Chapter 298: Convening a Conference
When Wan Laoer saw that Jinniu looked serious, he knew that Jinniu had listened to him, and that what he was going to say next would definitely be supported by Jinniu.
"Village chief, it's absolutely true. Counting the days, these refugees are probably the first batch. I estimate that in ten days or half a month, a large number of refugees will pour in. They can't enter the pass, and they can't starve to death. They must enter the village. And I see that the weather is getting colder day by day. Maybe it will snow in a few days. Just in case, we should make preparations in advance."
Jinniu nodded, took a few puffs of his cigarette, tapped the pipe on the sole of his shoe, and said to Wan Laoer, "I'll call a meeting for the whole village. I think we should set up a patrol team. Not only that, but we should also build defenses. We should build fences at the entrance and end of the village, and no strangers are allowed to enter the village."
Wan Laoer felt that Jinniu's proposal complemented his mother's proposal, and secretly praised Jinniu in his heart. As expected, he was the village chief, and his reaction was quick.
"Village chief, when we form a patrol team, do we have to pay everyone?"
"No, this time every family must send someone. Our village has a lot of strong laborers, and each family can send two people. Now, in addition to those who have moved away, there are still 75 households in our village. If each family sends two people, that's 150 people. Those who can't send two people will have to pay to hire people. This matter must be taken seriously. This time we have time to prepare. The last time the enemy attacked, we didn't have so much time to prepare."
After Jinniu finished speaking, he immediately stood up and walked out of the yard one after the other with Wan Laoer.
Soon a meeting was held for the whole village.
Jinniu told everyone at the meeting the news that Wan Laoer had been brought back. When some of the older people heard it, their faces changed.
"Oh my God, we finally stopped starving to death this year, why are there refugees again?"
"I remember when I was a kid, there were refugees in the village. It was a lean period, and there were hundreds of them. They were all starving, and they would grab food if they saw it, and kill people if they didn't get it. In one morning, the whole village was looted."
"Grandpa Feng, how many years have passed since your childhood? At least sixty years ago, right?"
"Isn't that right? I was only five years old then. I'm almost seventy this year, isn't it more than sixty years?"
Almost all the people of the same age as Grandpa Feng have passed away. He is the oldest man in the village and has experienced a lot. Many things in the village were passed down from his mouth.
Jinniu also looked at Mr. Feng. All his teeth had fallen out, but he was still strong. His speech was a little slurred and not very clear, so one had to listen carefully and guess for oneself.
Mr. Feng’s words made everyone panic.
After all, even if everyone had not experienced the incident of refugees looting the village in that era, they had experienced an enemy attack a few months ago.
That enemy attack also resulted in many casualties. Now that we have plenty of time to prepare this time, what are we waiting for?
But at this moment someone sang a different tune.
"Village chief, do you believe everything the Wan family says? What if they are wrong? Wouldn't it be a joke for the people in the neighboring villages if we mobilized so many troops?"
The one who spoke was Guihua's mother, Chen. As soon as Chen opened her mouth, everyone rolled their eyes at her.
Even though she deliberately fanned the flames, no one paid any attention to her. Everyone knew that she had a grudge against the Wan family. Even if Chen and the Wan family had no grudge, it was better to believe it than not to believe it for such an important matter. If there were really refugees coming to attack, it would be a matter of life and death.
"Chen, shut up. Whether it's true or not, we can find out by asking someone to go to the town and take a look. Can you fool people? Besides, the town is the closest to our village. When refugees come, our village will be the first to be affected. When refugees come, we can lead them all to your house. Do you think it's okay?"
The person who was speaking was an auntie. She had no grudge against Chen, but when it came to major issues, Chen was still confused and she got a little angry and just wanted to scold Chen.
"Hmph, what benefits did the Wan family give you? Are you speaking for the Wan family? I'm worried that the Wan family is lying, is that wrong? I'm just reminding everyone, you can listen or not, there's no need to threaten me, why don't you ask around, who in our village have I ever been afraid of threatening? If you dare to bring refugees to my house, I'll respect you as a man, but do you dare? Don't be scared to death when you see the refugees coming."
Chen was so angry at what the woman said that she told everything without thinking.
"Chen, shut up. Your husband is not at home, so no one can control you, right? You are a woman, and the men are discussing things, so why should you butt in? If you continue to stir up trouble, I will drive your family out of the village."
The village chief would not allow anyone to cause trouble at this time. At this time, everyone should be united and prepare together to resist the enemy.
Chen was scolded by the village chief and stared at by everyone. She was so scared that she dared not say a word. She shrank her neck, pouted her lips, put her hands in her sleeves, and squatted down against the wall.
Without Chen's unreasonable behavior, the meeting went smoothly.
"Since everyone agrees to contribute, after the meeting, each family will report the names of the people who contributed to me. If a family cannot contribute two people, they can hire others. No matter what, if you want to gain a foothold in this village, you have to contribute. If you don't have money, you can exchange it with food. I want to complete the statistics before noon. If you don't sign up, don't blame me for being ruthless."
Many families have not divided their family, so two people per household is more than enough. Some families do not have men, but have brothers in their husband's family, so it is not too troublesome.
After Wan Laoer returned, he discussed the matter with Wan Laotai.
"Mom, the village chief said that each family should provide two people. I am the only man in our family, and my third and fourth brothers won't be able to come back for a while. How about we provide food to hire someone? With half a pound of food a day, we can hire one person. With me, that's two people."
"Mother has no objection. I think Changsheng Changfu is a good choice. Their family is large and we are neighbors. In my opinion, we should invite them. After you have lunch, go and ask them if they are willing."
"Okay, Mom, leave this to me."
Just as the mother and son finished their discussion, they heard a knock on the door.
"Is anyone home?"
Guihua and Xiaofubao were playing catching stones in the yard. Guihua heard the sound and ran over quickly.
"Who is it?"
Guihua didn't dare to open the door casually. She had also heard that refugees were coming, so she was very careful and just lay down to look out through the crack of the door.
"Excuse me, is this the Wan family? I am sent by Master Shen to deliver the invitation. My master wants to invite the old lady and all of you to join in the fun."
Guihua didn't know any Mr. Shen, but when she heard him mention Mr. Shen, she thought that this family must be rich or noble, so she didn't dare to delay and said quickly to the door: "Wait a minute, I'll go call my uncle."
Guihua didn't wait for the other party to reply and ran away.
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