Chapter 157

If the heavy rain continued tomorrow and Fan Qian and Fan Damu’s families refused to participate, they couldn’t leave the dam unbuilt.

Except for the old village chief, the Li family was deeply worried.

The Li family was concerned with ensuring the village’s safety during the storm, striving to minimize losses for each household, and working tirelessly without complaint.

Yet, some villagers only sought to take advantage, unwilling to contribute any effort while expecting to benefit.

Such calculating and manipulative behavior was disheartening.

Li Wen sighed deeply, then remembered the bamboo basket he had set down under the eaves.

It was dark, and everyone was preoccupied, so no one had noticed. He picked up the basket and said to his wife, Guifen, “Guifen, this is something Shuiqing brought for Dad to eat. I’m not sure what it is, but could you heat it up for him?”

The old village chief’s brows furrowed deeply, but his eldest son quickly spoke up, “Dad, I really didn’t intend to take it! But Jin pulled my raincoat, and I couldn’t run away. When Shuiqing handed it to me, I couldn’t refuse or make a scene, right? She even said it was for you and that you wouldn’t scold me for bringing it back.”

The old village chief’s brows slowly relaxed. Knowing that the gift was given sincerely and with good intentions, and since it was already brought back, he relented, “Open it and see what it is. Eldest daughter-in-law, heat it up for dinner, and we’ll all eat together.”

Guifen wanted to say it was meant for her father-in-law alone, but feeling the heavy weight of the clay pot, she realized that even excluding the pot’s weight, there were still five or six pounds of food! That was too much for her father-in-law to eat alone.

Understanding that Shuiqing had said it was for her father-in-law but had clearly intended it for the whole family, she first untied the tightly bound hemp rope, unwinding it slowly, then unwrapped the oil paper and exclaimed in surprise.

Her sisters-in-law, Zhang Hui and Zhao Lan, heard her and came over to look.

One glance had them both exclaiming as well.

The three Li brothers, curious, hurried over. “What’s wrong?”

Zhao Lan pointed to the clay pot, disbelief in her voice, “It’s meat! A whole pot full of meat!”

Hearing it was meat, even the old village chief looked over.

Li Wu leaned in closer. “This is pure meat, without any filler!”

When sending food to others, who would be generous enough to give pure meat? Usually, a bit of meat mixed into a dish to add flavor was the norm.

Li Qiang sniffed, “It’s lamb.”

Lamb had a distinct and strong smell.

Zhang Hui examined it closely and said, “Each piece is thick with fat. Shuiqing really went out of her way; she’s incredibly generous.”

If it were her, even if she sent pure meat, she wouldn’t have chosen the fattiest parts.

Everyone there knew they couldn’t be that generous.

Having meat for dinner lifted everyone’s spirits, replacing their earlier gloom with anticipation.

Guifen, Zhang Hui, and Zhao Lan carefully carried the heavy clay pot, their hearts filled with excitement.

Five or six pounds of meat—such an amount was a rare luxury, even during the New Year!

Dinner was already prepared, consisting of stewed radish, stir-fried loofah, and steamed eggplant.

Given the hard work their men had put into digging the canal, the women had also added two goose eggs to the vegetable soup, making a large pot of vegetable and egg drop soup. Goose eggs, much larger than chicken eggs and with a less pleasant taste, still provided a plentiful amount of egg drop in the soup.

Knowing their men might be even more exhausted tomorrow, the women didn’t use up all the lamb in one meal. They first set aside a large bowl of pure meat, adding a bit of broth, and heated it up in the pot. Then they took out about two pounds, mixed with broth, and added it to the radish stew, stirring and simmering it for a while until the radishes absorbed the meat’s aroma.

The remaining meat, along with the clay pot, was kept in cool water to save for tomorrow’s meal.

The three daughters-in-law laid out dinner on the table.

A large bowl of pure lamb meat was placed in front of the old village chief.

In the center of the table was the lamb and radish stew.

Around it were the vegetable and egg drop soup, stir-fried loofah, steamed eggplant, and a large basket of baked potatoes.

While the adults in the family could manage, the children were thrilled to see both meat and eggs, cheering with joy.

The Li family had a particularly satisfying and lively dinner.

In contrast, Fan Qian’s household was far from harmonious.

With many people and not all family members, children ran around noisily, much to Fan Qian’s frustration.

Despite his repeated scolding, the chaos continued, prompting angry glares from Fan Da Niang and Fan Damu’s wife, who felt he was being too harsh on the children.

Reflecting on how his own daughters, Daya and Erya, as well as Jiang, He, and Hu, used to be careful and diligent in the house, and comparing it to the current noisy chaos, Fan Qian only felt more irritable and weak.

To make matters worse, they were running out of firewood!

Usually, firewood was easy to come by, but the continuous heavy rain made it a significant problem.

Fan Daniang and the daughters-in-law had already had several arguments over firewood—quarrels erupted almost every meal, even over boiling water, arguing about who used more straw and who cooked for longer.

The women also complained about the lack of oil and the dwindling salt supply.

They were only eating two meals of black flour and vegetable porridge a day, barely seasoned, and always feeling hungry.

“Father, are we really not going to fetch Zhaodi?” Fan Erzhu worried that their strained relationship with the younger uncle’s family might lead to demands for food, of which they had little.

Fan Dazhu was more concerned about the levee, “Father, are we really not going to help build the levee? Won’t the village chief force us to contribute labor and sandbags?”

Squatting on the doorstep, the dark sky and pouring rain couldn’t match Fan Qian’s somber expression. Hearing his sons, he coldly said, “No, let your uncle take care of her. It saves us food. The village chief isn’t the government. Why should we obey his orders? Not building a levee isn’t a crime; he can’t evict us from the village, so what are you afraid of?”

The four sons relaxed at this, realizing that the village chief wasn’t an authority figure.

Previously, they had complied when their mother pushed Erya down the hill because they feared punishment from the authorities. And in Zhang Tuozi’s case, they were forced to compensate due to public outrage.

But this time, no one could force them to build the levee.

Fan Damu was even more defiant. Their house was gone; why should they build the levee? If they didn’t, what could the village chief do? He had no leverage over them.

More pressing was the shortage of firewood and food.

Since the rain began, he had been eating thin porridge, never feeling full. Hunger made him irritable and anxious.

He lay on the bed, trying to turn but couldn’t due to the people on either side.

The relentless rain outside only added to his frustration.

Meanwhile, Bai Ziqian lay on a large, clean, and soft bed. Unlike before, when he had to huddle in a cramped straw hut, he could now stretch and roll as he pleased.

After finishing his studies for the day, well-fed and comfortable, he should have fallen into a deep sleep but was suddenly jolted awake!

Sitting up abruptly, he gasped for air, cold sweat dripping from his forehead.

In his dream, his father was swept away by the flood.

Impossible. His father was in the Bai mansion in the southern capital; how could he be swept away by a flood…