The rain poured heavily, splashing up clouds of mist upon the ground.
On the eaves, water dripped down, forming beads resembling a pearl curtain.
Amidst the noise, there was also a sense of tranquil peace.
The misty water vapor floated into the house through the windows and doorway.
Han Cheng stood here quietly, watching the heavy rainfall.
It is said that most people sleep peacefully on rainy nights because, during the rain, many wild animals tend to hide away, no longer bothering or attacking humans. People can take advantage of this rare opportunity to completely relax their minds.
This subconscious feeling has been passed down from ancient times to the present.
Of course, the prerequisite for peaceful sleep is having a place that provides some shelter from the wind and rain.
Like the poet Du Fu, who lived in a dilapidated thatched hut, constantly lamenting, "the raindrops are like hemp and never cease," it is impossible to sleep soundly while listening to the continuous rain leaking into pots and tubs inside the house.
When life improves, there are more things to worry about and more things to do because every acquisition is not obtained out of thin air; it requires corresponding labor.
Especially in this era when the Green Sparrow Tribe far surpasses surrounding tribes, and the division of labor is unclear, most of the things the Green Sparrow Tribe needs must be done by their own hands.
To want to focus solely on one type of work and then use the money earned to buy everything needed, like in later generations, belongs to the series of "within one's lifetime."
With a straw hat on his head and a raincoat draped over him, Han Cheng and about thirty similarly dressed people walked out of the house, into the rain curtain, grabbed a bone shovel from the tool shed, and headed towards the fields.
The farmland of the Green Sparrow Tribe had been newly cultivated in the past two years, and the drainage facilities were not yet perfect. Many fields were easily washed away in the face of such heavy rain.
Han Cheng and the others came out for this reason. Whenever they saw fields rapidly being damaged by accumulating rainwater, they used the bone shovels to plug the breaches and divert the water into the drainage ditches.
For newly cultivated fields, activities such as inspecting and digging drainage channels during rainy days must continue for at least three years. When both sides of the drainage ditch are covered with grass, and the soil at the ditch has hardened again and is no longer easily washed away by water, then the job can be considered done.
After being soaked by rainwater, the newly dug land became soft, and even walking barefoot on it felt cool and soft.
Walking on such soil barefoot was not feasible. Even wearing grass shoes would soon be torn off by the mud.
"Block it up over there."
"I'll take care of this."
In the vast curtain of rain, there were faint sounds. The people of the Green Sparrow Tribe who followed Han Cheng, each holding a bone shovel, gradually dispersed across the land, quickly blocking and diverting the water.
With a chill in the rain hitting their straw hats and raincoats, hitting their hands holding the bone shovels and the shovels themselves...
Like untamed horses flowing freely, the rainwater that had drastically altered the appearance of the newly cultivated fields was gradually restrained. Following the movements of the bone shovels, it flowed reluctantly along the path designed by humans and ultimately merged into the small river.
Fighting against the sky brings endless joy. Fighting against the earth and fighting against people brings endless joy.
Looking at the history of human development, we see that it is, step by step, fighting against the sky and the earth.
Without the sky and the earth, we use axes to open up the chaos and use our bodies to create a space sufficient for survival.
If the sky leaks, we will refine colorful stones to plug the leaks.
The ground was flooded, so people kept continuously digging channels to divert water into the sea...
To be born as a human being is such a proud and fortunate thing. How precise and lucky it is to be born!
After blocking up a breach, Han Cheng stood up. He took a moment to rest, watching everything happening amidst the vast curtain of rain, feeling a sense of emotion.
A big dream comprises small dreams, and the realization of dreams relies on step-by-step hard work. Daydreaming and idle talk will only lead to the ruin of nations and oneself.
Each scoop of inconspicuous soil dug up by these bone shovels is a small step toward the dream of the Green Sparrow Tribe...
A steed can't cover a thousand miles in one leap, and a horse can't drive ten chariots, but success lies in perseverance.
As long as one doesn't give up, day by day, under their leadership, this tribe and this land will surely blossom with dazzling colors.
Looking back at how they were when they first arrived, they have unconsciously changed a lot. The Green Sparrow Tribe has become a presence that surrounding tribes can only look up to, hasn't it?
In the heavy rain, Han Cheng, digging the channels, suddenly became full of ambition. He wondered if Shun, who emerged from the fields, had similar feelings when plowing the fields.
The heavy rain gradually stopped, the clouds in the sky slowly dissipated, and the water in the ditches flowed with a gurgling sound, gradually diminishing.
Watching the cultivated land that the rain hadn't severely damaged, the people of the Green Sparrow Tribe, covered in mud and wearing raincoats, couldn't help but cheer as they held their bone shovels.
In the face of nature, they were small but not powerless. Through their struggle, they could accomplish things that even nature couldn't thwart.
Han Cheng also joined in the cheers with the others, then shook off the mud from his feet and walked back to the tribe with everyone...
The people who stayed in the tribe were not idle either. Fire One, Fire Two, and Ruhua, whose belly had grown again, collected rainwater and boiled it in large barrels.
Han Cheng instructed this before leaving, saying that when they returned later, the people who went out should bathe in hot water.
This could reduce the possibility of getting sick from getting wet in the rain.
Knowing the significance of doing this, Fire One and the others took it very seriously.
They couldn't protect the fields like the men and strong women who braved the heavy rain, so they could only do their best to heat the water hot and let the tired people wash away their fatigue...
Inside the cave, the air was misty with water vapor.
The people who returned from building water conservancy facilities were washing themselves with hot water, feeling comfortable all over, and all the chills they had felt outside were driven away.
A few original members of the Green Sparrow Tribe, enjoying the comfortable bath, squinted their eyes contentedly.
Taking a hot bath was so comfortable. Why didn't they know about it before?
Thinking back to the years when they rarely bathed, they felt itchy all over.
Han Cheng was also taking a bath, or more accurately, soaking in a bath.
He wasn't in the cave but in a room.
Firstly, there were too many people in the cave, and it was too crowded and not as comfortable as in the room.
Secondly, bathing in a "private room" offered pleasures the communal pool couldn't provide.
Han Cheng sat in the steamy bathtub, leaning against the tub's edge, already feeling comfortable being enveloped by the warm water. Moreover, Bai Xue, the little bride, was on the side, using her small hands to scrub his body.
Because she often worked, Bai Xue had calluses on her hands, not as soft as girls in later generations, but still making Han Cheng feel ticklish as she scrubbed him.
Due to the steam, Bai Xue's face seemed even whiter, and her braided hair trembled with her washing movements.
Watching the little bride scrubbing his body so diligently, Han Cheng felt even itchier in his heart. He reached out and held the hand that was wandering on his body...