Lin Tao turned over and felt a cool breeze seeping into the blankets.
He got up and looked around, only to find that a corner of the room had been washed away by the raging flood.
He quickly got up to call Yu Xiaofeng and found that their room was in even worse condition, with the north wall almost completely collapsed.
Further west, in the north wing where Ma Huijuan now occupies, half of the north wall has collapsed.
"This house is uninhabitable, let's get out of here!"
Yu Xiaofeng quickly packed her things.
What's the point of staying here? The floodwaters have already flowed right past the house.
Several people, carrying large and small bags, began to walk towards the brigade headquarters in the rain.
The brigade headquarters was situated on higher ground, and it was already packed with people.
All the rooms in the brigade headquarters were covered with makeshift beds on the floor, where everyone slept.
Many more people poured into the educated youth settlement, so Meng Jiao had to open the door and let a few girls stay inside.
After everything was set up, Yu Xiaofeng realized that she had forgotten to bring Ma Huijuan out.
She urged Lin Tao to memorize it quickly, but he firmly refused.
"Mom, we can barely take care of ourselves, how can we help her? Let her fend for herself."
The next day at dawn, everyone was stunned. Most of the Lin family's house had been washed away, and Ma Huijuan, along with her child and the bed, had been swept away.
Strangely, despite sharing a wall, Lin Chen's house was completely unharmed; the thatch on it wasn't even removed.
"Damn it, I have to build another house." Lin Tao kicked the air in anger.
Yu Xiaofeng, however, was still shaken:
"Luckily we escaped in time, otherwise we would have been crushed to death, or at least swept away!"
They settled down at the brigade headquarters with a clear conscience, and the team leader, Gao Qiang, organized everyone to start a fire and cook, relying on their own efforts.
Lin Tao and his family, on the other hand, wandered around, waiting to freeload.
"Damn it, why can Lin Chen stay in a guesthouse while I can only live in a shack? It's infuriating to compare yourself to others!"
He was incredibly envious and jealous when he heard that Lin Chen's family had moved into a guesthouse.
"It's alright, Captain Gao is a relative of ours, he wouldn't let us starve to death!" Yu Xiaofeng comforted him.
Lin Fugui didn't care about that. He registered everyone, assigned tasks, and made clear divisions of labor for everyone: some to salvage supplies, some to start fires and cook, and some to fetch water. Everyone had a clear division of labor to ensure that they could safely get through this flood disaster.
Later, government tents arrived one after another, and everyone's lives became more regular as they waited for the flood to pass and for their homes to be rebuilt.
......
After daybreak, Lin Chen hurried to No. 6 Middle School to find Lin Qiao.
Lin Qiao was afraid he would worry, so she didn't tell him about being framed by Gao Xiaolan.
I was filled with worry upon learning that my home had been flooded.
"Our mud-brick house definitely can't withstand such heavy rain!"
Lin Chen told her not to worry, that they had already settled into a guesthouse in the village, and that she could stay at school without worry until the rain stopped.
"Okay, I understand. I'll take good care of myself."
When she returned to her dormitory, she wondered to herself, "I wonder if Guangming and his family are alright since my older brother is staying at the guesthouse."
Just as she was lost in thought, she overheard the dormitory supervisor chatting with someone.
"Have you heard? The old auditorium collapsed, and the school plans to rebuild it on the same spot. This time it will be a red brick one, so it won't collapse so easily."
Lin Qiao secretly made a mental note of it.
I'll definitely tell Brother Guangming next time I see him.
Lin Chen returned to the guesthouse, walked through the crowded corridor, and knocked on the door.
Wang Xiufen opened the door a crack and, seeing that it was Lin Chen, let him in without worry.
There was no other way; the guesthouse was getting more and more crowded, and people with nowhere else to go were crowding into the corridor.
They spread out the quilts and made their beds on the floor.
Lin Chen went out, leaving only the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law at home. If someone rushed in and occupied the room, they really wouldn't be able to fight back.
But they also had to go out, as the guesthouse only had one men's and one women's restroom, and they had to use the sink in the restroom to wash up.
There was also a small kitchen with only a stove and simple pots and pans.
There was no other way; given the harsh conditions, Lin Chen and the others simply didn't plan to cook. Instead, they soaked malted milk powder and ate peach shortbread.
Li Guixiang and the others didn't even have these things. They lined up to cook porridge on a stove, but they still couldn't get enough to eat and had been hungry for a day.
Smelling the fragrance inside, Li Guixiang knocked on the door.
Wang Xiufen opened the door a crack. "What's wrong?"
"Do you have any food? Could you give us some? The child is growing and can't go hungry!"
Li Guixiang spoke up shamelessly.
Wang Xiufen said coldly, "My daughter-in-law is pregnant and can't go hungry. If you're really hungry, you can go to the state-run restaurant to buy something to eat."
Li Guixiang's tone also turned unpleasant, "Your daughter-in-law's baby is barely the size of a rat, how much can it eat! Food at state-run restaurants is so expensive, we can't afford it, besides, it's snowing heavily outside..."
Clang!
Before she could finish saying the word "rain," Wang Xiufen slammed the door shut!
What a shameless person! Trying to freeload with such a sharp tongue!
Jiang Ning told her not to be angry, saying it wasn't worth getting upset.
However, Wang Xiufen's words reminded her that she could buy food at the state-run restaurant.
Unexpectedly, when Lin Chen arrived at the restaurant entrance, he found a sign that said it was closed.
A woman in her twenties was tidying up the tables and chairs. Seeing him standing in the doorway, she didn't stop what she was doing and said:
"The chef isn't working. Come back another day."
"Don't you have anything? Our home was flooded, and we're staying at a guesthouse. It's inconvenient to cook here," Lin Chen said sincerely.
The woman shook her head helplessly: "The chef didn't come, there's nothing I can do, and the kitchen is out of food."
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