Chapter 104: Water Well

In the eyes of the chieftain and the elders, digging a well was no small matter for just Zhang Fan and Ba Ke Er; it was a major undertaking beneficial to the whole tribe! This must not be taken lightly! We must be careful!

Even by noon, Zhang Fan and Ba Ke Er still couldn't manage to slip away; they continued staying in the office to have a meal with everyone, and of course they didn't stop talking while eating.

Thus, after discussing the details for roughly another afternoon in the office, Zhang Fan finally explained all the specifics, precautions, and safety issues clearly to everyone. The chieftain and the elders recorded everything he said in detail on sheepskin scrolls with their feather pens.

When Zhang Fan first saw them produce these items, he felt a bit surprised—after all, he had been in the tribe for quite a while and had never seen writing tools here before, so he curiously glanced at what the chieftain and others had written down, only to find that none of those symbol-like characters made sense to him; they weren't oracle bone script nor pictographs.

Those characters looked simple—just circles, dots, crosses, and the like—but they were utterly baffling. Zhang Fan subconsciously felt he couldn't just bluntly ask the chieftain and elders about this, so he kept his questions bottled up inside. Only after the meeting ended and the chieftain and elders let him go, returning home, did he dare to ask Ba Ke Er about it.

"Ba Ke Er, it turns out our tribe actually has writing? I had no idea—I thought you guys still hadn't developed writing yet!"

Ba Ke Er was very surprised by Zhang Fan's words; he never expected that Fan Fan would actually know those were writing!

"Fan Fan, you truly live up to being the Divine Envoy chosen by the Beast God! At first sight you recognized it as writing—amazing!"

After praising Zhang Fan, Ba Ke Er's expression suddenly turned solemn, and he continued:

"Legend says those characters were personally taught by the Beast God to the leaders of a great tribe when he created the Beastmen Planet. Later, those leaders, wanting all tribe members to learn writing, began secretly teaching the people in the tribe."

"Not long after, many tribe members had learned it. But somehow, other Beastmen tribes found out. Since they had not received the Beast God's gift of writing, upon learning that tribe possessed the Beast God's granted writing, they became furious! For some reason, they developed a desire to loot, and thus allied with several neighboring large tribes to launch war against that writing-possessing tribe!"

"Surrounded by those great tribes, the writing tribe quickly headed toward extinction, and the writing dwindled from over ten thousand characters down to fewer than a hundred today. From then on, any tribe possessing the Beast God's granted writing dared not teach it to its members! Only those who could recognize and write the characters were allowed to be the tribe's leaders. In other words, only Beastmen selected as the next chieftain could study writing."

After hearing Ba Ke Er's explanation, Zhang Fan gradually understood—wasn't this just the principle of 'an innocent man incurs guilt by carrying a jade'? And that Beast God, too—if he was going to grant writing, why not bestow it equally? Still, I'm puzzled about the elders also knowing writing.

"If that's the case, why do the elders know writing too? And the priest as well!"

Ba Ke Er laughed heartily at Zhang Fan's confusion.

"Fan Fan, the elders are simply the former chieftains—they of course know writing! As for the priest, his writing is innate talent; only the priest possesses it, ordinary people don't. Moreover, this innate writing is different from the Beast God's granted writing!"

"Oh, I see!"

After his doubts were cleared, Zhang Fan couldn't help but recall the writing he had learned since childhood. He pondered whether to bring it up, when the right time would be, and how to persuade the chieftain and elders to let him promote it on the Beastmen Planet.

After thinking for a long time, Zhang Fan still couldn't come up with a good idea, so he simply shook his head and tossed the thought aside.

Just then, Ba Ke Er's stomach suddenly let out a thunderous roar. Zhang Fan heard it and couldn't help but laugh rudely. Ba Ke Er instantly felt extremely embarrassed, unable to stop his face from turning red.

He stammered, "Fan… Fan Fan… I… I… I'm hungry!"

Zhang Fan was delighted beyond measure; he glanced at his watch, chuckled lightly, and said, "Haha… I certainly know you're hungry! That huge sound, I couldn't have missed it. Well, it's also time to cook rice. It's already past five o'clock!"

After saying that, Zhang Fan went to the kitchen to get busy, and Ba Ke Er immediately followed.

……

The next morning, after Ba Ke Er finished his meal, he went to find Mo De to go up the mountain and haul stones together. Meanwhile, Zhang Fan, having washed the dishes, picked up a stone hoe and began digging at a spot in the yard where groundwater might be present.

Not long after, Fei Er arrived carrying a large pile of snacks. Fei Er followed Zhang Fan into the courtyard and immediately saw the large pit about one meter in diameter on the left side of the yard. Fei Er expressed great curiosity!

"Fan Fan, what is this pit for?"

