A strong wind accompanied by heavy rain. As the first raindrop fell, the village was filled with shouts of "Little boy, hurry home!" and "Mom, the rabbit ran away!"
People working away from home rushed back to their homes!
The heavy rain fell like beads from a broken string, first pounding the ground and kicking up dust, creating all sorts of patterns.
Then it became so densely packed that it connected heaven and earth, making it impossible to distinguish east from west or north from south.
Li Laoshi sat at the door, crossed his legs, and looked around: I wonder whose roof will leak first?
Sister Jiang said she could lend them a place to take shelter from the rain, but... they say it's easy to invite a god but hard to send him away.
Xu Changshou used to want to stay at the medical shed and not leave. If someone comes here now, they will probably say the shed has collapsed and there is nowhere to stay.
Hehe, but I have plenty of ways to do it.
Thinking of this, Li Laoshi stood up and looked around again: Hmm, why is there still no movement? They should be here soon, right?
The village shacks really couldn't withstand such heavy rain. Before long, someone wearing a raincoat and carrying bedding ran over: "Honestly, my shack is leaking. Can I take shelter here for a while?"
When Li Laoshi recognized the person, he chuckled, but then suppressed his amusement and said with a stern face, "No, no, Xu Genqing, you've worked here before too. This is a restricted area; unauthorized personnel are not allowed in, don't you understand?"
Xu Genqing shook the water off his raincoat: "There's plenty of space here, I'll just take up a small section."
Because the medicine needed to be dried, in addition to the tall warehouse, there was also an extended drying shed outside, which could accommodate seventy or eighty people if squeezed in.
Li Laoshi had no idea that he intended to seek refuge with him, and shook his head vigorously: "No, no, no, I said no and that means no. This is Village Chief Jiang's granary, and no idlers are allowed to come and go."
Xu Genqing also became anxious.
In just a short while, water started leaking everywhere in their shack. Although they could still catch the water by putting all the pots and pans on top, they were afraid that if this went on for too long, even the roof would collapse.
"Hey, Li Laoshi, are you stupid! If you don't tell me and I don't tell you, who will know? Aunt Jiang isn't here!" Xu Genqing patiently persuaded him.
Li Laoshi wouldn't budge, no matter what, and refused to agree. Xu Genqing stomped his foot in anger: "Do you want to get beaten up?!"
Li Laoshi straightened his neck, leaned closer, and chuckled, "Go ahead and hit me! Try hitting me once!"
Xu Genqing didn't dare to really hit him. Just as he was about to say a few more threatening words, he saw another person running in the rain.
"Honestly, honestly! Xia Xiucai's house is about to flood, so we've moved our house here!"
The visitor was Xu Gensheng.
Li Laoshi responded immediately, "Yes! Come quickly!"
Behind them, Tian Gui and his group escorted Xia Xiucai's family over. Even though they were only a hundred meters away, everyone's rain gear was soaked.
Li Laoshi was about to ask the Xia family to stand further inside when Xu Gensheng pulled him aside and whispered, "Xia Xiucai is having an attack. Let him go inside."
Li Laoshi blinked and looked up.
Xia Xiucai's arms were each held by his wife and mother. He was thin and weak, and could not struggle when held by the two women.
He had just been looking dazed and blank, but now his face was contorted with rage, and he was making painful "ah ah" sounds.
Xia Yuan followed behind, carrying a bag of books, appearing quite composed.
"Alright, come inside quickly!" Li Laoshi opened the door and urged the Xia family to come in.
Tian Gui and the others rushed inside, leaving only Xu Genqing standing outside.
Just as Li Laoshi was about to say something, Xu Genqing said, "Laoshi! My family is coming to hide here for a while too!"
He still wanted to come and take shelter from the rain, and now that Xia Xiucai had arrived, he couldn't very well turn him away.
