Chapter 71 On the eve of joining the army, an unexpected incident occurs…
"Auntie, what brings you here?" Zhu Mingyue stepped aside to let her in, and called out, "Xie Pei, pour some tea."
Li Zhengyang's mother waved her hand: "No need to trouble yourself, Auntie isn't thirsty."
"I'm thirsty. I've eaten a lot of biscuits, and my mouth is dry," Li Zhengyang shouted as he crawled in from behind his mother.
His mother pushed him aside to make sure he wasn't blocking the way, and then handed him the small basket she was holding: "With war on the horizon, I figured we wouldn't have enough to eat while traveling, so I baked a lot of flatbreads. These are filling, so I brought some over."
"Aunt Lao, you've been so kind," he said, leading her to the kitchen. "To be honest, I'm making pancakes right now too."
Before Li Zhengyang's mother even came in, she could smell the irresistible aroma of flour in the air. When she came in and saw the stacks of flatbreads piled on the stove, she was even more astonished.
She accepted the tea Xie Pei offered and thanked him, then murmured, "No wonder Zhengyang always nags at home, saying that your skills are unmatched in the entire Shangyang County. I thought he was exaggerating, but seeing it today, I've truly witnessed it."
If she hadn't made this unusual visit today, she would never have known that there are so many ways to make plain flatbread.
Zhu Mingyue glanced at Li Zhengyang, surprised that he thought she was so capable that he even gave her the highest praise, since the farthest place he had ever been was Shangyang County.
Li Zhengyang sniffed; he was hungry again. Why was there such a huge difference in cooking skills between two people who were the same age? His mother had only ever made coarse flour pancakes her whole life, and even if she changed the recipe, she would only replace the coarse flour with white flour. As for him and his father, they were even worse off, barely able to make anything edible.
Zhu Mingyue can create so many variations on just one type of pancake; they look delicious.
Zhu Mingyue gave each of them a guokui (a type of flatbread), saying, "Try it, and if you like it, take some back with you."
Li Zhengyang had been working with him for so long that he was used to not being polite. He took the cake and bit into it. The taste was absolutely amazing. He took several bites in a row. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw his mother holding a cake in her hand, and her expression was a little embarrassed.
"Mom, eat up, it's delicious!"
Of course it's delicious! She hadn't seen it clearly before, but now that she held the pancake in her hand, she realized that this thing wasn't just made from white flour.
It's true that it's made with fine flour, but it's mixed with minced meat and fried in oil—all the best stuff. She only brought a dozen or so pancakes and wanted to eat this top-quality stuff; I was really too embarrassed to take a bite.
Zhu Mingyue smiled and said, "Auntie, you can eat it. There's meat in it, so it won't be long."
He only made this much of these meat-filled, deep-fried flatbreads, mainly because they don't keep for very long. Since the temperature hasn't warmed up yet, they'll have to be eaten up in about ten days at most.
The most durable foods were steamed corn bread, baiji buns, naan bread, and the kind of plain, bland flatbread that Li Zhengyang's mother made. He made these the most.
Heeding the advice, Li Zhengyang's mother carefully took a bite, savoring the salty and oily flavor of the meat pie. Then she exclaimed, "Xie Pei is so lucky to have a sister-in-law like you."
Zhu Mingyue touched his ear, a little embarrassed. He didn't dare look at Xie Pei. What did he mean by "good fortune"? If it weren't for him, Xie Pei wouldn't have needed to go to the south to fight. Even a three-year-old knows which is more important, good fortune or life.
Xie Pei walked past him and picked up the marinated meat strips that had been dried over the fire, placing them one by one into the basket.
"What's that? It's pitch black." Li Zhengyang was curious about everything and would ask questions about everything he saw.
Zhu Mingyue explained, "Those are beef jerky and rabbit jerky."
"Is it good?" Li Zhengyang asked again.
Well... how should I put it? Zhu Mingyue didn't know how to explain it either. Opinions on the taste of jerky vary, but he didn't really like it, and people with bad teeth couldn't eat it either.
"It's not dried yet, so you can't eat it right now. I'll send you some when it's ready."
Li Zhengyang's mother had no idea that her son would come to their house and take food and gifts with such practiced ease, clearly having done this kind of thing many times before.
If she had known this would happen, she wouldn't have let him come along; it was embarrassing.
She hesitated for a moment and said, "Meat is so precious, you should keep it for yourselves. We still have plenty of meat left at home! I'll cook it for him when I get back."
Li Zhengyang immediately asked her, "Mom, there's still meat at home, why don't you take it out to eat? You're really good at hiding it."
Li Zhengyang's mother blushed. "You brat, always pointing out my flaws in front of outsiders."
Zhu Mingyue: "Dried meat is still meat, and if you process it like this, it won't taste fishy and can be stored for a long time."
“If you don’t replenish your nutrition regularly while marching and fighting, you won’t even have the strength to walk after a while, let alone fight on the front lines. I’m planning to make some more dried meat for Xie Pei to take with him. Conditions are not like at home when you’re away from home, so dried meat will make do.”
