"Company commander, Zhao Pan'er woke up and said she wanted to see you!"
Chu Xiong was preparing to send the rescued Li Chenxi, Zhao Pan'er and others back to Lijiacun, but Zhao Pan'er was the first to ask to see him.
He thought for a while and decided to meet her to see what she had to say.
"Lao Yang, please invite her in!"
A few minutes later, Chu Xiong saw Zhao Paner;
Yang Wei was accompanying her. She was the new daughter-in-law of the Li family, so she had to avoid this suspicion.
"Captain Chu, thank you for your life-saving grace. Please bow to me, little lady!"
After Zhao Pan'er finished speaking, she bowed to him and performed a lady's ceremony.
“Fellow, you’re welcome, we are just here to rescue people at the request of the Li family;
The Li family paid for the military expenses, so you don't need to thank me. "
Chu Xiong thought it would be better to keep things clear. It would be better to have one less thing than one more thing.
“Captain Chu, when I was in school in the provincial capital, I heard that the Eighth Route Army is an army of ordinary people;
You came to Hedong specifically to fight Japanese invaders. When did you start working for the landlords? "
Zhao Pan'er's words obviously had a strong smell of gunpowder, which made Chu Xiong a little confused.
“Fellow fellow, our Eighth Route Army needs to unite all forces that can be united to fight the Japanese;
As long as we don't want to be slaves to the subjugation of the country, we are the ones to unite with, including squires like the Li family! "
Chu Xiong would not leave anything to say to anyone, and Zhao Paner had no reason to say anything about arresting the Eighth Route Army.
Zhao Pan'er saw that Captain Chu was as slippery as a loach, so he stopped beating around the bush and went straight to the point:
"Captain Chu, I already know that you are going to send me back to the Li family soon;
Let me tell you the truth, this marriage was not of my own free will!
The national crisis is looming, and I don’t want to get married so early;
I want to join the Eighth Route Army and fight the Japanese with you! "
He finally understood why Zhao Pan'er was finding trouble with the Eighth Route Army. It turned out that he didn't want him to send her back to Li's house.
As for what she said about joining the Eighth Route Army to fight the Japanese, it was probably because she wanted to escape from marriage!
This posed a problem for him. Zhao Pan'er was the wife of the Li family's matchmaker;
If there hadn't been the episode of bandit robbery, she would have entered the bridal chamber with the third young master of the Li family by now.
The Eighth Route Army was at the request of the Li family to help rescue the hostages. If Zhao Paner was accepted to fight the Japanese at this time, it would be unreasonable and unexplainable.
How will we carry out mass work near Lijiacun in the future?
He decided not to accept this hot potato. It was unreasonable and he refused bluntly:
"Fellow, our mission is to rescue you and send you to the Li family. In fact, you are engaged to the Li family!
We in the Eighth Route Army are not allowed to interfere in people's family affairs. I hope you can understand.
As for your choice after arriving at the Li family, that is your own freedom! "
Chu Xiong still had a lot of big things to do, but he didn't have much time to accompany Zhao Paner and talk about her marriage.
He had already said this, and Zhao Pan'er could not embarrass the Eighth Route Army any more. After all, it was the Eighth Route Army who saved her.
She thought secretly in her heart:
"The worst I can do is to run away again when I get to the Li family. Your Eighth Route Army, Chu Xiong, is not the only one in the world, huh!"
After daybreak, Chu Xiong led the second platoon to send Zhao Pan'er, Li Chenxi and others back to Lijiacun, while Yang Wei led the others to stay at Shenxianling.
The news that the third young master of the Li family and others had been rescued had already reached Lijia Village. This time the bandits robbed more than 20 people in Lijia Village, most of them were the pillars of each family. Half of the sky in Lijia Village almost collapsed!
Bandit dens have always been easy to get in and hard to get out of!
Different from the deserted atmosphere when we first entered Lijiacun, this time we were greeted by the beating of gongs and drums by our relatives and the Eighth Route Army—and of course their rescued relatives.
Hu Shuangqiang has been causing trouble for many years, and the government has suppressed him many times. There is nothing that can be done against him, and the suppression becomes stronger and stronger.
Unexpectedly, the Eighth Route Army wiped out them as soon as they took action, and even rescued the third young master of the Li family and his new wife, saving the face of the Li family;
This made Li Yaozu very happy, and he couldn't help but sigh in his heart, the five thousand silver dollars were well spent!
Seeing Chu Xiong coming, Li Yaozu greeted him from a distance, cupped his hands and said with a smile:
"Sir Chu, thank you for your hard work!
I cannot thank you enough for my kindness. On behalf of the elders of Lijiacun, I would like to express my gratitude to the Eighth Route Army for sending troops on a starry night to eliminate the ruthless bandit Hu Shuangqiang and eliminate a great harm to the local area! "
"Clan Chief Li, you're welcome. The Eighth Route Army is an army of ordinary people. It is our unshirkable responsibility to expel Japanese pirates and maintain local peace."
