Many people didn't go home at noon; they ate dry rations on the mountain. The Zhou family was one of them; they brought steamed buns and honey water.
Zhao Guihua was worried that Xingxing would go hungry, so she specially brought some steamed dried meat for Xingxing to eat with steamed buns. The dried meat would harden quickly after cooling down, but Xingxing still liked to eat it. She slowly chewed it with her little teeth and ate it with relish.
While no one was paying attention, Zhou Laoda and Zhao Guihua dug up a lot of medicinal herbs. Ever since Zhou Laoda and Zhou Erfu were injured, they had been fond of hoarding medicinal herbs, digging them up, chopping them up, drying them, and then storing them away.
The Zhou family has now stockpiled a lot of dried herbs, and there are quite a few kinds. This is all thanks to Xing. If the little girl didn't know which herbs could be used, they wouldn't dare to dig them up randomly.
As evening fell, the group had just returned home when the village chief came looking for them.
“I’ve made three trips already. I arrived too late this morning, and you had already set off into the mountains. I thought you would come back for lunch, but you weren’t there. This time, I finally found you.” The village chief wiped the sweat from his forehead.
Old Zhou's heart skipped a beat, wondering if something bad had happened. He stepped forward, grabbed the village chief's hand, and said, "Let's go inside and talk."
Once inside, Zhou Laoda led the village chief to the main room, instructed the children to fetch water, and told Zhao Guihua to quickly start a fire and cook, including killing a wild rabbit for dinner, and to invite the village chief to stay for dinner that evening.
As soon as he sat back down in his chair, Boss Zhou asked directly, "What happened? Why are you in such a hurry?"
“I’m quite familiar with Niu Er from the neighboring Dakeng Village. We met in town last time. That guy is tall and strong, and very bold. He dares to wander around even though there are refugees everywhere. I gave him an ounce of silver to pass on a message for me,” the village chief said.
Zhou Laoda knew a little about this. The village chief was thorough and cautious in his work. Yegou Village built a thorn wall and the villagers did not go out, so they could not know about the outside world. Being isolated from the outside world was not a good thing for Yegou Village, so the village chief paid Niu Er, who was bold, to communicate with him.
We hadn't heard from anyone before, and we thought Niu Er had gotten into trouble and the money was gone. But then someone suddenly came and delivered a message.
“Niu Er said that the refugees broke into several nearby villages in the middle of the night to steal food. Unlike our village, the people in those villages were not refugees and had weak awareness of defense. They were no match for the vicious refugees, and a lot of food was stolen. Some families were completely robbed.” The village chief frowned.
Old Zhou gritted his teeth and said, "I'm afraid those people are not just refugees. Those strong, burly men gather together and specialize in killing, robbing, and murdering. These people are not ordinary refugees. They not only dare to rob food and kill people, but they also dare to eat people."
“You’re right. I’ve heard that a lot of people have died these days because of the grain looting. Most of the families who refused to hand over their grain and resisted the refugees were beaten to death.”
Recalling the news he received today, the village chief's brow furrowed even deeper. "I heard that someone led an attack on the city gates of Lishan County, and all the refugees entered the city. They stormed the county government office, and the county magistrate was almost killed. However, the magistrate was cunning and eventually escaped with his family."
Old Zhou was taken aback. "Then the county government office is unguarded. The county town is in chaos, and things are probably not going to be any better here."
"I'm worried that a large number of refugees will attack the village tonight, so I've told all the men in the village not to sleep and to stand guard at the village entrance. The women at home should also be on high alert." The village chief made three trips just to tell this.
“But it’s not safe for women and children to stay at home. We still need to find a place to take refuge. I think it would be safer to move the elderly and children to the mountains tomorrow.”
Old Zhou stood up and paced back and forth, thinking about where people could hide on the mountain, and where they could escape if the refugees chased them up the mountain.
Seeing Zhou Laoda's state, the village chief advised, "Don't panic. There might not be any refugees who dare to come tonight. We killed quite a few people in the last two attacks, and the refugees know how dangerous it is, so they didn't dare to come again. They went to other villages, and they probably won't attack our village for the time being. We still have time to plan."
That makes sense. Old Zhou felt a little more at ease. "Let's have dinner at my house tonight. We caught several rabbits today. After we've eaten, we can go to your house and discuss what to do next with everyone."
The village chief didn't stand on ceremony with him and agreed to stay for a meal. People had already been arranged to guard the two entrances of the village, and if anything unusual happened, they would immediately ring a gong to alert the whole village.
Soon, the aroma of meat wafted from the kitchen. Zhao Guihua had killed the fattest wild rabbit, cut it into small pieces, and stir-fried it with lard. After stir-frying, she added some water, covered the pot, and started to simmer. Once cooked, she added some salt and Sichuan peppercorns for seasoning.
The staple food is sweet potato rice. Rice is eaten sparingly, so it is mixed with some other grains.
After they finished eating, Zhou Laoda left with the village chief. Zhao Guihua knew what had happened and told the children to take a bath and go to bed.
Seeing the adults' solemn expressions, the children also sensed that something big was about to happen, and they all came to ask what was going on.
Zhao Guihua initially didn't want to tell the children, fearing it would frighten them. However, after being asked repeatedly, she decided to tell them after some thought. This way, if refugees really did invade in the middle of the night, the children wouldn't be so terrified that they wouldn't be at a loss for how to react.
Not only did the quintuplets need to know, she also called Xingxing over to listen together, "...Other villages have already suffered, their food has been looted, and some families have had all their food taken away. Now our village is still fine, but the refugees even dare to attack the county town, so we probably can't hold our village."
When a large number of refugees arrive, no matter how experienced or fierce the people of Yegou Village are, they will not be able to withstand the large number of refugees and will eventually be worn down.
“We won’t sleep tonight, we’ll just guard the grain.” Zhou Erfu’s eyes sharpened, revealing a hint of murderous intent.
"With your father and the others guarding the village entrance, we should hurry up and get some sleep to recharge. Only with energy can we fight the refugees. Xingxing will sleep with Mom tonight. Okay, now that you know what's going on, stop jumping around and go back to your room to sleep."
Zhao Guihua carried Xingxing back into the house, ignoring the five boys.
Zhou Dafu and his four younger brothers immediately went back to their house, but instead of going to sleep right away, they huddled together and whispered among themselves, probably discussing how to deal with the situation should the refugees raid their home.
"When the time comes, third and fifth brothers will protect mother and sister and go first. My eldest brother, fourth brother, and I will cover the rear. My fourth brother and I are strong, so we'll block the way in front. My eldest brother is steady, so he'll just help out." Zhou Erfu made the arrangements in a very professional manner.
The other four brothers had no objections and thought the arrangement was reasonable. However, they needed to figure out how to escape and which route to take beforehand, so as not to run around like headless flies.
"After we escape, we'll meet up on the mountaintop next to the mass grave. If anyone doesn't arrive in time, don't go down the mountain to look for them right away. We'll make other plans after dawn," Zhou Dafu said.
The quintuplets discussed for most of the hour and finally got everything arranged before taking turns sleeping. Four of them went to sleep first, while one stayed behind to keep watch.
Chow Tai Fook was the eldest brother, and he was the first to let his four younger brothers go to sleep.
“Let me go first to keep watch. Big brother, you’re more mature than the rest of us. You can stay awake in the middle of the night, but we might not be able to,” Zhou Wufu said with self-awareness.
Next door, Zhao Guihua was already asleep, holding Xingxing in her arms. To be precise, Xingxing was fast asleep, but Zhao Guihua's mind was very clear, constantly paying attention to the movements outside.
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