Codex of the Old Gods: I Have a World

He was wearing a black shirt, which was bright black, with his sleeves rolled up and a nice watch on his wrist.

This time, Lao Zhao came dressed up.

I was very excited.

At this time, the little girl's elder brother said timidly: "Put my sister down."

Zhao Chuanxin looked at him in surprise, but he put the girl down obediently, took out a cigarette, lit it, blew out a huge smoke ring and asked, "Girl, what's your last name?"

The little girl took two steps back in fear: "My last name is Zang."

Zhao Chuanxin seemed stunned and looked at the girl carefully.

After a while, he asked again: "How many brothers do you have in your family?"

"I, there are four of us in my family, I'm the third oldest, the one who just spoke is my eldest brother, and the one standing next to him is my second oldest brother."

Zhao Chuanxin had a strange expression on his face, as if he was a little excited.

He then asked, "Where do you live? Take me to your home to find your parents."

These children are usually very naughty, but they immediately become well-behaved when they see strangers.

The little girl walked in front, Zhao Chuanxin followed behind, and her older brother and a group of children followed far behind.

The road was uneven and the little girl tripped, so Zhao Chuanxin went over and held her hand.

A long, long time ago, Zhao Chuanxin was very young. At that time, an old lady would lead him to the market.

It is said that it is in vain for grandparents to raise their grandchildren, because it is the parents, not the grandparents, who are destined to be filial.

The grandson can remember the person he crossed mountains and rivers to find, but he cannot remember the person who crossed mountains and rivers thinking about him.

However, time was cut in half at this moment.

Zhao Chuanxin asked her gently, "What's your name?"

The little girl grunted and said, "My name is Zang Meiling."

Zhao Chuanxin held her hand and shook it, then squatted down and said, "Come up, I'll carry you."

The little girl didn't dare to refuse.

The man carried her on his back and walked slowly so that the child behind could keep up and let her older brothers feel at ease.

Gradually, the little girl was no longer afraid.

She listened to Zhao Chuanxin humming softly: Just grow old, don't wake up from loneliness, you long to leave, but there is nowhere to stop...

She asked curiously, "Who are you?"

"I'm Zhao Chuanxin."

"Who is Zhao Chuanxin?"

Zhao Chuanxin thought for a moment and said, "You and I are related. I am your junior."

"Ah?" The little girl was stunned. She never expected this result.

Zhao Chuanxin asked her, "How is your family doing?"

The little girl told the truth: "My family, including my four children, lives a tight life. My father said that he wanted to go to Guandong. But some people said that some places in Guandong are not allowed to go..."

Zhao Chuanxin knew that the places where he was not allowed to go were naturally Lugang Town, Lubin Prefecture and the territories under its jurisdiction.

Agriculture is now emphasized. Shandong has a dense population, and the contradiction between population and land is prominent. Farmers all want to go outside the Great Wall to farm.

The outside of the Great Wall was preparing to develop industry, with many iron factories and coal mines, which meant a large number of laborers were needed. The outside of the Great Wall was vast and sparsely populated, with fertile black soil and good crops, so people could survive by planting anything.

This place is across the sea from the outside of the Great Wall, and it is not far away whether by boat or by land.

Another reason is that the climates are similar, and Shandong people can adapt more easily to the climate outside the Great Wall.

Finally, in order to strengthen the border during the Qing Dynasty, a large number of people were relocated outside the Great Wall.

When friends and relatives gain a foothold outside the Great Wall, it will encourage the people in their hometown to move there as well, like a chain reaction.

So they all wanted to go outside the Great Wall.

However, at that time, Lugang Town and Lubin Prefecture were too special, and it could be said that they had not yet been finalized, so people were not allowed to move there, and even if they did, they had to go through various examinations.

Zhao Chuanxin asked her: "Do you want to go outside the Great Wall? What kind of life do you want to live in the future?"

"I want to eat meat. I will refine a lot of oil in the future so that I can put a lot of oil in stews. I will plant a lot of land so that I don't have to go hungry anymore..."

Zang Meiling, who was behind Zhao Chuanxin, suddenly felt warmth on the back of her hand.

Zang Meiling was puzzled. She tilted her head and looked at him. She saw liquid gathering in the corners of the man's eyes, but it evaporated quickly.

She seriously suspected that he had dropped some gold beans just now, and one drop fell on the back of her hand: "Are you hungry too? How can you grow so tall if you are hungry?"

She thinks that people only cry when they are hungry. Why else would they cry?

Zhao Chuanxin recalled the potato chips his grandmother fried when he was a child. There was nothing else but oil.

Half plate of potato chips, half plate of oil.

After she was able to eat meat, even though she was in her sixties, my grandmother still loved meat.

When she was seventy years old, she could still eat two bowls of rice.

She was afraid of poverty.

Even when she was old, she still couldn't rest for a moment, as if if she took half a day off, she would have no food to eat later.

She is old and slipped on the ice while working outside in winter. Osteoporosis is difficult to recover from when you are old.

After finally recovering, I was eager to go back to work.

She fell three times in two years and never got up again.

No matter how much she was persuaded, she was still determined to work.

The logic that if you don't work you'll starve is deeply rooted in our bones.

Zhao Chuanxin is the eldest grandson, and he has been clamoring to give her a lot of money and take her back to his hometown.

As a result, the initial success was lukewarm.

I finally got rich, but she's gone.

He kept slapping himself in the face. How much money can he make? It would be better to be by her side and accompany her through her last few years.

When he was a child, his grandmother carried him like this when she went to the market.

She would only put him down after leaving the market, because there were so many people there and she was afraid that her grandson would get lost or abducted by human traffickers.

