Chapter 54: Torrential Rains, Floods, and Grain Panic

Chapter 54: Heavy Rains, Floods, and Grain Panic

As summer arrived, a gloomy and continuous drizzle had turned into torrential downpours lasting for several days.

He Yuzhu stood on the porch, gazing at the gloomy sky and the heavy, bucket-pouring rain outside.

The accumulated water in the small courtyard had no time to drain away and had already risen above his ankles.

Without even looking, he knew there must be a vast amount of water pooled on the streets. Fortunately, Yushu was on school break and didn't need to go to classes. Ever since He Yuzhu left the Fengzeyuan Restaurant, he hadn't looked for another job, effectively making him a complete vagrant. Neither of the siblings needed to go out, so they simply huddled together at home.

"Brother, when is this rain ever going to stop?" Yushu came out and stood beside He Yuzhu, looking at the pouring rain as she asked.

He Yuzhu knew that being cooped up indoors for days on end had made Yushu eager to go outside and play.

Aside from the beginning when He Yuzhu played chess with her to keep her occupied, Yushu had barely managed to stay inside. After that, she would frequently look out at the rain with longing eyes, hoping it would clear up soon.

He Yuzhu didn't know how to read the weather; who could possibly tell when the rain would stop? He could only comfort her: "Soon, I suppose. It's been raining for so many days, it's bound to stop."

"Oh," Yushu replied with a lackluster tone. It was the exact same answer her brother had given her when she asked the same question yesterday.

That night, the rain continued to fall without the slightest intention of stopping. In the middle of the night, He Yuzhu heard a crashing sound coming from the neighboring courtyard. It was likely that the wall of an already dilapidated house next door had finally collapsed.

Waking up the next morning, He Yuzhu looked outside and noticed that the rain had eased up considerably. It would probably stop soon.

After finishing breakfast with Yushu, He Yuzhu braved the rain to clear out the drainage ditch in the courtyard, speeding up the runoff.

By late morning, the rain had grown lighter and lighter. Yushu put up her umbrella and ran out into the courtyard to play in the water.

What child could possibly resist playing in puddles? In his past life, He Yuzhu had also loved playing in the rain when he was little.

He Yuzhu didn't plan to stop her; he only instructed, "Be careful. As soon as your clothes get wet, hurry back inside and change."

"I know, Brother!" Yushu was still enthusiastically splashing around in a small puddle.

At this rate, it wouldn't be long before not a single spot on Yushu was dry. He Yuzhu turned, went back inside, placed a set of clothes and a towel on the bed for her, and decided to call her in to change shortly. Then he went to the kitchen to boil a pot of ginger tea.

Having made all the preparations, He Yuzhu put on a traditional coir rain cape and headed to the neighboring courtyard. The water accumulation in the yard was severe, so He Yuzhu had to clear the drainage ditch in the front yard first. Once the water drained out, he went to the backyard and saw that one of the rooms had collapsed. That must have been the sound he heard last night.

After clearing the drainage ditch in the backyard as well, He Yuzhu turned and walked back.

When he returned, he saw that Yushu was drenched from head to toe, her umbrella discarded, still playing wildly in the water.

"Yushu, what did Brother just tell you? Get inside right now!" He Yuzhu said, sounding a bit angry.

Seeing that her brother was upset, Yushu hurried inside.

He Yuzhu followed closely behind. Once they were indoors, he immediately grabbed a towel and told Yushu to dry herself off.

Then he went to the kitchen, fetched a bowl of ginger tea, handed it to Yushu, and said, "Drink this right away. I'm going to heat up some water for you, and you can take a hot bath in a bit."

With that, He Yuzhu went off to heat bathwater for Yushu.

In the afternoon, although the sky remained overcast, the rain had finally stopped.

After finishing her lunch, Yushu couldn't wait any longer and asked He Yuzhu to take her to her master's house so she could play with Xiaohu and nearby classmates.

He Yuzhu dropped Yushu off and returned home. No sooner had he stepped through the threshold than he heard a knock on the door. Opening it, he saw Auntie Li from the neighborhood residents' committee standing outside. "Auntie Li, come on in. Is there something you need?"

