After the typhoon, the village was in complete disarray, a scene of utter devastation.
Broken branches, fallen fences, and scattered tiles were everywhere...
Some trees were even uprooted and lay scattered haphazardly on the road.
Along the roadsides, branches and leaves blown down by the typhoon were everywhere, and even the drainage ditches were blocked.
The floodwaters had to flow across the road, making the already muddy road even more difficult to walk on.
The houses of each household suffered varying degrees of damage.
At best, tiles shift, causing leaks inside the house; at worst, some tiles are blown away by the typhoon; and in some cases, doors and windows are damaged, and glass is broken...
In the worst cases, the roofs were completely blown off by the typhoon, with the tiles gone and the beams and rafters exposed.
As the two brothers walked along, all they saw were scenes of devastation left behind by various typhoons, with garbage everywhere.
"This typhoon is really powerful."
Feng Ye couldn't help but sigh.
"Yes, we've had typhoons almost every year since I was a child, but one this big is rare."
Feng Xuan also sighed, "I wonder how the old house is doing. I hope it wasn't damaged too badly."
"I suspect it's not good, otherwise Dad wouldn't have been gone for so long."
"Can't you think of something positive? Dad might be clearing the road with other people."
"I want to think positively, but look at each and every household, does anyone clean the roads?"
In the past, after every typhoon, at least one person from each household would go to clean the roads, while the others would stay home to repair the roof, tidy up things, and air out what needed to be aired out...
Now, it's almost noon, and the roads are still unrepaired, looking exactly like they were after the typhoon.
Everyone was focused on sorting the goods they had just brought back so they could sell them for money.
They don't even have time to repair their own damaged houses, let alone care about the roads outside.
"That's true, everyone's busy harvesting seafood, no one has time to think about these things."
The two brothers walked and looked around.
Every household had a lot of goods piled up in their yard.
Some of it was all dumped on the ground, piled up like a small mountain; some was still in bags or baskets, not all of it had been dumped out.
Men, women, and children were all busy sorting, their faces beaming with the joy of a harvest.
Although the typhoon caused damage and losses to our homes, natural disasters are merciless, and there's nothing we can do about it.
What's more, they brought so much seafood.
As long as they can be sold, they can at least make up for the losses caused by the typhoon, and may even make a profit.
One can imagine that the dock will be bustling again by the afternoon when everyone has finished sorting.
The two brothers chatted and looked around as they went, and soon arrived at the location of the old house.
Having witnessed the devastation caused by the typhoon along the way, Feng Ye was well aware of the extent of the damage.
The worst did not happen; no one in the village died as a result of the typhoon.
However, property damage is inevitable.
Some people's pigsties and chicken coops were blown down, and many livestock ran out and ran around the village. Some even ran into other people's vegetable gardens and wreaked havoc.
As Feng Ye had predicted, the situation at the old house was indeed very bad, the worst of the worst.
From afar, they could see the dilapidated state of the old house.
The roof tiles were almost all blown away by the typhoon, exposing the wooden structure underneath.
Fortunately, the wall was intact and still stands.
It is made of stone, so it is very sturdy and cannot be blown down even by a strong typhoon.
But the windows were not spared; they were all broken by the typhoon, with shattered glass everywhere.
The gate was also rickety, as if it would collapse at any moment.
The entire yard was in a mess, with branches, leaves, and all sorts of debris and trash everywhere.
Feng Jiaqing was sweeping the yard with a broom.
The two brothers quickened their pace and went inside.
"father."
Feng Ye called out.
Hearing his voice, Mr. Feng looked up, a smile appearing on his face: "What brings you here?"
"It's already this late, and you still haven't gone home. We said we'd come and check on you."
Feng Ye then joked, "There's a huge pile of goods waiting to be sorted at home, and you're here leisurely sweeping the floor."
"Then you sweep it."
Feng Jiaqing said irritably, "Leisurely? Look at the state of this house! If I don't clean it up, who will? Do you think I'm counting on the two of you?"
"Okay, I'll help you."
As Feng Xuan spoke, he began to tidy up the branches in the yard.
Collect them together and put them somewhere that won't get in the way. You can throw them away later, or dry them and use them as firewood.
Feng Ye walked to the main entrance and peered inside.
The ground of the old house was not paved and had many potholes of varying sizes.
At this time, these pits were still filled with water.
He couldn't help but shake his head: "I think there's no need to repair this old house."
"Dad, why don't you and Mom move in with us? Of course, my brother's place is fine too, it's up to you."
"What nonsense are you talking about? This old house is perfectly fine, the walls haven't collapsed, all we need to do is lay new tiles, how can we not repair it?"
Mr. Feng's face darkened. "Besides, your mother and I have lived here for decades. We've grown attached to this place and don't want to move."
"However, this old house gets damaged every time a typhoon hits, and it's troublesome to repair."
Feng Ye's eyes darted around, "Since you don't want to move, how about this, we just demolish it and rebuild..."
Before he could finish speaking, Feng Jiaqing swung a broom at him: "You're talking nonsense again. You want to tear down a perfectly good house and rebuild it? Do you have too much money to burn?"
Feng Ye dodged to the side and chuckled, "It's just one floor, it won't cost much. My brother and I will split it, it'll probably only cost two or three thousand yuan per family."
Feng Xuan chimed in, "Yes, Dad, we're not short of money now, so what's wrong with tearing it down and rebuilding?"
Feng Ye continued, "That's right, wouldn't it be great to solve the problem once and for all, saving us from having to repair it every year?"
Mr. Feng, holding a broom, glared at them angrily. After a long while, he said, "I think you're not here to help, but to annoy me."
This house is still habitable; it's none of your business.
"Get out of here, all of you! Don't stand there in my way; just looking at you annoys me."
The two brothers exchanged a glance, smiled helplessly, and knew they couldn't persuade their father, so they had no choice but to give up.
"Alright, Dad, you can pack up on your own. We're heading back now."
Whether they are there or not doesn't really matter.
Anyway, right now it's just a matter of cleaning up the water in the yard and inside the house.
As for the roof, there's no way to fix it in the short term; we'll have to wait until we buy the tiles.
Feng Jiaqing waved the broom impatiently: "Get out of here, don't bother me..."
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