In front of hundreds of villagers in Lijiacun, Chu Xiong returned the rescued Zhao Paner and others to Lijiacun in their entirety;
This also includes more than 20 young people who went to welcome Li Yaozu's family. They are all the mainstays of the Lijiacun family.
Seeing their sons or husbands rescued from the bandits, the villagers of Lijia Village completely remembered this kindness. The Eighth Route Army's mass work in Lijia Village will be much easier in the future.
Back at the Li family mansion, Li Yaozu sat with Chu Xiong again.
Although he was very grateful to the Eighth Route Army for rescuing his son and daughter-in-law, he still did not want the Eighth Route Army to stay in Lijiacun.
Because this will attract the Japanese, and Lijiacun cannot afford this disaster!
"Company Commander Chu, these are the thoughts of me and the fellow villagers, totaling 10,000 silver dollars."
Li Yaozu had several large boxes brought in, which were full of silver coins.
"Clan Chief Li, I remember that there should be 2,000 silver dollars left in the balance. Isn't that the right amount?
We in the Eighth Route Army do not receive any compensation for doing things for our fellow villagers. "
"Captain Chu, you are also a cheerful person, so I will get straight to the point:
The Li family moved here from Longyou during the troubled times in the late Ming Dynasty, just to avoid the disaster of war;
For hundreds of years, I have never participated in the conflicts in the world!
Of course, this is a national war after all. As a member of China, Lijiacun also supports the national government’s anti-Japanese cause;
This extra 8,000 silver dollars is our support for the Eighth Route Army in resisting Japan!
Lijia Village has been farming for generations and has no intention of fighting. I would like to ask your army to relocate the base area to another place. I and the hundreds of villagers in Lijia Village would be very grateful! "
Chu Xiong finally understood what Li Yaozu said in a roundabout way. This was the rhythm of seeing off guests.
The Japanese have not yet freed up their hands to take care of the rear affairs. Most of the people have no personal experience of the evil deeds of the Japanese and do not have a clear understanding of their true appearance.
They thought this was another dynasty change and that as long as they did not resist, they could save their lives.
Whoever is in charge of the world, they just need to pay enough of the royal rations!
This kind of thinking is still very common among the general public. Only after witnessing the atrocities of the Japanese will they repent:
It turns out that the Japanese want them to be slaves to the country's subjugation!
This is not a change of dynasty at all, this is the subjugation of the country and the annihilation of the species!
The Japanese would kill them like cattle and horses, then point to their bones and say:
"Look, the slave of the subjugated country!"
Chu Xiong also felt a sense of powerlessness in his heart. People will only truly understand this truth after they pay a heavy price.
He still asked one more question unwillingly:
"Clan Chief Li, I want to know if this is your personal opinion or the opinion of all the villagers?"
Chu Xiong didn't care whether he was the patriarch or not, he could only represent his family.
Li Yaozu had already thought of this. When he asked, he took out a piece of paper from his body and handed it to him.
"Mr. Chu, this is a petition from hundreds of villagers in the village, with the signatures of 92 heads of households on it."
When Chu Xiong heard this, he felt a little bitter in his heart and gently opened the paper. The general meaning inside was that he hoped that the Eighth Route Army would establish a base somewhere else. They could not afford to offend the Japanese and collectively contributed 8,000 silver dollars to support the anti-Japanese war.
It was covered with dense fingerprints, blood red and shocking.
This was the anti-Japanese environment before the people were awakened. Everyone hated the Japanese, but everyone was afraid of the Japanese!
National awakening requires a process. Even if the Eighth Route Army is now vigorously promoting propaganda in the village, not many people will listen.
Only after you have suffered a loss and witnessed the cruelty of the Japanese will you wake up!
Chu Xiong decided to change his approach and build the Immortal Ridge first, then take his time.
"Clan Leader Li, I will accept this petition. I will only take away the agreed 2,000 yuan of these silver dollars. The rest will be returned to whoever deserves it. I will be responsible for supervising the refund tomorrow!"
Chu Xiong's words made Li Yaozu, who was mute, eat Coptis chinensis and unable to express his suffering!
The petition was indeed signed and pledged by all the villagers, but the money came from Li Yaozu's family.
Now the Eighth Route Army has to supervise the return to all the villagers, and Li Yaozu can only hold his nose and admit it;
Li Yaozu really couldn't do this if he wanted the money distributed to the villagers back one by one.
Besides, there was still someone named Chu who was watching, and he didn’t want to give someone named Chu another reason to return to Lijia Village;
As long as he could send away Chu and the Eighth Route Army, Li Yaozu could afford the money!
After coming out of Li Yaozu's house, Chu Xiong thought in his heart:
"Young man, you're playing tricks with me. I don't need this huge sum of money, but I can't take advantage of you, a rich landlord!"
Once it was distributed, it would be difficult for Li Yaozu to take it back. If he dared to take it back, Chu Xiong would dare to bring the Eighth Route Army back to uphold justice for the fellow villagers.
