Zhang Zhiqiang is a villager in Toyota Village and has never left the village since he was a child.
For Zhang Zhiqiang, this one-third acre of land in Toyota Village is everything to him, and he has never thought of leaving here to go to the outside world.
After all, there are exorbitant taxes and wars and chaos in the outside world, so how can it compare to the peaceful life in the village?
But Zhang Zhiqiang also knows that peace in the village does not come without a price.
In addition to offering sacrifices to the mountain gods every now and then, villagers must be busy in the fields every day to ensure a bumper harvest in the coming year.
Although the mountain god is kind and generous, he never cares for lazy people.
Only hard work will be rewarded, and hard work will definitely be rewarded. This is the mountain god in Zhang Zhiqiang’s eyes.
However, today, Zhang Zhiqiang's peaceful life for decades was broken.
Before dawn, Zhang Zhiqiang finished feeding the chickens and ducks as usual, chopped enough firewood, and then walked to his field.
This field was left to Zhang Zhiqiang by his father.
After several generations of cultivation, the fertility of this field has long surpassed that of other people in the same village. Just plant it and you can get a good harvest.
The only disadvantage of this field is that it is a bit far from the village.
Zhang Zhiqiang walked for a full stick of incense before he saw his field at the junction of the village and the outside world.
However, when Zhang Zhiqiang came here, the first thing he noticed was not his own field, but three figures standing at the entrance of the village.
Needless to say, those were three outsiders.
Zhang Zhiqiang is actually not unfamiliar with outsiders who occasionally come to Toyota Village.
There are at least three or five people like this who accidentally wander into Toyota Village a year. Naturally, it won't be surprising if you see them more often.
But the problem is that in the past, most outsiders were ordinary farmers and traveling businessmen.
It was the first time for Zhang Zhiqiang to see these three outsiders who had extraordinary aura and were no ordinary people at first glance.
The three men were headed by a burly man.
He is more than two meters tall and has a somewhat ugly face, but the muscles in his arms are slightly thicker than an average person's thighs.
The most important thing is that the burly man simply stood at the entrance of the village and exuded an aura of calmness and authority.
Behind the strong man was a little novice monk with a thin body and a haggard face.
Judging from the appearance alone, the young novice seems to be just a teenager who has not yet reached adulthood, but his appearance seems a bit mature.
What is in sharp contrast to the appearance and body shape of the little novice monk is the huge string of Buddhist beads around his neck.
Each bead on this string of prayer beads is the size of an ordinary person's fist.
Its shiny and smooth surface shows that the holder values and uses it.
Zhang Zhiqiang once went to a nearby mountain to pray for blessings, but he was sure that even the Buddhist beads commonly used by temple abbots were definitely not as delicate and precious as this string of beads.
When Zhang Zhiqiang looked past the strong man and the young novice monk, the last figure that caught his eye was a young man who was not very eye-catching.
Judging from his attire, the young man is also a monk.
The blue-grey monk's robe is simple and old-fashioned, and you can tell at a glance that it is a common garment worn all year round.
Although the specific material of the Zen staff in his hand cannot be seen, it can be danced so easily by the young man. Obviously, it cannot be made of pure steel.
Based on Zhang Zhiqiang's superficial understanding, the Zen staff probably used some hollowing techniques.
Zhang Zhiqiang even suspected that apart from the shiny appearance of the Zen staff, the main body should have been hollowed out.
Otherwise, it would be completely impossible to explain why the young monk looked so light-hearted.
"Look, someone is coming!"
Just when Zhang Zhiqiang was thinking about who the visitor was, the burly man was the first to wave to him.
Zhang Zhiqiang could hear the rough voice and huge volume clearly even from a distance of dozens of meters.
"I've met some noble people!"
Seeing this situation, Zhang Zhiqiang was stunned for a moment, and then walked slowly towards the entrance of the village.
"This place is Toyota Village, and the villain is a farmer in the village."
"I wonder if these nobles are here specifically? Or are they just passing by?"
Standing not far away from the mountain man, Zhang Zhiqiang stopped and continued to shout loudly at a higher volume.
The reason why he did not continue to approach was because Zhang Zhiqiang knew clearly that not all outsiders had good intentions.
The wisest thing to do is to keep a relatively safe distance before you know the intention of the person coming.
This is a fact that Toyota Village has verified with countless blood for decades.
"My father-in-law said something serious!"
"The three of us are just strangers passing through this place, we are not considered noble people."
It was still the strong man who led the group who answered.
But before answering, he seemed to whisper a few words to the young monk behind him.
Due to the distance, Zhang Zhiqiang could not hear clearly what the two of them said.
But judging from the slightly respectful expression on the strong man's face, it seems that the young monk who he didn't take notice of at first is the leader of the trio.
As for the young novice in the trio?
From the beginning to the end, he looked like he had his eyes slightly closed and his hands clasped together, and he didn't say a word during the whole process.
"It turns out to be a stranger passing by here!"
After learning the origins of the trio, Zhang Zhiqiang secretly breathed a sigh of relief, and the vigilance on his face instantly turned into a smile.
"Those three are lucky. Since the village was closed, there have been very few outsiders coming here!"
"If you are not in a hurry, you can rest in our village for a while, and then choose a day to hit the road."
Faced with Zhang Zhiqiang's sudden enthusiasm, the burly man laughed without any surprise.
"Haha, the three of us are indeed a little tired from walking."
"If you don't mind it, we will take the liberty of disturbing you."
When he said this, the burly man's voice paused slightly before continuing.
"Speaking of which, the three of us hurriedly hit the road and traveled through the mountains. This was the first time we saw a village in such a wilderness."
No longer deliberately keeping a distance, the two parties approached each other while talking and laughing.
"What the strong man doesn't know is that before our Toyota Village was closed down, this was the most prosperous place within a hundred miles."
Seemingly intentional, yet seemingly unintentional...
Zhang Zhiqiang did not continue on this issue, but turned around and started asking about the specific identities of the trio.
"Three strong men have come from afar, I don't know what to call them?"
Hearing this, the burly man answered quite neatly.
"My surname is Xiong, and I am the eldest in the family. You can just call me Xiong Da!"
"And the man behind me is my husband, whose surname is Pei."
"Master Pei, Mr. Pei...my husband, you just have to look at the names."
"As for this little novice monk?"
"He is my husband's unnamed disciple, and his Buddhist name is 'Kuchan'."
——Monthly Ticket/Recommended Ticket——
