Li Xiang looked back at his house. It wasn't too far, just over 150 meters away. He decided to channel the sweet, clear mountain spring water to his backyard.
He would build a constantly flowing reservoir there. Then, he wouldn't have to worry about water for cooking, washing clothes, or bathing.
'Isn't this better than tap water?'
Li Xiang returned home and told his grandma about his plan. She was overjoyed; she wouldn't have to carry water anymore. 'It's great to have my grandson back.'
"Grandma, once I've built this reservoir, let's move the kitchen to the backyard. We can turn the small tiled-roof house out front into a storage room."
"Okay, okay, I'll listen to whatever my dear grandson says!" Grandma beamed.
Since Li Xiang was busy renovating the backyard, he left the cooking to his grandma.
Grandma had eaten the Tier One Exotic Grass Purple Gold Giant Matsutake, so her health had improved. Cooking was no problem for her.
Li Xiang first found three large water vats at home. They were of different heights and sizes, but even the smallest could hold over three hundred pounds of water, while the largest could hold seven hundred. Arranging the three vats from highest to lowest and connecting them in a "cascading waterfall" style to create a reservoir would be more than enough for their daily needs.
But to create the "cascading waterfall," he needed to make openings in the right places on the vats—either on the rim or the body. Otherwise, without a proper "outlet," the water would just overflow haphazardly.
'The only thing I'm missing is a cutting machine. I could probably knock a hole out, but it would look ugly, and I might accidentally shatter the whole vat. Forget it, I'll just wait. I'll buy some tools when I have time to go to the county town.'
Li Xiang lined up the vats, setting them aside for later. Then, he grabbed a Chopping Knife and a saw and went up the mountain to cut bamboo.
Bamboo is hollow. If you split it open and knock out the diaphragms at the nodes, you get excellent natural water pipes.
The moso bamboo on the mountain behind Li Xiang's house was plentiful, with diameters of ten, or even over twenty, centimeters. They were nearly twenty meters long. After sawing off the slender top, the usable part was at least fifteen meters. Since splitting one stalk made two pipes, cutting down about ten stalks should be enough.
The relatively thin top sections that were sawed off could be used to make supports.
He couldn't just lay the "bamboo pipes" on the ground; they would be more stable propped up on supports. He planned to make the supports about eighty centimeters to one and a half meters high, adjusting for the terrain to ensure a gentle slope so the water could flow smoothly to the vats.
The largest vat happened to be exactly eighty centimeters tall.
Beyond the vats, he wouldn't need the bamboo pipes. He planned to lay down a few large, relatively flat bluestones. The "waterfall" would flow onto them, creating a place where they could beat and wash clothes.
After that, he would dig a drainage ditch that would loop around the backyard and finally lead to the small creek.
This would serve two purposes: irrigation, ensuring the backyard soil had enough water for plants, and providing drinking water for the family's poultry and pets, so they wouldn't need to be watered intentionally.
He could even line the ditch with some pebbles from the creek for decoration.
'The backyard is so big, I could actually consider digging a pond, planting some lotuses, and raising fish. But there's too much to do, so I won't think about that for now.'
No sooner said than done. Li Xiang took his phone and started working, filming as he went.
However, a problem arose when he cut the very first bamboo stalk. As he felled it, a system notification appeared.
"Congratulations, Host, for felling a Tier Two Golden Thunder Bamboo. You have received a surprise reward: Three Tier One Exotic Grass Snow Skirt White Jade Mushrooms."
Li Xiang felt a pang of regret, but then felt relieved.
Golden Thunder Bamboo only mutated after the Apocalypse began. What he got now were three tangible Tier One White Jade Mushrooms. One was something he'd have to wait ten years for, the other he could enjoy immediately. 'This should be a gain.'
The reward was once again deposited into his system inventory. With a thought, a Snow Skirt White Jade Mushroom appeared in his palm. It was as white as jade, like a Fairy in the snow. Based on its appearance and name, he guessed it was a mutation of the Bamboo Mushroom.
Its fragrance was so enticing that Li Xiang wanted to take a bite right then and there.
'I should wait and mix it into a dish for dinner so Grandma and I can eat it together. Yes, I'll make a Bamboo Mushroom soup and just say I found them while cutting bamboo.'
Bamboo Mushrooms naturally grow in bamboo forests and were a very rare mountain delicacy.
Although there were only three, each one was far superior to an ordinary Bamboo Mushroom.
Li Xiang swung the Chopping Knife again, cutting down another bamboo stalk.
System: "Congratulations, Host, for felling a Tier Two Golden Thunder Bamboo. You have received a surprise reward: Three Tier One Exotic Grass Snow Skirt White Jade Mushrooms."
Li Xiang: "..."
He quickly realized why. Bamboo was the type of plant where one root system could sprout many stalks. The patch in front of him probably shared the same rhizome underground.
Sure enough, Li Xiang cut down two more stalks and received a reward each time. He now had a total of twelve Tier One Exotic Grass Snow Skirt White Jade Mushrooms.
'That's enough to eat, more than enough.' Li Xiang decided to move to a different spot. These Golden Thunder Bamboos were potential Alien Species. He should save them for the Apocalypse, waiting until they had truly "matured" before harvesting them.
Tier Two Golden Thunder Bamboo was extremely rare. He marked this bamboo grove to protect it for the future. 'Well, if I get a craving, I can still come and chop down a few.'
After he moved to a new spot, there were no more notifications. These were just ordinary bamboo.
Li Xiang cut down seven or eight long bamboo stalks, dragged them to a flat area in his backyard, and began processing them into "bamboo pipes."
Once the first "bamboo pipe" was successfully completed, Li Xiang picked up an Iron Pickaxe, widened the spring's opening again, and connected the thick "pipe." He tested it and found that the water flowed out smoothly.
He quickly started making more bamboo pipes and installing the supports...
Li Xiang was now a Tier One Transcendent. He felt like he had "endless" energy in his body and didn't get tired from this kind of work at all. However, after setting up over sixty meters of "bamboo pipe," he had to call it quits!
It wasn't that his body couldn't take it; his Chopping Knife couldn't.
Looking at the notched and badly bent blade of the Chopping Knife, Li Xiang shook his head. 'This knife is useless.'
He had already sharpened it several times.
He returned home, and when his grandma asked, Li Xiang explained what had happened.
Grandma was silent for a moment, then suddenly said, "There's something in the west wing-room. Go see if you can use it." With that, she started walking toward the west wing-room.
Li Xiang quickly followed. "Grandma, what is it?"
Grandma started moving aside some junk, and Li Xiang helped her. Soon, he saw a rust-spotted, semicircular piece of steel lying quietly in a corner of the west wing-room.