Chapter 75 There Are Not Enough Cows in the Village
When Baiyun County was unable to accommodate so many refugees, the villagers of Liangmin Village opened their arms to them.
Their village now has no shortage of food, clothing or land, but it lacks manpower.
The village chief Hao Ren convened a village meeting and everyone decided to absorb the refugees and let them come to Heifei Mountain to help with work.
As for the dangers and troubles that the refugees might bring, the villagers don't mind.
Who could be more dangerous than them? Who could be more troublesome than them?
When it comes to causing trouble, people from outside can only act like grandsons in front of the villagers of Black Bandit Mountain.
Because of the current special circumstances, almost all the villagers have temporarily withdrawn from the county. Only a few people are left to watch over the Black Mountain Restaurant. A group of people takes turns going there every three to five days, mainly to keep an eye on the news outside.
Because there were no classes at the academy, Su Zhizhi and Xue Che returned to the village a few days ago.
When the meeting was held, Xue Che also learned to speak.
He raised his hand, stood on a small stool and asked:
"Zhizhi and I have seen refugees on the streets of the county town. Most of them are weak and don't look like people who have the strength to work."
Old Man Qin raised his head and took a sip of wine from the wine jug.
"Not at all. They're struggling to survive in difficult circumstances. After a couple of days of rest, they're most energetic to work. Ah Che, just wait and see."
Once the decision is made, everyone gets to work.
The first thing to prepare is food.
There is already a lot of stored grain in the village warehouse, and by the end of June, we will be able to harvest a good wave of early rice.
Hao Ren also bought a batch of grain from the Gu family in Qiancao County and shipped it over.
The Gu family has endless fertile fields, so their home has the most food.
Because the previous transaction of Black Mountain Ink went smoothly, Gu Yan was happy to do a favor and sell it to Hao Ren at a lower price.
Therefore, the staple food is enough.
The other meats that can be slaughtered in the village include pigs, sheep, chickens, ducks, etc., but try not to touch these for now and give priority to catching wild game.
Black Bandit Mountain is very large, and there are mountains surrounding it.
When Su Zhizhi was not around, the villagers could occasionally hunt one or two wild animals.
After Su Zhizhi came back, the prey in the mountains became even more active, and it seemed that they could be caught everywhere.
With Su Zhizhi's encouragement, the villagers caught two fat wild boars. When they were carrying the wild boars back, they passed by the big pit that Su Zhizhi had dug before.
I found that two wild musk deer had entered the cave at some point, so I fished them out and carried them away.
The chickens and ducks in the village are also very active. They don’t lay many eggs on normal days because of the hot weather, but in the past two days they have been laying eggs as if they were in a competition.
Grandma Qiu could find a basket of eggs from the chicken and duck pens every day, and each villager would have an egg to spare.
On the day the refugees arrived, the village sent a group of people to wait at the foot of the mountain.
Considering that the refugees were hungry and thirsty after walking all the way and might not have the strength to climb the mountain, the villagers steamed hundreds of vegetable buns and steamed buns in advance and had people bring them down the mountain to fill the refugees' stomachs.
The refugees were asked to line up in several rows, and each person was given a steamed bun and a steamed dumpling.
Su Zhizhi and Xue Che also came down the mountain to pick up the refugees.
Su Zhizhi helped distribute the steamed buns, and Xue Che helped distribute the steamed buns.
Wei Qi and his grandfather Wei Dashuan were both stunned when they smelled the fragrance.
I couldn’t see anything in front of me, only the plump white buns and the fragrant pork bone soup.
When it was Wei Dashuan's turn, Su Zhizhi handed over two buns:
"Grandpa, these buns are made in our village. They are delicious."
The moment Wei Dashuan and Wei Qi's fingers touched the buns, they couldn't wait to stuff them into their mouths.
As soon as you take a bite, it tastes like heaven!
The buns have a soft and elastic skin, and are filled with plenty of wild vegetable fillings. They are moderately salty and fragrant, and there is warm gravy when you bite into them.
Wei Qi wolfed down the bun in just two or three bites.
"Eat slowly. There's a steamed bun here. We'll have more food when we get to the top of the mountain." Xue Che handed over two more steamed buns.
Wei Qi held the steamed bun in his hand, unable to believe what he heard.
I met people giving out porridge on the way to escape, but it was just a small bowl, which could only fill my stomach with a thin layer of food at most.
And here they actually give us solid steamed buns as soon as we get here. Is there food to eat in the mountains?!
Wei Qi turned to look at his grandfather and saw that his grandfather had finished eating all the buns and steamed buns. His face looked a little better and he had the strength to go up the mountain.
Wei Dashuan touched his belly and said, "Qi, no need to help me, I can walk by myself. Let's go up the mountain and eat something."
Wei Qi responded: "Okay!"
