Disaster Apocalypse: Farming, Family, and My Hidden Secret Space
Chapter 293. Heart Blockage

Chapter 293: 293. Heart Blockage

After so many days under the scorching sun, the area has already become incredibly dry, but all the wood and firewood are of top quality.

A group of people looked at the messy patches in the forest with complex emotions. Even though they were mentally prepared, witnessing it firsthand still left them deeply blocked in their hearts.

If the trees, rooted so deeply, are in such a state, one can only imagine the condition of their village now.

"Village chief..." An emotional young man couldn’t help but choke up as he looked toward Old Han Hua.

"It’s okay." Old Han Hua patted the young man’s arm, suppressing the bitterness in his heart to soothe him.

"Let’s go back to the village."

A man can be sentimental, but not too sentimental; there are more things to be done next.

No matter what, the first thing to do is to face it.

With the village chief leading, everyone quickly put away their low spirits and followed him back to the village.

Along the way, they would bury the scattered bones that had drifted in from somewhere on the ground.

This time, Hua Jin did not follow closely behind her grandfather, but stayed at the back of the group, collecting the dry trees on the ground without attracting anyone’s attention as she walked.

"Sis, hurry up."

It was still Xiao Si who noticed she hadn’t caught up, running to the back to pull her along, looking at her with a face that seemed to say how worrisome his sister was, making Hua Jin struggle to hold back her laughter, looking at the piles of trees lying on the ground, she had to stop.

It wasn’t a regret though. In that time, she had already collected quite a lot in her space, and there would be another chance to collect more when they went up the mountain again. These fallen trees wouldn’t run away.

"Got it." She glanced at her brother, giving him a retaliatory few rubs on his head.

"Sister..." Caught off guard, Xiao Si looked at his sister helplessly.

From here, Hua Village wasn’t far. An incense stick later, the group finally arrived at the back of the village near the forest.

From a distance, one could see the wreckage ahead, the rows of courtyards that once belonged to Hua Village, now just ruins and collapsed walls. Those that maintained the overall structure of the house were less than one in ten.

Some had fallen completely, some had bits of walls left, and some were swept clean. If one weren’t too familiar, one couldn’t even locate where their house had been.

Apart from some animal and human bones, some parts of the village were so clean that even soil bricks were hard to find. Obviously, as the floodwaters receded, many things vanished with the flow.

Returning to the former village, everyone couldn’t hold back anymore and ran towards where their homes used to be.

It’s said that men don’t easily shed tears, but seeing their homes gone, no matter how strong they were, they couldn’t stop their eyes from turning red. The men’s eye sockets filled with tears, though they tried hard not to let them fall.

"Grandpa..." Xiao Si was already crying, tears flowing as if for free, tightly holding his grandfather’s hand.

Always carefree, only worrying about filling his stomach, Xiao Si had never considered that his home could be gone.

Living on the mountain, he sometimes thought about going home, but only believed that as long as they got past this, they could go home.

Seeing a village without a single intact house, Xiao Si really broke down for the first time, unable to control his sadness and just wanting to cry.

"It’s okay, it’s okay." In the past, Old Han Hua would have long since dismissed the little grandson to the side with scorn, but at this moment, he himself was upset, let alone the child. Softly soothing, his gaze rested uneasily on his granddaughter, and seeing that although she was downcast, she didn’t have extreme emotions, he finally felt relieved. _{f\r(e)ewe.b no\vel.com}

After crying for a while, Xiao Si felt a little better and looked up at his grandfather.

"Grandpa, is our home gone?" He asked, with teary eyes and sniffling, looked at his grandfather.

Before waiting for his grandfather to speak, his sister’s sudden move hit him hard, her palm landing on the back of his head, stunning Xiao Si.

"As a man, look at what you’ve become, your sister here hasn’t even cried and you’re whining. What’s all this about being here or not, just because the house collapsed, so what? We’re all fine, right? As long as we’re okay, we can build more houses, can’t we? Plus, our old house was so old. Out with the old, in with the new, isn’t living in a new one more comfortable? Crying like a woman, is that not ugly?"

Hua Jin’s words were not intentionally lowered. In fact, she purposely raised her voice, wanting everyone to hear. A man can’t stay immersed in pain and loss all the time.

Xiao Si was directly stunned by his sister’s barrage, even forgetting to shed tears.

Tears hung precariously on his eyelashes, making him look pitiful, but unfortunately, such looks had no effect on Hua Jin.

If she had been like her brother, crying whenever something happened, she would have been stripped to the bone by those distant relatives when their parents weren’t around.

Hua Jin’s words were quite ruthless, and after this motivational speech, many of the men who hadn’t gone far showed a look of shame in their eyes.

They realized they weren’t even as transparent as a child.

Old Han Hua, who had been somewhat sad, now felt no negative emotions, only looking at his beloved granddaughter with appreciation.

Worthy of being his granddaughter, her psychological resilience is truly strong, his face expressing a sense of shared pride.

"Your sister is right. Now that things have happened, we can’t dwell in pain, we must look forward. With your grandma and your parents around, why should we fear having nowhere to live? Besides, what’s wrong with where we’re living now?"

Old Han Hua, looking at Xiao Si with a sense of disappointment, was also addressing the others with his words.

"Let’s go home." Seeing that others had also listened, looking at the devastated village ahead, Old Han Hua headed towards their home.

Perhaps having imagined the worst, when standing outside the yard wall of their home, his mood was no longer as heavy.

Overall, it was better than previously imagined.

Though the yard wall had mostly collapsed, the overall outline was still intact, and the brick and tile structure of the house had also remained.

The yard was covered with thick mud, or rather, the entire Hua Village had thick mud, even the terrain had risen significantly, now almost at level with the rear of the village.

And apart from the mud were collapsed beams and other objects, but no sign of leftover furniture or anything else was seen. A glance at his granddaughter, whose big smile indicated she clearly understood.

Old Han Hua walked round and round their former home, feeling a touch of sourness and lament as he caressed the walls that had shown cracks from prolonged flooding, wondering when he could finally build new houses, when disasters would truly pass, and life would return to normal.

Hua Jin’s focus was different. Having lived there so long, it would be a lie to say she had no feelings for the home, just that she didn’t like dwelling on the past.

Seeing the bricks buried or scattered inside and outside the yard, Hua Jin began cleaning them up.

These were all valuable. Whether for building the yard or the house later, they would be useful and shouldn’t be wasted.

Not only shouldn’t they be wasted, but she also thought of checking the brick kiln for a look when possible, as there were probably still many green and red bricks stored there, and if they were unowned, she wouldn’t mind helping herself.