Chapter 69 Chapter 69 1st update

It rarely snows in Jiangbei County in winter. It only snows once or twice during the coldest time of the year. So even though it is cold in winter, you can still see some things in the mountains.

Needless to say, winter bamboo shoots are hard to dig but extremely delicious. There are also many wild vegetables and mushrooms, and sometimes you can even dig up wild yam or gastrodia elata.

The group of people walked into the forest talking and laughing. The Zhao Zhengyang brothers walked in the front, with a few elders in the middle, and Shen Moer and the others lagged behind.

Wang Qiutong kept whispering to Shen Moer along the way, and Shen Moer finally understood why she and Zheng Jiamin had been quarreling recently.

Strictly speaking, Xu Wei was not from Yangliu Brigade. She was from Dongshan Brigade. Her mother, Zhou Chuntao, was from Yangliu Brigade and married to Dongshan Brigade. Last year, Zhou Chuntao's husband died of illness, leaving behind three orphans and a widow. Zhou Chuntao's husband spent a lot of money on medical treatment and mortgaged the house to his brothers. After his death, several uncles and brothers drove Zhou Chuntao and her two children out.

Zhou Chuntao had no choice but to take her sixteen-year-old daughter Xu Wei and nine-year-old son Xu Qi back to her parents' home.

Zhou Chuntao's two brothers from her mother's side, one was the militia captain Zhou Qingguo, and the other was Zhou Weiguo. Both were kind people. They squeezed out a room for the three of them to live in. Zhou Qingguo also found a way to transfer the three of them's household registration back to the Yangliu Brigade.

There was no other way. They had no roof over their heads in the Dongshan Brigade, but if they lived in the Yangliu Brigade, they would not be able to earn work points to eat unless they transferred their household registration. The brigade leaders on both sides could not bear to see the three of them starve to death, so they helped with the formalities.

The mother and her two daughters moved back after the autumn harvest. They happened to receive some grain from the Dongshan Brigade, and the Yangliu Brigade also gave them some subsidies. With the help of her brothers from her mother's family, they were able to settle down quickly.

Since they were outsiders, they were assigned to the 12th Production Team with the educated youth.

Zheng Jiamin was a very outgoing person to begin with, and soon he became friendly with the mother and daughter. Then, when winter came, the mother and daughter began to "borrow" money from Zheng Jiamin. It wasn't much, two cents today, fifty cents tomorrow, a soap bill today, and half a pound of brown sugar bills tomorrow. Although it was called borrowing, Zheng Jiamin was actually too embarrassed to ask them for it back.

Besides, their family is very poor, how can they afford to pay back the money?

That would have been fine, but this girl Xu Wei would get close to Zheng Jiamin from time to time. Wang Qiutong heard several educated youth discussing behind their backs whether they were dating. On several occasions, Wang Qiutong even saw the two of them talking with their heads close together, almost touching.

Wang Qiutong was not someone who could keep secrets. One time, she couldn't help but go straight to Zheng Jiamin and told him that if he really wanted to date the person, he should do it seriously and establish a relationship openly. If he didn't want to date, he should be careful in his daily life to avoid being misunderstood and reported for cheating.

This is not impossible. Apart from anything else, Yang Qingqing has been acting weird since she returned to the team. Occasionally, when she stares at people, her eyes are so sinister that they are frightening.

Zheng Jiamin and Fu Mingze have a good relationship. Yang Qingqing cannot keep an eye on Fu Mingze, so she keeps an eye on Zheng Jiamin the most. If Yang Qingqing really catches any evidence against her, Wang Qiutong dares to say that Yang Qingqing will report it to Zheng Jiamin immediately.

Also, as the old saying goes, help in emergencies but not in poverty. It’s okay to help out occasionally, but don’t let yourself be taken advantage of.

Wang Qiutong meant well, but Zheng Jiamin suddenly blushed and became very angry when he heard what she said. He said that Wang Qiutong looked at people with tinted glasses. He and Xu Wei clearly had a pure revolutionary friendship, and Xu Wei was only a young girl who didn't understand the world, so how could he say that to her?

