"Which village are you from? Are you lost? The frontier camp is ahead, which is not the place you should be. If you want to go to the town, turn around and come with us!"
"No, we didn't go wrong, we just want to go to the border camp!"
Getting closer and closer to the camp, the villagers finally took out slogans in order to answer the soldiers' questions clearly.
Otherwise, if the slogan is made of red paper and is blown by the north wind, if it is taken out every time, it will be blown to pieces before it reaches the place.
At this time, Liu Laozhu finally gave up. He took off his gloves, and with his fingers that were curled up from the cold, he cherishedly unfolded one end of the red paper wrapped in bamboo stick paste, and motioned to Xu Youliang nearby to hold up the other end and pull it with him. rise.
Liu Laozhu took the lead in putting out a slogan at the front of the team:
"The people know that you are the door gods. There is a kind of charge called perseverance!"
Everyone remembers Tian Xin'er's explanation of the meaning of this sentence.
It doesn't have to be a war to be called meritorious service. Guarding the border for several years to prevent the enemy from invading is also called meritorious service.
The more Liu Laozhu thought about it, the more he felt that what the child said was right. An empty door would be like his own home, where thieves and the like could get in.
He deliberately chose this sentence as the lead slogan.
In the convoy behind, the drivers were not slow to react. When they saw the bamboo poles erected in front of them, they immediately jumped out of the car and unfolded the next slogan with their fellow passengers:
"Candlelight illuminates thousands of homes. Soldiers, don't be homesick!"
"We are your family, and we are here to see you!"
If Liu Laozhu hadn't hurriedly turned back, jumped on the car board and waved two triangular red flags to signal to stop, as long as the opposite side could read, these three would have been enough, otherwise the vehicles behind would have stopped again. Put out slogans one by one.
How should I put it? Because Liu Jingdong was responsible for writing the slogans, some of the useless ones were not brought, otherwise there would be more slogans than the people accompanying him.
They don’t have many things but many slogans.
The main thing is one, we didn’t bring anything delicious, and we don’t have that many tricks to make the soldiers happy, so let’s just talk more and talk.
Isn't there a saying that bad words can hurt someone in six months, but a kind word can warm you up in winter?
It's so cold in the north, so don't bother searching for just one sentence. The folks all said they would like to say a few more kind words to warm the hearts of the soldiers.
It’s just that the red paper needs to be spent, otherwise I can give good advice all the way from the town to the camp.
After all, when it comes to nagging, the people in the northern border have never convinced anyone. That's called Ga (cutting) the corns, and then you have nothing to do. If you have nothing to do, you just sit on the bed and chat and play.
There were forty vehicles in total coming from the camp, which was also a relatively large team.
The main car was full of soldiers from Xiu Mu. They were all going for a walk in the town. There were many more people than us.
Not far away, the sound of horse hooves continued to be heard in twos and threes. It seemed that those teams were all minor officials, and they met in groups to ride into the city.
It is conceivable that the people in the northern army barracks are not like Wuyang Wuyang.
At this moment, the villagers finally realized that the gifts they had collected over the years were in vain.
I finally understand what it means to have an army of tens of thousands, to feed so many people every day, Emma, and how much money this costs. It’s really an eye-opener.
But what the common people don't know is that the New Year's gift they can't make up for a hundred grain carts, and when the three slogans are posted, more and more soldiers will come to the common people's team and stop advancing in unison.
The words on the slogan are not telling them to win the war.
Just ask them if they miss home.
Often the simplest words are the most touching.
Slowly, more and more soldiers met the civilian team.
The soldiers and civilians looked at each other, their masks covered with frost, and even their eyebrows turned white.
It is not easy for the people to think about the soldiers. No wonder the imperial court sent people with serious crimes to come to their bitter and cold place.
Seeing how frozen the people were, the soldiers stopped silently on the opposite side. Many soldiers even got out of their cars and stood by the roadside.
The two sides didn't know what they were looking at. They seemed to be in sympathy with each other, blocking the road with water.
At this time, even those in the live broadcast room couldn't read the word count clearly.
Moreover, there were already soldiers on horseback in the team who said nothing. After seeing the slogan clearly, they silently turned around and galloped towards the camp.
Later, Mrs. Xu still didn't think it was okay. She asked for directions, so let's just pass by. Soldiers, what's going on here in the freezing cold weather?
She had to call for money and four gentlemen from the academy to come towards the soldiers.
After explaining, they will move on now. Please rest assured that they can find the right way. Soldiers don't have to worry about stopping here. It's not easy to go back to the town for vacation.
In the town, there are more people there to welcome you. Today is the 15th and the town is very lively.
At the same time, twelve Li Zheng, Bai Muyan and Xu Tianxin were directing everyone's vehicles to pull over. They wanted to let the officers and soldiers of the camp pass by first, but unexpectedly someone suddenly came forward on horseback from the opposite side.
This might be the general with the highest official position at the scene, because he rode forward and everyone else gave way, seemingly waiting for his order, and then this man sat on the horse and began to command.
