Panic

Since she decided to invite Fan Yanxing to her home for dinner, Ma Xiuzhi asked Huang Shumin to help wash the only piece of bacon left at home, preparing to make a dish that would be good to show off.

Originally, she wanted to buy fresh meat, but the recent heavy rain blocked the traffic, and the supply and marketing cooperative had not received new goods for many days. Every day, it only sold some inventory, so let alone fresh meat, even fresh vegetables could not be bought.

Fortunately, there was a piece of bacon at home that she got from visiting relatives during the Chinese New Year, otherwise she really didn't know what to use to entertain the guests.

After blanching the bacon, take it out and wash it clean. Heat oil in a pan and fry it. Then pour in the washed and sliced ​​lettuce and stir-fry until it changes color and is cooked through. Then pour in the green pepper and seasonings. Stir-fry evenly and it is ready to be served.

In addition, Ma Xiuzhi also fried a large plate of hot and sour potato shreds, a bowl of tomato scrambled eggs and a bowl of braised eggplant, steamed a pot of sweet potatoes, and added a pot of wild vegetable soup. It was considered a high-standard farmer's banquet for guests.

"Go and call everyone to eat." Ma Xiuzhi ordered Liang Qingqing, who was hiding at the door of the kitchen to help choose vegetables, to call everyone to eat, and she herself began to scoop rice for everyone.

During this period of time, Liang Qingqing was "locked" at home by the heavy rain. She had already learned some simple housework in the kitchen. It was no problem for her to help out on a daily basis. She was quick to understand and even learned the difficult skill of controlling the heat.

"Okay." After agreeing, Liang Qingqing moved the wooden basin with vegetables to the corner to prevent it from being kicked by someone accidentally. Then she stood up and walked towards the main hall. On the way, she did not forget to turn around and call out Songzi who was painting in the room.

It was several minutes later when a group of people sat in the kitchen to eat. The men would go to various places in the village to help, so they had to hurry to finish their meal and go back to their rooms to rest. In addition, they had already talked about everything in the main room, so the dining table was particularly quiet at this moment, with only the sound of Ma Xiuzhi asking a few questions from time to time.

"We are poor and don't have much good food. They are just home-cooked dishes. Don't complain, Mr. Fan."

"Auntie is a good cook. It is my blessing to eat such delicious meals. How could I complain?"

Ma Xiuzhi was coaxed into smiling from ear to ear. She was busy picking dishes for Fan Yanxing, and even ignored Liang Qingqing, the usual pet of the family. The latter didn't care. Seeing that he was a little at a loss because of his mother's enthusiasm, she found it funny.

Her little giggle was caught by Fan Yanxing, who glanced at her quietly. Liang Qingqing was almost choked by his stare, so she could only look away and help speak up, "Mom, please let Fan Zhiqing eat quickly, otherwise he will have no time to rest later. If he can't make it to the team assembly, his work points will be deducted."

"Okay, okay, I won't say anything. Hurry and eat." Ma Xiuzhi shut her mouth immediately after hearing that. The work points of male laborers have been doubled these days, and such a good thing cannot be delayed because of her.

No one spoke anymore, and the meal time passed very quickly. After everyone finished eating, they went back to their rooms to rest. Due to Fan Yanxing's arrival, Liang Qingqing could only sleep with her second sister-in-law. Although it was not as comfortable as sleeping alone, fortunately Huang Shumin was also a clean and well-behaved person. She did not move around or toss and turn, and her sleeping posture was stable. She only took up a small area, and her presence was not strong, giving each other enough space.

So Liang Qingqing had a good nap this afternoon. Except for the difficulty in falling asleep at the beginning, the rest of the time was the same as usual.

When she woke up, she found that Huang Shumin had already gotten up and went to the kitchen to help clean up the dishes for lunch. Such diligence simply made her, a lazy little girl, ashamed. It is estimated that she and Songzi are the most idle in this family.

Liang Qingqing sat up from the bed, braided her messy long hair into a pigtail and let it hang on one side of her shoulder. After she put on her clothes, she left the room. At this time, there were only a group of women and a child left in the house. The men had already gone out to earn work points.

Standing at the door, she found that the rain was heavier than at noon, and the raindrops hitting the ground were inexplicably frightening.

Just as Liang Qingqing was staring at the rain in a daze, Songzi ran over with a pen and paper, interrupting her train of thought. She then led him to the main room and began to check the homework she had assigned to him yesterday.

Not long after, Ma Xiuzhi and the others finished their work in the kitchen and came over with a basin of pumpkin seeds to chat. They did not return to the kitchen to cook dinner until it was almost time for dinner, but the men in the family did not come back even after the meal was ready.

"What's going on? Is there any emergency happening again?" Huang Shumin stood at the door, stood on tiptoes and looked outside the hospital, but she couldn't see her husband even when she looked at the sky. Her heartbeat suddenly accelerated, as if there was a rabbit in her chest.

No matter how busy we are, the village will not delay everyone's meal time. They will ask everyone to go home on time and continue working after eating. This is equivalent to reporting to the family that they are safe, so that the family will not be worried.

