An orphan girl from a farming family: Everyday farming in the mountains during natural disasters

The rain was like beads that had broken off the string, falling heavier and heavier, mercilessly hitting the people hiding in the bushes.

At the beginning, they were full of excitement and anticipation, and were ready to fight. Time passed slowly, but the grain transport convoy still didn't show up. The cold rain soaked their bodies, and their hot hearts cooled down bit by bit.

After waiting for half an hour, someone couldn't stand it anymore and asked, "Is there a problem? The grain transport convoy hasn't arrived yet?"

A warning voice sounded: "We have been keeping an eye on the grain transport convoy for more than a day or two. They will definitely take this route.

The road is slippery on rainy days, wait a little longer and don't make any more noise!"

So, the group of people continued to hide, waiting in the rain in silence.

After an hour, some people began to get restless because they were wet in the rain, felt unwell, and were getting anxious and irritated from waiting.

The man who warned earlier was angry and about to lose his temper, but the man with a black mole on the end of his eyebrow stopped him and whispered:

"Maybe something unexpected happened. Let's do this. Let's take turns to let the people go back to take shelter from the rain and rest. I'll stay here."

"Brother, this..."

The man called Big Brother turned his head and said nothing. His eyes were so oppressive that they made the other man's scalp numb. He said in a weak voice, "I'll go down and arrange it right away."

People took turns to guard the ambush and waited until midnight, but the grain transport convoy still did not show up. Several people could not hold on and caught a cold and had a fever from being exposed to the rain for a long time, and then they fainted.

In the second half of the night, the "big brother" couldn't bear it anymore, felt dizzy and fainted, and was hurriedly carried back to the cave by his younger brother.

More than an hour later, a team of carriages and horses were seen swaying on the dark road in the storm. They passed the place where the men were ambushed, bypassed several villages, and headed straight for Datong Town.

Chenshi.

Master Liu Yi did not sleep all night. It had been raining heavily recently and the homes of some villagers living in low-lying areas of various villages were flooded. He was busy mobilizing troops to rescue and resettle them.

Exhausted and with dark circles under his eyes, Liu Yi stood in front of the gate of the house, looking up at the dark sky. It was still raining heavily.

"It's not a good thing if it keeps raining like this!" A look of sadness rose in his eyes.

A new batch of disaster relief grain was about to arrive. Because of the heavy rain, Qian Zhongsheng had been very anxious recently. Every once in a while he would send someone over to call Liu Yi over to find out what was going on, and then he would smash things and get angry.

Today, the person who came to summon has not arrived yet.

Liu Yi thought expressionlessly that maybe he had arrived and was on the way. Instead of being called and rushing over in a panic, it would be better for him to go there early by himself.

Holding an oil-paper umbrella, he waded through the water to the front yard, where Qian Zhongsheng's study was.

The terrain of the house is relatively high, and the water overflowed the steps and was about to flood into the house.

Because the King of Yue went north in a hurry and the bureaucratic system was imperfect, in order to facilitate official business, the corresponding few officials lived in a large mansion in Datong Town.

Having lived there for a while, Liu Yi went to the study room as if he was familiar with the place without a servant to lead the way.

The door to the study was ajar, leaving a gap. Liu Yi saw the light on in the room through the gap. Without thinking much, he pushed the door open and went in.

In the study, books were scattered on the floor, broken cups were scattered everywhere, and the whole place was a mess.

Qian Zhongsheng paced back and forth in the room, his face anxious and tense, the fat on his greasy face trembled from time to time.

Standing next to him was a short and fat man in his fifties with a white beard. He was Qian Zhongsheng's confidant and also the housekeeper Liu in the mansion.

"Why is it that the rain in Dong'an and Huai'an counties has subsided and the roads have been repaired, but it is raining heavily here again, and it has to happen at this time!"

"Liu Quan, how much relief grain did you say was left?"

Liu Quan said: "We have saved 40%."

Each batch of disaster relief grain is limited in quantity, and this batch of brown rice contained fifteen stone.

Qian Zhongsheng's mind started working rapidly. The previous batch of relief food had been reduced in quantity and cooked and distributed to refugees every day. There was not much left. The 40% that was transported over now would not last long.

Just when he was worried and had a headache, Liu Quan was shocked to find that the soles of his feet were wet. He looked up and saw that the water had flooded the house. He was terrified and said, "Sir, there is a flood!"

Qian Zhongsheng looked down and saw water flowing in through the gap in the door, and the amount of water was increasing.

The rain outside was pouring down, and the strong wind was making the doors and windows shake.

"Sir, the situation is not good. Should we prepare early? It's not good to stay here and get drowned."

Liu Quan looked sly. He saw that Qian Zhongsheng's expression had relaxed a little, and then he said, "The mountain behind Xiushui Village, called Lianfeng Mountain, is the highest mountain in Honshu City. It's a safe place."

"You are right. We should take precautions before it happens." Qian Zhongsheng narrowed his eyes and a gleam of light flashed.

Since he became an official, many people secretly gave him real money in order to curry favor with him.

So much money and treasures can’t be washed away by water!

He changed the subject and looked at Liu Quan and asked, "As for the disaster relief grain, how much surplus grain do you have in your mansion?"

"Not much left, probably enough for the whole prefecture to eat for a few days."

"Sir, I know you are worried about the relief grain and afraid that the people will starve, but the rainstorm came suddenly and most of the grain was washed away by the flood. The remaining 40% of the grain may be flooded and washed away at any time. Why not move them to a safe place first and then take your time?"

Upon hearing this, Qian Zhongsheng's eyes lit up. He thought, there is not much disaster relief grain left, and even if it is distributed to the people, it will not last long. Without food, it will be difficult to appease the people, and wouldn't the reputation he had worked so hard to build be tarnished?

Why not put all the blame on the rain disaster and say that all the relief grain was washed away by the flood?

And that 40% of the food could serve as a guarantee for his retreat.

Wonderful, really wonderful!

In a short period of time, Qian Zhongsheng had already figured out what to do, which was to hurry and secretly transport the money and grain to a place on Lianfeng Mountain and hide it there.

-

On this day, Li Benfu and his son went down the mountain, returned home, and discussed with their family about moving some household belongings to live up the mountain.

More than ten households in Xiushui Village had their homes flooded. Even rolling up their trouser legs was useless as the water reached up to their knees, making it like walking in a river.

Witnessing these scenes, Chen Yuzhen and Li Benfu had the same idea. The day before yesterday, she began to clean up the house and pull up the crops in the fields in preparation for going up the mountain.

All the things were packed up, and each of them carried something on their backs or in their arms. Oil-paper umbrellas were expensive and they could not afford them, so they wore straw raincoats and hats they had woven themselves, and wrapped their things with oilcloth to protect them from the rain.

Just as they were about to leave home, Chen Yuzhen suddenly remembered something: "I was so busy, Brother Benfu, I forgot to mention that the Fang family next door also had the idea of ​​moving to the mountain to avoid the rain.

The three of them will be coming over soon. They said they have packed up their things at home and want to go up the mountain with us so that we can take care of them.”

Chen Youmao, who was standing next to him, heard it and hesitated to speak.