Chapter 95 [VIP]
Even after the group left, no one dared to let their guard down, as they didn't know if the group would sneak back in during the night.
Chen Xi simply divided the men on guard duty into two groups of more than thirty each. Even if those people tried to sneak over, the number of people on both sides would be roughly the same, which would be enough to hold them off and wake everyone up in time.
Back in the cave, Wang Ying realized that her hands were trembling slightly.
The situation just now was truly frightening. If he hadn't called the villagers to go up the mountain to take refuge, his family alone wouldn't have been able to stop others from coming in.
I and Yuanbao can temporarily hide in the experimental field, but what about my mother-in-law and my third aunt?
Not to mention Qingyun and Lin Sui, a young woman and man in their prime, who might very well be ruined by these people.
The more I thought about it, the more frightened I became, and I broke out in a cold sweat.
Upon seeing him enter, Li and Chen Rong quickly stepped forward to ask, "How is it outside?"
"A group of people came from Zhengjiazhuang next door. They said the village was flooded and only about thirty men escaped. They wanted to come in to take shelter from the rain."
Upon hearing this, everyone hurriedly refused, saying, "We can't let them in! Who knows if these people are good or bad? Besides, we didn't bring much food. What if they're starving and try to steal our food?"
"Yes, we don't know when this rain will stop. By the time it stops, all our food will probably be washed away. How are we going to survive then..."
Everyone sighed and groaned; the heavy atmosphere made everyone feel incredibly depressed.
A piercing cry of a child echoed in the cave.
"Qiushuang, why is your child always crying?"
The woman called Qiushuang was so anxious that she burst into tears. "She probably caught a fever from being caught in the rain yesterday. I asked Aunt Zhang to help her with cupping, but now she has a fever again."
The child was only seven or eight months old, and he was crying his heart out in her arms.
Afraid of disturbing everyone, Qiu Shuang picked up the child and walked around, hoping to lull the baby to sleep.
The village doctor came over when he heard the noise, took out some silver needles and did some moxibustion on the child. "He came out in a hurry and didn't bring any medicine with him. This child has caught typhoid fever. Let's see if he can pull through."
Upon hearing this, Qiu Shuang lowered her head and wept, reaching out to touch the baby's face. This was her first child, and she didn't know if she could keep it.
Wang Ying remembered that there were some medicines for treating typhoid fever in the experimental field. They were specially obtained from the town when Li was feeling unwell a while ago, and she only took two doses.
He got up and went out for a while, then came back with two packets of medicine. "I have some Siwu Tang here. I don't know if it's okay for the child to drink it."
Upon hearing this, the doctor nodded immediately, "Sure, reduce the dosage of the medicine, divide one packet into five portions, boil them into a soup, and drink it all!"
The young woman, overjoyed at receiving the medicine, knelt down and kowtowed, saying, "Thank you, sir, for saving my son's life."
Wang Ying quickly helped the person up, saying, "Quickly, have someone brew the medicine and give it to the child."
"Oh!" The young woman called her husband to help brew the medicine. In no time, the medicine was ready and she gave it to the child. The child sweated profusely after drinking the medicine, and his body temperature finally dropped a little.
Wang Ying thought of her son, seeing him nestled obediently in Li's arms, a tiny bundle looking pitiful. He hadn't made a fuss about going out or been naughty these past few days.
Wang Ying walked over and put her son on her lap.
"Father, when can we go home? We want to go home..."
"Soon, we'll go back once the rain stops."
Wang Ying hugged her son tightly, but sadly, she didn't know if she would still have a home when she went back.
*
The rain didn't stop until the morning of the fourth day. Although the sky was still overcast, there were no more raindrops outside.
As everyone lined up to come out, they stood outside the cave, feeling both the joy of surviving a disaster and the sorrow of losing their homes. For a moment, they were overwhelmed with mixed emotions of joy and sorrow, crying and laughing at the same time.
"Let's go back and take a look..."
They helped each other down the mountain. The floodwaters below had not completely receded, and the original houses and fields were covered with mud, making it impossible to tell that this was where they used to live.
Chen Xi seemed to have aged more than ten years in an instant; his hair had turned completely white, and his back was somewhat hunched as he leaned on his cane.
More than 30 years ago, he fled here with his father. After finally building a house and settling down with children, a great flood wiped him out.
Imagined is one thing, but seeing it with your own eyes is another. Some people couldn't take the shock and fainted on the spot.
Everyone quickly pinched the person's philtrum to wake them up, and walked along the riverbank for a while to see if they could find a place to settle down.
There was a slightly higher spot ahead, but when we stepped on it, we sank right up to our knees. We quickly pulled the person up and didn't dare try again.
"Let's go back first. The rain has stopped and the sky will clear up soon. Let the ground dry before we go over."
Just as everyone was about to leave, they suddenly heard a faint cry.
Suddenly, Mu Tou pointed to the wooden plank floating not far away and said, "My lord, that's our cat! It's our big orange cat!"
Wang Ying looked in the direction he pointed and saw Da Ju lying on the log, bobbing back and forth on the water.
Uncle Chen quickly found a thin bamboo pole and used it to move the wooden board over. The cat, seeing a familiar face, meowed excitedly.
Wang Ying picked up the big orange cat in one go. The cat, which used to weigh more than ten pounds, was now skin and bones. She didn't know how it had survived these past few days!
"It's alright, it's good that you're alive, it's good that you're alive!"
The usually proud and aloof cat meowed weakly twice, then obediently lay still in his arms.
The rain stopped, but the mood did not improve. Instead, after seeing the devastation at the foot of the mountain, everyone was plunged into a new wave of sorrow.
