Chapter 25: Making Wo Wo Tou
Zhou Qiang led Wu Lei and three other soldiers into the town.
This town is located at the junction of the two prefectures. If you walk forward for another month, you will reach Hangu Pass. After passing the pass and continuing forward for nearly a month, you will reach the place of exile - the northwestern border.
"Brother Qiang, there is no one in this dark town? Can we buy something to eat?" Wu Lei and others were walking on the street, looking at the empty street, which was pitch black. How could there be any store open?
Zhou Qiang was not sure whether he could buy food, but he had other purposes for coming here.
This town has a unique location and is much larger than ordinary towns, with seven or eight crisscrossing streets.
Since they were unfamiliar with the town, they could only search street by street.
"Wu Lei, this is a waste of time. Let's split up and look for open shops, and then come back here to meet up after we find them."
Zhou Qiang looked around. They were at the intersection of the first street at the entrance of the town, a relatively conspicuous location.
Wu Lei agreed: "Okay, let's listen to Brother Qiang. Brothers, let's split up and try to find a shop selling food as soon as possible. My stomach is growling with hunger."
The others immediately dispersed in different directions.
Zhou Qiang looked around and saw that there was no one around, so he walked quickly in one direction.
After walking around two streets, he came to an alley and knocked on the door twice, long and once short. Soon the door opened from the inside, and a deep middle-aged man's voice was heard.
"Come on, come in."
Zhou Qiang glanced around vigilantly, and after confirming that there was no one around, he slipped into the yard.
After an incense stick of time, Zhou Qiang tiptoed out of the yard, holding a small porcelain bottle in his hand. He carefully put the small porcelain bottle into his arms, and the wooden door behind him closed quietly.
Zhou Qiang strode towards the agreed location. As soon as he turned the corner, he saw a figure waiting at the intersection from afar.
Zhou Qiang cleared his throat and walked over with big strides.
"Brother Qiang, I found a food shop that is still open. I have already talked to the owner and asked them not to close for now." Liu Dong was delighted when he saw Zhou Qiang coming.
Zhou Qiang nodded expressionlessly and said, "When everyone else is here, we'll go together."
An hour later, Zhou Qiang and others returned to the ruined temple again.
At this moment, the dilapidated temple was extremely quiet, and only bursts of snoring could be heard.
Zhou Qiang and his companions put the bags on their backs on the ground, there were two large bags in total.
One contained food for officers and soldiers, and the other contained steamed corn bread for prisoners.
Wowotou is cheap, you can buy two for one penny, and it is easy and quick to make.
Fortunately it is still warm now, but by tomorrow it will become cold and hard and difficult to swallow.
"Don't sleep anymore, get up and eat."
This was the first time that Zhou Qiang took the initiative to call these prisoners to eat, which was really unexpected.
The people who were sleeping were awakened by Zhou Qiang's shout. They were already hungry, and their eyes lit up when they heard the word "eat".
Mrs. Wan and her family had already gone to bed, but were woken up by the noise outside.
Old Mrs. Wan rubbed her eyes and looked in the light of the fire at the door, only to see the soldiers distributing food to everyone.
Most of Old Mrs. Wan's sleepiness disappeared in an instant. She sat up with a start and quickly pushed Mrs. Wan Er beside her.
"Second son's wife, come and see if mother is dreaming? Why are the soldiers still handing out food? Pinch mother to see if she is still asleep."
Wan Ersao sat up in a daze, looked for a moment and said, "Mother, they are distributing food."
Wan Xingmo had been woken up by the soldiers long ago. His family slept right next to Old Lady Wan's family, separated only by a narrow aisle.
“Grandma Wan, officers and soldiers are responsible for the exiled prisoners’ meals, this is a clear rule of the court.
There is prison food when you are in prison, but the treatment varies from person to person.
Some officers would deduct the prisoners' meal expenses. Instead of three steamed buns, they might only give them one a day.
As long as we don’t starve the prisoners to death, we’ll starve them to death, so that they won’t have the energy to cause trouble.”
After hearing this, Old Lady Wan slapped her thigh and cursed in a low voice, "Those two conscienceless dogs. In the past month, let alone steamed buns, we haven't even seen the residue. They must have been devoured by these black-hearted dogs.
