The next day when the city tower was opened, the man who borrowed the residence opened the firewood shed door and reminded the Xu family brothers that they could leave.
The three brothers popped their heads out of the pile of firewood and said, "Thank you, brothers."
However, the rain was still heavy, ranging from moderate to heavy, so the three brothers could only run to the grocery store to buy an oilcloth, and then went to the street to buy twelve freshly baked steamed cakes.
The three brothers took out wooden bowls and asked for three bowls of hot water from the store. Each of them ate a pancake to cushion their bellies.
When eating pancakes, the second brother motioned to the two younger brothers to follow him and eat at the door instead of standing in the room.
Didn’t you see that the people who came to buy steamed buns disliked their smell?
The store is kind enough to provide hot water, so they don't affect other people's business.
The remaining pancakes were put in Xu Youyin's arms, intending to be eaten on the way.
Xu Youyin also carried three empty wooden bowls and three empty gourds around his neck.
The third son, Xu, was still carrying Qiuli, and the second son was carrying the luggage of the three brothers.
The store owner heard the three young men discussing how to hurry without a car. While playing with the steamer, he looked out to see how the rain was falling.
I thought to myself: Unless you are crazy about making money, you will drive out in this kind of weather. It is impossible to have a car.
I heard that there was only one car going to another town at the gate tower yesterday. The driver was originally from the other town. He wanted to go home and earn a few coins along the way.
The store owner also heard Xu Laoer's words about squatting outside to eat so as not to interfere with her selling pancakes, and suddenly waved and shouted: "Young man, yes, I'm calling you three, don't leave yet. I see you have free gourds, and there is hot water here. Fill it up before you go, and save it for the journey.”
Speaking of the second and fourth Xu children, they didn't meet any nice people this time. The third child, Youcang, was pretty good and had never been beaten or scolded while working.
So the two brothers were deeply moved by the aunt's sudden words: "Thank you, aunt, thank you."
After filling the gourd with water, the three brothers came to the city tower and took a quick look. There was indeed no bicycle. They did not think about waiting to see, and without hesitation handed the road guide to the city guard to stamp it.
Once this stamp is stamped, their route will no longer be able to return to the county seat, but can only move forward.
Three brothers walked among the mountains.
Just look at the three brothers walking side by side, carrying the same oilcloth on their heads, sandwiching the third child carrying the pears, and the second and fourth children holding the oilcloth on both sides.
Along the way, there wasn't even a ghost.
This walk lasted roughly more than five hours (11 hours), with only three stops for short breaks.
The so-called resting means sitting on the ground with a straw mat spread by the roadside. Xu Lao San changed from carrying the sack to holding it in his arms for a while. Xu Lao Er and Lao Si also changed their arms to stretch the oilcloth and drank hot water.
But here comes the problem. They walked in darkness and it was at least a day's walk from the nearest village. Where would they stay overnight?
Not to mention that the ancient village settings were also inhumane.
This old man is complaining: You should be more dispersed, no, either there is not one village, or they are connected in a cluster one by one.
The three brothers decided to walk further into the mountain and find a cave while they could still see the road clearly.
The three brothers were not blindly looking for a point to enter the mountain. They chose to go up the mountain from a shady slope, hoping to see if there were any wild gingers along the way.
Elder brother Xu Youtian told his younger brothers how to find wild ginger and where it grows.
Needless to say, according to the method taught by the elder brother, they actually found wild ginger, and after a while they made hot soup and drank it to keep warm.
And I was quite lucky. I walked further into the mountain and found a small cave.
Although it's small, it's only big enough for a small fire and three people can only sit side by side, but it's pretty good.
Xu Youcang put his bags and luggage on the straw mat and went outside to break off some branches that were as dry as possible.
You are not allowed to bring knives with you when you go out and enter and leave the city gates, not even small knives. For example, if you want to buy a new kitchen knife at home, you must have an official certificate before you can buy it. You must also write down clearly where to buy it and where to use it. If swords and other items were found, they would be arrested immediately, so Xu Youcang had to break them with his bare hands.
Fortunately, except for knives, we were not allowed to bring fire cigarettes and medicine.
At this time, Xu Laoer took out a kind of medicinal powder and sprinkled it around the hole. This medicinal powder was exactly the name of the plant that Mrs. Xu and the family members in the live broadcast room couldn't explain clearly.
That plant was the powder used to prevent snakes during that live broadcast on the mountain. Why would such a big venomous snake be frightened and recoil when the powder burned, so that Xu Tianxin could stab the vital part with a shoe awl and succeed? It is because of its strong medicinal properties.
