Chapter 144: Hail

Chapter 144: Chapter 144: Hail

After Xiaqing gave the command, she yanked hard on the rope to pull up the rainproof cloth, only to find Sheep Leader standing motionless.

It wasn’t Sheep Leader’s fault; it had never done this kind of work before and didn’t know how to pull. The moisture and chill in the gale grew heavier. Having struggled to survive through ten years of Natural Disasters, Xiaqing was anxious but not at all panicked. She sped up her pulling while calling out to Sheep Leader, "Stay still, Sheep Leader. I’ll secure this side and be right over."

Xiaqing pulled harder on the rope, dragging the rainproof cloth from the east side of the greenhouse to the west. She quickly secured the rope. As she ran toward Sheep Leader, she saw the Head Wolf biting the other rope and pulling with all its might. It had already raised the rainproof cloth halfway.

"Queen, yes, just like that!" Xiaqing was overjoyed. She turned to secure the middle section of the rainproof cloth before rushing over to Sheep Leader and the Head Wolf. Taking the rope from the Head Wolf’s mouth, she quickly tied it down. The storm was coming on fiercely. Xiaqing didn’t have time to make the covering completely weatherproof; she could only get the seedlings covered before moving on to the next greenhouse.

"Great job, Sheep Leader! You’re amazing, Queen! Let’s go, on to the next one."

Xiaqing, with a wolf and a sheep in tow, rushed to the low-slope planting area to continue their work.

When Hu Zifeng’s team ran over from No. 1 Territory to help, they were stunned by the sight of one person, one wolf, and one sheep covering a greenhouse in the gale. Two of them even lost their footing and tumbled down the hillside.

’Is this something a normal person, a normal sheep, and a normal wolf can even do?’

’And what the hell... is this a sight a normal person is supposed to see?’

Hu Zifeng was the first to snap out of it. He roared, "What are you all gawking at? Get into groups of three, go to the cabin, and grab the rainproof cloths to cover the greenhouses. The rain’s about to hit. Move it!"

"Yes, sir!" The nine team members immediately split into three groups and charged toward the cabin. Hu Zifeng steeled himself and rushed toward the greenhouses on the low slope, shouting to Xiaqing from a distance, "Xiaqing, I’ll help you!"

With Hu Zifeng’s team there, Xiaqing felt a great sense of relief. "Captain Hu, secure the rainproof cloth on this end. I’ll get the other. Then we’ll pull it up together."

"Alright." Forcing himself to ignore the wolf, which looked like it was not to be trifled with, Hu Zifeng quickly tied down one corner of the rainproof cloth. When he stood up to help Xiaqing throw the rope over, he realized that with his arrival, both the wolf and the sheep had taken a break. The sheep was standing nearby, now in full spectator mode, while the wolf had vanished.

He couldn’t worry about the wolf and sheep now. Getting the rainproof cloths on was the top priority. Hu Zifeng moved faster.

Hu Zifeng’s team had done plenty of farm work in No. 1 Territory and Third Territory over the past few months. They were no longer the farming newbies they once were. They worked with practiced coordination and speed.

As the gale blew dark clouds in from the east, blanketing the entire sky, everyone felt the temperature drop sharply.

"It might be hail! Hurry!"

Xiaqing yelled, hugging the last piece of rainproof cloth as she sprinted toward the uncovered sweet potato, potato, and squash greenhouses. She quickly glanced at the progress of the other groups and shouted, "Chen Zheng, come help me and Captain Hu with the last big greenhouse! Everyone else, once you finish your current one, quickly cover the small sheds for the Red Light peanuts, ground cherries, and fodder grass!"

"Yes!"

Amidst the gale, everyone shouted their acknowledgment and moved quickly. No matter how much of the Harmful Element the hail contained, the vegetables would be done for if they were hit by it.

When hailstones the size of walnuts began to slam down, the crew didn’t even have time to cry out in pain, instead picking up their pace. After all, they were wearing Protective Masks and Protective Suits, so getting hit by hail would only hurt.

After securing the rainproof cloth on the last greenhouse, Xiaqing straightened up inside. She spared a single glance for the squash plants, their leaves so shredded by the hail that not one was intact. Then she shouted to Hu Zifeng, who was over a dozen meters away, "Captain Hu, you all head to the cabin and rest! I have to go home and check on the wolves!"

