Chapter 53: Rainstorm

The sky suddenly changed, and the village was full of people rushing home in a hurry.  

Hailstones pelted everything, clattering loudly. In just a short while, the road was covered in ice balls—some as big as fingernails, others the size of soybeans.  

The grass on both sides of the road was beaten askew, with broken leaves and snapped stems.  

The grass under the trees fared slightly better, but the tree leaves suffered, falling in showers along with the branches.  

Zhao Ke and her younger brother watched their steps as they sprinted home. Even standing under the eaves wasn’t safe—only after stepping inside did they stop getting pelted.  

“That really hurt.” Zhao Feng rubbed the sore spot where he’d been hit and asked with concern, “Jie, are you okay?”  

Zhao Ke looked at the courtyard, almost entirely covered in white, and the hail that was still falling. She murmured, “I don’t know how the seedlings in the fields are doing…”  

At Zhao Xinshan’s house—  

Zhao Rui and Zhao Yunyun dashed home, where Li Cuihua and Zhao Rui’s wife, Qu Qianqian, anxiously looked them over.  

“You didn’t get hurt, did you?”  

“How did such big hailstones suddenly start falling…”  

Zhao Xinshan stood under the eaves, ignoring the hail hitting his legs. His brows were tightly furrowed as he stared at the sky, gripping a cigarette in his hand but never smoking it—just crushing it into bits.  

Zhao Yunyun whined to her mother, “It really hurts.”  

Li Cuihua rubbed the spot she pointed to, then, unable to help herself, gave her a light slap. “I can’t even bear to let you do anything at home, yet you run around outside all the time!”  

Zhao Yunyun glanced sideways at her father standing under the eaves and deliberately raised her voice. “We weren’t just messing around—it was for the brigade’s benefit.”  

Li Cuihua swatted Zhao Yunyun again, telling her not to provoke her father. Then, she turned around and saw Zhao Xinshan putting on a straw hat and raincoat. She anxiously asked, “It’s hailing out there! Where are you going?”  

“Mind your own business.” Zhao Xinshan strode straight into the hail and left home.  

Li Cuihua sighed in exasperation. “That man, honestly…”  

Zhao Yunyun chimed in, “Such a stubborn old mule.”  

“How are you talking?” Li Cuihua pinched her.  

Zhao Yunyun pouted. “Well, it’s true.”  

“He’s your father. You two siblings keep siding with outsiders and going against him—how does that make any sense?”  

Zhao Rui said, “We’re not opposing him. I really believe the drainage channels are useful. But why won’t Dad and the others agree?”  

Outside, dark clouds loomed, and a storm was brewing. Zhao Yunyun was still naïve. “Oh, whatever. Once it rains, we’ll see if the drainage channels work or not—it’ll be clear as day. They’ll have to admit we were right.”  

Meanwhile, Zhao Xinshan braved the hail, running all the way to the fields outside the village. Seeing the flattened seedlings, he picked up a few broken stalks and squatted down in distress, unmoving, letting the hailstones pelt his body.  

Several other men from the village ran over. Seeing the state of the fields, their hearts ached.  

“How did it get this bad?”  

“They were growing so well this year…”  

“Damn this heaven!”  

“What do we do now…”  

The crops were their lifeblood.  

If anything happened to them, it was as good as taking their lives.  

This was the reality of relying on the sky for survival. When heaven suddenly threw down such a calamity, farmers had no choice but to accept their losses. The only thing they could do was pray for the disaster to pass quickly.  

After another ten minutes, the hail finally stopped. But the sky remained heavy with dark clouds, just like the mood of the villagers inspecting their crops.  

Upon checking, they found that only a small portion of the seedlings had snapped. Most had just lost leaves or been knocked over. With some fertilizer and care, they should survive.  

That meant the losses weren’t too severe.  

Everyone felt a bit relieved.  

“Thank goodness.”  

“If we tend to them properly, we should still be able to meet the harvest quota.”  

As they spoke, the sky suddenly brightened, followed by a deafening thunderclap.  

“It’s raining!”  

The torrential downpour came fast and heavy, rain hammering the ground in a deafening roar.  

Zhao Xinshan and the others hurried home.  

