At noon, after work, Captain Li from Xinghua Village led his family members to the scene.
Then came the Sandaogouzi Brigade...
Longquan Brigade...
Finally, even the Shili Mountain Brigade, which was located halfway up the mountain and rarely had contact with other communes, sent people.
The villagers were terrified. What terrible thing had happened?
The men, who were preparing to go home for dinner, suddenly gripped their farm tools tightly.
Shen Meihua, who was on her way to warn the brigade leader, lost a shoe. "It's terrible! The four villages have conspired to attack us together!"
The head of the Shili Mountain brigade came with a gun, threatening to wipe out our village and leave no one alive. You'd better think of something, brigade leader!
He spat out a mouthful of water at the Red Army.
She picked up her shoes and rushed out, grabbing Chen Meihua and pointing the way while asking, "What happened? Explain yourself clearly."
In the early years of famine, people from five brigades in the commune almost fought to the death over water and food. If it weren't for the mountains sustaining the villagers, I heard that many people would have been killed in the plains.
Tragedys such as exchanging children for food have also occurred.
The five brigades had only recently improved their relations as times had become more peaceful, so why are they attacking us again?
When the two arrived, four brigade leaders had already surrounded the Hu family's house. Bu Hua, the brigade leader of Shili Mountain, was the first to arrive, holding a hunting rifle.
The gun barrel jabbed at Hu Bin's forehead repeatedly. "You're the one who almost ruined our road construction opportunity? Speak up, was it you?"
Hu Bin raised his hands above his head, not daring to move, and couldn't understand what Bu Hua was saying.
When will the road to Shili Mountain be built? And when did it almost get destroyed?
The men from Sandaogouzi were cursing and swearing, openly and secretly inciting Bu Hua to fire.
The Longquan brigade remained on the sidelines, but they kept a tight perimeter around the Hu family's house, preventing even a single member of the brigade with flat heads from getting close.
Captain Li of Xinghua Village observed the sky and the ground, and only spoke a few words to stop Bu Hua when he was being talked into a rage.
When the Red Army arrived, they saw this scene: hundreds of people, a dense mass, surrounded the Hu family's former ancestral hall, now their council chamber.
The bolder villagers went over to ask what was going on, while the timid ones stood further away to watch.
Ruan Xianxian and her "troublemaker squad" squatted in a row, eating sunflower seeds and watching the show...
His blood pressure spiked, and he roared, "What's going on? Do you all want to defy the heavens?"
A new brigade leader had not been elected, and the handover of work was not completed. Xiang Hongjun was still the brigade leader of the village, but the news that he was about to be promoted to commune director had already spread to everyone.
That shout had a significant effect.
Bu Hua was a bandit who was recruited into the government in his early years. He and his brothers occupied the mountains and became kings. Because he only wanted to live, he did not do many evil deeds. When the country was established and the government was liquidated, the organization let him go.
During the height of the Cultural Revolution, he hid in the mountains and refused to come out, even at the cost of his life.
If he doesn't come down the mountain, anyone in the red armbands who dares to enter should be prepared to never return. Who would dare to forcibly take someone away?
Taking advantage of his geographical location, he also helped many villagers who went into the mountains to find a way to survive during the famine. Because of this kindness, the following brigades also secretly protected him.
After his moment in the spotlight faded in recent years, Bu Huacai, who had been working as a volunteer with red armbands, gradually settled down and reappeared in public.
Aside from his height advantage, he can be described as having an unremarkable appearance.
He put away his gun and stood still, feeling indignant. He kicked Hu Bin, but Xiang Hongjun stopped him from making any further moves. He then took the cigarette offered by the other man and lit it.
His face showed undisguised enjoyment, and as he exhaled a puff of white mist, he revealed the purpose of his trip.
"Old Xiang, Old Li, you know the situation in our village. It's difficult to go down the mountain, and there are often wild beasts in the mountains."
Last year at the market, the children brought furs down the mountain to exchange for some food, but on their way back they were attacked by a large insect, resulting in two deaths and two serious injuries.
The child's mother, heartbroken, died before half a month had passed away.
Mu Xia, who was enjoying eating sunflower seeds, suddenly sneered, "Did you die of despair? The real cause of death is probably only known to you."
Before the apocalypse, how many villages like these, located deep in the mountains, would abduct and buy women and children and subject them to inhumane abuse in order to continue their family line?
Dare to run? If you dare to run, I'll break both your legs and leash you until you give birth to a child for all the men in the family.
She once hid in a village deep in the mountains after being seriously injured. Every family there had a cellar, and it would be an exaggeration to describe it as a living hell.
The salted fish is actually angry? Ruan Xianxian raised her eyebrows, ready to take action at any moment.
These people are fierce; I've heard of them even if I've never seen them. I reached into my sleeve and the fire poker slipped from my palm.
She thought friends were comrades who would always stand on the same side regardless of right or wrong; if a man cheated, she'd beat him to death, but if her girlfriend kept a younger man, she'd cheer with admiration...
However... the expected verbal conflict turning into a physical conflict did not happen. Bu Hua took a deep breath and looked at Mu Xia calmly.
"What do you think we want?"
A kidnapper sells a woman for 100 yuan, but to earn 100 yuan, hunting often requires sacrificing one or two strong laborers.
Who would want to share their wife with someone else, even their own brother, if they could have a wife, children, and a warm bed like most people?
He sneered, "To tell you the truth, any kidnappers who come into our mountains end up crippled and have to flee."
Reproduction is a human instinct. I'm suppressing people's freedom to marry in the village, but how long can I keep suppressing it?
The only way out of this predicament is to build roads, leave the mountains, and stop being driven by evil and instinct.
He pointed at the Hu family members.
"When we learned that we had received bamboo weaving assignments from the commune, each piece costing one cent, we were excited for three whole days."
The village held a meeting overnight, declaring that the money earned would be used to build roads. With roads, children and women could leave the mountains; if they could live like human beings, who would want to live like animals?
Everyone, including Mu Xia, fell silent.
Bu Hua suddenly became emotional, "There was hope, but then they suddenly told me that because of the Hu family, the hope of building the road has been destroyed."
I'm standing here without wiping out his entire clan because I don't want to drag down my brothers who went through thick and thin with me and are now getting old.
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