Chapter 230: Chapter 178: Do to Me What You Did to Luo Feifei

In the middle of the night, around three in the morning, a sudden downpour mixed with hail came crashing down, drumming a frantic RAT-A-TAT-TAT against the roof.

Li Xiang was startled awake. He went out to check and saw the large terrace covered in hailstones the size of eggs.

Fortunately, his house was new and the roof was sturdy.

He glanced into the distance. The chicken coop and duck shed had also been repaired and reinforced, so they wouldn’t collapse from the impact. Some tiles might be damaged, but he could just replace them with new ones once the weather cleared.

After last year’s super-blizzard, most of the houses in the village had been reinforced, so there was no need to worry too much.

The only concern was the crops in the fields.

But there was nothing to be done about that.

Favorable weather has always been up to the heavens. That has been true since ancient times, even with today’s advanced technology that sometimes allows for artificial rain.

But artificial rain could be unpredictable. For example, a certain weather bureau made a series of blunders last year, leaving several neighboring provinces trembling in fear.

Their first attempt summoned gale-force-eight winds, leading to the great underwear crisis.

Just as that crisis was resolved, their second attempt caused the great underwear crisis 2.0 in the neighboring Sichuan Province.

They say the third time’s the charm, and everyone thought this attempt would surely succeed. But, with a BANG from the cloud-seeding cannons, it started snowing in September despite the 39-degree heat. Anyone who didn’t know better would have thought a great injustice had occurred.

The sky cleared, the snow stopped, and the weather bureau felt confident again. So, they fired off their fourth and fifth rounds in quick succession!

One shot went astray into Sichuan Province, while the other brought an inhuman hailstorm down on Qian Province.

’Whoa,’ Li Xiang wondered, ’could this hailstorm be the masterpiece of some weather bureau?’

He was suspicious but quickly shook his head. It was only May or June, and there was occasional rain, so there was no need to induce it artificially.

The Apocalypse was coming. This kind of extreme weather would only become more and more frequent.

Li Xiang donned his Black Mountain Profound Armor and went to check on the small animals; they were all fine. With a flicker, he appeared on the back mountain. Tuantuan and its mother were huddled in the bamboo shelter Li Xiang had built for them, their eyes full of curiosity.

This was probably the first time Tuantuan had seen hail at the turn of spring and summer. After all, its "life experience as a bear" was limited.

Tuantuan grabbed an egg-sized hailstone, stuffed it in its mouth, and bit down with a loud CRUNCH, eating it like a piece of fruit. An ice fruit.

Seeing Li Xiang arrive, Tuantuan’s eyes lit up. It then picked up an extra-large hailstone and offered it to Li Xiang, "SQUEAK, SQUEAK~"

It seemed to be saying it was delicious and that he should try some.

Li Xiang smiled. "I don’t like to eat this." He patted its head, gave it two Spirit Fruits, and tossed one to its mother.

The two giant pandas had been tasting the hailstones. With summer approaching and the weather getting so hot, eating ice was quite refreshing. But nothing was more refreshing than a Spirit Fruit, so both pandas immediately dropped the hail and began eating the Spirit Fruits.

Tuantuan and its mother were national treasures. They were now "officially registered," with corresponding numbers and files. The relevant provincial departments and research teams would come by periodically to check on them, understand their living conditions and health, and collect their droppings for various tests.

Of course, Li Xiang also came to see them almost every day, so he could spot any problems in time.

He wasn’t worried about Tuantuan, but he was afraid its mother might get sick or something, which would require immediate help from the provincial experts.

Seeing they were fine, Li Xiang waved and headed back.

Due to Tuantuan’s special status and large size, Li Xiang hadn’t let it participate in the daily morning gatherings at the Chicken Blood Stone Jungle for the time being.

In the vegetable garden, many plants had been ravaged. Fortunately, the hail had come and gone quickly, but the heavy rain showed no signs of stopping.

His grandmother was up as well, staring blankly at the vegetable garden and the hail-covered ground.

"Grandma, it’s okay," Li Xiang said comfortingly, walking over. "If the vegetables are ruined, we’ll just plant more. They’re not worth much anyway."

Seeing her grandson’s smile, his grandmother felt a little better. "I haven’t seen hail this big in years," she murmured. "If this had happened during the day, anyone walking outside would have been smashed to death."

Li Xiang chatted with his grandmother for a while, then checked the house for leaks. Finding none, he helped her back to her room to sleep.

If it were their old house, it would definitely be leaking everywhere. Li Xiang remembered when he was a child, his parents would get up in the middle of the night during heavy rain to catch the drips, placing all sorts of basins and buckets under the leaks.

Although the current roof also had tiles, the roof deck beneath the glazed tiles was a single pour of concrete, covered with an insulation layer and waterproofing. Some tiles might be broken, but it wouldn’t leak so easily anymore.

By dawn, the rain had finally lessened to a pitter-patter, but before long, it grew heavy again.

Li Xiang checked the news. The hailstorm’s coverage was quite large, even reaching the provincial capital. Many cars parked on the streets had their windows shattered.

Li Xiang’s car had been lent to the three girls to drive home, so he asked about it in their group chat.

The three girls replied that everything was fine.

Yao Yao: "Li Xiang, I parked under an old poplar-willow at my doorstep. The tree has thick branches and leaves, so it blocked the hail. But with the strong wind and rain last night, the car is covered in fallen leaves and caterpillars."

Zhao Xueqing: "I built a dedicated carport for your car, so it’s perfectly safe."

Lei Xiaohui: "I built a carport too, so your car was protected." 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

Yao Yao: "..." She felt a surge of anger, but then she thought of Zhao Green Tea and suppressed it. ’So you two secretly built carports without telling me,’ she fumed internally. ’I guess that makes me the sweet, simple fool.’

"I’ll build a carport too, Li Xiang," Yao Yao said.