It is called hellebore, and it is one of the three most poisonous plants in the area. It is said that cattle and sheep cannot take five steps after eating it, and wild beasts and poisonous snakes will also walk around after seeing this thing.
And this cold knowledge was still taught to his younger brothers by Xu Youtian, a prosperous young man from Shiliba Village back then.
Here, Xu Youyin, the fourth child, was throwing rocks at wild ginger juice and pouring it into the empty bowl, while Youcang, the third child, was also picking up tree branches and lighting a fire.
After a while, three cakes were placed on the pile of firewood, and wet clothes and straw sandals were placed around the fire to roast.
And the three brothers of the Xu family really took off their clothes while no one was on the mountain, found a place without the shelter of a big tree, and let the rain wash their bodies.
From time to time, I can hear the three brothers chatting and laughing.
Because the second child found a plant called Jianluo while taking a bath. What is it? Zong leaves.
The rice dumpling leaves were not afraid of being watered by the rain. He planned to make two rice dumpling leaf hats for himself and the fourth child to wear while resting tonight, so that he and the third child would not have to go through the trouble of wrapping themselves in an oilcloth to hide from the rain. The third child would wrap himself in the oilcloth. Just good Qiuli.
"Second brother and third brother, these two fish are still alive."
That can't be eaten either.
That night, the three brothers sat naked side by side in the cave, sipping wild ginger water, baking pancakes, and watching the fish for dinner.
We started on the road early the next day and didn't see the village until evening. We spent fifteen coppers to stay overnight and buy some dry food, but we still didn't dare to sleep. The family seems to be afraid that they will steal things and always observes them furtively.
In fact, they were also afraid that this clan village would murder them, and they had more than ten taels of silver on them.
On the morning of the third day, the sky became a little clearer. Although the sun was no longer warm, I could finally feel a ray of sunshine.
"Hey? Old man, are you going to Helan Town?" Xu Youyin, the fourth child, jumped and waved to the driver.
The three brothers calculated their accounts and suddenly realized that if they encountered a bicycle puller, they would still have to ride on it. Otherwise, it would not be cost-effective to spend the night at a fellow villager's house where they would have to buy dry food and pay five copper coins for accommodation. One more day of delay and a lot of copper coins will be spent and you will suffer.
There were three people driving the carriage, an old man, a young man, and a young woman.
The woman in the car suddenly vomited when Xu Youcang came over.
The old man immediately swung his whip and said, "I'm sorry, my wife is pregnant and can't smell your body."
Xu Youcang sniffed his armpit: Does it still smell after taking a bath?
He was only carrying logs and had not yet entered the Dou Canal.
If the second brother and younger brother come here, what will happen to them? Forget it.
The second brother grabbed the fourth child and stood away quickly: "It's our brothers who are sorry for making your daughter-in-law vomit. Uncle, please leave."
After the mule cart left, the three brothers looked at each other, and let's continue walking.
I thought that if I were a little more dark today, I would be able to see the gate tower of my town in the middle of the night, but I didn't expect that in the evening, four figures with butcher knives would jump out from the mountain beside the road.
The four of them stood in front of the three brothers of the Xu family, holding knives and saying, "Brothers, please borrow some money."
Xu Laoer: "...We don't know each other either? Why did you borrow money?"
"Then I repeat, I am the one driving this road, do you understand?"
The fourth child looked at the second brother and said, "He wants to pay for the trip."
The leader suddenly shouted: "Young lady, pretend to be stupid for me, and if you keep chirping, you will fart!"
Then the other three people aimed their knives at the necks of the Xu brothers, and each of them aimed their legs at the leg sockets and kicked them down: "Where's the money? Money!"
Xu Laoer knelt on the ground and could only let others search for the robe hanging around his neck.
His three taels of wages and the one or two or four taels of money that his mother brought were all turned out.
The fourth child thought:
He also said this morning that the second brother should not put money in his bag.
But the second brother said that it is safest to leave it there and take a look at it at any time.
He thought so, but there wasn't even a ghost along the way, so he stopped trying to persuade him. But he didn't expect that he would encounter an evil spirit after walking for a few hours into the town.
Xu Laosan was held captive with a knife, while the other two men quickly rummaged through his waist and found six taels of broken silver wages.
The fourth child closed his eyes and thought to himself:
This morning his third brother also said that money must be kept in the waist, so that the waist will be strong and the confidence will be strong. He patted his waist and smiled brightly.
It's over this time.
