"Hurry, hurry, the mayor is here."
The village heads and team leaders gathered at the door swarmed up and surrounded the mayor.
"Mayor, what are we going to do with so many refugees?"
"People have been asking for food right at our doorstep, but we can't even get enough water. One or two helpings would be enough for us."
"The village is struggling to make ends meet. How are we going to accommodate them?"
"Mayor..."
A series of questions made the mayor's head dizzy.
Everyone was talking at once and coming up with ideas, but after arguing for a long time, there was still no conclusion.
Finally, the mayor sent them away with a simple "wait for notification from above."
The village chief and Captain Zhao were both disappointed.
Village cadres are also officials. Based on my experience in officialdom over the years, this means handling it on my own.
The superiors always procrastinate, and only say a few polite words when things are out of control, but in the end, they still have to solve the problem themselves.
…
At this time, the villagers were also shocked by the refugees' outrageous actions.
It turned out that the refugees who were guarding outside the village looked at the curling smoke rising from the village and smelled the sweet scent of sweet potatoes in the air, and their faces showed excitement.
After whispering to each other, several elderly people were pushed out.
"Go quickly, or I'll beat you to death if you keep dithering."
A man stared at his mother viciously, as if he wanted to eat her alive.
Several old men walked tremblingly to Maodan, bent their knees and knelt down, kneeling and bowing to the young men.
Maodan jumped up in fright.
His grandmother said that if elders kneel down to younger generations, the younger generations will shorten their lifespan.
He is still young and doesn't even know what it feels like to get married. He can't just disappear like this.
I had to dodge left and right to avoid those old people.
"Young man, please give me something to eat."
Several elderly people in their seventies and eighties pulled Maodan and cried non-stop.
"Then please be kind and let me go." Maodan said with a sad face.
"My grandson is almost starving to death. Please, give me some food."
Maodan kicked his bound legs, a surge of inexplicable anger rising in his heart. "My grandson is dying of hunger. I beg you to leave a descendant for my family."
Because of the drought, the family’s money had to be used to buy food first, so his plan to find a partner and get married had to be postponed.
The day when I become a father seems so far away.
If I don’t have a son, I won’t have a grandson either.
Now it was the turn of the elderly to be stunned. How could Maodan, who was only a little boy, already have a grandson?
The man in the distance became a little anxious when he saw that only Maodan was being dragged.
"Let's not wait any longer, let's just charge in. When will we be able to eat if we rely on these old people?"
They pushed the old man in front in order to distract the people guarding the village entrance so that they could find an opportunity to sneak into the village to find food.
But the current situation is not optimistic.
For every word the old man says, Maodan has ten more words waiting for him.
"We're almost starving to death ourselves, how can we have that much food to give you? Call us heartless or conscienceless, but we won't give you anything."
It has been a whole day and he has only eaten a bowl of sweet potato porridge. He is already starving. Who can he cry to?
Besides, an old man starved to death in Shuixiang Village a few days ago.
Just because there was another addition to the family, there were now eight children in the family, which made the already poor family even worse off.
He wanted to leave hope of life to his children, so he shared all the porridge he got with them without leaving a single bite.
As a result, he fell headfirst into the ground while going to work and never got up again.
…
After great effort, Maodan finally broke free from the old man's shackles.
Holding weapons, they forced these elderly people to stay one meter away.
The refugees could no longer sit still. Several tall and strong men walked in the front, leading a group of people and trying to force their way into the village.
With their large numbers, Maodan and his group were quickly tied up.
“Refugees are entering the village. Refugees are entering the village.”
Just before his mouth was blocked, Maodan shouted wildly.
The young and strong refugees had already run towards the direction where the smoke was rising.
At this time, Aunt Wang and several maids were cooking in the cafeteria.
A basket of sweet potatoes with their skins on were poured directly into the pot.
When the sweet potatoes are cooked until soft, mash them into puree, add wild vegetables and simmer for a while, and a simple dinner is ready.
"Hey, what are you doing? How can you steal things?"
As soon as the fire in the stove was lit, the refugees rushed in.
Regardless of whether the sweet potatoes in the pot are hot or not, he just grabs them and eats them while inhaling.
Aunt Wang wanted to step forward to stop them, but was quickly squeezed out by the endless influx of refugees.
"This is a sin. If you guys finish eating, what will our villagers eat?"
The surroundings were in chaos and no one paid any attention to Aunt Wang and the others' cries.
When the village chief came back, the refugees had already shared their food and were circling the barn.
"What are you doing? What are you doing?"
Also arriving were other young and old men from the water village, including Cheng Fangyi and Su Che who had just returned from get off work.
The leading refugee smiled grimly, revealing a mouthful of yellow and black teeth, and said in a mean voice, "I'm hungry, so I'll have a meal. But I don't think the people in our village care much about us guests who have come from afar. They only cook that little food, which is not enough to fill our stomachs.
Now, I see this big barn and I'm going to be self-sufficient, so I won't bother you with cooking."
The village chief snorted at him and said, "You guys are so busy traveling that you've worn out your skin. Listen, you still have the nerve to bark like a dog.
I've already called the police. You'd better get out of the village immediately, otherwise there will be no room for negotiation when the police arrive."
The leader looked at the village chief with doubt.
Cheng Fangyi behind him cracked his knuckles.
He walked forward, took the big stone from the refugee's hand, and crushed it into ashes effortlessly.
This amazing operation left everyone present stunned.
"We'll go on our own." The leading refugee thought again and again and decided to leave the village first and find an opportunity to sneak in later.
Cheng Fangyi followed all the way and only walked back slowly after seeing the last refugee move to a place about 20 to 30 meters away from the village entrance.
The village chief gathered the heads of every household together overnight.
"You can see the current situation. Xiao Cheng has to go to work and can't stay in the village all the time. Those refugees will always find a way in and come in to steal food.
Our village cadres are suggesting that we distribute the food, store it in your own homes, and cook it away from others. The refugees can't go door to door stealing food, can they?
To put it bluntly, it means disbanding the big pot meal, cooking for yourself, and eating for yourself.
It is always too obvious to put grain in the barn.
If you really meet someone who doesn't want to die, even ten Cheng Fangyis will not be able to protect him, so it's better to divide him up.
Based on the village chief's understanding of the old women in the village, as long as they want to hide, even mice won't be able to find a single grain of food.
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