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The next day, before the sun had fully risen, Li Nan had already crawled out of the tent. He stretched his limbs a bit; although he hadn't eaten or drunk anything the previous day, his body was still in good condition and had recovered quite a bit.
While moving around, he suddenly spotted Lin Hai dragging his weary body toward a tent, suggesting that last night's night watch duty had not been easy.
Seeing Li Nan, Lin Hai nodded to indicate that nothing unusual had happened overnight and that the camp was secure. Li Nan responded with a gesture, saying, "Go get some rest!"
Lin Hai didn't bother with pleasantries; he simply shrugged and collapsed into the tent to sleep, while Li Nan shook his head and remarked, "Poor guy."
Bitter Melon was also up early. Taking advantage of the faint morning light, he rolled up his sleeves and was digging through rubble at a nearby ruin.
From a distance, Li Nan spotted Bitter Melon's figure and quickly made his way over. After sizing up the area with his eyes, he realized that this spot was where the camp's granary used to be.
Bitter Melon smiled bitterly and said, "All the combat personnel were on night watch last night. I thought I could dig out some food from here to solve today's meal problem."
Without hesitation, Li Nan swung his arms and bent down to start moving bricks and stones.
The two men worked hard for nearly half an hour before clearing an area of about two to three square meters. However, there were piles of rubble below; without machinery like an excavator, it would be very labor-intensive to rely solely on human strength.
At that moment, Bitter Melon shouted, "There's a sack down here!"
Li Nan looked down and indeed saw a corner of a dark gray sack peeking out from among the rubble at his feet.
He crouched down and began to dig with both hands. After creating a small opening with his fingers, he discovered that it was filled with white grains!
Li Nan was overjoyed and immediately extended his hands outward to clear more debris, only to find that the sack was being pressed down by a prefabricated concrete slab weighing several tons.
Bitter Melon noticed the heavy object on top of the sack and said, "Maybe we should just leave it and look for another sack!"
Li Nan was not one to give up easily. He stretched out both arms and carefully examined the prefabricated slab, noticing some damage in the middle. If possible, he could split the slab in half and then use leverage to pull it out.
Having made up his mind, Li Nan turned to look around and spotted a damaged large column weighing about a hundred pounds.
Li Nan turned back, spat on his hands, and then gathered his strength. He gripped the damaged column with both arms and lifted it with effort.
With a loud shout, Li Nan swung his body and forcefully smashed down onto the prefabricated slab beneath him. The slab cracked loudly and broke into two pieces!
Several segments of rebar flew out in all directions.
Bitter Melon ducked low to avoid a short piece of rebar that came flying toward him.
Seeing that the prefabricated slab had been split in two, Li Nan bent down again, searching for a point of leverage on the slab resting on top of the grain sacks. After testing it, he exerted force, and the half-slab buried over a meter deep underfoot immediately creaked as it came out.
Bitter Melon exclaimed, "With skills like that, how can Brother Nan be stuck in this little camp?"
Li Nan shouted again and forcefully pulled out the half-slab, then tossed it behind him with a flick of his arm.
"What good are skills if you still get hungry after missing a meal or thirsty without water? We all have emotions and desires; we are just ordinary people!"
Hearing this, Bitter Melon laughed and said, "Brother Nan is a wise man; I can't fathom it!"
Li Nan chuckled and did not pursue the topic further. Meanwhile, Bitter Melon was quick to grab the sack filled with grain.
The sack had been punctured in several places, and as Bitter Melon moved it, grains of rice spilled out rapidly.
Despite some loss of food, there were still at least fifty or sixty pounds left in that sack, which was enough for their immediate needs.
After more than half an hour of effort, they finally managed to gather some food, and at that moment, the sun peeked out, bringing a sense of warmth.
Casually, Li Nan picked up a few pots and bowls from another place and carried them back to the tent area.
Inside the tent, apart from the few brothers who had kept watch last night, everyone else was already awake. When Mo Xiaohui and Lingdang'er saw the food in Li Nan's hands, they immediately exclaimed, "We have food now; everyone can rest easy!"
Mo Xiaohui and Lingdang'er took the half bag of food from Bitter Melon and began to think about cooking. However, while they had food and cooking utensils, they lacked water!
Without water, the food couldn't be cooked, and the issue of drinking water remained unresolved!
Li Nan furrowed his brow and asked Bitter Melon, "Is there a water source nearby?"
Bitter Melon chuckled bitterly, "How could there be a water source in the city? Water is supplied uniformly. Previously at the camp, we drew water from a well, but now that well is buried under the ruins. It's quite difficult!"
