Chapter 41 Rain

It's only the beginning of April, but the weather is already unbearably hot and humid, with not a breath of wind, and the air is so thick it seems to have solidified.

Chen Yun turned over on the sofa covered with a straw mat and looked out the window.

Gao Ming and several bricklayers were busy. Since there weren't enough roof beams, they nailed several pieces of wood to the top to extend them, and then they made the frame and added the tiles.

The area wasn't large, but it was all meticulous work. We worked all day on Friday and still had half a day left on Saturday.

The old lady Ma's house across the street was doing the same thing, only the tiles she used were slightly inferior to those used by Chen Yun's family; they used only thin blue tiles.

After lying down for a while, Chen Yun couldn't stand it anymore, so she sat up, picked up a book, and started flipping through it casually.

She wanted to help by handing over a tile or a nail, but Gao Ming sent her home as soon as she opened her mouth.

After being forbidden from doing this or that once or twice, Ma's mother soon noticed something was amiss.

In just a few days, several families she knew already knew that Chen Yun was pregnant.

"Comrade Gao, is Little Chen up yet?"

"You're up early..." Gao Ming looked down from the ladder into the house and replied, "She's reading! If your aunt needs anything, just go to her house."

"It's nothing important, I just wanted to ask her if she was going to buy potatoes. We can't help with the roofing work."

"go."

Chen Yun pushed open the window and replied the next second.

"Auntie, wait for me to put on my shoes."

"Take your time... Zhigang, that's someone else's roof, don't try to build on it."

The house was originally a warehouse, and when it was built, the roof was a single piece, and the tiles must have been laid side by side, so it was impossible to clearly delineate the boundary between the roof of one's own house and the roof of the neighbor's house.

Chen Yun's house had no neighbors on the right, while Yang Juhua's house on the left also bought some new tiles to repair the roof. The two families discussed and agreed on the terms, so there was no question of who lost out or who gained an advantage.

The family living next door to Old Lady Ma's house is surnamed Liu. The widowed mother and her eldest son live together.

The eldest son, Liu Shan, and his wife, Li Hongjuan, have a son named Liu Hu. The second son, Liu Hai, had a wife who passed away from illness some years ago, leaving behind a daughter named Liu Xiaohui.

Both brothers are lathe operators. Liu Hai usually lives in a single dormitory, and his daughter is taken care of by his mother, who has difficulty walking.

The last time Zheng Wen and Song Shiwei made too much noise at night, the children said that the fight next door was their family's, and the one who shouted that he would help them was Liu Hu.

Liu Shan and Li Hongjuan are both honest people, and they usually get along well with their neighbors.

On the contrary, Liu Hai, who doesn't live at home, is unruly and often criticizes other neighbors, offending many people on behalf of his elder brother and sister-in-law.

Old Lady Ma was afraid that once the tiles were laid down, Liu Hai would gossip about it.

"Aunt Chen, my grandma asked me to ask if you have any soy sauce? We're out of soy sauce for cooking."

No matter how busy the neighbors were, it couldn't stop Liu's mother from sending Liu Xiaohui to take advantage of her again.

From small things like scallions, garlic, soy sauce, and vinegar, to large things like borrowing a refrigerator to store meat.

When Chen Yun first moved in, she hadn't figured out Liu's mother's personality yet, and the little things she lent out were basically never returned.

After a while, Chen Yun would remind her to pay it back, and Liu's mother would immediately shift her target for taking advantage to the newly moved-in Ma's mother.

Old Ma wasn't so easy to talk to. If someone borrowed money a few times and didn't return it, she would come to their door to ask for it back. If they dared to cheat, she would come to their door and start cursing them.

"I've lived for decades and I've never met such a shameless person. He doesn't want to lose face himself, so he sends his kids out to embarrass themselves."

As soon as Old Lady Ma saw Liu Xiaohui carrying a soy sauce bottle to Chen Yun's house, she stood with her hands on her hips at her door and began to make veiled accusations.

Thirteen-year-old Liu Xiaohui already knew how to save face, and her face instantly turned bright red after being told that by Old Ma.

"Xiao Hui! Aunt Chen's house isn't a supply and marketing cooperative. You can't just come and ask for whatever you don't have... Even a supply and marketing cooperative has to pay money to buy things!"

Coupled with Chen Yun's gentle yet direct rejection, Liu Xiaohui immediately turned around and rushed home.

Before long, Liu's mother's voice could be heard from inside the Liu family's house, scolding Liu Xiaohui for being useless.

"You should have said that a long time ago," said Old Ma.