As for the money and notes he gave as a favor, he just gave it out of pity for the mother and daughter, and he never expected them to pay him back. How could he say that they were taking advantage of him?

Wang Qiutong was so angry after being rebuked that she said, "Your kindness is taken for granted," and never paid any attention to Zheng Jiamin again.

Zheng Jiamin made peace with her the next day, but Wang Qiutong thought he was an ungrateful person and didn't bother to pay attention to him.

Wang Qiutong had noticed that Zheng Jiamin probably felt sorry for Xu Wei so he didn't bother with her. Also, he probably thought Xu Wei was only sixteen years old and still a little girl, so he didn't shy away from getting along with her. But Xu Wei didn't necessarily think so. Wang Qiutong always felt that the look in this girl's eyes didn't show that she was a simple little girl who didn't know anything.

So even though I had decided in my heart to let that idiot Zheng Jiamin die, I couldn't help but say a few words every time.

"This idiot has been fooled around, but he keeps feeling sorry for others. It's really hilarious." Wang Qiutong whispered, "He even wanted to call Fu Zhiqing to wait for someone together. Does he think Fu Zhiqing is as dumb as him?"

Shen Moer thought about it and felt that Xu Wei did not look like a simple little girl. Her shy and timid look did give her some of the charm of a mature woman.

But seeing Wang Qiutong's indignant look, she just found it funny: "If you are fooled, you are fooled. Every failure makes you wiser. You will understand after you have suffered a loss."

Wang Qiutong curled her lips: "I'm just afraid that he will be tricked by that mother and daughter."

The two of them were talking about this in a whisper. Not far behind them, Zheng Jiamin was also whispering to Fu Mingze: "Wang Qiutong is a nice person, but she is too straightforward and often embarrasses other girls. Comrade Xu Wei's life is already very difficult. I just did my best to help her, but Wang Qiutong said that I was fooled and that I would be cheated by them sooner or later. We are all comrades in the same team, how can you make malicious assumptions about others like this? I just refuted her a few words, and she got angry. She didn't pay much attention to me recently and even called me a fool."

Zheng Jiamin felt very aggrieved and said weakly, "How could I possibly date Comrade Xu? Really."

Fu Mingze looked at him like a fool and said, "You don't want to date someone, so why do you keep dating people all day long, giving them money and tickets?"

Zheng Jiamin: "...We didn't have much contact. I didn't have much money or notes. She asked me to borrow them. I thought her family was really in financial difficulty, so I lent them to her."

Fu Mingze said coldly: "Oh, have they returned it?"

Zheng Jiamin: "...They don't have much income, so how can they pay it back? And it's really not much. I didn't expect them to pay it back."

Fu Mingze: "Then what's wrong with Wang Qiutong saying that you are a sucker?"

Zheng Jiamin: “…”

After hesitating for a long time, he blurted out: "Is it wrong for me to help others?"

Then she angrily defended herself, "She's just a little girl, how can she think so much? I just had no choice but to speak to me shamelessly. You see, when she saw us going up the mountain today, she wanted to come with us. Although she is burdened by the family, she is still childish at heart and loves to play. If you hadn't been unwilling to wait for her with me, she would have gone into the mountain with us right now. If you get to know her more, you will know how innocent she is, and you won't look at her with such prejudice."

Fu Mingze didn't expect that Zheng Jiamin was so self-righteous and helpful. It was hard to persuade the damned guy with good words. He was silent for a few seconds and said, "Well, it's up to you."

Zheng Jiamin felt like all the words he wanted to say were stuck in his throat. He was silent for a while, then he sighed deeply: "It doesn't matter if you don't understand. I have a clear conscience."

Fu Mingze: “…”

He used to be a very smart person, how come he suddenly became so stupid?

The three Zhao siblings are indeed the ones who run around in the mountains all day long. While Shen Moer and the others were talking, Zhao Tingting had already run to dig up a handful of wild vegetables and picked a handful of mushrooms, and Zhao Zhengyang had even caught a wild rabbit.

