Calculated in modern time, it takes three hours to walk quickly from Erdaohe Village to the town. It takes a day and a half to get from the town to the county.
Calculating the round trip time, even if there are donkey carts, ox carts, and mule carts, a round trip will take at least three days.
After all, these means of transportation will not make you go faster, they will only make the journey less tiring.
The horse is fast, but no one dares to use that pull.
It can be said that there are no carriages in the whole town. It is not a matter of affordability.
Here, only officials whose families have more than one person or who work at the government office are allowed to use horses.
Approval does not mean that the horse will be equipped, but if you pay for the horse out of your own pocket, you must first file for permission.
For example, Zhao Captou has an old horse that was given to him by Shangfeng. After he returned to his place, the first thing he did was to register the source of the horse before he could use it.
Horses are strategic materials, and this government controls them very tightly.
It can be seen that it will take many days for Wang Lao Ba to file a complaint.
And it's not like Wang Laoba can meet his cousin when he goes to the county.
Why did Wang Lizheng bother to go to the county seat? In order to socialize with some officials with whom he had regular contact, Wang Lao Ba did not dare to find a restaurant or brothel to disturb him. He had to wait for Wang Lizheng's return.
What's more, he had burns on his body and had to go to the hospital on the way. Otherwise, he would not dare to touch the water, and even drink water, he would be careful not to burn the edges of his mouth.
So in these days when Wangjiagou Village was leaderless, many things happened.
Wangjiagou was still buzzing late at night.
"Exchange fish for mother."
"Then the fish is ordered, and this is not enough. What can I exchange for it, a finger?"
"This is really not your mother. No wonder you say your daughter-in-law is not good enough. If your mother is taken away and you are still looking for fish, I think you just have a bad heart!"
"I don't have intestines but you do. If you have the ability to challenge Erdaohe, you have the ability."
The eight married-out girls who were arrested are all back, and every family is fighting with their brothers, sisters-in-law, and younger siblings:
"Brother, listen to what your wife said. She is not sure what will happen to her now. She has a grudge against your village. She needs whips, wax and oil. She has been hungry for another day. Good people will be starved to death. She is still thinking about money. Money, give me a shout, don't just pretend to be deaf!"
"I'm not just waiting for Li Zheng to come back. Then I will have an explanation."
"If you wait for him, my mother will be in trouble. Can you afford to wait? I heard that those bastards have been beaten away. I'll gladly exchange them with fish or money first, and go now!"
There are also many married women sitting on the kang at home crying because their sons-in-law came back to help their father-in-law in a fight and were beaten. How could they take the men back to their husbands' house? Their husbands' house was not allowed to tear them apart.
Isn’t that right? Many in-laws were arguing with the people in Wangjiagou Village:
"When you came to help, you didn't say you would be hurt. You said you were just trying to scare the other party by adding more people. But now you are burned like this and can't take medicine? Who will pay for the medicine?"
"We are all real relatives, how can we say such things? It's really chilling."
"Oh my god, you guys are so heartbreaking. We have abandoned all our work at home and helped you without asking for a penny of your hard-earned money. We don't even try to say thank you. At the very least, we are hurting you for helping you. Are we going to do this? Is there an explanation?"
"We didn't hurt the person. Whoever is injured should you go to. If you have the ability, go to Erdaohe to ask for money for medicine."
"We came to help you, but why did we go wrong? Why are you acting like scoundrels? We will go after whoever comes after us. Why are we looking for Erdaohe?"
"You know what you are after. I don't know who went around begging matchmakers to come to our village for marriage. They were so poor that they wanted to let our village pick girls. There are a lot of poor relatives, and the years are not good. Isn't it because you came to fight the famine just to get some help so that you can have the dignity to borrow food from us later?"
"It's unreasonable. I know you Wangjiagou have a way of playing rogue."
How many families got into fights when they were noisy.
In addition, there were more than 30 people who were burned with firewood. They closed the door and felt unbalanced: "Why is it that my house was burned and not someone else's? Then we were burned because of the whole village. Shouldn't the village have something to do with it?" An explanation."
In short, when you can beat the enemy village, the quarrels are no longer a problem. Whoever loses will be beaten, and you can find a taker to pay for money, food, and firewood.
But when they failed to defeat them, Wangjiagou Village was not as united as they imagined.
All of the above tastes were experienced by a family named Liu in Erdaohe Village twelve years ago. It was also that incident that shocked the whole village of Erdaohe, which made them so honest.