"This is all meat! It's barely acceptable. Xie Pei must be living the life of a god at home." Li Zhengyang thought to himself, while also casting a blatant glance at his mother. "Mom, I want some too."
It's true that Li Zhengyang's mother is a bit stingy, but that's just her way of being frugal. Both of her sons have decent jobs outside, and they give her their wages every month to keep safe, so the family still has quite a bit of money left over.
She originally wanted to save more money because her two sons were getting old and would eventually get married and have children. She wanted to save the money to build one or two new houses next to her home.
It seems that she can still distinguish between building a house and having a son.
There wasn't any meat left at home. There are three grown men in the family, and each of them has a big appetite. The meat was all eaten up during the few days of the Spring Festival.
But she could buy more meat if she ran out of it. She couldn't accept anything from the Xie family anymore. Her son was going to join the army, and Xie Pei was going to join the army too. Wasn't this taking away their future food supply?
Zhu Mingyue is kind and generous, and she treats her son, her friend, with utmost respect. But the more kind she is, the less she should try to take advantage of others.
Thinking of this, she smiled kindly: "Mingyue, why don't you take the time to teach your aunt how to make it? Zhengyang is a big guy and usually eats a lot at home. I didn't think of that before, but thankfully you mentioned it just now and I realized that it's really necessary to have meat! I should also make some for him to take with me according to your method."
Zhu Mingyue readily agreed to teach her.
That's how the battlefield is; for the vast majority of soldiers, it's just a contest between ordinary people.
Ordinary people have neither good weapons nor martial arts skills. If they want to fight to the death, sometimes they can only rely on strength. Whoever is stronger has a greater chance of survival.
Many of them hadn't had a full meal before going to the battlefield, and they couldn't even hold their swords steadily. Their minds were also in a daze, so naturally they couldn't compare to those who were strong and energetic.
Regardless, he still hoped that Li Zhengyang could feed himself well before going to the battlefield and try to come back alive.
He glanced sideways at Xie Pei, who was diligently drying meat for him, and sighed deeply. He sincerely prayed that Xie Pei would also return safely, otherwise he feared he would never forgive himself...
Li Zhengyang's mother followed him around and learned how to operate the machine several times until she could do it on her own before saying it was time to leave.
Upon hearing this, Zhu Mingyue offered to pack some of the flatbreads, naan breads, and steamed buns he had made for Li Zhengyang and the others to take back.
Li Zhengyang reached out his hands; he had never eaten any of these before, especially the naan bread, which was covered in sesame seeds and looked crispy and fragrant.
His mother knocked his hand away, and said goodbye to Zhu Mingyue with gratitude on her face.
"Mom, why won't you let me take the cakes Mingyue gave me? I haven't even tasted them yet!" Li Zhengyang complained, puzzled.
His mother closed her eyes, feeling quite troubled by her eldest son. Other men, when told they were to join the army, would not cry and wail, nor would they think about eating all day like him.
"I thought you went to town to help Mingyue with her work. Why did you gain so much weight after just a few months? Turns out you were eating and taking things. What are you planning to do? Just empty her rice bin too."
Li Zhengyang felt wronged. He sweared to God, he wouldn't dare eat even if he had a million lives if Zhu Mingyue didn't give him food! It's just that Zhu Mingyue would feed him on her own initiative!
His mother's heart softened when she saw his dejected appearance, and she couldn't scold him anymore. Her son was about to go to the battlefield, and what the future held was still unknown. In the end, she was extremely reluctant to let him go.
"Alright, Mingyue can make them, and your mother has almost learned how to make them too. So don't worry about those few pancakes from other people's houses. Xie Pei is also going to take them. If you want to eat them, I'll make them all for you these next few days. Tomorrow morning, I'll have your father go to town to buy meat, buy a lot, and I'll make it into jerky. You can take it with the pancakes."
Zhu Mingyue put the pancakes she had taken out back.
He continued to roast the beef jerky over the fire. Time was of the essence, and he needed to roast as much as possible now so that Xie Pei could take it all with him before he left.
Besides these food rations, he also had to make sure everything else was prepared in detail.
Herbal remedies are unavoidable. Xie Pei is in good health, unlike him who often gets a cough or fever after being exposed to the wind. Xie Pei never experiences this, so we can bring less medicine for treating colds, but we can prepare as much medicine as possible for stopping bleeding, removing blood stasis, relieving pain, and promoting bone and tendon healing.
Swords and blades have no eyes on the battlefield. They will always be useful in the future. Even if you don't need them, it's reassuring to keep them on you.
There were also clothes and bedding. Zhu Mingyue was thinking of going to town early tomorrow morning to buy some good quality ones for Xie Pei.
Needless to say, Xie Pei's rope dart skills have reached a level of near perfection. Zhu Mingyue has seen Xie Pei practice in the courtyard many times. The dart seems to be integrated with Xie Pei, and he can easily control its direction. It can turn with a slight tremor in mid-air.
Of course, Xie Pei had also mastered the knife, but he cherished it and rarely used it. He could often be seen wiping and maintaining it in his spare time. Almost two months had passed, and the knife was still as good as new.
