The loud rumbling sound woke everyone in Hanjiacun Village, and they all rushed out of their thatched huts to check what was happening.
This sight was alarming; people panicked and sensed the approach of death.
It turned out that a flood had also occurred in the ravine to the east of the mountain where they were temporarily staying, thus trapping them between the two floods.
The floodwaters in the eastern valley were not flowing very fast, but the area they covered was very wide. At this moment, the first wave of the flood roared down from the depths of the mountains, rushing down the mountain like a stampede of horses.
After the first wave of floodwaters subsided, the floodwaters gradually calmed down.
Li Lanzhen turned her head and looked into the distance where the two floods were rushing past. With such a huge flood, how many villages and farmlands would be submerged? How many families would be torn apart?
The people of Hanjiacun stood in the rain, some kneeling on the muddy ground and howling to the sky.
They cried out that God was unfair, forcing them to leave their village, and now they were facing this predicament.
Seeing the people with tears streaming down their faces, Li Lianzhen felt a pang of sadness. She said to her eldest son, Han Minghai, "Elder, go back, take your family back, don't wander off, stay in the shed. Take good care of your wife and Miaomiao."
Second brother, you come with your mother to see who they chased away and where they came from.
At this moment, Xue Laohu walked over and said, "My dear in-law, Xue Bao and I will go alone, so you don't need to go."
Li Lanzhen insisted on going, so they walked together along the mountaintop into the depths of the mountain.
One after another, Zhang Songshu, Han Shunde, and several men from Hanjiacun followed behind to take a look.
They walked forward for about two miles, but the ridge continued to extend without the two streams merging together. In fact, this was a good sign.
To their west, the floodwaters were still roaring down, the current swift and rapid. On the east side, where the flood had just occurred, the first wave of water rushed down, the current was quite rapid, and the water head was very high. Now, after the flood head had passed, the water flow was gradually calming down, but the area on this side was much larger than the valley to the west.
Li Lanzhenyue grew increasingly worried as she looked at the two streams of floodwater. It had been raining for two days straight, and both sides were flooded. The hill they were on was one of the lower hills in this mountain range. If the rain continued, the floodwaters would drain even more, and it was possible that the entire hill would be submerged or washed away by the heavy rain and floods. It was also unknown whether the hill would experience a mudslide or landslide.
Not only was she looking serious, but Xue Laohu and the other men were also very worried.
Although they were confined to Hanjiacun, they had heard from the elders about torrential rains, floods, and landslides that had submerged villages and farmland. So they were worried, but none of them voiced their concerns, as if keeping quiet would prevent such a terrible situation from happening.
The tarpaulin covering Li Lanzhen was being battered by the torrential rain, making a loud crackling sound. She was thinking, if the heavy rain doesn't stop tomorrow, which has already lasted for three days, will she have to find a way to leave on the fourth day?
Just as she was about to continue walking, her second son, Han Mingjiang, stopped her. "Mother, don't go any further. Let your son and father-in-law go ahead and explore the area to see what's going on. You should go back."
Xue Laohu also spoke up, "My dear in-law, you should go back. I'll take Xuebao and Mingjiang to the front to check the situation and find a way out."
Li Lanzhen thought about it and agreed. Although she was wearing an oilcloth, her body was soaked from the waist down and she was feeling cold all over. She was afraid of catching a cold and didn't want to suffer like that even if she had medicine.
He nodded. "Alright, keep going, but be careful. Come back soon."
The men following behind heard that Xue Laohu and his group were going to go ahead and scout ahead, and they wanted to go with them, but Xue Laohu dissuaded them.
"You guys should go back. It's dangerous with too many people. Just the three of us will walk forward, take a look, and come back to tell everyone."
He dissuaded the people following behind him, and they turned around and followed Li Lanzhen back to their base camp.
After Li Lanzhen returned, she went into her thatched hut.
Currently, three of her in-laws and her parents live in the thatched hut, making a total of five families living there, which is a bit crowded.
Yesterday they used straw mats and similar materials to partition off five areas, with each family in their own cubicle, so that they could have privacy while also helping each other out.
After Li Lanzhen entered her own room, she saw Zhang Yueniang lying asleep on the straw mat. The eldest son was not there either; only Miaomiao was sitting on the bed.
When Miao Miao saw Li Lanzhen return, she turned her head and whispered, "Grandma, you're back? Dad took my brother out."
Li Lanzhen was puzzled. "They went out? Where did they go? What did they go to do? Does Miaomiao know?"
Miao Miao said excitedly, "I know, Grandma, there are a lot of pheasants, wild rabbits, and big fat pigs in the flood. Many people in the village have fished them out. Gou Dan came to call Dad and my brother to go fish them out together. We'll braise them for Grandma when we get back tonight."
As soon as Li Lanzhen heard it clearly, she broke out in a cold sweat.
Good heavens, this is terrible! How can anyone eat this? They forgot to give instructions, and these people brought back small animals that drowned in the flood to eat. We don't even know how long these animals had been in the flood. We can't eat things that are carrying germs.
She didn't even have time to change her clothes before turning around and going out again. As she was leaving, she turned back and told Miaomiao, "Miaomiao, you can't go anywhere. You have to stay with your mother, okay?"
Miao looked at Li Lanzhen's serious face, put away his smile, and nodded.
Miao Miao was actually very worried about her mother. She knew that her mother was carrying a little brother, but her mother hadn't been eating or resting well along the way. She was exhausted and looked unwell.
As she was sleeping that night, she overheard her mother secretly telling her father that her stomach hurt a little, and her father rubbed it for her. Then, she placed her little hand on Zhang Yueniang's swollen belly and whispered, "Little brother, you have to be good and not make a fuss. Mother and I are fleeing famine, and we have to walk a lot every day. Mother's health is not good either, so you have to be good. If you're good, your sister will take you to the mountains to find wild fruits to eat."
Half asleep, Zhang Yueniang heard her daughter's words and was deeply moved. She opened her eyes, hugged Miaomiao, and covered her with a blanket.
"Miaomiao, be a good girl and sleep with Mommy for a while."
Miao Miao happily nudged Zhang Yueniang, afraid of touching her big belly, so she only put her head next to Zhang Yueniang, while her body and legs were turned to the other side.
Zhang Yueniang rubbed her forehead against Miaomiao's forehead, "You're such a clever little devil!"
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