Chapter 3: Gangsters Making Trouble
Yu Gongcao felt a little sympathetic and, for the first time, took the initiative to say a few more words: "Including you, there are 52 households in this village, about 200 people. Most of them are okay, but there are a few who are a bit temperamental. But I see there are quite a few of you, so just be careful. After you enter the village, if you find an unoccupied house, you can stay there temporarily. You can repair it or rebuild it yourself later."
The Zhao family hurriedly thanked him, but Zhao Xiang was worried and asked, "Master Yu, can we really just live in that unoccupied house?"
Yu Gongcao glanced at him and said, "Of course, some people didn't make it and are gone, so the house is empty and ownerless."
The Zhao family members were startled and their faces changed slightly.
Yu Gongcao understood and said with a smile, "Are you still taboo about this? It's not that bad here. There's food in the forest, so you won't starve to death. It's just that there are more poisonous snakes, insects and ants. You'll get used to it after seeing them more often!"
The Zhao family's expression changed again: "."
After seeing Yu Gongcao off, Zhao Xiang sighed, "Let's go. Let's find a place to stay first. Madam, I'm sorry for you, and it's also hard for Ya'er, A Ling, and the children!"
Mrs. Deng suppressed her grief, hugged her two children and forced a smile: "At least our family is still together, which is better than anything else."
The young man on the other side was called Hu Ling. He caught up with them four days after they left Beijing. He was in his early twenties, with thick eyebrows and big eyes, and was tall and strong. The hardships he had experienced along the way did not make him weak, but made him tougher.
He looked like someone who wasn't easy to mess with, but looking at the Zhao Xiang couple and Zhao Liya's siblings, he was honest and simple, smiling with his white teeth: "Foster father and mother, we will definitely be fine! I'm here, I will take good care of you!"
Zhao Xiang and Deng both laughed, their chests clenched, unable to express countless words of gratitude. They felt too weak to express.
Hu Ling's father was originally the housekeeper of the Zhao family, but the whole family had long since left the family.
But when the Zhao family fell on hard times, Hu Ling returned to the Zhao family without hesitation, following his parents' orders. Zhao Liya was a young woman waiting to be married, and to avoid gossip, he kowtowed and acknowledged Zhao Xiang and Deng as his adoptive parents, and followed them into exile with them under proper authority.
With him as their adopted son, they had fewer troubles along the way.
How can a few words of thanks repay what the Hu family has done?
Zhao Liya also smiled. After the dust settled, she felt a little excited. "Mom and Dad, Brother, Ah Xiang, Ah Lin, let's go to the village first! There's a lot of time left. Who knows if a miracle might happen one day? If there's no miracle, we'll create one! As long as we don't give up, our lives will have a purpose. With a purpose, things will definitely get better and better!"
Zhao Xiang and Deng's brows relaxed and their mood became much lighter.
"Okay, Aya, what you said is so good! It will be fine, it will be fine. Let's go and find a place to settle down first!"
"Yes, let's go into the village."
A family of six carried their luggage and walked into the village.
Gaolian County is half plain and hilly, and half mountainous and forested. The area of Yancun is a hilly plain with distant mountains behind it. There are few mountains, and you can see the whole area at a glance.
The village is very large and messy. I don’t know if it’s a psychological effect, but it feels particularly desolate and bleak here.
It was late afternoon, and the mid-May sun was already blazing, making it difficult to lift one's head. The road was completely silent, with not a soul in sight.
Zhao Liya and her friends didn't walk far before they saw an ownerless house.
Most of the fence had fallen to the ground, and a large patch of foxtail grass in the yard was more than half a man's height, looking very proud. A house built of rammed yellow mud faced them, its walls covered with spider-web-like cracks, some as thick as an arm. If you walked closer, you could clearly see what was going on inside the house through the cracks.
The door of the house was gone, probably torn down and carried off by someone in the village. It was empty, like a gaping mouth. The windows had wooden lattices, embedded in the wall and unable to be removed, otherwise they would have been gone too.
The roof was covered with tree bark. Zhao Liya recognized it as fir bark.
Lingnan is rich in fir trees, which are excellent economic trees and are full of treasures. The bark can be easily removed in large chunks. It is thick and strong. People in Lingnan often use it to build houses, warehouses, cattle sheds and pig pens. It is very durable.
But the cedar bark on the house was already quite dilapidated, and grass had grown in many places.
Hu Ling wiped the sweat from his forehead and supported Zhao Xiang: "Foster father, you two go inside to get some shade and rest. I'll go into the village to see if there's a suitable place."
Zhao Liya immediately said, "Mom and Dad, you take Ah Xiang and Ah Lin and wait. My brother and I will go look for them together."
Along the way, Zhao Xiang and Deng were used to Zhao Liya making all the decisions, and Hu Ling followed her lead, so they agreed immediately.
Unexpectedly, when Zhao Liya and Hu Ling came back after a round of comparison, they found that this house was the most intact, while the others were in a mess. Either there was a hole in the roof that was bigger than the bed, or half of the wall had collapsed.
How could you expect something good when it's free? Pies don't fall from the sky. They've already experienced this.
After discussing it, the family decided to live here first and consider building a house later.
Building a house is not an easy task!
The house is divided into three rooms: the main room in the middle, the kitchen on the left, and two bedrooms on the right. The two rooms are separated by wooden boards.
There was nothing in the house except two earthen stoves in the kitchen. It was truly bare.
If I must say there is, it is only two clumps of mushrooms growing in the damp and dark corner of the wall.
No matter what, at last the dust has settled and I have a place to call home. Compared to the hardships I've endured along the way, sleeping in the open air and not knowing when this would end, this is now considered good.
People must be optimistic and learn to be content, especially in times of difficulty.
"Come on, let's clean up the house inside and outside!"
"Oh, okay!"
The family was preparing to do a thorough cleaning when three ruffian-looking young men suddenly broke in.
It's obvious from his manners, eyes and temperament that he is not a good person.
Hu Ling stepped forward, blocking Zhao Liya and the others behind him, and said cautiously: "Who are you? What do you want to do by breaking into our house?"
"Your house?" A thug snorted and raised his foot to kick something in protest, but there was nothing in the house. He could only put his foot down in frustration, pointed at his nose and sneered, "This is my place, what are you doing here? Get out of here, get out!"
Another person said with a grin, "If you don't want to leave, that's fine, but we can't let you live here for free, right? How about this? The rent is three taels of silver a month, and you can stay as long as you want."
A new day, a new update! Good morning, my darlings! Please collect, vote, and feed me!
(End of this chapter)
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