Chapter 301: Chapter 301: A Windfall From the Sky
Since they still had to wait for three more days, the Qi Family discussed and decided not to just wait idly. Everyone should get on with their own tasks!
So early the next morning, most of the Qi Family returned to the village.
The remaining people were busy reopening the restaurant.
Qi Manman sat in the carriage with her mother, nestled in her mother’s arms, blinking her big eyes and looking at her mother’s chin, "Mom, are we going to the city again in a couple of days?"
"Yes, we’ll go to the city then."
Yi Meng tidied the stray strands of hair by her daughter’s ear and asked, "Doesn’t Manbao want to go to the city anymore?"
Qi Manman grabbed her mother’s fingers, her two chubby little hands flipping her mother’s hands back and forth. After a while, she said, "It’s not that I don’t want to go to the city, it’s just that when it rains heavily then, the road will be hard to travel."
"Heavy rain?"
Yi Meng’s heart skipped a beat, and she quickly helped her daughter sit upright, "Manbao, will the rain be very heavy?"
Right now, the carriage only had the two of them inside.
Qi Manman blinked and thought for a moment before saying, "Very heavy, even the river in front is overflowing."
Yi Meng couldn’t sit still after hearing this, and quickly opened the curtain and called out, "Brother Jin, stop the carriage, I need to talk to Dad and Mom."
If it really does rain heavily, that’s not a good thing.
Qi Quanjin heard this and quickly slowed the carriage down.
The carriages behind them gradually came to a halt one after another.
Qi Quanjin jumped off the carriage, turned around, and helped his wife down, and then finally lifted their daughter down.
"What’s the matter?"
Mrs. Qi was half-asleep in the carriage, and the sudden stop gave her a fright.
"Mom, Meng Niang wants to talk to you and Dad."
Qi Quanjin’s voice came from outside the carriage.
As the door curtain was lifted, the first to come in was Qi Manman.
"Oh, my precious Manbao, come over here!"
Mrs. Qi was utterly delighted to see her precious granddaughter.
If it weren’t for her granddaughter wanting to stick with her mother just earlier, Mrs. Qi would have already taken her onto her own carriage.
Yi Meng also bent over and came in, glanced at Qi Quanjin, who didn’t say a word, turned around, returned to the other carriage, and continued on the journey.
"Meng Niang, what’s happened?"
Qi Zheng was naturally fond of his granddaughter too, but seeing Yi Meng’s grave expression, he knew surely something was up again.
Yi Meng didn’t hide it and directly talked about the heavy rain forecast in a couple of days.
This news made both Qi Zheng and Mrs. Qi’s expressions change. They both swiftly looked at Qi Manman, who was munching on a piece of cake.
"Dad, Mom, the river water will rise. Although it may not cause a flood, it’s estimated that many houses in the village need to be thoroughly checked. If it really leaks, repairing the house in the rain is impossible, and catching a cold would be troublesome."
Yi Meng said.
Qi Zheng nodded upon hearing this, "That’s true. I’ll tell the fourth one to notify the villagers to thoroughly check their houses."
The houses in the current Yongping Village were newly built in the past two years. Supposedly, they wouldn’t leak with just a rain, but better to be safe than sorry, especially since many houses still have thatched roofs, so a thorough check wouldn’t hurt.
Back in the village, Qi Quanjin had just driven the horses to the stable when he heard Qi Dafu calling him.
"Big brother, what’s up?"
Qi Quanjin asked as he walked.
Qi Dafu shook his head and pointed to the front yard, "Dad wants you, he’s in the front hall."
"Oh."
Qi Quanjin didn’t think much of it and followed his big brother to the front yard.
Upon reaching the front hall, he saw not only the old man but the other male members of the family over ten years old.
"Dad, what’s going on?"
Only then did Qi Quanjin realize something was amiss.
Gathering almost all the older children in the family meant something significant was to be announced.
Qi Zheng took a sip of tea and said, "I see the sky doesn’t look quite right, seems there will be heavy rain. Fourth, notify the villagers to check their houses thoroughly, so when the heavy rain falls outside, it’s not raining partially inside the house. It’s not easy to handle if there’s nowhere dry and they get sick."
Then he turned to the other sons and grandsons and said, "Take advantage of this good weather and check your roofs, then dig the ridges in the fields that are prone to soak."
"Dad, is it really going to rain?"
Qi Quanli was a bit skeptical.
His father had never had such skill before.
Yet his doubtful inquiry only received a glare from the old man, "You don’t believe what I say now, huh? Want to go up to the sky?"
Qi Quanli shrank his neck back and chuckled, "No way! Dad, whatever you say, I’ll go check the roof now."
He stood up and dashed out immediately after speaking.
"Almost twenty and still so restless!"
Qi Zheng got upset seeing his youngest son like that.
Qi Quanyin sitting nearby with crossed legs said, "Dad, don’t be angry. When that boy marries a wife, he’ll settle down."
"What kind of sitting posture is that?"
Qi Zheng’s gaze landed on Qi Quanyin’s crossed legs, and he scolded, "You got married and didn’t make much progress either! Let your mom properly teach your wife to manage you better!"
Qi Quanyin immediately put his legs down, stood up quickly, and dashed outside, shouting as he ran, "Dad, I’m going to work now!"
"Each and every one of them will be the death of this old man!"
Qi Zheng angrily slammed the table.
The other people exchanged glances and obediently got up and walked towards the door.
The old man’s mood was bad, better not provoke him, or the old lady will find out, and they’ll be the ones suffering later.
Qi Quanjin didn’t leave, waited until everyone else had gone, and alone with his father, he said, "Dad, will the rain be really heavy?"
"Yes, the other side of the river might be overflowing."
Qi Zheng frowned, "Fourth, make sure the villagers keep their children away from the river lately, nothing must happen."
"Yes, I understand."
Qi Quanjin was very confident in his old father’s words.
After all, he was an old farming hand, very experienced in observing the weather.
Sure enough, after Qi Quanjin brought up the rain with some village elders, someone agreed that the weather would change.
Some were old farming hands who judged from watching the sky, and others had rheumatism, with aching arms and legs when the weather changed.
This made Qi Quanjin trust his father’s judgment even more.
For a while, the village became busy.
The workers who originally came to the village for work were once again given leave, this time for four days.
Four days later, if the rain stopped, they would return to work. If not, or if families needed time to repair roofs, the leave would be extended.
In a word.
Safety first.
The workers were deeply moved.
Besides the leave announcement, Village Chief Qi also said that even if they didn’t come to work on the days of heavy rain and the two days after, they would still receive their wages as if they were working.
This was simply like a pie falling from the sky!
