Under the bright sun, leaving the Shenji soldiers behind to take control of Longmen Station as soon as possible after receiving the news, Xiao Chen and Duan Tianming, dressed in civilian clothes, walked out of the gate of Songmen Guards and headed west.
Unknowingly, we walked to Nanping Village, which was basically burned to the ground by the Japanese pirates.
In the village, the villagers have rebuilt their houses.
There are still traces of burning in some places.
Zhang Erwa mixed a pile of mud in the yard and was building a wall with her old father.
Every time a piece of adobe was placed, Old Man Zhang would sigh.
"well."
"well."
"well."
After pouring a shovel of mud onto the wall, Zhang Erwa touched the sweat on her forehead and said, "Dad, can you stop sighing like this? Build a wall, you've made me feel completely out of my mind."
"The promised daughter-in-law was burned down by the Japanese pirates. All the things that were prepared were taken away by the Japanese pirates. Those were my father's savings from a lifetime of hard work. Thinking of this, my father felt uncomfortable. Could he not sigh?
"Using the small shovel in his hand, he shoveled a handful of mud and smeared it on the adobe in his hand, and then slammed the adobe on the wall.
Zhang Erwa raised her right hand and pointed to the village: "The whole village was burned down, and it's not our family. Others built walls, and no one complained."
Zhang Erwa muttered quietly.
"Can other people's families compare with ours? Other people's children have wives and have grandchildren. Do we have any?" Old man Zhang said angrily as he waited for his honest and honest son.
Everything was robbed, the house was burned down, and my daughter-in-law was completely gone. I couldn’t even sigh?
"Dad, please stop sighing. We don't have a daughter-in-law anymore. Let's save a few more years and save some money for our second son before we have a daughter-in-law." Granny Zhang came out of the house with a cloth handkerchief in her hand.
Walked out.
He walked to the wall and handed the cloth over: "It's a hot day, why don't you guys build the wall again when it gets cold? Look at the sweat on your head."
"This thin mud needs to be built in the noon sun to build the wall. This way I can work. Looking at my son, I became anxious. After the house is repaired, I will tell my son that my wife will be confident." After taking the cloth handkerchief, old man Zhang wiped his forehead.
Sweating, he handed the cloth back again.
Holding a shovel in her hand, Zhang Erwa looked at the two of them, grinning.
Granny Zhang took the cloth and looked at her son: "Why are you giggling again?"
"I don't know when the Japanese pirates will come again, and you still want to give me a wife. I think your wish to have a grandson may not come true."
"Nonsense, we are risking our lives to see my eldest grandson before we die." Granny Zhang glared at Zhang Erwa, then turned and returned to the house.
"Alas." Old Man Zhang sighed again, "If these Japanese pirates are not driven away for a day, we fishermen will really not have a peaceful life."
"That's right, since there are no peaceful days anymore, why are we worried about building the wall? Otherwise, let's continue building the wall in the afternoon." Zhang Erwa said after looking at the big sun above his head.
Old man Zhang grabbed a handful of mud and threw it towards Zhang Erwa.
"You're just lazy, get out and I'll build the wall by myself."
There was a large piece of mud on his head, and Zhang Erwa pulled it hard with his hands.
The more I pulled, the more I pulled, and finally the whole hair was covered in mud.
"I'm old, but I'm still so angry. I'm not anxious even if I don't have a wife, so why are you anxious?" Zhang Erwa muttered.
"Are you going to talk back to me again?" Old man Zhang jumped down from the wall, holding a shovel in his hand, his chest rising and falling, and stood angrily in front of Zhang Erwa.
Just as Zhang Erwa was about to escape, two figures walked in from the gate.
He was dressed in common clothes and seemed to be a commoner.
But that skin that is not too dark does not look like a fisherman.
"Dad, someone is here." Zhang Erwa muttered in a low voice and pointed to the courtyard door behind Old Man Zhang.
Turning around and looking at Xiao Chen and Duan Tianming, Old Zhang's eyes were full of vigilance: "Who are you?"
"Old man, can you lend me a moment to speak?" Xiao Chen said with a smile.
The vigilance on Old Man Zhang's face has not diminished at all: "Who are you? You are not fishermen."
Xiao Chen turned around and nodded towards Duan Tianming.
Duan Tianming raised his right hand, took out a ten-ounce silver ingot from his arms, and handed it to Xiao Chen.
