On the evening after Qingming Festival, the village chief came out of the Lu family's house. A southeast wind blew in, bringing long-awaited moisture. Swallows flew low, and the sky was covered with dark clouds, looking like a heavy rain was about to fall. This made the people who made their living by digging the soil very happy. The village chief knocked on his pipe and immediately said to the villagers who had just been watching the excitement, "Quickly, go home, grab your hoes, and go to the fields. Repair the ridges and prepare to store water for planting rice seedlings."
"Hopefully this year will bring good weather, and we won't have to work so hard again."
Last year, many trees on the mountain died, and the crops in the fields on the mountainside and hilltop yielded no harvest. We survived by relying on the little grain that hadn't been dried up in the fields.
However, Wangjia Village has less farmland than Lijiaba. Many families live on dry land on the mountainside. Although there is a river in the village, it cannot save the land in the mountains. They still have to rely on the weather for their livelihood.
Even the cuckoos were calling out wildly in the fields during the last days of daylight, as if urging the farmers to finish their work in the fields before the heavy rain.
Although some of the wheat was ready for harvest, rain was still extremely important for people who had been suffering from drought for more than two years. The villagers had no time for gossip and rushed home to carry hoes to the fields to repair the dikes and store water.
As long as there is enough rainfall and the fields are filled with water, there is no need to rush to draw water from the river.
To the north of the village is a large field, and there are only three rivers. During droughts, the stream in Qingzhugou will dry up, leaving only two rivers available for the village. Since those two rivers have to supply such a large field, there will be a lot of competition. The family that lives close to the river has easy access to water; they can dig open the field ridges to bring water into the field. But for the family that lives far from the river, the water drawn from the river can take several days to reach them through the irrigation canal.
During the worst drought last year, many families couldn't get water for irrigation even once every one or two months. They had to get up in the middle of the night to guard the irrigation ditches and block other people's field ridges. The people whose ridges were blocked would get angry and fights would break out. Last year, people were often seen with blood on their heads in the fields, and some people were beaten so badly that they couldn't get out of bed for three to five days.
The Lu family's chickens, ducks, and geese have all been put into their pens. The Lu brothers are also carrying hoes to Qingzhugou to clear away the mud, sand, and weeds in the stream. If there is heavy rain, some of the floodwater from the mountains will come out of Qingzhugou. Now that the ditch is cleared, the floodwater will flow smoothly and there will be no blockage or flooding of the duck pen.
Wang Lan cautioned the two to be careful, saying, "Although it hasn't rained in the village yet, who knows if it has in the mountains? If it rains in the mountains and a flash flood occurs, it could sweep people away."
Something like this has happened before. The river in the village suddenly burst into the south mountain with a flash flood, rushing into the village and sweeping away an old woman who was washing clothes by the river.
Lu Yunfeng picked up the fishing net. "I know, Grandma. It's going to rain, so you all stay home and don't go out."
The fish in the Wild Boar Pool in the mountains are most restless before it rains, and they may swim down to the Green Bamboo Gully. It's a good time to take a net and see if you can catch any fish.
A southeasterly wind from a hundred miles away, carrying clouds, rain, thunder, and lightning, swept in. Thunder rumbled, and the wind blew across the rooftops, making the surrounding fruit trees rustle. Wang Lan and Lu Yan carried the firewood they had chopped in the corner of the yard into the kitchen. Zhao Fang was in a good mood doing needlework under the eaves. She was going to sew a bib for her son. The days were getting longer and longer, and the weather would definitely get hot after this rain. Only a bib would be able to keep him warm then.
Lu Xiaosi leaned against a pillar and circled around her, his mouth, which had grown five or six teeth, agape, drooling profusely. Wang Lan was overjoyed to see her precious grandson, so she hugged him tightly, took out a handkerchief, and lovingly wiped his mouth. "Oh, come here, call me Grandma."
"Grandma, Grandma." Lu Xiaosi could only utter one word at a time, but it made Wang Lan extremely happy.
Lu Yu slung her basket over her shoulder. "I'm going to cut grass before it rains. If it rains again tomorrow, the rabbits won't have any grass to eat."
We have a lot of rabbits at home, and they need fresh grass to eat, so it's always good to have some on hand.
Qin Xiaozhou also picked up a hoe, saying, "I'll go check out the hillside of the orchard."
This year, there are more than 200 chickens in the orchard, which have eaten all the weeds, leaving the land bare. If it rains, there is a risk of soil erosion. We should take preventative measures as much as possible.
She had just reached the hillside when Wang Dahe unexpectedly arrived. Upon seeing Qin Xiaozhou, he grinned and said, "My niece-in-law is here too. I thought it was going to rain, so I came to check on the chicken coop."
Qin Xiaozhou was a little surprised, "Uncle Dahe, thank you for your hard work. Don't you need to take care of your fields?"
Standing on this hillside, she could see the entire village to the east, so she knew that the villagers were in the fields to the north. She could also see a few people clearing the river in front of their houses to prevent it from getting blocked and the water from flowing into their homes on the bank.
It was a holiday for the past two days, so Wang Dahe shouldn't have had to deal with the Lu family's affairs today. But the man still came over. His honesty made Qin Xiaozhou feel that he could be put to good use.
For a moment, Wang Dahe's expression turned forlorn. "My family has little land; my mother can go alone."
He was paid wages, so naturally he had to take good care of the other person's chickens, ducks and geese. He had been hesitating whether to go to his own field or come here to check on the chicken coop. His mother and wife reasoned with him and persuaded him to come over. He didn't expect Qin Xiaozhou to be here.
He had only worked for a little over half a month in March when he received 466 coins. He hadn't had so much money in a long time. The sense of accomplishment he felt at that moment almost brought him to tears. He took the money home and gave it to his wife. Her face lit up instantly. It was the hope that would allow their family of three to survive. He didn't work for the next two days. Instead, he went to the county town to buy medicine for his wife. He felt at ease once she took the medicine.
The two men used hoes to dig a waterway above the chicken coop, leading towards Qingzhugou. They dug the waterway from the north side of the hill, spiraling southward, so that the water on the hill could be diverted to the south and flow into the gully at the foot of the hill.
Dark clouds rolled in, and a fierce wind howled, pattering loudly. Qin Xiaozhou dared not rest and dug another channel about twenty meters apart. Soon, the sound of rain pattering came from the southeast, and the village to the east was about to be covered by the rain. "Uncle Dahe, that's enough, let's go back."
When the two returned to the Lu family home, Lu Yu had just entered. Wang Lan warmly invited Wang Dahe to come inside and sit down, but Wang Dahe was still thinking about the work in the fields, which his mother couldn't finish by herself, so he declined. Wang Lan could only take out a raincoat for him and say, "Then be careful on your way back."
Not long after Wang Dahe left, heavy rain enveloped the village, and raindrops also began to fall at the western end of the village. Wang Lan stood at the door and asked, "Can't those two boys hear the rain? Why aren't they back yet?"
After saying that, she was about to take the raincoat to Qingzhugou. Qin Xiaozhou dared not let her go out in this weather, as she was still a little lame. What if she fell? So she put on the raincoat, picked up the rest, and rushed into the rain.
She ran towards Qingzhugou in the northwest, but was soon caught up by the heavy rain, which poured down on her head. Even though she was wearing a straw hat and raincoat, her trouser legs were already soaked and dripping water before she even reached Qingzhugou.
She ran into Lu Yunxing halfway there. He put one hand on his forehead to shield himself from the rain. "Sister-in-law, it's getting dark. Why are you still out?"
Qin Xiaozhou called out to him, "Quickly put on your raincoat, where's your brother?"
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