Thanks for the invitation: In ancient times, people shared children

The rain outside was still pouring down, and the old village chief of Puluo Village was pulling his hair in worry.

In such weather, it is difficult to save people. The crops have been flooded, but everyone is still trying their best to harvest them.

The lives of a family depend on the land. Who would be willing to leave the crops behind to save people at this critical moment?

Only a few very close relatives were digging desperately, and their cries pierced the sound of the rain and could be heard from far away.

They have lived in the same village for generations. Even if there are conflicts on ordinary days, they don't seem so important when human lives are at stake. If there is a way, who can watch those people die? Their relatives and friends are also suffering under the pressure.

Even though the village chief wanted to save people, he couldn't call anyone. Even his own family members didn't listen to him. He just called his second son, and his second daughter-in-law was unhappy. She jumped out and said that the rain was heavy and the crops were bad. Their family was a little better off, but it was already like this, let alone other families.

Besides, there are not enough raincoats. Who would be willing to go out in the rain naked? Are they trying to kill themselves?

Now we can only rely on the government officials, but who knows when those officials will arrive? Perhaps they will come earlier because there is a dragon here.

The village chief looked at the rain sadly.

After the rescuers dug for a while, soil and rocks began to slide down the mountain again, so they were dragged back home by their families.

Little Pei nestled in her master's arms, holding Pumpkin. She knew something big had happened, but as a child, she could do nothing but stay quiet and not upset the adults.

The daughter of the village chief's second daughter-in-law cried and called "Mom" and was slapped twice. After the slap, it was discovered that it was the daughter of the younger daughter-in-law and she had found the wrong mother. The two sisters-in-law immediately started quarreling, and the younger daughter-in-law, who was so angry, started beating the second daughter-in-law's son.

They are all crazy and beat everyone's children.

Pei Xiaohai had been beaten many times, but she had never been slapped, and she didn't want to be slapped. Her clothes were neither dry nor wet and stuck to her skin, which felt very cold. Pumpkin was shivering and pushing against her body.

Pei Ganniang took two dry clothes for them, and the master took her to find a place to change. She then used this big piece of clothes to wrap Pumpkin so that they would not be cold.

The village chief lit a stove and placed it in the middle of the ground to keep everyone warm.

It was a very sad and heavy day, but Pei Xiaohai still found a little fun in the heaviness.

Because the village chief buried a few taro in the stove and placed a circle of dates next to the stove. A handleless clay pot filled with water was placed on the stove. The water in the clay pot was hot, and the dates were roasted. The roasted dates were thrown in and cooked with the water.

The Liu family also brought ginger and brown sugar. Everyone drank a bowl of warm soup, and the coldness was gone.

The village chief used chopsticks to pick out the taro inside. The adults said they were not hungry, but the children ate it without any hesitation.

Pei Xiaohai broke off a small piece of pumpkin for the dog. After it finished eating, it called out to her again, "cat, cat." She had no choice but to give it some more to shut its mouth. It even wanted to taste the dates in the bowl, but it refused to eat shredded ginger.

Little Pei was a little regretful about saying that he wanted to be its mother.

After eating, the village chief arranged for them to go to bed.

When Pei Xiaohai woke up again, he was awakened by the noise of the village chief's son returning. He said that the road was blocked by a tree struck by lightning and he couldn't lift it, so he had to come back, which meant that no one from the county would come.

The rain stopped two days later. The crops were soaked and the houses of several families near the river were also flooded. But the good news was that the rain washed away some soil, and they saw that some of the roofs of the buried houses were still intact.

Someone climbed up on the soft soil and shouted a few times, and someone actually responded.

Anyway, the crops were gone, so everyone could focus on saving people. They dug and shoveled with shovels. Out of more than a dozen families, only six or seven people were lucky enough to survive.

Among them were the four or five-year-old grandchildren from Liu Renben's fifth aunt's family. Changsui and Baifu escaped the disaster by hiding under the table.

It’s a pity that Fifth Aunt is gone, and their idle mother is not at home, so maybe she is still alive.