"I'm easily embarrassed," Chen Yun said with a smile.

Seeing Liu Xiaohui being scolded, he felt sorry for her and lent her money a few times. Later, he realized that the grandmother and granddaughter were both willing to give and receive, and that Chen Yun's kindness was probably just seen as stupidity by this girl.

After handing the tile to the craftsman, Gao Ming noticed that Chen Yun was wearing plastic sandals and couldn't help but worry: "Change your shoes before you go out."

"Don't be so delicate." Chen Yun stepped back to avoid Gao Ming's hand that was about to help her change her shoes: "Rubber shoes are hot. Let Li and his wife come over for dinner tonight, and I'll buy a fish to cook on the way back."

With the bricklayer's help, the homeowner not only had to pay him but also provide meals. Not sure if the work could be finished before dinner, Chen Yun had to buy groceries and prepare for the evening.

"It can be done in two hours at most, so there's no need to cook dinner."

"Then let's eat by ourselves. I want to eat fish."

The human body is truly amazing. Before the pregnancy was confirmed, Chen Yun did not feel any discomfort. However, just a few days after receiving the report, she began to feel that her mouth had no taste. Last night, she had to chew two peppercorns before she could fall asleep.

A large pot of boiled fish, brimming with Sichuan peppercorns and chili peppers, was dinner that Chen Yun had been thinking about since she woke up this morning. She was determined to eat it today.

"Drive carefully." Gao Ming smiled and shook his head.

"..."

I swayed back home from the market carrying a motionless silver carp, only to find that the bricklayer had already paid me and left.

Gao Ming and Li Huguo stood and squatted at the doorway, building a high threshold.

"Chen Yun is back!"

Why are you two up so early?

Gao Ming probably wouldn't be able to call Li Huguo and his wife back so quickly.

"I met an old man selling fish at the factory gate this morning. He said the fish were from the reservoir... You bought some fish too!"

Ruanqiu was sitting at the door enjoying the cool air when she pointed to the enamel basin next to her. She turned her head and saw that Chen Yun was also carrying a fish.

The same type of silver carp, even their size is about the same.

"We're going to eat our fill tonight."

Why did you raise the threshold of your house?

The wider eaves can block the sun, and sitting under the eaves is much cooler than before, when the sun shines directly into the house.

Raising the bar seems like an unnecessary step.

"It will keep out the sand and rain." Chen Yun put the fish into the basin and sat down next to it. "A few days ago, every time I opened the door, a basket of dust would be swept out of the doorway. I didn't even dare to open the door."

“It’s a valid way to block the sand.” Ruanqiu looked up at the clear blue sky: “This year it must be very dry. I heard from Aunt Zhang next door that in previous years, there would have been two spring rains by this time, and the seedlings in the fields would be as tall as their calves. This year, their brigade will have to fetch water to irrigate the seedlings.”

"Who cares! The sooner we get it over with, the better."

"That's true. Look... the roof tiles on that house are all broken. If there's a heavy rain, it'll definitely leak."

Chen Yun also looked up at the opposite side and saw that many of the tiles near the eaves of Zheng Wen's house were indeed cracked.

"The iron frame we were building for the second floor broke last time, and we couldn't bear to spend money to replace the tiles, so we're just making do with what we have," Chen Yun said, glancing at it.

The welder worked for Zheng Wenbai for a few days but didn't get paid; instead, he lost five yuan for broken tiles. In the end, the broken tiles weren't even replaced.

Just then, a person strolled leisurely over from the other side of the small bridge.

The person who came was not tall, with eyebrows so light they were almost invisible, and a few sparse strands of hair lying haphazardly on top of his head, making his eyes below look particularly striking.

"What's going on at Auntie's house? It's so lively."

"Let's fix the tiles, and Comrade Liu will start drinking at noon!" Before Old Ma even turned her head, she could smell the strong smell of alcohol and knew who it was.

Liu Hai, who is addicted to alcohol.

Despite being only in his thirties, Liu Hai has been a heavy drinker for years, and he even sneaks in a drink during work hours.

Chen Yun's deepest impression of him came from the green military canteen that he always carried on his body, which was actually filled with baijiu (Chinese liquor).

He spends almost all of his salary on drinking, and if he runs out of money for food, he comes to Liu Shan's house to mooch off him. As for his daughter, Liu Xiaohui... he basically doesn't care about her.

“Since Auntie came, Comrade Ma has probably spent almost all the money he saved!” Liu Hai slanted his eyes upwards and immediately pointed at the bricklayer’s hands: “You can replace it, but don’t make my house leak.”

