It's really hard to just farm peacefully.

Early the next morning, Jiang Shun led the team down the mountain and returned to Dongshan Village. Jiang Yan and others began to clear the tree trunks and loose gravel that were lying across the mountain road from the direction of the cave.

In the evening, Jiang Shun and others returned to the mountain and brought the latest news from outside.

First, Dongshan Village was not hit by mudslides, but was severely affected by mountain torrents.

Everyone's houses were flooded. Judging from the marks, the water level rose to more than two meters, and many roofs and walls collapsed.

The walls that didn't collapse still felt damp to the touch, and the doors, windows, and everything in the house were basically washed away, even the large millstone and stone mortar that had been placed in the open space in the center of the village were gone.

The two pieces of land in the east and west of the village are still submerged in water. The roots of millet in the shallow water have rotted, and the others cannot survive.

The second is Wangjia Village, Zhangjia Village, Yangjiazhuang... These villages are far away from Qinshan, with high and open terrain, and the water is shallower than that of Dongshan Village, about 1.8 to 1.9 meters.

On the first night, there were strong winds and heavy rain, and the roofs of many houses in these villages were blown off. They remembered the flood and dared not sleep all night.

The next day, I made another bunch of dry biscuits and took them with me.

In the afternoon, when they saw the water flooding into the house and rising rapidly, the old men and women hurried to squat on the beams and pillars. Even so, the water still reached their lower bodies.

Fortunately, the weather was hot and the water was not high, so they stayed in the water for a few days without getting sick. However, after the water receded, many people developed fever.

Third, I heard that there was a mudslide in the area between Majia Village and the western suburbs of the county town. It was late at night and there was no preparation, so many people died.

Those who managed to escape have nowhere to go and are not allowed to enter the county town. Now they are gathered together to live at the south gate and east gate of the county town.

The county only cooked two or three pots of thin noodle soup every day for relief, which was not enough. Those people could only go to Wangjia Village and Yangjiazhuang in the morning and evening to beg for food.

……

"This is going to get chaotic..."

The ancestors of Dongshan Village were the first to flee. The Jiang family had some understanding of the chaos that could occur after natural or man-made disasters.

Considering that the village is now in a mess and uninhabitable, everyone decided to continue living in the mountains for a few months and move down the mountain when it is stable.

Except for the few aunts who had returned to the village to avoid the disaster, they were anxious to return to their husband's family. They had brought a lot of food with them when they went up the mountain just in case, and now they didn't know if there was any food left at home, so they had to send some back first.

Jiang Yan strongly agreed with the decision to continue living in Tiankeng Mountain, but felt that the subsequent arrangements in the village needed to be improved.

She and the villagers emphasized that water needs to be boiled before drinking, and that people should not approach, touch, or even eat sick or dead animals. They should stay away from outsiders who show symptoms of illness... Post-disaster epidemic prevention is very important.

In addition, in addition to leaving someone to guard the village entrance when going down the mountain to clean up to prevent outsiders from breaking in and attacking, someone also needs to give warnings on Tiankeng Mountain.

Although outsiders still don't know where everyone is hiding, if you pay attention, you can find the mountain path that has been trampled day by day. Especially during this period, the road is muddy and the footprints are very clear.

I don’t know how much everyone agrees with Jiang Yan’s proposal, but after some discussion it was adopted.

Since the traces of Shangtiankeng Mountain were difficult to erase, Jiang Shun, Jiang Ju and Jiang Hu set up traps along the way and around the cave to increase obstacles.

Old man Jiang Qi was also a carpenter. Because of his difficulty walking, he stayed in the mountains to carve wooden sticks for future use.

The rest of the people were divided into two teams. The large team went down the mountain to clean up the village and fields, while the small team was responsible for cleaning and replanting the terraces.

……

The cleanup work is in full swing.

At noon on July 11, after draining the accumulated water from the last few acres of land east of the village, the villagers of Dongshan Village finally relaxed and lay down under a big tree beside the field to take a rest.

In the afternoon they also had to loosen the soil and turn the corn whose roots had rotted back into the soil.

After sharing the hardships during those days of disaster relief, Jiang Yan's relationship with the young sisters in the village warmed up rapidly.

At this time, Jiang Yan, Jiang Nian, Jiang Ying, Jiang Ai and others did not even bother to rest. They looked at the land and whispered to each other.

"Hey—what is that?" Jiang Ying suddenly pointed.