Several older people couldn't withstand the blow and fell ill upon returning home. The village doctor helped by giving them acupuncture, but it was a psychological problem, and no amount of acupuncture could help.
This oppressive atmosphere continued until late at night, when it was suddenly broken by a scream.
"Second Aunt, what are you doing?! Help! Someone help me!!!"
The piercing screams woke everyone up, and the men on night duty rushed over and quickly pulled the person hanging from the tree down.
The old woman's neck turned bright red, and it took her a while to catch her breath. Tears streaming down her face, she said, "Why did you save me? I'm an old woman all alone, with no children, and now I don't even have a house or land... What's the point of living?"
Wang Ying ran out and overheard their words. After spending so much time together, she had long considered them her own. Now, seeing them driven to suicide by life's hardships, she felt indescribable emotions.
The group helped the woman into the cave, and many elderly people came over to comfort her, saying, "It's better to live a miserable life than to die a good death. Old Zhang, you can't do anything rash again!"
“That’s right, that’s right. Who will argue with me after you die?” said an old woman with gray hair next to her.
The two were sworn enemies living across the hall from each other, arguing ever since they got married—for decades. Now, seeing her suddenly threaten to hang herself, he was frantic with worry; how could he just let her go like that…
Wang Ying knew that the villagers were worried about their livelihoods, and she needed to give them something to look forward to.
He stood up, cleared his throat, and said, "Don't worry, everyone. The rain will stop and we can go down the mountain in the next day or two. Before the month is over, let's quickly replant a crop of millet. We won't collect rent this year, so everyone will have enough to eat by the end of the year!"
Wheat cannot be replanted in summer because wheat needs to undergo a period of low temperature vernalization and light exposure to germinate. Although wheat can grow in summer, it will only produce seedlings and not ears, so it is a waste of time.
Someone muttered, "Where did these seeds come from...?"
"I'll buy you thirty catties of millet seeds per family!"
Everyone perked up immediately upon hearing this, "Thirty catties of millet seeds? Where is the landlord going to buy them? Can he even get them?"
Li tugged at Wang Ying's sleeve, "Ah Ying, we don't even have a mule cart, how are we going to buy one..."
"Don't worry, I have a plan."
Someone said, "What are we going to do for the next few months? The food we brought won't last until autumn..."
Chen Xi tapped the ground with his cane. "You've managed to survive by gnawing on tree bark and digging up grass roots. Do you expect the employer to provide you with food and drink?!"
People stopped complaining. With seeds, there was hope; there was always a way to survive!
*
The next morning, the man who had gone down the mountain to scout returned and said, "The water has receded by more than a foot. There's a small path to the west that's passable now. Shall we go down the mountain?"
"Let's go down the mountain!"
The group carried their luggage, helped the elderly and held the children, and slowly walked down the mountain in a long line.
Compared to yesterday, the water level has dropped significantly, revealing ruins in many places. People are searching for their homes based on their memories, hoping to find something to eat or use under the mud and sand.
Wang Ying and the others returned to the villa. The courtyard wall was gone, but the gate was still there, standing bare and looking rather comical. The house was also washed away by the water and was in ruins.
As she walked, Li sighed, "I wonder how the houses in town are doing. With such a huge flood, they're probably going to be submerged too."
Wang Ying said, "Let's go back tomorrow, tidy up this place first, and see if we can find a mule cart." When we went up the mountain, the mules were led along with us. If we don't have a cart, we'll have to carry our things back on foot.
Yuanbao lay on Wang Ying's back, looking at his familiar home that had become unrecognizable, and couldn't help but wipe away his tears.
After finally managing to appease Yuanbao, he was allowed to sit on a rock with Daju, Mutou, and Chunsheng while he, Uncle Chen, and Dunzi went inside to rummage through the things.
The main house still has all four walls, but the roof is gone, and the inside is also a mess. The mud and sand left behind after the water receded are more than a foot thick, and you can't walk on it at all, your ankles sink in.
After searching around, they actually found the mule cart, but the shaft was broken and they needed to find a plank to fix it. They didn't have any suitable tools at the moment, so they would see if anyone else had a hammer or saw.
The warehouse was washed away by the water, and all the cloth inside was gone. Wang Ying regretted not putting it into the experimental field along with the cloth. Although the cloth wasn't worth much, it was hard to buy more after the disaster.
Once these items are transported from other places, the price will increase many times over.
Qingyun and Lin Sui searched the backyard for a long time and found a sewing box and a small bronze mirror. They took all these things, regardless of whether they were useful or not.
After the heavy rain, the sky seemed to have been washed clean, and the sun was so bright that it was blinding. Around noon, it was impossible to stand outside, so everyone had to find a shady place to rest.
Lunch was still a pot of porridge. Everyone drank a bowl. When it was Mu Tou and Chun Sheng's turn, the two kids quietly scooped out the rice from their bowls and only drank the rice water.
Wang Ying saw this and said, "Why aren't you two eating the millet inside?"
Chunsheng quickly waved his hand, "We're not hungry, a little bit will fill us up."
Wood nodded in agreement, "We eat very little, please don't send us away, sir..."
"When did I say I was going to kick you out?"
Chunsheng and Mutou exchanged a glance. Both were unfortunate children, adept at reading people's expressions, especially after seeing the dilapidated state of the villa. They were filled with worry. What if they didn't have enough food? Would their husbands kick them out...?
"Eat up, your little bit of food won't make a difference. You'll have the strength to watch over Yuanbao if you eat your fill."
The two children were relieved and each scooped up a spoonful of millet and ate it in big mouthfuls.
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