"I won't come in. With all this heavy rain for the past few days, I've come to check if your house suffered any damage. If it did, the street office will arrange for people to come and repair it based on the extent of the damage," Auntie Li said.

"Our place is fine. Just a few tiles on the wing room broke, and it leaked a bit. Once it clears up, I'll replace them myself; there's no need to trouble the residents' committee."

"Alright then, I won't put you down on the list." No sooner had Auntie Li finished speaking than she sneezed several times in a row.

"Oh dear, Auntie Li, sounds like you've caught a cold. I still have some ginger tea left; let me get you a bowl." With that, He Yuzhu hurried into the kitchen and brought out a piping hot bowl of ginger tea for Auntie Li.

"Auntie Li, drink it while it's hot, or you won't be able to serve the people if you fall sick."

Auntie Li indeed felt a bit under the weather. "I won't stand on ceremony with you then. We've been out since the morning before the rain stopped, trying to get the statistics done. I caught a bit of a chill."

With that, Auntie Li took the bowl and drank it down in one breath, handing the bowl back to He Yuzhu. "Thanks, Zhuzi. I feel much warmer after drinking this."

"I still have several households to visit, so I won't chat with you any longer, Zhuzi. If anything comes up, come find me at the residents' committee." Auntie Li finished speaking and hurried off in a rush.

A few days later, the weather cleared up, and rumors began to circulate on the streets. First came the news that Hebei had suffered floods, and gradually, it was said that the Yangtze River had flooded as well, striking the major grain-producing regions. There wouldn't be enough food to eat.

From that moment on, long lines began to form outside the designated state-run grain stores. Everyone rushed to buy their rationed grain as quickly as possible, fearing that one day soon, no grain would be available at all.

Although He Yuzhu wasn't short on food, he still grabbed a sack and joined the bustling crowd. He had to; after all, if everyone else was standing in line to buy grain and you remained completely indifferent, you would look far too out of place.

Besides, standing in line not only allowed one to hear exaggerated rumors and neighborhood gossip, but occasionally, it also offered a glimpse of fights breaking out among people waiting in turn. In this era devoid of entertainment, watching people fight was prime amusement. Nor did one need to worry about innocent bystanders getting hurt, since police officers were stationed right nearby to keep order.

Meanwhile, hidden enemy spies also began to stir. First, someone attacked the granary in the west of the city and set it on fire. Although the blaze was quickly brought under control and turned out to have consumed an abandoned granary with very little actual grain lost, the damage to supplies was minimal.

By the next day, however, rumors were flying everywhere. At first, they said enemy spies had burned down the granary and destroyed half the grain supply. Later, it morphed into the claim that the entire grain depot had burned down, leaving not a single kernel behind.

Combined with the gunshots local residents heard the night before and the genuine glow of fire they had seen in the direction of the grain depot, people believed it better to be safe than sorry—better to believe it true than risk it being false.

Early the next morning, nearby residents rushed out to line up again, sharing what they had witnessed the previous night while waiting. Naturally, every account was exaggerated, each one more sensational than the last.

As these tales passed from person to person, the resulting panic grew larger and larger.

The street office, the residents' committee, and the police station all deployed personnel onto the streets to maintain order, and committee members began debunking the rumors right in the queuing areas.

Following reports in the newspapers and a guided tour organized by the residents' committee for neighborhood representatives to inspect the supposedly charred granary with their own eyes, the rumors were finally suppressed. People stopped worrying as frantically as they had at first, though they continued to queue up anyway, knowing that major grain-producing regions like the Yangtze River valley had indeed suffered floods, meaning agricultural yields were bound to drop.

It wasn't until after the autumn harvest and the completion of the state unified grain purchase and sales program that large shipments of grain were finally transported into Four-Nine City. The newspapers reported that the state unified procurement quota had been exceeded, yielding an extra 4.7 billion catties of grain. The residents' committee also launched promotional campaigns. Only when the populace realized the nation was not short of grain did the crowds in the lines slowly disperse.

The grain panic triggered by the floods completely subsided, and the hidden enemy spies, seeing the situation, went back into deep hiding.