How to describe someone who is well-trained? Liu Laozhu looked at the two small flags, one red and one green, in his hand. He had been waving them for a long time, and he was shaking his arms. There was no house bird tied to his arms. , otherwise the house birds would have to be swung to death by him, and the vehicles behind would understand that there is no need to continue to display slogans.
Looking at the people again, the sword pointed upward, and everyone behind them quickly got out of the station with a solemn appearance and straightened up. Even the vehicles were no longer side by side and became a straight line.
The sword pointed to the east again, oh, what's even more amazing, everyone took a step back to the roadside in unison, and stood on the roadside with a loud noise. It is no exaggeration to say that even the horse His head was pulled eastward by the driver, looking toward the mountains in the distance.
What Liu Laozhu didn't know was that he was afraid that the war horse's bad temper would disturb them who would pass by later.
Then after giving instructions, he got off his horse and stood at the front of the team, looking at them and shouting: "People go first!"
As soon as this person gave the order, the villagers were almost frightened.
Because a chorus of voices suddenly came: “People go first!”
Ah, it turned out that I wasn’t talking to them. Everyone almost bowed to them and replied: Well, let’s go first.
It turned out that they were shouting commands.
The common people have never received this kind of supreme treatment. We just nod and bow to others.
How could Leng Buding endure this? Today, I was watched by so many soldiers on the roadside. They didn't look at me as if I were just a commoner, but they looked at me seriously.
The four gentlemen in the student team secretly sighed in their hearts: No wonder the people now call the Zhenbei Army the Zhenbei New Army.
The village team will only be more excited than the student team and businessman team.
Some elderly men and women were sitting in the car. No one could see them, but they sat up straight with bated breath, and the waves tumbling in their hearts were beyond words.
Afterwards, how many people are willing to visit us when they return home, even if they have nothing to do with each other?
The old men and women from the villages who came to the border today sat under the roots of the trees whenever they had free time, and repeated the words for a whole year.
The few Li Zheng who followed turned to look at the soldiers. When no one could be seen, they suddenly ran excitedly to Mrs. Xu and Liu Laozhu. Even though I was running out of breath, I still had to get close to these two people and chat for a few words.
Just like in Xujiazhuang, he was giving in to Old Mrs. Xu. He finally realized that this time Old Mrs. Xu specially called her hometown village. This was not called giving things for free, but taking special care and borrowing money.
Another hour later, it was now half past two in the afternoon.
When the convoy of cattle, mules and donkeys arrived at the last checkpoint, I don't know if it was because someone had delivered the letter in advance. Anyway, when Xu Tianxin got out of the car to deliver the customs documents, he only saw one soldier.
The remaining eleven soldiers in this garrison were actually pressing water wells.
Judging from the sweat on their foreheads, it seemed that they had been pressed for a while. Hot water was also boiling in the four large pots at the station. They only glanced at the customs clearance documents and proactively told her: At the speed of their animals, if they continue to move, We will arrive at the camp in an hour.
I was afraid that they would be hungry, so I suggested that they stop here and eat first. After that, they seemed to be going to get food.
Xu Tianxin returned to the team and had a discussion with her mother. When Mrs. Xu heard this, she decided to eat first so that we would not be hungry and unable to laugh when we saw the soldiers. Besides, we were about to return after paying our condolences, and we didn’t know what time the next meal would be. Can eat.
But there is one purpose: the food in this garrison must not be touched. Even if we, the common people, tie up a few soldiers, we cannot let others throw rice into the pot.
It's possible to tie them up. There are so many of them, and there are only twelve soldiers stationed at the last level. Isn't it just fun to tie up twelve people? So what about weapons? Yours is not a hot weapon.
Then it turned out that the twelve soldiers stationed at the station not only failed to provide the people with their own rations, but were also forced to let them taste the Xu family's yellow rice.
All food and drinks for this trip were provided by the Xu family who took the lead.
Since the sixth day of the Lunar New Year, caravans and New Year gift-giving teams have been returning one after another. Considering that the Xu family was only fifteen years ago, they have earned more than 180 taels of silver in these few days.
The sticky bean buns and frozen dumplings in the dozens of homemade freezers outside have long been sold out. We still have to take the time to pluck duck feathers to make food for the condolences here. How can we make sticky bean buns again?
Mrs. Xu simply asked her entourage to eat yellow rice this time.
There is a saying called Sanli Xiaonoodles and Shili Cake. This cake refers to a yellow cake made with yellow rice, a specialty of the north. It is hungrier than Xiaonoodles.
There is also a saying called "A Dream of Yellow Grain", where Huang Liang also refers to broomcorn millet (yellow rice).
Once it's all sticky and sticky, each person will be full after just one spoonful of rice.
But one thing is that you must not dip it in cold water just to get it into your stomach as soon as it is finished. Golden and sticky yellow rice and sticky bean buns have one characteristic. When necessary, they can become weapons that kill people without blood. If you eat them like this, you will burn the gastric mucosa and even kill people.
So when Mrs. Xu led a group of people to share the meal, she told them to eat slowly, and we just took a break to avoid being tired when we arrived at the camp. I can’t help but give instructions when selling sticky bean buns to merchants.
