Chapter 47 Hail
Gu Jiayue had given them a lot of cloth, and since they were usually too busy working in the fields to sew, they took advantage of the rain to have a half-day off. The two aunts, the eldest cousin's wife, and the grandmother took the cloth and sewed, intending to make clothes for the family.
A'niang was picking beans on the side, thinking that the men at home were idle, so she might as well soak some beans and grind some tofu.
My uncle, second uncle, dad and cousin were weaving bamboo baskets and chatting as they went.
Gu Yuhe and his two sisters were writing big characters seriously, while his elder brother was playing with mud under the eaves.
Grandpa was smoking a pipe and looking at the whole family with satisfaction, a satisfied smile on his face.
Gu Jiayue walked over, leaned close to her grandmother, and said softly, "Grandma, the light is bad, don't do it, it hurts your eyes."
Grandma patted Gu Jiayue's hand gently and said kindly, "It's okay, just sewing some edges and corners. We farmers don't care about these things."
The family chats with each other, so it doesn't feel boring.
But Grandpa would go out to check from time to time, and each time he became more anxious: "This rain is too heavy, I'm afraid the crops in the field will be flooded."
His brows were furrowed, his eyes were full of worry, and he kept sighing.
Grandma also stopped her needlework and said worriedly, "A heavy rain is not a big deal, but I'm afraid of hail."
There was a hint of fear in her eyes, and she couldn't help but feel sad when she thought of the crops and houses that were damaged by the hailstorm before.
As soon as grandma finished speaking, everyone saw some white particles mixed in the heavy rain.
"Grandma, you are so awesome, it's really hailstorming!" Gu Yuhe excitedly put down his brush, ran to the eaves and stretched out his hands to catch the hailstones. After a while, his hands were covered with white particles.
He looked at his grandmother with admiration, but was suddenly slapped on the back of the head by his uncle.
How can you praise someone like that?
The hailstones grew bigger and bigger, from the size of rice grains at first to the size of Gu Jiayue's fist.
The hailstones hit the ground and the roof, making crackling sounds, which made people feel irritated and uneasy.
"Grandma, there's a big hole in the house caused by hail!" Gu Chunyan, who went back to the house to get an oil lamp, shouted in horror, watching the hailstones as big as bowls falling in front of her, almost hitting her head.
"Oh, my cloth!" Grandma Gu cried out in pain and quickly ran into the house.
I just took some cloth to make clothes for my aunt and the others, and the remaining cloth is still on the bed and hasn't been put back into the box.
The first house to be damaged was my grandparents'. It was behind the main hall and had been built first. Its roof and walls were already very dilapidated. The hailstorms repeatedly ripped holes in it. Rainwater and hail poured in through the holes, and soon the ground was filled with water.
"Big brother, go get the basin quickly." Grandma was anxious and busy rescuing the cloth and bed covers that Gu Jiayue gave her.
The whole family suddenly became busy and the younger children took basins to catch the rainwater falling from the roof.
When there are too many people in the house, the falling hail will hit them, making everyone grimace in pain.
Fortunately, the hailstones falling from the roof have been absorbed by the roof and will not cause anyone to bleed.
"It's leaking again, Mom. Our room is leaking too." Gu Bailu ran out of the room, tears welling up in her eyes with anxiety.
The second aunt-in-law quickly put down the things in her hands and rushed back to the room to rescue.
For a moment, the house was in chaos again.
"Zhigeng, go and look after dad and second brother." Gu Jiayue anxiously called out to Gu Zhigeng who was moving cabinets.
The house is such a mess, Dad has difficulty walking, and Gu Yuchuan's mind is not very clear. She is worried that they will get anxious and cause other accidents.
Gu Zhigeng quickly put down what he was holding and ran to the main room, trying to help Gu's father to their room.
Father Gu knew that he would only be a hindrance if he was here, so he pulled Gu Yuchuan, who was anxiously running around, towards the room, and tried to comfort everyone: "Don't worry about me, girls. I'm fine here."
But as a disabled person, how could he hold back a big boy like Gu Yuchuan?
Gu Yuchuan struggled lightly and broke free from his father's hand, shouting excitedly: "Hail, hail, I want to go out and play."
He looked at the hail outside, his eyes full of excitement, completely ignoring the danger.
Seeing this, Gu Yuhe quickly ran over and grabbed him: "Brother, you can't go out. The hail will kill people."
He remembered that when it hailstorm last year, someone in the village was crushed to death and lying on the ground bleeding. The scene was so horrible that he couldn't sleep for several days.
But Gu Yuchuan didn't listen at all and still insisted on going out.
"Sister, I can't hold my second brother anymore." Gu Yuhe's small body was tightly hanging on Gu Yuchuan, but she was still almost taken out of the house by him.
"Second brother, I have some delicious food here, come quickly." Gu Jiayue quickly took out the dried fruits prepared by Aunt Cai in the morning, trying to lure Gu Yuchuan.
Although Gu Yuchuan's brain is not very bright, he is extremely sensitive to food. When he heard about food, he instantly calmed down.
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief when they saw that he had finally behaved himself.
The hail outside is so big that it would be dangerous if you go out and get hit by it.
The hailstones grew bigger and bigger, and in the end, there were even hailstones as big as bowls.
The Gu family's house was already old, and after the hailstorm, all the houses were riddled with holes except for the main room and the one that my eldest cousin had newly built this year.
The roof is full of holes and can no longer be salvaged. There's also no way to salvage it now that heavy hail is falling outside.
Grandma Gu sighed helplessly and told everyone to pack up the valuables in the house and temporarily put them in the main room and her eldest cousin's room, and then find a way to repair them after dawn.
Looking at the roof that was like a sieve, the whole family was silent and the atmosphere was extremely depressing.
The two aunts and the mother shed silent tears while packing their things, complaining, "What a wicked God! Every year there's hail, and it makes us ordinary people suffer."
"Damn God! How can you be so cruel? How can we live?" Grandma collapsed on the ground, slapping her knees with her hands and crying heartbrokenly.
Seeing her grandmother's sad expression, Gu Jiayue's heart tightened. She hurried to her grandmother's side, squatted down, gently held her grandmother's arms with both hands, slowly pulled her up, and comforted her gently: "Okay, grandma. Don't be sad anymore. This house is really old. You see, it's been there for decades. It's time to repair it. When the rain stops, we will pull those prepared blue bricks over and renovate the old house. It will definitely look brand new." As she spoke, she gently patted the back of her grandmother's hand, trying to comfort her grandmother.
After hearing this, grandma nodded slightly and sighed.
"It's time to renovate it. Now that our family is growing, this house is really not big enough to live in. When the rain stops, I'll see if we can add two more rooms at the back so that it will be more spacious." Grandpa Gu stood aside, frowning slightly, his eyes wandering around the dilapidated house, his heart full of helplessness.
It is really inconvenient for such a large family to squeeze together, but the family finances are limited, so we can only take things one step at a time.
"Girl, if we use those blue bricks, what will you use to repair the school?" Grandpa Gu looked at Gu Jiayue with a hint of worry and concern in his eyes. "Let's get some thatch tomorrow and do some simple repairs on the roof. It will be a temporary solution. When you have time later, ask your two uncles to get some mud pieces to dry in the sun. After they are dry, we can slowly repair them. It won't be too late."
Gu Jiayue nodded obediently and replied, "Okay, I'll listen to Grandpa."
She knew in her heart that her grandfather was thinking about her. However, although the construction of the school was important, the housing problem for his family was also urgent.
But repairing the house is a matter for tomorrow, but the most difficult problem is the night ahead.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com