Two days passed in the blink of an eye. This timely rain not only successfully calmed everyone's emotions but also slightly lowered the temperature. More importantly, the rain contained extremely faint spiritual energy, which moistened many parched lands and brought all the plants back to life.
This sudden and miraculous rain, which occurred after two months, quickly became the hottest topic of conversation among all the people of Chongzhou. Within a few days, rumors spread that the rain was centered on Qionglin and that there were no signs before it started, as if a celestial phenomenon was protecting the city!
In no time, the rumors that Qionglin was a blessed land from a thousand years ago spread like wildfire and became more and more believable, and the stories that had been passed down from that time were repackaged and spread again.
Cheng Ruyi didn't know who was behind this, nor did she care about their motives, because she had already achieved her goal. In any case, at least the people of Chongzhou had some hope and something to rely on for the time being. With their hearts at ease, they naturally wouldn't cause any more chaos.
The prerequisite for commercial development is a stable social state. Although it is easier to make money in chaotic times, she still wants to maintain the basic principles of being a decent human being.
Compared to the atmosphere in the prefectural city, Huaishan County can be described as truly peaceful and tranquil.
Thanks to the cold drinks and ice cream business brought about by Lingyun Pavilion and Chengjia Snack Shop, there are countless similar shops of all sizes throughout the county. Under healthy competition, the people of the county naturally benefit.
The most successful business is undoubtedly the Cheng family, the leader in the industry. After all, their products are delicious, icy, and inexpensive. Since the shop officially started selling ice cream and cold drinks, the queue at the door has almost never stopped.
At first, many competitors thought that they couldn't make money doing business this way and wouldn't last long, but the Cheng family has persisted until now, which is simply unfathomable to them.
In fact, when Ruyi started this business, she never thought about making money from it. Even the small snack shop at the beginning was just a way to gradually improve the physical health of the people in the county.
Unexpectedly, the snack stall, which offered affordable and delicious food, gained a better and better reputation. With the help of her reputation, it gradually became well-known in the county. Over time, it not only attracted customers from all over the city, but also drew many people from other places to come here.
Nowadays, almost all the residents of Huaishan County buy food produced by the Cheng family, and the slight spiritual energy contained in this food enters their bodies, creating a virtuous cycle!
In particular, this batch of summer limited-edition cold drinks and frozen desserts have been specially made with a little bit of Qingling fruit. The icy energy contained in it not only cools you down but also invigorates your spirit. You have to try it to know how effective it is!
Perhaps due to these and other reasons, there are almost no people in the county who die from serious illnesses caused by the hot weather. At most, there are only occasional people who ignore advice and go out in the sweltering heat, resulting in heatstroke and fainting. These people recover quickly because of their good physical condition and timely treatment.
Taking advantage of this relatively peaceful period, Cheng Ruyi worked tirelessly to stockpile and process all sorts of supplies.
She asked Zhang Hui to handle all the furs and cotton she bought from the prefectural city. The order was too large, and Ruyi hoped to finish at least a portion of it before winter. So Zhang Hui had to mobilize all his connections and work day and night to catch up.
The reason she stockpiled so many warm supplies was because she felt that there was a high probability of other natural disasters after the drought, and judging from the timing and season, there was a good chance of a snow disaster.
Given that the winters last year and this year were not particularly cold, her family hadn't prepared enough warm clothing for the winter. That's why she thought she might as well buy some now that the weather is warm and make a profit on the price difference.
In addition to furs and cotton, she also bought some charcoal and coal.
The so-called coal is actually coal, but the current refining technology is not very good, and there are not many coal mines in Chongzhou, so most people still use charcoal as their main fire-starting material.
Unlike coal, charcoal making technology is quite mature, and there are many high-quality charcoals that are expensive, such as silver bone charcoal, which is smokeless, difficult to burn and not easy to extinguish, and was used by the royal family.
Cheng Ruyi naturally dared not hope for these imperial items, but she could still obtain other good quality charcoal.
In addition to these usual supplies, she also recently bought two donkeys and a cow...
Since the trips to and from the prefectural city had become more frequent, the family's donkey cart was clearly not enough. Moreover, in recent months, the female donkey's belly had grown larger and larger, and the male donkey had started guarding her day and night. At this point, she really couldn't bear to separate them, so she had no choice but to buy another male and female donkey. However, she didn't expect that the female donkey would become pregnant again not long after she bought them!
What are all these things? Is her house some kind of auspicious place that blesses animals with good fertility?
Cheng Ruyi was completely baffled!
In a fit of anger, she decided not to buy a donkey for the time being, but she really didn't want to buy a mule. In the end, after much deliberation, she only chose a sturdy yellow ox that she found somewhat pleasing to the eye.
Although oxen are not as agile or fast as donkeys, they are at least obedient and well-behaved, and are more than enough for daily travel between the villa and the county town.
After the back gate storage room of the villa was filled up and the newly built cellar was completed, Ruyi moved all the valuable and hard-to-preserve supplies into the cellar. As the supplies gradually increased, she felt a little more at ease.