At Zhao Xinshan’s house—  

As Li Cuihua handed him a towel, she asked, “How are the seedlings?”  

“They’re okay. Some fell over, but we can prop them back up after the rain.”  

Zhao Yunyun secretly made faces but didn’t dare let her father see.  

Zhao Rui asked, “Dad, did you check the drainage channels?”  

Zhao Xinshan replied indifferently, “No.”  

The same scene played out in many other homes in the village.  

Even though the short walk home had left their bodies soaked under their raincoats, none of them gave a second thought to the drainage channels. No one considered this rain to be more worrisome than the hail.  

It was just rain. It rained every year. What was there to worry about?  

At the same time, Zhao Ke sat by the stove, tending the fire while occasionally glancing outside at the rain.  

Yu Xiulan stirred the food in the pot with a spatula. “The house is so dark with this weather. The school had to stop classes, so Principal Gu let all the students go home early.”  

Zhao Ke casually asked, “Is Shugen still at school alone?”  

She absentmindedly poked at the bean stalks with a fire poker, shoving them into the stove while keeping her eyes on the rain.  

The rain had only been falling for less than half an hour, but the wooden bucket under the eaves was already more than half full…  

Yu Xiulan replied, “I saw Teacher Wu take him home before I left.”  

Zhao Ke responded absentmindedly, “I see…”  

“The fire! The fire’s about to go out!” Yu Xiulan raised her voice. “What are you thinking about?”  

Zhao Ke snapped out of it, but she couldn’t sit still anymore. She grabbed a bunch of bean stalks and shoved them into the stove all at once, then stood up. “Mom, you handle it. I’m heading out.”  

Yu Xiulan asked urgently, “Where are you going?”  

Zhao Ke didn’t answer. She put on a raincoat and boots while calling for Zhao Feng to grab some tools and come along.  

Yu Xiulan watched the two of them dash out into the rain and grew angry. “It’s pouring! Why are they running outside?!”  

Neither of them turned back. Their figures quickly disappeared into the rain.  

Zhao Jianguo walked into the kitchen.  

With nowhere else to vent her frustration, Yu Xiulan lashed out at him. “Look at your kids! They can’t sit still for a single day!”  

“I didn’t have them alone…” Zhao Jianguo started to argue but was met with a glare. He quickly changed the subject. “Forget those two restless troublemakers. I’ll help you with the fire.”

“The ‘restless’ Zhao Ke led Zhao Feng, braving the rain as they ran toward the west side of the village.  

Rainwater had gathered along the road, forming small streams that flowed westward. When they arrived near their grandmother’s house, they saw that the trench they had dug earlier was already full, with rainwater continuously converging from all directions into the central depression.  

Zhao Ke cautiously stepped in—the water reached over her instep, then her ankle… In the deepest area, it was already up to her calves. At this rate, if the rain continued, it was only a matter of time before the water flooded into their grandmother’s courtyard, then the school and the clinic.  

“Jie!” Zhao Feng had to shout over the heavy rain. “There’s water pooling in Uncle’s yard too!”  

Zhao Ke wiped the rain off her face and shouted back, “You go call them! We’ll dig the trench out!”  

Even if the village forbade it, they were going to dig.  

Without hesitation, Zhao Feng ran toward their eldest and third uncles’ homes.  

In just a few minutes, the water level climbed higher against their boots. Zhao Ke wiped her face again and turned, trudging out of the flooded area with some difficulty.  

The water was deep and murky, making it impossible to see the ground beneath. No matter how cautious she was, she lost her footing, slipping backward uncontrollably.  

Since she was already drenched, Zhao Ke didn’t struggle. She shut her eyes and mouth tightly, covered her ears, and braced herself for the fall into the water.  

Just as she was about to hit the water, a tall figure rushed into the flood and caught her.  

Zhao Ke hadn’t fallen in, but the rain still plastered her face. She struggled to open her eyes.  

It was Fu Zhiqing.  

Zhao Ke tried to speak but ended up with a mouthful of rainwater instead. Using his support, she steadied herself and turned to spit out the water.  

“Director Zhao,” Fu Hang shouted close to her ear, “Lin Zhiqing and I came to help dig the trench!”  

