After lunch, Jiang Hu took a short rest and then went out to find the village chief.
Digging a fish pond is no small task, and it can’t be done with just a few family mbers. Since wages are the sa, it’s only natural to prioritize the village neighbors.
Furthermore, digging a fish pond is not sothing urgent; it can be done sooner or later.
In the afternoon, when it wasn’t so hot, Jiang Hu left the fish they caught at ho and took the rest to the town. The afternoon was getting even more stuffy, fearing there might be another heavy rain before the rice harvest.
On the way back, he also brought back a cart of cows, even Liu Qingfeng, who was curious, sat in the ox cart, experiencing this completely different feeling.
In the past few days, they had been walking to school and back ho. Liu Qingfeng, under his father’s orders, dared not slack off.
The walk took almost half an hour each way, though tiring, yet it made sleeping more restful at night. Almost never waking up at night, sleeping soundly till the big morning.
This left Liu Qingfeng quite surprised, expressing that walking could actually aid in sleep. It’s truly amazing!
When Jiang Hu returned, he also brought several pounds of beef jerky, which was very expensive, costing dozens of copper coins per pound. It was likely that only he in Xiangmu Village would be willing to buy so much.
But in Jiang Hu’s words, these things are not always available in town, all depends on luck. If rchants bring them, then they’re available; otherwise, you can’t even think about it.
Since the kids at ho liked it, rare as it was to co across, he bought more to take back for them to savor slowly.
During dinner, mosquitoes were rampant accompanied by strong winds, even eating required closing the doors and windows, but then the room was extrely stuffy.
Before finishing dinner, accompanied by thunder and lightning, heavy rain poured down and didn’t stop even after everyone finished eating.
Jiang Hu wanted to check on the rice, afraid of the pouring rain affecting it, but the rain was too heavy, and the sky too dark, making torches and lanterns useless. He had no choice but to give up.
Luckily, the past few days all the paddy fields had ditches for drainage. Even if there’s a downpour, as long as the rice isn’t toppled, there wouldn’t be much damage.
The rain continued into the middle of the night. As soon as it stopped, Jiang Hu’s second aunt hurriedly grabbed a torch to check the fields.
The creek beside the house overflowed from the ditch, even the pond was full, with water pouring down from the mountain and flowing into the nearby fields.
Fortunately, the family’s pond was built high, so the house wasn’t flooded.
However, the half-day rain seed to have flooded all of Xiangmu Village.
When Jiang Hu and others reached the fields, they t many people. Everyone carried torches, greeting each other briefly before hurrying off to their tasks, with no ti for small talk.
As the rain stopped, the clouds disappeared, and the moon ca out; the rain seed to be over.
So rice in the fields was knocked over by the rain. Ignoring the deep water spilling over the field ridges, still flowing in and out, they jumped into the fields. One held a torch while the other lifted the fallen rice.
Since the rice hadn’t been soaked for long, lifting it up now ans that by morning when the water drains, it would still be fine, and the yield wouldn’t suffer much loss.
Soon, Hexi and Aunt Yang also ca to help. Almost all of Xiangmu Village’s fields were busy with people.
This is a matter concerning the harvest, no one dares to be careless.
They worked for nearly an hour, finally lifting all the fallen rice. Preparing to head back, they saw Zhang Yuan’s field next to theirs also had fallen rice, so they jumped in to help.
Zhang Yuan’s parents were old, and their health wasn’t good, leaving most of the work to the couple and their children. They probably couldn’t manage it all.
By the ti Zhang Yuan and his wife finished elsewhere and ca over, Jiang Hu and the others had lifted all the fallen rice.
The couple thanked them repeatedly and sent their older children ho, then went to help other families.
All being villagers, every family’s crops are important. Helping others today ans that when you need help, others will aid you too.
Jiang Hu told his second aunt, whose health wasn’t good, to head back with Aunt Yang first, while he and Hexi went to help others.
They didn’t bother about whose fields they were. As long as there were toppled rice, they’d jump in to assist.
When Jiang Hu’s second aunt and the others returned ho, ng Tao was already at Jiang Hu’s house, called by Aunt Yang on her way out. She had prepared a pot of ginger tea and heated water.
After drinking the ginger tea, they went to wash and change clothes, then lit a fire to warm themselves, driving away the cold.
After all, autumn had arrived, and nights were already cool, even more so after the rain, and they had stayed in the water for quite so ti.
If not properly cared for, it’s easy to leave a lingering illness.
After about an hour, Jiang Hu and Hexi also returned. Jiang Hu’s second aunt and Aunt Yang, with their cold bodies, ward themselves by the fire, drying their hair, before tidying up and heading to bed.
Though Jiang Hu and Hexi were n, not as physically cold as won, they had been in the water even longer, and in the urgency of the situation, they hadn’t worn waterproof boots. They, too, drank ginger tea and ward themselves by the fire for over half an hour.
By then, dawn was breaking, and it would soon be ti for the school children to get up.
The children slept well, and despite Jiang Hu and others moving about quietly, they managed not to wake the kids.
When the kids awoke and saw it was Han Yan making breakfast, while their parents were still in bed, they were almost shocked, worried their parents might be ill.
Fortunately, the quick response salvaged the situation. Although the torrential rain ca unexpectedly, it did not cause any harm to the crops; a few sunny days later, everything would be as before.
Thanks to having gathered up all the fish from the rice paddies yesterday, the Jiang family avoided any losses this year.
As the water level on the ground fell, and the water level in the channels receded, the Jiang family’s fish pond began bustling with activity.
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