The brothers of the Si family were pushed and carried by the crowd, all the way out of the city gate.
After exiting the city gate, the surrounding area suddenly opened up.
Outside the city gate is a semicircular open space with a wooden bridge in front.
The moat is about twenty meters wide and more than five meters deep. It's filled with water.
Because the east of the city is adjacent to the Luanhe River, although it is upstream, the water volume is quite large.
When building a city, the moat was dug to collect soil so that the city walls could be built.
After the city wall was built, there was naturally a moat on the outside. Once the Luanhe River is dredged, it will naturally become a moat.
"Don't be impatient, everyone, line up to cross the bridge." Several militiamen organized a line at the head of the bridge. After all, the moat is more than five meters deep, and people who fall in it will drown.
"Hey, Si Xiaosong, are you going to pick up peanuts too?" A black boy said to Si Xiaosong.
Si Xiaosong turned his head and saw that it was Erhei from Daming Club.
The people in Daming Society all came from Daming Prefecture to escape famine, unlike Xingfu Society, which all came from Baoding Prefecture. In this era, ethnic and rural parties are prevalent, and people from different regions tend to stick together or even be xenophobic.
The same goes for children. If those from the Xingfu Club go to the Daming Club to play, they are more likely to be bullied, and vice versa.
Of course, when children fight, adults don't care. Here the emphasis is on the father's life, the adults are the adults' business, and the children are the children's business, and they have nothing to do with each other.
Seeing Erhei's alert face and the dozen or so children from the famous club looking at them nervously, Si Xiaosong said with a smile: "Don't worry, we won't go grab peanuts, we'll go west."
Erhei, with a dozen boys and seven or eight girls, was a little wary.
These two brothers, Shiqiu, were very good at it, and they had robbed them a lot in the past two days. They were both experienced and had taken away a lot of good stuff.
"Really, if you don't lie to others, traitors will have nothing to eat."
"Hey! Who cares about lying to you little brats?" Si Xiaobai said contemptuously.
"What are you talking about? You are a brat." Several children stopped and rolled up their sleeves to prepare for a fight.
"Okay, okay, we're about to cross the bridge." Si Xiaosong shouted quickly.
A group of people swarmed across the bridge, and then the crowd dispersed, with people going in any direction.
The Si brothers really went west.
Erhei and others looked at it in confusion. Some don't quite believe it.
These two boys have always been unable to get up early for no profit. They get up earlier than others to pick up dung in the morning, and they can pick up a full basket every time.
Today is the first day the peanut field is open. How could they not be tempted? The peanuts are so delicious. Even if you set up a stall at the night market, you can still make a lot of money.
"Brother Erhei, are they lying to us? They will go west first and then turn back." asked a thin little girl named Bamei.
"No, it's not necessary. We can't stop them from picking up peanuts, so why bother."
Three Rabbits scratched their heads and said, "It's true that the sun comes out from the west. These two wolf cubs fought with me over a donkey dung egg, and now they won't leave with something as good as peanuts."
Erhei thought for a moment and suddenly said: "No, these two bad boys must have found a better way to make money. Otherwise, it is impossible for them not to pick up peanuts."
"Second brother, what do you mean? Let's follow them. When the time comes, whoever sees us will be rewarded," Er Gouzi said in a very shameless manner.
Bidige
"Yes, let's follow them. During this period, they have gained a lot of benefits, but we can't compete with them. This time, let's join them." Lai Litou's mistress also said.
"Brother Erhei, I still want to pick up peanuts. Peanuts are so delicious. Besides, we won't be allowed to wander around at home," Bamei said.
Immediately, several girls also echoed.
"You girls are just timid and useless. Don't cry when we make money." Three Rabbits scolded loudly.
"Okay, okay, girls don't want to go. Eight sisters, take them to pick up peanuts. We'll go and have a look. If there's nothing good, we'll go back to look for you. If it's night and we don't look for you, , just go back by yourselves, don’t forget anyone, and count the number of people when you leave.”
"Okay, brother Erhei, don't worry," Bamei, the oldest among the girls, gave Ertu a blank look and left with a group of little girls carrying wicker baskets.
"Come on, let's all follow and see what evil these two boys are holding back." Erhei asked everyone to follow.
A dozen half-grown children in their twelfth or thirteen years old were far behind, following the Si brothers as they headed west.
The Si brothers ran and walked very fast, passing by the carrot field without stopping.
Passing by the cornfield, I didn’t stop.
Passing by the cotton field, Erhei thought that their goal this time was cotton. This place was already more than ten miles away from the city wall. No one should have been to this small cotton field.
In autumn, under the strong plateau sunshine, there is still a lot of cotton that has not been picked.
A dozen children looked at each other excitedly.
Cotton is very expensive. It's a good thing to sell for money. After all, winter is coming and everyone needs thick cotton clothes, trousers and shoes.
It's strange that there is a small cotton field so far away. There are many cotton bolls on the dry plants that have not opened, shining iron-red under the scorching sun.
Get rich, get rich.
This should be a government experimental field, and this cotton boll is much larger than they have ever seen. We are almost at the edge of the farmland here.
No Shiqiu person has gone this far. What a great bargain.
The open cotton bolls have been picked clean, and the unsplit cotton bolls are still swaying in the wind on the dry branches.
These children all know that these ungrown cotton bolls can be used, but the fibers are short and cannot be spun or weaved.
But as long as you open the cotton boll, take out the core, and put it on the roof to dry, the cotton inside can also be used to make cotton-padded clothes and quilts.
This piece of cotton covered ten acres, which made everyone extremely happy.
Hehe, the Si brothers suffered a big loss this time.
Erhei and the others got into the cotton field, but were surprised to see that the Si brothers only looked at it briefly and continued walking westward with their baskets on their backs.
Watching them run to the edge of the barbed wire fence. He took out a small shovel and dug a hole more than a foot deep under the barbed wire fence. Then he got out without hesitation.
Erhei and others were dumbfounded.
Are they crazy? After leaving the barbed wire fence, the outside world is grassland without any protection.
Although outside the trench, there are also the barracks of three cavalry regiments.
The Silver Cavalry Regiment to the north, the Tumut Cavalry Regiment to the west, and the Dragoon Regiment to the south.
The three regiments were organized into units, and five cavalrymen would patrol along the barbed wire every ten minutes. Protect the hinterland of the grassland, this isolated enclave.
But once they leave here, the beasts and Mongols outside are no longer something these children can deal with.
Moreover, the yamen strictly prohibited anyone from leaving the barbed wire fence. The only way in and out of Duolun City and the surrounding areas was the water transport of the Luan River.
"Brother Erhei, what should we do?" Santu asked as he lay under the barbed wire fence.
Erhei was also dumbfounded. He didn't expect that the Si brothers' target was not this cotton field, but somewhere far away.
Under the green mountains in the distance, there is a dense forest with pine, cypress, and catalpa trees.
"I know, these two boys are going for pine nuts and hazelnuts. There might be fungus there. These things are much more valuable than grain and cotton."
Three updates tomorrow
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