Zhang Fan earnestly explained everything to Fei Er in response to his question. Upon hearing Zhang Fan say that this large pit was actually a device that would allow people to have water at home, Fei Er became even more curious! Especially when he saw Zhang Fan pick up the hoe again and start digging, he couldn't resist the urge to join in!

At this point, Fei Er stopped eating his snacks, casually placed them on a lounge chair in the yard, then went inside to fetch a stone shovel and began helping Zhang Fan dig in silence. Originally Zhang Fan thought Fei Er had changed his ways, but after just a few digs, Fei Er started chattering nonstop; after digging a dozen more times, he complained of fatigue, flung his hands down, and quit! He washed his hands and then resumed munching on his snacks.

At this moment, Zhang Fan couldn't help but feel relieved! Good thing I didn't have high expectations for Fei Er; otherwise, the higher the hope, the greater the disappointment. Now, without Fei Er's incessant chatter in his ear, Zhang Fan's digging speed actually increased quite a bit!

When Ba Ke Er and Mo De, the two male Beastmen, brought back the stones needed to line the well, they could only smell Zhang Fan and Fei Er's presence, only see Fei Er hugging his snacks and snoring loudly on the lounge chair, yet Zhang Fan was nowhere to be found, and moreover, an extra large pit had appeared out of nowhere in the yard!

This terrified Ba Ke Er! He dropped the stones and rushed into the house, the back rooms, and even the cellar, searching several times, but found no trace of Zhang Fan! At that moment, Zhang Fan, who had just discovered the water source while digging four meters deep in the well, naturally knew Ba Ke Er had returned, though he never imagined Ba Ke Er would panic at not seeing him.

Thus, an earthling who still didn't realize he had driven his partner to anxiety continued excitedly digging the well's reservoir. After Zhang Fan finished digging the well casing, climbed up the ladder, he finally realized he had almost driven Ba Ke Er crazy!

After quietly stepping forward and soothing the red-eyed, frantic Ba Ke Er with gentle words, Zhang Fan then began to say that the well casing had been completed. Upon hearing this, Ba Ke Er's heart, which had just returned to its place, suddenly leapt up again! He anxiously tugged at Zhang Fan, looking around several times, still uneasy.

"Fan Fan, how could you do this! Weren't you supposed to let me handle the well-digging? How could you…"

Before Ba Ke Er could finish his sentence, Zhang Fan's hand clamped over his mouth and forced the words back.

"Ba Ke Er, this isn't a big deal for me! Know that on our Earth, females and males are equal! Whether it's physical labor or mental work, females aren't necessarily inferior to males! Even more, in the women's shoe industry, females can outperform males! So I also hope you'll regard me as your equal, not as your subordinate!"

Zhang Fan had endured this long, finally blurting out his inner thoughts. But Ba Ke Er, upon hearing it, froze—what was going on? Ba Ke Er insisted he completely didn't understand what Zhang Fan was saying! How to break through?

Seeing Ba Ke Er show no reaction after his speech, Zhang Fan also grew impatient! He subtly lifted his head to glance at Ba Ke Er's expression, only to see Ba Ke Er looking utterly bewildered!

Regarding this, Zhang Fan said: Forget it! I still can't make this clear to him! Looks like I can't rush it; I can only gradually instill the idea of equality among people.

Afterwards, Ba Ke Er and Mo De began moving the stones they had brought into the well, then started laying them from the bottom up, piece by piece. Meanwhile, Zhang Fan and the just-awakened Fei Er went into the cellar to fetch ingredients, then returned to the kitchen to prepare lunch for four.

In the afternoon, Ba Ke Er and Mo De continued working in the well, lining the walls, while Zhang Fan and Fei Er took shell money to the tribe's market to buy goods. Of course, Zhang Fan also brought along some sugar, pickled chili, and tomato sauce he had made in his spare time to sell.

After Zhang Fan and Fei Er sold everything they brought, they went on to buy some cloth and other necessities. Once their purchases were done, Zhang Fan and Fei Er slowly walked back to Zhang Fan's home.

Before they even entered the courtyard, Zhang Fan and Fei Er heard Ba Ke Er and Mo De moving stones in the yard. They pushed open the gate and stepped inside, seeing Ba Ke Er and Mo De busy constructing the well platform!

Zhang Fan observed the scene and knew the well walls were likely already finished; he walked over and asked, and indeed, as expected! Speaking, Ba Ke Er and Mo De had already completed the well platform! What efficiency! I must say, Zhang Fan was deeply impressed by the two of them.

Over the next few days, Zhang Fan's well attracted the entire tribe's populace to come and see! Ba Ke Er and his wife, along with Mo De and a few others, began busy guiding the tribe members in digging wells. Naturally, this wasn't unpaid labor! Following Zhang Fan's suggestion, the chieftain held a meeting and announced: any family that accepted guidance from any one of them must compensate each person with one wild ox per day as remuneration!

Eventually, the whole tribe managed to drink sweet well water from their own wells before the corn harvest in the fields.