Lin Lan, Li Xiangyang, and the others set off to return to East Market on the same day.
It had rained for two straight days. The day before yesterday, the floodwaters were about to breach the great levee. Everyone was preparing to go to the brigade east of the levee to bring their relatives up to the mountains.
The brigade's loudspeaker announced that the downstream sluice gates were being opened to release the floodwaters. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, and the villages east of the levee were spared.
After the sky cleared, Lin Lan, Li Xiangyang, and the others shouldered their luggage, carried the children, and waded through the knee-deep water on the riverbank to board the ferry.
"Sigh!" Wu Shufen let out a breath. "We're finally on board."
Li Xiangyang put Little Douzi down and helped the others set their bags down against the ferry's engine room.