Zhao Tingting happily jumped to Shen Moer's side and handed her a few bright red mushrooms as if offering treasures: "Look, cousin, I found a few big red mushrooms. They are delicious when roasted, but they are rare. The last time I found them was several years ago."

Wang Qiutong was surprised: "This mushroom is so beautiful with its bright red color."

Shen Moer only knew some common mushrooms, and she had never seen this big red mushroom before. She hesitated and asked, "Is this really edible?"

Zhao Tingting nodded firmly: "It's definitely edible. If you don't believe me, ask my mom! It's delicious!"

Shen Moer: "Okay, let's look for it again."

The three of them ran happily to look for mushrooms.

Zheng Jiamin also temporarily forgot his grievances and rushed to Zhao Zhengyang: "Brother Yang, Brother Yang, let me see, this rabbit is really fat!"

Fu Mingze also went over to take a look, and sure enough, the rabbit was quite fat. It looked like it was being well taken care of in the middle of winter.

Shen Yinyin looked at the group of young people with a smile: "Oh, they are still young, and everything they see is strange."

Shen Shaoyuan smiled, glanced at it, exclaimed, and quickly walked to a rock.

He also saw something that interested him, an orchid with slender and elegant leaves and a few tiny flower buds hanging on the thin stem in the middle, about to bloom.

Shen Yinyin came over: “Hey, it’s winter and it’s actually blooming?”

Shen Shaoyuan: "This is a winter orchid, and its flowering period is in winter. Unfortunately, it will take a few more days for it to bloom."

Chen Yinyin didn't understand what cold orchids were, she just said, "If you like, just dig them up and take them home to raise."

Although she thought that it was not worth eating or drinking, there was no point in raising it, but seeing that Old Seven liked it very much, Shen Yinyin rolled up her sleeves and dug out the flower with its roots and mud in a few strokes.

Before Shen Shaoyuan could react, the orchid was stuffed into his hand.

Looking at the orchid in his hand, Shen Shaoyuan was silent for a few seconds and said, "Dig some more soil from the surrounding area and take it back."

Shen Yinyin: “Okay.”

They had a harvest, and Zhao Tingting over there suddenly cheered: "Pheasant eggs!"

When everyone heard this, they hurried over and saw seven or eight pheasant eggs where Shen Moli and the others were picking mushrooms.

"Hey, it's true." Zhao Zhengyang laughed, "That's amazing, you even found the pheasant eggs."

Zhao Zhenghui leaned over to take a look, then patted Zhao Zhengyang: "Brother, let's go find some pheasants."

The two brothers quickly started looking nearby.

There were many people going up the mountain this time, and they walked deeper without realizing it. This forest was not often visited by Shen Moer and her friends. Perhaps it was because the villagers did not come here often that they could find many good things nearby. Otherwise, how could they catch wild rabbits so easily in the winter?

After searching for a while, the Zhao Zhengyang brothers walked deeper into the forest. Chen Moer and the others picked up eggs and followed slowly.

At a certain moment, a strange roar suddenly sounded in the forest. Shen Moer stopped and shouted, "Oh no, there is a wild boar."

Shen Shaoyuan also heard it.

Don't underestimate him as just a weak scholar. He also participated in the autumn hunt every year during the Daliang period. In fact, wild boars were not very common during the autumn hunt, but after all, he had participated in so many autumn hunts that he had seen wild boars.

Of course, he participated in the autumn hunt purely for fun. It was considered good if he could shoot a rabbit by himself. If he really came across other prey, it was always the guards who killed them. He had seen live wild boars, but they were usually shot like big hedgehogs not long after they appeared.

The wild boar's skin is very hard and difficult to shoot, but there are many guards around him, and one arrow from each of them can turn the wild boar into a hedgehog.

They had quite a few people today, but they had little fighting power. Shen Shaoyuan shouted immediately: "Run back!"

He grabbed Shen Yinyin and Zhao Tingting, and ran while shouting, “Mingze, take Zheng Zhiqing and Wang Zhiqing and run!”

Almost at the same time, Shen Moer ran quickly in the direction where the Zhao Zhengyang brothers were going, followed closely by Zhao Xingguo holding a hoe.