Zhu Mingyue pondered that Xie Pei must be more accustomed to using darts, but rope darts are not very effective on the battlefield, and knives and spears are more suitable for close combat.
He had never been to the battlefield, only seen it in TV dramas, and there might be a big difference between it and reality. I thought that since Xie Pei liked rope darts, he could go to the blacksmith shop and ask the old man to make another one as a spare.
When he gets busy, he gets dizzy and disoriented, always feeling that something is missing or something is lacking. Even though he has everything in order, he can always find something missing during the inspection.
Li Zhengyang's mother also uses him as a role model, coming over every morning and evening to see if there's anything in the luggage he prepared for Xie Pei that she forgot for Li Zhengyang.
Just as Zhu Mingyue was finally able to breathe a sigh of relief, she belatedly realized that another day had passed.
On the very night the notice was delivered to the Xie family, a major event occurred in the village.
The male members of the Liu family, who were supposed to serve in the military, suddenly disappeared without a trace at the village entrance.
The claim that he vanished into thin air is actually only the wife's side of the story.
In truth, everyone knows that if someone hadn't disappeared earlier or later, but instead vanished at this critical juncture, it means they didn't want to serve and had run away.
If the government doesn't intervene, once the new recruits from Ganzhou have assembled and left, this person will surely return as if nothing happened in a few days.
Even ordinary people know this, so how could the government not know? They are well aware of the situation. Since they are forcibly recruiting soldiers, this kind of situation is bound to occur.
Nobody's a fool. If it were that easy to escape, there would be a massive exodus.
They didn't try to escape because they had no choice but to accept their fate, since they couldn't escape the clutches of the government.
The village head immediately reported it to the authorities, and a team of more than ten soldiers entered the village that night. They searched every house, turning them upside down, but couldn't find anything.
Finally, when they arrived at the Xie family's gate, a woman's voice in the crowd exclaimed, "Isn't this the house of a jinx? You can't go in! Two families in the village went into the Xie family's house before, and both ended up with cripples."
Everyone was on tenterhooks, but upon hearing the woman's words, they realized they had followed the soldiers to the Xie family's door, and they all took a few steps back.
They whispered among themselves, "That was close, we almost went in."
"Let's not stay here any longer, let's go back quickly. Meeting this jinx will bring bad luck too."
The village chief was also among them. He had sharp ears and, upon hearing this, scolded, "Get out of here! What nonsense are you spouting? You're not doing anything productive, just fooling around all day. Where did this jinx come from? Did you guys bestow this title upon him? You're really something."
They've been saying Zhu Mingyue is a jinx for a long time, and they even approached the village chief before, asking him to drive her out of the village. Although the village chief didn't agree, he never interfered with their actions.
Seeing that the village chief's family and the Xie family are getting closer and closer, he is now even scolding them because of this.
Most villagers dared not retaliate, while a few, taking advantage of the darkness, spoke sarcastically: "Whether he's a jinx or not, we can't say for sure. Everyone knows Li Zhengyang is close to him. Hey, if you say he isn't, then he isn't."
The officers and soldiers hesitated for a moment and went to look at the village chief, but the village chief shook his head at them with a calm expression and took the lead in knocking on the Xie family's door.
He didn't intend to help the government search for that person; it was just that these villagers had once again brought Zhu Mingyue into the picture. He had treated his son well, and Xie Pei was about to leave, leaving Zhu Mingyue all alone. If he didn't step out now to intimidate them, he could imagine how lawless these people would become in Xie Pei's absence.
A furry head peeked out from under the door, clearly having caught a glimpse of the commotion outside while they were making a racket at the door, and showing no fear.
"It's you?" one of the officers and soldiers exclaimed in surprise.
Zhu Mingyue rubbed his eyes and looked at the person who called out. He felt that the person looked familiar, but he had only been woken up recently and his mind was still a little foggy, so it was normal that he couldn't remember for a moment.
The man introduced himself, saying, "I went to your dumpling shop with Brother Zhengming before, and you even gave us two plates of good food as a gift."
"Oh, it's you. I remember now. Sorry, I was a little confused just now!" Zhu Mingyue smiled at him. His smile was innocent and harmless. Anyone who did not have any prejudice against him would feel more or less goodwill towards him, and at least would not want to make things difficult for him.
"What dumpling shop?"
"I don't know."
"Didn't they say he goes to town every day to do that kind of shady stuff?"
What's wrong with these people? They spread baseless rumors right in front of him. If it were a girl, she wouldn't be able to survive. His son is with Zhu Mingyue every day, how could he not know what's going on? The village chief raised his eyebrows, about to curse, when an iron dart appeared out of nowhere, suddenly heading straight for the face of one of the gossipy men.
But Xie Pei was standing in the shadows, looking like a vengeful ghost capable of taking lives.
"Xie Pei! Absolutely not!" The village chief could only shout in time.
"ah!"
Everything happened too fast. A scream came from the crowd, and the previously arrogant man covered his bleeding ear and fled in panic.
The village chief breathed a sigh of relief. Thank goodness no one was killed. It was probably because Xie Pei was worried that Zhu Mingyue would stay in the village in the future, so he held back.
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