The refugees who received the steamed buns followed the villagers who led the way up the mountain.
Wei Dashuan and his grandson had just taken two steps when they heard someone making a commotion behind them.
Looking back, they saw that it was brothers Zhang Dazhuang and Zhang Erzhuang who were pushing others. They had already received the steamed buns once, but they wanted to get another one and forced their way back into the line.
“Get out of the way!”
The Zhang Dazhuang brothers were bigger and stronger than others, and they took advantage of this to bully the weak and rob people of their money and food on the road.
He even molested and bullied women among the refugees, forcing them to the point where they almost committed suicide by hitting their heads against the wall.
Everyone despised what Zhang Dazhuang and his brother did, but they also understood that sometimes fists are the absolute power.
Brother Zhang Dazhuang pushed a woman away and stood back in front of Su Zhizhi and Xue Che:
"Little girl, you still have a lot of buns here, give me two more."
Seeing that the two children were small and the villagers standing nearby were not strong and did not look like they could fight, they ignored them.
At worst, I can eat two meals in this village, grab some food and leave.
Su Zhizhi shook her head and flatly refused: "No, there are still people behind who haven't received a share."
"I'll eat two, no less!" Zhang Dazhuang glared and spoke in a rough voice.
Zhang Erzhuang had already reached out to take it.
Bang!
Su Zhizhi pulled out a whip from somewhere and hit Zhang Erzhuang's arm hard.
Blood instantly oozed out of Zhang Erzhuang's arm, and his face turned pale with pain.
Su Zhizhi frowned, like a vicious little bandit:
"I said no, you can't steal. There's nothing for you to steal here."
Zhang Dazhuang saw his brother being beaten and rolled up his sleeves: "You little girl..."
Before Zhang Dazhuang finished speaking, he caught a glimpse of a figure running down the hillside at a rapid speed from the corner of his eye.
The figure was tall and strong like a bear, carrying a basket of steamed buns on his back. He ran up to Zhang Dazhuang's brother and knocked him down with one punch.
The refugees fell silent instantly.
Brother Zhang Dazhuang was already very strong, but the man who just appeared was twice as strong as Zhang Dazhuang, and his arms were thicker than human thighs.
"Well done!" Su Zhizhi and Xue Che applauded Kong Wu.
Kong Wu turned around and scratched his head, smiled a little embarrassedly, and then took off the basket behind him.
Grandma Qiu was afraid that there were too many people downstairs and not enough buns to share, so she asked Kong Wu to bring down another basket.
Hao Ren organized the refugees behind him to continue queuing up for food:
"Don't worry, everyone will get enough food. Just follow the rules of our village."
Hao Ren asked Kong Wu to kick Zhang Dazhuang brother further away so that he wouldn't block the queue of people behind him.
Kong Wu nodded, raised his legs and kicked the man twice, kicking him into the bushes at the foot of the mountain.
Seeing this, the refugees queuing became more obedient.
Before, a few people had some ulterior motives and wanted to sneak to the back of the line to get another round of buns, but now they don’t dare to do that anymore.
Brother Zhang Dazhuang was howling in the bushes, shouting:
"Murder—murder—"
"Help! Someone's killing someone!"
They were really hurt by the beating, but they also wanted to take this opportunity to blackmail the villagers.
Hao Ren and Bai Xun walked towards the bushes and looked down at the two embarrassed brothers:
"I'm confused. Who are you two shouting 'kill' for?"
Zhang Dazhuang stopped shouting and looked at Hao Ren blankly.
He had been busy staring at the food before, and only then did he notice such a handsome man.
The man's voice was also very gentle and pleasant, and he spoke in a refined and elegant manner, like a scholar:
"The officials who brought you here have already left, and the refugees who came with you are all going up the mountain.
It's getting dark, even if you two die here, the yellow earth and green grass will cover you, and who will know? "
Hao Ren always had a polite smile on his face.
Zhang Dazhuang felt cold all over, and Zhang Erzhuang was also shivering a little.
They looked around.
There were no other people, no other villages, only lonely paths and endless mountains and forests.
This person is right.
Even if they died here, no one would know.
The people in the mountain village could be said to have run away on their own, and no one would find where they were.
It was hot and humid in Lingnan in May, and Bai Xun's scabbard was as cold as frost and snow.
Bai Xun put his scabbard against Zhang Dazhuang's neck and asked in a deep voice:
"Village Chief, will you stay?"
Zhang Dazhuang's brother was sweating profusely as he spoke haltingly:
"I, we don't dare anymore... spare us this time..."
The sky was getting darker and darker, and the sunset was about to disappear behind the mountains.
Before the world fell into darkness, the gentle man nodded:
"Of course we have to keep them. We're going to open up new fields soon, and there aren't enough cows in the village anymore."
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