Rainy days are carnival days for beautiful people. They will come out in large numbers and stand in the heavy rain to take a shower. All the women and men are half-naked. Then all the utensils in the house are moved out to welcome the rainwater into the house. Snowy days are also carnival days for beautiful people. They will come out in full force, regardless of gender, old or young, lying on the snow, swallowing the snow all the time. Their bellies are often bloated by the snow, and pregnant women usually sit on the snow with their legs spread apart, moaning and feeling extremely uncomfortable. Although I felt uncomfortable, my hands couldn't stop, and I still stuffed snow into my mouth with big handfuls. Only when I felt uncomfortable did I remember to put the endless snow on the slopes into the long-empty reservoir at the entrance of the village. The snow turned into ice in the pond, so the village cadres smashed the ice cubes and distributed them to the villagers using scales. There was a village chief named Li Laozhe. During the Cultural Revolution, the villagers fought fiercely. The crime was that the ice cubes were divided in the village in the twelfth lunar month of that year. He relied on his power to give his family an extra ten kilograms. Xiuse Village also experienced the Cultural Revolution. The reputation of Xiuse has spread even further. In villages with a radius of hundreds of miles, mothers who are trying to scare their daughters will say: "If you don’t obey me, little girl, I will marry you to Xiuse when you grow up!" Village chief Li Zhe (Li Laozhe's son) said: "Except for no water, we have nothing." Someone even said more harshly: "We don't even have water, what else can we have?" Li Zhe choked with his words. Zhe was ashamed.

If there is no water, what else can there be? This is a spell. Then, it’s time to look for water veins, it’s time to dig wells, and it’s time to hire well-drilling teams from counties and provinces. Li Laozhe invited a well-drilling team from another county from the front of the mountain 300 miles away, and the villagers paid tribute like an emperor. Groups of men carried wooden barrels and traveled hundreds of miles away to carry water back for the well-drilling team, so that they could eat, drink and wash themselves. The women worked hard to prepare the most beautiful meals for the well-drilling team. However, after only 20 days, they couldn't bear it any longer. They didn't expect to get any water here. One morning, when the handsome men once again went down the mountain in groups to carry water for the well-drilling team, the well-drilling team planned to leave without saying goodbye. For a village without men, they do whatever they want. They thought.

They did not expect that they were stopped at the entrance of the village by several women. The leading daughter-in-law, who was called Zhang Erjia, was neither anxious nor annoyed. She just opened her arms and said to the leader of the well drilling team: "Go back, well, you can't leave."

The traveling well-drilling team from other counties has the skills of a novice and a gangster spirit, but at the moment they can't figure out how to deal with these women who are neither slow nor enthusiastic.

They retreated to the village.

That night, the Zhang family broke open the iron lock of the birch water cupboard, squandered all the water in the barrel, and washed themselves thoroughly. The water in the cupboard was enough for her family of three for half a month. Several other daughters-in-law who had appointments with her also broke the iron locks of their water cabinets and washed themselves carefully. Then, they followed each other out of the house and poured into the shack of the well-drilling team.

They entered the shack like a thunderbolt in the sky, like the wild wind in the ravines, and like ghosts flying on the grass in the graveyard. Their sudden appearance and sudden brilliance caught the men in the shack off guard. They were frightened. It wasn't until Zhang Er's family repeated what they said in the morning: "I said you can't leave, you can't leave." Only then did the gangsters recognize that these were the unkempt women at the entrance to the village that morning. The water washed them so dazzlingly that they looked like mountain monsters or fairies with plump cheeks in the jungle.

The well-drilling team stayed in Xiuse for another 20 days. The derrick was set up again, and the sound of ramming was heard again. For 20 days, the beautiful women worked hard day and night. They worked hard, missing their men who were also working hard while trekking in the mountains with buckets on their backs. The men who came back from carrying water looked at the broken lock on the water cupboard and the woman's complexion. They closed their eyes and kept their minds at ease, and just tried their best to help the men dig the well.