Zhao Ke didn’t waste time with unnecessary words and instead called out to him and Lin Haiyang, who stood at the edge of the water, “Let’s go—”  

The three of them moved forward, joining up with Zhao Feng, the two uncles from the Yu family, and five of their cousins.  

The village had initially forbidden digging the trench because it meant cutting through the middle of the road. But with this heavy rain, between having their homes flooded and getting scolded, there was no need to hesitate—they got to work immediately.  

—  

At the Wang family’s home—  

The family sat together eating when Aunt Dong, hearing the deafening rain outside, remarked, “It really came down, huh.”  

Wang Changhe remained unconcerned. “It hasn’t rained for so long, the fields were dry. This rain is good—it’ll moisten the land.”  

Wang Lao Da agreed, “Yeah, it’s been too hot lately.”  

Aunt Dong noticed her third son, Wang Xiangquan, shoveling food into his mouth at an alarming speed. She couldn’t help but scold him, “What, were you reincarnated from a starving ghost? Why are you eating so fast?”  

Wang Lao San was too focused on wolfing down his food to respond. He quickly finished his bowl, put down his chopsticks, and hurriedly said, “I’m done, I’m heading out.”  

He grabbed a rain cape and put it on, pulling a straw hat over his head as he moved toward the door.  

Aunt Dong put down her bowl and chased after him, grabbing his arm. “Where are you going?”  

“The trench isn’t finished. With this kind of rain, it’s definitely flooding. I’m going to help.”  

“It’s raining! Everyone’s staying inside—who’s dumb enough to run out in this weather?”  

“Director Zhao will definitely take charge.”  

“That’s her business!” Aunt Dong was even more displeased. “What are you running around in the rain for?”  

Wang Lao San couldn’t be bothered to argue. He pried her hand off and ran straight outside.  

Aunt Dong’s scolding was drowned out by the rain.  

Wang Lao San joined the trench-digging effort. Soon, more young men from the village arrived of their own accord. Zhao Rui and four other educated youth from the educated youth point also ran over through the heavy rain.  

The ground was soft from the rain, making it easier to dig than when it was dry. With everyone working together, they quickly connected the trench to the ditch north of the old locust tree.  

Water from the village steadily drained into the ditch, but with the rain still pouring, the flooded area showed no sign of receding.  

The trench wasn’t deep enough to begin with. Now, it was already half-filled with rainwater, and the water level was visibly rising.  

Zhao Ke wiped the rain off her face, but it was useless—it kept getting in her mouth. She no longer cared and shouted to the group, “The rain’s too heavy! We need to dig out the front section, or it’ll overflow and back up into the village! If the houses stay submerged for too long, they’ll collapse!”  

Zhao Feng took the lead. “Jie, let’s go dig!”  

Zhu Jianyi and the other young men echoed, “Yeah, Jie, let’s go dig!”  

The uncles from the Yu family also responded in agreement.  

With no objections, Zhao Ke waved her hand. “Then let’s go!”  

Everyone answered in unison, grabbing their tools and heading outside the village.  

Zhuang Lan and Su Limei struggled to walk in the downpour. Zhao Ke grabbed them both. “You two stay back!”  

“Director Zhao, I can do it!” Zhuang Lan refused to leave. “Let Limei go back instead!”  

Su Limei protested, “Why should I be the one to go back? I won’t!”  

Zhao Ke glanced at Zhuang Lan’s thin frame and shook her head. “I said go back, so go back!”  

The two hurriedly spoke up, “Director Zhao—”  

Zhao Ke waved them off. “The educated youth station’s roof isn’t fixed yet. Isn’t it leaking? Go to my house and have my father prepare some soup to ward off the cold.”  

Fu Hang turned back and urged her, “You should go back too. We’ve got this.”  

Zhao Rui and the others realized Zhao Ke was also a woman and started persuading her to stay behind.  

Eldest Uncle Yu was more direct. “Zhao Ke, go back.”  

There was still a lot to take care of in the village. Zhao Ke thought for a moment and agreed. She called out to Zhao Rui and Fu Hang, “Rui Ge, you handle the arrangements! Fu Zhiqing, explain the digging details to him!”  

