Chapter 45: Escape
Yang Chunyan thought about it and reminded: "Everyone in the mountains knows a few kinds of herbs. It's best not to tell outsiders about our collection and sale of herbs. Otherwise, everyone in the village will follow us to dig herbs and sell them, and we won't be able to make any money."
Zhao Huifang nodded. "Yes, like plantain, honeysuckle, mountain radish, thistle, cicada shells, etc. When I was a child, I went with my grandmother to get them and bring them back to the town to sell for money."
As they talked, their hands never stopped for a moment, half-crouching and moving from one tree to another.
Zhang Xiuxiang looked over at the corn field and asked, "Why haven't the eldest brother and the second brother come back yet?"
Zhou Huaishan stood on his toes and looked around, but didn't see anyone coming. "Let's turn around and take a look later."
There were already quite a few lazy cicadas in the sack, and several people were catching them while setting up a formation, waiting for Zhou Huairong's brother to come back.
After waiting for another hour or so, the two brothers finally came over.
Zhou Huaian looked at the two of them and asked, "Brother, has the corn been stolen?"
Zhou Huairong shook his head: "I don't know. As soon as we turned around, I saw a man carrying a sack walking in front of us. He might have seen us coming and rushed into the corn field.
My second brother and I searched for a long time but couldn't find it, so we hid under the corn field, and we haven't seen anyone since then."
"I told my brother that he was dazzled, but he insisted that the thief had run over, so he pulled me and hid there for a long time." Zhou Huaijun pointed at his hands and face, "Look, I didn't catch the thief, but I fed the mosquitoes."
Yang Chunyan and others saw that his hands and face were indeed covered with many large mosquito bites.
Zhou Huaian frowned and looked at Zhou Huairong, "Brother, are you seeing things?"
"Impossible, I saw clearly that it was a person, not something else. Lao Er was behind me and he couldn't see clearly, but I shone the flashlight over and saw it clearly."
Zhou Huairong firmly believed that what he saw was a human, not an evil spirit.
"No matter what it is, let's go home first." Zhou Huaian shook his head, picked up the sack, and took the flashlight from Yang Chunyan, "Go home and fry some lazy cicadas."
"Let's go!"
The few people had originally stayed in the woods to continue catching cicadas in order to wait for Zhou Huairong and his brothers. Now that the brothers had arrived, they carried the sacks and walked back.
After coming out of the woods and just going down the mountain, Zhou Huairong, who was walking in front, suddenly saw someone carrying a sack and running quickly down the slope. He shouted excitedly, "Hurry up, catch the person carrying the sack in front."
Before Zhou Huairong finished his words, Zhou Huaishan and Zhou Huaijun had already run out. Zhou Huaian threw the sack in his hand and ran over.
Yang Chunyan hurriedly picked up the sack and chased after them with Zhao Huifang and the other two.
Zhou Huaian held up a flashlight and said, "Brother, it looks like it's most likely that bastard Xu Hongbing!"
Xu Hongbing is also from the Funiu Brigade. He lives down the hall from Ye Erwa's house. His family is lazy, greedy, and dishonest.
Only after seeing it with his own eyes did Zhou Huaijun believe Zhou Huairong's words, "There really is someone there. I thought Big Brother had seen a ghost."
Zhou Huaian: "I think so too."
Zhou Huairong glared in dissatisfaction, "No one believes me."
"It's pitch black, who knows what it is?"
Zhou Huaishan grabbed the sack on the man's shoulder and said, "You bastard, where are you running to..."
Unexpectedly, Xu Hongbing threw down the sack and jumped down the slope. Zhou Huaishan was dragged down by the sack and fell down the slope. He hurriedly let go of the sack and swayed a few times and almost fell down the slope. Fortunately, Zhou Huaian grabbed him.
Without the sack covering him, the four brothers saw that it was indeed him.
Zhou Huairong leaped over the ditch and yelled at the fleeing Xu Hongbing: "You bastard, I almost thought I saw a ghost."
Zhou Huaian and two other people also chased after him with flashlights. Seeing that Xu Hongbing was about to run into the corn field, Zhou Huaian picked up a piece of mud and hit Xu Hongbing on the back of the head. He staggered a few steps and continued to run forward.
