Bianshanhan [farming]

Since the beginning of spring, there have been more beggars in Bingzhou, and in April and May, they can be seen everywhere.

Most of the beggars are people from the nearby villages within a hundred miles, some are old and some are young, some are begging for food alone, some are fleeing famine together with the whole family, wherever they go, where they want to go.

Laoniuwan is the one with the most food in the ten miles and eight towns, and the most people come here to beg for food.

The man in the family went out, and Lu Shi, his daughter-in-law and a few children were at home, and they locked the door tightly behind them. No matter who knocked outside, they would not open it.

The night before yesterday, a family in the village was wiped out and all their food was taken away. Now everyone in Laoniuwan is worried that some thieves will rush in with bloody knives.

Since the morning, the wooden doors of every household have been slammed, and all kinds of humble voices begged, "Please do me a favor, give me a stutterer, I'm about to starve to death..."

Unable to hear this, Mrs. Lu went to the yard, where their family opened up half an acre of land around the yard and planted some sorghum, which had already grown, and watered it every few days.

Not only is it not raining, but the sun on the top of the head is getting hotter and hotter, and the breath is hot, which is really sad.

Only then did Mrs. Lu open the small door connecting the yard to the yard, and he was stunned when he saw sorghum seedlings scattered all over the ground.

All the seedlings that had been planted at the base of the wall were pulled out and thrown in the sun, some with thin roots, and some that were torn into half and completely dried up.

Lu Shi didn't take a few breaths, and clutched his chest fiercely, after a long while, he cried and cursed: "God damn it!"

Their family has been serving them for a long time, and their efforts are in vain.

When Chen Dingxin's son saw his nanny fall suddenly, he ran back and told his mother. Chen Dingxin's daughter-in-law hurried out with the baby in her arms, and shouted, "Mother, mother, what's wrong with you?"

When she saw the situation in the yard, her eyes were wet, and she gritted her teeth and helped Lu Shi go back.

As soon as I arrived in the yard, there was another knock on the door, and a timid child's voice came in, "Gu, Gu, are you at home..."

The originally limp Lu Shi was startled, and said in a hoarse voice: "Yes, is it Xiaomei?"

The people outside kept talking, Lu immediately straightened up, kicked his feet to open the door, there were three people covered in dust standing outside the door, and the one standing in front was her natal sister-in-law, carrying a big bag on her thin shoulders. Burden, the other two are her nieces.

"Quick, come in!" Lu Shi hurriedly let the three of their mothers in, and shut the door tightly before people from afar came up.

The three brothers and daughters-in-law came to the house at this time, and they looked like this again, Lu Shi felt that it was not good, and after leading him into the house, he asked: "Is there any food in the house?"

Lu's sister-in-law began to cry, "Sister, the food you brought back for the New Year was snatched by the villagers...We, our mothers, came to say goodbye to you, and we are going south... They all said that there is a lot of rain in Nantou, and the weeds grow luxuriantly..."

The niece Xiaomei's face was blurred with tears, she knelt on the ground, kowtowed and said, "Gu, once we leave, I don't know if we can come back in the future. I have been taken care of by you all these years, and I will not be clear in this life... "

Lu’s natal family’s life is very ordinary, similar to that of Yangshun Village. Her brother passed away a few years ago, leaving only her sister-in-law and two maids. As an older sister, she would often go back to have a look, give a helping hand, and think about her niece. When I grow up, I recruit a son-in-law who comes to visit, and life may be easier.

It's just that I didn't expect that the severe drought would arrive first before the child grew up.

Lu's tears fell again, and he hugged his niece, "You mothers, you don't even have a man, there is no way to escape from the famine. I'm not alive yet, so I can't watch you die..."

Chen Dingxin's daughter-in-law put the child on the kang, handed over a few cloth towels, and then hurried to cook.

At this moment, the door of the Chen family was knocked again, the noise was so loud that it was not a beggar.

Sure enough, the next moment, I heard Li Chang's loud voice, "Dingxin his mother, open the door!"

Lu Shi wiped away tears with the corner of his clothes, went out, did not open the door, only opened a gap, said: "What's the matter?"

The people outside pushed the door impatiently, "Open the door! Now I know you are alert, why did you let the beggars in just now? We have already told every house that beggars from other villages are not allowed to enter the door, nor are they allowed to enter the door. For food, you broke the rules, do you know how much trouble it will bring to our village?!"

