Life in Beiguan Village has always been peaceful and warm.
Except for years of floods, droughts, and rampant insect pests, the greatest difficulty was probably the twice-yearly taxes on grain, cotton, linen, and silk, as well as regular and irregular corvee labor.
Although it is located in a border town, its geographical location is unique. It is surrounded by mountains on three sides and faces water on one side. It is located in a corner that is almost forgotten by the world. Moreover, the border of Da Chu has always been strictly guarded...
Even if wars of varying sizes occur, the flames of war often do not spread here.
The people of Beiguan Village were filled with nothing but heartache and sadness when their houses were burned down and their belongings were smashed by the enemy soldiers. No one thought about the danger hidden behind this incident.
From then on, Beiguan Village was no longer a paradise where people could enjoy peace and tranquility.
It also became a place where the Hu people could come in and forage for food at will.
But at this moment, everyone who survived in Beiguan Village, including the knowledgeable Li Gan and Xia Daohua from later generations, had not thought of this.
The problem they faced at this time was that their food was burned, their homes were destroyed, and their belongings were smashed. How would they live next?
What do they eat? Where do they live?
The most important thing is, how will we pay this year’s autumn tax?
Wang Lizheng was heartbroken over the destruction of his property and cried uncontrollably. Besides, he was old, so he asked his eldest son to come out and comfort the people.
In addition to being frightened, angry and heartbroken, Mr. Feng was also very worried about his daughter who had married away.
Therefore, he was busy sending his servants out to gather information.
When he heard Wang Lizheng's eldest son calling everyone to the threshing ground to discuss something, he understood what he meant after a moment's thought, and sent another manager to help Wang Lizheng appease the people.
The eldest branch of the Xia family suffered the most serious losses.
Not long after Liu's funeral, Xia Youcai died in battle. Zhu, Jinhua, and Yinhua's whereabouts were unknown, likely abducted by the rebels. Their fate, I imagine, was no better than being murdered on the spot.
Not only did the second house suffer no losses, it even had a new baby - Zhou Yunniang brought her family to find Erlang and to Beiguan Village to avoid disaster. Wasn't this a response to Erlang's thoughts?
The third, fourth and fifth houses were all safe and sound, only losing a lot of property. Among them, the pickle workshop of the fourth house suffered the most "heavy losses".
But the real losses of the pickle workshop were only the custom-made jars and cans and the wages paid to the temporary workers.
However, Xia Daohua deliberately didn't clarify the situation. Leaving outsiders to believe the pickle workshop had suffered heavy losses was actually a good thing. At least it could, to some extent, quell the flames of jealousy in many people's hearts.
Xia Daohua discovered that Old Man Xia and Mrs. Zhou seemed to be worried about something.
She couldn't help but secretly asked Xia Youtian, only to find out that the old couple must be worried about their aunt Xia Xuejiao.
In Xia Daohua's mind, this aunt has a weak presence.
She seemed to have married in a town or another county, which was actually not far from Beiguan Village, but she did not return home every Chinese New Year.
Xia Daohua didn't have a deep impression of this aunt.
The original owner seemed a little afraid of her. On the few occasions they met, she tried her best to hide herself behind Lihua, trying not to let this aunt see her.
And after Xia Daohua came here, she has not met her yet.
Oh, no, I think I saw him once when the family split up! At that time, Xia Daohua's head wound hadn't healed completely yet, so she didn't pay much attention to such things, so she ignored it.
Xia Daohua guessed that her aunt might have had a falling out with her family over something. Otherwise, the old couple wouldn't have been so worried about her instead of looking for her or asking someone to send her a message.
But to say that they had a falling out doesn't seem quite right.
After all, during the Dragon Boat Festival some time ago, our family received a holiday gift from my aunt.
So, what was going on between my aunt and the Xia family? I always felt that the situation between them was not very natural.
Xia Daohua muttered to herself twice, and then she found out that Xia Yougui had actually had a fight with Zhou.
At dinner time, Xia Daohua followed Xia Youtian and Jiang's instructions and served a bowl of pickled mustard greens and stewed tofu to Old Man Xia and Zhou. However, as she reached the door of the old couple's house, she heard Xia Yougui's angry roar from inside:
"Dad, Mom, please at least have some compassion for your son! His body isn't made of iron! He can't withstand the blade of that big knife! Besides, besides... he's scared too!"
What happened? Xia Daohua paused, feeling it would be awkward to just go in like that.
Then I heard Mr. Xia's low voice:
"Why are you yelling so loudly? There are outsiders in the house. How can you be so loud?"
Xia Yougui lowered his voice a bit, but it could still be heard clearly outside the door. Xia Daohua felt that even if they were several rooms apart, not to mention a door, they would still be able to hear Xia Yougui's voice:
"Dad, I don't want to yell! But look at my mom, she actually asked me to go to Xuejiao's house to check on the situation.
Xuejiao has been very clever since she was a child! Is she really worth your worry?
Xuejiao is such a grown-up. When she encountered such a disaster, how could she not hide? How could she not run?
If Xuejiao can't escape, I'll just be delivering food if I go there.
If Xuejiao runs away and I can't find her, won't I still be delivering food to the Hu people?"
Zhou's angry voice sounded:
"You called her Xuejiao too? She's your sister!
Besides, I just told you to go to your sister's house to check on the situation. If you don't want to go, why don't you just say so? You're trying to put pressure on me with your words and accuse me of being partial.
What's wrong with me being partial to your sister?
When things were going through the most difficult time at home, when your brother and you were almost drafted into the army, how much effort did your sister put in?
I guess you've forgotten about it?
You don't even want to take a look, and you still have the nerve to shout here!
Don’t think that just because your brother is dead, I have to rely on you!
You have three younger brothers!"
I don't know if it was the sentence "You have three younger brothers" that touched Xia Yougui's heart, his voice was a little choked, and his words became more and more unpleasant to hear:
"Mom, how can you say that to me?
I'm not an ungrateful person! How could I not miss my sister?
It's just that there's chaos and war outside, and we barely escaped by hiding in the tunnel. Instead of trying to calm your son down, you let him run to that chaotic place. Do you think that place is a good place to go?
If I were chopped off like my elder brother, would you feel relieved?"
"Crash!" There was a sound of a bowl about to be overturned to the ground.
Zhou roared, "You rebellious son!"
Old Master Xia was also angry. "Mirror thin coin spring," he said, and hit Xia Yougui on the forehead with his pipe: "Second brother, how can you talk to your mother like that?"
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