As soon as I was reborn, my fiancé came to propose marriage!

The two were sleeping early in the morning when they were awakened by a loud gong sound.

What's going on?

In the entire village, only the village chief's house had a gong and drum. If there was any big event, they would beat the gong and drum to signal everyone to gather at the village entrance.

Why are you beating the gong so early in the morning?

There hasn't been anything major happening in the village recently.

Chen Yan had never heard of the sound of gongs in the village since he was a child. He woke his wife up, and the two of them put on their clothes and walked down the mountain.

Halfway through the journey, I discovered that the person striking the gong was Dunzi, a kid from the neighboring house.

He stepped forward and rubbed Dunzi's head, then asked, "Who asked you to beat the gong?"

When Dunzi saw that the person coming was Chen Yan, he answered cheerfully, "Third brother, the village chief asked me to beat the gong and gave me two cents, hehe."

As he spoke, he took out two coins from his ragged pocket to show off to the two men, then changed the subject with a bitter look, "Your family is the most remote in the whole village, and it made me run so far."

Chen Yan smiled and said, "What happened that requires you to ring the gong?"

Dunzi pursed his lips, a sly look flashed in his eyes, "Alas..."

Chen Yan took out two cents from his pocket and handed it to him. Dunzi's eyes widened!

If you get two cents, you can give away everything.

He used to get two cents for beating the gong for the village chief all over the village, but now he can get two cents just by answering what he knows.

Isn't this like picking it up for free?

He grinned, "The village chief only said that someone died on the official road, but didn't say anything specific. He asked me to ring the gong and ask everyone to gather at the village entrance."

After saying this, he ran away, fearing that Chen Yan would think his information was worthless and take the two cents back.

"Someone died..."

Cui Yunzhu murmured, and immediately thought of what happened yesterday.

But when they met Zhao Nian, it was already afternoon. The person died in the middle of the night, and half a day had passed since they met Zhao Nian.

Even if something really happened to him, he shouldn't be so close to the village.

"who cares."

Chen Yan saw what his wife was thinking. When she came back last night, she told him everything. "Let's go to the village entrance first. If there's anything, come back and tell us."

"Ah."

Cui Yunzhu nodded, still looking sleepy and carefree.

The two of them went hand in hand towards the village entrance. On the way, they happened to meet Chen Ping and Xiao Zheng, and they all went together.

..........

The four of them walked to the entrance of the village together. The closer they got, the louder the gongs and drums sounded, almost deafening them.

A crowd of people had gathered at the entrance of the village. The village chief stood on a large rock, towering over the crowd, and shouted at the top of his voice, "Are you all here?"

"Go and call those who haven't come yet. One person from each family can come. No one can be absent!"

After waiting for a while and seeing that people had come from almost every household, the village chief struck the gongs and drums a few more times, signaling that it was time to get down to business.

He cleared his throat and shouted at the top of his voice so that everyone inside and outside could hear him clearly.

"Early this morning, someone from the government knocked on my house and said that someone died last night on the official road at the entrance of Lingshui Village next door, only 20 miles away from our village."

"It was a robbery by mountain bandits! They not only stole the money but also killed people!"

"So everyone should be more vigilant recently. Don't go out during this period of time, whether you have something to do or not. Do you understand?"

If the village chief was beaten with drums and gongs just to say these two sentences, wouldn't everyone be spitting at him in their hearts?

But when they heard that someone had died, everyone panicked and started arguing.

"It's less than 20 miles away, so close to us!"

"The bandits actually dared to kill people blatantly at the entrance of the village. Will they come to our village tonight?"

Upon hearing this, everyone gasped and started chattering.

"It's over! My niece from my mother's side married to Lingshui Village. No, I, I have to go and ask."

"What are you asking? Are you going to die?"

"Yes, this bandit dares to kill people at the entrance of the village. He might run into you on the road, rob you of your things and then slash your neck. You're gone, so why would he care about you being my niece?"

"That's right, close the door and stay home. Otherwise, it will be scary if the bandits come into the village."

The village chief patiently let them discuss for a while. When they had almost finished speaking, he struck the gong twice and began to speak.

"Everyone knows the situation. The government hasn't caught the man yet, so I came here to let you know so that you can be careful."

"How can we be careful on our own? If the government doesn't help, how can we fight the bandits?"

There were several men laughing below.

The village chief glared at them and said, "What do you young men say we should do? What about the old, young women and children in the village? Do they all want to die?"

After being scolded in public, the two men were instantly covered in shame and dared not speak.

The village chief looked around and saw many able-bodied men listening on the spot. His eyes lit up and he instantly thought of a solution.

"I have an idea. Let me share it with you all for your consultation."

"Lingshui Village is too close to our village, so our village is the number one danger."

"It's not okay for every household to stay at home with their doors closed. Think about it, there are only a few people in a family, old and young, and there are only two people who can fight."

"If the bandits really get in, won't the whole family be doomed?"

The villagers, who had calmed down a little, began to panic again, shouting, "What should we do? Village chief, tell us something."

"Yes, our little grandson is only one month old and can't stand this kind of shock."

Hearing that everyone was taking it seriously, the village chief continued, "In my opinion, every household should send out a strong man, and we will form a patrol team."

"After dinner, we will form a team of ten people, and each team will patrol for an hour before changing shifts."

"What do you think?"

They really don't care about anything that doesn't concern them. When they talk about themselves, they all jump up and down in anxiety. "What should I do if the bandits really come to our village and hurt my son?"

An old man said this with his beard puffed and eyes glared, his tone very dissatisfied.

The village chief yelled angrily, "Then what other solutions do you have?"

"It's not okay to stay at home, and it's not okay to go out. Are we all waiting to die?"

"The village chief is just for you. You are afraid, but why don't you ask other young men if they are afraid? The whole family depends on them for protection. If they don't stand up, who will?"

"Don't say it's your son. Don't I worry about my son? My son has to go too!"

Aunt Pang's heart was in a knot when she heard this, but she understood her husband's intentions and knew that there was a knife hanging over her head, so she had to do this.

She mustered up the courage to push her son with her hand, motioning him to stand out.

There are many people with the surname Chen in Yulin Village. The village chief's family is also surnamed Chen. His son Chen Jixiang watched his father making an impassioned speech on the big rock, but the villagers were unmoved.

He stood up suddenly and shouted, "My father is right. If we, the young and strong, don't go, are we going to let the old, the sick and the disabled go?"