Chapter 93 [VIP]
In Angu County, 300 miles away from Qingshui Town, thousands of people are carrying stones and timber toward the river.
The continuous heavy rains have caused the Yellow River to swell dramatically, and it looks like the river is only about three feet deep before it overflows the riverbank.
The clerk in charge of supervising the work shouted, "All of you, give it your all! Don't slack off!" If anyone slowed down, he would lash them out, whipping them until their skin was torn and bleeding.
No wonder he was anxious. If the dam were to break, no one could escape; they would either drown or be dragged out and beheaded. He dared not slack off.
Around 9:00 AM, a carriage drove up, and sitting in it was the director of the Water Management Bureau.
He kept wiping his sweat with a handkerchief in his hand. The torrential rain felt like a death knell, making him panic. Accompanying him were the local county magistrate and his yamen runners, who had come specifically to inspect the riverbank project.
The county magistrate stood bowing beside the carriage, and as soon as it stopped, he forced a smile and went to greet it, "Lord Feng, you've arrived. The levee is just ahead, but it's too dangerous over there, so please don't go."
He hummed in response in the car.
The county magistrate turned to the bailiffs and ordered, "Go and summon the supervisor for questioning!"
Before long, the minor official in charge of supervising this section of the river ran over and said, "This humble official, Inspector Cui, greets Your Excellency."
"How's the dike reinforcement going?"
"Reporting to Your Excellency, the accumulated rain from the alternating days and nights has raised the height by three feet. The rain is too heavy; this is the limit."
"No, we must reinforce it by another five feet!"
Upon hearing this, Cui Xun was so anxious that he cursed inwardly. Even if everyone worked themselves to death in this heavy rain, they still couldn't reinforce it that high!
The imperial court usually allocates silver to repair the dikes, but the local government never takes any action. Now that it's raining heavily, they only think of repairing them. It's like trying to pierce your ears after you've already gotten into your sedan chair—there's no time to do it!
"My lord, it's not that I'm shirking my duty, but we simply don't have enough manpower. The soldiers have been working in the pouring rain for three days now, and even the strongest men couldn't keep up at this rate!"
"If we don't have enough men, we'll go find more! We'll conscript all the able-bodied men from the nearby counties, and we absolutely must ensure that the dike doesn't breach here!"
"yes!"
The minor official turned to leave but was stopped by the county magistrate, who said, "Regardless of age or gender, call all the people you can to help. Reinforce the wall two feet before nightfall!"
The clerk gritted his teeth and said, "Yes, I'll go and give the order right away."
The officials in the carriage didn't even get their shoes wet from beginning to end. After hearing the county magistrate give his orders, they told their attendants to drive the carriage away.
The carriage had only gone a few steps when it suddenly stopped, and the horse neighed and turned its head to gallop off in the other direction.
"Whoa!" No matter how the driver cracked his whip, he couldn't stop the carriage, which tossed the passengers around.
Before he could stop his anger and rage, a massive torrent of water surged forth, and the Yellow River breached its banks...
*
At the Chen family villa, Chen Xi and the entire village waited outside. Chen Family Village has a total of 73 households. Except for 7 households that could not be persuaded, almost all the rest came, totaling more than 200 people.
People carried baskets, carried grain on their backs, and carried pots and pans. Some even led pigs, sheep, and chickens, wishing they could take all the belongings they could with them.
They weren't comfortable leaving the livestock at home, fearing they might be stolen or flooded, so they decided to bring them all up the mountain.
Wang Ying and the others had also packed everything up. They filled three sealed boxes, which contained not only everyone's clothes but also several quilts and money. They found a few strong men to help carry them up the mountain.
Wang Ying carried Yuanbao on her back, afraid that he would get wet in the rain, so she put a raincoat on him and covered her son with a straw hat.
Li and Chen Rong supported each other, while Lin Sui and Qing Yun followed beside them, carrying their daily necessities and taking care of them.
