Chapter 140 Extreme Weather
The deputy team leader led two ox carts to transport the four wild boars to the commune, while the team leader, the accountant and others stayed behind to share the prey with everyone.
The rules for distributing the meat were set as follows: each person participating in the autumn hunt would receive an additional 20 kilograms of meat, and the remaining team members, regardless of gender, age or status, would divide the meat equally based on the number of people.
“There is no distinction between gender, old or young. This captain has an extraordinary vision.” Lao Yi exclaimed.
"Men, women, young and old have different appetites, so dividing it this way may not be fair." Old Fu holds a different opinion.
"But this can reduce disputes. Although children and the elderly don't eat much, these two groups of people are the ones who need nutrition the most. In addition, it's not easy for women either. This can be considered as preferential treatment for women by the brigade. I have to say that this captain respects women very much." Lao Yi was very glad that they met such a captain.
"Being nice to women may not be unrelated to Lin Qi. Treating Lin Qi favorably may easily lead to gossip and other women's jealousy towards Lin Qi. In this case, then treat them all favorably. It will save a lot of trouble." Lao Bi felt that the captain was very wise.
Everyone was eager to eat meat, so early this morning, the team members came to the canteen and worked hard. Some made fires, some fetched water... In just one morning and half afternoon, all the hair on the prey was removed and even the weight was weighed.
"How much meat do you think each of them can get?" Old Fu stared at the meat.
"I don't care how much they can get. I care more about how much we can get." Lao Bi said depressedly. They and Xu Hexiao were not considered members of the Anliang Brigade, but were in another category.
Lao Yi sighed, "It didn't say we can split up, nor did it say we can't. Let's wait."
The three of them waited until everyone got the meat and returned home, and then Xu Hexiao finally arrived.
"All the good meat has been divided up." Lao Bi wanted to cry.
Lao Yi and Lao Fu also had sad faces.
"The remaining pieces of meat are yours. There are a little over 30 kilograms in total. You can distribute them among yourselves." The accountant said to Xu Hexiao, Lao Yi and others.
The captain pointed to a basket full of meat nearby and said, "This is Lin Qi's. You can bring it back to her later."
This "you" refers to Xu Hexiao.
Xu Hexiao carried the backpack, while Lao Yi and the other two carried more than 30 kilograms of various scraps of meat. The four of them walked back together. When they reached the cowshed, Lao Fu suddenly asked, "Didn't the captain ask you to deliver meat to Lin Qi? Why are you here?"
"She also lives in this direction." Xu Hexiao said.
"Where are the houses around here?" Old Fu stopped talking and looked up at the house with a high stone wall near the foot of the mountain. He asked in surprise, "Is that Lin Qi's house?"
"Yes, it's hers. In addition to the house, the two acres of land surrounded by stones are also hers." Xu Hexiao said proudly, and added, "For the time being, it belongs to her."
Lao Yi and the other two were confused. So much land, does it temporarily belong to Lin Qi?
"Why?" Lao Bi blurted out, "Because she can hunt?"
Of course not. Xu Hexiao thought to himself. He didn't explain. When he passed by the straw shed of Lao Yi and the other two, he took out a large piece of pork from his backpack, about 20 pounds, and put it into Lao Fu's basket. Lao Fu's basket was made by Xu Hexiao, and Lao Fu and the other two took it from Xu Hexiao's kitchen at some point.
Later, Xu Hexiao found out, but he just pretended not to see it. These people became more and more unscrupulous, first they took the bucket and didn't return it, then they took the basket, and then the oil, salt and some seasonings, and also took some bowls and chopsticks.
Xu Hexiao comforted himself by thinking of it as paying tuition fees.
"Give us such a big piece, aren't you afraid that you won't be able to explain to Lin Qi?" Old Fu said with a smile.
Xu Hexiao ignored him and walked towards Lin Qi's house with the backpack on his back. After a few steps, he stopped again and said, "Let me remind you that there are thieves in the brigade. When I lived in a straw hut before, many things were stolen from me."
The smiles of Lao Fu and the other two froze on their faces. Is there a thief?
Looking at Xu Hexiao's back, Lao Fu hesitated and asked, "Do you think what he said is true, or is he just trying to bluff us?"
"There's no need to joke about this kind of thing." When it comes to honesty and reliability, Lao Yi still believes in Xu Hexiao.
"Locks and keys are not cheap. With our current savings, we can't afford them." Lao Bi had a headache.
