Chapter 207 Retreat
The two of them looked down on him together. "Didn't you hear what the teacher said just now? The capital of Jiannan Road is Yizhou. Generally, there are governors in prefectures, and the military and political leaders of Jiannan Road are the Jiedushi. However, Yizhou is still the fiefdom of the King of Yizhou. The teacher explained all this in class."
Bai Erlang blushed and cried out, "Impossible, I've never heard the master say that."
Bai Shanbao: "That must be because you were sleeping."
Manbao hesitated, "Or are you gossiping?"
Bai Erlang also hesitated, "Sir, did you really say that?"
Bai Shanbao and Manbao nodded vigorously.
Bai Erlang slumped his shoulders and stopped talking.
Mrs. Bai, worried about her three children, came to see them as usual: ...
She hesitated for a moment, didn't go in, and turned away.
Mr. Zhuang would come to Qili Village to teach, and of course all his previous ambitions were gone, but this time the dam burst was so big that even though he was living in a remote corner, he couldn't help but worry.
Moreover, Qili Village is under Yizhou, and the land and people here cannot stay out of it.
But what can he do as a commoner?
Mr. Bai was talking to him. "I've closed all the shops in the county and in Brazil, and sent everyone to the farm. I don't know what the situation is like in Yizhou now."
He said, "When the refugees arrive here, the county magistrate will probably invite us into the city."
At that time, donations of money and grain will definitely be required, and this is what Mr. Bai can do.
The rain was still falling in Qili Village, but it was gradually getting lighter. The small river in the village rose rapidly, and the water flooded into the school. Some houses in the village that were close to the river or located in low areas were also flooded.
Fortunately, the water is not very deep. Although life is greatly affected, there is no danger of drowning.
As a result, the school was closed indefinitely and no one knew when classes would resume.
Manbao's house is in a good location and is made of blue bricks and large tiles. The house was built not very long ago, so it was not affected by the disaster this time.
Many families in the village have no place to live, and most of them have moved in with relatives whose houses are in better condition. However, some relatives' houses are leaking and cannot be lived in. If they move down a row, they will end up at Manbao's house.
So Manbao's family also vacated two rooms for them to live in. As soon as the rain stopped, the village chief organized the villagers to help these families repair their houses.
Those that have collapsed and are uninhabitable must be rebuilt, and the others must also be repaired.
Of course, these chores were done by Zhou Dalang and his men and had nothing to do with Manbao. She was still carried to Bai's house by Zhou Silang every morning for classes, and was picked up by Zhou Silang in the evening.
Although Mr. Zhuang was worried, he could only suppress his worries and give his three children special lessons, occasionally telling them about Yizhou, the Jianwei Weir, and various drought and flood disasters.
By late May, the rain had gradually stopped and the swollen river water had slowly receded. Old Zhou led his sons, carrying hoes, to check on the rice seedlings in the fields.
Many fields were flooded. In some fields near the river, even the tops of the rice seedlings could not be seen. At first glance, it looked like a wide river.
Many families in the village were in tears, and Old Zhou was also very worried. He went out early and came back late every day, looking at the land and then coming back to calculate the losses.
According to this calculation, nearly half of the Zhou family's fields may not produce any harvest. When the water recedes, the seedlings will either be washed away or have their roots damaged. Even if the seedlings are still intact, there will probably be no harvest.
After all, we missed the most important ear-forming period.
The Zhou family was lucky. They had many fields and they were scattered. Even though one part of their land was flooded, there was always a part that was lucky enough to escape the disaster.
Other families may not be so lucky. Although Manbao rarely goes out with his father to join in the fun, he often meets people from the village. Almost all of them have sad faces, and when talking about this year's harvest, everyone is very pessimistic.
The water slowly receded, but left behind a lot of insect eggs. Even when the sun came out, no one was very happy. The villagers began to get busy again, going out early and returning late every day to catch insects, weed, and apply fertilizer again.
The school needs to be cleaned and redecorated, so it is still closed for the holidays.
Mr. Zhuang is not teaching anymore. He wants to take some time to go back to the county town. His three children don’t have to go to class anymore and can finally go out into the world.
Since the adults wouldn't let them get close to the river, they called their friends and went to the mountains to play. Manbao remembered that he had been doing the flower basket business for two years, so he picked a lot of flowers and went back to make flower baskets.
Of course, the small bamboo basket still needs to be weaved by adults.
Old Zhou thought for a moment and then said to Zhou Erlang, "Don't go to the fields in the afternoons anymore. Stay home and weave bamboo baskets. The harvest this year is definitely not going to be good. The village head said there were heavy floods outside. I predict that the price of grain will go up, so we need to make more money at home."
Zhou Erlang nodded. In fact, the family had already given up a lot of land. Now it was just a rescue. No one knew how much they could harvest from the land in the end.
Old Zhou and Little Qian said, "Since the second son is going to the county town, you should make some tofu and let him take it with him. Nowadays, every penny in the house counts and must be saved."
He was very worried. "With the fields in such a bad state, I don't know how I'm going to pay the autumn tax."
Everyone bowed their heads.
Manbao raised his little hand and said, "Dad, I'll help you!"
Old Zhou forced a smile and said, "Hahaha, I knew Manbao was filial."
Zhou brothers: ...It seems like they won’t help.
The Zhou family is now in negative assets, and the shortfall is quite large. Although Manbao has no chance to listen to his parents' private conversations at night, he has a debt in his mind. He knows that the family owes his eldest sister five taels of silver. This money is not urgent, but if the autumn tax cannot be paid in full, he will probably have to pay it.
Manbao calculates taxes for his father every year, so he knows this best.
She said she would help, and the next day she took her sixth brother, Datou, Daya, and followed her second brother to the city.
Zhou Dalang put all the things on the cart, took a look at the flowers in their backpacks, and acquiesced.
No one at home said anything. Last year and the year before, they did make a lot of money selling flower baskets. Even though there are many people selling flower baskets on the market now, it is strange that their flower baskets are more popular than others.
Of course, at the same price.
Zhou Erlang and Zhou Wulang thought that this time they entered the county town as usual, but they realized something was wrong as soon as they arrived at the county town gate.
There were so many people queuing up to enter the city that it formed a very long line. Many of them were dressed in rags and had numb faces. Zhou Erlang was stunned when he saw this and stopped for a long time.
Zhou Liulang also looked at those people curiously, then turned around and asked him, "What happened to Second Brother?"
Zhou Erlang wanted to turn back, but when he saw the tofu in the basket, he thought about it and decided to go into the city.
The bamboo weaving can be kept and sold later, but the tofu cannot be kept.
He tightened his grip and warned the others, "When you go into the city later, don't run around selling flower baskets. Just follow me and sell them right here. You're not allowed to go anywhere else. Do you understand?"
Manbao immediately said, "Then I also want to go talk to Miss Fu Er. I promised her in our last correspondence that I would go visit her if I went into the city."
And she also wants to sell her candy.
(End of this chapter)
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