Baozi Xishi's Struggle

Chapter 491 The worrying canal dam

During the Qingming Festival, because the inn had just opened and the staff was inexperienced, Li was unable to spare the time to return home to pay homage to the ancestors.

At this time, he happened to take Yucheng, Yutao and Doctor Sun back to Dongxi Village to visit Mr. Shen's grave and report safety.

Shen Yu didn't have a good impression of Dongxi Village, and returning to her hometown to pay respects to her ancestors was nothing she cared about.

In addition, the store recently launched new dishes that required Shen Yu to be the chef, so Shen Yu simply stayed on this basis.

Li also knew that someone had to stay in the store, so she took Yucheng and Yutao back.

Because he was concerned about the shop, he was away for only three days. After paying homage to the ancestors, he went to visit Mr. Li and then hurried back with Doctor Sun.

Li Lao Da and Li Lao Er had too much work to do in the fields these days and had no time to come and stay in the county town.

It was agreed that after some time, when the work in the fields was less busy, the two families would come together.

However, although Boss Li did not come, he asked Li to bring good news to Shen Yu.

The chili peppers have been planted, but perhaps because of the unfamiliar climate and soil, the seedlings have grown a little short. Although the flowers have bloomed, they are very sparse. I don't know how many fruits they will produce in the end.

When the fruits are ripe, I will send a message to Shen Yu as soon as possible.

Shen Yu was very happy to hear the news, and his anticipation for Haijiao was comparable to Li's enthusiasm for Lu Langzhong to become the top scholar.

Everything was fine.

These days, Shen Yu's family has lived a peaceful and fulfilling life.

Eating and drinking, opening a shop to make money, and laughter are constant in the courtyard every day.

The only thing that can be considered an annoyance is that it has rained quite a lot since April.

Although the street in front of the restaurant has been renovated, it is still wet everywhere inside and outside the house, making it extremely inconvenient to go in and out.

Moreover, the weather is always gloomy, and there is no sun. Even vegetables cannot grow well, and vegetables that have been soaked by rain are not easy to preserve.

These days, the elderly people in the county town always say that this year's harvest does not look good and we have to be prepared for floods.

There was a severe drought in the spring and summer of last year. At its worst, the water in the canal was so shallow that large ships could not sail.

This year's spring and summer were the opposite. It started raining in April and has hardly stopped in recent days. The water in the canal has risen faster than in previous years.

I don’t know if the canal embankment can withstand it if the rain continues like this.

Because the river embankment was well repaired last winter, when the peach blossom flood came in March, the river embankment in Anping County was able to withstand the spring flooding safely, which gave the people great confidence.

When the elders first said this, no one took it seriously.

They all said that the river embankment was well reinforced. The water volume during the peach blossom flood was even greater and more urgent, but they still withstood it. What's this drizzle?

The old people are just scaring themselves and worrying about nothing.

But the old people said that what they were afraid of was not the sudden flood in sunny weather.

Instead, after the rain water soaked the levee, the levee became soft.

If the water in the canal was higher at this time, it would be easy for the water to slowly wash out the outlet.

In previous years, if there was more rain in spring and summer, such examples often occurred in counties along the canal.

Shen Yu didn't take it seriously at first, but a few groups of merchants coming from the south talked about what they saw and heard along the way while eating in the restaurant.

They also say that there is more rain this year than in previous years, and judging from the weather, there is still more rain to come.

Everyone was worried about how to get on the road, fearing that the rain would soak the road surface when traveling by land, or that rocks from the mountains on the side of the road would wash down and block the road.

Considering the concerns of the local elderly people, Shen Yu became somewhat alert.

Although she has not experienced a flood personally, she has seen a lot of floods on the Internet and on television in modern times.

Every summer, all places always put flood prevention as their top priority, and Shen Yu still has a sense of safety.

Shen Yu discussed with Li that they should prepare more storable food and pickles at home, as well as some sandbags and wooden boards, just in case.

We have to be prepared for the rain to really wash away the levee and block the roads to the county town, trapping the whole family in the county town without food.

None of the ladies in the family had ever experienced a flood that broke the dam.

Even Dr. Sun, who is so old, has never experienced this because he has lived in the north without a river for many years.

At most, we have encountered road flooding due to heavy rain in the summer, but we would be trapped after a few days and the water would go away.

After hearing what Shen Yu said, everyone felt that she was a little too nervous.

They also say that if food is stored in such weather, it will easily go moldy.

I advise Shen Yu not to trust the words of those southern merchants, as this is not the southern territory.

This time, Shen Yu insisted on saving it.

Her reason was that she was not afraid of ten thousand things, but of the worst that could happen. If the county really ran out of food, it would be too late to regret.

What's more, my family runs a grocery store, so even if we store some food, it will be used up quickly. At worst, we can just buy food in advance.

Li always listens to Shen Yu on important matters.

Hearing Shen Yu say this and looking at the drizzle still falling outside, I felt that what Shen Yu said made sense.

I agreed because I thought it would make me feel more at ease if I stored some food.

To be on the safe side, Shen Yu did not store food in the unused vegetable cellar in the courtyard, but instead specially cleared out two large rooms at the back of the inn.

The house was padded with wooden boards and sprinkled with lime powder to prevent moisture and insects, and then the food that was purchased was piled there.

He also hurriedly bought a lot of radishes and pickled several large jars of pickles, and purchased some sandbags and wooden boards.

After preparing all these, Shen Yu chose a time when the rain was light and took a mule cart in the rain to go to the canal embankment to take a look.

The water level in the canal had indeed risen a lot. The places where the laborers used to catch fish and rabbits in the winter had long been submerged under water and could no longer be seen.

The embankment of the canal felt a bit soft when stepped on, as if it had been soaked with water, and it was a bit worrying to walk on it.

The water in the river was flowing fast and was very turbid, completely different from the calm and gentle state it is in the fall and winter.

After Shen Yu got down from the embankment, he took a car home.

On the way back, my mind was full of the embankment that didn't look very solid. Halfway through the journey, I asked the driver to change the route and go straight to the county government office.

Because they had eaten New Year's Eve dinner together, the yamen runners greeted Shen Yu with smiles.

When he heard that she wanted to see Master Qian, he took her to Master Qian's room in the front yamen without saying a word.

Master Qian, who was in charge of money and grain, was free at the moment and was very surprised to see Shen Yu come in.

After Shen Yu greeted him, he told Master Qian about the experiences of the elders, what he had seen and heard from the merchants from the south, and his own concerns.

After saying this, Shen Yu saw that Master Qian was listening attentively, so he asked again: "I wonder if the county annals of Anping County in previous years record whether this canal is solid and whether it can be safely passed every spring and summer."

Master Qian has also been worried about this these days.