Both nodded.  

Zhao Ke reminded them, “Be careful, don’t get hurt!”  

The group assured her, “Don’t worry.”  

They walked off, their figures soon obscured by the rain.  

“Let’s go back.”  

Zhao Ke glanced at the overflowing ditch before pulling Zhuang Lan and Su Limei back toward the village.  

As they passed the old locust tree, they saw several people working near the pigsty.  

The moment they spotted Zhao Ke, they lit up. “Director Zhao!”  

The pigsty had a fully covered roof, but the sides were open, allowing rainwater to pour in. The piglets were shivering in the flooded pen.  

The workers were trying to install barriers.  

Of the five caretakers, three had husbands—only Uncle Zhu and Chang Shan had come to help their wives. The other helper was He Dongsheng, a storekeeper with a bad leg.  

Zhao Shuanzhu had gone to dig the trench. Sixth Uncle hadn’t come to help Zhao Pingping, and Jin Li’s husband, Fan An, was also absent.  

With the wind and rain so strong, they could barely stand straight. Even with all hands on deck, installing a single barrier was an uphill battle.  

At that moment, some villagers approached.  

Su Limei was delighted. “Are they here to help?!”  

The others also looked over expectantly.  

But instead of assistance, what they got was blame.  

Zhu Jianyi’s parents confronted Zhao Ke. “In this downpour, how could you send our son to dig at the river?”  

The women’s earlier relief turned ice cold.  

Other parents quickly chimed in—  

“It’s not like it’s never rained before. Why make such a big deal?”  

“What if someone falls in?”

“What if something happens to my son? How are you going to make it up to me?!” 

Zhao Ke also knew that working outside in heavy rain was difficult and explained to them, “We’ve already dug near the riverbank before, we’re not digging there now.”  

“I don’t care where you’re digging! We put up with it before, but not in this downpour!”  

“That’s right! Not happening!”  

“You have to bring my kid back!”  

“Zhao Ke, don’t think just because you’ve read a few books you can forget where you came from!”  

Blame poured in relentlessly.  

Rain streamed down Zhao Ke’s face, blurring her vision. Unable to bear it any longer, she pointed at the water channel and shouted, “Are you blind?! Can’t you see how heavy the rain is?!”  

In the ditch, the water level was just 30 to 40 centimeters from the edge, and rainwater was still rushing in.  

Zhu Jianyi’s parents saw the water and grew even angrier. “And you’re still making my son stay out in this downpour—”  

“We’re all out here working in the rain!” Zhao Ke pointed to the people by the pigsty. “Yet you think you’re so special! We’re trying to save collective property! What are you doing? Instead of wasting time accusing me, why don’t you actually do something useful?!”  

The villagers were stunned into silence by her outburst.  

Earlier, they had stormed out, concerned only for their own children, completely ignoring everything else. Only now did they notice the group by the pigsty glaring at them and realize the state the pigs were in.  

Uncle Zhu turned on Zhu Jianyi’s parents. “We thought you were coming to help, but we got excited for nothing! If anything happens to the piglets, the whole village suffers! It’s bad enough you just sat at home doing nothing, but now you come out here to blame Director Zhao? Have you no shame?!”  

His words were aimed at Zhu Jianyi’s parents, but the other villagers all looked embarrassed, their aggressive stance quickly dying down.  

Zhao Ke ignored them and called for the others to put up the flood barriers.  

The villagers exchanged looks and hurried over to help.  

With more hands, the work went quickly. Soon, the barriers were in place. Zhao Ke didn’t bother worrying about whether the others would go catch the missing people outside the village—she led Zhuang Lan and Su Limei back to her house.  

Zhao Jianguo had made a big pot of warming soup and gave each of them a bowl.  

“Are you cold?” Yu Xiulan looked at their soaked pants, heart aching. “Drink up and then get changed right away. A chill like this can last a lifetime for young girls.”  

The three of them, lips blue from the cold, obediently followed instructions.  

Before dark, the canal-digging team finally returned.  

Everyone was drenched, hands trembling as they stood or crouched, sipping the warming soup.  