Lao Yi thought of a solution almost instantly, "Then put it in Xu Hexiao's kitchen. His kitchen has a lock."
Lao Fu's eyes lit up, "Yes, then put it in his kitchen. He won't steal our things, but we can take advantage of the opportunity to steal -"
"Ahem, borrowing, just borrowing, we will definitely pay him back in the future." As for how long in the future, he didn't know. At most, they could write an IOU. Even if they died, Xu Hexiao could take their IOUs and ask their students for the money. Then he could write the names of those vixen-like students on the IOU. Others might not be able to get along well, but those few would definitely be fine.
Lin Qi didn't want these prey because the taste was so much worse than the animals in her planting area.
Xu Hexiao did not despise it. "Make bacon out of wild boar meat, and take two pheasants and two rabbits. I will pickle them in a while and roast them for you tonight."
Xu Hexiao's skill in grilling meat is superb. He can make even ordinary meat taste very good. Lin Qi swallowed her saliva and said, "Okay."
In the morning, everyone was busy distributing the meat and no one went to work, but in the afternoon they had to continue digging the canal.
Lin Qi lazily slumped in the chair, not moving. "Go and tell the captain that I need to collect the peanuts. And ask him to send someone to transport the peanuts away in the evening."
"Do you need my help?" Xu Hexiao asked.
"No need. Go look after your teachers. Without you, there will be no one to help them with the heavy work." In the past, she would have kept Xu Hexiao and let him take a break. But now it was different. Old Yi and the other two couldn't even handle the autumn harvest, let alone digging canals, which was even more tiring than the autumn harvest.
Xu Hexiao was also worried about Lao Yi and the other two, "Okay, I'll go dig a canal in the afternoon, and then we'll have a barbecue in the evening."
Xu Hexiao went to work, and Lin Qi closed her eyes on the recliner and fell asleep unknowingly. When she woke up, it was already four o'clock in the afternoon.
She didn't rush to pick peanuts in the field, but went to the kitchen to cook a pot of sour plum soup. The sour plum soup could help relieve the greasiness of the barbecue in the evening.
By the time the sour plum soup was ready, it was already five o'clock in the afternoon.
The sun sets, and on a November winter day, it is almost dark at six in the afternoon, so generally speaking, the team members go off work at half past five.
Lin Qi went out at 5:10, and by the time she had pulled up all the peanuts and tied them into bundles, it was 5:25.
There is no need to thresh these peanuts immediately or dry them in the sun. Instead, they should be hung with the vines under the eaves of the brigade's warehouse to be dried by the wind.
At 5:40, the deputy captain and the accountant came over with their men, driving a ox cart.
"It might rain tomorrow." Lin Qi said suddenly.
The deputy captain was surprised, "You can also observe the weather?"
"No. That's why I said it's possible." Lin Qi said honestly. She judged based on the water vapor content in the air. But sometimes it's not necessarily accurate. If it's raining somewhere nearby, the water vapor content where she is will also increase.
The deputy captain did not doubt him and showed great trust in Lin Qi. "Can you judge the severity of the rain? Will it last for a long time? Did you choose to harvest peanuts today because you knew it was going to rain?"
"I can't judge. Because I don't know how heavy the rain will be or how long it will last, so I harvested the peanuts just to be on the safe side." Lin Qi looked up at the sky, and the moisture seemed to be getting heavier.
The deputy captain hesitated for a moment and said, "I will pass the news that it might rain to the team members and ask them to repair the roofs as soon as possible before it gets completely dark."
The deputy captain immediately arranged for someone to notify everyone. When everyone heard that it was Lin Qi's guess that it might rain, regardless of whether it was true or not, they took out the thatch they had collected, climbed onto their roofs, and repaired the damaged areas.
The only bad thing about thatched roofs is that they rot quickly due to wind, sun and rain, and need to be repaired almost every year.
The roofs of Lin Qi and Xu Hexiao's houses were replaced with a new batch of thatch this year. This was thatch produced by Lin Qi's special ability, and its toughness was far beyond that of ordinary thatch.
Lin Qi initially estimated that the thatch could last about three years.
Xu Hexiao went to check the straw hut of Lao Yi and the other two and reminded them, "Move away items that cannot get wet and don't place them against the wall. When it rains heavily, rainwater will seep in."
Lao Yi and the other two were worried, "Will the strong wind blow this straw hut away?"
