"Oh, the bark of the tree has been stripped off. How can we live from now on?"
Under the scorching sun, an old man wearing a bundt was carrying a handful of wild vegetables with roots still stained with soil, and he couldn't help but sigh.
He looked up and saw that all the trees he saw, whether they were as thin as a hemp pole or as thick as an ancient tree with several people hugging each other, had been forcibly stripped of their bark, and all the leaves on their crowns had been ripped out.
Clean, bare, and very ugly.
Walking through the dry field ridges, his eyes passed over the dry, hardened fields full of cracks. The old man's eyes became more and more sad. Soon, a desolate and dilapidated village came into view, and some vaguely described withered fields could be seen.
The silhouette of the manuscript.
Taking a look at the wild vegetables in his hand, which were no different from weeds and exuded a strong grassy smell, the old man's expression tightened, as if he was hiding a treasure, he held the bundle of wild vegetables in his heart, blocked it with his clothes, and then walked quickly
He crossed the road and rushed to a similarly dilapidated earthen house, pushed open the fence door and entered the courtyard.
As soon as he entered the courtyard, the old man saw his eldest son, who was languid and unsteady, pulling a millstone with a hemp rope. What was being ground was not grain, but pieces of dry bark.
The bark can only be eaten if it is ground into powder, and their teeth are not as good as those of animals.
"Dad, you're back!"
The son who was grinding saw his father coming back. His eyes suddenly lit up and he looked at his father expectantly. He could only do the hard work of grinding bark. As for his father, he could only go out and see if he could find anything.
Come back with food.
"The bark of the trees was stripped off, and I only brought back some wild vegetables."
The old man took out a handful of wrinkled wild vegetables from his arms with a bitter look on his face. These wild vegetables were all pulled out of the soil along with him, not wanting to waste any of them.
“As long as you can eat it!”
The thin man swallowed with some difficulty, but still had a smile on his face.
"There isn't much food left at home. Even if it's mixed with bark, it won't last long!"
Having said this, the old man raised his head angrily and glanced at the sky without even a trace of cloud above his head.
"This bastard thief God simply won't let anyone live anymore!"
As a farmer struggling at the bottom, when the harvest was not good in previous years, he would pull some tree bark, dig some wild vegetables, and scrape together a small amount of food, just to get through it.
But this year is different. At the beginning of this year, there were only a few symbolic ice particles falling from the sky. After the beginning of spring, it didn’t rain at all.
This is no longer a poor harvest, but no harvest at all, and no grains have been harvested. Now we are struggling with the coarse grains saved in previous years.
But even if they are farmers with their backs turned to the sky, how much food can they save? After all, more than half of the food they grow has to be handed over.
There is a severe drought this year. Although the government has posted a notice to reduce or reduce taxes, no matter how much the tax is reduced, the grain that should be paid must still be paid. Not even a grain of rice can be escaped. This makes the already difficult life even more difficult.
.
"Dad, Zhang Laizi from the village died of exhaustion last night!"
The man who was grinding looked at his cursing father and said in a weak voice.
"I'm so exhausted!"
The old man, who was full of anger and eyes full of resentment, immediately fell silent when he heard the news, and then shook his head and sighed,
"It's good to hold on until you die. After all, I'm a full-fledged ghost!"
Although he said that, the old man also knew that there was nothing in the belly of Zhang Laizi who was strangled to death, not even tree bark.
"Dad, do you think we can survive this disaster?"
The man who was grinding the mill stopped and asked in a low voice. The bark in the millstone has been ground completely and has been ground into a yellowish-brown powder. Although this stuff is hard to swallow, it is mixed with whole grains and can at least be filling.
Once the stomach is filled, it will not make the person burst to death and unable to poop out.
"Whatever you say to be depressing, you can definitely get through it!"
The old man's tone was sonorous and powerful, but his expression was not as confident as his words. How long can we survive based on the grain reserves in previous years? This year's spring plowing has been abandoned. Even if it rains, nothing can be grown.
"father!"
The man began to collect bark powder and took the wild vegetable balls that his father had found from outside. The old man sat directly on the bluestone pier and stopped moving.