Zhao Rui told Zhao Ke, “We didn’t dig too deep, just enough to open a drainage path. Then we came back.”  

“As long as it drains, that’s good enough.”  

The others finished their soup and went home. Fu Hang lingered a moment and told Zhao Ke, “The silt might clog up the channel we dug.”  

Zhao Ke replied, “This village doesn’t belong to just us. We’ve already done our best. The rain’s not letting up, and going out at night wouldn’t be safe. We’ll deal with it tomorrow.”  

Fu Hang nodded and left.  

At Zhao Xinshan’s House—  

Zhao Rui returned home to his mother and wife fussing over him.  

The house was filled with swirling smoke. Zhao Xinshan sat there, cigarette between his fingers, face expressionless.  

Li Cuihua urged Zhao Rui, “Go inside and lie down under the blanket. The kang is warm.”  

After Zhao Rui and his wife went in, Zhao Xinshan sat in silence for a long while, listening to the storm raging outside. In the end, his responsibility as brigade leader and his concern for the crops won out—he reached for his still-dripping raincoat.  

Hearing the door close, Li Cuihua turned around—he was gone. She chased to the door, calling after him several times, but he didn’t stop.  

Zhao Xinshan trudged toward the fields outside the village, each step sinking into the mud, his feet growing heavier, his heart even more so.  

When he reached the western fields, the usual flood-prone area wasn’t pooling with water like it had in past years.  

Following the direction of the water flowing through the furrows, he found the drainage ditch.  

Streams of water from the furrows all poured into the drainage channel, merging into a steady current, rushing downstream.  

Nothing was more convincing than hard evidence—  

The ditch was working. Zhao Ke had been right.  

Zhao Xinshan’s lips trembled. He stood in silence.  

.

In past years, heavy rains would cause leaks in many old houses.  

But recently, quite a few families had repaired their homes.  

Tonight, though the rain poured for hours, those who had fixed their roofs lay in bed comfortably, even if the sound of rain kept them from sleeping.  

In Wang Yinghui’s house, Song Rui beamed up at the ceiling. “Mom, our house isn’t leaking at all this year!”  

Wang Yinghui nodded lightly. Not having to get up in the middle of the night to catch rainwater felt good.  

Meanwhile, those who had refused to repair their roofs no matter how much Zhao Ke had advised them—watching the rain pour outside while it also dripped inside—were filled with regret.  

If only they had listened to Zhao Ke.  

At the Qian Household—  

The old house where Old Man Qian and Granny Qian lived was in terrible shape. The prolonged downpour had made the leaks even worse.  

Old Man Qian lay on the kang, staying dry in the only rain-free spot, and barked at Granny Qian, “Can’t you see the leaks? Get up and catch the water!”

Granny Qian put on her shoes, got out of bed, and took various containers to catch the leaking water. Listening to the steady dripping sound, she muttered, “If we had listened to Director Zhao and fixed the house, it wouldn’t be leaking now.”  

Old Man Qian instantly flew into a rage. He grabbed the bowl that was already catching rain on the kang and hurled it at her. “This is my house! Whether I fix it or not is my decision! You have no right to lecture me!”  

The bowl hit Granny Qian’s shoulder, and the rainwater soaked a large patch of her back.  

She clutched the aching spot, her eyes filled with sorrow, and whispered, “I was just saying…”  

“You think you’re something, huh? If you still want to stay in this house, then shut your mouth!” Old Man Qian roared, completely devoid of compassion. “Tonight, you are not allowed on the kang!”  

Next door, Qian Jun pretended to be asleep, keeping his eyes shut and ignoring everything.  

Even though Granny Qian’s heart ached at his cold indifference, she was used to obeying her husband. The night was freezing, so she could only sit on the floor, leaning against the kang.  

Outside, the fierce wind howled, lashing against the storm, making the tree branches sway wildly. The dark shadows of the trees looked like man-eating monsters, clawing at the windows.  

Inside the house, faint cracking sounds mixed with the sound of the rain, going completely unnoticed by the Qian family.  

“Boom—” 

“Ah—” 

Granny Qian jolted awake. Her face felt ice-cold. She instinctively touched her cheek.  

It was soaked.  