"The wind in the mountains is not very strong. Generally speaking, it won't blow the hut away." Xu Hexiao said. At least during the years when he and his grandfather lived in the hut, the hut had never been blown away by the wind. "The probability of the hut being blown away is not high, but if it rains too hard, the thatch absorbs too much water and becomes too heavy. The hut can't bear the weight and will collapse."
Lao Yi and the other two: “…”
Which is more serious, a house collapsing or a house being blown away?
Those who needed to be reminded had already been reminded. Xu Hexiao ignored the sad-looking faces of Old Yi and the other two and turned to go to Lin Qi's house.
Lin Qi had already lit the fire, so they could start grilling as soon as Xu Hexiao arrived.
"It rained before, too. Why didn't you warn me?" This was the first time he heard Lin Qi predict the weather after several years. He wondered if it was because the rain was particularly heavy this time, so Lin Qi wanted to warn everyone.
"The moisture is very heavy and the temperature may continue to drop. There are several old houses in the village that are seriously damaged. I don't know if they can withstand it. Let me remind everyone to be more vigilant." If the house really collapses, they can run out as soon as possible.
Xu Hexiao has gentle eyes. She always looks cold and indifferent, as if she doesn't care about anything, but in fact she has a softest heart.
The rain started in the middle of the night. At first it was hail. The hailstones were as big as a baby's fist. They hit the roof with crackling sounds. Lin Qi opened her eyes from her sleep.
It’s really raining!
Those who sleep less have opened their eyes?
Suddenly a large hailstone broke through the thatched roof and fell into the house, making a loud bang.
"Is it rocky?"
"Stupid, it was the hail that broke the roof."
"Get up! Get up quickly and protect your head!"
"Oh my god, the hail is so big!"
"It's over, the vegetables in my garden!"
"Don't go out, you're risking your life!"
“…”
The hail lasted for two hours and only stopped when the sky was slightly bright. Everyone opened the door carefully and looked out. Everywhere they looked was a mess. The roofs of the villagers had been damaged to varying degrees, and all the vegetables were destroyed. Nothing was left.
When hiding in the house, everyone had anticipated the tragic situation outside, but when they actually saw it, their hearts still ached.
My eyes feel a little sore and my vision is a little blurry.
"Fortunately, no one is hurt!" someone comforted himself.
"Yeah, fortunately no one is hurt." More and more people are comforting themselves in this way.
"Thanks to Lin Qi's reminder, we temporarily added a layer on the roof, otherwise the situation at my home would be even worse."
"Hailstones this big are extremely rare, especially in this season. Logically, the probability of hailstones appearing is the highest in summer, but it's winter now!"
"It's good that it rains now. If it rains in summer or autumn, we will have nothing left of our crops!"
"That's true."
Just when everyone thought that things were over, heavy rain suddenly fell from the sky.
Everyone's heart suddenly sank.
"Quickly get a basin of water!"
"Do you still have thatch at home? I'll go up and fix the roof right away!"
"It's raining too hard, don't go, it's dangerous!"
"What are you standing there for? Hurry up and cover your blankets and clothes with oilcloth. If these things get wet, we'll freeze to death!"
"Where did we get the oilcloth in our house?"
"Then use straw, use planks, whatever you can to save them! I'll go out and fix the roof now."
“…”
The rain was so heavy that the whole sky was dark and it became dark again.
After a hailstorm, the thatched hut of Lao Yi and his two companions was the most severely damaged. They moved stools, tables and chairs onto the bed and hid under the bed, thus surviving safely.
As the heavy rain poured down, the roof above their heads, which was full of holes, became more and more broken, and soon fell down with the rain.
Old Yi wiped the rain off his face and made a quick decision, "We can't stay here any longer, let's go find Xu Hexiao!"
Lao Fu and Lao Bi had the same idea. Now they had nowhere to go except Xu Hexiao; and no one would lend them a helping hand except Xu Hexiao!
The three old men, who had been flattered for most of their lives, never thought that one day their lives and property would be entrusted to a young man under the age of 20.
The heavy rain hit their bodies, and it was not only painful but also freezing cold. The three old men supported each other and walked towards Xu Hexiao's house.
The rain was so heavy that they couldn't open their eyes and the three of them moved forward with difficulty.
When they were halfway there, they ran into Xu Hexiao who came looking for them.
Without waiting for them to speak, Xu Hexiao grabbed Lao Yi's hand, put the key in his hand, and said loudly, "Here is the key to the room, go open it yourself. There are clean clothes on the bed, change into them yourself."
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