Holding the silver, Xiao Chen took a step forward. Regardless of the mud in Old Man Zhang's hand, he grabbed his right hand and put the silver in his hand.
"We were sent by the imperial court to exterminate the Japanese pirates. I heard that the Japanese pirates had just robbed our village and set a fire. I want to hear the specific situation at that time."
"Are you really from the imperial court?" After looking at the money in his hand and then at Xiao Chen, Old Man Zhang hesitated a little.
People in the imperial court would not give me money for no reason.
But if you say that they are Japanese pirates wearing common people's clothes, there is no reason to give yourself money.
Xiao Chen nodded, trying to look more sincere.
"Yes, we are coming from the capital. The emperor heard that Japanese pirates are rampant here and the people are suffering, so he asked us to come here specifically to exterminate the Japanese pirates."
Hearing that the two of them came from the capital, the old man felt a little uncontrollable in his heart.
"Japanese pirates are so hateful. They robbed things and burned down the house. I was supposed to marry my son the next day. But now, everything is gone."
"The old man will use these ten taels of silver to support his family. Later, I will report to the court and ask the national treasury to allocate some relief funds to help everyone rebuild their homes." Xiao Chen patted the back of old man Zhang's hand and said with a smile.
"This, this." Old man Zhang was excited, and his right hand holding the silver kept trembling.
"Plop", he knelt down in front of Xiao Chen.
Two old tears flowed down uncontrollably: "I would like to thank the emperor, the court and the officials."
Xiao Chen hurriedly stretched out his hands and helped old man Zhang up.
"Old man, we are very thirsty after walking all the way. Can we go inside and drink some hot water?" Xiao Chen said with a smile.
"Okay, okay." Old man Zhang raised his sleeves, wiped away his tears, and hurriedly got out of the way.
Zhang Erwa raised her voice and shouted into the room: "Mom, the official is here, the official from the capital. Please pour some hot tea."
Walking into the house, Xiao Chen felt uncomfortable again.
Half of the walls of the adobe house were covered in black traces of burning.
There is nothing in the house except a freshly plated pot and stove.
There were three stones on the ground, with firewood inside, and a fragment of an iron pot on top, with a little hot water rolling inside.
"Is this for boiling water?" Xiao Chen asked in a low voice, pointing to the iron pot that held a palm-sized amount of hot water.
There was a moment of embarrassment on Old Man Zhang's face: "All the pots at home were smashed and taken away by the Japanese pirates. This piece of iron pot may have been missed by them. I have been busy building a house these days and haven't had time to go to the town to buy pots.
.”
"How can we cook without a pot? How can we drink water?" Xiao Chen looked at the iron pot pieces and felt extremely uncomfortable.
This is what happened to Old Han Zhang's family, and other people in the village must have suffered the same thing.
"Drink water. If you're really thirsty, just drink some cold water. It's June now. There are a lot of vegetables in the fields, and the Japanese pirates haven't touched them, so you can keep them full." Old man Zhang said with a simple face while rubbing the mud on his hands.
"I've been eating vegetables for several days, but these vegetables are different from rice. I can't stand hunger, and I don't have the strength." Zhang Erwa said while holding back her mouth.
Xiao Chen raised his head and looked at the thatched house with bare walls: "The rice is gone and the pot is smashed. If the Japanese pirates are not eliminated, the people will not live in peace for a day. Old man, how many families are there in our village?"
"There are thirty-six households in total."
"Where's the town? How far is it from here?"
"There are more than twenty miles of land. However, they are all mountain roads and difficult to walk." Old man Zhang said.
"Can you gather the villagers together? Or provide one laborer from each household?" Xiao Chen said kindly as he looked at Old Man Zhang.
Old man Zhang was startled: "Master, what are you going to do?"
"Food is the most important thing for the people. How can we live like this when we have no rice to eat and no pot to cook? I want one laborer from each household to come with us to the town and buy each household a pot and fifty kilograms of rice.
"
"Really?" Old Man Zhang couldn't help but shed tears again.
In the past few days, I have eaten enough vegetables and cold water.
Although I just said that I didn't have time to go to town to buy pot, it was just a polite comment.
Buy, what to buy?
Except for the three remaining lives in the family, all were taken away by Japanese pirates.
"The official is waiting, I will go and inform the villagers now."
Old man Zhang walked out of the door tremblingly, with a smile on his face.