Uncle Chen and Dunzi each carried fifty catties of rations, while Aunt Chen filled a basket with a lot of scallions, ginger, salt, and sugar. They planned to boil water and make ginger soup when they reached the top of the mountain to warm everyone up.
Mu Tou and Chun Sheng led Wang Wang away, but Da Ju had disappeared. They searched for a long time but couldn't find it. Perhaps it had already found a safe place to hide.
After locking the gate, the group walked up the mountain along the path.
The rain was so heavy that the mountain path was slippery, and everyone was extra careful with every step they took, for fear of slipping and falling.
After walking for about half an hour, we finally arrived at the cave that Chen Xi had mentioned.
Fearing the presence of wild animals, Chen Xi called over a dozen strong men to take hoes and pickaxes and go in to check first.
More than ten people mustered their courage and went in. They came out shortly afterward and said, "There's nothing in the cave except some black birds. They all flew away as soon as we went in."
Upon hearing this, Chen Xi called everyone to go into the cave to take shelter from the rain.
The cave is shaped like an inverted gourd, with a slope at the entrance to prevent rainwater from flowing back in. Inside, there is a spacious open area about three zhang in circumference, filled with withered branches and rotten leaves, which must have been blown in by the wind.
These dry branches can be used as firewood to start a fire later.
Walking further into the cave, there is a narrow path. Crossing this path, you reach the largest cave, which is pitch black and you can't see anything.
Uncle Chen poured the oil he had prepared in advance onto a rag, wrapped it around a piece of wood to make a torch, lit it with a tinderbox, and the firelight illuminated the cave, allowing everyone to see what it looked like inside.
The cave was much larger than I had imagined, more than ten zhang wide, and the ground was covered with bat droppings, which smelled foul.
The bats hanging from the cave ceiling were startled by the firelight and flew all over the cave, only to be chased away by the villagers waving their farm tools.
Wang Ying said, "Let someone tidy up this place first, and then we can lay out mats and rest for a while."
Chen Xi immediately instructed everyone to clean up the cave. With many people, the cleaning was quick, and the entire cave was cleaned up in less than an hour.
They pushed the bat guano into the cave at the front, intending to transport it down the mountain to use as fertilizer after the rain stopped.
The livestock were also left in the front hole, otherwise the smell would be too strong from all the defecation and urination.
After cleaning up, Uncle Chen spread out the mats he had brought, and everyone sat down together.
Wang Ying took her son off her shoulders and asked, "Are you cold?"
"It's not cold."
I touched his little hands and they were warm, and his clothes weren't wet, so I felt a little relieved.
Mrs. Li touched her grandson's forehead and asked, "Is Yuanbao scared?"
“Father, Grandma, Great-aunt, Aunt, Uncle… are all here, Yuanbao isn’t afraid.” The little guy called out to everyone, making the two elderly people laugh and easing some of their worries.
While they were waiting, many people prepared to go down the mountain again to bring back some of the things they hadn't had time to take from home.
Uncle Chen was also planning to go down and get some grain, but he was worried that with so many people, the grain he brought wouldn't be enough. Wang Ying stopped him and whispered, "No need to go get any, I have all of it with me."
Uncle Chen paused for a moment, then nodded knowingly. He had always known that his young master was different from ordinary people, but since neither the young master nor the young master said anything, he dared not ask and pretended not to know anything.
Wang Ying asked Uncle Chen to set up a pot at the front and boil a large pot of ginger and brown sugar water to warm everyone up.
Water was readily available in the cave. We placed the wooden bucket outside, and it filled up in no time. We lit a fire, boiled two pounds of sliced ginger, and made a large pot of ginger soup.
Aunt Chen first served her master, then called over the elderly, women, and children to serve the hot pot. Women and children are generally weaker than men, and are most susceptible to illness at this time.
After they finished the first pot, Aunt Chen poured water and cooked a second pot, so that everyone could have a bowl.
The ginger soup was spicy, and after drinking it, fine beads of sweat appeared on my forehead.
Chen Rong said with some concern, "I don't know when this rain will stop. I wonder if it's raining heavily in the county town. Have Qiu'er and Cao Kun found a place to take shelter from the rain?"
