At that time, the water level outside was only up to the thigh. People who were good swimmers and strong were not afraid of such deep water at all. They would go down to fish more than ten times a day and catch some fish almost every time.
This is all thanks to the sports meet held by the Chen family last time, which boosted everyone's enthusiasm for swimming. Many more people have learned to swim, and now they can finally put their skills to good use.
The otter that the Chen family kept also came in very handy this time. Every day, the otter caught enough fish for the Chen family to eat, which made Old Man Chen and Mrs. Zhou very happy.
Surprisingly, the dog could also swim and even catch fish in the water, which amazed everyone.
As for its two little brothers, they can't swim and seem quite ordinary compared to the dog. However, they sometimes go with the dog to the mountains to hunt a few rabbits.
As the water level gradually rose, bodies occasionally appeared in the river, and some mud houses in the village were washed away, causing everyone to become anxious.
The heavy rain continued, and the water level rose visibly every day. Houses in low-lying areas of the village were flooded. Under the organization of the village chief, the families whose houses were flooded moved to other people's homes to squeeze in.
During the search and rescue operation, they occasionally encountered people who had fallen into the water, and they rescued those they could.
After that, more and more people were found drowning in the river, and more and more corpses were discovered.
Since the last time someone died while searching for food in the mountains, the village chief has forbidden everyone from venturing out to find food again, in order to prevent further casualties.
Even the salvage operations are restricted by age and frequency. People are not allowed to go into the water unless they encounter someone who has fallen in, for fear that those who go into the water might be swept away by the flood.
Meanwhile, Chen Kai and Xiao Tian were also worried about another thing, namely the plague.
Generally, plagues follow floods, especially in ancient times.
First, after torrential rains and floods, drinking water can become contaminated, increasing the risk of large-scale outbreaks of intestinal infectious diseases. During floods, people may be forced to drink unclean water sources, such as contaminated surface water, which is often polluted by harmful substances such as human and animal excrement and carcasses from upstream.
Secondly, when there is a lot of rainfall, the air is generally more mobile, which makes the spread of germs more widespread and faster, further promoting the outbreak of plagues or infectious diseases.
Finally, there is the destruction of living conditions. Floods cause large-scale damage to housing; houses are submerged, forcing people to initially sleep outdoors, and then for extended periods in makeshift shacks. This leads to population concentration and overcrowding. Sleeping outdoors makes people more susceptible to bites from blood-sucking arthropods such as mosquitoes, increasing the risk of infectious diseases.
Therefore, in order to take good protective measures, Chen Kai and Xiao Tian mentioned to the Chen family that this time of year is when plagues are most likely to occur.
When Old Man Chen heard about the plague, he immediately shuddered. He knew about plagues; once one broke out, it wouldn't just be a few people dying, but countless people throughout the entire region.
The other elders also knew the severity of the plague and were very anxious.
Seeing everyone's reaction, Chen Kai suggested some simple measures to prevent the spread of the epidemic, such as washing hands frequently, drinking hot water, wearing masks, maintaining good hygiene, and frequent disinfection...
Under these limited conditions, this is all they can do.
As for what a mask is, after Chen Kai's explanation, everyone understood.
Because of limited materials, Chen Kai had to have them make masks out of cloth, and for disinfection, they had to use quicklime.
Old Man Chen also told the village chief about this matter, since it was a very serious matter.
Meanwhile, as soon as Chen's eldest daughter-in-law stepped out, she spread the word, causing everyone to panic.
However, the village chief quickly suppressed the matter.
The village chief called everyone together and had Chen Kai explain the preventative measures against the plague. At the same time, the village chief also emphasized the severity of the plague and hoped everyone would take proper precautions.
Soon, villagers were wearing masks when they went out; of course, their masks were all made from clean linen from their own homes.
The children were quite optimistic; wearing masks, they looked like masked heroes and even compared themselves to each other.
The adults were very worried. They were terrified of the plague, fearing that if anyone in the village contracted it, the entire village might die.
Therefore, in order to solve this problem, the village chief notified everyone that if anyone in their family was sick, they should report it to him in time, and if it was found that someone had contracted the plague, that person must be quarantined.
Besides fearing that the villagers would contract the plague, they were also afraid that people from other villages would contract the plague and it would spread to their village. So everyone made the worst-case scenario preparation, which was to flee.
Now, every household in Anping Village is both taking precautions against the plague and preparing for their escape.
To make their escape less tiring, Chen Lao Er even had a horse-drawn carriage built, which took more than half a month to complete.
As for the horse, it belonged to those bandits. After rescuing Chen Nong, Bai Yu brought both the horse and the man back to the village.
When the villagers saw the horse, no one wanted to hand it over, so they all agreed on a story and divided the horse among themselves: one horse for the Chen family, one horse for the village chief's family, and one horse for the villagers to use together.
Meanwhile, the village children were climbing up and down the carriage that Chen Lao Er had just built, while Chen Lao Er continued to build a second carriage.
At this moment, Chen Nong ran over and said happily, "Uncle, the first batch of wild vegetables we planted are growing very well. If they grow well, we can harvest a new crop soon."
Chen Kai suddenly asked, "Chen Nong, didn't you and Sanya dig up a lot of wild vegetables before? Where did you hide them?"
Chen Nong said mysteriously, "I promised them I wouldn't tell anyone. And it won't be stolen if no one else can find it."
"After we finish eating the dried wild vegetables we made at home, I'll take them out for everyone to eat."
At this moment, Xiao Tian suddenly said, "They hid the wild vegetables in the cave."
Chen Kai didn't understand and asked in confusion, "What cave?"
Er Ya, who happened to be passing by, overheard this and quickly ran over, covering Xiao Tian's mouth and saying, "It's nothing, Uncle. Xiao Tian just wants to go play in the cave. We'll go next time."
Er Ya was still puzzled. How did Xiao Tian know they hid the wild vegetables in the cave? Did he secretly follow them? That's impossible. That mountain path is difficult to walk. Xiao Tian shouldn't be able to get through.
The heavy rain lasted for a whole month before stopping, and it took about another week for the water level to gradually recede.
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