Chapter 92 [VIP]
Upon hearing this, both men sighed deeply. They could waive rent for the crop failure on the estate, but life would be difficult for the common people without food.
Chen Rong said, "This rain reminds me of a flood more than 30 years ago, also in this month. It rained continuously for seven days and seven nights, and the water level was higher than the table."
“I remember my parents put up a plank on the roof beam and took several children up there to avoid the flood. I was young at the time and didn’t understand much, and I thought it was quite interesting. Now, when I think back, that flood killed a lot of people, and many families in the town were wiped out.”
Qingyun asked anxiously, "What should we do now?"
Wang Ying pondered for a moment and said, "For now, let's wait and see. Our terrain is high, so the water won't reach us anytime soon. If it keeps going down like this, we'll have to find a way to go up the mountain to take refuge."
Fortunately, the nearby mountains are covered with dense vegetation, so the heavy rain will not cause mudslides or landslides.
Except for Yuanbao, the others ate the meal without much interest. After the meal, Wang Ying returned to her bedroom and continued writing in the afternoon.
The first volume, on seeds, has already been written for five pages. Once completed, it will cover the seed morphology and identification methods of approximately sixty plant species.
Volume Two is about breeding, followed by Volumes Three, Four, and Five. The whole book is about four or five hundred pages long, a huge project. Wang Ying is not in a hurry to finish it all at once; he plans to write and revise as he goes, and finish it within one or two years.
I thought I had almost forgotten everything I had learned, but after picking up a pen and reviewing it systematically, I remembered almost everything. It seems that youth brings good memory.
The rain outside continued, pattering on and on, and it was rather annoying to listen to.
The sky was overcast, and it was impossible to see the words inside the house without turning on the lights, so Wang Ying simply locked the door and went into the experimental field to write.
The experimental field was bathed in sunshine and gentle breezes, and the rose bushes that Chen Qingyan had brought in a while ago had also blossomed.
I do have roses back home, but they only come in two colors: deep pink and light pink. They don't have as many colors and varieties as the ones at the Laizhou Prefectural School. There's a large patch of roses planted next to the secluded woods behind the school, with orange, yellow, white, and double-petaled flowers.
Hearing that this flower was particularly easy to grow, and that it would grow roots as long as a few tender tips were pinched off and stuck in the ground, Chen Qingyan took some time to pick out several of the nicer ones and quietly put them into the experimental field.
Wang Ying planted them all next to the peach trees so they wouldn't take up much space.
There was a new note in the experimental field. Wang Ying picked it up and glanced at it. It must have been left last night. She was relieved to see that Qingyan and the others had already entered Laizhou Prefectural School.
I also left a note for him, telling him that it had been raining continuously in our hometown for the past few days, making people irritable and restless. I was worried that the heavy rain might flood the crops. Everything was fine at home, and Yuanbao had been very well-behaved these past few days, so don't worry.
After leaving the note, Wang Ying began to immerse herself in writing. Perhaps as she grew older, she gradually became more enlightened. After a systematic review, she was able to understand many things that she had not been able to grasp in the past.
This delighted Wang Ying, and it also fueled her enthusiasm for writing the book.
After writing for two hours, they stood up and stretched. They couldn't use the remaining time in the experimental field, so they agreed to give each other at least half an hour each day, just in case.
Back in his bedroom, Wang Ying rubbed his eyes, feeling uneasy. The light outside was too dim, and a damp, humid atmosphere filled his nostrils. He picked up his outer robe and put it on, then opened the door and stood in the corridor for a while.
The rain showed no signs of stopping, with dark clouds rolling like ink, occasionally accompanied by muffled thunder that roared like a giant dragon. It was unclear how many more days this rain would last.
After passing through the corridor to the backyard, Yuanbao had just woken up from his afternoon nap, and his grandmother was feeding him water.
"Father..." The little guy rushed over as soon as he saw Wang Ying.
