59 years after its opening, people are still in Nanluoguxiang.

Chapter 431: The Bitter Well of City 49

Early in the morning, Chen Li, who had been sleeping with her arms around Chen Feng's right arm, woke up early.

Put on your own clothes and shoes, then take a small toothbrush, dip it in toothpaste and go outside to wash.

The well in the yard was still gushing out water, and the wellhead was covered with wire mesh.

The little girl was lazy and prepared to dig water from the pond to brush her teeth.

This scene happened to be seen by Zhou Qing who came out to wash vegetables.

"Lily, what are you doing?"

The little girl was startled and quickly turned around and said, "I'm washing the cups!"

"Why are you washing the cup? Come over here and brush your teeth with running water!"

Housing nowadays is not like that of later generations. Every household has its own water meter, and there is almost one faucet in each yard, also called a water pipe.

There is one in the front yard, middle yard and back yard.

The water bill is shared by each household, which is still good.

In some streets and factory collective housing, there is only one faucet for hundreds of households.

Every day, everyone has to queue up to get water, carrying two buckets on a shoulder pole. The used waste water is directly poured into the infiltration well, which is equivalent to a sewer.

Sometimes during peak hours, the water flow is slow and it takes half a day to fill two buckets, and everyone has to queue for more than half an hour.

So the Chen family dug an artesian well, and it was understandable that people from the large courtyards nearby would come here to wash clothes.

It takes half a day to get water!

"Oh." Chen Li stepped forward and went to the faucet to get water.

Because the Chen family has a large courtyard to themselves, the faucet is right next to the kitchen door.

Holding the cup of water, the little girl walked to the ditch and brushed her teeth by herself.

After brushing his teeth in no time, he went into the room, poured some hot water into the washbasin to wash his face, and then poured the waste water into the gutter.

Seeing Zhou Qing peeling lettuce, he walked over with a basin of water.

"Mom, do you want fried lettuce and meat in the morning?"

Chen Feng likes stir-fried pork with lettuce, and Chen Li likes to eat shredded pork.

Zhou Qing continued to peel the lettuce and said without looking up: "It's enough to stir-fry the lettuce. There's no meat for you to eat."

Chen Li was not disappointed, the lettuce was also delicious!

The old lady was cooking porridge in the kitchen. When she saw her granddaughter coming in, she said, "Lily, pour some water for the black hen and add some bran."

"Got it, grandma."

Putting the washbasin in the cabinet, Chen Li first used her own cup and ladle to scoop water from the bucket and poured it into her own cup. Then she stepped on a stool and poured the water into the basin.

Then he opened the cabinet where the food was kept, grabbed a handful of bran and a handful of rice and gave them to the two giant black chickens and six little chicks.

"Clap clap clap!"

Clap your hands a few times to shake off the bran and rice.

Lying in the black valley of the chicken coop, looking at the big and small chickens inside.

"Little chicken, grow up quickly, I want to eat chicken."

Zhou Qing was washing vegetables when he saw his neighbor Cai Jiaxing coming to fetch water. He thought he was going to cook, so he quickly advised, "Jiaxing, this water can only be used for washing clothes and vegetables. Don't drink it."

"I know, my idiot has already drunk it and said it tastes bad!" Cai Jiaxing said with a smile, "I'm going to fetch some water to wash the vegetables."

The groundwater in the old city has always been hard to drink.

Because this is saline-alkali land, the bitter water has high alkalinity.

"Washing vegetables is no problem." Cai Jiaxing opened the steel mesh.

Looking at the water surface at the wellhead, it was a bit strange.

"There are many wells in our city that can flow water out, but in our area, it seems that only your place can do so. It's really rare."

The old man sat under the eaves and said casually: "This is nothing, it's not a sweet well, it's a bitter well, that's all."

In feudal times, many private individuals dug wells in the old city. Once they found that the well water was not bitter, they called it sweet water (in contrast to bitter water) and sold it directly.

The richer princes and nobles went to Yuquan Mountain in Xizhimen to fetch water, spending huge amounts of manpower and material resources just for a sip of delicious water.

For example, Jinjing Hutong is in Xicheng District. It was named Jinjing because the water from this well once flowed sweet. Copper guardrails were added around it. The newly installed copper guardrails are shining with gold, so the residents nearby call it "Jinjing".

"At least it flows out. As far as I know, only a few wells can let water flow out." Cai Jiaxing put the bucket into the wellhead and picked it up after it was full.

"The water from the well outside Zuo'an Gate used to flow all year round. I heard that it stopped due to drought last summer, and it only recovered after Qingming Festival this year."

Chen Li stood aside and watched curiously.

The old man smiled and said, "The water from that well is not good either. It is also bitter."

"Actually, when it rains soon, there will be plenty of wells like this."

Before the 70s, the underground water level in the city had not dropped significantly. Once heavy rains occurred during the flood season, many wells at the foot of the mountains would overflow with spring water and become artesian wells.

Cai Jiaxing filled two buckets of water and went back carrying them on his shoulder pole.

When Chen Feng got up, breakfast was already ready.

"Little sister, go wake up your second brother."

Chen Li ran to call Chen Hao.

When they had finished eating, Cai Xiaoli, Jiang Hongjun and others came to call Chen Hao to go to school.

"Wait, I haven't finished eating yet."

Jiang Hongjun stood by the pool, looked up at the increasingly full grapes, and he and his brother Jiang Zhongwu couldn't help swallowing their saliva.

Grapes are good stuff!

Even though their family income was high, the two brothers did not have many opportunities to eat.

Cai Xiaoli made small talk: "Hongjun, do you also use water from the well to wash your feet?"

Jiang Hongjun nodded absentmindedly.

"Well, my dad said that we should save water. From now on, we should only drink tap water for drinking. We should use water from the well to wash our feet, vegetables and clothes."

"Water from a water tank is drinkable, but water from a bucket is not."

Cai Xiaoli said: "It's good to have water. There was no water last year!"

Last year's severe drought caused water shortages in the city. An important purpose of the construction of the Miyun Reservoir and the Yongding River Canal was to ensure water supply (flood control and irrigation were also secondary purposes).

After a few minutes, Hu Bayi and Wang Fatty also arrived.

At this time, Chen Hao finished his porridge, went to his room to get his schoolbag, locked the door, and walked to school with everyone.

After breakfast, Chen Feng took Chen Li to Shichahai Sports School.

The school is located on the west bank of Qianhai, Shichahai. On the east bank are feudal ancient buildings such as Zhang Zhidong's former residence and Shichahai Ice Kiln Official Residence. It is 1 kilometer away from the south gate of Nanluoguxiang.

Because it was close enough, Chen Feng did not ride a bicycle, but walked with his sister.

Chen Li walked in front, jumping and skipping, looking back at her elder brother from time to time.

When passing by Banchang Hutong, I happened to run into Tao Song, who was sending his son to school and returning to work at Jiaodaokou Police Station. Jiaodaokou Police Station is just on the southeast side of Nanluoguxiang, less than a few hundred meters away.

"Xiao Feng, where are you going? Do you want me to give you a ride?"

Chen Li liked the three-wheeled motorcycle very much, but Chen Feng was there, so she couldn't say anything and could only look at him.

Chen Feng shook his head and said, "Uncle, no need, let's go to Shichahai Sports School."

Passing by the Central Academy of Drama and the Imperial Hospital, crossing the bridge, you will arrive at the south gate of the Sports School.