[Cehua] The wind and rain are like dark

He Xiaoxiao was sitting at the edge of the low table, and the medicine pestle made light and regular sounds in his hand.He absent-mindedly mixed the medicine, his mind was full of other things, until Gu Ping stretched out his hand from the side and gently rubbed it on his face.He Xiaoxiao was startled, but Gu Ping had already withdrawn his hand, and naturally said softly, "The medicine splashed on your face."

"Ah." He Xiaoxiao responded.He knew that Gu Ping had clearly seen his abnormality, but he didn't bother to explain if his junior didn't ask questions.Li Jin walked away in a huff before, which made him more and more annoyed. At first, he wished he could just part ways with Li Jin, but after a few days, he felt that it was understandable for Li Jin to be suspicious. Although he explained it, But in the end, his tone was not kind, and he didn't give him face.But even though he thought so, he still felt that he was burdened for Li Jin, and in the end he didn't appreciate it, and even severely criticized him, which was really annoying.Based on this kind of thinking, Li Jin didn't come, and he didn't want to go to the camp to find him.

Gu Ping grabbed a small handful of herbs, put them into the mortar, and added a few strokes to the prescription beside him with a pen. "Senior brother, you look so out of your mind, it's not good at all," he said while shaking his head, his tone was flat, "There has been chaos outside these few days, senior brother, have you heard of it?"

"Hmm... um?" He Xiaoxiao finally came back to his senses, and frowned at Gu Ping, "What's wrong? Is it for food?"

Everyone has gradually felt that all problems have begun to revolve around food.Although the level of famine has not been reached in one step, and the Spike Army has not yet besieged the city again, but the gates of all the cities have been closed.There is no longer any confiscation in the surrounding areas, and the messengers sent out to apply for the allocation of food have never heard back.The people in the city have limited food reserves at home, and they don't know when the war will resume, how long it will take, and whether they will win or lose.Rumors on the street, accompanied by the rising heat, quietly spread and boiled under the surface silence, boiling the hearts of the same restless and frightened people.Although the people in the city will not starve to death, many people have already started to panic. Many of the things they usually eat have not been seen in the market for a long time.Even if it is still available now, the portion is not enough, and no one dares to rest assured and boldly satisfy the appetite.Gu Ping and the others couldn't feel it in the medical office. Although He Xiaoxiao himself lived outside, he was counted among the people in the camp, and he couldn't directly feel the fear brought about by the lack of food in the city.

"Yes..." Gu Ping paused, "I heard that the garrison army has been looking for food from wealthy households these past few days. I went out today and saw the mess in the east of the city. I inquired about it and said it was better." The family has fallen apart. There is a rich family in the city named Yu, senior brother, do you still remember that last time you accompanied Junior Sister Luo to see a doctor for his family members?"

"Ah? I remember, I remember." He Xiaoxiao woke up suddenly, "What's wrong?"

"I heard that the rich family is unwilling to hand over the grain they already have. Their rich family has a lot of spare money, and they have been lending money to many common people on weekdays. They force people to borrow money, and if they can’t get it out, they force people to use the food stored at home to hand it over. Many people haven’t paid the money within a day or two, and even the food has been taken away.”

"...What?" He Xiaoxiao's eyes widened. Gu Ping's words were beyond his imagination. Hearing this, he felt like a half-sinner, and even stuttered, "... ...This... This great enemy is now... Is there... Is there any king's law? The officials and the government don't care?"

"It's because the enemy is in front of us that there is no kingly law." Gu Ping was pounding the medicine steadily in his hand, his tone couldn't hear the waves, but He Xiaoxiao knew him well and knew the benevolence of the doctor and doctor, so he definitely couldn't bear it. It's not the worst thing, there are a lot of rumors in the city, those rich households are definitely willing to store more food at home, and when something happens, they try to find ways to calculate the belongings of the poor households..." Gu Ping said Shaking his head, his long hair rustled on his clothes, "After the Yu family used this trick, many wealthy households followed suit, and many families who usually asked them for loans have suffered... Sigh, brother, where you go?"

"I have something to do, let's go out." He Xiaoxiao stood up anxiously, before Gu Ping could put down the things in his hands, he had already run away without a trace.

It was quiet in the camp, which was the quietest period after the morning drill.He Xiaoxiao asked a few people in succession, only to see Li Jin sitting on the wooden fence next to the empty school field with his head bowed.He Xiaoxiao glanced at him, and suddenly felt a little strange, the previous time he came to look for him, he was also in the school yard, and it happened to be empty.Such a large place is obviously a training ground where thousands of people gather on weekdays, but when he comes to look for Li Jin, he is always seen here alone and lonely.He remembered that when he saw Li Jin for the first time, he was also in the school grounds, the group of people dispersed in all directions after kicking and beating, and it was Li Jin who brushed off the dust on his body and got up by himself.He Xiaoxiao has always felt that he is different from ordinary soldiers, this kind of lonely and downcast look, it doesn't matter if it appears on anyone, it shouldn't appear on him.It's hard to explain this kind of meaning, but most people always feel that even if the soldiers die on the battlefield, they must be heroic and tragic.But in Li Jin's body, on the contrary, he often seemed to be alone.

