Chapter 281: Being secretly tricked
Master Wei exchanged pleasantries with Shen Qingshu, then asked, "Master Shen, do you know Mr. Lu?"

Shen Qingshu took a while to react when he suddenly heard the other party call Qin Xiaoning "Mr. Lu".

After she realized what was happening, she said perfunctorily, "Mr. Lu and I are old friends."

Master Wei was silent for a moment after hearing this, and then said, "Since Lord Shen has come to my humble abode, why don't you follow me to the front hall and sit for a while."

"Thank you for your kindness, Mr. Wei." Shen Qingshu said, "But I have something important to attend to, so I have to leave now."

Upon hearing this, Master Wei said politely, "Then I will personally escort Master Shen."

Seeing Mr. Wei coming to see her off, Qin Xiaoning exchanged a few words of greeting and then returned to her own yard.

She had always been thinking about the house she had worked so hard to buy. When she heard Shen Qingshu say that the flood in Shuwang had receded, Qin Xiaoning went straight to tell Mrs. Wei the news.

The Wei family is wealthy and powerful, and Mrs. Wei has been worried about this matter day and night. After hearing the news, she immediately ordered the maid to pack up, and Qin Xiaoning also began to prepare. Two days later, Shuwang, the Wei family's servant came to confirm the news, and the group rushed back to Shuwang.

The two cities were not far apart, so the group set out early in the morning and returned to Shuwang in less than half a day.

The originally prosperous town experienced such a flood. Although there was no major damage, traces of the flood still remained.

Many low houses were washed away by the flood. The originally wide and flat main road was also muddy. Garbage and dead bodies of animals that had not had time to escape were piled on the roadside. The government soldiers were busy cleaning them up.

They finally arrived at their own house. After the carriage stopped, Qin Xiaoning and Song Zhi hurried back to their own house.

Seeing that the gate and wall outside were still intact, the two couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. But after pushing open the gate, Qin Xiaoning and Song Zhi were stunned by the scene before them.

The yard was in a state of devastation. The flowers and plants were all in a mess. In addition, the stone tables and chairs were all broken, and even a corner of the pavilion in the middle of the courtyard collapsed.

It's so messy that I can't bear to look at it.

"My dear, you're back." Sister Wang, who was busy in the house, heard the noise and ran out in a hurry. When she saw Qin Xiaoning, her eyes turned red: "I don't know which damn person has ruined our house like this."

This is not just damage caused by natural disasters, there seems to be more man-made damage.

"What's going on in the room?" Qin Xiaoning asked anxiously.

Sister Wang wiped away her tears: "The furniture and other things were all smashed, even the windows were broken."

"Who is the wicked person who did this?" Songzhi cursed angrily and ran to the house to check, lifting her skirt.

Sister Wang came over and supported Qin Xiaoning: "My dear, you are still pregnant, don't get excited."

Qin Xiaoning patted Sister Wang's hand and said, "I'm fine." Then she walked into the house.

The originally orderly main hall has been turned into ruins.

Natural disasters are certainly terrible, but this man-made destruction is even more shocking.

Songzhi had already covered her face and started to sob. Brother Li and the two maids stopped what they were doing and began to sigh as well.

She had spent all her savings and the house she had worked so hard to buy was destroyed. Qin Xiaoning felt a black screen before her eyes, but she quickly calmed down and turned to Sister Wang and said, "You and Brother Li should go to the inn outside and see if there is any that is open to receive guests."

The house is damaged like this and it won’t be repaired in a short time. We have to solve the accommodation problem for tonight first.

We can't have our whole family spend the night on top of these ruins.

Even if they adults could endure this hardship, Qin Xiaoning couldn't bear to let her unborn child suffer with her.

Now that she has established her own business, she is the backbone of the family. No matter how big the problem is, she cannot be weak.

Sister Li and her husband took the order and left. Song Zhi wiped her tears and moved a relatively intact chair from the ruins. She took out a blanket from the package and spread it on the chair, then helped Qin Xiaoning sit down.

Seeing Hong'er and Qing'er still busy cleaning up, Qin Xiaoning stopped them and said, "Don't be busy yet. We need to find a craftsman to repair it after it's become like this."

Hong Er held back her tears and said, "The flood has just passed. Where can we find workers?"

"That's right." Qing'er sighed, "The house is in such a bad state. Even if we repair it, it will probably take a month or so."

Qin Xiaoning raised her eyes and looked at the maids, saying in a steady tone: "Since we have been hit, we have to endure it. We can survive this flood safely, which shows that God has blessed us. As for the difficulties at hand, we just need to slowly find a way to solve them."

After Qin Xiaoning said this, the maids felt more confident, but soon they were discouraged by the bad news brought back by Sister Wang and her husband.

The flood has just passed, and the inns outside are busy with repairs and are not accepting guests for the time being.

Seeing that the family had no place to stay, Sister Li suggested: "Why don't I go back to the Zhao family? The lady is kind-hearted and is on good terms with my wife. She can't just stand by and see us in trouble and not help. Besides, the Zhao family has many houses, and we can just stay there for a few days."

After hearing what Sister Li said, everyone became interested and focused their attention on Qin Xiaoning.

Qin Xiaoning said, "Although Madam Jiang is nice and the Zhao family is kind, we shouldn't always bother them."

She thought for a moment and said, "Let's set up a tent in the yard today. It's summer now, so we can stay there at night. If there are a lot of mosquitoes at night, we can light some mosquito repellent spices."

Then he turned to Brother Li and said, "Tomorrow we will go to the street to find a craftsman to repair the house as soon as possible."

Before Big Brother Li agreed, Big Sister Wang said worriedly, "We can make do with this, but I'm only worried about you, my wife. You're still pregnant, and sleeping in a tent with so much humidity, I'm afraid your body won't be able to handle it."

Qin Xiaoning smiled and said, "Just make do with one or two nights. There must be a lot of people whose houses are damaged. The inns won't miss this opportunity. In less than two days, those inns will be open for business."

Sister Li couldn't bear to see Qin Xiaoning suffer with her, and wanted to persuade her to go to the Zhao family again, but seeing her firm attitude, she had to shut up.

The family began to set up a tent in the yard.

The flood had just passed and it was very humid outside. Brother Li and his colleagues laid a layer of blue bricks in the courtyard and then began to set up the tents. Everyone worked together, and when the sun set, the two tents were finally set up.

Qin Xiaoning and Songzhi lived in one room, Sister Li and the other women lived in another, and Brother Li spent the night in the hallway by himself, only using a piece of cloth as a curtain to cover himself.

In order to isolate the moisture from the ground, Brother Li and Sister Wang removed a few wooden boards from the damaged cabinet in the house and built a simple small bed for Qin Xiaoning, covering it with a thick blanket and quilt.