Bai Sheng pondered for a moment and said, "How about this, Uncle Ye, you continue digging. I'll add ten taels of silver for every meter you dig. If we still don't find water after digging five more meters, we'll seal the well. What do you say?"
She hadn't fully expected to find water, but since they had already dug 100 meters, why not try a little more? It would be troublesome to fetch spiritual spring water every day if they didn't.
Old Man Ye considered it and said, "Alright, we'll do as the mistress says!"
The people of Hongshu Slope heard that Old Man Ye had dug 100 meters without finding water, and their hearts grew heavy. After all, the mistress had spent 1,000 taels of silver on digging a well. If they truly couldn't find water, that 1,000 taels would be wasted.
That was 1,000 taels of silver, an amount they couldn't even dream of in several lifetimes.
However, the master and mistress didn't seem too worried, and it was useless for them to fret.
During dinner, everyone sat at the table, eating ravenously.
Bai Sheng felt something nudging her foot under the table. She looked across the table. Lu Yu was sitting opposite her. His short legs couldn't reach the ground when he sat, so it definitely wasn't him kicking her.
Lu Yun was sitting on her left. Lu Yun's legs barely touched the ground, so there wasn't any extra length to nudge her. Lu Ye was on her right. Lu Ye's long legs were already stretched out across to the other side, so it was impossible for him to make such a sharp turn.
Bai Sheng stretched her neck and looked under the table. She saw nothing. So, she tucked her feet back and placed them properly on the crossbar under her chair.
Now she could eat in peace.
But after a while, something nudged her foot again. She pretended not to notice. When the thing was enthusiastically nudging, she suddenly leaned down to look under the table.
The object under the table was startled by the sudden appearance of a head and tumbled over.
Bai Sheng finally saw clearly. It was a small, greyish-white pangolin!
"What's wrong?" Lu Ye saw Bai Sheng suddenly lean down to look under the table and followed her gaze.
Her three younger sisters-in-law also immediately leaned down to look under the table.
For a moment, the pangolin was being observed by five heads of varying sizes. It shivered, wanting to show affection but also a little scared.
Bai Sheng chuckled, "Something has been nudging my foot. It turns out to be a little pangolin."
"It's so cute," Lu Yu widened his eyes.
"Sister-in-law, it must have come to seek refuge with you again," Lu Yun said confidently.
"Then why didn't it bring a gift for sister-in-law? Unlike Hail, Lightning, and Thunder who all brought gifts," Lu Hua asked curiously. Although Thunder's gift was its mother's flesh, it was still a gift.
The little pangolin scanned the heads under the table. It was a little scared, its body trembling slightly.
Finally, it made up its mind. It wiggled its little body and moved closer to Bai Sheng.
"See, I told you it came to seek refuge with sister-in-law," Lu Yun said proudly.
Bai Sheng scooped it up and held it in her arms, laughing, "So it was you, little one, nudging my foot?"
"Oh my, the mistress has taken in another pangolin!" Tian Guihua exclaimed.
People at other tables were also attracted.
"Another wild creature has come to seek refuge with the mistress! How rare!"
"Our mistress is truly blessed. Even if these animals can't speak, they understand things in their hearts," Granny Zhong chuckled.
"These animals are as smart as us. They all know the mistress is a good person!" Huang Gousheng, holding his rice bowl, didn't forget to flatter her.
Granny Wu and Qingfeng already knew Bai Sheng had this ability, so their expressions remained calm.
Bai Sheng fed the little pangolin some food and water and, when no one was looking, put it into her space.
Huhuh, upon seeing the little pangolin, knew it was a new member the master had taken in. It calmly asked, "Master, name?"
"Hail!" Bai Sheng chose another name related to weather, with "water" in it.
Heavens, can you see my longing for rain?
That evening, after Bai Sheng and Lu Ye entered the space, Huhuh said that Little Hail was preparing to give them a gift.
Bai Sheng asked, "What gift?"
Huhuh was about to play coy, but sensing Bai Sheng's death stare, it immediately got to the point. "Hail said it can help dig holes to find water. As long as the master ties a rope to it and drops it into the well, it can drill down into the well to see if there is water at the bottom."
Little Hail immediately nodded.
This afternoon, it had hidden in a corner and overheard the conversation between Old Man Ye and the mistress. It knew the mistress really wanted to know if the well would yield water. Originally, it felt very embarrassed coming to seek refuge with the mistress empty-handed, so it had been afraid to approach. Upon hearing this news, it became very excited and finally had the confidence to approach the mistress!
Bai Sheng and Lu Ye exchanged an excited glance. This was indeed a good method. The two immediately brought Hail out of the space.
Tonight, Hu Daniu and Yang Ming were on duty. They patrolled diligently around the houses.
Lu Ye quietly approached them and touched their pressure points to induce sleep, then he and Bai Sheng carried Hail towards the well.
After securely tying Hail to the rope, Lu Ye slowly lowered the rope into the well.
Little Hail was very courageous. It dared to venture into the 100-meter-deep well. Bai Sheng was very touched. Thinking of the animals around her, each was grateful and loyal to her, better than many people in the world.
After about the time it takes for two incense sticks to burn, the rope in Lu Ye's hand began to shake violently.
"It should be time. Ye, pull it up quickly!" Bai Sheng said, very worried about Hail's safety at the bottom of the well.
Lu Ye began to carefully pull the rope up.
Hail came up and was a little excited, constantly nudging Bai Sheng's ankle with its pointed snout.
In the darkness of the night, they couldn't see any water stains. Bai Sheng and Lu Ye immediately reached out to feel Hail's body, and it was wet!
"Ye, there's water below!" Bai Sheng was overjoyed.
"Mm!" Lu Ye was also very happy. "We need to ask it how many meters down the water is."
Hail didn't have a human sense of length, but it understood what its master said. It wriggled out of Bai Sheng's embrace and gently bit the rope at a certain spot with its teeth.
"Hail is telling us the length!" Bai Sheng exclaimed happily.
Lu Ye measured it with his arm. "About three meters. This means that after digging another three meters, we will hit water!" This was truly exciting news.
The two were so happy they kissed and hugged.
Hail: You two continue. I can't see, and I can't hear.
To avoid any complications, Bai Sheng and Lu Ye decided to keep this a secret for now and only have Old Man Ye dig a few more meters.
Lu Ye went to release Hu Daniu and Yang Ming from their sleep.
The two thought they had accidentally fallen asleep during their duty and felt deeply guilty.
The next morning, Lu Ye told Old Man Ye to stop after digging another three to four meters and that they would pay an additional 40 taels of silver.
Old Man Ye felt he had no losses and instructed the well-digging team to continue their efforts. They were only four meters away from sealing the well.
The well-digging team felt reluctant as the project was about to end. They had been digging wells for many years and had never encountered an employer so generous with food and wages. Moreover, this entire family, with dozens of servants and masters, got along very harmoniously. They enjoyed their lives here immensely.
Li Qiang and Lu Fengshou also felt very reluctant. If the well-digging work ended, they would definitely find other ways to stay, in short, they were determined to remain here.
The children from Hongliu Village and Caomiao Village secretly resolved to follow this family as much as possible in the future, as there was a way to survive by following them.
Knowing that the well would yield water, Bai Sheng was in a very good mood. She lay on the lounge chair, humming a tune as she read her "Compendium of Materia Medica."
Lu Ye sat beside her, making bows and arrows. He planned to teach the people of Hongshu Slope archery, and everyone would have a bow and arrow.
Suddenly, Sun Gamei from Caomiao Village ran over in a panic.
"Master, Master, it's bad! Qian Zhaodi was hit by a rock!"