Especially when they saw He Tiantian walking together with Granny Wang in the village, these women were practically green with envy.
Sun and Liu, who had previously had dealings with He Tiantian, had the deepest conflicts with her, so they couldn't very well ask her to borrow the fishing net.
As for the women who didn't seem to have any conflict with He Tiantian, like Zhao Yan's mother, they greeted her warmly when He Tiantian passed by her house.
"Wanzi's mom, where are you going?"
He Tiantian smiled. This Aunt Zhao had gone to town with her in an oxcart a while ago, and the two hadn't exchanged a single word. Now she seemed so enthusiastic, it was as if she had "I need to borrow a fishing net" written all over her forehead.
"Oh, I'm going to the village head's house to see Sister Liu about something."
Aunt Zhao's eyes lit up. "You're looking for Sister Liu? I just saw her go to her eldest daughter-in-law's house. Look, it's in that house over there."
Following Aunt Zhao's finger, He Tiantian saw the mud house ahead. However, she had never been to Zhao Tingchang's daughter-in-law's house before, and it wouldn't be appropriate to disturb her so abruptly.
She should go wait at the head of the village's house.
"Okay, thank you, Aunt Zhao." He Tiantian thanked her and was about to leave.
"Hey..." Aunt Zhao called out again, fidgeting nervously with her clothes. "Wanzi's mother, I heard you have something called a fishing net, right? Could you lend it to me for a couple of days?"
She also asked her husband to go and check out the river behind the mountain, since Zhao Yan was coming back at the end of the year, and it would be a good opportunity to give the children some extra food.
He Tiantian was just waiting for the other party to speak. She wasn't a petty person, but she wasn't the type to fawn over anyone either.
Sometimes, delaying gratification makes the other person remember your kindness more.
He Tiantian told Aunt Zhao to just go to her house and tell the children, while she went to Zhao Tingzhang's house instead.
The gate to Zhao Tingzhang's courtyard was wide open, and He Tiantian could be seen entering from afar.
He quickly put down his pipe, stood up and said, "Wanzi's mother, your sister-in-law isn't home. I'll go call her. Please wait a moment."
"Chief, I've come to see you." He Tiantian smiled.
Zhao, the village head, was taken aback, and asked seriously, "What's wrong? Is something the matter?"
He Tiantian then explained her purpose for coming, and emphasized the dangers of avalanches.
Zhao Tingzhang listened with a serious expression. "This matter is somewhat difficult. Changfeng Village has never experienced an avalanche in generations. I once heard from the head of the Tingzhang in the neighboring Peach Blossom Village that an avalanche had occurred there when I attended a meeting at the government office in the town."
"But Peach Blossom Village is very far from our Changfeng Village... Maruko's mother, are you sure about this?"
He Tiantian pondered. How could she be 100% certain about natural disasters and man-made calamities? However, based on her knowledge, the probability of an avalanche was rather high.
"It's better to be safe than sorry. The village head should remind the villagers that it's always good to be more aware of self-protection."
He Tiantian could only say so much, after all, Zhao Tingzhang was in charge of the entire village, and she couldn't overstep her bounds.
After returning from Zhao Tingzhang's house, He Tiantian always felt uneasy.
Dinner at home was extremely simple: a radish soup and a bowl of millet porridge for each of us. It felt warm and cozy, and I slept very comfortably that night.
The snow outside fell heavier and heavier, and in the latter half of the night, a fierce wind began to blow.
In the darkness, a cry startled everyone in the village awake.
"Damn it, our house! It's like God isn't letting people live!" A woman sat on the ground, wailing and crying. The thatched hut in front of her had been collapsed by the heavy snow, and a large part of the grass had been swept away by the strong wind.
"Mother...Mother...Waaah..." Two four- or five-year-old children sat beside the woman, crying loudly.
Even Liu Yonghe, a grown man, had red eyes at that moment.
"Don't cry, wife. When we have money, we'll build two mud houses, and they won't collapse so easily under the weight of the snow."
"Brother Liu, Brother Liu, please come and save my husband! The house collapsed, and he got trapped underneath trying to save me and the children!" A woman stumbled over; she was Liu Yonghe's neighbor.
Liu Yonghe, disregarding his grief, quickly got up from the ground and ran out to rescue the person.
In the darkness, Zhao Tingzhang led several able-bodied men from the village, carrying torches, running towards them.
"Hurry up, or someone might die!" Zhao Tingzhang shouted breathlessly to the four or five burly men behind him.
The four or five men quickly quickened their pace.
Some villagers, unaware of what had happened, stood at their doorways, wrapped in their clothes, looking around and asking each other questions.
"What's wrong? What happened?"
"I don't know. I just saw Chief Zhao leading his men off there. It must be something serious!"
"Let's go, let's follow them and see if there's anything we can do to help."
Those affected by this disaster were the migrant workers who had fled the famine to the village earlier; they already lived in poverty. They couldn't afford to build mud houses and could only afford to live in thatched huts.
Half of the hundred or so thatched houses have collapsed, and the remaining villagers probably dare not live there anymore.
Zhao, the village head, and the villagers worked all night. The next day, as dawn approached...
What it brought to the village was not hope, but endless sorrow.
After a night of turmoil, even the young and strong men were exhausted and listless. The affected villagers, their faces filled with despair, slumped on the snow, huddled together.
"Chief, how are we supposed to survive?" a woman asked in despair.
Life was already tough for the family, and now they don't even have a home to shelter them from the wind and rain.
"I've lost everything, I might as well be dead..."
"Damn it, why didn't they just smash our whole family to death? It would have saved us from suffering!"
Zhao Tingzhang stood to the side with a serious expression. The heavy snow had collapsed the houses of forty-five households in total, but the only thing to be thankful for was that no villagers were injured or killed.
He looked around, found a large rock, and carefully stepped onto it.
"Listen to me, everyone, this is a natural disaster, something no one could have predicted..." Looking at the pitiful eyes of the dozens of women and children below, Zhao Tingzhang felt a pang of sadness.
"But please rest assured, we are all villagers of Changfeng Village, an inseparable whole. As the village head, I will absolutely not stand idly by. In any case, let's work together to get through this long winter..."
While saying this, Zhao Tingzhang felt utterly overwhelmed. So many households had nowhere to live; this couldn't be delayed even for a single day.
Just as he was worrying, Zhao Tingzhang suddenly thought of Wanzi's mother.
What Maruko's mother said when she came to his house yesterday made Zhao Tingzhang wonder if she might have some good ideas.
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