Chapter 50: Rescue and Check the Rice Seedlings
"What's going on outside?" Grandma's expression tightened. She quickly sat up, put on her clothes, and wanted to go out to check. But she turned around and warned, "Don't come out of the house."
After saying that, he walked quickly towards the gate.
As soon as grandma pushed open the gate, she saw a group of people rushing over in panic, carrying a person on a door panel.
Her heart tightened, thinking it was her old man. She ran over anxiously, her voice trembling: "What's wrong? What happened?"
When he got closer, he found that his old man and two sons were safe and sound, and his heart finally settled down a little.
When the uncle saw his mother coming out, he hurried forward, his expression anxious, even his voice a little hurried: "Mom, has Jiayue rested?"
"Who can sleep in this state? We are all staying up all night." Grandma responded with a frown.
At this time, Li Dahai's face was covered with tears. He knelt down in front of his grandmother and begged bitterly: "Auntie, can you help me ask Yue girl to lend me a carriage to take my father to the town to see a doctor?"
Grandma reached out to pull it up, but couldn't.
"Oh my! How could this be so serious?" Grandma looked closely. Old Man Li, lying on the door panel, was covered in blood. His legs were held together by branches, obviously broken. A bamboo pole was pierced through his abdomen.
Grandma called out twice, but Old Man Li didn't respond at all. His head drooped limply, lifeless.
"Oh, don't worry, I'll go ask for you." Grandma was anxious and turned around and hurried back to the yard.
"Jiayue, Jiayue." Grandma called as she walked quickly into the yard.
"Grandma, what happened?" Gu Jiayue was already worried that something might have happened to her family. When she heard her grandmother's anxious call, she immediately rushed out of the house, looking around nervously.
"Your uncle Li fell down the mountain and it seems to be seriously injured. They want to ask if you can lend them a carriage to take him to town?" Grandma said breathlessly.
Gu Jiayue breathed a sigh of relief when she heard that no one from her family was in trouble. Then, she heard that someone was seriously injured, and she couldn't help but get anxious again: "No problem, but I want to ask Hu Zi if he's willing."
Although Hu Zi was a servant, it had just rained for a long time outside and the roads were muddy and dangerous. She could not make decisions for others without her permission.
As for Hu Zi, he heard the noise outside and came out of the kitchen early, waiting on the side.
Hearing what Gu Jiayue said, he quickly stepped forward and said firmly, "As long as the young lady doesn't mind, it's okay for me to make a trip. After all, human lives are at stake."
"Why should I care about these things? Saving lives is important. But don't be anxious. Safety is the most important thing, okay?" Gu Jiayue warned with concern.
After receiving the order, Hu Zi did not dare to delay. He quickly pulled the horse out and harnessed it to the carriage. He carried Old Man Li and several strong men and galloped towards the county town under the anxious gaze of everyone.
No one was in the mood to talk anymore. Only the sound of rain outside the house, which was gradually getting louder, could be heard, making people feel uneasy.
Grandma looked solemn. She waved her hand gently and sighed deeply, "Let's all go to sleep. We don't know what tomorrow will bring."
The voice was full of fatigue and worry, as if the unknown future had bent his spine.
Gu Jiayue had just closed her eyes when she was suddenly awakened by a burst of heart-wrenching crying.
She woke up in a daze, rubbed her sleepy eyes with her hands, and forced herself to get up.
She put on her clothes skillfully, casually braided her black hair into a pigtail, and then picked up a headscarf and tied it lightly on her head.
Listening to the sound of the rain outside, it still dripped. Oh, it rained all night. I wonder if Grandpa Li has received medical treatment.
She walked to the corner, reached out to pick up the umbrella, and pushed the door open following the crying sound.
The village was in a desolate state, as if it had experienced a catastrophe.
The peach trees on the roadside, with their once lush leaves, were now mercilessly blown to the ground by hail.
It's scattered and full of desolation.
The crops of most families were also ravaged by this natural disaster and were in a mess.
Like the Gu family, many other people's houses were riddled with holes under the hailstorm, as if they had been sifted through a sieve.
The crying sound came from the neighbor's house.
Aunt Wang held two lifeless hens in her arms, weeping bitterly, tears streaming freely down her weathered face. "What a sin! God, you want us to die! Our entire family's livelihood depends on these hens laying eggs."
She wailed and beat her chest, her despair making everyone who saw her feel pity. "Oh my God, how can we live like this?"
Her cries echoed in the cold rain, tugging at everyone's heartstrings and causing everyone who heard it to cry along with her.
The Gu family tried to persuade Aunt Wang to be more open-minded, saying that a dead chicken cannot be resurrected.
Unexpectedly, Aunt Wang cried even more miserably.
Gu Jiayue couldn't bear to see this, so she walked along and saw that the seedlings in the fields were basically destroyed.
In this era of scarce means of livelihood, ordinary people can only rely on hard work day and night and carefully tend the few acres of land at home in order to earn a little food and clothing.
But the sudden hailstorm wiped out their more than half a month's hard work in an instant.
If we don’t find a way to remedy the situation, everyone will probably face the desperate situation of starving to death this year.
Gu Jiayue found her grandfather and two uncles on the edge of the field.
They sat on the edge of the field with lonely expressions, silent.
Grandpa held the tobacco-less pipe tightly in his hand and smashed it against the edge of the field again and again, making a dull sound.
His wrinkled face and a pair of eyes that had experienced many vicissitudes of life seemed to be able to speak at this moment, and the emotions of helplessness and heartache almost overflowed from his eyes.
"Grandpa, let's go back." Gu Jiayue said softly, with a hint of heartache and concern in her voice.
Grandpa slowly stood up, his eyes still fixed on the damaged rice seedlings, and said helplessly, "You guys go back first. I'll see if we can still save them."
As he said this, he stepped into the field and carefully picked up the seedlings that had been beaten to pieces by hail and had no leaves left.
"Jiayue, you go back first, otherwise the rain will wet your clothes." Uncle and second uncle also stood up and walked into the field.
They bent down and carefully distinguished them, picked up those seedlings that could still be used and replanted them in the fields, while those seedlings that were determined to be unable to survive were decisively pulled out.
Gradually, more and more people came to the fields, and every household was busy in the fields, just like my grandfather and his family, racing against time to save the crops.
Every bit we get back is valuable; we can’t just leave it like this.
These rice seedlings are not only the food for the coming year, but also the source of taxes. Without them, the family may be completely destroyed in the coming year.
At this time, the village chief also came.
He walked from one end to the other with a serious expression, carefully counting the village's losses.
Seeing Gu Jiayue there, he stopped. "Jiayue is here to help too?"
There was a hint of fatigue and relief in the village chief's voice.
Gu Jiayue felt a little helpless. She really wanted to help, but she knew nothing about farm work and was afraid she would only cause more trouble. "How could I know these things? I want to help, too. Uncle Village Chief, besides our village, are there any other places affected by the disaster?"
The village chief sighed deeply, his face filled with worry. "Looking at the situation last night, the surrounding villages are bound to be affected."
"How did you deal with this kind of situation in the past?" Gu Jiayue asked.
"Just like your grandfather and the others, see how many you can save. If not, drain the water and plant something else so they won't starve to death."
The village chief shook his head helplessly. Faced with this ruthless natural disaster, people were indeed powerless to resist and could only try their best to reduce the losses.
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