The family's name is Liu Yongtian, and they are related to Liu Laozhu.
Just because the third boy in the family, named Mingzi, secretly caught two baskets of fish, a gang from Wangjiagou came to visit him, smashed the pot and broke Liu Yongtian's legs.
Liu Yongtian's legs were broken to protect his son. The neighbors who came to help were also seriously injured. If they don't pay for the medicine and don't bring two chickens to visit the doctor, then they can't turn against each other? Besides, there is no such thing as doing things like that. If you act like that, no one will take a look if there is a noise in the house.
Fortunately, the weather was good in those few years. The Liu family sold more grain to survive the hunger, which allowed them to attract favors to the head of the family, and they also had enough money to help injured people.
Now Liu Yongtian has passed away. When he died, his broken right leg was still limping when he walked quickly.
Tonight, his old wife was working on paving the gravel road, and at the same time she was running away from work. She often stopped what she was doing, and only when she got close could she hear her muttering: "Old man, can't you relieve your anger?"
Then he muttered: "Mingzi, my old son, where are you working? Mother knows that you are ashamed of your family, so you will rush to earn copper coins before your eldest and second brothers after harvesting the grain. Stop working now and come back." Look, our village has been beaten to pieces by the opposite village, so you should come back and hit us with a few sticks to vent your anger, otherwise they won’t have a chance to cause trouble if you don’t turn around.”
The other women who were laying stones with her pretended not to hear and did not urge them to work faster, knowing that Mingzi's mother was feeling aggrieved.
It must have been more than ten years since I woke up after half a night's sleep, and I would have been fussing and vomiting, "Why don't Wangjiagou die from the plague?"
Anyway, if it were them, they would be scolded like this, and they would also step on the villain and curse them during the New Year and holidays.
Erdaohe Village, in sharp contrast to the chaos of Wangjiagou, was also brightly lit at this time, but they were working enthusiastically.
The party of old ladies and daughters-in-law on Bashang lit oil lamps, and they were paving gravel paths for the fishing boys.
The new ship under the dam is being tested for leaks: "It's done, Fourth Grandpa."
While the fourth uncle kept saying yes, he motioned to the boy carrying the stretcher to quickly send him back to the entrance of the village. The second boat was only half-finished and he had to stay up late to make it.
Because the Liu family's three boats will carry 6,000 kilograms of fish off the shore the day after tomorrow at the latest.
They must gather together the five fleets belonging to the village when the Liu family boat leaves.
And when we cast the net again tonight, Erdaohe Village finally no longer has to hide and tuck in. It's like being a thief last night, praying for water splashes and not making a sound.
On the river, including the newly built sixth boat, there were torches, and the men were casting nets and shouting slogans.
They still have to collect the 6,000 kilograms of fish species they want for the Liu family within two days.
They have designated species, not all fish are required, and the price is extremely low, so it is not suitable.
But everyone discussed it and decided that the boat boss had offended Wangjiagou for their village. At least this time, no one could run away with an empty boat. Everyone should not think about cost-effectiveness and storage, and just wholesale it to the Liu family in one go to save worry.
Besides, this kind of moment of fighting with Wangjiagou is not suitable for every family to go out to sell fish in a cart.
When they heard the lively chanting coming from the Erdao River, there were also many small fishing boats casting nets on the Wangjiagou side. They pretended not to hear it and continued working with their heads down. Some of the timid ones even deliberately moved their fishing boats farther away. Go ahead and set the net as far away from Erdao River as possible.
Didn’t you see the archers on the boats on the Erdao River?
But Te Niang was exaggerating, the arrow feathers were the kind that set fire to, and when they hit their boat, it set them on fire, and Erdaohe finally tasted the sweetness of setting fire.
The Wangjiagou fishermen cursed in their hearts.
Even the person who came to exchange the hostages smiled apologetically, but in his heart he hated Erdaohe to death.
"Hey? Don't fight!" Why are you throwing those fried rice packets in the middle of the night?
Fourth Uncle and the others lit a fire at the entrance of the village and were hammering wooden wedges into the hull of the boat. When they heard the sound, they turned to look at the cart of fish being pushed by someone.
The visitors were also surprised. They didn’t expect that it was already midnight and there were so many people working together in Erdaohe Village.
Together, that's what makes them puzzled.
