Chapter 96

Chapter 96

That afternoon, Uncle Chen found his tools and repaired the mule cart.

Li Shi had originally planned to leave that day, but Wang Ying, fearing the muddy roads might trap the wheels, reassured her to wait a little longer. With the sun so strong, the ground would soon dry and firm up.

That night, everyone slept in the open-air house. Wang Ying, making the best of a bad situation, taught his son to count the stars.

The little one had a surprisingly good memory, able to count from one to ten in no time.

As he counted, the child grew sleepy. Wang Ying placed him beside his mother-in-law, then rose and left the house to enter the experimental field.

Coincidentally, Chen Qingyan was also there today. The two hadn't seen each other for six or seven days.

At their sudden meeting, Chen Qingyan was startled. He took Wang Ying’s hands and scrutinized him, noticing his disheveled hair and mud-stained clothes. "Has something happened at home? Why do you look so distressed?"

Wang Ying then recounted the flood. "It’s been raining heavily for the past few days, and our area was hit by a major flood."

"Was the water severe? How is the family? Is anyone hurt? Why didn’t you tell me about such a big matter sooner!"

"Telling you would have been useless; it would only make you worry needlessly. Everyone at home is fine. The floodwaters have receded, but the houses in the annex were all damaged and are likely uninhabitable."

Chen Qingyan anxiously paced back and forth. "The houses were all destroyed? How could you all be fine in such a massive flood? A Ying, don’t lie to me..."

"Why would I lie? Seeing how heavy the rain was, I led the villagers up the mountain to seek shelter two days in advance. There’s a large cave on the back mountain. We stayed there for four or five days and only returned today after the water receded."

Chen Qingyan’s worried heart finally settled. Seeing Wang Ying’s pale face, he couldn’t help but pull him into a tight embrace. "You’ve had a hard time these days."

"It wasn’t hard, just a bit frightening. While on the mountain, we didn’t know when the rain would stop. There were even people from other villages who came trying to seize the cave. Luckily, our village had more people and scared them off."

Chen Qingyan himself felt a surge of lingering fear. Having read many books, he knew such times were prone to turmoil. A Ying, with the child and his mother, had truly endured a lot.

"Thankfully, it’s all over now."

Chen Qingyan kissed his forehead. "Perhaps I should return for a visit. I won’t feel at ease until I see you all."

"Laizhou is so far from here. By the time you return, we’ll have already finished cleaning up, and you won’t be able to help much. Just focus on your studies at the prefectural school."

"But..."

"Don’t overthink it. I’m here to handle things at home."

Chen Qingyan held Wang Ying tightly. Sometimes he felt A Ying was even more capable than a man. Aside from reading a few books and writing some maudlin poetry, he was inferior to A Ying in every way. Without A Ying, he wouldn't know what to do.

"Take good care of yourself and your younger brothers while you’re away. Remember to write home. Mother and Third Aunt were just mentioning a few days ago that it’s been so long without a letter from you. They were very worried."

Chen Qingyan had forgotten about this too. "Alright, I’ll write a letter and send it as soon as I return. I leave the family to you."

"Don’t worry."

After spending some time together, they parted ways. When Wang Ying emerged, he happened to run into Li Shi. The two stood staring at each other in surprise for a long moment.

"Mother..."

Li Shi hadn’t recovered from her shock. "A Ying, where did you go just now? How did you suddenly appear? You nearly scared me to death..."

Wang Ying hadn’t expected Li Shi to appear suddenly either. It seemed he couldn’t hide it anymore, so he sat her down and told her about the experimental field.

Learning that her son could also enter that experimental field, Li Shi was astonished. "Did you two just meet?"

Wang Ying nodded. "I told him about the situation at home. News of such a big flood will soon reach Laizhou. Rather than letting him hear it from others and worry, it’s better to tell him directly."

"Then the vegetables you sold in winter, were they..." Previously, Wang Ying had said the vegetables were grown on the estate, but the small plot by the warm spring couldn’t possibly yield enough to sell. Back then, Li Shi hadn’t thought too much about it, but now she finally understood.

"Yes, they were all grown in the experimental field, along with fruits and grains. I didn’t dare tell you earlier, afraid you’d think I was some kind of supernatural being."

Li Shi patted his hand. "Silly child, you’ve been here so long. I think of you as my own son; how could I think you’re a supernatural being?"

"But you must never tell anyone else about this, not even your younger siblings, understand? Qing Yun and Qing Song aren’t married yet. Once they start their own families, their hearts may not remain aligned with yours."

Wang Ying was touched, knowing his mother-in-law truly cared for him. "I understand."

Li Shi suddenly remembered Yuan Bao’s earlier disappearance. "Can Yuan Bao also go in?"

Wang Ying chuckled. "Yes, a while ago he ran in on his own and gave everyone a scare."

"That’s actually good. The father and son can meet regularly, so Yuan Bao won’t forget his father. But... can I go in to see Qing Yan?"

Wang Ying shook his head. "Others can’t enter. The experimental field only allows inanimate objects, not living things. Once I brought a cricket inside, but it was crushed by some unknown force. I never dared try again after that."

Li Shi quickly dismissed the idea. "It’s getting late. Hurry back to sleep."

*

Early the next morning, the group set off for town in the mule cart.

Since the roads were destroyed by the flood, Uncle Chen had to rely on memory to find the way.

Along the way, they encountered some survivors who stared at them with numb expressions. Some even tried to rob the cart, frightening Uncle Chen into waving his whip threateningly and shouting to scare them off.

