So Yingbao only poured a little into the gourd each time, barely enough to pour out three or four bowls.
When her brothers were thirsty, she would hand them a long bamboo tube filled with water.
The two boys knew nothing and never doubted where the water came from. After drinking their fill, they would leave some for their brothers and sisters. Therefore, the Jiang family did not feel that they were short of water.
"Mom, I'm thirsty, so thirsty, I want to drink some water!" Children often cry because they are thirsty.
Even Jiang Jiu's two little grandsons were crying for water.
Jiang Jiu glanced at the two large gourds in the Jiang family, pursed his dry lips and ran over to ask, "Uncle, do you have any water at home?"
"Let me see." Old man Jiang picked up his gourd and shook it. "It seems there is still some. Bring a bowl and I'll pour it for you."
Jiang Jiu was overjoyed and quickly ran to get a ceramic bowl and asked his uncle to pour a bowl of water.
Seeing this, other people from Jiangjia Village came over to ask for water.
Now Old Man Jiang was scratching his head. He didn’t have much water at home. If he gave it all away to others, what would happen to his family
"Uncle, my grandson is very thirsty. Please be kind and give him some water." A white-haired old man prayed.
Old Man Jiang is the youngest in the family, ten years younger than his eldest brother, so he is of a higher generation. Many people in Jiangjia Village are his juniors.
But being older doesn't mean one has to be selfless. He gave Jiang Jiu water because he was his nephew.
"Well, there is really no water in my house." Old man Jiang stammered.
The old man pointed at the big gourd and said, "Can I turn it upside down and have a look?" His two grandsons were very thirsty and had not had a drop of water since yesterday.
Old Man Jiang looked at the gourd awkwardly, and finally nodded, "Then you pour it."
Yingbao rushed to pick up the big gourd before the man and said, "I'll help you pour it."
The old man did not suspect anything and took a clay bowl and put it on the ground.
Yingbao picked up the gourd and poured water into the bowl, then put her hand on the mouth of the gourd.
The old man thanked him profusely and left with the water.
When everyone saw that Old Man Jiang had water at home, they all came over and said, "Give me some, my child hasn't had any water for a day."
"I, I just want some soothing for my throat..."
Yingbao had expected this, and poured water into every bowl that was handed to her with an expressionless face.
Everyone was extremely thirsty now. They had hardly drunk a drop of water from yesterday to today, and Yingbao knew this very well.
She was taking refuge with everyone and was surrounded by bandits. Even though there was plenty of water, Yingbao really couldn't bear to watch them die of thirst.
So she could only take the risk of filling the gourd with water so that everyone could hold out a little longer and not kill each other for water.
If a real fight breaks out, Dongchen Village has fewer people but more elderly, weak, women and children, so they will definitely suffer.
So she took the risk, calmed everyone down first, and then left the mountain as soon as the bandits left.
Now it was Old Man Jiang's turn to be surprised. He didn't understand why water kept coming out of his gourd, as if it would never run out.
Mrs. Jiang and Chunniang Yanru were also surprised.
Because no one knows better than them how much water is in the gourd.
The most surprised person was Jiang Quan. He jumped in front of Yingbao, took the gourd from her hand and weighed it, and found that there was still half a gourd of water in it.
"Let me pour it!" Jiang Quan's face turned red with excitement, and the three words "treasure gourd" appeared in his mind.
Yingbao followed him and retreated to the other gourd, quietly pulled out the cork, and put her hand on the mouth of the gourd.
Since things had come to this, she simply gave up and filled the other big gourd with water. If anyone asked her about it, she would just pretend she knew nothing about it. Anyway, no one would know it was her who did it.
More and more people came to ask for water. Jiang Quan quickly poured out half the gourd of water and turned to the other gourd.
I came over and shook it, and wow, it was actually very difficult.
I opened the cork and looked inside, and oh my god, it was full of water.
Jiang Quan opened his eyes wide, and was certain in his heart that the two gourds in his home were the magic gourds.
He simply poured out all the water in the gourd to the people who came to ask for water, and then put the two empty gourds beside him.
Jiang Quan hugged the gourd and giggled.
Oh my God, how lucky I am to grow two magical gourds.
That’s right, he grew both gourds himself. He thought they were the right size, so he took great pains to hollow out the insides and made two water gourds.
Zhou was already stunned by her second son's outrageous behavior. She couldn't help but come over and twist his ear, "You spendthrift fool! You just gave away the water in your house. Do you want to let our family die of thirst?"
Jiang Quan protected his ears and whispered in defense: "Hey, what do you know? This is a magic gourd, are you afraid of having no water to drink? Don't worry, mother, I promise there will be water again tomorrow."
Zhou let go of her hand, a little unconvinced: "Really?"
Jiang Quan nodded vigorously: "Of course it's true. Do you see that the gourd has been lacking water these days?"
Zhou shook his head.
Jiang Quan said proudly: "Your son has grown two precious gourds. Our family will never be short of water in the future."
Yingbao next to him glanced at him, took out a water chestnut and started chewing it silently.
After drinking the water, everyone was no longer anxious. They ate some dry food and began to close their eyes and rest.
They had never paid attention to the two gourds of the Jiang family before, so they were not shocked when water poured out of the gourds.
But the Jiang family was different. They knew best how much water was in their gourds, and they were staring at the two gourds without blinking.
"Can it really produce water?" Mrs. Jiang couldn't believe it and shook it from time to time to see if water could be produced inside.
"Can you please stop shaking it?" Jiang Quan moved the gourd in front of him dissatisfiedly and wiped it lovingly with his sleeve.
Zhou glared at her son but did not refute.
Before I knew it, a day had passed and night fell again.
Jiang Quan was sleeping soundly, and even in his sleep he did not forget to hold a gourd tightly, and clamped the other one between his legs, with the gourd mouth facing his belly.
Yingbao was speechless and simply decided not to add water to the gourd.
No words were spoken that night.
When the crowing of a rooster suddenly sounded in the cave, a new day began.
One person woke up early and found that the bandits at the foot of the mountain were gone. He couldn't help but scream in surprise: "The bandits are gone! The bandits are gone! Hahaha, we can go home now!"
Everyone was awakened and ran to check. Sure enough, there was no trace of the bandits at the foot of the mountain. They jumped up with joy and repeatedly asked Old Man Jiang to take out the rope to let them go down.
Chief Chen disagreed. He observed for a while and said, "We can't go down now. Those bandits are very cunning. They might deliberately lure us."
Since the bandits want revenge, they will not give up easily. Maybe they have twenty or thirty people hiding nearby, and as long as they find someone coming down the cliff, they will definitely shoot arrows at them.
"Right! We can't go down now." Jiang Dahu said, "Many of the bandits died that night, so they will definitely not give up easily. So let's wait and see. We have been here for so many days anyway, so one or two days won't make a difference."
Everyone sighed for a while, but didn't say anything else.
We can’t go down the cliff, so getting water for more than a hundred people is really a problem.
So everyone turned their attention to the big gourd in Old Man Jiang's house.
"Second brother, wake up!" Jiang Cheng pushed his younger brother who was drooling in his sleep.
Jiang Quan opened his eyes blankly, "What are you doing?"
Jiang Cheng pointed to the gourd in his arms and said, "See if there is any water."