While everyone was eating, Liu Laozhu hurriedly leaned outside the window and said a few words loudly. There was no way, the room was not big enough, so people had to come in to eat:
"Everyone, listen to me. The camp is down below. What are we doing here? Right.
Thirteen tricks along the way are enough to make people feel cold, so be sure to show your fullest state, put away all your useless thoughts, and make people happy and laugh.
For those in the yangko troupe, you even have to let the lice on your head sway around. Hey, it’s the fun that makes you happy!
So I took advantage of this and wiped my nose quickly. Everyone was responsible for what they were doing, and the leader also quickly followed the instructions. "
After saying that, Liu Laozhu swallowed his saliva from hunger and continued to squat under the wall outside to wait for his seat.
He must squat here and dare not move, otherwise it will not be his turn to eat next time.
Then two soldiers walked up to Liu Laozhu. Liu Laozhu was so stunned that he didn't notice that they were silently shielding him from the wind with their bodies.
In fact, everyone is more responsible than Liu Laozhu imagined, especially after they had just received the treatment of being looked down upon by the soldiers, everyone was in a state of excitement.
Isn't that right? The leader in charge of drumming didn't care that he was already hungry. He knocked on the bowl with chopsticks and helped the drummers recall the drum beats: "In the beginning, it was poke it, poke it, poke it, poke it, poke it. it."
"Don't worry, we won't make a mistake."
At this time, a group of old ladies were sitting on the hot kang where the last level was stationed, painting their eyebrows.
Today is very special. They are no longer chatting about life, but are communicating with each other: "What kind of powder did you use? Why are you whiter than me? I use white pine bark powder."
“I use tapioca flour.”
"Then you are quite a prodigal. Please give me some."
They work very hard, applying makeup on their eyebrows with sticks, and tearing off a corner of a couplet to make up their red lips and cheeks, then use the couplet paper to purse their lips and rub their faces hard.
Even the grandmothers who wanted to perform Yangko brought out a broomstick.
If Xu Tianxin hadn't seen it in advance during the rehearsal at home and lent her a hundred heads, she wouldn't have been able to imagine that this kang-burning broom could actually be used as a curling iron.
Just use the stove fire to light the front end of the kang broom, and then quickly clip your bangs. The bangs will smoke when you clip them, which will make the soldiers stationed in the garrison dumbfounded.
As for the finished effect.
Sun Li was asking the old ladies on the kang: "...Who is my second aunt? My second uncle is in charge of your rice bowl and is waiting to be served."
If you don’t take off your makeup, you won’t be able to recognize who is who.
Second Aunt Sun is fifty-eight years old. Today they are an old couple who came with the team. Her husband is a member of the suona team. When she went out to hand her man his rice bowl, the old man was shocked:
"Emma, who are you?"
"I, am I good at painting, old man? I don't have room to take a photo of myself in the basin."
"Is that okay? That's too good. It makes me laugh when I look at you. You seem to have jumped out of the tomb, and the paper man came to life. How can you be more evil than the rehearsal at home?"
"You know what you are doing. All you want is to make me laugh. What are you doing if you don't laugh? I don't care if others think I'm beautiful or not. I just want to be beautiful in my heart!"
Why are you so anxious? Then why are you asking other people for their opinions?
After speaking, Second Aunt Sun went to the car to wait, leaving the room free for others to eat quickly.
Gao Mantang, who came with the team, was also making final preparations. He tied up a large bag of blackened fire sticks.
It's a pity that he didn't have so many days to weave bamboo paintings, but he painted good paintings.
He planned to go to the camp and use a fire stick to paint on the wall of the camp for the soldiers to draw a scene of the soldiers and civilians spending the fifteenth day of the first lunar month together today. I still don’t know if they will let him paint.
Before Mrs. Xu left, she also gave the last instruction to the team members who were responsible for setting up the stove and sharing the food: "Every time you give each other a piece of food, look up at the soldiers who are taking the food. Didn't we agree before we came here? ? Generals die in hundreds of battles, and strong men return home after ten years. There must be many strong men in the camp who have not returned home for several years. Since you are visiting on behalf of someone’s parents, and you say you are their family, imagine that you have not seen them for ten years. What will it look like when you see your son? So try to take a serious look at this, and it is best to remember what they look like."
The student team is also discussing. They plan to use the form of a snowman to make a slogan similar to a snow sculpture made by hand. They wanted to use their writing hands to pick up a shovel of snow, carve it bit by bit, and write to the soldiers in another form.
At around five o'clock in the evening, Xu Tianxin's live broadcast room was playing background music: "Where should we send the pigs and sheep..."
She was sitting on the carriage and looking up at the sky. My father must have looked up here in ancient times.
Because I heard that it was during this month that he died. At least before closing my eyes, I would lie on my back and take one last look at the sky.
In front of the border camp in the north of the town, suddenly there is a loud roar of gongs and drums, red slogans are waved, and a procession of ordinary people is coming towards you.
Xu Tianxin stopped looking at the sky and looked ahead. He suddenly paused: "Wait a minute, why are there so many oilcloth sheds set up in front of the camp? There seem to be many stools and cooking stoves."
(End of chapter)