Li Jin raised his head, and He Xiaoxiao saw him standing up almost in a panic, walking towards him quickly.Seeing the guilt on his face, He Xiaoxiao suddenly felt less angry than before, but he came to Li Jin at this time, not because of the previous matter.Before Li Jin could speak, He Xiaoxiao said, "Something happened in the city, do you know?"

"What?" Li Jin looked a little surprised.

He Xiaoxiao repeated what Gu Ping said before.Li Jin listened silently, until He Xiaoxiao finished speaking, he did not respond at all.Seeing him standing like a clay sculpture, He Xiaoxiao couldn't help but get anxious, stretched out his hand and stabbed him, and said, "Do you all know about this?"

"I know," Li Jin replied slowly, "I heard about it."

"What about your generals? The government—the government even moved the yamen to the nearby camps. Do people in the government know about this? The collection of food from the rich households has not yet been completed, right? Now that you know I'll go and tell you Captain, at least..."

"Even we know, General Zhou doesn't know? What do you want me to say? Xiao Xiao," Li Jin frowned, with one hand on his chest and the other rubbing his chin in thought, "Do you think that if Zhou If the general... or the people in the government know about this, what can they do to change?"

"What? I..." He Xiaoxiao was stunned. He didn't understand the meaning of Li Jin's words for a while, but felt a little inexplicable chill in his heart, "Since I know this, why don't I stop those people... the people in the city?" It’s not that you don’t know the situation, those small households only have so much rations left, even if the rich households demand debts, it’s not right for them to live at this time, how will they survive? Could it be…”

"So... what do you mean?" Li Jin stretched out a hand to touch He Xiaoxiao's shoulder, "You mean that the rich households should pay the part of grain they should pay themselves, but they were forced to The food stored in the small households should be allowed to open warehouses now... return the food?"

He Xiaoxiao nodded, with a little doubt in his expression.

"Isn't that so?"

At this time, the sky was dark, and the city behind was gray and gloomy.Although He Xiaoxiao's original heroic spirit was good-looking, but under such a background, his round eyes seemed completely naive.Seeing his appearance, Li Jin suddenly felt a little sad.He took a step forward and grabbed He Xiaoxiao's hand.There was no one around the school grounds, but he didn't look at it, obviously not planning to sneak around.He Xiaoxiao froze for a moment, his hand was held in the palm of Li Jin's palm, and Li Jin's palm was wrapped with dirty cloth strips, he didn't know if it was hurt because of something, he gently squeezed He Xiaoxiao's hand, He picked it up again and stuck it to his face, then turned his head and kissed the heel of his palm with the corner of his mouth.

"Xiao Xiao, listen to me, this is impossible." He stared at He Xiaoxiao's face as he spoke, not surprisingly seeing that He Xiaoxiao's expression changed from soft to hard, but he still planned to continue talking, "Those small families originally owed money and food, and the government has sent people to look at it. In this situation, most of them have not paid back when the time comes, and the creditor is pressing... It is only right and proper to pay the debt. If you can't pay the money, you will It’s hard for the government to say anything about using grain instead. Rich households pay the grain, and they have already paid in full the amount stated in the collection order issued by the above. many."

He Xiaoxiao withdrew his hand coldly.Li Jin wanted to catch him but couldn't, so he had to withdraw his hands and stare at him steadily.

"So, what you mean is that you deserve to watch them starve to death and refuse to save them?"

"...Xiao Xiao." Li Jin called out helplessly.

"That's what you mean, I understand." He Xiaoxiao felt empty in his heart, and an unknown fire burned straight up.It's not that he doesn't know that Li Jin's words are reasonable and he can't refute them, but it's because Li Jin's words make him unable to refute them. What he thinks are completely unreasonable things seem to change when he says them. It has become a matter of course, but I still find that I don't even have a room to retort, so I can't help but become more annoyed.He grew up in the Valley of Ten Thousand Flowers. Although he was not a disciple of Xinglin, he had tasted hundreds of herbs and grew up amidst the faint and elegant fragrance of medicines.Li Jin's tone was gentle and indifferent, leaving no room for discussion.That's right, it's only natural to pay back the debts, and the rich have already paid in full. Official documents from the government are dead, and they serve as the garrison, but follow orders.

