Chapter 207 Hail Strikes

In the early morning of April 2, strong winds, heavy rain and hail suddenly hit Bobai County.

In later generations, for some unknown reason, hail was rarely seen in Bobai County.

But in this day and age, although hail does not fall every year, it is normal for hailstorms to occur every few years.

Not to mention the distant past, just in the past decade or so, Bobai County has experienced several hail disasters.

According to the county annals, from 6:05 to 6:50 a.m. on April 9, 1974, hail fell in Songshan Commune. The large hailstones reached a diameter of 10-20 cm. In Sheguangzhang Team, hailstones accumulated into a pile as big as a scale shed.

Many birds and animals on the mountains were killed by hail, and many frogs and fish in the rivers and ditches were frozen to death. The leaves of crops in the fields, such as sweet potatoes, pumpkins, and tobacco, were all smashed. The tiles of 6,247 houses were damaged by hail, and 6 people were injured.

This was the largest hailstorm in Bobai County's recorded history.

On the evening of April 13, 1975, there was a strong wind and heavy rain, and hail fell with the rain for 7-10 minutes, mainly in some brigades of Nabu, Xintang, Songshan, Dongping, Shahe and other communes. 7.38 million roof tiles were broken, and a large number of crops such as seedlings, sweet potatoes, and peanuts were damaged.

On April 3, 1976, due to the influence of a strong cold air, hail suddenly fell and 591 production teams were affected. More than 10,000 acres of crops such as tobacco, corn, peanuts, melons, and beans were frozen to death.

Hail has fallen for three consecutive years, which is a rare scene in Bobai's history.

Now, after six years, hail has fallen again, and it is concentrated in April of the Gregorian calendar.

The hailstones were as small as fingers and as big as fists. A total of 20 brigades in Bobai Town and seven communes including Chengxiang, Santan, Yashan, Fengshan, Nabu and Jiangning were severely affected. The tiles of many houses were smashed and more than 40,000 mu of crops were damaged or frozen.

Although these days are not like the later times, if something happens, it can be spread all over the country in an instant once it is posted on WeChat Moments.

But natural disasters like hail can spread very quickly. The news of what happened in the early morning had spread back to Naye Village by around nine in the morning.

Knowing that Bobai Town was also affected by the disaster, Deng Shirong couldn't sit still and said, "Yuntai, hurry up and take me to Tanlian intersection. I want to go to Bobai to see if the two-story building I rented was hit by the hail. I also don't know if the hotel under construction was affected by the hail."

Deng Yuntai pushed the bicycle out and frowned as he said, "If the tiles were hit by hail, the strong wind and flood would ruin the quilts in the room."

Deng Yunzhen said, "Dad, why don't I go up with you? If the tiles are hit by hail, I can help clean them up."

Deng Shirong waved his hand and said, "I can go alone. If the house is not hit by the hail, that would be the best. If it is hit, I can go up alone and have a place to stay. If you follow me up, you won't even have a place to stay. The guesthouse is not clean either. There is no need to go up and suffer this."

Deng Yunzhen thought about it and decided not to follow him.

…

Two o'clock in the afternoon.

Deng Shirong rushed to the county town and saw that the surrounding buildings were intact. He couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

When he returned to the street and saw that his two-story building was intact and not damaged at all, Deng Shirong finally felt relieved.

However, this hail also reminded him that this year's frost weather came particularly early and lasted for a long time. From the beginning of winter to the spring of next year, the weather was not warm for a single day.

Deng Shirong vaguely remembered that this year, more than 2,500 oxen seemed to have frozen to death in the entire county. Several cows were also frozen to death in their Naye Village, including two from Deng Changdong's family. In addition, countless acres of sweet potatoes and tobacco were frozen to death in the entire county.

In short, if there is no change, then the losses of their Naye Village will not be small this year.

It seems that I have to find an opportunity to remind the nephews and nieces in the village.

Whenever Deng Shirong was in the county town, he would definitely come to the gate of the court to find Zhang Guoan to smoke from the chimney.

Seeing Deng Shirong coming over, Zhang Guoan handed over the cigarette holder and said, "Uncle Jiu, I've already told my cousin about coming to your hotel to work as a security manager. He likes to drink a little wine, and I told him that as long as he comes to work in your hotel, he will be provided with enough wine and food. He agreed to it and said that he would be willing to do such a job even if there was no salary."

Deng Shirong took the pipe and said with a smile, "Of course there will be wages, but we don't know whether the restaurant can make money yet, so the wages may not be very high. In addition to the free food and drinks, you will get the same wages as the waiters every month. Brother Zhang, do you think this treatment is okay?"

Zhang Guoan nodded and said, "This treatment is already very good. It's like eating out and drinking for free every day. If you eat and drink for a month, you will get extra money. This kind of treatment makes me want to change jobs, not to mention others."

Deng Shirong stuffed tobacco into the pipe and said with a smile, "As long as your uncle is satisfied."

Zhang Guoan said: "I have also informed him about the chef's matter. He is a cousin of mine. He was originally the head chef of the state-owned restaurant in Shuangfeng Commune. He offended the person in charge of the restaurant because of some things. He was constantly harassed by the person in charge. My cousin couldn't stand it, so he beat him up and then lost his job.

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But, Uncle Jiu, don't worry, my cousin's character is definitely fine, and he is a fast and good cook. If he comes to work in your restaurant, you won't have to worry about the kitchen."

Deng Shirong lit up several cigarettes, put them aside, and said, "Brother Zhang, there will be no problem with the people you introduced. I won't bother two people with one thing. When my restaurant opens, I will probably have to temporarily hire a few pretty young ladies and ask them to help hold up a billboard and walk back and forth on the street a few times, so that everyone knows that a restaurant has opened here."

Zhang Guoan immediately had a picture in his mind, and couldn't help but admire, "Uncle Jiu, you are good at publicity. Let those young girls and wives hold up your restaurant's billboards and walk back and forth on the street a few times. I guess everyone in the county knows that your restaurant is open."

Deng Shirong added with a smile: "In addition, we will hire a young man to lead the way with a gong, and young ladies holding billboards to follow behind."

Zhang Guoan gave a thumbs up and said, "Uncle Jiu, your idea is really great. I will be responsible for finding the candidates for you. How many young ladies and wives do you think are needed to hold the billboards?"

"We need eight people, each of whom will receive a five-dollar red envelope. All they need to do is walk back and forth on Bobai Street a few times holding up our restaurant's billboard."

"There is such a big red envelope. If I spread the word about this, I guess the young girls and wives in our village will rush to do it. I will look for candidates in advance. Uncle Jiu, when you need someone, just tell me and I will arrange it for you."

"Well, I'll tell you once I set the opening time for the restaurant."

(End of this chapter)