The Sweetness of the Seventies
Chapter 226: The Weather is Too Abnormal_1

Chapter 226: Chapter 226: The Weather is Too Abnormal_1

Liang Hongyu knew the gravity of the situation, but she just couldn’t swallow her pride, feeling a tightness in her chest. Eventually, not wanting her son to lose face, she bit back her anger, packed up the things, and sent them to the matchmaker.

Initially curious, the matchmaker became hesitant to offer any advice once Liang Hongyu explained the situation and quickly took the items to Guojia Village to retrieve the belongings of the groom’s family.

If it had been something else, perhaps there would have been room for maneuver. But with such an incident, no family could bear it, let alone the Qi Family, especially since Qi Rongjun worked in the city. Once married, he would spend most of his time away from home. Bringing in a woman like that, it would only be a matter of time before he was cuckolded.

Qi Rongmin, following his father’s instructions, took the proof to find Niu Dajun and buy tickets to Qi Rongjun’s workplace, intending to discuss the matter with Qi Rongjun in person.

Having only met once, it was too early to speak of affection, but the situation had caused a loss of face anyway.

By dealing with it this way, only their family knew about it, and Qi Rongjun’s military colleagues were none the wiser, so it didn’t count as losing face publicly.

The matchmaker brought back the groom’s belongings from Guojia Village and delivered them all to Village Chief Qi’s house. Ashamed, the matchmaker didn’t stick around any longer.

With spring plowing imminent, Village Chief Qi had no time to dwell on these messy matters.

Thanks to Village Chief Qi’s generosity, the dispute was not escalated, nor was Village Chief Guo held accountable, and the incident faded after a few days of gossip.

Not becoming in-laws was a regret for Village Chief Guo, but he was also grateful for Village Chief Qi’s upright and fair way of handling things, a favor he made a note to remember.

In the wake of the incident, the happiest person was Niu Lili, who, after receiving Qi Rongjun’s address from her cousin, took the initiative to write to Qi Rongjun. Since Qi Rongjun came home only once a year, unable to meet him in person, she had to get to know him slowly through correspondence.

Only He Tiantian and Qi Dajun were aware of this arrangement; no one else knew.

Waking up early in the morning, He Tiantian found her mouth dry and her nose bloody when she blew it, her throat somewhat parched.

Third Grandma Qi poured a cup of Chrysanthemum Tea and said, "Have some Chrysanthemum Tea, the dry weather is unusual indeed!"

After taking a sip of water, He Tiantian felt somewhat relieved and, puzzled, asked, "Grandma, what do you mean?"

She was feeling dry-mouthed and tongue-tied, could it be related to the weather? Was it not because she had caught a cold?

"Since the New Year, there has been no rain, the ground is dry, and people are becoming more irritable," Third Grandma Qi explained. "I’m feeling the heat too; that’s why I brewed Chrysanthemum Tea first thing this morning."

"It’s not too bad, it doesn’t seem like a drought! There’s still water in the village pond," said He Tiantian, seemingly unconcerned as she leisurely went about her morning routine, brushing her teeth.

Third Grandma Qi sighed, "Then you haven’t been to the fields! We can’t afford to eat our grains dry every day. Starting today, we’ll have porridge mornings and evenings, and something dry for lunch. I’m not refusing you food, Girl Tian, but you don’t know how hard the times of disaster were; we ate bark, anything edible, but still, many people starved. Right now, we have grain, eating less won’t kill us."

A family with an elder is like having a treasure!

Especially in such times, the elderly offer invaluable experience in dealing with forthcoming hardships.

"Alright then!" He Tiantian said. "Grandma, it’s up to you to manage at home, but don’t starve yourself either, your health is the most important."

"I’m old; I can survive on very little," Third Grandma Qi said somberly, weighed down with emotion.

When He Tiantian and Qi Xiaoyan went to the livestock team, they indeed found the outside world to be very dry.

The snow on the mountains had completely melted, and there was a sense of hasty lushness about them.

Last year’s livestock team had an increase in the number of animals, as Director Chen promised Village Chief Qi, and now they had been successively put in place. He Tiantian once again began cutting grass and cleaning up.

Besides the tasks, they also hunted a few sika deer from the mountain last year.

Village Chief Qi inquired and found out that deer antlers were quite valuable, and selling them was more profitable than selling the meat directly, so this was added to the livestock team’s work. This was also a form of preferential treatment given to Qijia Village by the commune after Village Chief Qi’s compromise last year.

The people living in the livestock team each had their jobs.

Qian Shikun, Sun Sihao, Zuo Li, and Xiang Rong, along with He Tiantian and Aunt Liu, were in charge of forage and sometimes took the cattle out to graze.

Old Man Qi, Professor Gu, Professor Wang, and Old Man Bai didn’t have to go up the mountains to cut grass or herd cattle; their only task was to keep the livestock team’s environment clean.

He Tiantian led the group to the mountain, which though lush and green, seemed lacking in vitality.

"It’s so hot this year!" Aunt Liu muttered as she wiped her sweat, "It’s really odd!"

"Yes, it shouldn’t be this hot, logically speaking!" Zuo Li said, also taking out a towel to wipe his sweat.

Xiang Rong looked at the grass and trees on the ground and said, "I always feel that the grass and trees on the mountain look listless, as if they have been baked dry of moisture."

As Aunt Liu worked, she said, "You’re right, I’ve noticed it too. I remember when I first came here, the three years of disaster started just like this. The trees and wild grass all wilted, not to mention the more delicate crops."

No sooner had she finished speaking, Zuo Li exclaimed in shock, "There’s been no rain since New Year, which isn’t normal. Spring rain is as precious as oil, but not a drop has fallen. Now it’s as hot as summer, which is too abnormal."

After hearing this, Aunt Liu also counted carefully and, with a pale face, stuttered, "Could we... could we be facing another disaster?"

"It’s possible!" said Zuo Li, "If it continues not to rain, this year will be tough!"

Aunt Liu stopped cutting grass and squatted on the ground, looking carefully for wild vegetables. "You should also dig up some wild vegetables while you’re cutting grass. If there’s a drought, at least we’ll have some dried wild vegetables to eat."

Seeing Aunt Liu say so, everyone began looking for wild vegetables after completing their tasks.

After all, wild vegetables taste better than grass!

He Tiantian felt anxious inside. In her past life, this year had been a time of severe drought!

How could she have forgotten such an important thing!

In the great drought of ’71 in her previous life, there was no harvest at all. After finishing last year’s grain, people could only eat wild vegetables and tree bark.

He Tiantian felt gloomy, and when it was time to go down the mountain, she had cut a lot of wild vegetables as well.

Many people in Qijia Village realized that a disaster might be looming, so during the spring plowing, adults let the children go up the mountain to dig up as many wild vegetables as they could, blanch them in hot water, and then dry them out to be stored for a long time.

He Tiantian tossed and turned at night, unable to sleep. Deep into the night, she sneaked to her secret hideout while Third Grandma Qi was asleep.

She hadn’t been there for a long time and didn’t know what it was like inside anymore.

Snake King sensed the familiar presence and came out from the barrier by He Tiantian’s left foot without being called.

In the blink of an eye, Snake King jumped into the pool.