Chapter 265: The Arrival of the Hailstorm

In the forest region, the temperature is low, and hail is not uncommon. This summer, there had been a hailstorm, but the hailstones were no bigger than pearls. The storm that struck now was clearly different.

In all the time living in the forest region, the people at the logging camp had never seen hailstones this large!

The hailstorm came suddenly, with stones as large as fists and as small as egg yolks pummeling down, throwing the entire logging camp into chaos. 

On the main road, Bai Laosi, who was walking, was startled when a fist-sized hailstone fell right in front of him. He panicked and immediately ducked into a nearby house.

Zhou Ergazi, who was herding sheep by the roadside, threw down his whip and, without caring for the livestock, grabbed his dog and dashed into the nearby outhouse.

Lu Daguan, returning from the fields on his tractor, was struck on the forehead by a hailstone the size of an egg, leaving a large bruise. Crying out in pain, he stopped the vehicle on the main road and, gathering his family, took shelter under the vehicle.

Tu Laoda, who was sneaking around and relieving himself under his neighbor's house, thought he had been caught in retaliation. He shouted, "Liu Dazhu, damn you and your wife! Wasn't I just taking a shit? Why throw bricks?" However, seeing the sky filled with white hailstones, he pulled up his pants and dove into the doghouse—his neighbor's.

Under the force of gravity, the power of the hailstones was no joke.

As soon as they hit the ground, they wreaked havoc on the entire Ba Jiu Logging Camp like a barrage of bombs.

The green tiles on the roofs were shattered into pieces, window glass was reduced to fragments, and some of the already dilapidated mud houses and thatched cottages had their roofs collapse under the weight of the hailstones. People inside the houses cried out in distress!

Fortunately, the storm was brief, lasting only about four or five minutes. The dark, low-hanging clouds in the sky, urged on by the autumn wind, dissipated with a sound that seemed both like a laugh and a cry.

As the black clouds retreated southward, the logging camp's people, who had just emerged from their various shelters, let out a collective wail.

"We're done for!"

To the south of the Ba Jiu Logging Camp was the Eighteen-Li Field, where a production team had cleared land decades ago. Now, eighty percent of the logging camp's farmland was located there.

Looking at the sinister black clouds on the horizon and the curtain of silver-gray sweeping south under the sunlight, people felt a wave of despair.

The Li family was also terrified by this sudden disaster.

Li You, who had lived in the logging camp for over fifty years, had never seen such a freak of weather. Shivering, he held onto Zou Ni and mumbled for divine protection.

Li Lingling, who was visiting her grandparents during the vacation, cried uncontrollably in her grandmother's arms, unable to breathe properly. The child, too young to have ever seen such a natural disaster, was deeply frightened.

Li Pi, still with a swollen rear, lay on the kang like an ostrich, fearing that the hailstones might have shattered the windows and injured him. Li Xian, also on the kang, covered Li Pi's head with a quilt.

Once the sounds of the storm outside stopped, the family finally gathered together.

After a while, when it was confirmed that the hail had passed, Li Xian pried open Li Pi's tightly clenched hands and stepped outside.

The entire logging camp was covered in a blanket of white.

A thick layer of hailstones covered the ground, making it look like the logging camp had entered a harsh winter early. Seeing the round, scattered hailstones, Li Xian was deeply shocked. The scene before him was more impressive than any disaster movie he had ever watched.

Damn it!

These could kill people!

Thinking this, Li Xian looked back at his terrified family members and suddenly his eyes widened.

"Damn it! Grandpa! Where's Grandpa?!"

Among the family members, Li Daoyun was missing.

Hearing his shout, the family, except for the half-dazed Li Lingling, was thrown into a panic.

Before the hailstorm, Li Daoyun had said he was going for a stroll and would return for dinner. Although the old man was still agile, this sudden hailstorm was dangerous!

"Don't just stand there; hurry up and look for him!"

Li Xian stamped his feet and waved to everyone, running out of the yard.

