Hou's mother looked up to see her son had returned and let out a long sigh. "Oh, don't even ask. It hasn't rained for a long time, the river behind the Back Mountain has dried up, and the groundwater is almost bottomed out. The village is currently trying to figure out what to do."
Hou Yong frowned. In his past life, he had already left for the city with Wang Xue by this time, so he didn't know much about this particular drought in the village.
He immediately walked over to the water pump, reached out, and pressed the handle a few times. Normally, water would come out after three pumps, but now there was only a gurgling sound in the pipes. He pressed it a dozen more times, and only a little water mixed with sand and mud flowed out—a far cry from how it had been just days ago.
"Is it the same for every household?"
Hou Yong turned to look at his mother, who nodded. "The village's water supply basically comes from that river behind the Back Mountain. Now that there’s no water in the river, it’s basically finished for everyone."
"Damn it, those people in Xinghua Village really aren't human."
Just then, Hou's father walked through the door, carrying two buckets of water. Hou Yong hurried over to help him, unable to help complaining, "Dad, didn't the doctor tell you to stay in bed and rest? Why are you doing heavy labor like this?"
"Old Hou, where did you get this water?" Hou's mother asked, walking over and looking at the water in the buckets.
"I got it at the village chief's house. That old well in his courtyard was dug deep years ago, and it probably doesn't rely on the river behind the Back Mountain. It still has water, so he’s letting everyone take a little to get by."
"So, Dad, what were you saying about Xinghua Village?"
"Don't mention it; I get angry just thinking about it." Hou's father took a few puffs of his dry tobacco pipe and said indignantly, "We went up to the Back Mountain with the village chief to see what was going on. By all rights, it shouldn't have dried up all at once. When we got there, we saw it was those bastards from Xinghua Village. They blocked the river channel, saying they wanted to store water for their own village. They refuse to let any through; if you want water, you have to trade half a jin of brown rice or a bag of corn flour per bucket."
"Isn't that illegal?" Hou Yong asked, taken aback.
"What law?" Hou's father retorted. Hou Yong was left speechless for a moment.
Even in the future, if this happened in a remote and underdeveloped village, it would be difficult to resolve, let alone in this era.
"Old Hou, what do we do now?" Hou's mother asked, looking worried. "In such hot weather, people can manage eating a little less, but if they don't drink water, I’m afraid this heat will cause real trouble."
"It's alright, let's just get through what's in front of us first." Hou's father crushed his cigarette butt on the ground and twisted it with his foot. "Did you close the deal for that ice jelly business in the city? If not, we might..."
"It's done, it's done." Hou Yong quickly pulled the contract from his pocket and handed it to his father. "The contract is signed. From now on, we supply according to this standard, and half of tomorrow's deposit has already been paid."
"I... I can't read, why the hell are you showing me this?" Hou's father stared at the contract for a moment before pushing it back.
"Use some of this water to make your ice jelly so you don't delay tomorrow's business. Tonight, we'll just have some watery rice and a bit of pickled vegetables."
So-called watery rice was just leftover rice from yesterday with water added, cooked like a porridge, but not as thick. The water had the flavor of rice soup, and the grains remained separate; it was enough to satisfy one's hunger and thirst.
"And, Panpan, don't mind the food. Water is tight right now, we’re just making do," Hou's father said, not forgetting to look after Gu Panpan’s feelings.
"It’s okay, I don't mind, Uncle... Dad." The last word was squeezed out from the depths of her throat. Even now, she wasn't sure how she should properly address him.
"So, what about them blocking the water upstream? Are we just going to let Xinghua Village extort us like that?"
"Extort is a strong word, but it depends on how the village chief handles the negotiations." Hou's father reached for another smoke, but Hou Yong snatched it away. The old man smacked his lips. "We went to look upstream today, too. They don't have much water left either. If the heavens don't rain, having two villages relying on one river is a lost cause either way."
The dinner atmosphere was oppressive; nobody said much. Because of the sudden shortage of water, everyone drank very little.
After preparing the ice jelly for Boss Zhou, Hou Yong didn't prepare any extra, partly to save water for his family, and partly because no one knew when it would rain.
Although this was the modern era, the process for artificial rain was far from perfect. Forget the present; even in the future, if it went wrong, it would result in empty-handed frustration. No rain, just empty clouds.
After finishing work for the night, there was less than half a bucket of water left for tomorrow, so Hou Yong didn't even wash himself before heading to his room.
Over the past few days, Hou's parents had tacitly accepted Gu Panpan as their daughter-in-law, so they turned a blind eye to Hou Yong sleeping in his own room at night. The elderly couple was even looking forward to the two of them giving them a grandson soon. This was a regret Hou Yong and Wang Xue had never been able to resolve in his past life, as Wang Xue had always refused to get pregnant, citing the need to focus on her career.
The room was stuffy. Hou Yong sat by the window, but didn't feel any cooler. His skin felt sticky, and there was a faint, sour smell on his body. He couldn't sleep, but he didn't want to get Gu Panpan dirty.
"Brother Yong, are you still thinking about the water shortage in Xinghua Village?" Gu Panpan walked over, gently placing her hands on his shoulders. Hou Yong turned around, held her hands, and nodded slightly. "I suddenly feel that while I can do many things well, there are some things I just can’t fix no matter what I do."
"You're already amazing, Brother Yong." Gu Panpan squeezed his hands slightly. "The main cause of the drought is a natural disaster; Xinghua Village blocking the water is just one factor. Nobody wanted this."
"At worst, we’ll secure the ice jelly business with Boss Zhou, pause the street stall, and go further away to fetch water."
"That really is the only way." Hou Yong sighed softly. In the future, this wouldn't be a problem—if the water was cut for a few days, you could go out for a shower or buy bottled water. But this was an ordinary mountain village in 1980, and those facilities simply didn't exist.
Furthermore, he had just signed the contract with Boss Zhou. If he proposed to stop supply now, Boss Zhou held the contract—would he sue for breach of contract and then try to get his hands on the ice jelly recipe? Hou Yong felt that was very possible.
Just when he thought everything was heading in a good direction, this force majeure—a drought and lack of water—had hit him like a blunt blow to the head. Hou Yong felt a wave of frustration.