Ye Xiaofan took the wooden shovel and went to turn over the grain to dry, ignoring Lin Xiaoru.
He Tiantian seemed oblivious to Lin Xiaoru's provocation, and smiled, saying, "Xiaoyan is looking for Secretary Qi, probably because she has something to do! We need to work, why should we go with her? If you have something to do, you can go find him too!"
After saying that, he didn't even look at Lin Xiaoru's unpleasant expression.
Everyone could see that Lin Xiaoru was incompetent at her job. She was trying to avoid Secretary Qi as much as possible, let alone dare to get close to him!
He Tiantian, that brat, is a smiling tiger with a wicked heart!
Qi Xiaoyan walked up to Secretary Qi. When Secretary Qi saw his daughter coming over, he knew she must have something to ask him, so he handed the wooden shovel in his hand to someone else.
"Xiao Yan, aren't you working in the canteen? What are you doing here?" Secretary Qi asked his daughter, wiping the sweat from his neck with a towel.
Qi Xiaoyan pursed her lips, hesitated for a long time, and finally made up her mind to say, "Dad, I saw ants in groups crawling from low to high places at the canteen. This is a sign that it's going to rain. The grain hasn't been fully harvested yet. If it rains, the grain will be ruined, and life will be difficult for our Qi Family Village."
Secretary Qi was taken aback, looked up at the sky, and asked in confusion, "There isn't a single dark cloud in the sky, so where is the rain coming from?"
Seeing her father agree, Qi Xiaoyan grew anxious and said, "Dad, this is what our biology textbook says. Those educated youths saw it too, and they said they have this saying in their hometown as well. Moreover, that guy named Zhang Qingshan said that if there's a lot of foam on the surface of the lotus pond, it means it's going to rain. I just came from there, and there was indeed foam in the pond. If it doesn't rain, we'll only have to put in a little effort; but if it rains, we'll be saving the entire village's food supply!"
Secretary Qi suddenly realized, "Yes, my daughter is right. Farmers have no shortage of strength. If it's just a precaution to save the grain, what's a little extra effort?"
"Alright, I understand. You can go back now. I'll arrange for people to gather the grain together. If it rains, we can cover it with plastic sheeting as quickly as possible," Secretary Qi said. This year, the commune distributed several large plastic sheets to each village specifically for rain protection.
Seeing that her father had listened to her, Qi Xiaoyan left with peace of mind. Before leaving, she said goodbye to He Tiantian and Ye Xiaofan. As for Lin Xiaoru and Huang Jingli, who were resting on the side, Qi Xiaoyan wasn't familiar with them and didn't bother to talk to them. Actually, Qi Xiaoyan didn't mean anything by it, but in Lin Xiaoru's eyes, it was as if Qi Xiaoyan looked down on her.
Seeing that Qi Xiaoyan ignored them, Lin Xiaoru also curled her lips behind her back. What's so great about him? He just has a father who is the village party secretary! Now that someone has reported and exposed Qi Dazhu, Qi Dazhu's good days are probably coming to an end. He might be removed from office any day!
Not long after his daughter left, Secretary Qi began arranging for people to pile up the unthreshed rice. The already threshed grain was spread out on the ground to dry in the sun. If it rained, it could be quickly piled up and covered with plastic sheeting.
Although some people grumbled, thinking that Secretary Qi was making trouble for no reason, at this moment, no one dared to challenge the village secretary's authority, at least not outwardly. Seeing that the educated youth were working so hard, the villagers couldn't very well not join in, and in about an hour they piled all the rice into several large heaps.
He Tiantian carefully observed the clouds in the sky and kept a close eye on the weather.
"The dark cloud is coming!" Old Man Snake warned the coward outside. Sigh, this coward wanted to help the villagers, but was worried about her own situation. She was a contradictory woman!
He Tiantian was startled. She looked closely at the horizon and sure enough, a dark cloud was approaching. She shouted, "There's a dark cloud over there! Hurry up and pile up the grain!"
He Tiantian picked up a wooden shovel and began piling the grain into the middle, her movements swift and efficient.
When Ye Xiaofan was eating earlier, he overheard everyone's conversation and saw that He Tiantian was so busy piling up grain that she didn't have time to look up at the dark clouds on the horizon.
Lin Xiaoru and Huang Jingli, however, looked closely and indeed saw a dark cloud. They were immediately terrified and turned pale. If the grain was washed away or soaked by the rain, it would be their mistake. Being criticized was a minor matter; not getting any grain and going hungry was a serious matter.
"What are you all standing there for? Hurry up and come and pile up the grain!" He Tiantian shouted. These two are usually lazy, but now that they see the weather is getting bad, why aren't they coming to help? Can't they move their feet?
At this moment, Lin Xiaoru didn't care about He Tiantian's attitude and quickly grabbed a wooden shovel to get to work. With Lin Xiaoru and Huang Jingli joining them, they moved a little faster.
When Secretary Qi saw the dark clouds on the horizon, he was not alarmed. He had already made arrangements, and all that was needed was to cover the rice with plastic sheeting and arrange for people to come and help stack the grain. Although everyone was busy, everything was done in an orderly manner, and everyone picked up brooms, shovels and other tools.
By the time the dark cloud reached overhead, it had already been piled up and covered with a plastic sheet!
Large raindrops pattered on the ground, leaving large watermarks. Some people wore makeshift straw raincoats, while others huddled in wooden huts beside the threshing ground to wait for villagers to bring them raincoats.
Those who had previously criticized Secretary Qi's arrangements dared not utter a single word now. This rain came quickly and suddenly; if Secretary Qi hadn't made advance arrangements, most of this year's grain would have been lost, and the people of Qijia Village would have gone hungry.
Zhao Dajiao chuckled and said, "Secretary Qi, how did you know it was going to rain?"
Although she outwardly obeyed Secretary Qi's arrangement, she actually thought that Secretary Qi was doing something unnecessary. Unexpectedly, Secretary Qi's plan worked out by accident and it really rained, saving everyone's food supply.
"Hehe!" Secretary Qi chuckled smugly, "It's nothing, I just saw ants swarming uphill and thought it was going to rain, so just in case, I had everyone tidy up beforehand. We have a lot of people, so we're not afraid of wasting effort, but we absolutely can't let the food get wet!"
"Secretary Qi is right!" Everyone agreed wholeheartedly. They could rest when they were tired, but if the grain spoiled, all their efforts of the past six months would be for nothing. Not only would they be unable to deliver the grain tax, but they would also have no food to eat and would have to resort to wild vegetables and tree bark.
In no time, Secretary Qi's prestige among the villagers rose even higher.
These days, as long as you can have enough to eat, everyone will support you.
Secretary Qi was worried about the rice under the plastic sheeting, so he went over to check and was relieved to find that there was no water inside.
Secretary Qi arranged for people to keep watch here to prevent the wind from blowing up the plastic sheeting so that the women and educated youth could return to the village. Fortunately, the village had just delivered a lot of raincoats, so everyone went home in batches.
Secretary Qi was worried, so he personally led a team to watch over the threshing ground all night. The rain continued until four o'clock the next morning before it finally stopped.
Seeing that the rain had stopped, Secretary Qi quickly lit torches and told everyone to uncover the plastic sheeting to prevent steam from building up inside and spoiling the food. After uncovering the plastic sheeting, Secretary Qi reached inside; although it was a bit warm, it was relatively dry and there were no major problems. Once it was light and the sun came out, it would be fine after drying off. (To be continued.)
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