The fourth child was puzzled. Where did these bandits get the knives when they were obviously not allowed to carry them? Are the government officials who inspected the tower blind?
The fourth child, Xu Youyin, was very happy that he hid the money in the pear bag.
But before he could rejoice for a moment, the fish was snatched away by the four robbers. The luggage was dragged away and thrown everywhere. His water gourd was kicked to pieces, and the wooden bowls of the three brothers were thrown into the roadside ditch.
The most annoying thing was that he opened the pear bag and his three coins fell out.
The last bit of money can't be saved.
The four robbers cursed and picked up the three strings of coins and said: What a bastard, these are a few poor people again.
The three brothers of the Xu family looked at the large knives, four shining big knives.
Before leaving, my mother said that even if she didn't earn any money, she would still come back alive.
Because your eldest brother is gone. If there is another problem between the three of you brothers, who will your mother rely on in the future, our family will be completely broken up.
The three brothers clenched their fists and controlled themselves to endure. After all, they didn't even have a stick.
Just as the leader was gesturing with his sword, crushing pears, and saying that he thought it was something valuable, but didn't expect it to be such a crappy thing, Xu Youcang, the third child, suddenly leaned back to avoid the knife pinned to his neck. He then kicked the robber down with his machete. At the same time, he stretched out his arm to block the other robber's machete. He clamped the other robber's wrist with the creaking socket and removed the knife. He also picked up the man and threw him into the ditch on the roadside: "Hold the grass, you." Ancestor!"
With whom do you dare to steal money, and dare to crush his pears?
Xu Lao Er and Xu Lao Si also broke out at the same time, both of them had the same goal and rushed towards the leading robber.
The Xu family brothers thought:
The three of us brothers took turns carrying Qiuli all the way, how dare you kick her to pieces?
Are you still calling us poor people?
That was all the money the three brothers earned after almost losing their lives.
Stealing from them, you still dislike the lack of money, right?
In the next scene, the four robbers just wanted money, but the three Xu family brothers were risking their lives.
With only one round trip, the second and fourth boys would hold the leading bandit in their arms for fear of risking their lives.
As long as the second one exerts a little force, the opponent's head will fall off.
He had to twist them off if he had the urge to do so, and if he dared to rob them of their money, they would be killed.
It's a critical moment, let's see who dies first.
The fourth child took out his hand and picked up a large knife with his third brother to chase the two people who were about to run.
Why are there two people? There are obviously four of them, but there is one who can't get up in the ditch. He was thrown by Xu Youcang so hard that he fell on his waist with rocks.
The two brothers, brandishing large knives, caught up with the two men and trampled them under their feet.
"Brother, we were wrong. We are just trying to make ends meet. We don't dare to do it anymore."
The two men knelt down with a puff.
Who are these four people? If Mrs. Xu could recognize them here, aren't they the second-rate people who follow Wang Laoba? They all have to be famous second-rate guys in the town.
Get paid to help people fight.
On the day they went fishing, they were chased by the old ladies from Erdaohe when they entered Wangjiagou.
At this time, he gestured with his knife and started to commit robberies in the mountain.
Xu Youcang smiled sinisterly, remembering what his elder brother taught him to do to others: "This road was opened by your father and me. You have to choose, either die or leave me the money to buy the road."
Xu Youyin reminded: "Third brother, they said they were just a few poor people before. What did they mean?"
So this evening, the three brothers of the Xu family rescued the old man's family who had not taken them with him before.
He gave the four people the money they had used to rob the old man's family.
The daughter-in-law was so frightened that she bled. When the Xu brothers arrived, the family was tied to a big tree.
The three brothers of the Xu family robbed the robber of seven and a half taels of silver.
Isn’t it a holiday today? It’s Saturday again. After I finished updating in the afternoon, my whole family went out to eat together and drank too much. When I came back, I slept until 8:30 or almost 9:00. I picked up my phone in a daze and saw that everyone had left a message. I will update again, think about it, get up and write. In fact, I can catch up with extra updates, but I know the direction of the story in my heart, and writing one or two thousand words is useless. Everyone is still anxious after reading it, and still can't finish this paragraph. So I have been writing until it is now 1:40 in the middle of the night. This chapter is 3600 words, which is equivalent to two short chapters. I hope that the book friends who are waiting will not be disappointed. I have worked hard. If you are disappointed, I feel that my hard work has been in vain. I also wrote it after drinking too much. I don’t know what the quality of this chapter is, but I tried my best.
It should be 521 now. I wish all the pretty girls a happy weekend.
(End of chapter)
