Apocalyptic Hoarding Diary

Chapter 388 Torrential Rain

Another month passed. On this day, Xu Xiaoyan was squatting in the vegetable garden weeding when she inadvertently looked up at the sky above the sinkhole and was completely stunned.

The sun had disappeared, and the oval-shaped sky overhead was completely covered by a thick layer of gray-black clouds, which hung very low.

The temperature inside the sinkhole suddenly dropped several degrees, and the wind began to blow, causing the bamboo forest to sway and the bamboo leaves to rustle.

Then, thunder started! The thunder rumbled loudly, one after another.

She stood there, clutching a handful of freshly pulled grass, staring blankly up at the darkening sky, with only one thought in her mind: Is it going to rain?

She suddenly snapped out of her daze, threw down the bunch of grass in her hand, and realized that she hadn't even gathered the things from the vegetable garden yet!

Her loofahs, bitter melons, winter melons, chili peppers, eggplants, and cowpeas were all ready for harvest; some were already ripe and would be ruined by the rain if they weren't picked soon.

The sweet potatoes and potatoes under the big tree should be dug up too; they'll all rot in the ground after being soaked by the rain.

Without thinking twice, she took out several large bamboo baskets she had woven earlier from her spatial storage, threw them beside the vegetable garden, and then rushed into the shaded area.

The loofahs and bitter gourds climbed all over the bamboo trellis, their vines twining around each other, with the fruits hanging from the vines. The surface of the bitter gourds was covered with bumpy, yellowish-green bumps, and the ripe ones were already turning red.

The skin of the loofah is rough and angular. When picking it, you have to be careful of the thorns on the vine. She accidentally pricked her hand and quickly took out work gloves from her space and put them on.

Xu Xiaoyan picked them one by one, regardless of size, and threw them all into the bamboo basket. Soon, she had picked three large baskets full.

The winter melons were all round and plump, the smallest of which was as big as a football, and the largest weighed about 20 kilograms.

Because they were too heavy and inconvenient to move, she put them directly into her spatial storage as soon as they were picked.

Chili peppers and eggplants are easier to handle. The chili peppers grow in clusters on the branches, some red and some green, and she can easily pick them off with her hands. The eggplants are a deep purple, almost black, with smooth, shiny skin.

Cowpeas are the most time-consuming to grow, hanging one by one on the vines, some of which have already grown to almost a meter long.

She squatted under the cowpea trellis, picking the beans one by one, arranging them neatly, and putting them into a basket.

After harvesting the crops in the vegetable garden, she didn't even have time to catch her breath before running to the area under the big trees. Sweet potatoes and potatoes were planted near the thirty trees.

Xu Xiaoyan used an entrenching tool to dig one tree at a time, first loosening the soil around the roots, and then using her hands to pull out the ripe sweet potatoes and potatoes from the soil.

Sweat dripped down her forehead; she wiped it haphazardly with her sleeve and continued digging.

The thunder grew closer, and the wind picked up, blowing the bushes on the cliff face this way and that.

Some small stones were swept up by the wind and hit the roof of the bamboo shed, making a crackling sound.

She quickly packed the bamboo basket full of vegetables into her space, and also threw the shade awning inside.

Xu Xiaoyan raised her head and glanced at her bamboo shed.

When it was built, the bamboo walls were deliberately woven sparsely to cope with the heat, so they were drafty on all sides and waterproofing was not considered at all.

It's fine on sunny days, but if a torrential rain comes, these things simply can't withstand it.

Needless to say, the bamboo walls, which are drafty on all sides, allow rainwater to seep in at an angle through the cracks when the wind blows.

This thing is practically useless; the only difference is that when it's raining heavily outside, it's drizzling inside!

She needed to hurry up and cover the roof and walls with plastic film, so she moved a stool to the side of the bamboo shed, stepped on it, and pressed one corner of the plastic film against the edge of the roof of the bamboo shed, securing it with a rope.

Then she used thin bamboo to cover the bamboo shed with plastic film, and after covering the roof with one layer, she covered it with a second layer.

The walls were even more troublesome; the plastic sheeting was too big and would blow away in the wind, so she couldn't hold down all four corners at the same time by herself.

Xu Xiaoyan had no choice but to first fix one side of the plastic film to the pillar of the bamboo shed, and then pull it little by little to the other side.

While pulling, use tape to stick it on, and tie a rope to the post after each section is pasted.

She left an entrance on the front of the bamboo shed, where the plastic film was divided into two pieces, hanging down like a curtain, which could be lifted to enter and exit.

She tugged at the plastic film to make sure it was tied tightly enough, and then secured it with rope, reinforcing every stress point on the bamboo shed.

The contact points between the plastic film and the ground were weighed down with stones, stacked one by one, and pressed down tightly.

Xu Xiaoyan was sweating profusely, but she dared not stop, because lightning began to appear, and streaks of white light pierced down from the clouds, illuminating the sinkhole in a ghastly white light.

Soon, the raindrops began to fall, first as raindrops, then as rain streaks, and finally as a curtain of rain.

Rainwater flows down the slope of the plastic film, forming small waterfalls around the bamboo shed, splashing white water droplets as it hits the ground.

Outside the bamboo shed, the world inside the sinkhole had completely changed.

Rainwater gathered into streams on the ground, and the streams became rivers, flowing from high to low, pouring into vegetable gardens, into caves, and into every crevice and every pit.

The temperature in the air dropped by more than ten degrees. Standing under the bamboo shed, wearing a sweat-soaked shirt, she actually felt a little cold.

Xu Xiaoyan lifted a corner of the plastic sheeting curtain, glanced outside, and then quickly lowered it again.

The rain was so heavy that rainwater splashed in through the gaps the moment she opened the curtain, hitting her face and making her shiver.

She took a few steps back, sat down on the sofa, leaned back, and looked up at the plastic film covering her head for a long time, completely surprised that the weather would change so quickly.

An hour ago, she was weeding in the vegetable garden. The sun was high in the sky, and the sinkhole was a peaceful and tranquil place.

Then thunder roared, wind blew, and rain fell. Everything happened so fast that her brain didn't even have time to process it.

She sat on the sofa, listening to the torrential rain outside, and gradually came to her senses. The sweat on her body had cooled down, and her shirt was sticking to her back, making her feel a little cold.

Xu Xiaoyan took out a dry towel from her spatial storage, wiped her face and neck, and dried the sweat from her hair.

Then he took out a coat and put it on, curled up on the sofa, and rolled his legs up, making himself into a ball.

She hugged her knees, resting her chin on them, her gaze fixed on the plastic sheeting curtain. The curtain swayed slightly in the wind, and a sliver of gray light shone through the gaps.

Occasionally, a flash of lightning would illuminate the gap, turning it blindingly white for a moment before quickly fading back to darkness.

Although it's uncertain whether the plastic film can withstand a whole night of torrential rain, it's safe for now. We've done everything we can; the rest is up to fate.

She closed her eyes, buried her face in her knees, listened to the rain, and slowly relaxed.