’The wind is coming from the east right now. The sheep pen is on the west side of the house, with its door facing east. When I came out this morning, the pen door was open. If the door isn’t closed, the hail will be smashing right into it.’

’The two Gods of Wealth in the sheep pen have only just started to heal. They can’t take a beating from egg-sized hail.’

Xiaqing held a bamboo basket over her head to block the clattering hail and sprinted home. She found that the door to the sheep pen was already closed. She didn’t know how many wolves were inside.

’As long as it’s closed, that’s good.’ Xiaqing immediately went to check other areas.

The screen door outside her security door was smashed. Luckily, the hail was slanting from east to west. The east side of her house had no windows, so no glass was broken.

However, her rooftop solar panels had been hit. Xiaqing immediately grabbed some wooden planks, rushed up to the roof, and covered all the solar panels.

Then, Xiaqing quickly covered the greenhouse for the fermenting fertilizer. After going inside and closing all the doors and windows, she grabbed a piece of rainproof cloth, opened the Iron Umbrella she had just forged, and went to cover the sheep pen.

The roof of the sheep pen wasn’t as sturdy as the main house’s; it couldn’t withstand the pounding. After covering it with the rainproof cloth, Xiaqing, holding the Iron Umbrella which was being struck with loud BANGS, knocked on the sheep pen door and yelled, "Is everyone alright in there?"

After yelling, Xiaqing braved the wind and pulled the door open a crack. She found five wolves and one sheep inside, all staring back at her in unison, their expressions varied.

’Excellent. Not a single one of them is dumb.’

Xiaqing silently closed the door. Then, using the rainproof cloth that was flapping loudly in the wind to shield herself from the lashing storm, she ran toward the chicken coop.

The Green Light Chickens weren’t big, but they weren’t stupid either. They were all huddled in the covered part of the coop, safe from the rain and hail. Xiaqing was relieved. She went home, packed a bunch of food into a back basket, and headed for the cabin by the farmland.

By now, the hailstones had shrunk from the size of chicken eggs to pigeon eggs. Their hardness had also decreased, and they shattered on impact, melting into the downpour. Mixed with shredded grass and leaves, the water gushed toward the river channel.

If Hu Zifeng’s team hadn’t arrived in time, most of Xiaqing’s crops would have ended up like that grass and foliage, washed away by the downpour into the river and carried off to Zhao Ze’s territory.

Hu Zifeng’s team did indeed have the mission of guarding the Third Territory, but the agreement Xiaqing and Yang Jin had made was about fending off external enemies and protecting the territory’s safety. It didn’t cover dealing with gales, downpours, and hail, and it certainly didn’t include dealing with Harmful Rain.

Xiaqing understood. Hu Zifeng’s team was protecting the Third Territory with all their might to repay the kindness she had shown by "sheltering" Luo Pei in her territory while he recovered from his injuries.

But Xiaqing couldn’t act like a "benefactor." She had sheltered Luo Pei because Yang Jin had compensated her handsomely for it. Since they had come to help today, it was only right and proper for her to show her gratitude. In a Disaster Year, providing delicious food was the best way to say thank you.

When Xiaqing arrived at the cabin with the food, she found only three people there. The others were still out in the downpour, patrolling the greenhouses.

Inside, Guan Tong took the Iron Umbrella from Xiaqing’s hands while Chen Cheng shared the latest news. "Good thing we were fast; the crops weren’t hit by the hail. The ones in Territory No. 4 got smashed, though. Just now, Zhao Ze was crying for help in the Lord channel, but no one else said a word. They must all be busy."

"If you hadn’t come so quickly, I’d probably be crying right now too." Xiaqing set the back basket on the ground and lifted the rainproof cloth covering it. "You probably haven’t eaten yet, it being so early. I brought some food from home. We can heat it up and eat."

Guan Tong folded the Iron Umbrella, which weighed over thirty pounds, and leaned it against the wall. "Sister Qing, did you make this umbrella too?"

Xiaqing placed a large iron kettle full of water on a rack. She added firewood beneath it as she replied, "I had some materials left over from repairing a brush knife a couple of days ago, and it reminded me of the kind of iron umbrellas you guys used the first time we went into Mountain No. 49 to dig for bamboo shoots. So, I tried making one. I didn’t expect it would come in handy so soon."