The daily life of a space tycoon raising children, doting on his husband, and farming.

Chapter 37 features a straw hat.

Large raindrops pelted down on everyone like hail.

Shang Wan grabbed a tabletop and held it above her head to protect herself and Lu Chengjing from the air. Villagers who were nearby also benefited.

Others followed suit, dismantling tabletops and holding them overhead to protect those around them.

The torch was mostly extinguished by the dousing, and the remaining small flame flickered precariously, barely providing any light.

The rain obscured the view, and everything became blurry.

Shang Wan was worried about Yuan Yuan, Xiao Huan, and Shi Tou, so she asked Li Dashan to help hold up the table. Just as she was about to run out to look for them, she heard Shi Tou's voice through the rain, "Sister, we're hiding here with Brother Liu, we're not getting wet, don't come out."

He clearly knew that Shang Wan would definitely go out to look for them given her current temperament, but with the rain so heavy outside, she would be soaked to the bone if she stepped out of the table.

Hearing Shi Tou's call, Shang Wan felt relieved and tried to take the table, but Li Dashan wouldn't let her, telling her to rest.

Lu Chengjing turned his head and whispered to Shang Wan, "Take a headcount as soon as possible."

The rain came down suddenly, and although everyone reacted quickly under Shang Wan's leadership, there was still a moment of chaos, and some people might have run to nearby houses to take shelter from the rain.

Whether the house is in good condition or not, if it is a dilapidated building, it is hard to guarantee that it will not collapse after such a heavy rain.

Under normal circumstances, Shang Wan could tell how many people were just by listening, but now the rain was too loud, masking many subtle sounds, so listening alone would probably be inaccurate.

Shang Wan looked at Zhang Er, who was holding an iron pot as an umbrella not far away, and called out, "Brother Zhang Er, I need your help with something."

"Coming!" Zhang Er ran over happily, holding an iron pot.

At the same time, Shen Qi, who was under another table, thought of the same question and asked Old Man Luo, "How many households are there in the village?"

“There used to be 107 households,” Old Man Luo said. “Including Scholar Lu’s family, there are a total of 108 households.”

"We need to count the number of people," Shen Qi said in a deep voice, "by household."

Just as Old Man Liu was about to send his son on a errand, Zhang Er and three other men, each carrying a pot or basin on their shoulders, rushed into the rain.

The four people divided into four groups to count the people. For example, Zhang Er was responsible for counting the households in the east of the village. After finding a person, he would ask that person to look for their family members. If anyone was not there, Zhang Er would write them down.

The three men Zhang Er found had all grown up running around the village and knew everyone in the village like the back of their hand.

Before long, the sounds of people calling for help could be heard from all sides through the rain.

There's no need for Shen Qi to send anyone out to take inventory; they can simply wait for the results.

A figure rushed through the rain towards Shang Wan and the others. Only when she got closer did they realize that it was Rong Niangzi.

Everyone, quickly squeeze in and make room for her.

Lady Rong was half-drenched by the rain, water dripping from her hair. She hastily wiped the raindrops from her face with her sleeve, her expression anxious as she said, "My husband is missing!"

Shang Wan frowned. "When did you disappear?"

“It was during the rain.” Rong Niangzi wrung out the water from her hair. “I was busy helping the wounded to keep out the rain, and then I didn’t see him. I thought he had gone somewhere else to take shelter from the rain, but Zhang Er helped me look for him and couldn’t find my husband.”

"Sister-in-law, I hope nothing bad has happened to my husband?" Rong Niangzi asked anxiously, her lips turning pale. "I want to go out and look for him. Zhang Er told me to come and ask you first. Sister-in-law, can you help me decide where I should look?"

Madam Rong panicked completely. Her hands trembled uncontrollably, and her voice was already trembling with tears, "The roads are slippery in the rain, and we can't see clearly. What if he falls into those big crevices in the ground? I..."