Fu Mingze hesitated for two seconds. He wanted to chase Shen Moli, but in a flash, he understood why his father-in-law called him alone... His father-in-law knew that his daughter had the ability to protect herself, so he specifically reminded him to take Zheng Jiamin and Wang Qiutong and run away.

Glancing in the direction of Shen Moer, Fu Mingze gritted his teeth and said, “Take Wang Qiutong to a safe place first.”

If they stay here they will only hold us back.

On the other side, Shen Moer had already found Zhao Zhengyang and Zhao Zhenghui.

The two brothers were fighting with a wild boar with sharp fangs and a pitch-black body. One of them was holding a hoe while the other was wielding a machete, and they were fighting vigorously. Unfortunately, the wild boar had thick skin and flesh, and they were unable to cause much damage to it.

Zhao Xingguo also caught up, and when he saw this scene, he broke out in a cold sweat: "These two idiots, can't they just run away when they can't win? Are their lives more important or eating meat?!"

He thought that the Zhao Zhengyang brothers were excited to see the prey and wanted to hunt wild boars for meat, but Shen Moer saw it: "Zhenghui sprained his ankle."

Zhao Zhenghui stood there hardly moving, but Zhao Zhengyang kept changing his position, trying to find the wild boar's weakness, but every time he was attacked by the wild boar, he had to retreat.

Zhao Xingguo was terrified. After thinking for a while, he said, "I'll go help them. Mo'er, you go quickly."

After saying that, he was about to rush forward with the hoe raised, but Shen Moer reached out and pulled him back: "Don't be impulsive, let's hide in the dark first and find the right time to strike."

Zhao Xingguo thought, why are they still looking for an opportunity? The three of them, father and son, might have to die here today, but he couldn't implicate Shen Moer no matter what. However, he struggled for a while and found that he couldn't break free from Shen Moer's grip.

Shen Moer patted his shoulder: “Uncle, listen to me.”

After saying that, she let go of Zhao Xingguo, took out her homemade bow and arrow from the bamboo basket, and gently reached over.

Zhao Xingguo rubbed his shoulders in a daze, then realized belatedly that his niece's strength was much greater than his.

Over there, Zhao Zhengyang and Zhao Zhenghui relied on a long-handled hoe to keep the wild boar from getting close to them, but in the middle of winter, both of them were sweating profusely and panting heavily, and it was obvious that they could not hold on for too long.

Zhao Zhenghui panted heavily: "Brother, please go. We can't both of us stay here today."

Zhao Zhengyang stared at the wild boar with a green face and fangs: "What nonsense are you talking about? I'm leaving and leaving you here to die?"

He thought for a moment and said, "I'll block it and you quickly climb up the tree. Once you're up, I'll find a way to escape and then call for help."

As the two men were talking, their hands unconsciously slowed down. The wild boar was also cunning. Seeing that the two men were slacking off, it mooed and rushed forward again, even ignoring the hoe that was swung in front of it. It was obvious that it wanted to kill the man in front of it first even at the risk of getting injured.

Just as the wild boar was about to hit Zhao Zhengyang, suddenly, with a whoosh, a sharp arrow pierced the air and hit the wild boar's eye.

The wild boar let out a shrill howl, and Zhao Zhengyang quickly dragged his brother and ran away. The wild boar wanted to chase him again, but another arrow shot it in the other eye, blinding it. The wild boar roared like a headless fly and bumped around, making the surrounding trees bang. Then, another arrow pierced through the most vulnerable part of its forehead. The wild boar let out a scream and fell to the ground with a bang.

At the same time, Zhao Xingguo rushed out from the bushes on one side, raised his hoe and smashed the wild boar's head with it. After a few hits, the wild boar, which was already dying, died instantly.

Zhao Zhengyang and Zhao Zhenghui were both stunned.

Shen Moer came out from behind a big tree and called out to Zhao Zhengyang: "Cousin Zhengyang, go chase my dad and the others and ask them to come back and help carry the wild boar."

Zhao Zhengyang looked at Shen Moli blankly, and only after Zhao Xingguo urged him again, "Hurry up," did he start running.

