At this time, the villagers had finished their dinner and were preparing to rest. Anping noticed the change in the weather. He carried the swill bucket outside the yard, looked up and saw the sky covered with dark clouds, and thought to himself that something was wrong.
"Father, look at the sky!" Anping hurriedly returned to the courtyard and called his father out of the house.
An Bihuai was about to lie down and rest when she heard her son yelling and shouting outside. She was very annoyed and couldn't let anyone have a moment's peace.
"What's the big deal?" An Bihuai walked into the courtyard wearing his undergarments, looked up at the sky, and was also startled.
Good heavens! It was sunny this afternoon, how did it suddenly turn like this?
"Father, what should we do?" The three sons gathered around, waiting for their father to make a decision.
An Bihuai was at a loss for what to do, so he went to find the village head and said, "You wait here, I'll be right back."
An Bihuai went inside to get dressed and left in a hurry.
The village head was already lying in bed, reading a storybook by the light of the lamp. He was reading about the intense interaction between the male and female protagonists when he heard someone shouting outside the courtyard gate.
"Village head, open the door, I have something important to tell you," Anbi Huai shouted as she knocked on the door.
The village head frowned. Who was it that was making such a fuss so late at night? He gave his wife, Li, a look, and Li quickly got dressed and went out.
"Who is it? The village head is already asleep. Come back tomorrow if you have something to say." Li was also very impatient. Her husband was the village head, and his monthly salary was meager, but he had a lot of trivial matters to deal with.
Having no other choice, An Bihuai turned around and left.
If all else fails, just rush to harvest the crops. If the village head blames him later, he can say that he will pin the responsibility on Li Shi, because she refused to see him.
Upon returning home, he immediately instructed his three sons to sharpen their knives and prepare to go to the lake to harvest wheat.
"Father, aren't you afraid the village head will say something?" An Chang asked curiously why her father had suddenly become so easygoing, as he used to always think twice before doing anything.
An Bihua sighed, "There are so many mouths to feed at home, we can't wait any longer."
Actually, he had his eye on the Wang family when he saw them carrying grain home that afternoon, but he couldn't disobey the village head, so he pretended to be nonchalant.
In the dead of night, the An family arrived at the field, divided up their respective areas, and began to work.
They were harvesting halfway when suddenly thunder roared, lightning flashed, and a fierce wind howled. The wheat placed at the edge of the field was swept up by the wind and blown ten meters away.
"My God, Father, we're in deep trouble." Anping was immediately disheartened, feeling utterly helpless.
Anbihuai had never seen such terrible weather in all his years of life, so he had no choice but to stop harvesting wheat and direct his sons to quickly carry the harvested wheat home.
Along the way, everyone carried bundles of wheat, heads down, braving the strong winds as they walked home.
The village was in an uproar. Some people were so excited that they ran out of their courtyards without even putting on their clothes. They all looked ashen-faced.
"Heavens above, please don't let it rain!"
The village head was also startled awake by the thunder. He ran out barefoot and saw that the villagers were also coming out. He realized that something bad had happened.
Thunder rumbled and lightning illuminated the entire Ping'an Village, as well as the terrified faces on everyone's faces.
"I told you we should have listened to others, now we're doomed."
"No, it's all bark and no bite. Even if it rains, it'll only last for a while and won't cause any problems."
Some people are complaining, while others are offering comfort.
An Bihuai and his companions carried the wheat home. As soon as they opened the door, a torrential downpour began, and they almost got soaked to the bone.
"That was close." An Bihuai secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
In any case, they harvested some wheat, which was much better than most families.
"Village head, what do you think we should do now?" Someone, dissatisfied, came to the door.
Soon, a large crowd gathered in front of the village head's house, all demanding an explanation from him.
The village head braved the heavy rain to try to calm everyone down, saying, "Don't panic, this is just a thunderstorm. It will stop soon. When the sun comes out tomorrow, the wheat will be dry and there won't be any problems."
"You've forgotten that wheat that's been rained on can grow even taller. When that happens, we'll harvest more than everyone else. What's there to worry about?"
The village head's words reassured some people; they believed he was right and would listen.
"Alright, go back now, everything will be fine tomorrow." The village head coaxed and lied, but he wasn't really sure himself.
The people of Ping'an Village spent the entire night in fear and anxiety, praying that the rain would stop, but when dawn broke, the rain still hadn't stopped.
Finally, some people couldn't wait any longer, so they picked up sickles and went to the fields. When they saw a large area of wheat that had collapsed, they were all dumbfounded.
Even the best wheat can't withstand strong winds and torrential rain.
Some people have given up, returned home with long faces, and collapsed on the ground.
That's how it is with An Bihuai's family. Zhuang Shuhui sat on the ground, as if she were possessed. She wanted to eat meat and was waiting for a good wheat harvest this season so she could exchange it for money to buy meat. Now, she has nothing left.
The rain outside has been falling, sometimes heavy, sometimes light, but it shows no sign of stopping.
Anping squatted on the ground, his face dark. He was really angry. His mother couldn't help him at all, except for nagging about eating meat.
"Mother, please stop. We're already annoyed enough," Anping said helplessly.
An Bihuai sat by the door, looking at the rain outside with a melancholy expression, feeling extremely annoyed that he hadn't listened to Dou Dou's advice back then.
"Father, now you know who is right and who is wrong, right?" An Chang was annoyed, but he couldn't say anything too harsh.
An Bihuai was already feeling down, and hearing his son scolding him only made him angrier. "Fine, you don't need to say anything more."
Anyone can say something like "after the horse has bolted," but if someone is truly capable, they can convince themselves to go and harvest wheat.
"Big brother, what should we do now?" Anwang was always honest, and his older brother was his guide; he would do whatever his older brother said.
Anping thought for a while and said, "Let's wait until the rain gets a little lighter and then go and harvest the wheat. We'll try to salvage whatever we can."
Actually, everyone knows that most of the time, the harvested plants will sprout, but there's no better way now.
Yuan Doudou was busy at home preparing things for the market the next day, including the mushrooms she had picked and the strawberry jam she had prepared in advance.
"Mother, it's raining so hard, are you still going to town?" Angie asked with some concern.
Yuan Doudou smiled and said, "It's okay, the rain will stop tomorrow."
The rain will only last all day at most, and it will stop at night.
"Mommy, you're so amazing! You said it would rain and it would rain, and you said it would stop and it would stop." Angie looked at his mother with admiration. He wanted to be as amazing as her when he grew up.
She chuckled to herself. He wasn't that amazing; he just knew a little about celestial phenomena. Summer rains were always like that—they came quickly and went quickly.
However, the rainy season soon arrived, and if the wheat had not been harvested, it would rot, mold, and sprout in the field, thus losing its value.
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