"Um."
"Some people in the next county are rebelling. I heard that the rebel group killed the rich households and landlords. They eat rice and white-flour steamed buns every day!"
“Eat white mask every day?”
Hearing this, the old man squatting on the stone pier sneered disdainfully,
"Which turtle fooled you? Zhou Bapi next door to our village farmed hundreds of acres, so he was rich enough. It took three days for Zhou Bapi to be willing to eat a meal of white mask. A group of rebels still eat white mask every day. Why?
There is so much white flour for them to waste!"
"Even if it's not a white mask, it's good to have food to eat. It's better than chewing tree bark and eating grass roots!"
The man scratched his neck and retorted.
"What do you want, you idiot? Do you want to rebel with others? This is a beheading deal!"
"I don't want to rebel, I just want to fill my stomach. Those dog officials can't even grow food in the fields. They still want us to pay taxes. How can we pay? With our lives? Since they won't let us live, then they
Don’t live anymore, we all carry one head on two shoulders, who is afraid of whom?”
Speaking of this, even the man who looked honest and honest had a stern look on his face.
"What nonsense are you talking about? Look at how you look. You're already skin and bones. You're following other people's example of rebellion. You can't even pick up a knife!"
"I'm hungry. If I'm full, I can carry a cow by myself!"
"Chi~"
The old man sneered and was too lazy to speak. Even if he is an old man, he can carry hundreds of kilograms of firewood and walk three miles, but where can you get enough food now?
The father and son suddenly fell into silence, and at this time, the smoke from birds and chimneys also came out of the short and thick chimney under the man's busy work. At this moment, this ordinary smoke and fire smoke attracted many people.
Hungry eyes.
"Uncle, can your house still open fire?"
A figure that looked a little out of breath came to the fence, peering towards the house under the chimney that was smoking. With a dry tongue, he licked his peeled lips, and his eyes were full of desire for food.
Desire.
"Just some grass roots and bark!"
Looking at the well-known gangster in the village outside the fence, the old man's eyes were full of vigilance. When the man who was busy in the kitchen heard the noise, he walked out with a murderous knife.
"Uncle, I could smell the fragrance of rice even when I was standing outside the door. I know that your family lives frugally on weekdays, and there must be more food left at home than other families. I don't ask for anything else. I just ask you to always give me food.
eat."
"Second son, go as far away as you can. If you go to someone else's house to beg for food, my house can hardly open the pot!"
The man carrying the hatchet looked at the groveling villagers, and there was no politeness in his words. The old woman lying on the bed and his wife were all waiting for that bite of rice. If he gave it to others, what would his family eat?
"Uncle, I've been hungry for three days, can you just give me a bite of rice? If that doesn't work, I'll give you one!"
As he said that, the figure outside the fence knelt down directly, and a clean collision sound was heard.
"Er Zhuzi, it's not that I'm stingy, it's just that we don't have much food at home. You know how things are going these days. How much can we save no matter how frugal we are?"
The old man sighed, and then his tone changed again,
"But my uncle also dug a piece of Guanyin soil before. If you are really hungry, just take that piece of soil. Eat less and you can fill your stomach, and nothing will happen!"
"Uncle, are you so cruel? I've begged you like this, but you won't even give me a bite of rice?"
"Er Liezi, if you don't get out of here, the hatchet in my hand will no longer recognize you!"
Looking at the villagers who were lingering and unwilling to leave, the man suddenly cursed in a vicious manner. In order to fill his stomach, he even had the idea of rebellion. How could he pity a village gangster?
"..."
Erzhu, who begged to no avail, and even kowtowed outside the fence in order to beg for a meal, said nothing, glanced at the smoke that had been blown away by the wind, and left without saying a single harsh word.
"Finally gone!"
Seeing the rogue retreating, both the old and the young heaved a sigh of relief. Then they packed up and started preparing for dinner. Although the food they ate was only grass roots and bark, at least they also mixed in some serious food.
"The Point Guard Is Here"
Just as the family of four gathered at the dinner table, they heard a loud noise outside the house.
"I saw it with my own eyes. Uncle Zhao came back from outside with fragrant white-flour buns!"