The woman captured the energy of the well-drilling team, but the team could not capture the deep water veins. They exerted all their strength on the well, but in the end there was no water.

The well-drilling team left, feeling ashamed of themselves. They traveled far and wide to make their beauty known. They said that there was no way to dig a well in Xiuse. What could not be forgotten were Xiuse's women, who had hot mouths and warm hearts, and...

Xiuse's reputation spread even further.

In private, people spread the hot news about pretty women; in front of pretty women, they only talked about Li Laozhe's embezzlement of ten pounds of water. Li Laozhe's son, the current head of Xiuse Village, Li Zhe, had heard the public ridicule and was also aware of the private discussions. What he remembered by heart was the mantra: If there is no water, what else can there be!

Dig a well! He thought.

Damn it! He thought.

Hire a serious well-drilling team, damn it! he thought.

Li Zhe went to the County Water Conservancy Bureau. From the Great Leap Forward to today, there have been at least a dozen water conservancy directors, and each director is familiar with beautiful things. The Water Conservancy Bureau gnashed at Li Zhe. At this time, a new deputy director of technology, known as Li Jiji, listened attentively to Li Zhe's story and said: "Beautiful, good name."

Li Jiji spent half a month following Li Zhe He spent a lot of time carefully exploring the direction of the Xiuse Mountains and pinpointing the water veins. He said that he was sure that there was hope for water to come out of Xiuse, so he decided to lead people to dig a well for Xiuse immediately.

In early spring, the well drilling team of the Water Conservancy Bureau stationed in Xiuse. Li Zhe did not allow the well-drilling team to live in tents, but carefully dispersed them indoors. Li Jiji was arranged by him in the east room of Zhang Er's house. The eldest daughter of Zhang Er's family was named Zhang Pin, who was about 17 or 18 years old. She was an outstanding figure among pretty girls.

Groups of men carried wooden barrels and traveled hundreds of miles away to carry water back for the well-drilling team to eat, drink and wash themselves; women used various methods to show their beauty for the well-drilling team. Best meal ever.

The well-drilling team led by Li Technology is not like the previous one. They pity water like beautiful people. They do not wash their faces and avoid the habit of brushing their teeth.

In just a few days, Li Jiji's face was covered with dirt. His hair was long and his beard was unkempt. He looked just like a pretty person. It was difficult to recognize him among the pretty people.

It has been 20 days, and the well is getting deeper and deeper, and the man is getting thinner and thinner, but there is still no water. The atmosphere in the village gradually became panicked, and the Zhang family became a little uneasy, muttering: Could it be that we have reached the same point we have experienced before?

The second Zhang family told their daughter Zhang Pin that they were afraid they wouldn’t be able to keep them if they were out of the water day after day. Zhang Pin said, this is how my mother used to do it. Zhang Er's family said, don't mention it, my former mother. Zhang Pin said, I know even if you don’t mention it. But among all the people in the village, young and old, who dares to poke your back? Zhang Er’s family said, what do you think? Zhang Pin said, in the third grade of elementary school, the teacher told us a word: heroic. People from the second family of Zhang said, what does heroism mean? Zhang Pin said, Mom, you don’t understand, you are old.

The second Zhang family is old, but Zhang Pin is not old, it is a flower waiting to bloom. Without water, there would be no hope of beauty, she thought. Without water, her youth would be extinguished, she thought. Zhang Pin graduated from elementary school and knows what youth is. He also knows that youth is second to water in terms of beauty.

At night, Zhang Pin looked at the locked water cupboard in the main room and said to his mother, "Let me smash it." When the second Zhang family asked her what she was doing, Zhang Pin lowered her head and said, " Wash it up."

The Zhang family understood it, but they didn't do it.

Zhang Pin smashed the iron lock with his own hands and squandered all the water.

In the middle of the night, Li Jishang came back from the well. He fell on the kang with his clothes on the ground like mud. There was no water coming out of the well, and he was a little discouraged. He turned over and sighed, sighed and turned over. At this time, there was a squirming movement in the corner of the kang, and Li Jiji asked in surprise: "Who!" There was a "click" of a match, and the oil lamp in the lamp niche lit up. He finally saw clearly that this was Zhang Pin, the landlord's daughter.