Before we knew it, it was already mid-September. According to previous years, the autumn harvest would begin in a few days.
However, apart from the rain that Cheng Ruyi brought down with the Spirit Rain Talisman, there has been no other rainfall since then.
Moreover, theoretically, September marks the beginning of autumn, and temperatures should gradually decrease and become cooler. Unfortunately, this September has not only failed to cool down, but has instead been marked by the continued high temperatures and heat of summer. The brief period of calm brought about by the previous rainfall has begun to dissipate again.
The Jinshui River is now only less than a person's height, and the tributaries within the city are only shallow. Not to mention the streams and rivers outside the city, which had already dried up by early September.
Fortunately, the nearby villages have been relatively well-off thanks to the Zhou family's connections. They dug many deep wells in the early years, which allowed the villagers to barely guarantee their drinking water.
One-third of the dozen or so water storage tanks in the Cheng family villa are already in use. Water consumption should decrease after the autumn harvest. Ruyi estimates that if they use the water sparingly, this amount should last until the end of the year.
In two or three months, it will be deep winter. Even without a snowstorm, the temperature should at least drop, right? If the temperature continues like this, then the end of the world is probably not far away...
Of course, if that were the case, the system would definitely show some response, rather than just giving two rain talismans and that's it. So she guessed that this drought was probably coming to an end and wouldn't last too long.
However, with the autumn harvest approaching, Ruyi thought about it and decided to use the other Spirit Rain Talisman now. If unrest was unavoidable, it would at least be delayed until after the autumn harvest.
This time, she chose to go around to Xinbi County, which is northwest of Huaishan County, to use the Spirit Rain Talisman. Geographically speaking, Xinbi County is located right in the center of Chongzhou, not far from the prefectural city and Huaishan County, making it an excellent location!
Although she had accumulated another thirty points of spiritual energy during this period, she still wanted to keep some as a backup in order to deal with unknown variables in the future.
That night, a gentle rain fell quietly once again, centered on Xinbi County and covering an area of about seventy or eighty li, slowly nourishing the land.
This distance covers both the southern part of the prefectural city and the entire Huai Shan County and Li Shan Village. She deliberately changed the location and the range of rainfall, because it would be too suspicious if two consecutive rainfalls occurred in the same area and range, and she dared not gamble.
This way, at least it looks a little more natural. Even if an expert wanted to investigate, it wouldn't be so easy to find out about her in a short time.
This time, the rain lasted a little less than the first time, only a day and a half, but its timing was too clever, falling silently just before the autumn harvest.
Within a few days, rumors spread like wildfire that auspicious rain falling before the autumn harvest meant a bumper harvest the following year, and that divine rain would foretell the end of the drought.
Although these baseless rumors have little practical effect, many people are still willing to believe them.
Because the Cheng family had sufficient water reserves, the drought had almost no impact on them. The villagers of Lishan Village, having trusted Ruyi and the village chief's words and made preparations in advance, were able to maintain their harvest for about six months after paying taxes, even though it was somewhat reduced.
As for the other villages nearby, the situation was much more bleak. Grain production had decreased by nearly half, and after paying taxes, they were practically left with nothing. It was as if all their hard work this year had been wasted, and they didn't even know if they could survive the winter.
At this moment, many people remembered what the village chief of Lishan Village had said. When they learned about the situation in Lishan Village, especially the fact that the Cheng family, whom they had previously ridiculed for being too overly cautious, had actually had a bumper harvest, they felt like crying.
Some people even started spreading rumors about the Cheng family out of jealousy, saying that there must be something fishy about how they knew in advance that there would be a severe drought!
However, these rumors are completely unfounded, and the villagers of Lishan Village have all stepped forward to help protect the Cheng family, proving that it was clearly the Cheng family who were observant and noticed the abnormality, which is why they thought of taking precautions. Moreover, they kindly reminded everyone at the time. How could they ignore the advice and then turn around and bite the hand that feeds them!
However, the matter was finally resolved thanks to Steward Zhou's intervention. After all, the villages in this area were all related to the Zhou family, and the Zhou family's words carried more weight.
It is worth mentioning that Zhou Shouli was dragged by his father to Cheng Ruyi's house to apologize, saying that apart from Lishan Village, the Zhou family's other fields had suffered severe yield reductions, which was largely due to Zhou Shouli's failure to heed Ruyi's advice, which constituted serious dereliction of duty!
It's not entirely his fault, but Ruyi was very pleased that the Zhou family took it so seriously.
After the autumn harvest, refugees began to appear again at the city gates of Huai Shan County. These people were almost all from Yizhou, Gaozhou, and Qizhou in northwestern Vietnam.
The drought in these areas was more severe than in Chongzhou. Most people knew before the autumn harvest that there would be no harvest this year, so their land and houses were confiscated in advance. After losing everything, they had no choice but to flee south. It took them several months to wander here.
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