"I didn't touch your tiles." Old Ma rolled her eyes irritably, right in front of Liu Hai.

"If it breaks, Auntie, you can replace it for my family while you're at it."

Old Lady Ma turned her back and ignored him. Liu Hai chuckled and repeated, "Don't let your hand slip," before letting out a loud burp and continuing to stagger forward.

After taking a few steps, I saw Gao Ming applying cement to the corner of the wall.

"Captain Gao is off today?"

"I just got back this morning."

The cement bought from the cement factory was far from enough to build the threshold, so Gao Ming added sand and applied it to the corners of the wall.

"You're getting your house tiled too? How much did that cost?!"

Not only did Chen Yun's house have its tiles replaced, but the eaves were also widened considerably, making the two pillars at the entrance very noticeable.

"I just did it myself, it didn't cost much."

"No wonder everyone says the transport team is very lucrative. Captain Gao can easily build a second floor and replace the tiles with just a few simple moves. It's practically like building a new house."

After finishing speaking to himself, he turned his uncomfortable gaze to Chen Yun.

"Dr. Chen is so lucky. I should let my daughter Xiaohui learn from you so she can find a capable partner in the future."

Seeing that Chen Yun was watching indifferently and not responding, he became even more enthusiastic.

"When my wife was still alive, she was incredibly efficient at managing the house, both inside and out. She even brought me the water to wash my feet. I bet Captain Gao usually brought the water to wash Dr. Chen's feet! Hahahaha... Everyone says that's called... that's called having a tigress at home."

Normally, he would at least put on a show and say a few polite words to avoid falling out with his neighbors, but today he's drunk and probably doesn't even know what he's saying.

"If you're drunk, go home and sleep. If you keep causing trouble, don't blame me for being impolite," Gao Ming interrupted coldly.

"What's wrong..." Liu Hai swayed slightly, twisted open the kettle, took a sip, and pointed at Chen Yun: "Afraid that the tigress won't let you into bed tonight!"

"tigress"

Chen Yun's temper flared up instantly, and his gaze swept over Liu Hai's flushed and unsightly face.

"That's still better than you, you shameless dog who only spews filth. At least tigers eat delicacies from the mountains and wild animals, unlike you... all you do is beg for food at other people's doorsteps."

"Does Sister Li Hongjuan really welcome a rat like you who loves to burrow into rotten vegetables? Everyone in this area knows that you come here shamelessly when you're broke, and you really think you're the head of the household! It's hilarious."

"You get the nerve to think you're above everyone else just because you're given a little face. If you're so capable... if you're so capable, then bring your opportunistic mother and daughter to live in your own dorm instead of standing here criticizing others. Who do you think you are!"

"What? You want to hit me!"

After a flurry of activity, Chen Yun felt completely refreshed.

Seeing Liu Hai's face darken, cursing and raising his hand, he didn't retreat but advanced, putting one hand on his hip and walking straight out of the small vegetable garden.

Gao Ming quickly dropped the lime knife and followed closely behind Chen Yun.

"Let's go help out." Ruanqiu rolled up her sleeves, eager to join in.

Cultured people love to reason, but it's never as pleasant to listen to them as throwing a tantrum or cursing. For some shameless people, reasoning is like talking to a brick wall.

"Everyone come and see! A man is trying to bully us women! Everyone come and judge this!" Chen Yun shouted with increasing ease, mimicking Old Ma by slapping her thighs as background noise.

Gao Ming turned his head away before a smile curved his lips.

"Let's see who dares to bully our female comrades. I'll report them to the women's union in a moment," Old Lady Ma chimed in.

"Liu Hai".

Just when things were at a loss for what to do, the people inside the Liu family's house finally regained their hearing. Liu's mother opened her window and waved to Liu Hai with a cold face.

Liu Hai snorted coldly through his nostrils and turned to leave.

Then Liu's mother raised her chin and looked at Chen Yun with disdain: "Don't waste your breath on these people. People from small places are just not presentable."

The Liu family were from Lixi. They came from big cities and looked down on people from small towns. They never looked up to see who they were.

“What a big place!” Chen Yun frowned exaggeratedly, pinching his index finger with his thumb and sarcastically remarking, “People from big places are so particular. They never buy anything for their kitchens. If they don’t have anything, they ask to borrow it. If they don’t lend it to you… they say you’re from a small place.”

Pfft—

Ruanqiu held back for a while before finally being amused by Chen Yun's expression. Her shoulders trembled slightly as she threw her head back and laughed heartily.

"Big places...small places...hahaha..."

Snap—

Even after the door was slammed shut, Ruanqiu's laughter couldn't easily stop.