Li Jiji asked Zhang Pin why he was here. As he asked, he instinctively jumped off the kang and turned his back.

Zhang Pin said nothing and simply took off the wool felt covering.

Li Jiji felt her shake, and also knew that there was a naked girl on his kang at this moment. This fact surprised him, and he just said with his face behind his back: "Where are your clothes? Put on your clothes quickly."

Zhang Pin, who was behind him, replied: "Tonight, I have no clothes."

Once you have the first sentence, you are not afraid of the second sentence. Zhang Pin, who had been trembling in the corner of the bed, suddenly calmed himself down. She crossed her legs and sat up straight.

Her body reflected the oil lamp, so huge and bright against the dark wall; her little face, which had never seen the light of day, was made so shining by the splashing of water just now. . Her breath was clean, her lips were as pleasant as silk, and her long hair was moisturized by the water and wrapped around her shoulders extremely flexibly. She was seducing a man, aboveboard, straightforward and innocent. She had no experience and only faith. She wants to complete what her mother's generation failed to complete. She wants to survive, and water is the lifeblood of Xiuse people's ancestors. She hoped that she could manipulate Li Qi Qi, or be at the mercy of Li Qi Qi.

Li Jiji still said with his face behind his back: "Don't be ridiculous, you have to wear clothes even if you don't have any clothes!"

Zhang Pin said: "You're ridiculous! Am I a ridiculous person?"

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Li Jiji said: "Why are you like this if you are not doing this?"

Zhang Pin said: "Why am I like this? Just to show you. I used up all the water of the whole family for half a month. , that’s why. Do you dare not to take a look? How dare you talk nonsense!"

Li Jiji turned around unexpectedly. He cursed his weakness, but he saw something beautiful that he had never seen in his life. A title rolled through his mind like thunder: Beautiful! His heart was filled with pain. He retreated to the door, quickly lowered his head again, and just kept saying to Zhang Pin, "Go, go, go!"

Zhang Pinwen sat firmly on the kang and said, "If you don't agree, I won't leave quickly." Li Qi asked what to do. Zhang Pin said he promised me to sleep on your kang. Li Jiji said that you can sleep while I leave. Zhang Pin asked where you are going. Li Jiji said angrily: "Go down the mountain, go down the mountain, go home!"

Zhang Pin suddenly ran to the edge of the kang, she knelt down and gritted her teeth and said: "This is what is in your heart. I have long seen that it’s no use! Even if you dig out the hearts of a whole village, it won’t buy you a well. It’s no use! We’ve all been given, and the only ones who haven’t been given are us girls. You..."

"You can't do this, you can't!" Li Jiji cut off Zhang Pin's words and couldn't bear to hear any more.

"Are you scared?" Zhang Pin said, "You don't dare to ask for it. If you dare not to ask for it, I'm afraid it won't work!" She said and stood up. She stood naked on the small kang, and the oil lamp suddenly made her shadow so huge that it covered the sky and the earth, like a giantess falling from the sky. Li Ji had to look up to see her face that was red with anger. He rushed from the door to stop her. "Sit down, sit down!" he said. She threw herself into his arms and wrapped her arms around his waist. He struggled nervously, his heart pounding. He shouted as if irritating her: "Let go of you, why are you so shameless!"

Li Jiji's words finally made Zhang Pin let go. She retreated to the wool felt in the corner of the kang. She said: "In a place without water, who do you expect to have integrity?"

Li Jiji was shocked: in a place without water, people will lose their integrity sooner or later.

"But if there is no shame, will there be water?" Li Jiji asked Zhang Pin. And took the opportunity to retreat to the door again. He stared at this passionate and evil girl, and surprisingly found that he was no longer as panicked as he was at first. They looked at each other and Zhang Pin started her attack again. "I want to sleep on your kang." she said.

"I can't," he said.

