When Bai Wen'an got home from get off work, Wen Tong said to him:

"Wen'an, my sister said the old house is leaking badly, and my parents don't want to move. Go and take a look."

Upon seeing the pots and jars in his parents' house, Bai Wen'an pulled the elderly couple back to his own home without saying a word.

Bai Xiaoyue finally felt relieved when she saw that the elderly couple had gone to stay with Wen'an.

The heavy rain continued the next day, and the vegetable garden was flooded.

Yan Ci, wearing a straw hat, braved the rain to clear the drainage ditch, fearing that the water would flood the corners of the walls.

Bai's father was worried, so he went back to the old house to clean the ditches in front of and behind the house, fearing that the mud walls would be soaked in water and the house would collapse.

On the third day, the rain still hadn't stopped. Yan Ci frowned, and Bai Xiaoyue also began to worry.

Bai Wenli came to our door and said that after several days of heavy rain, the river had risen and some old houses had collapsed.

He came to call people to go with him to check the situation from house to house, and Yan Ci went with him without saying a word.

Before long, a large group of young men followed Bai Wenli.

Yan Ci felt that having so many people walking together was a waste of manpower and inefficient.

He said to Bai Wenli, "Brother, if we split into several groups and go to check separately, it will be faster."

Bai Wenli nodded and immediately divided the people into several groups, with Yan Ci, Bai Wenyi, and Li Damin, the educated youth, forming one group.

Wang Wei stayed behind at the educated youth settlement to guard the courtyard, while Li Damin came out to help.

After dividing the group, Bai Wenli instructed everyone:

"If they find that the house is uninhabitable, they should be sent to the brigade headquarters, where the Party Secretary and the brigade leader will make arrangements."

The three of them went from house to house, knocking on doors to check if the houses were in any danger.

The group arrived at the courtyard where the sent-down personnel lived; the courtyard was extremely dilapidated.

It was raining heavily outside and drizzling inside; the kitchen and woodshed had collapsed.

Fortunately, the house I was staying in hadn't collapsed, but it was no longer habitable.

Yan Ci glanced at the three members of the Cui family, then at Xiang Zhennan and his wife.

These people have rather special identities, so it's not appropriate for them to stay with everyone.

He planned to take the group back to his home first, and then find Uncle Bai to make arrangements.

Yan Ci said to the group:

“Grandpa, this house is no longer habitable. Pack your things and come back with me. We’ll wait for the Party Secretary’s instructions.”

The group quickly packed their bags and followed Yan Ci.

When they were halfway there, they vaguely heard a child crying. The rain was too heavy, and it took them a while to figure out which way to go.

Bai Wenyi said, "Oh dear, the sound is coming from Grandma He's room."

Yan Ci said to the men who had been demoted:

"Aunt Wen, you know the way. You go to my house first, and we'll go take a look."

Xiang Zhennan and Cui Yunchen asked Wen Xiya and Cui Jinxiu to accompany the old man, while they stayed behind to help.

Wen Xiya and Cui Jinxiu helped the old man walk away, one on each side.

Several men rushed into the He family's courtyard. They didn't see Grandma He inside, but a child was crying loudly on the kang (a heated brick bed).

Bai Wenyi found it strange that Grandma He had a child.

Xiang Zhennan held the child in his arms and comforted him.

Yan Ci looked around the room and saw that only the kang (a heated brick bed) area was dry. The room was leaking everywhere, and there were bottles and jars everywhere to catch the rain.

Bai Wenyi sighed: "Grandma He is very stubborn. She always says that she won't live long and is unwilling to rebuild the house."

Yan Ci said, "Let's find her first. If she's not in the house, she must be in the yard."

The group split up to search, and found Grandma He lying by the ditch in the backyard, with a hoe next to her.

Bai Wenyi rushed forward and helped Yan Ci up:

"Grandma He, are you alright?"

Several people helped Grandma He into the house, and only then did Grandma He say:

"I'm old and useless. I fell down and can't get up anymore."