You must know that in their village, each family does its own thing.
The fourth uncle raised his chin to the boy in front of him and asked him to see how many kilograms of fish there were.
Butai Daddy stepped forward and frowned: "You want to trade for you and me for just this basket? You are just kidding!"
"No, it's not easy for us as farmers. The fish we catch have been sold long ago. You don't know how difficult it is for us to get together."
Before the person on the other side could finish crying, the fourth uncle said without raising his head: "This is not a place for bargaining. You just set fire to the village when you entered the village, but you didn't realize that it is not easy for everyone to be farmers. You are as cruel as bandits."
Dadai immediately raised his hoe and shouted: "Get out of here!"
"Others, we..."
The fourth uncle then raised his eyes and looked at that family: "Go back and tell those seven families that our village will not blackmail you one by one, but four baskets of fish will equal one person, no less. If you agree, we will exchange it, if you don't agree, we will exchange it." Pull down.”
The fourth uncle felt that the eldest niece of the Xu family was right, so he exchanged the eight people for more than thirty baskets of fish and gave the twenty baskets of fish to Guan Ertu as medical expenses.
You can't mix medicine with each other. It just so happens that Erbald's family doesn't have many strong laborers to earn work points, which is different from the eldest niece's family. When the eldest niece's family comes back with food, warehouses and money, each of them can get ten work points. Those are all good boys. After today's fight, how many people miss Youcang.
And without work points, how can Ertu's family save fish and pickle it for the winter? And next year when the spring is not there, who knows what the situation will be like next year.
As for the remaining dozen baskets of fish, they were divided equally among those who were injured in the service of the public. Just take it as a sign from the village to drink more fish soup to stay healthy.
The fourth uncle thought to himself: He obeyed his eldest niece, and it was the eldest niece of the Xu family who did that. There were many times when even he could not think of being so fair.
After hearing this, the family who came here saw so many people watching them in Erdao River again. They did not dare to bargain anymore. They unloaded the basket of fish and said, "Then let's go back and put together the three baskets. You guys are here today." Can you please stay up late and wait until we come, or we can find someone to replace you."
Before leaving, he thought about it and said, "Can you not say that our family came first?"
This is because they still have the idea that Wang Lizheng will be able to make decisions for them when he comes back.
He didn't want the villagers to know that his family was the first to surrender in exchange for a mother.
This time, Butai Dad knew what to say: "How shameless of you are you to negotiate terms with us?"
There was no need to hide anything, because the family met seven other families one after another on the way back. "Go back, and I want the top fish in the four baskets."
"Bah, this is taking advantage of others' misfortune!"
Then why don't you change it? If not, you will continue to tie up the big tree and make me hungry.
Here, Erdaohe Village's Budai dad also suddenly said: "It seems that it is more cost-effective to capture him alive. If I had known better, I would have held down the bastard. That bastard could at least be exchanged for three boatloads of fish."
He doesn't know if he will come again. If he comes again, he will pounce on the bastard.
That night, although Xu Tianxin did not have to stay up late paving gravel roads and participating in the hostage exchange operation, he still went to bed very late.
Because the rooms of the second and third uncles of the Xu family became the children's nest.
The adults were scattered around working, and basically the whole family went out. The younger children came to Xu's house because they didn't dare to sleep. Sister Tian Xin became the principal of the kindergarten.
Moreover, many children urinate on the bed, and there is enough for Principal Tian Xin to wash.
It can be seen that the children were frightened by the adults fighting during the day, including those who set fire and threw lime. They were not as brave as they seemed.
Xu Tianxin had just finished tucking the children in when he heard a noise at the door. He thought it was grandma and aunt coming back, but he didn't expect that it was Aunt Meizhuang carrying several bundles of firewood into the hospital.
"Auntie, my grandma told me to let my uncles carry firewood when they come back. There is enough firewood in the backyard at home, so you don't need to send it."
Meizhuang motioned Tian Xin to look at the door. She was not the only one delivering firewood. There were firewood at the door of the twenty-two houses that were burned nearby.
Xu Tianxin was glad that he went to bed late, otherwise he would have missed seeing this scene.
She walked from house to house, one after another, as if walking.
She felt that it was these firewood that gave her a sense of belonging to this village, so she walked to the door of Grandpa Guan's house.
Unexpectedly, Grandpa Guan was at home.
Grandpa Guan was looking at the Sun boys in front of him: "This is it?"
