Due to limited space in the cave, it cannot accommodate all the people in the village.
After a brief discussion, everyone decided to let the elderly, children, women and children in the village go in first.
The old people supported each other, the children held tightly to the corners of the adults' clothes, and the women held their young babies in their arms, and walked slowly into the cave one by one.
They found a relatively dry and flat place in the cave, where they sat or lay down, with expressions of relief and gratitude on their faces.
The rest of the young and strong laborers did not stop. They quickly got busy near the cave before the rain fell.
Everyone had a clear division of labor. Some were responsible for finding thick branches and vines, while others were responsible for carrying nearby hay and stones.
They skillfully built a simple large shed.
The men worked together to insert branches into the ground, tied them tightly with vines, and then laid thick hay on top and pressed them with stones to prevent them from being blown away by the wind.
After some intense work, the shed was finally built, just enough to accommodate the remaining villagers.
As soon as they had set up the shed, raindrops as big as beans began to fall down impatiently. At first it was a sparse drizzle, hitting the roof and the ground, making a slight dripping sound.
But in a blink of an eye, the rain suddenly increased in intensity, pouring down like a bucket, and the sky and the earth were instantly covered by the rain curtain.
The raindrops were like countless silver whips, lashing the earth fiercely.
After a while, the rain became more and more violent, and it turned into a downpour, like a river in the sky bursting its banks, torrential downpour.
The dense rain seemed to submerge everything in the world. The sky and the earth were in chaos. The rain curtain was so dense that it completely blocked people's sight.
At this moment, the whole world seemed to be filled with only the deafening sound of rain, like thousands of troops galloping past, or like surging waves roaring and raging, completely covering up all other sounds.
Watching the relentless downpour, everyone looked at each other in bewilderment, filled with emotion. An old man, leaning on his cane, looked up to the sky and sighed, "If only the rain had stopped sooner, we wouldn't have been forced to leave our homes and embark on this journey to escape the famine."
The people around him also nodded, their eyes full of helplessness and bitterness.
At this moment, someone suddenly shouted, "It's raining now, so we have water now, right?"
These words instantly ignited hope in everyone's hearts.
Everyone woke up as if from a dream and took action.
For a while, every household searched their homes for empty buckets.
People carefully moved the empty barrels outside the shed in the rain and placed them neatly.
The raindrops fell on the surface of the bucket with a crackling sound, splashing crystal water flowers, as if playing a song of hope.
A group of teenagers aged fifteen or sixteen, like a group of ponies running away from their reins, shouted excitedly and plunged into the vast rain curtain.
They opened their arms wildly in the rain, spun and jumped, letting the pouring rain wash their hair and bodies.
Some of them tilted their heads back, letting the rain pour into their mouths while laughing happily; some of them splashed water on each other and played, their laughter echoing in the rain.
Yao Qingshuang stood under the shed, looking at the young men in the rain, her eyes full of envy.
Fine raindrops were blown by the wind, gently falling on her cheeks, bringing a hint of coolness.
She wrinkled her nose slightly and thought to herself that she hadn't taken a shower for more than a month, and the sticky feeling on her body was really uncomfortable. How pleasant it would be if she could wash off the dirt in the rain like them.
But when he thought about the many eyes around him in public, he really couldn't bring himself to do such a thing, so he had to suppress his inner desire and stand where he was.
Men don't have these concerns. They are generous and don't care about details by nature.
Seeing the heavy rain, they felt that this was a godsend. They threw off their shirts, exposing their strong chests, and rushed into the rain shouting.
They either scrubbed their hair vigorously or scooped rain water with their hands and poured it over their bodies, enjoying the coolness brought by the rain.
Seeing that everyone rushed into the rain, Su Mingfan could no longer hold back.
There was a glint of excitement in his eyes, and his feet unconsciously stepped towards the rain.
Zhao Chunhua, quick-witted and quick-handed, quickly grabbed his arm and said nervously, "Mingfan, don't go. The rain is very cold. What if you catch a cold?"
Su Mingfan, who was pulled, suddenly became like a deflated ball, with an unhappy expression on his face.
He turned his head and looked at his mother pitifully. He saw that his mother had a serious face and her eyes were full of unquestionable determination. Although he was very reluctant, he dared not disobey. He could only stand there, looking at the people playing in the water in the rain curtain with envy, listening to their cheerful laughter, and feeling very annoyed.
In the cave, everyone was busy, carefully piling the prepared firewood and hay in the open space in the middle, ready to start a fire.
However, due to the rain, most of the firewood was soaked by rain water, and only a few of them still had some dryness inside.
When the fire came into contact with the woodpile, it only managed to ignite a small portion of the dry grass with difficulty, making a faint "sizzling" sound and smoke rising, but the flame failed to grow stronger.
After a while, the flames gradually grew stronger, licking the firewood happily. The orange-red flames burned higher and higher, dispelling the cold and dampness in the cave.
At this time, people who had finished washing outside walked into the cave one after another. Their hair was wet and stuck to their scalps or cheeks, and their clothes were soaked by the rain and stuck tightly to their bodies, but their faces were filled with refreshed and satisfied expressions.
Everyone sat around the fire, stretched out their hands, and let the warm flames warm their cold bodies.
The villagers in charge of cooking set up a simple stove next to the fire, and the steaming food in the pot exuded an enticing aroma.
As everyone warmed themselves by the fire and ate simple but delicious meals, laughter and joy echoed in the cave, creating a unique warmth and interest on this stormy day.
In her previous life, whenever it rained, it was the most pleasant time for Yao Qingshuang.
She would lazily nestle in the soft sofa or lean on the couch by the window, with the table filled with various snacks and fruits.
She ate with one hand and played with her mobile phone with the other, occasionally looking up at the wispy rain outside the window.
The raindrops hit the glass, making crisp and melodious sounds, like a natural lullaby.
With the symphony of rain and the comfort of delicious food, her body and mind were relaxed as never before. When she fell asleep at night, she only needed to close her eyes gently to quickly fall into a sweet dream. Her sleep quality was much better than usual.
But now, on this difficult journey of fleeing famine, the situation is completely different.
This rain certainly solved the urgent problem of water shortage for the people, but the ancient official roads could not be compared with modern cement roads.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