Except for the sudden collapse of the mountain last time, which buried the house and people, and the rescue team had to work overtime to save people, there was no overtime work at other times.

Then this time...

"It shouldn't be a big deal." Liang Qingqing's words of comfort had almost no effect. Huang Shumin was still worried, frowning and asked, "Why haven't they come back yet?"

"How about we go and have a look?" Wang Xiaomei was also very scared. She held Songzi in her arms and tentatively suggested.

"I think it's okay." Huang Shumin said and was about to get an umbrella, but before she started to move, a tall and thin figure wearing a straw raincoat appeared at the gate of the courtyard. It was Xie Pinfeng, the son of the team leader.

"Sanfeng?" Wang Xiaomei was sharp-eyed and recognized the person at a glance.

Xie Pinfeng was the third child in the Xie family, and everyone in the village called him Sanfeng.

"There was a mudslide in the east of the village. Several people who were clearing the road were buried. We have to work overtime to rescue them. It is estimated that they will not be able to come back tonight. You should quickly deliver the food and come back. Don't stay. It is still very dangerous there. Don't cause trouble for the village."

Hearing this, Huang Shumin's legs went weak and she almost fell to the ground. Fortunately, Liang Qingqing quickly supported her.

"Junqiang! Junqiang!" Huang Shumin muttered twice, and her face suddenly became extremely pale, and tears welled up in her eyes.

"Why are you crying? Stop crying, didn't Sanfeng say it was the east side of the village? Junqiang and the others are all in the west, nothing happened!" Ma Xiuzhi grabbed Huang Shumin's arm and lifted her up, otherwise with Liang Qingqing's limited strength, if it took too long, both of them would fall to the ground.

Ma Xiuzhi's words were like a stimulant that hit Huang Shumin's heart, and her mind finally turned around, "Yes, yes, Junqiang and the others are in the west side of the village, they must be fine!"

Thinking of this, Huang Shumin breathed a sigh of relief, and the whole person patted his chest in fear as if he was alive again, but before he could recover for two seconds, there was a "bang" sound from the side, and when he turned around, he saw Liang Qingqing lying on the ground!

"Little sister!"

"Qingqing!"

After the screams came one after another, Ma Xiuzhi rushed over first and hugged Liang Qingqing into her arms, "My dear girl, what's wrong with you? Don't scare your mother!"

Liang Qingqing's lips trembled, and she felt as if the sky was about to fall. East of the village, east of the village, east of the village! Wasn't Fan Yanxing repairing the road in the east of the village? Could he be trapped under the mudslide?

Although we know from the book that he is definitely safe, it is better to be safe than sorry. Now that she has become a variable, who can guarantee that there will not be a butterfly effect? ​​If something happens to Fan Yanxing... then, wouldn't her glory and wealth also go to waste?

Liang Qingqing didn't know why she felt so flustered at that moment, and could only attribute it to the fear that after Fan Yanxing died, there would be no other reliable candidate for her to be a son-in-law.

The more she thought about it, the more she felt that this answer was reliable. Liang Qingqing took a deep breath and climbed up from the ground with the help of Ma Xiuzhi. "I want to go."

"Where are you going?" Ma Xiuzhi was confused. "Qingqing, what happened to you?"

"Fan Zhiqing is working in the east of the village. I have to go see if he has any problems." Liang Qingqing said, picked up the umbrella at the door of the main hall and rushed out. Ma Xiuzhi wanted to stop her but didn't have time. After a moment of stunned silence, she realized what was going on.

Fan Zhiqing might have had an accident!

"What are you standing there for? People from the eldest and second families, hurry up and pack up the food. We'll go and take a look." Ma Xiuzhi followed Liang Qingqing and caught up with them. "Qingqing, wait for mom. I'll go with you."

Huang Shumin wiped her face, looked at their backs and muttered, "My little sister's reaction is even bigger than mine."

The speaker was unintentional, but the listener was intentional. Wang Xiaomei paused in putting the pine nuts on the ground. Something flashed through her mind, but she couldn't care less at the moment. She could only urge, "Sister-in-law, let's pack up the food and send it to them."

"Okay, otherwise it will be cold later." Huang Shumin couldn't bear to let her man eat cold food, so she quickly took the lunch box and packed up the food, then followed Wang Xiaomei into the rain with an umbrella.

Here, Liang Qingqing was caught up by Ma Xiuzhi, and the two of them rushed to the east of the village. During the journey, they met many family members who had received the news and were delivering food. Some of them were crying and gasping for breath, obviously frightened.

"This Sanfeng is really something. He didn't even make the announcement clearly. Who was buried? He should at least say a name! It makes everyone nervous." Ma Xiuzhi glanced at the old lady who kept wiping her tears and cursed her unhappily.

Although Liang Qingqing agreed with Ma Xiuzhi's words, she ignored her at this moment and continued to go to the east of the village. The heavy rain quickly wet her shoes, and her socks stuck to her soles, which was very uncomfortable, but her steps did not slow down at all.

