Chapter 22: Something Big Happened

Tang Ailian felt relieved to have seized the luck that belonged to Li Xinye from the Li family, considering how the Li family had exploited her in her previous life. Even though she didn't plan to seek revenge as long as Liu Meilan's family didn't trouble her in this life, she knew that Liu Meilan would likely continue to scheme against her. Being able to get the upper hand in this situation made her feel quite satisfied.

After the Chinese New Year, Aishi and Xiaohua went back to school. Tang Erlong also received a cow and went to tend to it every day, earning four work points per day. Liu Xiujuan had to go to work, so naturally, Tang Ailian was taken care of by Tang Laotai.

Tang Laotai didn't have the time to look after Tang Ailian either, and after the incident where Tang Ailian fell from the bed, Liu Xiujuan didn't dare to leave her with Aiwu. As a result, most of the time, Tang Ailian was tied to the bed.

However, she was only tied at the feet, allowing her to crawl on the bed but not reach the edge, so there was no risk of her falling off.

What Tang Laotai didn't know was that as soon as she left the room, Tang Ailian would untie her feet and disappear into the bed.

Several months had passed, and the three medicinal plants in the medicine well space had grown significantly with the help of the well water. The Lingzhi mushroom had grown to the size of a millstone and had mutated into a purple Lingzhi with spores scattered around. There were seven or eight the size of a teacup and dozens the size of a palm, with hundreds of smaller ones.

The ginseng seedling that had come from her stepfather, which was initially only two years old, had grown its underground parts to the size of Tang Ailian's arm. Ginseng had also sprouted all around it, with some seedlings being transplanted by Tang Ailian and others growing around the mother plant, forming a large patch.

Unlike ginseng and Lingzhi, the Hellebore did not grow in a dense cluster. However, Tang Ailian had planted more than ten small seedlings. She used a long bamboo tube to scoop water from the deep part of the well to irrigate them, resulting in the central part of the mother plant turning golden.

Tang Ailian remembered from her past life that once the central part of the plant turned completely golden, it would no longer be called Hellebore but would become Goldheart Grass. Goldheart Grass had vitality hundreds of times stronger than Hellebore and was a true life-saving medicine.

With the expansion of her space, it had now reached about three mu (roughly 0.5 acres) in size!

Tang Ailian was overjoyed, thinking that while these medicinal plants had grown a lot, she needed to find a way to benefit her stepfather, who had given her the ginseng seedling initially. But how could she benefit him? Giving him a gold ingot might not be a good idea, as he might end up losing it through gambling.

Tang Ailian knew from her past life that her stepfather had a gambling problem and had been sentenced to three years in prison due to his gambling debts.

She decided to take it one step at a time and help him when he needed it most.

Spring arrived, and most parts of the country experienced droughts. However, Longtou Village did not face any issues until June, when it was hit by a once-in-fifty-years flood. Apart from the houses on higher ground, all the rice paddies in the village were submerged, and the entire area was inundated.

The children were not worried about their livelihoods and became excited due to the flood. Schools were closed because of the blocked roads. The boys in the village, like they had taken chicken blood, were excitedly playing in the water, either using dustpans to scoop fish or fishing with bamboo rods.

The adults, on the other hand, wore worried expressions. Long Jiushe, the production team leader of Longtou Village, hadn't smiled since the continuous heavy rain started.

When Aishi carried Tang Ailian to see the floodwaters, they encountered Long Jiushe. Usually, when he saw Tang Ailian, he would playfully tease her or carry her, but this time, he didn't even spare her a glance as he walked by. Ailian heard him muttering, "What a disaster. Most of the fields are flooded. What are we going to do?"

Tang Ailian knew that Long Jiushe was worried about the villagers' livelihoods. She wanted to help, but what could a one-year-old child do?

As they were about to leave, they heard someone running towards Long Jiushe and shouting frantically, "Something big happened, Captain! Jixiong got swept into the flood. We need to rescue him!"

"What? Jixiong fell into the water? Didn't I tell you all that with the flooding, everyone should keep an eye on their children and stay away from the floodwaters?" Long Jiushe roared in frustration.

Listening to the urgent report, Tang Ailian quickly grasped the situation: Something big had happened.

It turned out that Longtou Village was composed of four major surnames: the Long family being the most numerous, followed by the Tang family, the Su family making up about a tenth of the population, and the Shi family accounting for less than a tenth. Apart from these four major surnames, there was one single household with the surname Zhang.

The person who had encountered trouble was from this unique Zhang family: a boy named Zhang Jixiong.

Zhang Jixiong was twelve years old and had seen one of his companions catch a palm-sized carp while fishing near Yanba. Excited, he ran to the dam to try his luck. However, he slipped due to not being careful enough, and before he could steady himself, he was swept away by the fast-flowing floodwaters.

He knew how to swim, but the water was much faster and more powerful than he had expected. His small body couldn't resist the force of the water, and he was carried away.

Fortunately, there were many willow trees growing along the riverbank, and Zhang Jixiong was occasionally caught by the willow branches, preventing him from sinking. However, the strong current still posed a significant danger.

None of the other children dared to go into the water to save him, so they shouted for help on the riverbank. The more sensible ones quickly ran back to the village to seek assistance.

Long Jiushe immediately took command of the situation, instructing some boys to release a bamboo raft into the water and tie several bamboo poles together to extend them to Zhang Jixiong. Others were tasked with shouting encouraging words to Zhang Jixiong, telling him to hold onto the trees whenever he could.

However, the situation was critical, and the water was getting stronger. The fate of Zhang Jixiong remained uncertain.

(End of the chapter)