He remembered what Li Jin had said, that the top pointed east, and they would never fight west.This is the principle that good soldiers must abide by.But the official documents of the government are dead, but people's hearts are alive. Who doesn't have a family, who doesn't want to survive in this chaotic world full of wars?When Li Jin said such words, he felt blocked, and when he thought that he had been working for the Yu family for several days without sleep, but in the end the Yu family did such a thing, He Xiaoxiao suddenly felt that even he hated himself.This feeling of disgust spread all over his body, and he took a step back.Thinking about it wrong, he took another step back.

Li Jin also took half a step forward and stopped again.

"Xiao Xiao..." He helplessly called He Xiaoxiao's name, "Don't be like this... think about what I said..."

"Yes, I thought about it." He Xiaoxiao replied in a cold voice, "It's because I don't know the truth, but I still come to you to say such things. You are used to seeing life and death on the battlefield, and you understand things better than me. There are many people who have seen the big world. I am asking you to tell me this because I am asking for trouble."

As he spoke, he gave Li Jin a cold sideways glance, turned around and was about to leave.Li Jin was choked by him, and a feeling of powerlessness surged up immediately, and he said anxiously: "Xiao Xiao, listen to me...I don't want to quarrel with you...I don't want to quarrel with you! Are you blaming me? I Isn’t that right? Besides, even if I follow your advice, what can I do? I’m not the lord of the city, do you think anyone can listen to me?”

"You don't have to follow me, you know what you think in your heart!"

Although He Xiaoxiao had a straightforward temper, once he got angry, he would get into a dead end when he spoke, twisting and speaking, forcing people into a corner, choking with breath.Li Jin made him choke again, before he always felt sorry for He Xiaoxiao because of what happened before, so he kept his voice low, but now he was so squeezed by He Xiaoxiao, and he was anxious to explain clearly, so his speech was not as slow as before.

"...What do I know? What do you mean by that... that I have a heart of stone and will not save you? Let me tell you, even if General Zhou and the government order it now, this matter will not be done as you said... ..." Li Jin's voice contained faint anger.

"Yeah, I said it. I haven't seen the world, so of course I wouldn't do what I said." He Xiaoxiao knew that his words became more and more twisted, and his tone couldn't help becoming sharper. Yes!" From the very beginning, he tried his best to control it, but he couldn't control it. He also knew that what Li Jin said was right, and Li Jin didn't have any right to make decisions, but he was ordered to do things, but even if he showed a little bit of sympathy , or a little bit of approval for his own words, he would not be so angry.But it just didn't, Li Jin just laid out everything, his indifference was unacceptable.

"Since you say that you have never seen the world..." Li Jin paused, as if trying to suppress his anger, but it was already difficult to stop, "Then what else can you say? Why are you angry? I don't know. I just told a few truths—the truth doesn’t sound good, but I don’t want to lie to you, Xiao Xiao, I don’t want to lie to you—even if General Zhou ordered it, it’s impossible for rich households to open warehouses to release grain. It's not that I don't know, if you open a warehouse at this time, and distribute it to those small households whose grain was taken away before, other people will see it, and if they come to snatch it... don't you know what kind of people's hearts are like now? Once there is a commotion, the garrison will send troops to suppress it! Now that the enemy is in front of us, how can we allocate manpower to solve this kind of trouble? What's the matter with you? What's the point of coming here to argue with me about these useless things— —”

"Okay! Okay, don't talk about it!" He Xiaoxiao's heart grew colder as he listened to it, and suddenly shouted to stop him, "Do you think I'm stupid, why don't you understand your principle of taking care of the overall situation? You just I can only say here, you haven't seen what it looks like outside, the Spike Army hasn't come yet, the city is already like a dead city, you eat and drink in the camp every day, talking and practicing, you know What does it look like outside, you go and see those people who go to the medical office to see a doctor, they all look like that, let alone—"

Li Jin stepped forward abruptly, He Xiaoxiao was startled, the last few words got stuck in his throat, and he didn't say it.The two were about the same height, their eyes met, and He Xiaoxiao saw a gloomy cold light flickering in Li Jin's eyes.

"Since you don't need me to teach you the principle of taking care of the overall situation, then you don't need to teach me the principle of benevolence, noble and humble, as well as your doctors."

He Xiaoxiao looked at Li Jin's strange face because he was holding back his anger.Li Jin was born delicate and handsome, even though his face was a little wary, but he could still see the beauty and romance of Pian Pian's youth.The pointed eyebrows, the slanted eyes, all carried a cold indifference——He Xiaoxiao had seen this face for a long time, but at this moment, he felt as if it was the first time he saw it.The two looked at each other silently for a moment, then He Xiaoxiao turned around abruptly and left in a huff.