Chapter 152

After dinner, they opened the dining room door, and the wind howled in without any sign of abating.

Unlike the afternoon, the wind now carried a hint of chill.

In the sweltering weather, this cool breeze felt incredibly comfortable on their faces and bodies.

“This wind isn’t entirely useless; it’s cooling things down. We’ll sleep well tonight,” Hu Wenhua said optimistically with a broad smile.

But Hu the butcher and Hu’s mother felt uneasy.

In such hot weather, cooling down suddenly is never a good sign!

An unusual event always heralds trouble. Forget about sleeping well; they might not be able to sleep at all.

Thinking about their house, their brows furrowed deeply.

“Go back inside and wash up for bed. It’s likely going to rain tonight,” Shuiqing urged.

Sure enough, it rained that night.

But it wasn’t just rain—it was like the sky had torn open, and the water poured down continuously.

It didn’t stop all night.

When they woke up in the morning and opened the window, thick, humid air rushed in!

Shuiqing quickly closed the window.

Rain already made everything damp, and letting in more moisture would cause water droplets all over the house.

It was still pouring outside, but fortunately, the wind had lessened. The courtyard had covered walkways, so they wouldn’t get wet walking around.

Shuiqing first went to the kitchen and found that her mother had already prepared breakfast.

She then went to the front five rooms.

Originally, Jiang, He, and Hu each had a room, and later Ling Ran and Bai Ziqian were assigned the other two rooms.

Five boys together made it easier to relay tasks.

“Ling Ran, Ziqian, the rain is heavy these days. Uncle Jin will feed the livestock, so you two don’t need to worry about it.

Jiang, He, Hu, you three will place four portions of charcoal in each room every day and retrieve them the next day to put by the stove.”

Fan Jin could wear the raincoat Shuiqing bought in the market under his straw rain cape to stay dry. The straw cape was large enough to cover the raincoat completely.

Charcoal absorbs moisture. Putting four portions in each room would keep them dry and comfortable during the rainy season. Once retrieved, the charcoal could be dried and reused, ensuring no waste.

Ling Ran immediately responded, “I’ll wear the straw cape to feed the livestock.”

“The rain is too heavy. The straw cape won’t be enough, and getting wet could make you sick.”

Straw rain capes, made from straw or palm fibers, were suitable for light or moderate rain, but for such a downpour, a raincoat was necessary!

“But Uncle Jin…”

Ling Ran wanted to say, wouldn’t Uncle Jin get wet too?

He was young and could recover from illness faster than Uncle Jin.

Shuiqing realized this and corrected, “It’s fine. His constitution is special; he won’t get sick from the rain.”

Jiang, He, and Hu were puzzled—how come they didn’t know about their father’s special constitution?

Ling Ran and Bai Ziqian remained silent.

In front of them was the rainy gloom, but behind them was a clean, spacious house.

They had enough food, and each meal was thoughtfully prepared.

All thanks to Aunt Shuiqing and Uncle Jin…

·

In just one night, the low-lying fields were flooded.

The water level in lakes and rivers had risen to the banks.

The Shuiqing family’s house, built on higher ground with drainage ditches dug during construction, fared well.

Not only was the courtyard free of standing water, but even the livestock area was dry.

The rainwater quickly drained away through the ditches.

Without flooding, the storeroom and firewood shed were safe.

Especially the firewood shed—without firewood, they couldn’t cook, and everything else would be disrupted.

They had enough firewood to last two to three months and several thousand pounds of charcoal. With a careful mix, they wouldn’t worry about fuel even in winter.

At this moment, the thirteen members of the Shuiqing family walked through the covered walkways without their shoes or socks getting wet.

They entered the dry kitchen, drinking hot millet and goji berry porridge with some pickles, living their lives as usual despite the heavy rain.

They even felt a sense of leisure.

But the residents of Mountain Water Village didn’t share this leisure.

The Fan family was in particularly dire straits!

Fan Damu’s thatched house didn’t survive the first night!

Nearly ten people, young and old, had moved into his house overnight.

The commotion lasted half the night, and no one got a good sleep.

Three brick houses with four rooms were originally occupied by him and his second brother’s families, already crowded.

After finally getting the second brother’s family to move out, the house became a bit more spacious. Now, with more relatives moving in, the main hall and kitchen were packed with people, making it difficult to even turn around.

Fan Mu, Sun Jinhua, was filled with resentment, her face long and stern, not giving Fan Damu’s family a second look.

Fan Damu’s elderly mother and wife accompanied her with forced smiles, but firmly refused to mention moving out.

Fan Damu himself did not look pleased.

He had agreed to this just two days ago, so why was he now being given the cold shoulder? This was clearly not keeping their word!

With the heavy rain outside, it was impossible to find another place to stay. They all had to squeeze together.

After all, Fan Qian had boasted earlier.

But his family would have to endure some hardships here for a while.

Li Wen was gathering people to dig ditches!

Wearing a straw raincoat, he went from house to house, saying, “The rain is too heavy, and there’s already water accumulating along the roads. If we don’t dig ditches to drain the water, it won’t be long before it floods the courtyards.”

Flooding the courtyards was one thing, but if the rainwater soaked the firewood, that would be disastrous!

Without dry firewood, or with wet firewood, life would be unbearable in this relentless rain.

Other villagers understood this too. Depending on the number of straw raincoats they had, each household sent their strongest men.

Without a raincoat, getting soaked could lead to illness, and with roads possibly being cut off by floods, seeing a doctor would be impossible.

Luckily, every farming family had several sets of straw raincoats.

In no time, the village’s main road was filled with seventy or eighty able-bodied men.

Li Wen and a few others finally arrived at the first house in the village—Fan Qian’s.

After explaining their purpose, Fan Qian frowned in displeasure and waved them off like shooing flies, saying, “My daughter is still missing, how can I think about digging ditches?

You go if you want, but don’t count me in.”

The others were not pleased. “Digging ditches benefits your family too.”

“If your daughter is missing, you should go find her. How can you just stay home?”

“You may not dig, but you’ll still benefit from the ditches. If your firewood gets wet, how will you cook?”

Fan Qian, annoyed, said, “Look at my firewood shed. There’s barely any firewood. Does it matter if it gets wet? I’m not going.”

As soon as Fan Qian finished, Fan Damu rushed out, shouting, “I’m not going either, don’t count me in!

My house has collapsed, so forget about the firewood; huh, you have new houses to protect, so make sure the ditches are wide and deep.”

Li Wen and the others didn’t like the sound of that.

But they couldn’t force people to join them.

Besides, Fan Damu was right—they had to take care of their houses.

Their homes were filled with their dearest family members. Even if they had to get wet, they couldn’t let their loved ones get wet.

Li Wen took several deep breaths, barely suppressing his anger, and waved to the others, “Let’s go, we’ll dig!”

As they turned to leave, the men were visibly fuming.

These two Fan brothers were really shameless!