"Dafu, Erfu, Sanfu, Sifu, Wufu, you all wake up! Get up and take care of your little sister!" Zhao Guihua banged on the children's door.
For the first two nights, the quintuplets were able to take turns going out for fresh air and didn't dare to sleep too soundly. But after several days without incident, they gradually relaxed and simply stopped keeping anyone out for fresh air.
Hearing Zhao Guihua's shout, everyone was jolted awake. Zhou Erfu reacted the fastest, jumping out of bed and shouting, "Mom, what's wrong? Have the refugees broken in?"
“Yes, refugees have broken into the village. You all need to come out and take care of your little sister. I have to go out for a bit.” As soon as Zhou Erfu opened the door, Zhao Guihua shoved her daughter into his arms.
Zhou Erfu hurriedly hugged his mother, and seeing her running towards the door, he said anxiously, "Mom, the refugees have come, why aren't you hiding at home? It's so dangerous outside!"
“Everyone in the village is asleep. We have to wake them up. They can’t stay in the house.” Zhao Guihua answered loudly, but didn’t have time to explain further before running out of the house.
"The gate, quickly bolt the gate!" Xingxing leaned forward to bolt the gate.
"Don't go, stay inside. Second brother will go bolt the door." Zhou Erfu carried Xingxing onto the kang and strode to close the door. His mother was too flustered; she didn't even realize that their own courtyard gate was open.
At this moment, the other four brothers were also wide awake. Upon hearing the word "refugee," their minds immediately cleared.
Zhou Erfu returned after locking the door and took the wood-chopping knife in his hand. Zhou Sifu also went to the kitchen and took out a kitchen knife. Zhou Dafu, Zhou Sanfu, and Zhou Wufu each took a sickle.
Xingxing struggled to get off the kang (a heated brick bed), but Zhou Erfu held her down. "Just stay on the kang. You don't need to help. We brothers can protect you."
"Even the stars need a knife for protection. You all have knives, but the stars don't." The stars pouted, feeling quite annoyed. At least give her a stick to protect herself.
Zhou Dafu saw through the little girl's thoughts, held her in his arms, and gently coaxed her: "Xingxing, don't be angry or afraid. Your brothers will protect you. If the refugees break into the house later, let Fifth Brother and Third Brother take you out through the backyard and hide in the mountains."
"Let's run together. If we can't escape, we'll stay home together. We're a family, and we should stay together." Xingxing's soft voice was comforting in the restless night.
“Yes, we’ll stay home together. I won’t leave first.” Zhou Wufu was the youngest, so he was assigned to take Xingxing and escape first.
Zhou Zhoufu was relatively weak among the brothers, so he was arranged to leave first. Although Zhou Dafu was not as strong as Erfu and Sifu, he was the eldest son, so he felt that he had to stay.
“Brother, I’m not leaving either. Like my sister said, our family should stay together. If we have to leave, we’ll leave together; if we have to stay, we’ll stay together,” Zhou Sanfu said firmly.
Xingxing emphasized again in a firm tone, "We are a family, and we must stand together through thick and thin."
"To advance and retreat together"—Zhou Dafu silently repeated these four words several times, not knowing where Xingxing had heard them from. He didn't have time to think about it at the moment. Xingxing was always clever and loved to repeat herself, so she probably heard it from some villager.
It's quite appropriate to say it now.
Xingxing: It wasn't from the villagers. She would occasionally dream that she was a little girl sitting in a magnificent golden house, with a teacher in front of her whose face she couldn't see giving her lessons. He taught her a lot, but she could only remember bits and pieces.
Sigh, I had such a hard time in my dream. There were so many people around me, teaching her things, making her recite texts, making her play the piano and stuff... But thankfully it was just a dream.
After Zhao Guihua left, she ran straight to the village entrance to find the village chief.
"Village chief, where is the village chief resting?" Zhao Guihua gasped, grabbing a man who had just come out to relieve himself.
Coincidentally, the man was none other than her husband, Zhou Laoda. "Wife, what do you want with the village chief in the middle of the night?"
"Honey, something terrible has happened. Just now, Xingxing..." She told Zhou Laoda everything Xingxing had said. Zhou Laoda knew that his daughter had a different ability than others; the things Xingxing foresaw were real and would happen.
Zhou Laoda dared not delay any longer and pulled Zhao Guihua to find the village chief. Because someone always had to keep watch at night, a large thatched hut had been built at the entrance of the village. At this moment, many men were resting inside, including the village chief.
"You wait here, I'll call Zhou Quan out." After giving his instructions, Zhou the Elder went into the thatched hut, pulled the village chief, who was still asleep, out of bed, and dragged him outside.
The village chief had a terrible headache. He had only dozed off for a short while when he was suddenly grabbed and pulled up. He was annoyed, but then his mind raced and he exclaimed in surprise, "What's wrong? Have the refugees arrived? Get ready quickly!"
The village chief was shouting loudly, waking everyone up. They all grabbed their weapons and prepared to fight.
"Once everyone's awake, go outside and keep watch. I have something to say to the village chief." Since everyone's awake, it'll save us the trouble of waking them up again. Let them clear their heads; we're about to fight a real battle.
"What's wrong?" The village chief was startled when he saw the man's serious expression.
"Village chief, what should we do if the refugees set off rockets to burn down our houses and then rush in to kill the villagers?" Old Zhou asked with a bitter expression, trying to find the right words.
The houses in the village were built less than five years ago. It wasn't easy for them to flee from the north. They've only been settled for a few years. Are they going to lose everything again?
The village chief was stunned. "Where did the refugees get a rocket? That can't be right."
“Maybe not before, but now that they’ve taken over the county government, do you think it’s possible?” Old Zhou wiped his face, almost bursting into tears.
Upon hearing this, the village chief was also very flustered, but he quickly forced himself to calm down. He was the village chief and he couldn't panic. If he panicked, the whole village would be doomed.
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