Chen Yun felt refreshed and, like a victorious general, strode back to the door with his head held high and hands on his hips.

“If anyone downstairs bothers me again, I’ll just tell them she’s from a big city.” Ruanqiu wiped away the tears of laughter, all the pent-up frustration in her heart instantly vanishing: “I can eat half a bowl more rice tonight.”

"Cough cough—"

Chen Yun went inside and gulped down a glass of water. The dryness and itchiness in her throat finally subsided and disappeared, and she regained her gentle and tranquil demeanor.

"Have you had a conflict with the downstairs neighbor recently?" Gao Ming asked Li Huguo.

“It’s always the same old stuff.” Li Huguo glanced at his wife, who was all smiles inside the house, and couldn’t help but sigh. “No matter what we do in the house, the people downstairs always say we’re shameless, that we can’t even be quiet when we’re doing that kind of thing.”

If that were the case, Li Huguo would accept the humiliation, but lately he's been working overtime every day and Ruanqiu is all alone in the house. No matter how early he goes to bed, the widow downstairs still comes upstairs to cause trouble.

"The tenement building is just a single concrete slab, and sometimes the sound can be heard all the way down the corridor."

"Explanations are useless! This morning, we just went downstairs and overheard her talking about us with the people next door. Ruanqiu got angry and argued with her... but she couldn't win the argument."

"You just stand by and watch Ruanqiu get bullied?"

“If it were Liu Hai, he could just punch her a couple of times, but that’s Widow Zhou from our factory. Her husband and son were both martyrs… Just seeing her lying there, you’d have to write a self-criticism.”

When two women are arguing, bystanders might just watch the show, but if the men start fighting, it escalates into a different kind of dispute.

No one understands the intricacies of the situation better than the security department.

Li Huguo sighed again: "He hasn't spoken to me since this morning, he's still angry!"

"Serves you right." Gao Ming evenly spread the last bit of ash on the base of the wall. Instead of siding with Li Huguo, he turned and glared at his friend: "Was rationality used in that situation?"

"..."

“You must have been standing far away at the time.”

Li Huguo: "..."

Ruanqiu was arguing on the fourth floor, and he was standing at the corner of the fourth-floor staircase.

"Even if you stand behind her and say nothing, you've already made your stance clear. She's not angry because she lost the argument, but because you can't be someone she can rely on."

Gao Ming's insightful observation immediately silenced Li Huguo.

"Let Ruanqiu stay at my house for a few days. If Widow Zhou comes to our door again, you can argue with her without worry... If you can't argue, just pass the conflict on to someone who can."

"..."

Looking up at Li Huguo, whose lips were so pouty they could hang a wine bottle on them, Gao Ming shook his head helplessly.

“Widow Zhou must have heard some noise to go upstairs and make a fuss. If it wasn’t you, it must be your neighbor…” Gao Ming bluntly stated his position, using the sandblasting knife in his hand to draw the layout of the house: “To your left are Yang Hua and Yu Jing. Don’t you know what their relationship is like? To your right, have you heard any noises from next door?”

Li Huguo suddenly realized and excitedly pointed to the right: "No wonder Yu Jing said a few days ago that there were only three families living on this floor and told me to stay up late. I thought she was complaining about my loud snoring..."

clever:"……"

"When she comes upstairs to make a scene, just let someone into the house to check on her. First, clear yourself of suspicion, then shift the blame to her. Yang Hua will naturally explain himself."

Gao Ming once said that Li Huguo was straightforward, but it was unexpected that he still had to explain clearly and word by word how to deal with trouble.

This surprised Chen Yun, who was on the other side of the wall.

Ruanqiu leaned back on the sofa, looking at the ceiling. A weak sigh escaped her throat, as if expressing her helplessness.

"Wait until Li Huguo has resolved his troubles before you go back. Just stay at my house for the next few days without worry," Chen Yun said softly, trying to reassure him.

Gao Ming probably wanted to use this incident to train Li Huguo's ability to handle matters, so he specifically proposed this method.

Ruanqiu softly hummed in agreement.

Sizzle—

Hot oil was poured over the tender white fish fillets, and as the aroma filled the air, a muffled rumble of thunder suddenly came from afar.

Chen Yun sprinkled some chopped green onions on top and then looked up at the sky.

The sky was still mostly blue, but the air was beginning to feel humid. The warm air carried a hint of moisture, making my face feel damp.

"Ruanqiu, go home and pack your clothes first. I'm afraid it will rain tonight."

Although there was no sign of rain, Chen Yun had a premonition that a heavy rain was coming.

