Gasp! She's a Time Traveler Using Modern Tech to Improve Ancient Life-Chapter 409 - 406: Typhoon Landfall

Lin Wanwan thinking this way shows she does not fully understand Xiao Chong yet.

Xiao Chong would rather tarnish his reputation than wish for the hurricane to truly land in Mao County; he would rather he miscalculated. Because once the hurricane lands, the losses would be enormous, and the fields and the people would suffer.

Compared to the tragic world of the common people, what does a bit of his outside reputation matter?

If he wanted to boost his fame, he would not have left Chang’an. With his background, securing a leisurely official position in Chang’an, writing poems, painting, attending literary gatherings, and making friends with the world’s heroes would have made him famous.

But he chose not to do so and instead opted for a path of diligent hard work.

The sage is not self-centered, the godly person does not seek merit, the saint is without a name.

During the past few days of harvesting, Lin Wanwan went to Xiaoxi Town to check her property’s solidity, inspect the windproof and waterproof installations of the Embroidery Workshop, and then check the daily reports of her ready-to-wear store and Red Face Smile Beauty Salon.

In addition, Lin Wanwan also went once to the Zhu Family Jewelry Store, known for its best goldsmith craftsmanship, to have her 11.7-carat cat’s eye gemstone made into a pendant.

Goldsmiths engaging in fine gold craftsmanship during the Sui and Tang dynasties were considered the highest status among the lower classes, especially those working for the royal family and entering the royal workshops, whose pre-job training lasted four or five years.

In the Tang Dynasty, goldsmiths were subject to a hereditary service system, and the filigree inlay craft originating from the Spring and Autumn Period had a clear legacy.

The goldsmiths entering the royal workshops were naturally the best among all goldsmiths in the Great Tang.

Zhu Baotian, who is now in charge of the Zhu Family Jewelry Store, was a craftsman serving in the Imperial Palace back then. When he retired due to old age and left the palace, the Zhu Family took him back to their jewelry store in Mao County, treating him as a treasure.

Both of his sons, due to the hereditary system, are currently serving in the Chang’an City Palace as royal workshop goldsmiths.

Only he and his old wife returned to their roots in Mao County.

The Zhu Family packed the jewelry store with craftsmen to Zhu Laotian as his apprentices and descendants, intending to use him to the fullest.

Zhu Baotian himself is also willing to take on apprentices in Mao County; after all, as he aged, having an apprentice to care for was good since his sons were not around. An apprentice is like half a son, which is different from today’s indifferent teacher-student relationship. 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

Lin Wanwan learned about Zhu Baotian from the Red Face Smile Beauty Salon.

Therefore, when Lin Wanwan went to the Zhu Family Jewelry Store, she specifically asked for something personally crafted by Zhu Baotian; she did not want anything made by others.

Under normal circumstances, Zhu Laotian would not personally make jewelry, he would only guide his apprentices and descendants.

But Lin Wanwan paid too much!

The Zhu Family Jewelry Store couldn’t refuse, and Zhu Baotian himself couldn’t refuse either—Lin Wanwan paid the Zhu Family Jewelry Store with a piece of Gaochang cotton cloth and privately gave Zhu Baotian a magnifying glass with a copper handle!

Not to mention retired goldsmiths; even if the two Zhu sons serving the royal family in Chang’an City were asked to make it personally, they would find a way to get it done.

But Lin Wanwan did not want to take risks; an 11.7-carat cat’s eye gemstone is not something casually seen in the Tang Dynasty. How could she feel assured sending it out of Mao County?

After settling the pendant customization, Lin Wanwan instructed the servants left at the Lin Mansion in Xiaoxi Town to guard the house, then rode back to the Lin Family Manor.

She would not return to Xiaoxi Town before the hurricane passed.

In the fourth year of Zhenguan of the Tang Dynasty, from a historical perspective, it was a year of abundance for the Great Tang.

At the beginning of the year, Li Jing subdued the Eastern Turks and took over the Northern Desert; Zangke and Dangxiang pledged allegiance to the Tang Dynasty and became the Six New States of Tang; in August, Japan also sent envoys to Tang to pay tribute; as the historical trajectory goes, in September, the lord of Yiwu City would also submit to Tang and become West Yi State (the cold melon seedlings and planting methods would be moved to Chang’an); Li Shimin was also honored as the Heavenly Khan by the various northwest tribes.

The renowned governance of Zhenguan in Huaxia’s history already showed its initial signs, and Li Shimin was free to explore, traveling across the vast Great Tang, enjoying mountains and rivers, soaking in hot springs, hunting in spring and autumn!

But all these were gains for the royal family and the court, not at all comforting for the ordinary people.

This year, the Great Tang was still a year full of disasters, droughts, locusts, floods, none spared the common people of the Tang Dynasty, nor was the world peaceful.

Li Shimin could enjoy leisure and commend the subjects’ thrift, while the common people had to tighten their belts to live; otherwise, they would have to drink the northwest wind (struggle with hunger).

Mao County escaped the drought and defeated the locust plague, but could not avoid the final wind and water disasters.

By the fifth day of the harvest, the wind was already strong. This time, no need for celestial observation, the people living by the sea also had a sense in their hearts, a hurricane was imminent.

Every year at this season, hurricanes are the most dreaded events for people living by the sea. Sometimes they just pass by and are not severe; sometimes they come with wind and rain; sometimes they can cause tsunamis, causing seawater to flood back and mountain floods to break out, which is very terrifying.

This hurricane did not brush past Mao County as the people prayed for, and the hundreds of wishes pleaded before the Buddha by the common people were not granted.

More frightening than last year’s hurricane, this year’s hurricane had grown stronger!

Viewing it from a modern perspective, Lin Wanwan thought the wind force must be above level twelve, a level the weather bureau hesitates to report in detail for fear of inducing panic among the ignorant populace.

The people in Mao County, who had been grumbling about the relocation, reinforcement, and demolition actions, fell silent collectively after the hurricane’s violent and rainy onslaught upon Mao County.

Looking at a vast area of collapsed dangerous buildings, the flood backflows, and the slipping mountainsides, everyone was filled with dread.

The school in Lin Family Manor had long ceased classes. Lin Wanwan, holding little Qingyu, shut the doors and windows, and sat in the main house’s attic on the third floor with two prominent daughters, Xiao Xianghua and Xiao Yixun, eating sliced autumn pears while looking through the glass window at the rolling seascape not far away.

The wind force at Lin Family Manor had already been considerably weakened by the mountain ranges. More than half of the wind was blocked by the surrounding mountains.

Even so, there was no stopping the hurricane’s might!

The makeshift thatched hut of Lin Guofu’s family must have been blown over by the wind.

However, like them, the Lin Clan members still living in the thatched huts had long been relocated to the school annex and did not suffer as much as other clan members.

For example, the Lin Mengjin family living in the stone and oyster shell house had its roof partially lifted by the hurricane. Now outside, it’s a rainstorm, and it’s raining heavily in one section of the house inside, a total mess!

Only clan leaders like Lin Clan Leader and Lin Mengbo, who like to plan ahead and are diligent in repairing and reinforcing their houses, manage to escape the disaster in the violent storm.

"This violent storm, I wonder how many families will be displaced," Lin Wanwan murmured.

Xiao Xianghua sighed, "Indeed! Luckily, Brother Chong moved many of the common people in advance. Otherwise, it would have been worse."

Xiao Yixun was not interested in other’s matters, not to mention lower-class people irrelevant to her; even if her family members suffered, she would not feel emotionally stirred.

Unlike Xiao Xianghua, who had to maintain a facade of kindness regardless of what she truly thought, she always lived independently and acted at her own will.