"Why can they do it but you can't?" she said.

"Who?" he said.

“My mother used to work on the well-drilling team at that time,” she said.

"I am...I am a..."

"You are a cadre of the Communist Party." She said.

"You don't believe in the Communist Party?" he said.

"I just believe that the cadres of the Communist Party are also human beings." She said.

"People are different." He said.

"Then how can you guarantee that you won't leave the village until you can dig a well?" she said.

"I guarantee this in the name of the Communist Party." He said.

"The former village chief Li Laozhe was also a Communist. He gave his family an extra ten pounds of ice!" she said.

"Li Laozhe's son Li Zhe is also a Communist Party member. Didn't he bring us here?" he said.

"That's Li Zhe." She said, "Who knows about you."

Li Jiji sighed. He really wanted to talk to Zhang Pin about the most basic things about human beings. Social civilization - water conservancy civilization; he wanted to tell Zhang Pin how the Mayan culture throughout Central America was later destroyed by the water crisis; he wanted to tell Zhang Pin the origin of the Chinese character "Xing", then It was originally a slave society that started due to water wars. But he sighed and only said: "My hometown is also a place that is short of water. My grandfather and two aunts died of thirst. I know the weight of water."

At dawn, they No more words. Li Jiji rubbed his red eyes and walked out. Zhang Pin asked him where he was going. "Dig a well!" he said.

The next day, Li Jiji moved out from the east room of Zhang Er's house, and the rest of the well-drilling team also moved out from each household. They pitched a tent by the well and had food and accommodation in the tent. Zhang Er's family asked Zhang Pin: "What's going on?" Zhang Pin heard the deafening sound of drilling wells and said to Zhang Er's family: "Mom, you are old, you don't understand."

Li Qi led the well-drilling team to dig the well like crazy. The impact drill stabbed hard into the depths of the well. Every time Li Jiji hit it, he said in his heart: This time is for Zhang Pin! This time is for Zhang Pin! This time is for Zhang Pin! This time is still for Zhang Pin. It's for Zhang Pin! This time it's still for Zhang Pin! This time it's still for Zhang Pin's sake! He never thought there was anything wrong with going to the ground to do it for Zhang Pin. Zhang Pin was originally the dignity and youth of a village. For ninety-nine and eighty-one days, no one from the well-drilling team went home; for nine-nine and eighty-one days, they drained the well all day long.

It is a sunny day in early summer, a day when beautiful people get carried away. At the well where the water came out, they were first surprised and afraid of the sweet water in the well, for fear that it was just a big dream on the earthen bed. Then they drank as much as they could, and they were staggering drunkenly by the long-lost sweet and cool water. They lifted Li Qiji and kept throwing him into the air. Li Jiji, who was constantly flipping in the air, wanted to find Zhang Pin among the crowd. He figured out one thing: on that shameful night, it was not Zhang Pin who was ashamed, but himself. He also felt a little afraid. He thought that if the Communist Party's well-drilling team failed to dig wells for the people, who would die of thirst in the end if not him?

He thought and broke away. The one who cast him to "heaven". He jumped onto a rock on the side of the road and immediately saw Zhang Pin looking up at him. The rocks under his feet became loose, and he turned over. Behind him was a cliff of ten thousand feet. For just a moment... no one could find him.

After another two years, Xiuse's reputation spread even further, and people from thousands of miles away came to Xiuse's well to beg for water. Everyone knows that this is an endlessly prosperous well, and everyone knows that the water in this well is good for health and beauty. Experts have appraised the quality of the water, and the beautiful people started a water business and sold the water into the city. The villagers said that they should give the water a name, since they would have to register a trademark anyway. Li Zhe said beauty is beauty. Zhang Pin, who was educated in primary school, said: "It's called Xiuse, Dian'er, Li."

The resulting text is: Xiuse·Li.

Xiuse·Li is a nondescript name, but Xiuse doesn’t sound surprised, she feels like she’s on a mirror.

Original author Tie Ning

("People's Literature" Issue 1, 1997)