Grain Rain, the sixth of the twenty-four solar terms, is one of the periods with the most rainfall and an important time for spring plowing.

The villagers reluctantly planted rice and chili peppers, hoping for some rain during the Grain Rain season, but they waited and waited.

They were clearly disappointed. As the temperature gradually rose, the tender seedlings could not withstand the scorching sun and began to turn yellow.

"There's no water at all; these rice seedlings won't survive."

After the grief subsided, all they could do was take buckets from home and fill them one by one in the ditch to pour into the fields, but it was just a drop in the ocean and did nothing to help.

By this time, Liu Huan and Su's father had already transported most of the grain home. Looking at the rapidly drying water sources and green plants in the village, she decided not to go to town.

Without water, no one can survive without food, so she wanted to stay in the village and solve these problems.

"Dad, I'm not going to town. I'll stay home and keep watch. After you go, tell Mom to go to Grandma's house and tell them to buy the grain now, because the harvest is coming too fast."

Seeing these changes, Su's father knew that he could not escape this calamity this year.

"Okay, I'll tell your mother when I get there."

On the second day Liu Huan stayed in the village, she began searching for a water source, as the villagers drank spring water from the mountain spring at the end of a small ditch.

Because it hasn't rained, the water flow has decreased significantly, and it probably won't last much longer.

Drilling a well is out of the question, as the terrain of Maocao Village means there will be no groundwater source. The only solution is to store water.

In ancient times, there was no cement, so building a pool would definitely result in leaks. She felt like her brain wasn't enough to keep up, and she really regretted not studying harder before.

However, she thought of something: dig a tunnel to hide the grain inside, or to hide inside if wolves came.

She acted immediately, choosing the backyard area as the location because she was afraid that digging inside the house would cause it to collapse, which would be a loss.

"Brother, let's dig here."

"Okay, I'll do whatever you say."

First, they dug a very deep pit, and then slowly chiseled it in.

Daishi was very worried that it would collapse.

After thinking it over carefully, Xiao Shi said, "Wait, brother, we can use wooden planks to support the top, so we won't have to worry about it collapsing."

Cao'er also thought of a solution: "Let's use some mud from making adobe bricks to plaster it on, that should prevent it from collapsing, right?"

We discussed it together and dug together, slowly taking shape as the basement was dug out.

Xiao Shi was so tired that he dozed off in class and was scolded by the teacher.

The four children secretly carried out a big plan without their family's knowledge.

After a month of hard work, they finally dug out an area of ​​about ten square meters, which was filled with wood. It can be said that all the firewood in the house that was even slightly larger was used.

When Su's father returned and found that the wood he had chopped was gone, he thought it had been stolen.

Xiao Shi mysteriously led him to see it, and he was completely shocked: "This...you did this?"

Xiao Shi: "Yes, it was the four of us who did it. Dad, it's very spacious inside."

He was immediately berated, "What if it collapses? This is ridiculous! You should at least wait for the adults to check on it."

While waiting for it to dry, Liu Huan continued searching for a water source, looking all the nearby areas she frequented, before finally finding a spring at the boundary between the deep mountains and the back mountain.

That place is somewhat dangerous; most people wouldn't go there.

Hearing a rustling sound from above, she turned and ran.

This can only be considered as an alternative.

After returning home, she said, "It's no good to have food but no water."

Da Shi fidgeted with his fingers and hesitated before saying, "Let's buy a few more buckets; every little bit helps."

So she clapped her hands and went to town with Su's father the next day, and she actually found materials that could store water.

The shopkeeper patted his chest and assured him, "Don't worry, the oil paper in my shop is sourced from Jiangnan. All the oil paper umbrella makers get theirs from me."

"Is that all, shopkeeper?"

The shopkeeper knew immediately that business was in the works: "Of course not, there's plenty, but can you make the decision, young lady?"

Liu Huan took out a silver ingot and said proudly, "My family makes umbrellas, so naturally I need more."

The shopkeeper was overjoyed. It hadn't rained for months, and no one was buying oiled paper umbrellas. He thought he was going to be stuck with them.

"Alright, seeing that the young lady is sincere, I'll give you a 20% discount."

When Su's mother returned home, she saw that Changsheng and she were each carrying a bundle of oiled paper. Her heart pounded. "Huanhuan, what are you going to do with this oiled paper?"

"We're going back to store water; the village is almost out of water."

When Shi Tou heard this, he also wanted to go back, but Liu Hua refused: "No need, we can handle it. Just focus on your studies."

The next day, they took the oil paper back home and dug a large pit in the backyard. They scraped the entire pit with mud used for making adobe bricks and let it air dry naturally. Then they folded the oil paper repeatedly and put it in. After making sure there was no problem with adding a little water, they started to continuously fill the pit with water.

Then cover it with wooden boards and oil paper, and cover it with straw.

She also taught Uncle Su's family how to store water, since Su's father wouldn't watch his brother's family die of thirst. As for the others, she said she couldn't do anything about it.

The town started buying back grain at a high price, twice the usual amount. Several families in the village were tempted to sell their grain, thinking that they could get the same result by exchanging it for black corn.

Selling is easy, but buying back is difficult. After selling the grain, they were told that there was no other grain available.

"Then we won't sell it."

The shopkeeper grinned and said, "Not selling anymore? You've already given me the money and you're saying you're not selling anymore? Get out of here and don't cause trouble."

The group had no choice but to return to Uncle Su and plead, "Village Chief, please help us! We've run out of food."

Uncle Su was so angry that he glared and his blood pressure soared: "You shallow-minded fools, don't you even know how long it's been since it rained? How dare you?"

Those people, feeling guilty yet self-righteous, said, "Aren't you the village chief? Go and help us get the money back. I'm willing to return the money to him."

Uncle Su got even angrier: "You said it yourself, I'm just the village chief, not your father, nor his father, so why would he listen to me?"

Before summer had officially arrived, chaos had already begun in the town. At first, the people noticed that the price of grain had increased, but they didn't pay much attention.

Later, the price became increasingly expensive, even increasing several times over, and people realized that it hadn't rained for a long time.

They started a frenzy of buying up food.

After the academy became aware of the situation, they gave students an early holiday.

Chu Xuan said to Shi Tou, who was tidying up the books, "Brother Su, what are you going to do about your family? My parents said that our family will go to Jiangnan to stay with my aunt tomorrow and we won't be coming back."

As he tidied up, Shi Tou replied, "I'm going home. My family is poor, so I can't go anywhere."

Chu Xuan tentatively suggested, "Why don't you come with us? With this kind of situation, we're afraid this year won't be easy."

Shi Tou declined, "No, my parents are here too, my whole family is here."

Chu Xuan remained silent. No matter how capable his family was, it was impossible for them to take Su Yi's entire family away.

"Take care, and I hope we can meet again in the future."

When they met again many years later, everything had changed.

The town was in chaos, with people everywhere looting grain, and wealthy merchants who had some money had already moved away.

For safety, the group decided to return to Thatched Village.

They were stopped when they tried to leave the city with the last bit of food they had left.

"Stop! What are you carrying? Take it out."

Father Su smiled apologetically and said, "Brother, it's nothing, there's nothing at all."

Those people ignored him, snatched the basket from him, took out the little grain, gave Su's father a few copper coins, and said, "Consider this my payment, now get out of here."

Su's father wanted to argue, but Liu Huan grabbed his sleeve and pretended to be scared: "Dad, give it to them, I'm scared."

The man snorted coldly, "You guys know what's good for you." Then he went on to rob the next person.