It was one thing not to mention it, but once the issue of water was brought up, Li Nan felt a tightness in his throat, as if smoke were rising from it!
Gritting his teeth, Li Nan said, "If it comes to it, we'll dig a well ourselves. The issue of drinking water is of utmost importance; we can't afford to be careless!"
Bitter Melon shook his head. "Digging a well by hand is no easy task; it would probably take a day or two at least!"
Li Nan replied firmly, "We have to do it; we can't just sit here waiting to die without food or water for so many people!"
Without hesitation, Li Nan jumped out and said to Bitter Melon, "Come help me see where it's easier to find water!"
Bitter Melon jumped over and looked around but said, "I don't know much about this either. Besides, we don't have any tools; are we supposed to dig with our hands?"
Facing the responsibility of feeding thirty or forty people for the first time, Li Nan felt pressure. This heavy burden forced him to start working hard.
At this moment, Fatty also jumped out, holding two pickaxes, a rake, and a shovel in his hands, and shouted, "We need some tools to get to work!"
Following Fatty were A Fei and Long-Faced Man, who all gathered around.
Seeing this, Li Nan smiled and said, "The more people, the more strength we have. Let's work together to dig a well!"
In no time, the group of men huddled together and began discussing. The land beneath their feet belonged to urban development, so if they carelessly used the pickaxes and shovels, they might hit some sewer pipes or waste pipes. Therefore, it was necessary to be cautious.
After much discussion, Li Nan decided to start digging a few test holes outside the camp. He finally found a spot in the soil that seemed to have water and began digging. After going down more than a meter deep, they encountered water, although it was quite murky!
Relieved that they hadn't taken a wrong turn, Li Nan and the others used the limited tools at hand to dig. After several hours of effort, they managed to create a pit nearly two meters deep. However, fearing that the pit might collapse, Li Nan increased the area around it. In other words, he had turned what was meant to be a well into a pit. Although this increased the workload significantly, at least there was no danger of collapse.
Li Nan wanted to continue digging deeper but found it difficult to exert force while standing in water that was already knee-deep. Moreover, none of these rough men had any experience in well-digging; if they continued to dig deeper, both the difficulty and workload would increase exponentially!
Li Nan decisively said, "Let's leave it like this for now. We'll let it sit for about an hour; hopefully, the water in this pit will clear up by then. We can drink it later!"
Fatty and the others were sweating profusely but felt satisfied seeing some results from their work.
After jumping out of the pit, Li Nan instructed Fatty to find a bucket.
Fatty didn't understand Li Nan's intention but was reliable when it came to getting things done.
After a while, Fatty returned with a bucket full of holes and quietly asked, "Brother Nan, is this okay?"
Li Nan took the bucket in front of him and without hesitation punched several large holes in the bottom. Then he placed it on the ground and took off his jacket to lay it flat inside.
Seeing this action from Li Nan, Fatty was puzzled and asked, "Brother Nan, what are you trying to do? Are you losing your mind?"
Li Nan said impatiently, "The well water in that pit is not clean and needs to be treated. I'm currently making a simple water filter!"
Fatty scratched his head, still confused, but he didn't dare to ask any further questions. Otherwise, he would definitely get scolded by Brother Nan.
Li Nan spread his coat at the bottom of the bucket, then found some fine sand to layer on top. Next, he added some ashes from burnt wood shavings, creating layer upon layer of fine particles. When the height reached about a palm's width from the rim of the bucket, Li Nan stopped and said, "That should be enough!"
Meanwhile, the murky muddy water in the pit slowly settled down, becoming a bit clearer. However, upon closer inspection, one could still see that the water was filthy, with various floating dust and microorganisms that clearly did not meet hygiene standards.
Water quality should not be taken lightly; drinking dirty water can easily lead to intestinal diseases. In this environment, getting sick is tantamount to a death sentence. Even a slight cold could easily take the life of a strong man, so one must be cautious.
Li Nan instructed someone to scoop out the water from the pit using a container and pour it into his homemade filter. The water poured in passed through layers of obstacles and slowly flowed out from the bottom of the bucket, crystal clear like mountain spring water.
Fatty was a bit surprised. "This is amazing! What happened to all that dust and mess before?"
Li Nan was too lazy to answer Fatty and instead told him, "Boil the water before drinking it!"
Fatty nodded eagerly and hurriedly took the water to Mo Xiaohui. Now that they had food and water, he believed they would soon have something to eat!
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