Li patted her arm to comfort her, saying, "Don't worry too much. The county town is guarded by the county government. If there's any trouble, the government will definitely send people to seek refuge."
Around noon, the person who went down to retrieve the items returned. As soon as they came in, everyone crowded around them, asking, "How's it down the mountain? How deep is the water?"
While wringing out his clothes, Tian Daniu said, "The water in the west of my village is already above my knees. The deepest part in the east of the village is probably waist-deep."
Chen Xi turned pale upon hearing this. Their house was located on the east side of the village, and they estimated that the house had been flooded. "There wasn't this much water when I left this morning. How could the water have increased so much in just one morning?"
"I don't know either. It seems like the water suddenly rushed in and rose in a short while."
After listening, Wang Ying had a vague guess in her mind that the river upstream must have breached its banks, and if things continued like this, the water would only increase!
At noon, the villagers lit their own fires to cook. Because there was not enough firewood, some families cooked together, while others simply soaked their dry food in boiling water to make do.
After the meal, many people went down the mountain to move things. With such a large amount of water, the food would probably rot if it wasn't brought up.
Chen Dashun also went down the mountain. He still had a lot of grain left at home, and when he heard that the water was so deep, he thought he would go back and bring some back up.
As a result, they were blocked by floodwaters as soon as they reached the foot of the mountain. The original road was completely submerged, and the water was mixed with murky mud, making it impossible to tell the depth.
Someone asked uneasily, "Should we still go?"
Chen Dashun rolled up his trousers and tried to take a step inside, but the rushing water instantly swept him two or three zhang away!
Terrified, he grabbed a nearby tree branch and scrambled ashore, shouting, "Don't go any further! Things aren't as valuable as lives! Let's go back up the mountain!"
The group returned empty-handed, but the news they brought back was shocking.
Unexpectedly, a major flood actually broke out. I wonder what happened to the families who didn't leave, and whether they were swept away by the flood.
Some people were already sobbing quietly. The crops in the fields were gone, and their houses had been washed away by the flood. All the possessions they had accumulated over the years had vanished in an instant. They didn't know how they would survive once the floodwaters receded.
Although the men didn't shed tears, they all sighed. Water and fire are merciless; when faced with such a natural disaster, they could only accept their bad luck and there was nothing else they could do.
Chen Xiqing cleared his throat and said, "Don't be too sad, everyone. Although we've lost our homes, at least we're all alive. If it weren't for our boss leading us up the mountain to take refuge, we would probably be dead by now!"
Everyone started chatting animatedly.
"Thanks to the master's foresight, we never expected such a great flood!"
A young man wiped away his tears and said, "If I had known the flood would be this big, I should have gone to Lijiazhuang last night and told my parents to go up the mountain to take shelter from the rain."
"Don't even mention it. My son married into the next village. I don't even know if he's managed to get up in the mountains to avoid the flood."
The two villages are so close together; if Chenjia Village is flooded, the other villages will surely be flooded as well. They couldn't help but choke up again.
The suppressed cries grew louder and louder, eventually echoing throughout the city.
It's good to cry it out. If you keep something this big inside, you'll definitely get sick.
Yuanbao nestled fearfully in Wang Ying's arms, clutching his clothes and whispering, "Father, why are they crying?"
Wang Ying sighed and rubbed her forehead against his little face. "When bad things happen, it makes you feel bad."
By evening, the water level had risen by more than a foot, and there were people specifically assigned to keep an eye on it from below, coming up to deliver messages from time to time.
"The water has already gone up to the rooftops. I reckon those households that didn't go up the mountain with us are all flooded..."
Everyone had anticipated this outcome and wasn't too shocked. They had already cried all their tears that afternoon and were feeling somewhat numb at the moment.
Wang Ying cooked porridge for dinner, fed her son half a bowl, and then quietly took out a boiled egg from her bosom, peeled it, and fed it to him.
This time, Yuanbao didn't waste any egg; he ate both the egg white and the yolk cleanly.
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