The little one's purse connects the two worlds, turning a desolate village into a paradise.

(Thanks a lot to the boss of 'boring'°o_ for the amazing certification!)

The three men, wielding entrenching tools, first divided the slope into sections, deciding it was better to plant the two types of melons separately. Considering the size of the watermelons, the village chief specifically requested that there be at least two zhang (approximately 6.6 meters) of space between each plot.

As for that thing called pumpkin, judging from the large seedlings and the large pumpkin in the seed bag design, it shouldn't be too small, so I deliberately left it a bit wider.

"These vines spread out and grow very fast. If you get too close, the ventilation will be poor, and the melons will easily get rotten."

Following the marked boundaries, everyone dug twenty pits of suitable depth. The village chief hadn't dared to use too many at first, and only managed to cultivate twenty plants in total. Now, the pits looked rather shabby.

The group carefully lifted the melon vines, along with their clods of soil, from the jar and placed them into the pit. They then filled the pit with loose, fine soil, picked up the wooden bucket, and slowly poured the cool mountain spring water over the roots.

Not far away, on another slope, were potato seedlings planted a few days ago; they've been buried in the soil for seven or eight days now.

Tender new shoots pushed through the soil and emerged, the seedlings about three or four fingers tall, with slender stems standing upright, the emergence of seedlings was particularly neat and pleasing.

Grandma Li, leaning on her entrenching shovel, rubbed her aching back and looked at the potato field: "These potatoes are sprouting really neatly."

"Indeed, the seeds from that area all look like good seeds, easy to plant and produce good seedlings. The wheat fields in the village have all been divided up now, and the seedlings are much stronger than the wheat seeds we usually save. They're all green as far as the eye can see, close to the ground. The corn seeds are growing even better, they're already half a person's knee tall, and they rustle when the wind blows." Old Sun wiped the sweat from his face.

After all the melon seedlings were transplanted, the three of them packed up their tools, picked up their buckets, and headed down the mountain towards the end of the village, intending to go to the bathroom to wash their hands and wipe their faces.

Xiong Bo had the bathroom drainage system redesigned yesterday. He combined the drains from the sink and washing machine into one pipe, which connects to the corner in front of the toilet in the bathroom.

Below the pipe was a large vat, and a hook was made at the mouth of the vat, from which hung a bright red plastic ladle.

Wastewater from the toilet can flow through pipes into a storage tank for later use, thus preventing the waste of clean water in the tank.

Even so, not a single person was willing to use that white porcelain basin to squat in the toilet.

People always felt that using such clean, white utensils was a waste and a defilement, but they adapted to washing their hands very quickly. In the past, washing hands meant either splashing the dirt directly into the ground or carrying a basin back and forth, which would eventually cause back pain.

Nowadays, turning on the tap brings out a gushing stream of clean water, which is convenient and saves time.

Grandma Zhao also discovered that there was a silver round disc under the sink. By flattening the disc, she could block the hole under the sink and keep the water in place.

After washing, poke it with your finger and the round cake will stand up, allowing the dirty water to flow into the sewage tank through the pipe.

To wash your hands and face, simply flatten the round pancake, fill it with a little water that covers your palm, and you can wash very clean.

Xiong Bo moved a stool and sat on the cement platform behind the bathroom to read a book, occasionally touching the pipes of the solar water heater with his hand.

Seeing the village chief and his group approaching, he stood up and greeted them.

"Brother Xiong, is the hot water ready?"

Xiong Bo hesitated and shook his head. "I'm not sure either. The sun hasn't been strong enough these past two days. I was thinking of waiting until the afternoon when the sun is stronger before trying again. Since you asked, we can try now."

When he was connecting the pipes yesterday, he secretly removed the shower head from the wall and figured out that the hot and cold water pipes were controlled by two valves. He could turn the valves left and right to open and close them, so that the water could be mixed with hot and cold water at the right temperature.

The village chief nodded. "Alright, let's get it set up as soon as possible so everyone can have a proper bath. We haven't had a proper bath in the winter; we just wipe ourselves with a damp cloth when we're really uncomfortable. If we can bathe now, we'll call everyone over. The sooner we bathe, the sooner we'll feel better."

Xiong Bo first turned on the valve of the solar water heater, and then went into the bathroom.

He turned the tap all the way to the left and lifted it up.

A squelching sound came from the pipe opening, followed by the faint sound of water flowing out of the pipe. "Why is there no water, only gas?" Old Sun asked, stretching out his hand with a puzzled look.

"Wait a minute, it must be the air trapped in the pipe. Once the water is turned on, it will squeeze out the air."

As the two were talking, lukewarm water slowly flowed from the tap. Sun Laosan exclaimed in surprise, "Oh my! Oh my! Good heavens! It's really hot water, piping hot!"

As the water flow increased, the water temperature also became hotter. Sun Laosan grimaced and moved his hand away, saying, "Goodness, it's getting hotter and hotter."

The village chief didn't even need to test it; just by looking at the bubbling white steam rising from the basin, he knew the water temperature must be quite high.

Xiong Bo reached out and touched it. "Wow, this thing is truly amazing! It doesn't need to be baked by the scorching sun; it can produce hot water as long as there's sunlight. I originally thought it would have to be exposed to the sun for a long time!"

"So, can we take a shower now? How do we adjust the water temperature?" Grandma Li glanced at the showerhead in the inner room a few more times, then secretly scratched the back of her neck. She hadn't felt it when there was no hot water, but now she felt itchy all over.

Winters in the mountains are bitterly cold, and the villagers are reluctant to waste a lot of firewood to boil water. Many people have been enduring this since the beginning of winter without having boiled a pot of water to wash properly.

Especially the hair; the cold wind in the mountains can easily cause headaches and illness, and tangles and grime are common.

Sun Laosan also scratched his head, he also scratched.

"Let Brother Xiong take a bath first and figure it out before teaching us. We'll call everyone over this afternoon for a good bath," the village chief decided.

Xiong Bo chuckled and readily agreed.

He hadn't had a proper bath in a long time, and during his stay in Lotus Village, he had only simply wiped himself with a damp cloth. Now that he had the opportunity, he was naturally happy to do so.

He darted back to Dr. Chen's room, grabbed a factory uniform, and also brought his washed and dried undershirt. Finally, he carefully rolled up a pair of green underwear with small yellow flowers and stuffed them into the middle of the uniform. He also grabbed a bar of sulfur soap and a towel before heading to the bathroom.

Under the watchful eyes of the village chief and several others, Xiong Bo's rough face flushed slightly as he walked into the bathroom with his head held high and chest out, the door slamming shut behind him.

Xiong Bo, the first person in Lotus Village to take a hot bath, has arrived!