Li Laoshi scratched his head and pretended to be embarrassed: "Oh dear, this is where Village Chief Jiang collects medicine. It's fine for you to come here to take shelter from the rain, but if Village Chief Jiang finds out, I'll get a scolding."
Xu Genqing was no longer as impatient as before. He sighed, shook his head, and lowered his voice as if afraid of disturbing the ailing Xia Xiucai: "Li Laoshi, don't worry! We'll leave as soon as the rain stops. We won't stay here any longer and make things difficult for you."
Li Laoshi thought for a moment, rubbed his hands together, and made up his mind: "Okay, you guys come! I'll take the blame if the village chief scolds me!"
"But you have to keep your word. If your mother makes a scene and frightens Scholar Xia, I'll kick her out!"
Xu Genqing scoffed, "I know, no need for you to rush me! Xia Xiucai is pitiful too, sigh! Studying too much isn't good either, getting stuck in a rut leads to this..."
As the rain intensified, more and more people began to arrive, but Li Laoshi still managed to persuade them after some effort.
Xu Gensheng, who had already arrived, saw Li Laoshi's feigned refusal with a smile on his lips and his pretentious manner, and couldn't help but mock him: "Li Laoshi, you'd rather be a dog than a decent person! Aunt Jiang already said that anyone can come to help if there's a leak, but you're just full of tricks!"
Li Laoshi snorted: "Even dogs have different standards. Those who are usually rude to me and go against Sister Jiang, why should they come here so comfortably!"
Xu Gensheng was a contrarian, and he and Li Laoshi were kindred spirits. Xu immediately winked and said, "There are still a few people in the village who haven't come yet. If you're so capable, why don't you make things difficult for them too!"
Now six or seven families have arrived, all gathered together talking about their leaky shacks.
Some families didn't come, such as Xu Genyou and Tian Gui's families; their shacks were the best built.
There are also those whose leaks haven't been repaired, like Xu Changming...
Li Laoshi was riding high on his success when he heard the challenge. He immediately perked up, tossed his head back, and his loose hair bun swayed precariously on his head: "If he dares to come, I, Old Li, will make him cry!"
"Cough cough cough!" Xu Gensheng choked on his own saliva and coughed a few times before hurriedly saying, "When Aunt Qin comes, don't do this. Give Brother Qing some face."
They were still thinking about giving face to Xu Genqing, who had left long ago but hadn't come over yet.
Unexpectedly, Xu Genqing had already lost face!
When Qin heard that she was to take shelter from the rain at Granny Jiang's house, but the Tian family next door had not left, she felt utterly humiliated.
He cried, saying he would rather die in the shack than leave, and pointed at Xu Genqing: "Son, other people's shacks don't leak, but ours does. Aren't you ashamed?"
Xu Genqing said, "What's so shameful about it? It's not just our family that's like this! Let's go! I've already spoken to Li Laoshi."
The thought of being spanked in public made Qin Shi absolutely unwilling to go.
They just kept cursing Xu Genqing, cursing him for being useless, for not having a son, and for not being as capable as his eldest son.
Xu Genqing felt like he was about to explode with anger. Without thinking, he immediately took his wife and ran away.
Only an idiot wouldn't run away in the rain!
In another shack, Xu Changming was also sulking, but he couldn't bring himself to scold his children and grandchildren.
Because the second son next door had already been picked up by Xu Gensheng, and when he left, the little brat deliberately said loudly that there were empty seats for the whole family.
Going to take shelter from the rain by yourself... isn't that just like crawling under a woman's armpit?
I won't go, I'd rather die than go!
On Old Cloud Cliff, Jiang Zhi was giving Peiqi a bath, taking advantage of the rainwater.
Just now, a wild boar was chasing a rabbit and fell into a muddy ditch. It got so muddy that you couldn't see its nose or eyes.
Xu Errui reached out to catch the water from the eaves, looked up at the sky and sighed, "Those houses in the village definitely won't be able to keep out the rain, but luckily our warehouse can provide shelter."
He now has the leisure to care about others.
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