"We brothers know this kind of herb. We dug it back with our hands when we were peeling the bark of the tree. We don't know how much it is worth. Mr. Lang, don't worry. If we brothers go up the mountain again, everyone, including everyone, will say Okay, from now on, whoever goes up the mountain and sees some herbs that I know will bring them back to you, and I won’t let you treat the disease in vain for the people in the village."
After the Sun boys left, Xu Tianxin saw Grandpa Guan entering the hospital and starting to mix medicine with great vigor. She wanted to go in to help, but Grandpa Guan suddenly wiped his eyes with his sleeve, and she stopped.
That night, the family members in the live broadcast room gave five taels of silver as a reward to the village.
I heard that there is a fans group of Grandma Xianggua, and the leader suggested that everyone should contribute one yuan to the village fund-raising center to buy some weapons since it was not much.
Otherwise, if you take a look, you have to quickly pick up the wooden arrow that was shot.
Many people expressed regret and said it would be great if they could donate their old clothes to prevent the village flag from fading.
Over 5,000 people gave a reward of one dollar.
For this reason, Grandma Xianggua came back in the middle of the night and broadcast a live broadcast to solemnly promise: "I will definitely use the five taels of silver to help the people in the village at the appropriate time."
Mrs. Xu used a special box to store these five taels.
Three days later...
The same topic was being discussed in the eight nearby villages: "Have you heard that Erdaohe Village has been taken over by Wangjiagou? The wedding ceremony for the bride-to-be and the flag-waving was so lively that it was so exciting."
"Erdaohe, is that a village with mixed surnames?"
"No, people don't mix surnames now. It's ridiculous. They work together to death. I heard that the slogan is that you will die if you don't die. Even the business was stopped by Erdao River. Three big boats had thousands of catties of fish. Pull away."
It spreads to tens of thousands of kilograms in eight villages within ten miles.
"More than a hundred people in Wangjiagou were injured. They said their buttocks were burned by the Erdao River, and they were smoking and rolling all over the ground. Did Wang Laobao know? All his bad guys were beaten away."
"Liangli is not at home, right?"
"Then I'm not at home, but there is someone in charge of Erdaohe. Who do you think it is?"
Mrs. Xu's ancient sister-in-law happened to pass by, "Guitang's wife, she is your sister-in-law."
"What?!"
Even the people around were surprised: "If you say it's her, then I don't believe it. Isn't her sister-in-law Hao Xianghua?"
"You see, the sister-in-law of the second daughter of my eldest sister's family is a daughter from Wangjiagou. She said her eyes were swollen from crying and begged Xianghua for mercy. She almost knelt down before letting her mother go."
Everyone in Haojia Village, even Mrs. Xu’s eldest uncle and sister-in-law Gu Sufen, thought it was mysterious.
What made Gu Sufen extremely angry was that she was going to be booed and laughed at: "It's over, you and your sister-in-law are completely incomparable. She could have given birth to a boy. This time she has become Erdaohe's talker. Just watch, you Mother-in-law comes back to take a closer look at her."
At the same time, Wang Laoba finally met his cousin.
Wang Lizheng was unhappy at first, so he returned to the house he bought drunk.
He thought to himself that no matter how many things he had done for the county magistrate behind his back for ten years, he still had to kneel in front of the county magistrate, sit at the bottom of the table when eating, and pay for his smile when visiting a brothel. Training him is like training a grandson. He kept scolding him for not having a brain.
There was a county magistrate who spoke more rudely than he did. He said that he was full of money and could do the job of a county magistrate by hanging a big cake around a dog's neck.
When he saw his wife buying so many clothes materials, he suddenly got angry and said: "How easy is it for me to make some money a day? Buy, buy, buy, you fat old fat man, how can you look good?"
"Okay, you went out to see too many wild women, and you picked on me when you came back. You are a father-in-law, and you still go to brothels and search for girls who are younger than your daughter..."
"Shut up!" He threw away his old wife and went out.
As a result, as soon as the gate was opened, Wang Laoba jumped out of the bullock cart.
It was as if his parents were dead. This was the county town. He didn't care whether there was anyone nearby and howled:
"Brother, can you still recognize me? You see, all I have left is my eyes, nose, and mouth. My face was beaten by Erdaohe Village, and my body is covered with fire blisters.
You don’t even know that the people in that village are crazy. When they see a war, it’s like pie in the sky! "