"Er Zhuzhu, you must be dizzy from hunger. Where can you find a white mask now?"
"I can't say for sure. When I was just at the entrance of the village, I saw Uncle Zhao holding a bag of something unknown and going back in a hurry!"
When an old man and a young man came out of the house, they saw the few young people in the village gathered outside the fence of their house, looking at their house with the blazing fire they were most familiar with.
"What nonsense are you talking about?"
The old man asked solemnly.
"Uncle, Erzhuzi said that you picked up a pack of white facial masks from outside. Let's come over and take a look!"
A villager said with a smile.
"Listen to what he's talking about. When did he ever say anything accurate with his mouth? He really has a white mask, and I can still let him see this bastard!"
The old man cursed, but his eyes were solemn as never before.
"Uncle, I'm fine with whatever you say, but whether you picked up the white mask or not, it doesn't matter what you said. We have to go in and take a look, then it's true!"
"Yes, that's right. You don't believe it when you say it's not us. We need to go in and take a look!"
The eyes of the young men in the village gathered together gradually became a little scary.
"I don't think any of you dare to come in. You sons of bitches. Don't say that my father didn't pick it up. Even if he did pick up the white mask, what does it have to do with you?"
The man came out again carrying a hatchet, but at this time, just a hatchet was no longer enough to intimidate everyone.
"Look, I said they have white-flour steamed buns!"
Erzhu was overjoyed and shouted, and chaos immediately began. The fence, which was only half a person tall, was knocked down. The old man and the young man who tried to stop him were soon knocked to the ground. The smell of blood spread in the dry air.
No one believed that Uncle Zhao really picked up a pack of white facial masks outside. Everyone knew that this was nonsense, but they needed an excuse, even if it seemed very illogical.
There is definitely no such thing as white-flour steamed buns. Even in good times, the rich landlords cannot eat these things every day, let alone the poor and poor.
But it doesn’t matter if you don’t have white flour buns, as long as you have something to fill your stomach.
"I don't have any white masks at home, where can I pick them up..."
The old man, covered in blood, with bruises on his face and footprints on his body, was crying. Beside him, his skinny child had fallen to the ground, his chest rising and falling slightly.
Whether there were white-flour buns or not was not important at all. What was important was that when the villagers came in, they saw the food in the pot. Even if it was very shabby, it was still edible.
A robbery, soup and water spilled on the ground, the ugliness of human nature is vividly reflected at this moment. Without the restraint of morality, the darkness of human nature is undoubtedly revealed at this moment.
A village man who looked very honest just now turned his attention to the sallow-faced village woman, who was the daughter-in-law of the man with the hatchet.
"You beasts, stop it!"
Seeing the group of young men in the village who had eaten up his family's grain reserves and started tearing off his daughter-in-law's clothes, the old man roared in despair. The faces of these people in front of him were all too familiar to him, but at this moment, those with evil smiles
His face looked so terrifying in his eyes, like an evil ghost!
"stop it!"
When this human tragedy was being staged, there happened to be an immortal parading here. Wherever he looked, all the ugliness was reflected in his eyes. The next moment, sword energy like an ox hair fell from the sky, covering the human body.
All the ugly evil spirits were killed.
"this……"
Amidst the low cries and painful wails, the old man, who was in pain everywhere, stood up tremblingly. He looked at the villain who had broken into his home and was now at the end of his life. He was speechless for a moment.
Know what to say.
Rumble——
At this moment, a bolt of thunder pierced the sky, and the sound of thunder that echoed across the heaven and earth was so shocking at this moment that it made people's heartbeats freeze.
The old man raised his head blankly, looking at the sky that was becoming gloomy at a speed visible to the naked eye, and the thunder and lightning moving in the dark clouds. He knelt down on the ground crying and laughing, and his head was heavily knocked on the dirt.
.
"God bless!"
Above the clouds, the immortal who was using the art of calling wind and rain turned pale. He looked down at the land that was shrouded in severe drought. Although there was pity in his eyes, he was more helpless.
"I'm not strong enough, I need to find some external help. I remember that a senior sister in the family raised one for health. I wonder if I can borrow it."