vrcanaries Chapter 187: Extreme Cold Doomsday: Mountain Closure
Chapter 187: Extreme Cold Doomsday: Mountain Closure
Old man Xu, wearing an overcoat and holding a flashlight, walked out of the house sleepily. The biting cold wind made him shiver and he woke up all of a sudden.
He shone a powerful flashlight around, trying to see what was happening.
Suddenly, a huge circle of light froze on the cowshed to the right of his house, and Old Man Xu let out a scream.
"My cow!"
I saw that the originally sturdy cowshed had collapsed in half. Because the collapse was sudden, the yellow cow could not dodge in time and one of its legs was crushed by the collapsed shed.
This is the most valuable cow in their family!
Old man Xu immediately stepped forward and used all his strength to try to lift the heavy object that was pressing on the ox's legs.
In such cold weather, he was so anxious that he broke out in a cold sweat.
Xu Dazhuang and his mother also heard the noise, and immediately got off the kang, hunching their necks to come over to help. The three of them worked together and finally lifted the heavy object that was pressing on the cow.
Old man Xu felt so distressed when he saw the ox with its legs obviously deformed by the crush.
"Oh, it's all because of this damn weather. The cowshed was built so solidly, but it collapsed after two days of snow."
Old man Xu was muttering something, but no one knew what he was cursing.
Xu Dazhuang sniffed. He came out in a hurry and only wore a coat. Now standing in the yard, he felt the cold wind penetrating into his bones.
"Dad, we probably can't go down the mountain in this situation. The snow is so heavy and it's so dark. Let's go down the mountain to find a veterinarian tomorrow morning."
Xu Dazhuang suggested.
"No, no, I'm so uneasy. How can I wait until tomorrow morning? Isn't there a barefoot doctor in Qingshui Village? I'll go find him!"
Da Zhuang's mother was worried about her husband and stood on the same side as Xu Da Zhuang. She cursed:
"I asked you to sweep the snow in the morning but you didn't listen. When the shed collapsed under the weight of the snow, you rushed to find a doctor, not even worrying about falling down when the road got slippery in the dark."
Seeing his wife so angry, Old Man Xu said awkwardly, "Okay, okay, I'll go out early tomorrow morning."
The three of them worked together to half-dragged and half-pulled the yellow cow into the house.
Xu Dazhuang then added two pieces of charcoal to ensure that the kang was still warm when people slept at night.
Old man Xu felt a little distressed when he saw the yellow cattle mooing softly because of pain from time to time.
Never mind. He would sleep for two or three more hours and then go down the mountain at daybreak.
Most of the houses on the mountain live not too close to each other, so the sound of the collapse of the cowshed in Old Man Xu's house did not affect other people.
Early in the morning, just as the sky was getting light, the snow was falling heavier and heavier, as if it would never end.
Old man Xu shivered. He didn't know if it was his illusion, but he felt that it was colder today.
Xu Dazhuang followed behind Old Man Xu, wrapped in a thick military coat, his nose red from the cold. He was also afraid that Old Man Xu would walk on the mountain road alone in the ice and snow, and it would be troublesome if he fell somewhere.
"Dad, we're going so early, is the store open?"
It was just dawning, and the two had to carry flashlights along the way. On the winding mountain road, the only sound they could hear was the whistling of the cold wind.
"crunch~"
Xu Dazhuang was startled. He looked towards the place where the sound came from and breathed a sigh of relief.
It turned out to be just a broken branch.
Old Man Xu's expression was not very optimistic. Over the past few decades, what kind of scenery on the mountain had he not seen?
But the weather this year is really strange.
It was only November and it was snowing so heavily, and it had been snowing for several days in a row. When he just went out, he looked at the roof and saw a thick layer of snow piled up overnight.
"Don't be alarmed. Let's go early and come back early."
After saying this in a low voice, Old Man Xu just kept his head down and hurried on his way.
The two of them had walked less than halfway when they stopped.
"dad?!"
Xu Dazhuang was stunned by the scene before him.
The wooden bridge that originally connected the two ends of the river broke, and it broke into two pieces in the middle.
And this is the only way for them to get out of the mountain.
Old Man Xu and Xu Dazhuang looked at each other, what should they do?
The two men thought over and over again and decided that no matter what method they used, they could not get down the mountain immediately.
Find someone to fix it?
It can't be fixed in a short time.
Walk across the river?
Xu Dazhuang shook his head. He had not lost his mind yet. The river looked frozen, but who knew if a person walked into the middle of the river would fall.
Moreover, in their mountains, no matter how cold the weather is, the river water will only freeze into a thin layer, not to the extent that one can walk on ice like in the north.
What should I do?
Now, not only could they not find a doctor to treat the cows, but they themselves couldn't get out.
"Go back first."
Old Man Xu let out a long sigh and said in a deep voice.
The two had to return empty-handed in front of the Broken Bridge.
The news that the road out of the village was blocked spread, causing an uproar in Qingshan Village.
Especially those who took a few days off, came back to sign, and planned to go back to work in the city after receiving the money, were the most anxious.
"Secretary, you must help with this matter. Call someone to repair the bridge quickly. We have to go back to work."
Zhang Qiang spent the entire morning comforting wave after wave of people who came to him to complain.
"Don't worry. It snowed so heavily that no one expected the bridge to break. I will communicate with the village committee as soon as possible."
The river was frozen, and they dared neither walk on it nor row across it.
Besides, no one can tell whether there will be other problems on the way down the mountain.
Although the people in the village were anxious, they could do nothing but comfort themselves that they had food and clothing at home and would not starve.
After Jiang Jiang got up, he took the big broom at home and swept the snow in the yard. He happened to meet Zhang Kai and his wife who had just returned from the branch secretary's visit.
The two of them also took leave to come back from the city. According to the original plan, they should have gone down the mountain to work early this morning, or even left last night.
But the snow was too heavy, and Wang Shufen didn't want the two to walk at night, so she asked them to rest for another night. As a result, they heard the news brought back by Old Man Xu and his son early this morning.
The way down the mountain is blocked!
Now, everyone in the family except Zhang Yang started to get anxious.
Jiang Jiang felt helpless seeing how anxious and angry the whole family was.
Just wait, in a few days, no one will try to go down the mountain anymore.
On the contrary, they will be thankful that they are in the village.