The Beginning of Siheyuan: The Pig Killer of Qinjia Village

The excitement of driving came and went quickly. Only 300 kilometers away from Sijiu City, Jin Canlan lost interest in driving.

Besides, driving is a tiring job. Anyone would be tired after driving for an entire afternoon.

Chang Wei replaced Jin Canlan and saw that it was getting dark. Since they were not in a hurry to go to Jinling, they prepared to find a flat place nearby to camp and rest for the night before leaving tomorrow.

There were two military trucks together, one was big enough for two inspection teams, and the other was used to carry tents, food, tools and supplies.

After all, the situation is special and we won't go into the city on the way. The food and drink for more than 20 people on the road for several days is not a small amount.

Not long after driving, a small village with only a dozen households appeared in front of them at the corner of the mountain not far ahead. Chang Wei thought that normal villages would have flat open spaces, which would be convenient for getting water and cooking. They would not stay overnight and disturb others, but would just use the open space in the village.

Chang Wei drove the car to an open space at the entrance of the village and slowly stopped it. It was the time for the villagers to get off work, and groups of villagers were carrying hoes and other farm tools to go home.

Seeing a car coming to the village and a group of soldiers getting off the car one after another, it seemed that some high-ranking official was coming, and the villagers stopped around to watch.

Chang Wei got off the car and prepared to send someone to greet the village chief, but he saw a woman trotting into the village and shouting, "Uncle Niu, a high-ranking official has come to the village."

Upon hearing this, Chang Wei asked the inspection team to stay on standby, and he stood beside the car and waited quietly.

But I was curious in my heart why there were so few adult men in the surrounding villagers. Even the villagers who went home after work were basically elderly people, women and half-grown children. The ratio of adult men to women was too unbalanced.

After a while, an old man with patched clothes came hurriedly, followed by the woman who had just shouted.

The old man came up and looked at everyone. He knew at a glance that Chang Wei must be the leader of the officials. His wrinkled old face was particularly enthusiastic and asked with a smile: "Leader, I am Niu Dafeng, the head of Niujia Village. May I ask what brings you to our village?"

Chang Wei stepped forward and said with a smile: "Uncle Niu, we are just passing by. It is getting late, so we want to camp in the open space at the entrance of your village for one night. We will leave early tomorrow morning and will not disturb you."

Niu Dafeng waved his hand and said quickly, "Look at what the leader said. The kids are working hard to defend the country. How can they sleep outside? It's autumn and the nights are cold. Every family in the village can vacate a room and rest inside at night."

"Yes, leader, let's go inside and rest!"

"It's cold outside at night..."

……

The villagers who were watching around spoke enthusiastically, with kindness in their eyes, as if they were seeing their relatives.

Chang Wei felt warm in his heart in this atmosphere, but he also keenly noticed that the villagers were too enthusiastic. Could it be that the villagers in this village were so simple and honest?

The thought flashed through his mind, and Chang Wei smiled and declined, "Uncle Niu, thank you and everyone for your kindness. We have a mission to accomplish and a system to follow, and we cannot disturb the people. Let's just camp here and rest for a night."

"Leader, I'll listen to you. If you need anything, just ask." Niu Dafeng insisted, and waved to the villagers, saying, "The kids have a mission, and there are rules in the army. We can't violate them. Let's go back!"

Upon hearing this, the villagers who were watching had some disappointment in their eyes, and some left reluctantly.

Chang Wei saw everything and became even more confused. Eyes are windows to the soul, and with his insight into subtle expressions, he found that the villagers' eyes were genuine, which was very strange. "Okay, thank you, Uncle Niu. Please find someone to lead the way. We can just get some water and cook."

"That won't do. You guys are tired enough on the mission. I'll have everyone prepare food and bring it to the kids." Niu Dafeng spoke quickly and said to the woman next to him, "Lao Wu's family, go tell everyone to make something delicious for the kids tonight..."

Chang Wei quickly stopped him and said, "Uncle Niu, we appreciate your kindness, but we have a rule that we cannot take anything from the people, and we have enough supplies, so we just need some water."

Seeing Chang Wei's firm attitude, Niu Dafeng had no choice but to give up. "Okay, let Gou Wa Zi take you to fetch water." After saying that, he waved to a little boy of eight or nine years old who was standing not far away and staring at the two inspection teams with shining eyes.

Chang Wei sent two people to follow Gouwazi to the village well.

He took out a stool and sat down with Niu Dafeng to chat, and then asked directly, "Uncle Niu, why are there so few adult gay men in the village?"

Niu Dafeng's eyes were somewhat sad and dim, and he said in a trembling voice: "The kids are all heroes, they all sacrificed..."

After listening to Niu Dafeng's story, Chang Wei understood what happened. He felt shocked, respectful, sad and sentimental.

Niujia Village has only 13 households, but it is a small village with a common clan heritage that has been passed down for hundreds of years. The ancestor was a general stationed at the Great Wall. He practiced martial arts for generations and left behind a family precept that all descendants of the Niu family must defend their territory to the death when encountering foreign invasions. This has been the case for hundreds of years, so there are only 13 households left today.

Let’s not talk about the distant past. During the Anti-Japanese War, all the men of the right age in Niujia Village joined the army together. Only one person returned out of 27 people. This person was already a company commander at the time, but he gave up everything without hesitation and returned to the village. Later, when the Korean War came, he resolutely re-enlisted in the army, and all the men of the right age in the village went with him. There were a total of 20 people this time, and all of them died heroically on the battlefield.

This is the reason why there is a serious imbalance in the ratio of adult men to women in the village.

Fortunately, Niujia Village has another tradition that before going to the battlefield, one must get married to ensure the continuation of the family lineage.

So all you see are either old people, children or women. There are only two adult men and five or six half-grown boys in the village. They are children from the Korean War.

So when we met, we were very enthusiastic and looked at each other like family members...

Jin Canlan and the members of the inspection team who were setting up camp nearby had respect on their faces. They had no doubt about the authenticity of the report. They could easily find out the truth with a simple check.

Chang Wei said solemnly, "Uncle Niu, they are all heroes who sacrificed their lives for the country. They are the pride of Niujia Village, the pride of the country, and the pride of 400 million compatriots."

Niu Dafeng wiped the tears from his eyes and nodded solemnly. "We, the descendants of the Niu family, will never forget the teachings of our ancestors."

At this time, the soldier who fetched water came back with Gouwazi. Gouwazi looked at the red equipment on the inspection team with sparkling eyes.

Chang Wei stood up, smiled and patted his shoulder, then took out a bag of candy from his pocket and handed it to Gou Wazi. "Go share some with your brothers and sisters."

He would not take the initiative to make connections and let Gou Wazi go to the army. There will be no major wars in the future. The sacrifices made by generations of Niujia Village are enough. There may be many such villages in the country, but letting them live in peace is the real thing.

There was surprise in Gouwazi's eyes, but he didn't take it. Instead, he looked at Niu Dafeng.

Chang Wei looked at Niu Dafeng and said, "Uncle Niu, let the child hold it."

Niu Dafeng nodded, and Gouwazi thanked him happily. Then he carefully peeled off the candy wrapper and put it in his mouth, squinting his eyes because of the sweetness.

When Niu Dafeng saw this, a gentle and loving smile appeared in his eyes. "Don't just eat it yourself, go share it with others."

Gouwazi responded and ran into the village like the wind, shouting out names one by one when he arrived at the door of a house.

……