Chapter 103 Rain Intensity

The wind was so strong that the sand it whipped up blinded everyone.

Before the girls had finished eating the rabbit meat, Turhong urged them to leave quickly.

Liu Fengshou said in his not-so-fluent Uyghur, "If you have any felt, please get us a few sheets, and we can give you some payment."

Turhong nodded happily.

Each month, he earns a little extra income from the rabbit meat money that Liu Fengshou gives him. Although he doesn't earn much each month, it's enough to slightly improve his family's life.

Turhun told them to wait a moment, then ran back into the mud house and came out carrying two large straw mats.

The straw mats were hand-woven by the family, using materials picked from the ground. It just took a little time, but they could sell them at the bazaar to earn some money.

A straw mat costs two cents, and Liu Fengshou paid the money in advance.

Just as the group returned to the vicinity of the bazaar, they encountered the youths of the 25th Company who were calling for help.

"Where have you all been? Hurry up and leave, it's going to rain soon."

The tractor was already full of people. After waiting a while, once everyone was there, Zhao Aiguo said, "Let's go straight back to the camp now and not go to the farm headquarters. Look at the dark clouds in the sky, it's going to rain heavily."

Song Lubai glanced at the sky, thinking that Wei Yang should know that there was a bazaar here today, and the weather was bad, so he probably wouldn't wait for her.

As soon as the tractor left, large raindrops mixed with sand and dust began to fall from the sky.

The sandstorm was so strong that the rainwater that fell on Song Lubai's apricot-colored long-sleeved shirt turned into brown mud spots.

Liu Fengshou unfolded the straw mat, and everyone used it to shelter from the rain.

The rain intensified, thick dark clouds gathered, and the sky grew gloomy, as if it were about to press down. The air became murky, and visibility shrank to within fifty meters.

The sweltering heat was amplified by the rain, and the temperature dropped even further. By the time we returned to camp, everyone was shivering from the cold.

The already low-lying dugout was flooded by rainwater and turned into a pond in just over an hour.

Wu Zhaodi, who was walking ahead, slipped and fell, getting covered in mud.

Everyone carefully helped her up.

Li Huijun's voice rang out from outside.

"Pack your things and move to the new house. If you don't have blankets, just use reeds for now. Move all your things from the beds over there. The rain is too heavy, and we don't know when it will stop. Everyone, please move over there for now."

"The company commander said that everyone should squeeze in first, and put fifteen or twenty people in one suite so that the whole company can live there. The construction team members also live there, and they should all squeeze in before the rain stops."

The wind was strong and the rain was heavy; the rain that was initially heavy as beans had turned into a downpour.

The dugout may seem safe, but no one can be sure whether it will collapse under the erosion of rainwater.

If it collapses, the people inside will be in danger.

Everyone braved the rain to move all their belongings into the bungalow, and by the time they were settled, they were all soaked to the bone.

With wet hair plastered to my head, sitting on a damp straw mat, the sticky, cold feeling was extremely uncomfortable.

The suite was packed with people in two large and one small rooms.

The living room was covered with rain-soaked reeds, and everyone sat on the floor looking out at the gloomy sky and smelling the rising earthy odor.

It was mid-afternoon. On ordinary days, the sun shines brightly, so intense that even the insects on the trees are too lazy to chirp. Today's windy and rainy weather is truly rare.

The rain continued, but the wind gradually subsided, and rain continued to drift in at an angle through the windows that didn't have glass.

The bed was connected to the window, making it impossible to lie down comfortably. Song Lubai was covered in brown mud spots.

If this continues for one night, everyone living in the house will get sick.

Song Lubai's gaze fell on the tattered rebirth cloth that she had previously used to wipe the straw mat, crumpled it up, and tossed aside.

This regeneration cloth previously served as a bed sheet in the dugout.

Regenerated cloth is a type of fabric made by re-weaving waste cotton and clothing.

This kind of fabric doesn't require coupons and is very cheap, but its downside is that it's not durable and tears very easily.

This reclaimed cloth sheet has been placed on reed stalks for nearly two months, and it's already quite worn out.

With the straw mats, everyone used this tattered cloth as a rag to wipe away water.

Song Lubai picked up the rehabilitation cloth, folded it, aligned it, and asked Feng Ying to help her stick it on the window to measure it.

After Wang Qun learned what she wanted to do, he immediately put on his straw hat, got up, and went outside to borrow a hammer and nails from the construction team.

After the fabric was secured with nails, raindrops were indeed prevented from getting in, but the fabric absorbs water, and once it's full of water, it will definitely flow onto the bed.

Unfortunately, there was nothing left in the house to keep them dry.

The quilts weren't thick enough, and we got wet in the rain, so everyone was cold all night. We finally made it to dawn, but the rain outside still hadn't stopped, and it was even heavier than yesterday.

The sky remained overcast, and the windows, covered with reinforcing cloth, let in no light, making the interior dimly lit.

It would be a good thing not to have to work, but in the current situation, even if we don't work, we can't do anything.

The female cooks in the mess hall had been trying to start the fire for a long time, and in this kind of weather, they could only make some pancakes to fill everyone's stomachs.

Another difficult day and night passed, but thankfully the rain subsided a bit by noon on the third day.

The rain hasn't stopped yet, but it looks like it's about to.

Upon receiving news of a major flood at Guhekou that required rescue efforts, the field headquarters' armed forces and equipment departments immediately set off in the rain to the scene.

The Guhekou Dam was widened and heightened last year, and the reservoir has been completed.

It was also because the dam was widened and heightened and the reservoir was completed that irrigation of the surrounding farmland was greatly improved, resulting in a significant increase in grain production.

The large canal dug by the 25th Company was intended to extend northward, diverting water from the reservoir into the canal to irrigate the newly reclaimed wasteland in the surrounding area.

When Wei Yang and his group arrived near the reservoir, they saw the situation and their hearts clenched with worry.

The turbid torrent carried large trees and debris as it rushed forward, submerging hundreds of meters of riverbank grass and bushes. The water flowed like a wild horse, rushing towards the lower ground.

Wei Yang's face was unusually serious. "Are there any villages below? Has anyone been caught in this?"

The person who answered wiped away a tear and replied in a suppressed sob, "The company commander of the Third Company and five other people who went to deliver farm machinery parts were swept away by the water along with their donkey cart."

Wei Yang patted him on the shoulder to comfort him: "When did this happen? Where was it swept away from? Are there any villages with people gathered below?"

It's clear that the water flow is coming from a very low-lying area. If there happened to be a village below, Wei Yang couldn't imagine what would happen.

The man nodded. "There's a Uyghur village down there. Although it's in a low-lying area, it's backed by a group of hills. They should be able to hide in the mountains."

Wei Yang frowned deeply.

He didn't know the terrain of the Uyghur village, but if the water couldn't get out of the low-lying area, even if the villagers could climb the low hills, the situation would probably not be optimistic.