The closer we got to the mudslide, the more people there were. They were all called in to rescue people, and some were delivering food. The noise was so deafening.

"Has the list of the buried people come out?" Liang Qingqing grabbed a person at random and asked quickly.

The man shook his head and sighed, "Only a few people are definitely buried, and the others are not confirmed yet."

Liang Qingqing breathed a sigh of relief when she did not hear Fan Yanxing's name, nor the names of her own family members, but she was not completely relieved. Her eyes quickly scanned the surroundings and soon locked onto a crowd of people. Then she walked straight towards that place, "Where is Fan Yanxing? Have you seen him?"

"No."

The man whose sleeve was suddenly grabbed looked at Liang Qingqing in confusion, then shook his head. After he answered, his sleeve loosened, and he saw Liang Qingqing grabbing another person's sleeve and asking the same question.

After asking all the questions and getting the same answer, Liang Qingqing's delicate eyebrows wrinkled into a ball, "Aren't you all educated youth? How come you don't know where Fan Yanxing went?"

In fact, she also knew that this conclusion was a bit forced. After all, although they were all educated youth, they were not Fan Yanxing's parents. They had no obligation to pay attention to where Fan Yanxing went all the time. Besides, Fan Yanxing was an adult male. Who could control his whereabouts?

"Qingqing!" The sudden call brought Liang Qingqing back to her senses. She turned around and saw Liang Junqiang and others who were in a mess. Not only were their raincoats crooked, but they were also covered with mud, as if they had rolled in a mud pit.

Seeing this, Liang Qingqing temporarily put away her anxiety of not being able to find anyone, and ran forward in three or two steps, worriedly saying: "Dad, big brother and second brother, how did you get into this state?"

Ma Xiuzhi reached out to wipe the dirt off Liang Xueyong's face, "Are you all okay? I heard from Sanfeng that there was a mudslide and several people were buried."

Liang Xueyong shook his head and avoided Ma Xiuzhi's touch, "We are all fine, it's very dirty, don't get your clothes dirty."

After saying that, he turned his head to look at the place where the accident happened, his face full of worry, "Who could have thought that such a natural disaster would happen, we were also called here temporarily, and we were busy for almost two hours and rescued two people. Now we are changing shifts to take a break and wait for dinner."

"The rain got heavier in the afternoon, and I was feeling uneasy. I didn't expect something to happen." Ma Xiuzhi also sighed, "I'm glad you're okay. I've asked Xiaomei and the others to bring food. They should be here soon."

As soon as Wang Xiaomei and Huang Shumin appeared, they started calling for help from a distance. Huang Shumin then threw herself into Liang Junqiang's arms, crying.

"I thought something happened to you. I was so scared." She didn't mind that Liang Junqiang was dirty, and hugged him tightly.

Liang Junqiang smiled naively, "I'm fine, I'm fine, but I'm hungry."

Huang Shumin laughed at this, and she quickly said that she had brought the food and they would eat it soon.

The two hugged each other in public, and no one laughed. At this time, people just wanted to be fine, so who would care about anything else!

"I'm fine." Wang Xiaomei couldn't do the same bold move as Huang Shumin. She just looked at Liang Shuqiang with red eyes and her voice choked several times.

"Well, I'm fine." Liang Shuqiang wanted to reach out and pat his wife's hair to comfort her, but when he saw the mud in his hands, he gave up the idea.

The two couples comforted each other in their own way, giving each other the warmth of surviving the disaster.

"Dad, have you seen Fan Zhiqing? He works in the east of the village. I asked around but no one has seen him. Could he be in trouble?" Liang Qingqing was worried about Fan Yanxing. After asking about the safety of her family, she asked about the news she wanted to know most at this moment.

"I haven't seen him." Liang Xueyong shook his head, and the two brothers Liang Shuqiang also shook their heads.

Liang Qingqing bit her lower lip and looked at the high hill of soil in front of her. Her heart dropped straight down. Could Fan Yanxing really be buried underneath?

After hesitating for a few seconds, she was about to walk over there with her umbrella, but just after taking two steps, Liang Junqiang grabbed her arm and said, "Don't go there, it's very dangerous."

"I'm just going to take a look." Liang Qingqing didn't know why she was so determined to ensure Fan Yanxing's safety, and why she wanted to see him standing in front of her unharmed...

"Yanxing is a good man and will be rewarded. He will be fine. Don't worry, Qingqing." As a good friend, Liang Junqiang was also very worried about Fan Yanxing's safety, but in the current situation, what else could he say besides these words?

The rescue work was still underway, and no one could be sure whether Fan Yanxing was buried until the last moment.

Liang Qingqing knew all this, but she was so frightened that she couldn't calm down. However, looking at the worried expressions of the people around her, she could only pretend to be calm and forced a smile: "Dad, you guys should eat first."

The hand holding the umbrella kept exerting force, and the knuckles turned white.

After lunch, all non-related personnel had to leave the scene immediately to avoid unnecessary trouble for the rescue work. Even if Liang Qingqing wanted to stay at the scene, it was useless. She could only leave with Ma Xiuzhi and the others. It