Chapter 33: The Small River Was Drying Up

Actually, he wanted to keep chatting with everyone because he usually felt so lonely here. But outside, George had already driven in with two water tankers, so he couldn’t just ignore them.

“George, why didn’t you get a few more trucks?” Liu Heming asked after arriving at the Small Lake.

“Dexter, renting more trucks would be too expensive. These two trucks should be enough for two days. Besides, we don’t need to water too much this time. Just enough to keep my Wheat Field going for a while longer,” George said with a smile.

“No, no, George, this time we need to water thoroughly. I just checked the weather forecast, and it might not rain for another ten days. If you water too little, you’ll just waste the water,” Liu Heming said, shaking his head.

He understood that the rental cost of the trucks was one thing, but more importantly, George probably felt awkward about taking so much water for free.

But it really didn’t matter. Since he wanted to help George, he had to help him all the way. Otherwise, if the water only wet the surface, it wouldn’t do the Wheat any good.

“Thank you, Dexter,” George said gratefully.

“Don’t thank me. If you can find extra water tanks, I can help you haul them over,” Liu Heming said, shaking his head.

“Dexter, we don’t need to do that. Actually, if my Farm wasn’t so far from here, I would have run a hose over. Let’s leave it to these tankers. I’ll try to get two more,” George said with a laugh.

As the water pump started working, Liu Heming kept an eye on the water level in the Lake. At first, it seemed to drop a little, but only for a moment. Then the water level stabilized.

Both he and George breathed a sigh of relief. He didn’t have to worry about the water anymore, and George felt less concerned. If the Lake had been drained, it would have been a bad thing to do.

“George, why don’t we clean up those rundown houses in the Town?” Liu Heming asked curiously.

“Even though the houses are rundown, they’re still someone’s private property. And with our Town in its current state, we have no right to ask anyone to fix them up,” George said, shaking his head.

“I don’t know when the groundwater level in our Town will recover. Only when it really recovers will people consider coming back to develop the area. Otherwise, Xiangshui Town will just stay the way it is now.”

No matter where you are, development depends on people. Even though George had high hopes for the revival of Xiangshui Town, they were just hopes. If the water level didn’t recover, no one would come to Xiangshui Town. With only the elderly, weak, and sick here now, trying to build up the Town would be like dreaming.

“By the way, your small Seeder needs some maintenance. It’s pretty old and not like the modern computer-controlled ones. If it breaks down during planting, it’ll cause a lot of trouble,” George added.

“Can John in Town help fix it? And you still haven’t taught me how to drive it. I’m worried I won’t even be able to get it to Town,” Liu Heming said, shrugging.

“Haha, it’s actually pretty simple. You’ll learn it in less than an hour. Once I’m done with the irrigation here, I’ll teach you,” George said with a laugh.

“Oh, one more thing. Last night when I was sleeping, I heard roaring sounds from the Forest. I don’t know what animal it was. Could it have been a black bear?” Liu Heming suddenly remembered the roars from the previous night and quickly asked.

He wasn’t as afraid of wolves now, but he was starting to fear black bears. Those creatures are incredibly strong. A few swipes from one would probably smash his house to pieces. And his Shotgun probably wouldn’t even faze a black bear.

“I think I heard something last night too. Maybe it was a black bear and the wolf pack having a conflict,” George said, frowning.

“But it was very brief, so it should be fine. Don’t worry too much. They’re smart animals. Unless they have no choice, they won’t start a fight.”

“Actually, I kind of hope the black bears come back to our area. They’re usually quite cute. As long as they’re not hungry and you don’t threaten them, they rarely attack humans.”

Liu Heming felt speechless. Seeing a black bear in a Zoo might be cute, but if you run into one while wandering outside, there’s no cuteness—only fear.

“Alright, I’ll head back now to deliver the water. I’ve also arranged for the irrigation construction team and the Corn Seeder. They’ll all be here tomorrow,” George said with a smile.

“Too bad you rented the Seeder for a full day when it only takes two hours to finish planting. If you plan to grow Corn in the future, I suggest you buy a used small Seeder. A few years of rental fees would be enough to buy one.”

Liu Heming nodded and watched as George left with the freshly filled tanker. He turned his attention back to the Lake.

Maybe because of the pumping, the water in the Lake looked a bit murky now. But even after pumping out a whole tanker and starting on the second one, the water level still hadn’t dropped. This finally put his mind at ease.

Then he started thinking: maybe he could make better use of this Lake.

Right now, there was only the shallow ditch he had dug initially. In the future, he would need to separate the grazing area from the planting area. If he set up the ditches properly here, he could naturally preserve the soil and water in this area. And if he raised some ducks or geese later, they could play in the water too. Since this area was for grazing, he didn’t need to worry about keeping the Land intact. He could just leave some pathways in key spots.

The more he thought about it, the more feasible it seemed. After all, this was his Land, and he could do whatever he wanted with it. He wasn’t damaging the Land on purpose, so no one could tell him what to do.

Ignoring the tanker and the driver, he got into his Pickup Truck and drove around the Ranch again. Last time, he had only taken a quick look. This time, he needed to examine everything carefully.

When he reached the tributary of the Xiangshui River, he couldn’t help but stop the truck. Last time he checked, he clearly remembered there was still some water flowing here, even if it was just a thin stream. But today, this small tributary showed signs of drying up. The mud at the bottom of the River Channel was now exposed in the middle.

Liu Heming sighed bitterly to himself. He didn’t know if a drought was coming. All he could do was hope for heavy rain in two weeks. If it rained enough, it might replenish this small river. Otherwise, the drought in Xiangshui Town would probably get even worse.