Lingnan, Chengxi Village.
A small figure, holding a wooden stick in his left hand and half a flatbread in his right, sat on the doorstep basking in the sun.
Little He Miao loved this posture. After finishing her work and reading, she would sit comfortably on the doorstep and eat. She felt that this was the happiest thing in the world.
No wonder the village chief likes it this way.
After finishing the flatbread, Xiao Hemiao rubbed her belly and felt extremely comfortable.
Since arriving in Chengxi Village, she has never experienced the feeling of being so hungry that her stomach is on fire again.
Here, you can eat three meals a day, and an egg every two days. On good days, you can even eat meat and oil.
This kind of life was something Xiao Hemiao never dared to dream of before.
She looked at her second aunt kneeling in the hall, praying for her brother, the village chief, and a happy smile appeared on her face.
"Little seedling, come here and kowtow to the village chief."
"Yes, Second Aunt!"
The young heroine Jiang He walked in with a stick, knelt obediently on the ground, and kowtowed three times.
Seeing that her second aunt had only eaten half a flatbread and kept the other half in her bosom, she asked, "Second aunt, why did you only eat half a flatbread?"
Looking at her obedient and sensible appearance, the second aunt patted her head with a kind expression: "It's because of the village chief."
“In the past, we never dared to dream of having enough to eat, let alone having a house to live in, good clothes to wear, and the opportunity to go to school.”
"Because the village chief came and saved us, we are so fortunate to be able to live a life even more comfortable than that of the landlords."
“But, little seedling, one shouldn’t be too greedy. We are able to live such a good life because of the village chief’s good fortune. Second Aunt thinks that we should enjoy half of the good fortune and return the other half to the village chief.”
Little He Miao nodded, seemingly understanding but not quite: "Oh, Second Aunt, so if we only eat half the grain and are full, we can return the rest of the blessings to Brother Village Chief, right?"
Second Aunt nodded: "That's how it is. Everyone's fortune is predetermined by God. We are poor people, and we are destined to live a hard life."
“The village chief is kind-hearted and has shared his blessings with us, so we’ve become somewhat guilty of taking advantage of it.” As she said this, tears welled up in Erniang’s eyes: “We’ve taken advantage of the village chief’s blessings, which is wrong, we can’t take them all.”
Little He Miao reached out and wiped away her second aunt's tears: "Don't cry, don't cry, second aunt, don't cry."
Seeing that her second aunt had stopped crying, Xiao Hemiao tilted her head and thought for a moment: "Second aunt, I've been having very strange dreams these past few days."
"What strange dream is Little He Miao having? Is she dreaming of marrying the village chief again?"
The young heroine Jiang He blushed deeply, lowered her head, and said with a hint of grievance, "Second Aunt, you're making fun of me again."
She lowered her head, looking at the stick in her hand, and said, "I dreamed of an older brother, not the village chief, but an older brother named Xu Qing. He said he would marry me and make me have five children for him."
"His place was very strange. There was a dark board on which many, many people would appear, and a box containing a lot of knowledge, like a master who knew everything."
Little He Miao tilted her head and continued, "He also has a cat that looks like a pig, named Donggua."
Second Aunt listened to her ramblings and thought it was just a little girl's wild thoughts: "This kind of person is a lecher, who specializes in deceiving young girls. You must have self-respect. You can't just agree to get married casually. You have to go through the proper matchmaking and betrothal before you can marry into a family."
"And your second aunt will also prepare a dowry for you. You can't just accept other people's betrothal gifts; that's not right, understand?"
Little He Miao nodded: "I understand, Second Aunt."
"The next time I dream of that lecherous Xu Qing, I will stab him to death with my sword."
The young heroine Jiang He brandished her long staff, her expression fierce.
Outside Chengxi Village, a figure hurried along, looking worriedly at the capital: "The rain keeps falling!"
"I wonder if the imperial court can weather this disaster."
The figure sighed. The clay Buddha was dead, and the fate of the Ming Dynasty was no longer being suppressed. Who knew how many great calamities would follow?
How many people will be displaced?
This figure is Zhang Xianzong, who fled all the way from the capital to Lingnan.
At four hundred years old, he learned to live a life of ignominy and compromise.
The appearance of Li Chang'an made him quite frightened, so he cast a divination for himself. According to the divination, the chance of survival was in Lingnan, so he came here based on the divination.
He traveled along the way, stopping frequently, sometimes climbing to the top of a mountain and sometimes falling to the bottom of a valley, but he was somewhat surprised to find that there were not many refugees along the way.
Isn't Lingnan a poor and desolate place? How come there isn't a single refugee here?
Zhang Xianzong walked up a small hill, looked up into the distance, and then stared in astonishment.
"What the hell is this thing?"
He looked at Chengxi Village and fell into deep thought.
What came into view was tens of thousands of acres of paddy fields.
Countless men, shirtless and showing off their strong muscles, were busy working in the fields.
The sight of hundreds of oxen plowing the land together under their guidance shocked Zhang Xianzong.
This was simply the paradise of his dreams.
Everyone was wearing the same clothes. Whether they were old or young, they all had happy smiles on their faces as they worked together in the fields.
In the distance, smoke was rising from every house, and many courtyards were filled with livestock such as chickens and ducks.
Zhang Xianzong even saw that some families were raising several large, fat pigs.
Some children were playing and frolicking together, while countless soldiers were drilling outside the village. Occasionally, a few children would run out and salute the soldiers.
A military general of extraordinary status even returned the greeting to the group of children.
This made him feel like he was dreaming.
Is this the Ming Dynasty?
Am I still half asleep?
How could ordinary people and government officials get along so harmoniously?
He preferred to believe that bandits could live together with the people rather than that government soldiers could live together with the people.
Zhang Xianzong slapped himself, then rubbed his eyes.
He stared at Chengxi Village, which hadn't vanished like bubbles, and stood there, stunned.
"Sister, there are so many fruits here, we..."
Several childish voices came from behind Zhang Xianzong, and he turned around to look.
Several children were looking at him warily.
They carried bamboo baskets on their backs, held a few wild fruits in their hands, wore identical clothes, and looked at me with some fear in their eyes.
From among the children, a little girl stepped forward, holding a stick, and asked, "Who are you, and why have you come to our Chengxi Village?"
She was the little girl in the cave who exposed the bear and tiger.
After six months of recuperation, the little girl's body has grown a bit, but her eyes are still so stubborn, with a hint of madness in them.
After arriving in Chengxi Village, she was adopted by an old teacher, took his surname Yue, and was named Qiluo.
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