Although the problem had been discovered, it was not easy to solve.
However, Secretary Du did not completely give up on finding a solution.
He thought hard, trying to figure out how to properly resolve the issue with Xiao Shu.
He wondered if there were any families in town with slightly better conditions who would consider adopting a child.
If such a family were to adopt Xiao Shu, it might be the best outcome.
"Old Du, why don't you have someone inquire if there are any good families willing to adopt children? The most important thing is that they are good to the child."
Mayor Liang's thoughts coincided with Secretary Du's.
Secretary Du nodded, "That's what I was thinking."
"I'm afraid it won't be easy. Xiao Shu is older now, and many families might not be willing to adopt a child of this age."
Shen Zizhen had already considered this problem, so he offered a different opinion.
When it came to children, even adopted ones, those raised from a young age would feel closer.
Secretary Du and Mayor Liang knew this, but it was their last hope.
Before the few people finished speaking, they suddenly heard the rumbling of thunder.
The group was startled.
At this time of year, it was already late autumn. How could there still be thunder?
"What's going on?"
Shen Zizhen remembered that just ten minutes ago, the sky had been clear.
The thunder was a bit frightening.
Su Xiaotian quickly ran out to see.
Upon stepping outside, she discovered that the sky was already filled with rolling dark clouds, covering half of the horizon.
The wind howled, whipping many leaves off the trees.
Fortunately, the area was originally picturesque. If there had been more dust, the wind and sand would have surely blinded their eyes by now.
As she pondered, Su Xiaotian saw the dark clouds rapidly spreading to cover the other half of the sky.
In almost an instant, the sun, which had been hanging in the western sky, was obscured by the clouds, and the sky quickly darkened.
Everything happened so suddenly that Su Xiaotian was almost stunned.
Was this the disastrous weather that Yuan Guoqing had mentioned?
At this moment, the others inside also came out and stood under the eaves.
Su Sangong looked at the suddenly changing weather with disbelief.
"This weather is probably not right. It might be another heavy rain day," Secretary Du said with a frown.
Every time heavy rain or storms struck, many people suffered, even becoming displaced.
Secretary Du truly did not want to see such a situation occur.
However, natural disasters did not change according to human will.
"They say the weather in June changes as quickly as a child's mood, but it's already the end of October. How can it still be like this?" Su Sangong said in surprise.
"The weather has been smooth and favorable all year until now. Who would have thought that extreme weather would occur at this season? Heaven still can't stand to see people living too well," Mayor Liang sighed.
"Fortunately, the rice has been harvested for the most part," Secretary Du added. "Otherwise, we might have to go through a year of famine."
This was the only fortunate thing.
Most of the crops had been gathered.
The only problem was that some had not yet been threshed, and after being rained on, there would be some loss.
But compared to large areas of crops being submerged, this loss seemed insignificant.
Unlike the other two, Shen Zizhen looked at the surging dark clouds that covered the entire sky and began to worry about how he would get back later.
The thunder rolling in at this season was truly unexpected.
As a result, they were completely unprepared.
It should be known that even cycling back from here smoothly would take an hour.
With the sudden change in weather, things became troublesome.
"Teacher Shen, this weather is truly terrible," Mayor Liang said, looking at the worried Shen Zizhen. "People often say that rainy days are for guests to stay over. I'm afraid you'll have to stay in our village tonight."
"Mayor Liang, according to the information you had before, will this kind of weather cause significant natural disasters?" Shen Zizhen asked with concern.
When Shen Zizhen had heard Yuan Guoqing talk about natural disasters before, he hadn't paid much attention. Now that he saw it, he couldn't help but worry.
Although disasters were bound to happen, the scope of the disaster was still worth considering.
"It's possible. Teacher Shen, please rest at Secretary Du's house for a while. I need to go and check the dike."
Mayor Liang was about to leave.
In such weather, he couldn't feel at ease staying at home.
"Put on your straw cape and hat."
Secretary Du immediately brought a straw cape and hat from his house and handed them to Mayor Liang.
"I'll take these. What about you?"
Mayor Liang hesitated for a moment and did not reach out to take them.
"There are more at home. You should go quickly. That dike had problems a while ago. Don't delay."
The dike had been found to have problems some time ago, and they were waiting for the harvest to finish before repairing it. Who knew that before they could start the repairs, heavy rain was coming?
Secretary Du and Mayor Liang knew this, but Shen Zizhen did not.
Watching Mayor Liang hurry away, Secretary Du glanced at Shen Zizhen.
By rights, as a guest, he should stay home and accompany him. But now was not the time to chat with guests.
He wondered if Teacher Shen would be angry if he told him the truth.
He had heard that these highly educated intellectuals tended to have short tempers and were particularly concerned about being respected.
Just as he was about to say something, he heard Shen Zizhen speak.
"Is there a problem with the dike? Let's go and take a look together."
Shen Zizhen seemed to know that if Mayor Liang was rushing off to the dike, there must be a problem there.
Although Secretary Du and Mayor Liang were not leaders of the same town, he guessed that this dike involved significant issues.
Indeed, after hearing Shen Zizhen speak, Secretary Du quickly said, "You are a guest, how can we ask you to go to the dike? Besides, it's too dangerous on the dike."
Although he couldn't accompany his guest at home, there was no reason to ask the guest to go on an adventure together.
"My house is on higher ground, so it won't be dangerous for now. Teacher Shen, please stay at home. I'll go and take a look too."
Not only did he have to go himself, but he also had to bring the young men from the village. With just a few people, the dike might not be saved.
Shen Zizhen shook his head, "I'll go along and take a look. Perhaps there's something I can help with?"
Secretary Du listened to Shen Zizhen's words and thought that it made sense.
Teacher Shen was a learned person, and perhaps he knew something about building dikes.
With someone like him helping, their work might be twice as effective.
At this moment, Secretary Du did not know that even though Teacher Shen was a learned person, he had his own specialty. Shen Zizhen only knew how to cultivate improved varieties and knew very little about other things.
"Teacher, I'll go with you."
Su Sangong quickly expressed that he must go with him at this time.
Shen Zizhen did not object to Su Sangong following him.
Su Sangong was a young man, and by going to the dike, he might be able to help.