Ruanqiu, who had just finished packing her clothes and had specifically told her neighbors that she was going to stay at Chen Yun's house for a few days, had just stepped into the house when she suddenly heard a loud cracking sound above her head.

Lightning ripped through the darkness, the sky turned gloomy, and large, dark clouds gathered closer and closer, followed by a rumble of thunder on the horizon.

"It's really going to rain," Ruanqiu sighed.

Chen Yun and Gao Ming had already moved all the kitchen utensils from outside into the house, piling them up like a small mountain on the cabinet by the door.

"Turn on the lights and let's eat."

It was getting darker and darker outside, and inside it was so dark that you couldn't see anything without the lights on.

Pull the light cord, and the room instantly becomes bright.

Outside, the wind was howling, and the sound of leaves being whipped up and hitting the windows could be heard from time to time. Fortunately, when the second floor was built, the windows, which were more than two meters high, were reinforced by dividing them into three sections. Otherwise, they would have been at risk of falling at any time due to the strong wind.

"The fish is really spicy... How much chili did they put in it?"

The spicy and fragrant fish slices whetted Chen Yun and Ruan Qiu's appetites. Gao Ming, who had been prepared, quietly poured a bowl of boiling water into their bowls. Only Li Huguo's scalp tingled from the spiciness, and he kept sniffling.

“I didn’t think it was that spicy!” Chen Yun thought, and Ruan Qiu nodded in agreement.

While the group inside were enjoying their meal, the woods by the river were being whipped about by a fierce wind, breaking many branches and scattering them on the ground.

Thunder roared, and raindrops fell from the dark clouds, splashing dust onto the ground.

The torrential rain lasted all night.

When Chen Yun woke up, it was already eight o'clock. It was still as dark as dusk outside, and the sound of the rain showed no signs of abating.

"Luckily, I don't have to go to work today."

Ruanqiu, with her messy hair, was also looking out the window, the rain blurring the view.

"I bought a lot of groceries yesterday."

Driven by a premonition, Chen Yun bought a whole basket of vegetables, thinking that she wouldn't be able to go out because of the heavy rain.

"Let's use yesterday's fish soup to cook noodles."

At this moment, neither of them paid much attention to the rain. Instead, Ruanqiu sighed that once the heavy rain stopped, the drought problem would be solved.

When Chen Yun went downstairs and drew back the curtains, she was shocked to realize that this heavy rain was not so simple.

The sound of rain and thunder mingled as Chen Yun opened the door and looked outside, only to be startled by the torrential rain that had submerged the bridge surface.

Gao Ming had a delivery mission today and left early in the rain, leaving only the neatly folded quilt on the sofa.

"Chen Yun, look."

Ruanqiu exclaimed in surprise, pointing to the hillside that was constantly moving downwards, her lips trembling slightly.

After just one night of rain, landslides have already begun to occur on the mountains where large areas of trees have been cut down.

Compared to the small hill in the distance, the hill where the Hongri Machinery Factory is located suffers from severe soil erosion, and there are no trees around the factory that are thicker than a calf.

"Did you bring all your valuables with you?" Chen Yun suddenly turned to ask Ruanqiu.

After nodding, she continued solemnly, "We'll sleep downstairs for the next few days, and don't leave your things out of your bag."

Perhaps seeing that Chen Yun's house had opened its door, the old lady Ma's house diagonally across the street suddenly opened its door as well.

But it was shut off again in just a few seconds.

They only replaced the roof tiles but didn't add eaves, so as soon as they opened the door, the rain poured into the house like a bucket being poured over it.

The window was opened a crack, and Old Lady Ma's voice came through, almost like a shout.

"Hey little Chen, do you have any dry honeycomb briquettes at home? All of mine are soaked in water!"

Chen Yun quickly nodded.

Chen Yun's family puts their kitchen outside the back window, while other families just pile up their honeycomb briquettes there. Yesterday, after the rain, they couldn't even light them.

Others can go without food for a few meals without any problem, but it would be troublesome for Zhang Guixiang to get cold with such a big belly.

"Lend me five coal briquettes." Old Ma spread out her fingers.

Even with heavy rain looming ahead, Old Lady Ma still thought it wouldn't last long and decided to borrow just one day's worth.

At noon, Gao Ming returned soaking wet with two pieces of bad news.

The convoy's plan to transport daily necessities to the county town was canceled. In addition, the neighboring city had been experiencing torrential rains for a week due to the typhoon, causing widespread flooding and significant damage.

Based on the typhoon's trajectory, Kun-an City is expected to be the next city hit by the typhoon.