After a journey that was tense but without incident, they arrived in town. As soon as they entered, they saw several people lying on the roadside, blocking the cart’s path.

Uncle Chen, worried it might be a trap, didn’t dare get down. He shouted a few times, but the people didn’t move. Gathering his courage, he poked one with a stick. To his horror, the person’s flesh sank inward—it was a corpse!

Everyone in the cart screamed. Wang Ying quickly covered Yuan Bao’s eyes. It took Uncle Chen a while to recover before he moved the two bodies aside and drove the cart onward.

Along the way, they saw drowned bodies everywhere—some already decomposed, some bloated beyond recognition, and others swarming with maggots in the heat, a sight that could give someone nightmares for days.

Wang Ying’s heart sank. It seemed the town was no better off than the estate...

Arriving home, they found the main gate wide open. The gatekeeper, Lin Zai, was nowhere to be seen. The courtyard was filled with mud and debris, along with a few dead chickens and dogs that had washed in from somewhere, already rotting and stinking.

Entering the central courtyard, they saw the main house had collapsed halfway! The furniture inside was scattered and broken beyond repair.

Li Shi nearly fainted at the sight.

Qing Yun quickly steadied her. "Mother!"

Though she had expected it, seeing the home she had lived in for half her life destroyed was still hard to accept.

She remembered when she first married into the family, Brother Xian playing with her in the courtyard. She remembered when Qing Yan was born, teaching him to toddle here. She remembered the joss paper floating everywhere when her husband passed away...

Good or bad, this place held too many memories for her. Now nothing but ruins, her heart ached deeply.

Chen Rong also cried until her eyes were red. She had grown up here, and even after marrying, there was always a room here that belonged to her—left by her parents. Now, even that last memento was gone.

After crying for a long while, everyone finally pulled themselves together and hurried to search for the servants. Several had been left behind when they fled; it was unknown if any had survived.

They searched the front and back courtyards but found no trace of anyone. Wang Ying comforted himself: no bodies meant there was still hope they were alive, perhaps having found shelter elsewhere.

Seeing the main house was uninhabitable and couldn’t be cleaned up quickly, they had to pick a few rooms that were still standing at the back to stay in temporarily.

Wang Ying scanned the room and said, "No need to tidy up right away. Let’s fix the main gate first. Who knows how many folks are even left in town? I’m worried someone might take advantage and try to steal our grain. We should prepare in advance."

Upon hearing this, Uncle Chen immediately went with Dun Zi to repair the gate.

The others began clearing the mud from the rooms and worked together to move the beds outside to dry.

Chen Rong and Li Shi removed their cumbersome outer skirts, tied up their hair, and threw on work clothes to join in the work.

Although both were accustomed to a life of comfort, neither was fussy or sorry for themselves. Instead, they quickly set about tidying up with the children.

Woody and Chun Sheng stayed by Yuan Bao’s side, playing with him and the cats and dogs.

Big Orange and Wang Wang had been brought back as well; if left in the village, they might have been eaten by others.

Once the gate was repaired and bolted from the inside, Dun Zi tested it by pushing from the outside a few times. It held firm, and Uncle Chen felt relieved.

While everyone was busy, Wang Ying went alone to the innermost storeroom to take a look.

The items inside had long been ruined by the floodwaters, but there was a dry upper shelf where the millet from the experimental field could be stored, making it look like it stayed dry.

Tomorrow, he would send Dun Zi back to the village to send for folks to collect the grain seeds. They needed to plant this batch quickly to avoid missing the season.

As dusk fell, the children grew hungry, and Aunt Chen hurried to start a fire and prepare a meal.

A large pot of rice porridge with some pickles on the side was served. Everyone dug in, feeling much safer now that they were home. No matter what, it was far better than living in a cave.

That night, Woody and Chun Sheng slept with Uncle Chen and the others in the front rooms.

Wang Ying and his family crowded into the two rooms in the backyard. Wang Ying shared a bed with Yuan Bao, Li Shi slept with her daughter, and Chen Rong shared with Lin Sui.

In the middle of the night, they were abruptly awakened by shouting. Wang Ying quickly threw on some clothes and got up, pausing on his way to grab a kitchen knife from outside.

Uncle Chen and Dun Zi were angrily scolding someone knocking at the gate. "Beat it! Do you even know whose house this is? Don't you dare start trouble here!"

"Please, sir, have a heart! The kids are starving. Just give us a bite to eat!"

"Go away! We don’t have any food ourselves. If you don’t leave, I’ll come out swinging!"

The people outside continued to ram the gate relentlessly. This group was made up of notorious town troublemakers who had survived the flood. Seven or eight of them had banded together, going door to door to loot grain, silver, and money.

The Chen family had already been ransacked once by them, and anything movable in the storeroom had been taken.

Now, seeing that the gate had been repaired, they assumed the family had returned and got it in their heads to try to loot the place again.

As the gate shook precariously under their assault, Uncle Chen and Dun Zi grew increasingly anxious, both resolved to risk their lives to keep the intruders out.

Seeing this, Wang Ying tightened his grip on the kitchen knife, peeked through a gap in the gate, and as one of the men lunged forward, he swung the knife out, catching the man right on the shoulder.

"Agh!" the man cried out, stumbling backward while clutching his shoulder and swearing up a storm.

Wang Ying roared, "The flood didn’t drown you, but I’ll chop you down if you don’t back off!"

Frightened by his ferocity, the group outside muttered curses and retreated.