Twenty minutes later, a group of people gathered around the wild boar that was beaten to a bloody mess.

Zheng Jiamin said blankly: "This, this, this, Comrade Moer, you are too amazing!"

Wang Qiutong was also confused: "Are wild boars so easy to kill? Then why did we run away just now?"

Not to mention that they were confused, in fact the Zhao family was also confused.

They are mountain people, and their chances of encountering wild boars are actually much higher than other people. Every year, the brigade even organizes everyone to go into the mountains to hunt wild boars. However, when they go into the mountains to hunt wild boars, they always bring "weapons" with them, and they are generally a group of strong men. Not to mention using a wood basket, even if they use a hatchet, one person can hack a wild boar to death.

Like today, three or four people killed a wild boar with their bare hands... Oh, no, to be precise, the wild boar was shot to death by Shen Moer alone, and Zhao Xingguo simply shot it twice more afterwards, causing the wild boar to die a little faster.

Even in Beishan'ao, there was no one like this who could kill a wild boar alone.

It’s not that the wild boar is easy to kill, it’s clearly because Shen Moli’s archery skills are amazing.

The calmest person at the scene was Shen Shaoyuan. He reminded, "Don't talk nonsense for now. Carry this thing down the mountain first. The bloody smell here is so strong that it may attract something else."

Zhao Xingguo was startled by his reminder and nodded repeatedly: "Yes, yes, that's right, Old Seven is right, don't worry about anything else, take the things away first and evacuate the people quickly."

He hesitated for a moment and asked Shen Shaoyuan: "Should we carry this thing to the brigade headquarters?"

Shen Shaoyuan glanced at Zheng Jiamin and Wang Qiutong and said, "Let's carry it to the path at the entrance of the village. Everyone is frightened, so let's stew some meat to calm them down."

Normally, such a big wild boar should be handed over to the government, but except for Zheng Jiamin and Wang Qiutong, all the people present today are family members, and no one else saw it, so it is not a big problem to just carry it home.

In fact, Shen Moer had this intention in mind when she asked Zhao Zhengyang to call them back immediately. She was afraid that they would go down the mountain to call the villagers, and then they would definitely have to be handed over to the police.

Zhao Xingguo understood what he meant and immediately said, "Okay, Zhengyang and I will carry it to the village entrance together, and you can go back the same way."

Such a large group of people went up the mountain but didn't come down. If people at the foot of the mountain noticed it, they would definitely find it strange.

Zheng Jiamin volunteered to help carry the wild boar. Zhao Zhengyang looked at his skinny arms and legs with disdain, but did not refuse: "You go ahead and scout the way."

The path is not easy to walk on and not many people usually walk on it, but you never know. If someone explores the way, we can respond in time if we encounter anything.

Zheng Jiamin followed happily.

The others cleaned up the scene a bit. They had hoes ready, so they dug some soil to cover the bloodstains on the ground, and then went back the way they came.

Chen Moer and Fu Mingze fell behind. Fu Mingze looked unhappy and held Chen Moer's hand all the way. When Wang Qiutong saw this, she consciously walked with Zhao Tingting.

"I know."

Shen Moer scratched Fu Mingze's palm and said softly.

When Zhao Zhengyang went back to call for help, the first person he met on the way was Fu Mingze. Fu Mingze found that the wild boar did not catch up with him, so he asked Zheng Jiamin and Wang Qiutong to hide and turned back.

He didn't say anything, but his face didn't look good, and the hand holding her was shaking slightly. Shen Moer's heart was soft. Fu Mingze knew that she was sure, but knowing was one thing and worrying was another.

Fu Mingze paused slightly, pulled Shen Moer into his arms, buried his head in the crook of her neck, and hummed muffledly.

Just then Wang Qiutong turned around and saw it. She was so shocked that an egg could almost fit into her mouth. Shen Moer quickly raised a finger and made a gesture to keep quiet.

Wang Qiutong had a complicated expression and silently reached out her hand to her mouth, making a gesture to shut up.

I thought to myself, I never expected that Fu Zhiqing, who looked so cold and indifferent, was actually so attached to his wife.