Wang Ying hugged him and touched his messy little bun. "What's wrong?"
The old woman said, "Young master must be having a nightmare. He was crying the whole time, so I woke him up."
Wang Ying chuckled. Such a young child, yet he dreamed. "What did you dream about?"
Yuanbao pouted and tears fell down his face. He buried his face in Wang Ying's neck and sobbed.
"Don't cry, don't cry, Father won't ask anymore."
"I dreamt...dreamed of water...lots of water, and I couldn't find my father's treasure..." the child sobbed, startling Wang Ying. She thought it was probably because of the continuous rain these past few days that the child was having nightmares.
"Don't be afraid, dreams are all just dreams. With your father protecting you, you'll be fine."
"Waaaaah, Yuanbao is afraid of water..."
Wang Ying patted his back to comfort him, and it took him a while to recover. Children forget things easily, and Mu Tou and Chun Sheng came over and started playing lively again.
Wang Ying, however, did not forget that she had some worries in her heart. If the rain continued like this, and the upstream river estuary breached its banks, the entire Qingshui Town would probably suffer.
Although the Yellow River is called the Mother River, it is definitely a mother with a violent temper, and has always used corporal punishment to educate the people on both banks, causing countless floods throughout history.
Qingshui Town is about 270 li away from the nearest branch of the Yellow River. According to the county annals, the Yellow River flooded 32 years ago and submerged the entire town of Qingshui. Houses collapsed, crops failed, people were displaced, and corpses of the starving were everywhere!
He quickly went to call Uncle Chen and Dunzi, "Gather all the rain gear at home, and prepare more planks and ropes. If the rain doesn't stop tomorrow, we'll go to the mountains to take shelter."
Dunzi immediately nodded and ran off to tidy up. Uncle Chen asked with some doubt, "Young master, the water isn't deep yet. Shall we go up the mountain now?"
"Just in case, you should also go to Chen Xi's house and inform them that anyone who wants to go to the mountains to take refuge tomorrow can come with us."
Uncle Chen hesitated, thinking that his son was making a mountain out of a molehill. In previous years, there had been times when it rained for days on end, and the water would recede quickly after the rain stopped.
However, being a servant, he dared not say too much. Since the young master had instructed him to handle it, he said, "I'll go right away."
Uncle Chen put on his straw hat and went out the door. He had only taken a few steps when he was startled. The flood control dike that had just been built that morning had been washed away by the rushing river. The water was overflowing into the entire field, submerging the millet seedlings until only the tips remained.
He dared not delay any longer and waded through the mud to Chen Xi's house.
Chen Zhuangtou's family lived at the east end of the village. Because of the low-lying terrain, their house was flooded. The adults and children sat on the bed, worried, wondering when the rain would stop.
Upon seeing Uncle Chen approach, Chen Xi quickly went to greet him, "Brother Chen, what brings you here?"
Uncle Chen wiped the rain off his face and said, "The rain is too heavy. Young master is planning to take his family to the mountains to take shelter. He asked the villagers if they wanted to go too, so that everyone could go up the mountain together and help each other."
Chen Xi hesitated for a moment and then said, "Let's go! I happen to know a cave on the mountain where we can hide from the wind and rain."
Most of the people living in that cave know that in the past, when it was too hot to graze cattle on the mountain, they would go in there to escape the heat.
This was something Uncle Chen hadn't expected. "I'll go back and tell my husband to inform the villagers that if the rain hasn't stopped by tomorrow morning, everyone should take their clothes and dry food and leave if they can. They can come back when the rain stops."
"Okay, I'll go right now!"
Chen Xi called his eldest son to go door to door spreading the news. When they heard that the news came from their employer, everyone packed their things and prepared to leave together.
Of course, there were also those who didn't want to leave, feeling that the landlord was making a mountain out of a molehill, that the rainwater was only ankle-deep and they were running up the mountain, that they were too timid.