A flash of lightning tore through the stormy night, illuminating everything in a blinding glare.  

The roof above the kang had collapsed!  

It had come crashing down on Old Man Qian!  

The entire surface of the kang was covered in shattered dirt and debris, but Granny Qian, who had been sitting on the floor, wasn’t hit at all.  

Retribution… was it?  

She stared blankly at the half-buried figure on the kang, as if she were in a daze.  

Her son, Qian Jun, rushed over. Seeing the scene before him, his eyes widened in shock, and his hands trembled as he reached out to check his father’s breathing.  

There was still breath…  

His legs went weak, and he shouted, “Help! Somebody help!”  

Granny Qian snapped out of it and lunged forward, but she didn’t dare to move Old Man Qian recklessly. Trembling, she said, “Jun’er, go find someone, get a doctor—yes, find Zhao Jianguo…”  

Qian Jun ran out, stumbling several times along the way, his body covered in mud. He finally reached Zhao Ke’s house and shouted from outside, “Help! Someone, help!”  

The rain was pouring so hard that no one in Zhao Ke’s house was sleeping soundly, including Zhuang Lan and Su Limei, who were staying over. The entire household was woken up by the shouting.  

The three women didn’t move.  

Zhao Jianguo, however, quickly got dressed, grabbed his medical kit, and ran off with Qian Jun.  

Zhao Feng also went with his father. When they arrived at the Qian house and saw that the roof had collapsed, Zhao Feng hurried next door to call Zhao Shuan Zhu and his son to help.  

After much effort, they carefully rescued Old Man Qian.  

His lower back had been crushed. Zhao Jianguo could only stabilize his injury and give him painkillers.  

Even in good weather, a spinal injury would be difficult to transport safely to the commune or county hospital, let alone in this heavy rain.  

The Qian family had no choice but to leave it to fate.  

The rain poured relentlessly throughout the night. The next day, the entire village heard that the Qian family’s roof had collapsed and that Old Man Qian had been injured.  

For a moment, those who had repaired their houses and those who hadn’t all felt uneasy as they listened to the never-ending rain.  

Why was it raining so much?  

The ones who had fixed their houses felt even more grateful, while those who hadn’t became increasingly anxious and regretful.  

If only they had listened to Zhao Ke.  

But it wasn’t over yet.  

It was as if the sky had been torn open, endlessly dumping rainwater down upon them.  

The heavy, oppressive clouds made everyone feel uneasy.  

Clothes, blankets, and walls were all damp. Even firewood was too wet to catch fire properly.  

Not even Zhao Ke had expected the rain to be this heavy. The production team members, who had initially thought things wouldn’t be too bad, were now completely panicked.  

When would the rain stop?  

What about the crops?  

If they couldn’t harvest their grain, how would they survive next year?  

Meanwhile, just as Fu Hang had predicted, the drainage ditches Zhao Ke and the others had dug were starting to clog.  

The fields’ irrigation channels needed clearing, and the drainage ditches between the trenches and the river had to be cleaned.  

Once again, Zhao Ke went to find Zhao Xinshan.  

There wasn’t a hint of smugness on her face. She simply stated the facts:  

“The drainage channel isn’t flowing smoothly enough. It’d be best to dig more water paths at the trench openings to improve drainage.”  

“The rainwater is carrying mud into the trenches, so we need people to clear them out.”  

“The rainfall is too heavy, and the ditches are too small. The drainage is too slow. We can’t just sit and wait—we need to expand the drainage as much as possible.”  

“Uncle, we don’t have enough manpower.”  

Zhao Xinshan’s mouth was covered in sores from stress. He closed his eyes wearily, then opened them again and, with a hoarse voice, said, “Let’s go to the brigade gathering point.”  

Ten minutes later, the brigade’s loudspeakers blared. Zhao Xinshan’s hoarse voice echoed through the entire village:  

“Attention all commune members! Attention all commune members! Our village’s young people have carved out a lifeline for our crops—the drainage trenches are working! We cannot give up! If you’re between the ages of fifteen and fifty-five and can still move, gather at the brigade gathering point immediately!”  

“I repeat—gather at the brigade gathering point!”