Zang Meiling was very thin at this time, not pretty, and looked skinny, not as fat as she was when she was old.

She has always considered fat to be beautiful.

She said, "We are relatives. My family doesn't have any extra food for you to eat. I am starving now. If you eat one more meal, my brother will also starve."

There is a serious preference for boys over girls in the local area.

I would rather let my younger daughter starve than let my older son starve.

Zhao Chuanxin felt a severe lump in his throat.

He swallowed dryly and said, "Why don't you come with me? This way your family can save some food rations, and my family can eat meat every day."

"I won't go with you." Zang Meiling started crying.

The fear of leaving home outweighs the temptation to eat meat.

Zhao Chuanxin hurriedly coaxed him: "Okay, okay, if you don't come with me, then your whole family will come with me, so that we can all have enough food."

Zang Meiling cried when she said she would cry, and stopped crying when she said she would not cry: "Really?"

Zhao Chuanxin repeated: "Really, we are relatives."

Zang Meiling didn't quite understand: "Are you related to our family?"

Zhao Chuanxin shook his head: "No, we are just relatives. I can provide your family with enough food, but as for you, I will give you whatever you want."

Zang Meiling was puzzled: "Then why are you so nice to me? I don't have anything to give you."

Zhao Chuanxin said: "You gave me a lot."

When Zhao Chuanxin was given, he could not notice it. But when he became the giver, he saw it clearly.

The group of kids that were originally behind me were now ahead.

They looked back from time to time, but then turned away for fear of being discovered.

In this way, we walked all the way to Zang Meiling's home.

What a shabby home it was, made of mud and thatch, with a thick thatch on the roof to protect it from rain.

The yard is surrounded by a fence made of small sticks woven together while there is moisture.

The local trees had been cut down over the generations.

This thing is not for preventing thieves, but for preventing chickens, ducks, geese and dogs from running around.

Unfortunately, there are no poultry or livestock in the yard now.

There is a chicken coop for the chickens to lay eggs, and there are still a few precious chicken feathers in it.

There was a dark-skinned man with chapped skin in the yard. He looked up at Zhao Chuanxin who was carrying Zang Meiling on his back, and his wrinkled old face was full of confusion.

Zhao Chuanxin and Zang Fusheng got straight to the point: "I want to take you away."

Zang Fusheng was not as easy to talk to as Zang Meiling: "Where are you going? Are you trying to trick me?"

Zhao Chuanxin looked at the wicker basket he had woven and thought of the willow trees along the way whose branches were almost all broken.

Then he looked at the bare house.

He sneered: "What else do you have that is worth me deceiving you?"

This question stumped Zang Fusheng.

After a while, he said with a grumble: "Maybe you want to cheat our children, maybe you are a kidnapper."

Indeed, the children in his family might be worth some money.

Two people were talking in the room.

At the door, Zang Meiling was lying on the door frame, peeking and eavesdropping.

Outside in the yard, there was a crowd of children.

Zhao Chuanxin took out a handful of banknotes from his pocket. They were the second set of coins, as well as grain coupons for the unified purchase and sale of grain.

After putting the bill on the table, Zhao Chuanxin looked at Zang Fusheng and said, "Is this enough to buy your family?"

He took out two piles of gold coins with big eyeballs from his pocket: "This is forty gold coins, which was equivalent to four hundred dollars in the past."

Zhao Chuanxin slapped another gold bar on the table: "Look at this again."

Zang Fusheng was drooling as he watched.

The light in the room was dim and it was difficult to see clearly.

He leaned over to take a closer look, but didn't dare to reach out.

Zhao Chuanxin pushed the thing and said, "Look, take a closer look at it."

Zang Fusheng was no longer polite after hearing that.

First count the banknotes, then bite the big eyeball gold coins, and finally weigh the gold bars.

Oops...

The real deal.

Zang Meiling ran in, swung her sleeves and said, "Dad, can we eat meat now?"

"Eat meat, eat meat. Even if you have money, you have to give it to your two brothers first. They still have to get married." Then he looked at Zhao Chuanxin and said, "I think you are targeting our Meiling, right?"

Zhao Chuanxin sneered.

He gritted his teeth and said, "She doesn't want to leave her family, but she is my only relative. So, I have no choice but to take you all away."

He still remembered that his uncle was a very cold-hearted person who was obsessed with power.

His second uncle is a good-for-nothing.

His uncle, Zang Meiling's younger brother, was full of bad intentions.

Maybe everything has changed.

Perhaps, the person is no longer the same as before, but at this moment Zhao Chuanxin only believes what he is willing to believe, and no one can pull him back.

Based on Zang Fusheng's words, no matter how much money Zhao Chuanxin gave him, Zang Meiling would suffer.

She was Zang Fusheng's only daughter, and she was destined to be sacrificed.

Zang Meiling interrupted their conversation, her eyes sparkling as she asked, "Dad, we have so much money, let's just have a meal of meat. I'll just eat one piece, and the rest can be shared with my eldest brother, second brother, and youngest brother."

Zang Fusheng favors boys over girls, and he is not hiding it.

But Zang Meiling was not angry, and there was still hope in her eyes.

Zang Fusheng sighed: "They are going to take you away, why are you still eating meat?"

Zang Meiling cried: "I won't leave."

With anger rising to his head, Zhao Chuanxin stood up suddenly and said, "I'll give you three choices. First, move your family to Lubin Prefecture. Second, move your family to Lugang Town. Third, move your family to a place called Tianshangfei in the northwest. Fourth, your family will follow me! I'll give you one day to consider your choice."

After saying that, Zhao Chuanxin turned and left.

Zang Fusheng was shocked.

Even the village cadres did not have the aura of the man in front of him.