Li Mazi was preparing to take the pot away and wait for the water to cool down before drinking it.
He also saw Jiang Jiang coming over with a pot lid, and greeted her awkwardly.
"Ma Zi, I know it's useless to persuade you not to drink water, and my family can't distribute water to you, but I have a way that may be able to get cleaner water."
As she spoke, under Li Mazi's puzzled look, she raised the pot lid in her hand.
The solution Jiang Jiang came up with was distillation!
The pond water cannot be drunk directly, but after going through several processes, the pollution of the water will be greatly reduced.
The charcoal and wood ash used by the villagers are excellent filtering materials, and the pot lid can catch a lot of evaporating water vapor.
Although this procedure is cumbersome and the amount of water obtained is small, it is at least much cleaner than the original pond water.
Li Mazi actually didn't have any ideas.
He was alone, with little food and no water. To put it bluntly, he was just waiting to die.
Jiang Jiang wanted to help him, and he was very grateful, so he naturally would not refuse.
So, under the surprised eyes of the villagers, Jiang Jiang and Li Mazi began to assemble the filtering device.
They collected the boiling water vapor with a pot lid, filtered it through charcoal and wood ash, and then boiled the water again to obtain distilled water.
After working for several hours, Li Mazi had only half a bucket of clear-looking water left out of the two buckets of water he had filled.
Due to limited materials, Jiang Jiang tried her best. If Li Mazi still got sick after drinking such water, she would have no other choice.
Following Jiang Jiang's busying around, Li Mazi became excited from his original numbness.
He saw with his own eyes how Jiang Jiang made a bucket of green lake water clear, and the original strong odor disappeared.
"It's best to boil this small bucket of water before drinking it." Jiang Jiang left a message, then took back his own pot lid and left.
It was just daybreak at this time, and some villagers who had gotten up early had already noticed Jiang Jiang and Li Mazi.
If it were in the village, a widow and an old widower, some outrageous rumors would probably spread everywhere.
But now they are on the road to escape famine, and their actions are under the eyes of everyone.
They just watched Jiang Jiang and Li Mazi's strange behavior silently. As they watched, they seemed to understand something.
The two men seemed to be messing with two buckets of pond water, as if they were trying to turn the undrinkable water into drinkable water.
Some people who were originally indifferent to the matter also began to take it seriously. If this could really be accomplished, no one in their village would die of thirst.
Originally there were only a few people watching secretly, but later a group of people gathered around to watch.
By now, Li Shuming, who had just had a nap, rushed over immediately after hearing about this.
Jiang Jiang had already gone back, so Li Shuming could only point to the small bucket of water on the ground and ask, "Is this water really drinkable?"
Apart from anything else, Li Shuming actually believed it to some extent.
This small bucket of water was completely different from the pond water he had fetched himself last night.
Li Mazi also accepted his fate. It was already like this. If he didn't survive after drinking the water, that would be his fate.
Li Mazi boiled the water, let it cool, then filled a bowl with the water and drank it down with gulps.
"Huh~" Li Mazi sighed with contentment. It was such a happy thing to be able to drink a sip of water.
After drinking the water, Li Mazi seemed to have fulfilled a wish. He lay peacefully on the ground, waiting for the decision of fate.
The Zhou family also heard about what happened in Daxi Village last night, and they decided to postpone their journey for a day.
If they could get drinkable fresh water, they could also replenish some.
The things Jiang Jiang uses to filter the lake water are nothing more than firewood, charcoal from burnt firewood, and wood ash. These things are available to everyone, but drinkable water is the most scarce.
After several hours, Li Mazi still had no reaction. Feeling a little hungry, he grabbed a handful of fried noodles, mixed it with water to make a paste, and started to eat it.
"Mom, maybe this method really works!"
Li Cuicui pulled Jiang Jiang's sleeve, extremely excited.
It wasn't just Li Cuicui. In the afternoon, Li Mazi still ate everything with relish. After he had nothing to do, cheers could be heard from the village one after another.
They have water to drink!
Even though it takes a lot of time and they have to chop a lot of firewood, it doesn’t matter, they all have water to drink!
Li Shuming swept away the gloom of the previous few days. With a smile on his face, he asked Jiang Jiang and Li Mazi to teach everyone the process of filtering water.
Jiang Jiang naturally would not refuse. Li Mazi was naturally very happy and enthusiastic when he received the five kilograms of sorghum flour promised by the village chief.
The whole village was filled with a sense of joy after surviving a disaster.
The children followed the adults to collect firewood, while the others sat together and listened to Jiang Jiang explain how to filter the pond water.
As luck would have it, the people of Daxi Village survived another disaster.