After asking around, they finally found out the address of the Zhao family brigade. The two of them, Zhu Fanfan and her dog, rushed over there. When they arrived at a small hill, Zhu Fanfan took the wolf king and hid inside. It was called a small hill, but it was just a small mound with a few trees on it. It wasn't even big enough for a person to hide. However, Zhu Fanfan still helped the wolf king up a tree, and then she climbed up herself, preparing to observe the Zhao family brigade on her own.
She leisurely released her spiritual power from the tree. Now, it was no problem for her to cover the entire village with her spiritual power. She had never met Grandpa Lu in person, only seen him in his photos. Grandpa Lu belonged to the military, while she belonged to the political department. They were not in the same compound. Grandpa Lu said that as long as she said she was Zhu Jiabao's granddaughter, Lu Jiansheng would not doubt her.
The entire field seemed normal. Villagers were working, the team leader strolled around with his hands behind his back, and the team leaders were supervising the work. The men were doing heavy physical labor, the women were doing lighter tasks, and the children were cutting pig feed. Everyone was working hard, and everything seemed normal. This village was clearly relatively wealthy. There were two houses with blue bricks and tiles, five houses with red bricks, and most of the houses were made of adobe. They didn't look dilapidated.
But as I watched, something felt off. There were too many men and relatively few women. And the way the children were cutting pig feed looked like they were about to kill someone. It was very incongruous. Just then, three old people, one man and two women, came walking unsteadily from a distance, carrying buckets of manure. There was someone behind them cracking a whip.
Zhu Fanfan was startled and carefully used her spiritual power to investigate. The clothes of the three old men were badly torn, their bodies were covered in blood, and their faces had bruises. It was clear that they had been abused. Zhu Fanfan remembered that Grandpa Lu and his family had been sent down to the countryside together. Grandpa Lu had also found out that they had all come to the same place. Where were they?
The young man who was hitting the man was still cursing: "You haven't eaten, you can't even walk steadily. Let me tell you, crops depend on manure. If manure comes out, you are enemies of the people, enemy agents here to cause sabotage. The higher-ups sent you here for labor reform, not to slack off. You're all useless, get to work..."
As he spoke, he lashed out with a whip, the force of which caused the person in front to lose his balance and fall, spilling a bucket of excrement all over himself, and the rest onto the ground. The young man became even angrier: "You stinking intellectuals, wasting the people's fertilizer, you are enemies of the proletariat! Quick, someone, wash their filthy bodies clean, I want to hold a meeting to criticize and denounce you."
A group of people immediately went to the river to fetch water and poured it directly on the old man. Zhu Fanfan's fist hardened. Although the weather was not cold, the old man had been whipped and had a fecal infection. If water was poured on him, wouldn't that be fatal?
In a moment of desperation, Zhu Fanfan released all the venomous snakes from his spatial storage. He accidentally released a two-headed snake, and the sight of a group of snakes emerging from the forest and charging towards the crowd was quite spectacular.
The hissing sound startled the villagers. Seeing a group of snakes, the villagers' scalps tingled, and their first reaction was to run. However, the young man who had been whipping people saw the two-headed snake in front of him and exclaimed in surprise, "Yamata no Orochi!"
Although the sound was soft, Zhu Fanfan still heard it. She then used her mental power to send the two-headed snake back. This guy actually managed to sneak in. He hadn't been taught a lesson enough. The other snakes were all his offspring, and she had plenty of those too. She couldn't lose this one.
Many villagers ran away, but a few stayed behind and swiftly caught all the snakes. Their snake-catching speed was extremely fast, as if they had been specially trained, unlike ordinary farmers. After catching them, they even let out a triumphant cackling laugh, the sound of which was somewhat grating and awkward, causing Zhu Fanfan to squint.
The young man said, "You three, get back to work! Don't even think about escaping your duties."
He said to the villagers, "All of you who participated in catching the snake, come here. Let's roast the snake meat together. Take the pot and seasonings. The rest of us will make snake soup. The coward who just ran away, get back here and get to work. The work points will be credited to us heroes."
After saying that, the group of people each took several snakes and left, laughing wildly. The group of people who were called cowards were somewhat timid and dared not speak. After they left, they obediently went to work in the fields. Only then did Zhu Fanfan realize that these people's expressions were somewhat numb, which was definitely not normal.
She remembered Grandma Miao Yang saying that the village was very xenophobic, and all the wives were from the same village, with intermarriage between them. She had wanted to marry into the village because she heard that the women here were treated very well, unlike in other villages where women were treated like men. The men were strong and could do all the work in the fields, so the women only needed to keep the house clean. When she visited other villages after her marriage, she saw that every household was clean and tidy, as if no one lived there.
Considering today's situation, Zhu Fanfan felt she had finally understood. So that's how it was. But she needed evidence. And where were Grandpa Lu's son and daughter-in-law? Why couldn't they be found in the entire village? Were they not here?
Zhu Fanfan used his spiritual power to follow the group of men to their home. There, he saw the woman waiting at the door. When she saw the snakes in the men's hands, she turned pale with fright and fainted before she could even speak. One of the men kicked her hard and said, "Get up! Stop pretending to be dead. Make us snake soup."
The woman was awakened by the pain. She forced herself to take the snake, still trembling all over, and fainted again from fright. The man grabbed the fleeing snake and kicked the woman a couple more times, but she still didn't move. He said irritably, "Useless. Let's kill the snake first and then let her do it."
The people around them laughed along, saying, "Women are useless. We should do it ourselves. When we go on a picnic in the mountains, someone will help us with the chores."
Even though the old folks on Grandpa Lu's side were covered in water and excrement, they still insisted on working. The three of them went to every household in the village to empty the latrines. After emptying them, they had to wash them clean. The three old folks even looked a little numb. What had happened in such a short time? Grandpa's friends shouldn't be so easily discouraged.
At noon, everyone went home to cook. Grandpa Lu and the other two helped each other back to their dwelling, which was the first small house next to the cowshed. The roof of the house was leaky, so if it rained, it would rain heavily above and lightly below, allowing them to enjoy the rain washing over them up close. Zhu Fanfan couldn't help but get angry; this village was bullying them.
Grandpa Lu, who had been splashed with water, took off his dirty clothes. Grandpa Lu and his wife went to fetch water and came back. After washing, the three of them were silent. Zhu Fanfan came over at this moment. As soon as Zhu Fanfan came in, the three of them became wary. Grandpa Lu stood in front of the two of them and said, "We have nothing to eat."
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