Yan Ci said to Bai Wenyi:

“This fall could be serious or minor; we need to see a doctor. Grandpa Cui has gone to my house. Carry Grandma He over so Grandpa Cui can take a look.”

I need to go check again to see if there are any households I've missed.

Bai Wenyi carried Grandma He on his back, Li Damin stood beside him to protect her, and Xiang Zhennan wrapped the child up and carried him behind.

Cui Yunchen said to Yan Ci:

"With you by my side, more people mean more strength."

The two of them went from yard to yard, checking the condition of the houses and seeing if anyone was still there, especially elderly people living alone.

When passing by the Yan family compound, Yan Xiaosong asked his elder brother to watch over their mother, and then went with the two of them.

Most members were very cooperative, but there were a few oddballs.

One family's house was on the verge of collapse, but they refused to leave, saying they wanted to protect their pigs and were afraid they would run away.

Yan Ci was so angry he wanted to curse, that someone would risk their life for a pig.

Finally, Yan Xiaosong said:

"Secretary Bai said, 'Close the courtyard gate and everyone go to the brigade headquarters to assemble.'"

They tricked the whole family into going to the brigade headquarters and asked a neighbor to look after their pigs.

After several days of rain, the ground was muddy and full of puddles. Visibility was also poor due to the continuous rain.

Bai Wenyi was carrying Grandma He on his back, stumbling along. He almost fell down with her when he wasn't paying attention, which startled him.

Fortunately, Li Damin caught him in time.

Li Damin said, "I'll carry it for a while."

He found the road difficult to walk on, so he simply took off his shoes and carried Grandma He barefoot, carefully walking with his toes gripping tightly.

After Yan Ci left, Bai Xiaoyue paced back and forth in the house. To find something to do, she boiled a pot of water.

She felt that with such heavy rain, people who had been caught in the rain needed to ward off the cold, so she put some ginger slices and scallion segments in the boiling water. The brown sugar was reserved for the children and couldn't be added casually.

Wang Weiguo brought Li Mingyue and the child here, and then went to help out.

Bai Xiaoyue and her friend sat by the window, chatting while watching the rain outside.

Bai Xiaoyue asked, "Mingyue, is something wrong at your home?"

Li Mingyue: "My house is fine. The roof was just rebuilt, and Weiguo has also taken good care of the drainage ditches."

Bai Xiaoyue nodded: "That's good. It's been raining for days now, and Uncle is going to have a lot of trouble."

The two chatted casually.

There was a knock on the door, and Bai Xiaoyue quickly got off the kang (a heated brick bed) to open it.

Grandpa Cui, Cui Jinxiu, and Wen Xiya were standing outside the courtyard. She told the three of them to hurry inside.

Wen Xiya said to Bai Xiaoyue, "Yan Ci is busy, let us come over first."

Bai Xiaoyue understood Yan Ci's meaning.

She asked the three of them, "Did you bring any clothes?"

All three nodded.

Bai Xiaoyue said to the group, "Let's change out of our wet clothes first, so we don't catch a cold."

After the three of them changed their clothes, Chang Le and Ru Yi brought them ginger soup and gave each of them a bowl to ward off the cold.

Grandpa Cui put down his bowl and said, "This is good. Drinking a bowl of this will make me feel comfortable all over."

Before the old man could finish speaking, a few more people came in.

It was Grandma He and her group. Li Damin gently put Grandma He down and breathed a sigh of relief.

Wen Xiya took the child from Xiang Zhennan's arms and patted him gently.

Grandpa Cui gave Grandma He a thorough examination:

"It's alright, it's just a sprain, it'll be fine in ten to fifteen days."

Seeing that Grandma He was alright, Bai Wenyi rushed out to help again.

Li Mingyue and Bai Xiaoyue helped Grandma He change her clothes.

Cui Jinxiu noticed blood in the footprints in the room and exclaimed, "These footprints are bloody! Whose foot is injured?"