In the other courtyard, Madam Li was also instructing the servants to pack clothes and food. Since flour was inconvenient to carry, Aunt Chen used a cloth bag to pack rice and beans instead.
Wang Ying said, "Don't bring too much food, just enough for the whole family for a week." If the rain doesn't stop after a week... he'll find a way to get the food from the experimental field.
Qingyun and Lin Sui were in charge of packing clothes. They took three or four pieces each for adults and children, both thin and thick. They didn't know how the weather would change, and they were worried that it would suddenly get cold without warm clothes.
Li and Chen packed up their belongings. They wrapped the banknotes in oiled paper and carried them close to their bodies to prevent them from getting soaked in the rain and becoming unusable. They put the gold and silver jewelry into wooden boxes. As for the cloth, it was too heavy to carry, so they had to clip it to the roof of the storeroom to prevent it from getting wet.
By the time she finished tidying up, it was already late. After dinner, Wang Ying quietly went to the warehouse, put everything she could take into the experimental field, and locked the door behind her, planning to put it back when she returned.
That night, Wang Ying slept with Yuanbao. Around 5 PM, she went into the experimental field and saw that the note she had left was still there, indicating that Chen Qingyan hadn't come in. She then led her son to play inside for a while.
After waiting for about fifteen minutes, Chen Qingyan finally came in.
Yuanbao rushed over excitedly as soon as he saw him, "Daddy!"
"Hey!" Chen Qingyan lifted him above his head with both hands and carried him on his shoulders.
Wang Ying said, "I thought you wouldn't have time to come in today either."
“Songdi and Huaidi were asleep, so I sneaked in.”
"You went to bed so early?"
“There is a curfew at the academy at night, and students are not allowed to use lights, so everyone goes to bed early to rest.”
"Are you adjusting well to life at Laizhou Prefectural School?"
"My classmates are all quite friendly, and I also have Qinghuai's friends here. We've gotten to know each other pretty well already."
"That's good."
Yuanbao sat on Chen Qingyan's shoulder, tilting his head and listening to the two talking with a smile without disturbing them.
Chen Qingyan picked up her son and squeezed his chubby little hand, saying, "Has Yuanbao been good these past few days?"
"Good boy!" Little Yuanbao replied crisply.
Wang Ying smiled and said, "He's been quite obedient these past few days. It's just that he can't go out because of the rain outside, so he can only play inside."
Is the rain heavy?
Wang Ying said casually, "It's alright, it's just that the constant nagging is annoying."
"On our way to Laizhou, it was raining all the way, and our clothes were never dry. My master even caught a cold and developed a fever. We rested in a nearby county for several days before continuing our journey."
Chen Qingyan concealed the fact that he almost got hit by something; both of them reported only good news and not bad news, afraid that the other would worry.
"No wonder we arrived in Laizhou so late."
"You should also be careful and drink more ginger soup to ward off the cold, so as not to catch a chill."
Wang Ying said, "Don't worry about home. I might not have time to go to the experimental fields these few days. If you need anything, just leave a note."
Chen Qingyan didn't think much of it. "Okay, I'll leave a note when I have time." He didn't dare to linger too long, so he kissed Wang Ying's forehead. "I'll head back now."
Yuanbao tilted his little face up and said, "Yuanbao wants a kiss too."
Chen Qingyan chuckled and gave his son a big kiss on the cheek, making the boy squeal and cry out from the prickly beard.
After everyone left, Wang Ying took Yuanbao back to her room. The heavy rain continued all night.
Before dawn, the lights in the courtyard were turned on, and everyone put all the things that were susceptible to dampness into wooden boxes and sealed them tightly.
Yesterday, Uncle Chen brought back news that there is a natural cave halfway up the mountain where everyone can take shelter from the rain, so that it won't be too difficult to endure the rain when they get to the top of the mountain.
Around 3 AM, there was a knock on the gate of the villa. Chen Xi brought the villagers, young and old, to come and prepare to go up the mountain together.
A note from the author:
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