Chapter 24, acquaintance
The more Yao Jianping talked, the angrier he became. He pointed outside and said, "It used to be such a nice village, but now most of the land has been occupied by Yao Guoping's family."
"Is it that serious?" Xi Xingchen was surprised.
Before coming to Yaozhuang, Xi Xingchen knew that Yao Guoping was enclosure, but he didn't expect that he would be more ruthless in his hometown.
"Do you know how many people there are in Yao Village now?" Yao Jianping sneered and stretched out four fingers.
"Four thousand people?"
"Less than four hundred people."
"It's impossible. When I entered the village just now, I saw the size of Zhouzhuang. There are at least 500 households. If it's less, there are at least 3,000 people in Yao Village."
"Brother Xi, you don't know that our Yao Village is a large village with more than 5,000 people. If you had come to Yao Village a few years ago, you would have discovered how lively our place is." Yao Jianping took a sip. Wine seems to be reminiscing about a very beautiful memory.
After a long time, Yao Jianping put down his wine glass and let out a long sigh.
Xi Xingchen quickly poured another glass of wine for Yao Jianping: "Where have all those people gone?"
Yao Jianping picked up a peanut with his hands and threw it into his mouth. He chewed it and said: "In recent years, there have been great disasters and the price of rice has soared. Many people can't make ends meet. When they heard that Nanyang was not affected by the disaster, they sold their fields to Yao Jianping." Guoping exchanged some money and went to Nanyang with his family.
"There were also some people who owed money and food to Yao Guoping and had to mortgage themselves or their children to Yao Guoping, and then were sold to Nanyang as 'piglets'."
"Now most of the people left in the whole village are the old, weak, sick and disabled like us. They would rather starve to death than die in a foreign land, so they stay in the village and wait to die."
When Yao Jianping said the last words, Xi Xingchen heard the endless sadness in his slightly self-deprecating tone.
Natural disasters are ruthless, and man-made disasters are even worse.
As Xi Xingchen walks around the world as a member of the Mohist family, he knows very well that as long as we work together and support each other, no matter how big the natural disaster is, it will pass.
But for those vulnerable people who have neither money nor power, the greatest harm is caused by man-made disasters like Yao Guoping's.
Being hurt, there is no way to report to the official, and if you want to resist, they are a group of bandits who do all kinds of evil and cannot even be defeated by the official army.
In front of Yao Guoping, Xi Xingchen could fully imagine that the people of Yao Zhuang had become meat on the chopping board and could only be slaughtered according to their share.
Otherwise, life will last only for one autumn. A person's life spans just a few decades. If he is not unable to survive, who would be willing to leave the place where he was born and raised and go to a distant place to gamble on an unknown future?
Xi Xingchen was about to say something when he suddenly heard someone outside the house shouting: "Mom, I'm back, open the door quickly."
Hearing this voice, Yao Jianping, who was already slightly drunk, seemed to be greatly frightened, his face changed drastically, and he immediately woke up from the wine.
At this time, the white-haired mother-in-law also hurriedly ran out of the back room.
"Brother Xi, my son who killed a thousand swordsmen is back. Please go to the back room to take shelter." Yao Jianping pointed to the back room and said anxiously.
"Uncle Yao, why is this?"
Xi Xingchen really didn't understand that Yao Jianping, as a father, was so afraid of his son coming back.
"The door is closed, I'll explain to you later." Yao Jianping couldn't help but push Xi Xingchen into the back room, and specifically warned, "Remember, my son hasn't left yet, so don't come out."
Xi Xingchen saw that Yao Jianping's face was extremely solemn, so he hurriedly hid behind the door and said, "I know!"
Soon, the sound of the door opening was heard outside.
"Mom, look what I brought you." A man's voice said.
When Xi Xingchen heard the man's voice, his eyebrows wrinkled. It seemed that I had heard this man's voice somewhere before, but I couldn't remember it for the moment.
"What good thing makes you so excited?" Although the white-haired mother-in-law sounded complaining, she could tell that she was still very happy that her son was back.
"High-quality mutton, freshly killed, fresh and still steaming," the man said.
"These days, all the grass roots and tree bark have to be eaten away. Where are the sheep?"
"Mom, you don't have to ask. Anyway, just eat the meat and don't worry about anything else. If the sky falls, my son will hold it up, so you will have to eat."
The man and the white-haired mother-in-law walked in while chatting. Unexpectedly, as soon as they stepped into the main door of the main house, Yao Jianping started to curse: "You are a person who has been stabbed a thousand times, and you went out to do something evil again."
"Old man, you are right. If I don't go out to do some work, there will be no food at home. Will we all starve to death?" the man said dissatisfied.
"As long as you don't do those evil things with that bastard Yao Wenbin, your mother and I will be willing to starve to death." Yao Jianping said angrily.
When Xi Xingchen saw Yao Jianping talking about Yao Wenbin, he curiously looked through the crack in the door. It didn't matter, and he discovered that Yao Jianping's son was actually an acquaintance of his.
The man was none other than Yao Daqiang, whom Xi Xingchen caught at the mass grave and personally sent to Wan County Prison.
Xi Xingchen came to Yaozhuang, firstly to save Yang Xuelian, and secondly to find out who ordered the killer to kill Dong Liangce's family. Unexpectedly, I went to a random house to inquire about the situation, and found Yao Daqiang's house by mistake.
Perhaps, this is God’s will!
Yao Daqiang is Yao Wenbin's lackey. Since he has returned to Yao Village, Yao Wenbin must also be back, and Yang Xuelian, who was taken away by Yao Wenbin, will most likely be there too.
According to Xi Xingchen's temperament, he would take action the moment he saw Yao Daqiang, but then he thought about it, he had just been entertained by Yao Jianping and the white-haired mother-in-law, and it seemed inappropriate to kill their son in front of them.
Xi Xingchen couldn't make up his mind for a moment, so he patiently hid behind the door and didn't move.
Because of this hesitation, the next scene completely refreshed Xi Xingchen's understanding of Yao Daqiang.
Yao Daqiang was obviously used to being scolded by Yao Jianping. Not only was he not angry after being scolded, but he smiled and said: "Old man, don't be ungrateful. The Shaodong family is actually pretty good to our family. Look, the sheep that was just killed, the Shaodong family I specially cut a piece and asked me to bring it back to honor you."
"This meat is unclean, I don't want to eat it!" Yao Jianping said.
"Okay, if you don't want to eat, then I and I will eat!"
Yao Daqiang pulled up a stool and sat down. He turned around and said to the white-haired mother-in-law: "Mom, while the meat is fresh, hurry up and make broth. By the way, old man, you don't want to eat it yourself. Don't drool then."
Yao Jianping was furious when he heard this, raised his hand and slapped him in the face.
Yao Daqiang didn't dodge, and after receiving a slap from Yao Jianping firmly, he actually laughed and said: "Hey, old man, you hit people with great strength. It seems that you won't die for a while!"
Yao Jianping became even more angry. He angrily picked up a stick and cursed: "You little beast, if you dare to be weird with me, I will beat you to death if I don't."
