Yan Qingqing thought the snow would stop soon, but three days have passed and there is still no sign of it stopping.
Yan Qingqing looked outside with some worry; if this continued, it would turn into a snow disaster.
The road from Canghe Village to Chengyang County is now blocked by heavy snow. Yesterday, when Li Xiang'an returned from the city, he said that he would not be delivering goods to Yuelaiju for the next few days.
I heard that several families in Canghe Village have run out of food. Fortunately, Yan Qingqing and her family had stored all the wheat they harvested in the warehouse and hadn't sold a single grain.
Moreover, seeing that the situation wasn't good, Li Xiang'an bought some more food from the city yesterday. So Yan Qingqing's family wasn't short of food.
As the saying goes, "With food in hand, one has no fear." That night, Yan Qingqing was sleeping soundly when she heard a loud thud, which immediately woke her up.
The sound just now was strange; it sounded like someone's house had collapsed.
Yan Qingqing quickly dressed and opened the door. She heard a commotion coming from the village, with someone shouting, "Help! Uncle Wang's house has collapsed!"
Yan Qingqing was immediately jolted awake. This Uncle Wang was named Wang Laoshi. He was a man with a tragic fate. He lost his father when he was young, his wife when he was middle-aged, and his son when he was old. He had experienced all the hardships of life.
Now, he has only one grandson left to depend on him for survival. Yan Qingqing really can't imagine what would happen if their house collapsed.
Soon, Li Xiangping and his brothers arrived at Yan Qingqing's courtyard. Seeing that Yan Qingqing was alright, they all breathed a sigh of relief.
Because Wang Laoshi's family lived not far behind Yan Qingqing's new house, and Yan Qingqing lived in the backyard, they thought something had happened to her.
Then another cry for help came: "Help! Wu Zhuang's house has collapsed too!"
Yan Qingqing then came to her senses and quickly said to Li Xiangping and the others, "You guys hurry up and go save them."
Have Hui Niang and the others cook a pot of ginger soup and send it to everyone later.
It's the middle of the night, and it's snowing heavily. The sudden change from cold to warm makes it easy to catch a cold.
Now that the village is snowbound, it's practically impossible to go out and find a doctor.
Li Xiangping and the others quickly agreed. They put on their raincoats and went out to rescue the people.
Yan Qingqing didn't sleep either, and sat in the room until dawn.
The three brothers returned the next morning. Yuan Huiniang made them drink ginger soup to ward off the chill before letting them into Yan Qingqing's room.
Before Yan Qingqing could ask any questions, Li Xiangping said, "Last night, three houses in our Canghe Village collapsed. One of them was the village chief's old house. Fortunately, no one lived there, and there were no valuables stored inside."
In addition, there were people from Wu Zhuang's family. When Wu Zhuang realized that something was wrong, he woke up his family and they ran out. No one was injured.
Only Grandpa Wang... When Grandpa Wang saw the house collapse, he used all his strength to push his only grandson, Wang Dong, out, but he himself was crushed inside.
When we pulled him out of the rubble, he was already dead.
Yan Qingqing fell silent after hearing this. After all, it was a human life, and they were all familiar neighbors. Just a few days ago, they were chatting and laughing, but today the person was gone. She still felt very uncomfortable.
Seeing that Yan Qingqing was silent, Li Xiangping knew that she was upset. His mother seemed strong-willed, but she was actually the softest-hearted.
So he offered words of comfort: "Grandpa Village Chief is already helping with the funeral preparations, but everyone is facing difficulties right now, so we can only wait until the snow stops before the burial."
Yan Qingqing nodded and said, "Take some grain from home and send it to Wang Dong, and also pick up a few old clothes that you two have worn. Do it quietly so no one can see."
"Our village is running low on food, and I'm worried he, being just a child, won't be able to protect it."
It wasn't that Yan Qingqing was overthinking things, but rather that human nature couldn't withstand the test.
After listening, Li Xiangping nodded and said, "I'll deliver it to him when no one's around at night."
Fortunately, the snow finally stopped after two more days, and Yan Qingqing breathed a sigh of relief.
Although this heavy snow has affected everyone, overall it is not too serious.
Grandma Yan couldn't stay any longer and said to Yan Qingqing, "I need to go back to Yan Family Village. The house is quite old, and your father's knees always hurt when it's cloudy or rainy. I'm really worried about him."
In fact, Grandma Yan had been worried these past few days, but she didn't show it because she was afraid her daughter would worry.
Yan Qingqing understood Old Madam Yan's feelings and immediately agreed. However, the roads were still blocked by heavy snow, so Yan Qingqing could only comfort her, saying, "Mother, I'll have Sanlang go and scout ahead. The snow has just stopped, so we can't leave right away. Even if you want to go back to Yan Family Village, you'll have to wait until the roads are clear."
Grandma Yan knew that Yan Qingqing was telling the truth, so she could only patiently stay for a few more days.
Four or five days later, the road was finally cleared because someone had bought grain from the city.
I heard that Magistrate Ling has ordered the granaries to be opened and grain distributed. Any resident of Chengyang County can go to the county government office to collect grain by presenting their household registration. Each person can collect two catties of coarse grain.
In addition, he ordered all grain merchants not to take the opportunity to raise grain prices, and anyone who dared to raise grain prices would be immediately arrested and imprisoned, and the grain would be confiscated.
This was indeed good news. Although Yan Qingqing's family had no shortage of food, she couldn't help but give Magistrate Ling a thumbs up.
When Grandma Yan heard that the road was open, she couldn't sit still any longer and demanded to return to Yan Family Village immediately. Yan Qingqing called Li Xiangping and Yuan Huiniang and instructed them: "Eldest son, go and hitch up the cart to take your grandmother back to Yan Family Village. The road will definitely be difficult to travel, so be extra careful."
"Huiniang, go open the storeroom and pick out some useful things for your grandmother to take back."
Old Mrs. Yan has worked hard here all these days, and she refused to accept the money Yan Qingqing offered her, only asking her to take some things back with her.
Fortunately, Grandma Yan knew that this was her daughter's heartfelt wish and did not refuse.
After Li Xiangping saw Old Lady Yan off, the village began to make arrangements for Wang Laoshi's burial.
Xu came to ask Yan Qingqing to go to the Wang family to see if there was anything they could help with. After handing Li Xiangyang over to Li Xinniang, Yan Qingqing went with her.
Many people from the village were there because the Wang family had no other relatives, and the village chief, Li Kaishan, was helping to take charge.
Given Wang Laoshi's family's circumstances, they certainly couldn't afford a coffin. Fortunately, a respected elder in the village donated his own coffin.
Everyone else felt sorry for the grandfather and grandson and donated money and goods. Yan Qingqing once again marveled at the simple and honest folk customs of Canghe Village.
She took out five hundred coins from her pocket, handed them to Wang Dong, and said, "Your grandfather has suffered his whole life. Let him leave this world with some dignity."
"Take this money and buy whatever you need. If it's not enough, I have more."
Everyone knows that Yan Qingqing is rich. Although five hundred coins is nothing to Yan Qingqing, it is definitely a huge sum of money in the eyes of others.
Dressed in mourning clothes, Wang Dong knelt down with a thud, tears streaming down his face, and said, "Auntie, I will remember your great kindness. Thank you, Auntie." After saying that, he kowtowed three times to Yan Qingqing.
Everyone around was moved by the sight, feeling sorry for the child who would truly be a helpless orphan from now on.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com