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Zhang Laicai felt helpless on his end, insisting on a daily wage of eighty to recruit workers, but he just couldn't attract anyone. Meanwhile, Li Xiaobao would run to Song Deyin's house every day upon waking and stay there until late at night before returning home.
After a few days, Li Xiaobao had almost flipped through all of Song Deyin's collection of books without finding what he was looking for. However, this did not diminish his enthusiasm but instead made him even more serious.
Eventually, Zhang Laicai had no choice but to grit his teeth and raise the pay to a hundred per day, which indeed attracted a crowd of onlookers to sign up. This infuriated him further, as he was paying more than twice what Li Xiaobao's wages had been.
After his men finished planting on Mountain No. 3 in a day, Zhang Laicai suddenly realized a very serious problem: there was no water on any of the three mountains.