Chapter 43: The Water Well and the Lever Principle

Chapter 43: Chapter 43: The Water Well and the Lever Principle

From high noon until the sun sank below the western hills, Ji Huan dragged her numb legs as she ran round and round, searching every place she could think of.

The city gates were about to close, and without a lodging permit from the village chief, she had to leave.

Sitting on the last mule cart back to Dafeng Village, she watched Yeyang County recede into the distance. Ji Huan couldn’t help but wonder, ’Could Dabao still be in some corner of the city I overlooked? How will he sleep now that it’s dark?’

She couldn’t let herself dwell on it. The moment she did, she wanted to run back and keep searching, but the city gates were already closed.

Ji Huan sat hugging her knees, feeling utterly disheartened for a moment.

The mule cart moved quickly, the driver clearly trying to make it back before the last of the daylight faded. But they hadn’t even reached Juyong Town when the sky turned completely dark.

The driver suddenly gasped.

"Whose kid is that? What’s he doing out in the fields this late...?"

As if by some uncanny intuition, Ji Huan shot to her feet.

In the faint moonlight, she could just make out a familiar little figure on the dirt road ahead.

He took tiny steps, shuffling back bit by bit like a little snail, silent and resolute.

Tears instantly streamed down Ji Huan’s face.

She cried out for the driver to stop, leaping from the mule cart before it had even come to a full halt and racing toward the little boy.

She swept the child into her arms, her voice choked with sobs as she repeated over and over, "I’m sorry, I’m sorry..."

She couldn’t say anything other than those two words.

’How did Dabao get out of the city? How did he remember this road? A little boy walking all alone... what if a bad person had noticed him...’

The lingering fear gave way to a flicker of anger. Pushing the boy out of her embrace, she gave his bottom a few firm smacks.

"Why were you running around on your own? What if a kidnapper had taken you? Why didn’t you wait for me to..."

Ji Huan’s voice trailed off.

Dabao was covered in dust, his little face swollen and bruised, but the eyes he fixed on Ji Huan were still so clear, even serene.

It was as if he had no idea the person before him had tried to abandon him.

Ji Huan lowered her head and gripped his hand tightly. She took a long time to compose herself before she dared to meet his gaze.

"Dabao, I was wrong this time... From now on, no matter what happens, I will never, ever leave you behind again... I promise you."

The words were less a promise to Dabao and more a vow to herself.

Dabao blinked, then turned his head to the left. In that pitch-black darkness lay the road home.

Ji Huan roughly wiped her face, picked Dabao up, and climbed back onto the mule cart. "Come on, let’s go home!"

The village chief was the most shocked to learn that she had brought Dabao back.

"What are you doing? Sending him to the Orphanage was a good idea. It would have saved you from being burdened by him..."

Ji Huan recounted everything she had seen at the Orphanage.

The village chief was taken aback. "How could it be like that...?"

Seeing that he truly didn’t know the details and hadn’t intentionally thrown Dabao into a terrible situation, Ji Huan let go of her resentment.

"Village Chief, you’re the most respected man in all of Dafeng Village. Perhaps you could find an opportunity to mention the situation to the County Magistrate? I’ve heard he has praised your excellent governance of the village many times. Words from others might not have any effect, but he will surely listen to you. Those children are truly pitiful. If you could help them, Village Chief, it would be an act of immense merit."

The village chief, plied with such high praise, felt giddy. It was more intoxicating than drinking a jar of fine, aged wine.

He lifted his head high and stroked his beard. "I didn’t expect a young lady like yourself to have such insight. You’re right. The county magistrate does hold me in some regard."

"Then..."

"However..." A troubled look crossed his face. "Matters in Yeyang are... complicated. Don’t underestimate that little Orphanage. It has a complex web of connections that involves many people... Sigh, why am I even telling you this? You wouldn’t understand. In any case, Dabao isn’t going there anymore, so what that place is like has nothing to do with us. It’s best not to get involved."

Although the village chief wasn’t particularly worldly and wasn’t a true official, after so many years as a low-level functionary, he understood a thing or two about the ways of bureaucracy.

He knew, at the very least, that he couldn’t get involved with the Orphanage. One wrong move could affect everything! He had a keen nose for trouble and had sniffed out the danger early on.

Shaking his head and sighing, the village chief left. There was nothing Ji Huan could do. She was just one powerless person. It was a victory enough that she could protect Dabao; she had no energy left to save the rest of the world.

"Dabao, let’s go fetch some water!"

Ji Huan shouted into the house, then went to the kitchen to get the shoulder pole and buckets. By the time she came out, Dabao was already stepping over the threshold on his short legs.

The experience of losing Dabao had left a deep scar on Ji Huan. It led her to develop a new habit: she now took Dabao with her wherever she went.

Even when she had to use the outhouse... she couldn’t take him inside, of course, so she would have Dabao wait right outside. Separated by the wall, she would call his name every so often, only feeling at ease after waiting a few moments to hear a faint "Mm" in reply.

That’s right, Dabao could now say "Mm." In Ji Huan’s eyes, this was tremendous progress.

’But she also knew that people don’t progress without a reason. Something must have stimulated him, or triggered something in him, forcing him out of his comfort zone and making him grow. For Dabao, was the experience at the Orphanage also a scar on his heart?’

Ji Huan didn’t dare to dwell on it. She could only hope that time, and lots and lots of love, would heal the wound her ignorance had caused.

She placed the shoulder pole across her shoulders. Ropes with hooks at the end dangled from either side, onto which she hung the buckets. Balancing the pole with one hand and holding Dabao’s hand with the other, Ji Huan headed toward the large well in the center of the village.

Previously, Hu Liang would come by every two or three days to help fill her water vat, so Ji Huan had never had to worry about fetching water.

Some time ago, Widow Xie had returned to work at the silk workshop, so the responsibility of caring for Old Mother Xie fell to Hu Liang. Ji Huan felt it wouldn’t be right to keep troubling him. Besides, she had watched others fetch water and thought it didn’t look too hard. She could definitely do it herself.

She had spoken too soon.

There was a windlass above the well, with coils of rope wrapped around it. You tied the end of the rope to the bucket handle, turned the crank, and the bucket would be lowered into the well.

Everything went perfectly up to that point. The next step was to jiggle the rope to fill the bucket with water, then crank it back up.

She had seen other people do it, and they always made it look so easy, filling the bucket with just a flick or two of the rope.

When it was her turn, she started off shaking the rope with great vigor, only to hear the wooden bucket CLANGING repeatedly against the well wall. Soon her wrist was sore and she had worked up a sweat, but the bucket was still just floating on the surface.

She figured she must have lowered it wrong, so she cranked the bucket all the way back up and lowered it again... but the result was exactly the same.

Dabao stared at her with his big, dark, unblinking eyes, as if asking whether she was trying to fetch water or just playing in it.

Ji Huan wiped the sweat from her forehead, instantly mortified.

Luckily, it was suppertime, so the peak hour for fetching water had passed. Otherwise, she would have died of embarrassment.

’Still, this is pretty humiliating,’ she thought. ’So much for my dignity as his big sister...’

’I wonder if explaining the principle of the lever to Dabao would help me save some face? Even if I can’t get the water up, at least I know *why* the windlass works... I’m still pretty smart, right?’

Ji Huan took a deep breath, about to try one more time, when someone beat her to it and grabbed the rope.

Ji Huan froze. She turned her head and saw a face that was a little too pale.