“We’ll give each of you one. Why don’t you go and try to get one too? We don’t need each of you to get one, just give us one.” Yun Tao retorted directly.
"How can you talk like that? I'm still your elder, after all." When they couldn't reason with them, they put on airs of authority.
"If you don't go cook now, we won't stay and wait for you when it's time to go," Si Cheng said curtly, giving them no friendly look.
They could still act all high and mighty with their uncles when facing Yun Xun and the others, but they didn't dare say a word to Si Cheng and the others, and turned around and left.
"What kind of people are these? If they have the guts, tell my brother Cheng! Why did they just leave like that?" Zhao Dongwei was speechless as he watched them leave so quickly.
"Go and call your Brother Xiong back. That's enough to eat," Si Cheng said to Yun Xun.
A short while later, the two men returned, each carrying a string of fish. It seemed that the next few nets had yielded a good catch.
"Let's share these with everyone. It would be a waste if we couldn't finish them and they went bad." The monkey wasn't trying to be a good person; it was just that the weather was too hot, and he couldn't stop eating even if he wanted to.
No one objected, since it would be a little embarrassing to eat alone. Now that there was extra, everyone shared some.
Si Cheng said to the monkey and the bear, "You two can go and deliver it."
Without saying a word, the monkeys picked up the fish and headed over there. They knew the lion wanted them to come to do him a favor. In order to get along better with the villagers in the future, they needed to make their presence felt from time to time so that they could integrate into the community more quickly.
Everyone thought they would be enjoying the aroma of fish while eating, but the surprise came so unexpectedly. Everyone who received the fish expressed their gratitude to them.
We haven't had fresh meat for so long. Although most households still have some poultry, they're mostly kept for breeding and are very precious; no one wants to slaughter them.
After a period of prosperity where they had no worries about food and drink, this period was truly the most difficult time for them.
We hurried along, head down, and finally arrived at the air-raid shelter where we had rested earlier before dark. Their village had designated it as their future campsite, since it wasn't convenient to always go to Majia Village to stay overnight. It was much better to stay here, where we could shelter from the wind and rain and feel more at ease.
With flashlights, we found a water source not far away and led everyone there to get water to wash up, thus spending a simple night.
The next day, everyone arrived at Majia Village early. Before they even reached the village entrance, they were spotted by the lookouts. Hearing the gong being struck, they quickly waved and shouted that they were from Pinghe Village.
Today, it just so happens that Ma Donglai was guarding the village entrance. Seeing the familiar faces, Ma Donglai was initially very happy, but then his expression changed. He waved his hand vigorously and shouted loudly at them.
"Stand there and don't move. Don't come any closer." He kept repeating this, afraid they wouldn't hear him.
"Brother Donglai! What's wrong?"
"Where are you from? Have you ever been to the county town?"
"Donglai, I'm your uncle. We just came from the village and were heading to the city. We came here first to find out what's going on." Yun Mingwei had come along this time as well, and he was puzzled by his nephew's unusual behavior.
"Uncle, you should go back quickly. It's not safe in the county town now." Hearing that they hadn't headed towards the county town yet, Ma Donglai immediately felt relieved.
"What's going on? Has a new gang been formed in the county town?" A few meddlesome young men were very happy to hear this, thinking that they might be able to show off their skills again this time.
Upon learning that they hadn't come from the county town, Ma Donglai asked them to come closer before explaining the whole story to them.
"Don't go to the county town. People there are getting a skin disease. The old folks in the village say it might be a plague. Now we don't let outsiders into our village."
"What are their main symptoms?" Si Cheng asked curiously.
"I can't say for sure, and I didn't dare to go closer to check. It seems like his body is covered in red spots. Wasn't the bridge broken before? Since the ice melted, we can't cross over to the other side anymore. A few days ago, our village sent people there to check the situation and found someone trying to jump into the river. We tried to dissuade him, and that's when he told us about the situation over there." As he said this, Ma Donglai rubbed his arms.
"According to that person, since the weather warmed up, the untreated corpses in the county town have been emitting a foul stench. Later, they had no choice but to deal with the sheer number of corpses and the limited manpower. Some of them came up with a lazy solution: they simply dumped the corpses in the river. Perhaps due to the contaminated water, many people in the county have developed red bumps and have been running high fevers. They've tried many medications, but the fevers haven't subsided, and some with weak immune systems are not surviving. Some people are saying that they've contracted a plague. Now, the people in the county town are panicking. Those who want to survive are trying to escape to the city. Before, because the army came to collect data, they thought of going to the city to seek a way to survive. Those who are pessimistic are just waiting to die. After saying all this, that person jumped directly into the river."
"Was she saved?" someone in the crowd asked upon hearing this.
"I didn't dare go into the water. The villagers were probably so frightened by the news that they didn't react for a moment. By the time they came to their senses, they found that the person was gone."
Si Cheng then realized that the untreated corpses would quickly produce toxins in this weather, gradually seeping into the ground and polluting the water and air. Moreover, their foolish act of dumping the corpses into the river further contaminated the groundwater.
"Brother Cheng, should we continue forward?" Everyone looked at Si Cheng.
Si Cheng then continued to ask Ma Donglai, "Have the village taken any action to deal with the bodies they buried before?"
Hearing this, Ma Donglai smiled and said to Si Cheng, "I have to thank you for this. Because of your reminder, as soon as the weather warmed up, we added a lot of soil to that area and covered it up completely. Later, after discovering what happened in the county town, we found some quicklime and covered that area again."
Si Cheng was relieved to hear this, but he still gave a word of advice: "During this time, try to boil the water before using it."
"The village has issued a special notice that every household is now boiling a lot of water and storing it every day."
"And does Brother Donglai know where to get fertilizer?"
“If you’re here looking for fertilizer, you can go back now. We wanted to go looking for it before, but after hearing this news, we didn’t dare to go. Now the village uses manure as fertilizer.”
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