They deserved to be eaten by wolves, they really deserved it!"
Wan Xingmo sat back silently and secretly glanced at Old Lady Wan.
He had never seen such a lively old lady. Mrs. Liu was always reserved and always appeared kind and amiable in front of others.
Wan Xingmo found it very novel when he saw Old Lady Wan scolding people.
However, he felt that this kind of Old Lady Wan was more approachable and down-to-earth.
The officers and soldiers soon arrived in front of Mrs. Wan and her family.
Zhou Qiang gave sixteen steamed buns to Mrs. Wan’s family per person, even little Fubao got a share.
This made Old Mrs. Wan very happy, and her impression of these officials also changed greatly.
When it was Wan Xingmo's family's turn, Zhou Qiang had a cold face and rummaged in another bag for a long time before slowly taking out five steamed buns, which he threw at Wan Xingmo like garbage.
His actions were rude and insulting.
The steamed buns were thrown at Wan Xingmo one after another. Wan Xingchen, who was sitting not far behind Wan Xingmo, was so angry that his eyes turned red. He clenched his fists and was ready to go forward to argue with Zhou Qiang.
But Wan Xingmo noticed it and pressed it down, "Brother, they are really going too far."
Wan Xingchen watched his elder brother bending over to pick up steamed buns from the ashes on the ground. The humiliation and unwillingness in his heart made his face become hideous.
Zhou Qiang looked at Wan Xingmo arrogantly as he picked up the dusty steamed bun, his eyes full of mockery. He didn't believe that no matter how strong a person's spine was, he could withstand the torture of hunger.
Zhou Qiang looked at the steamed bun that Wan Xingmo picked up meaningfully, then turned and left without saying a word.
After the officers and soldiers left, Old Lady Wan slowly moved over, took the steamed bread from Wan Xingmo's hand, and gave the clean steamed bread in her hand to Wan Xingmo.
"Mo'er, Grandma Wan will change it for you. We farmers are not afraid of getting dirty.
I know you like to be clean, give this to Grandma Wan, your uncles can eat it. "
Wan Xingmo looked at the clean steamed bun handed to him in surprise. It was wrapped in a clean cloth.
Wan Xingchen also looked at Old Lady Wan in confusion. Who would be willing to eat dirty things?
Taking advantage of the moment when Wan Xingmo was in a daze, Old Lady Wan quickly took the steamed bun from his hand and stuffed the steamed bun in her arms into Wan Xingmo's hands.
"Here, if you don't want to eat it now, save it for tomorrow.
As long as we can hold on to the border, the suffering along the way will pass. Remember, life is the most important thing. "
Mrs. Wan's words seemed to be addressed to Wan Xingmo, but they were actually meant for Wan Xingchen.
Wan Xingchen looked at his brother's back, a back that had always been as tall and straight as a pine tree in his heart. Now he was bending over for a few steamed buns. How could he not be angry?
Now, after listening to what Old Lady Wan said, he suddenly came to his senses. Yes, they had lost their lives, so who could they expect to redress their family's grievances?
Wan Xingchen silently took the steamed bun from Wan Xingmo and turned around to share it with his family, but he stuffed the bun into his arms, reluctant to eat it.
He had eaten dried meat tonight and is not too hungry now. This steamed bun can save his life at a critical moment.
Sharing the same idea as Wan Xingchen, Zhao, Wan Jinshu and Wan Yirou also stuffed the steamed bread into their arms, as they knew the road ahead would be even more difficult.
Wan Xingmo stared at the steamed bun in Old Lady Wan's arms. Although he couldn't see the dust on it clearly, he could imagine that it must be black and dirty.
Wan Xingmo was about to say something when she was interrupted by Grandma Wan without any hesitation: "Mo'er, since you can call me Grandma Wan, it means we are destined to be together!
This little thing is a piece of cake for us country people, so don't think about it and just take a rest.
I heard we’re going to go into that forest tomorrow, and I’m afraid the journey will be even more difficult this month.”
After all this commotion, another hour passed and the dilapidated temple finally returned to peace. However, Wan Laoer tossed and turned and couldn't fall asleep. He was still thinking about the sweet potatoes in the yard.
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