Chapter 75: The Rainy Season Has Arrived

Lin Manzhi regained her senses, opened the bedroom storage ventilation, then swept the floor and wiped the bed, laying out the smooth, icy skin rug she had bought from Kuangsha City.

In the afternoon, she followed Mo Lie to look at the lake in the middle of the tribe.

Originally the sparkling lake was at least the size of two soccer balls, but now only a puddle the size of a soccer goal remained in the middle.

The soil around the puddle was grayish-white, with cracked fissures covering the riverbed, each crack as wide as a finger; the wild grass that used to grow by the riverbed had dried into piles of yellowish hay.

Lin Manzhi stood by the hay beside the river.

The queue for fetching water with water jars was very long; Chief Luo Ji led the tribe's warrior squad to guard the middle puddle, allowing only five people to come at a time, watching the Beastfolk who came to fetch water in the tribe.

They had stored some water at home in the past few days, but when there was a water source, they were reluctant to use it and still lined up to draw water.

The tribe's only puddle looked not that deep; as the Beastfolk placed their water jars into the water, the jars filled halfway, and when lifted they brought up sand and silt from the puddle's bottom.

The water in the puddle was very turbid, but they didn't mind; they took a wooden basin from the side and continued ladling the muddy water into their own water jars until the jars were full, then left, letting the next Beastfolk come to fetch water.

Lin Manzhi watched for a moment, then silently began cutting hay; Mo Lie in front of her had already cut a large pile of hay.

Having heard her say she wanted the long-leaf hay growing by the river, he came over and lowered his head to gather it.

Lin Manzhi and Mo Lie did not linger long by the lake; after gathering two big bundles of hay, they hugged them and headed home.

……

In the night while everyone was asleep, a torrential downpour tore open the night sky without warning, and the rainy season arrived earlier than Chief Luo Ji had anticipated.

Lin Manzhi got up early in the morning and saw water dripping from the rocks protruding from the roof into the courtyard, flowing into the water jar with a clear pattering sound.

Lin Manzhi was still seeing rain here for the first time, not knowing when it would stop midway.

She had eaten breakfast, the softened meat jerky, when Xi Tao, head covered with a smooth waterproof beast skin, rushed over to find her, saying, "Lin Manzhi, do we still need to go look for them?"

They were referring to the four people whose water cellars were still empty; Lin Manzhi thought those four were fine, took the rainproof skin Mo Lie had brought, put it on her head, and said, "Come on, come on, perfect timing for a heavy rain."

Mo Lie followed at a steady pace.

His face was hidden beneath thick exotic beast skin, his gaze continually on Lin Manzhi beside him, his blue eyes like sapphires washed by water.

Xi Tao froze for a moment, then hurriedly led two Beast Husbands behind Lin Manzhi and Mo Lie as they went out; her eagerness also stemmed from wanting to know how Lin Manzhi collected rainwater.

The arrival of this heavy rain made everyone in the Luosanya tribe rejoice; the experienced Beastfolk took out everything at home that could catch water and placed it in their courtyards to collect rainwater from the sky.

Some male beasts simply went shirtless, enjoying the rare rain as they happily showered in the courtyard, everyone's faces showing their love for water.

Along the way, Lin Manzhi saw every household's courtyard gate wide open, with accumulated rainwater flowing from the doors out onto the sandy ground; some sand could not hold the water, while in other places poor drainage left small pools.

When they arrived at one male beast's home, his courtyard already had seven or eight jars set out to catch rainwater; seeing Lin Manzhi's group, he welcomed them inside.

Lin Manzhi didn't want to go house to house, so she had him call over the three people whose water cellars were still empty, saying she would teach everyone how to collect rainwater into the water cellars.

Soon, the other three also came over.

The four understood Lin Manzhi's intention, their faces blank: "Collect enough rainwater to fill the water cellar… how do we do it?"

Although the rainy season would bring continuous rain for a month, it would occasionally pause, and the surface water would quickly dry up under the sun.

Afterwards, one of the male beasts became a bit pleased: "If we rely on jars to catch water, by the end of the rainy season we could also fill the bottom of the water cellar!"

Lin Manzhi shook her head, seeing that the large stone blocking the water cellar entrance in the corner of the outside courtyard had also been moved; due to the terrain, the water in the courtyard still flowed outward.

Not bad, they had thought of collecting rainwater, but they had few methods.

Here they were essentially learning about water cellars for the first time; they certainly didn't know as much as modern information about water cellars.

Lin Manzhi led everyone to the courtyard, came to the water cellar's edge, and said: "A water cellar can centrally collect large amounts of rainwater; the method is also simple—first block the courtyard gate with stones, then slope the soil around the water cellar opening to redirect the courtyard's accumulated water toward the cellar."

"Finally, lay a wattle made of woven hay over the water cellar opening to block larger debris."

Saying this, she took the hay she had brought, rolled it into thin strands with both hands, then wove it like a sweater into a net, placing it over the water cellar opening.

Xi Tao and several others stared at Lin Manzhi unblinking, just as they would stare at edible meat.

Lin Manzhi tied the remaining hay into a bundle, swept it over the water piled on the ground, and a large amount of water splashed and was swept into the water cellar opening: "Go find hay, tie it into a bundle, and when it rains sweep the courtyard water like this into the water cellar."

This method is quite simple.

But when people are anxious and dealing with something they've never seen before, they sometimes just can't think of it.

Until Lin Manzhi pointed it out, the four Beastfolk followed her from the courtyard gate to the water cellar, their eyes widening more and more, and they exclaimed in sudden realization:

"Lin Cixing, you're too smart! I never thought of that!"

"I've wasted so much water in my courtyard—no, I must hurry back and block the gate!"

"With this method, sweeping all the courtyard rain into the water cellar, even if it doesn't fill the cellar this month, it can at least fill half of it!"

"This is far better than letting water trickle in at the water cellar opening!"

After receiving Lin Manzhi's rainwater collection method, they all said goodbye to her and hurriedly ran home in the heavy rain.

Generally speaking, modern water cellars would have buried drainage pipes in advance; here, lacking that simple version, we use this rough method to gather the courtyard's water together and then sweep it into the water cellar opening.

The rainwater collected in the heavy rain is very turbid with debris; the hay net coarsely filters out larger sand and soil, so the water gathered in the water cellar remains turbid, but after settling it can still be used.

After teaching everyone, Lin Manzhi did not accept the meat jerky they offered and returned empty-handed.

Xi Tao, however, felt sorry for Lin Manzhi; the handful of meat jerky those four produced together weighed about a little less than a catty.

She felt sorry for Lin Manzhi, giving away the rainwater collection method for water cellars just like that.

Beside her, Mo Lie slightly narrowed his eyes, following Lin Manzhi with interest, watching her.