Baozi Xishi's Struggle

Chapter 493 Something happened

Now, we not only have money to pay for flood prevention and embankment repairs this summer.

The remaining money can be used to repair the embankments along the river in Anping County after the water level in the canal drops in the autumn.

When the rainy season comes again in spring and summer next year, I will be able to sleep soundly until dawn without having to worry so much.

As there were no adult males in Shen Yu's family, he discussed with the shop assistants and asked them to take turns to follow the river patrol team. They would receive their wages as usual and receive additional subsidies for the day's patrol.

The waiters have been working in the inn and restaurant for these days and have become very convinced of Shen Yu. Moreover, the pay here is much better than working elsewhere, and they can also learn some skills, so they cherish this job even more.

After hearing what Shen Yu said, he said, "This river patrol is not tiring, and it is everyone's job. How can I let a girl give me extra money? Is that still a manly thing?"

Shen Yu thanked them with a smile, and just planned to give them a little more salary when he paid them at the end of the month.

As for donating money, Shen Yu didn't want to pretend to be a rich man, so he followed the example of other shops on the street and donated ten taels of silver.

On the second day, diners were all saying that the river patrol team had been divided into shifts, and would patrol the canal embankment on rainy days.

A convoy from the county government also moved a lot of sandbags and stones to the levee in preparation for the flood season.

When the diners mentioned this, they all praised the county magistrate for loving the people like his own children, and they felt a lot more at ease.

After hearing this, Shen Yu felt more at ease. Although the rain was still falling intermittently, he had unknowingly put aside his worries.

Even the old people in the county town said that with the protection provided by the county magistrate, they can sleep peacefully this summer.

It was already the beginning of May. Counting the days, the imperial examination, which was held once every four years, should have been over.

Once the palace examination on May 18th is over, we will know who will be the top scholar this year.

Li has been extremely busy these days and rarely shows up in the store during the day.

She went to all the temples she could find that had efficacious incense and burned incense and made wishes, hoping that Lu Lang would get to the top of the imperial examination and become the top scholar.

Although Shen Yu didn't believe this, he knew that Li was working so hard and traveling around in the rain for his lifelong event, and he was deeply moved.

The weather in May has started to get hot in previous years, but this year it rained so much that the Dragon Boat Festival had already passed and people with weak bodies were still wearing padded jackets and couldn't take them off.

This day was the eighth day of May. It was a rare day without rain. Although the weather did not clear up, it seemed to be getting better.

But the sky in the north looked gloomy, with dark clouds rolling around, like man-eating monsters waiting for an opportunity to strike, which made people feel scared.

In the evening, it began to rain again. As the rain was not heavy, people did not take it seriously.

In the middle of the night, accompanied by the sound of "clattering" rain, Shen Yu was sleeping soundly, but he heard a loud commotion outside, and the sound of gongs from time to time.

Li and his companions also heard it, and they all got up and put on their clothes. The guests and waiters staying in the inn also got up, and the lights in each room were turned on one after another.

Everybody gathered in the lobby of the inn. The night watchman bravely went to the main door of the inn, opened it a crack and looked out. He saw people running on the street and shouting something from time to time.

The guy was so frightened that he thought there was a bandit, so he quickly locked the door and retreated.

We listened quietly for a while, and it seemed that there was no banditry as the waiter had said. But we vaguely heard words like "dike" and "heavy rain". We wanted to listen more carefully, but the person who had spoken had already run away.

Among the guests staying there, there were some impatient and courageous ones who volunteered to go out and get the news.

After only a cup of tea, he came back with a grim look on his face, muttering: "What should I do? What should I do?"

Everyone saw that his face was pale, his eyes were wide open, and he didn't answer their questions, so they became anxious.

One of the guests thought quickly and picked up a cup of herbal tea on the table, took a big sip and spit it out.

The inquiring guest was sprayed with tea all over his head and face, and he finally came to his senses.

He said anxiously, "I heard that it rained all day upstream today, and the embankment along the river couldn't withstand the scouring of the river water. A big hole was opened, flooding the county town in the neighboring county."

Everyone was shocked when they heard this and asked hurriedly, "How is the situation in our county town?"

The guest managed to cheer himself up and said, "The embankment here was well repaired last winter, and there are river patrol teams patrolling day and night, and there are enough sandbags prepared, so it's fine for now."

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief when they heard that everything was fine.

Someone laughed and scolded, "We are fine here, why did you come back like this? We were so scared that we thought something big happened."

The man had a sad face and waved his hands weakly, saying, "Wait for me to finish my words. If the neighboring county is flooded, we will be trapped here as well, and we won't be able to go to the capital."

"I heard that the gates of the county town are all closed. They will not open them until the water in the neighboring county recedes."

The customer said this with a bitter face and started to complain: "What can I do? The buyer has already placed an order for my goods and is still waiting for them."

"If I had known earlier, I should have stepped up a little bit. Everything would have been fine if we had hit the road yesterday."

"Now that the city gate is closed, the delivery date will be delayed, and a large fine will be paid when the time comes."

"I have delayed the delivery of the goods that the customer wanted. There will definitely be no next time. The customer is a big customer of our company. This loss is huge."

At this moment, no one had the energy to listen to his complaints, and they all thought that the things they were waiting to do would be delayed.

Now I am trapped here, and I don’t know how long I will be trapped here.

Some cursed God, some complained that the canal in the neighboring county was not strong enough, some regretted staying overnight, and some wanted to take a detour as soon as the city gate opened.

For a moment, everyone was talking at once, saying all kinds of things.

Shen Yu listened to everyone's discussion and felt heavy in his heart.

I didn't expect that while nothing happened in Anping County, something happened in the neighboring county. I don't know how many people living near the river will suffer as a result.

There's no point worrying about these things now.

Shen Yu pulled himself together and tried to comfort the guests, "It's useless for everyone to worry here. Why don't you go back to your rooms and have a good rest?"

"Wait until daybreak, then go out to get some information and see what the situation is. Maybe once the rain stops, the water will recede in a day or two."

An experienced guest shook his head and said, "Miss Shen is still young and doesn't know how powerful this is."

"Once the riverbank is breached, the water won't recede for at least ten days or half a month."

"Although Anping County is safe, if the water in the neighboring county doesn't recede, the county town can only wait and see."