She dared not continue; the mere thought of that scene sent chills down her spine. Her two children were still young; they couldn't be without their father!

“There are no cracks in the ground nearby, don’t scare yourself.” Shang Wan held Rong Niangzi’s cold hand, her calm voice carrying a reassuring tone. “Brother Yuan probably ran to a nearby house to take shelter from the rain. You stay here and don’t wander around. I’ll go look for him.” Rong Niangzi wanted to go with him, partly because she was worried about her husband, and partly because this was her own business, and there was no reason for her to let Shang Wan do the work while she rested here.

Normally it wouldn't be a problem, but today it's dark, the roads are slippery, and it's raining heavily. If something happens to Shang Wan, she'll never be able to have peace of mind for the rest of her life.

Shang Wan said, "I run fast, you can't keep up with me."

It's almost as if she's saying that Lady Rong will hold her back.

Everyone: "..." You could at least be a little more tactful.

"Sister-in-law, you've misunderstood. If you don't go, I'll have to trouble you with everything, sister-in-law." Rong Niangzi knelt down before Shang Wan, her knees bent. If there had been enough space, she would have kowtowed to Shang Wan as well.

"Get up quickly." Shang Wan quickly helped him up. "Brother Yuan has helped my husband a lot in the past, and my husband and I remember these kindnesses. Even if you don't ask, I will help you find someone."

Lu Chengjing was slightly taken aback when he heard this. He looked at Shang Wan, and a ripple appeared in the depths of his calm black eyes.

Madam Rong thanked her repeatedly. Shang Wan didn't delay any longer and took a step to rush out of the rain. But suddenly a force came from the hem of her clothes.

She turned her head and saw a beautiful hand; it was Lu Chengjing.

“I have a bamboo hat.” Lu Chengjing tightened his grip slightly. “Put the bamboo hat on before you go.”

The rain showed no signs of letting up, and there were occasional thunderclaps. If this woman rushed out like that, she would be soaked to the bone in no time.

Shang Wan wanted to say no, but at her speed, she couldn't possibly keep the straw hat on.

But when she looked at Lu Chengjing's handsome face, which suited her perfectly, the words just came out as, "Okay."

After receiving the only straw hat passed to her by the crowd and putting it on, Shang Wan darted out in a few steps, and in the blink of an eye, her blue figure disappeared into the rain.

The straw hat was brought by Shan Dajun. He and Shen Qi had been keeping an eye on the area, and when they saw Shang Wan disappear into the rain, their eyes nearly popped out of their sockets in shock.

Can this merchant lady fly? How did she disappear in the blink of an eye?

Lu Chengjing stared at the rain, his left hand slowly clenching, a hint of frustration flashing deep in his eyes.

If he wasn't injured...

Shang Wan ran around the area where everyone was, holding up her straw hat, but couldn't find any trace of Yuan Musheng.

Could it be that they really ran to a nearby house to take shelter from the rain?
While trying to catch any sounds from his surroundings, Shang Wan hurried toward the nearest house.

There were indeed about ten people taking shelter from the rain here, but none of them were Yuan Musheng.

"The walls of this house are cracked, don't hide inside," Shang Wan said to the group. "Take something to keep out the rain and come back to stay with everyone."

After she finished speaking, she didn't care whether the people were listening or not, and hurried to the next house.

They searched three places, two of which were hidden by people, but still couldn't find Yuan Musheng.

Where did this person go?
Shang Wan stopped, stood in the pouring rain, closed her eyes, and focused her mind to enhance her perception.

She shut out the noisy rain and slowly pieced together the clues from the multitude of sounds.

Shang Wan's breathing slowed down. Suddenly, her ears twitched, her eyes snapped open, and she rushed towards the direction from which the sound came.

Thank you all for your support and votes! My new book is still in the competition period, and due to the rules, adding extra chapters would exceed the word limit and affect the competition, so I can't add any for now. If I'm lucky enough to make it through all four rounds of the competition, I'll update much more!
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(End of this chapter)