At first, some people were crying, but later there were too many bodies. Some were still breathing when they were dug out, but died before they were lifted up. Everyone became numb. At the end of the digging, there were still several people who were not found, and the soil was sinking. They were afraid that several more dead bodies would be buried, so they had to give up.

The village chief's son went to the county to look for someone, but was driven out as soon as he told them that there were deaths in the landslide. The rain had destroyed two dikes in the lower reaches of the Shuanglong River, and the water was rising so fast and so fast that people were drowned without anyone knowing. The county magistrate was unlucky anyway, and he was an orphan with no one to rely on. He was thinking about how to escape and had no time to care about him.

No one came, and the old village chief saw that the dragon had not rotted or smelled bad for several days, so he had an idea and asked people to hide it in the cellar.

If it rots after a few days, whatever official comes can take it away.

If not, this will be their food rations this winter!

These had nothing to do with Pei Xiaohai and Jinghui, but the village chief still gave them five hundred coins and a bag of grain.

Such a big thing happened here, Pei Xiaohai thought that the master would definitely not accept it, but this time the master accepted it particularly readily. The village chief was not only not distressed, but also looked relieved, which really made her confused.

She was so tired from reciting the "Nirvana Sutra" these days that she was too lazy to ask questions. She and her master took the Liu family's car back to the temple on the mountain.

Pei Xiaohai was delayed for half a month for a cat. He thought he would be beaten, but he was not.

The side hall of the mountain nunnery collapsed. Nun Jingchi said, "Thank goodness the child wasn't here. She used to be lazy and refused to do her homework. She must have been asleep at that time..."

The side hall of the temple on the mountain is the meditation room. If Pei Xiaohai was there at that time, the collapsed roof would have fallen on her, and she would not be in much better shape now. They are both dilapidated houses. If the side hall couldn't withstand it, the main hall naturally wouldn't be much better off.

But they had no money to repair it, so it could no longer be considered a nunnery, and naturally there was no place for nuns to live.

After many years, all they have now are just a few scriptures, three certificates of ordination and some miscellaneous items they managed to dig out.

Because many other people were suffering from the rain, no one could help them.

Little Pei didn't know what to do.

Master Jingneng said, "It's time to go."

She couldn't understand the silence of her master and Master Jingchi.

But she soon found out that Jinghui had a third junior sister and a fifth junior sister.

The third sister returned to secular life and got married.

The fifth junior sister was very confused and became a wandering nun. A few years ago, she sent a letter saying that she was now practicing Buddhism in the Kanhua Temple in the imperial capital and had many new insights. She invited Jinghui and the others to go as well.

At that time, their nunnery was still there. Although they heard that the Kanhua Temple in the imperial capital was famous, no one was willing to go there. But now they had to leave.

Just go, it just so happens that Pei has never been away from home.

She asked the master when he would leave.

Jinghui asked her, "Do you want to be a nun?"

Pei Xiaohai was about to answer.

Jinghui said again, "Little boy, you must tell the truth in front of Yinggu."

The truth is, of course—"I don't want to."

When Pei Xiaohai said these two words, she didn't know what they meant. As usual, she told the truth to her most trusted master.

Then... she was sent to the Liu family.

Her head, which had not been groomed for a few days, had short stubbles of hair. She was still wearing monk's robes and had officially returned to secular life without formally receiving the vows.

The master found her most valuable silver bracelet, bought her a roast chicken to celebrate, and then handed her over to the Liu family.

The rusty bracelet was ugly and too small for her to wear.

The roast chicken reminded her of the chickens she raised in her mountain nunnery.

Later, when Pei Xiaohai recalled this experience, she always felt it was very vague and could not remember what exactly happened. She seemed to be still confused, and her carefree days suddenly ended.

A bunch of unfamiliar people and things were like a collapsed roof. As soon as Master and the others left, all the pressure came down.

The vegetable garden of the temple on the mountain was probably also flooded?

So she doesn't need to water it.