The large hailstones on the ground made it difficult to walk. Li Xian stumbled several times as he left the yard. But with Li Daoyun on his mind, he crawled and ran outside.

Just as he reached the main road, calling out Li Daoyun's name while stumbling forward, he heard a series of banging noises from behind his house.

Stopping, he heard a muffled voice calling.

"Grandson, I'm here!"

Li Xian focused and breathed a sigh of relief—it was coming from Grandpa's coffin.

At that moment, the coffin was covered with a thick layer of hailstones. The person inside, worried about the anxiety of those outside, kicked the coffin a few times, but the hailstones were too heavy to move. The coffin lid trembled, looking as if an old zombie from a Lin Zhengying movie was about to break free.

Li Xian quickly waded through the hailstones and laboriously pushed the coffin lid open.

Inside, Li Daoyun, still shaken, pointed at the sky and said, "You scared me to death! I'm only seventy-three, not even close to the end yet, and you're trying to take me back?"

Li Xian was both amused and helpless, seeing Grandpa lying in the coffin and looking so scared. He quickly helped him out.

But when Li Daoyun saw the large dents on his coffin caused by the hailstones, he completely lost his composure!

"Damn it! You old thief of a deity, if you're going to hail, just hail! Why destroy my coffin?"

"Damn you, may you fall and die someday! Spit! If you've got the guts, bring on another storm! Come at me if you dare! Spit! Spit! Spit!"

Watching Li Daoyun spit at the sky, with each spit bouncing half a meter high and landing back on his face, Li Xian rubbed his temples and said, "Alright, Grandpa, we'll get the mute to make you a new coffin."

Li Daoyun, gasping for breath, stopped cursing.

Seeing the old man calm down, Li Xian hurriedly helped him, "Grandpa, enough cursing. Let's go inside. The ground is too slippery; you might fall."

"Go inside? Damn it! My dentures are out, and they're letting air in. Help me find them. I'll curse a bit more!"

Li Daoyun grumbled, searching for his dentures on the ground.

Meanwhile, on the other side, seeing neighbors and villagers rushing out of their homes to the south, Li You slapped his thigh.

"Damn it! The two acres of land at Oldest Son's place!"

…

By evening, the western sky was ablaze with fiery clouds, casting an orange-red hue over the entire logging camp.

Although the hailstones were still on the ground, they had already melted a bit, mixed with the dirt like pearls scattered in mud.

It looked beautiful, but the people on the main road were all in despair.

Earlier, those with land at home had gone to the Seventeen-Li Field, full of hope, but returned with faces of despair.

This year, the logging camp mainly grew soybeans, with a small amount of corn. Although the temperature had been a bit low, the weather had been favorable. The soybeans were growing well, with clusters of pods hanging on the plants, swollen like newly-birthed children.

The locals had hoped for a bountiful harvest.

But now, with the hailstorm, it was all ruined.

For some time, there had been no rain in the logging camp, and the mature soybean pods were nearly splitting open. Now, after being hit by the hail, not only were all the soybeans knocked down, but the pods were also cracked open, spilling the golden beans onto the ground.

It was impossible to harvest.

Inside the logging camp office, Gao Dayi was surrounded by a crowd of people blocking him in the office.

"Director Gao, please quickly organize some help to salvage our fifteen acres of land! If we hurry, we might save a little!"

"After such a big hailstorm, there will surely be a hard frost. Director, let me borrow the four-wheel tractor. Even if we can't harvest, we need to plow the land and clear the hailstones. Otherwise, if it freezes the day after tomorrow, the soybeans will be frozen in the ground!"

"I need the tractor too! Our cattle are all dead. Director, we need to transport the meat down the mountain while it's still fresh. We need to sell as much as we can!"

Seeing the same people who had just praised Li You for helping Zhu Laowu's wife with virtue now pleading for his assistance, Gao Dayi sneered repeatedly.

Now you remember who is in charge here?

He picked up the teacup on the table and took a sip.

"Just a few more days until the election. I heard you all support Li You?"

Putting down the teacup, he raised an eyebrow and said this.