Zhou Huairong threw the flashlight in his hand, hitting Xu Hongbing on the back. He staggered out and fell flat on his face. After struggling for a while, he found that he could not run away, so he simply lay down and pretended to be dead.
"Fuck that, I'll see where you run to." Zhou Huairong cursed angrily, picked up the flashlight, grabbed Xu Hongbing's hair and lifted him up, "Run, why don't you run?"
Zhou Huaijun stepped forward and kicked him. "You bastard, tell me, did you steal my corn?"
Xu Hongbing lowered his head and said nothing, looking like a dead pig that is not afraid of boiling water.
"Bah~ You son of a bitch, you have the guts to come out and steal but don't you have the guts to admit it?" Zhou Huaian spat at him and punched him in the stomach.
"Ah~" Xu Hongbing screamed and squatted down, holding his stomach.
Zhou Huairong was worried that something might happen, so he quickly pulled him back and said, "Youngest brother, don't say any more words to this shameless bastard. Take him to the joint defense team."
Xu Hongbing was moved after hearing this, and begged, "Brother Zhou, I didn't steal from your house, please forgive me, I won't dare to do it again next time."
"You didn't steal from my house, so why are we running away? A dog will never change its nature. If you want me to spare you, no way!"
"Don't bother with him, just take the whole team and lock him up first."
As Zhou Huaijun spoke, he grabbed Xu Hongbing by the collar and lifted him up, but he suddenly escaped and quickly ran into the corn field.
“Ah~”
"Oh no!"
Yang Chunyan and others were stunned, while Zhou Huaijun stood there holding a dirty coat.
By the time he and Zhou Huairong reacted, Xu Hongbing had disappeared.
"Hahaha..." Zhou Huaian pointed at the coat in Zhou Huaijun's hand and laughed, "No wonder this bastard has never been caught."
Zhou Huaijun glared at him and turned away angrily, "The monk may escape, but the temple cannot. Go back and deliver the corn and clothes to the brigade."
Zhang Xiuxiang took a look and said, "Murakami has at least eight out of ten homespun jackets like this. If he refuses to admit it, you can bite him twice."
Zhou Huaian: "Second sister-in-law is right. We already know it was that bastard Xu Hongbing. We'll take the opportunity to beat the hell out of him."
Zhou Huairong nodded readily this time, "That's right, next time I'll just put a sack on him and beat the shit out of him!"
Zhou Huaian looked around and said, "Hey! Where is the sack that Xu Hongbing lost?"
"In the ditch." Yang Chunyan pointed to the sacks in the ditch, "I don't know whose family these corn cobs were stolen from."
Li Qiuyue: "We were the only family on the ridge that ordered early-maturing corn. I'm sure he stole it from us."
Zhou Huaian pulled the sack out of the ditch, untied the rope and saw that it was full of corn. He cursed, "You son of a bitch, you stole so much again and treated our corn field as your own."
Li Qiuyue took a look and asked, "Why do you think he stole so many young corns?"
Yang Chunyan suddenly remembered that people in the city like to eat young corn. "He must have stolen it and sent it to Ning An to sell for money. People in the city like young corn."
Zhao Huifang said: "Not many people grow early-maturing corn, so it will definitely sell well if we take it to the city!"
Yang Chunyan: "Then we will pick some corn and bring it to Ning'an the day after tomorrow. If it is really easy to sell, we can also make some money from ten acres of early-maturing corn."
Zhou Huaijun frowned, "Corn seeds are only a little over ten cents per pound, how much can young corn be sold for!"
Zhou Huaian looked at him with a smile, "Second brother, you don't understand this. People in the city like to eat fresh and tender food. Who knows, young corn may be more valuable."
Zhou Huaijun wanted to say something, but Zhang Xiuxiang glared at him and said, "Why are you talking so much? You'll know once you carry some into the city and sell it."
A few people looked at each other with amusement, and Zhou Huaijun, who was silent and touching his nose, packed up his things and walked towards the edge of the ridge.
When Yang Chunyan and her companions returned home, Zhou's mother was sitting at the doorstep of the main room in the dark, sewing shoe soles, while Zhou's father was leaning on a recliner, dozing with his eyes closed.
The children couldn't wait for them to come back and went to sleep.
Zhou Huairong put the sack next to him, "Mom, old man, we are back."
(End of this chapter)
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