"Exactly! If you let these beggars know that our village has surplus food, more people will enter the village, and if some ruthless ones are brought in, the people in our village will suffer as well!"

"The corpse of Lao Zhang at the entrance of the village is not cold yet. You are brave, so don't drag the villagers to back you up!"

How could the wooden door resist these people's pushing, Lu Shi was annoyed, finally opened the door, said: "I dare not forget what I told you before, the ones just now are not beggars, but my natal sister-in-law and niece."

"Not even relatives. Those in the nearby villages are all relatives. If you donate this one, others will come to your door. Then there will be chaos." The head of the village who came in is also from the Chen family, and he said seriously: " What about Dingxin's father, how did he think about what he said yesterday?"

After the Zhang family in Laoniuwan was wiped out, people in the village immediately reported to the officials. The officials in the county couldn't handle the matter of sneaking, robbing and wounding people. Only two officials came and asked a few words casually, but nothing came out. He asked the folks to bury him early.

The people in the village were afraid, afraid that their home would be the next Zhang's, so they went to Chen Shan'an and begged him to go to the Yamen to talk, even if there were more officials to go through the motions, it would be able to deter those unruly people.

Chen Shan'an was very embarrassed. He only said that the yamen was short of manpower, and he was afraid that it would be difficult to take care of both. He changed his tone again, meaning that if the villagers were willing to pay some hard money, the officials might work harder.

At this time, no matter how reluctant they are, everyone has to pay for it. After all, life is important, and food is also important. Neither of these can be given to a robber who kills without batting an eyelid.

Chen Shanhe disagreed. He felt that these officials only wanted to make money, and they would not protect the villagers well. They only came here after asking for money. They were no different from robbers. If this kind of thing does not happen in the village in the future, it is best for each family The men from each household come out to patrol the village every day, which is more useful than the officers and soldiers who come to show off.

Besides him, there are some people who disagree, because life in the village is bad, they feel that there is nothing to worry about at home, and what they should be afraid of is those who have money and food. money?

Originally, some people thought that Chen Shan and his family made money by burning bricks, and they wanted them to pay more. After they had lost their calculations, they were very annoyed.

They entered the door aggressively, Lu said: "Dingxin and his father are not here, you go back, when they come back, I will let them tell the villagers."

"Where else can I go at this time, are you hiding?" The person who came in didn't believe it, "Your family is selling bricks and earning more than 200 taels of silver. , now that the village is in trouble, you push and block, hide and hide, is that plausible?!"

Bricks are so many and heavy that they cannot be bought and sold in private. Every time someone comes to buy bricks, the villagers secretly count them, and the difference will not be too much.

Listening to the movement outside, the three members of the Lu family in the house cried out in fright. Lu's siblings stood up and wanted to go out, but were stopped by Chen Dingxin's wife.

Mrs. Lu was annoyed by their aggressive words, and said angrily: "Hiding, hiding, our family didn't do anything wrong, what we did was like being a thief. When you ask for money, you are very quick to ask. Those in the village who secretly pull people out The sorghum planters don’t care, thieves kill people, and pulling up my crops is killing me, if you can find them out for me, I’ll be the one to pay the money!!”

Lu's little grandson brought over the dry seedlings from the yard, and the people who came in saw, "It may not be done by the villagers, it may be beggars, many people, where can we find..."

"They might pull out sorghum to eat when they are hungry, but they don't have the extra strength to tear the seedlings to pieces. The flowers I planted at the bottom of the wall were also trampled on and dug out by the roots. I have never seen a beggar with a shovel. Yes!"

There are many people in Laoniuwan, and there are even more people with shallow eyes. When Chen Dingxin used to work for others for nothing, he would ridicule and ridicule him in various ways. When he earned money, he would start to be jealous.

Lu Shi knew several people who might do such a thing, but he didn't know which one.

At this time, Chen Shanhe and Chen Dingxin came back. Seeing the people in the courtyard, they asked what happened.

The person who dared to speak ill of Lu just now dodged back, and his voice became a little softer.

Chen Shanhe heard that it was the three of Lu's mothers, and said: "When your brothers and sisters beg to come to the door, will you ignore them? Don't talk too much, you are arguing at my house now, and tomorrow your house may have to spread .”

The head of the village said: "Second brother, let's not mention this matter, let's talk about collecting money first. If you don't pay the money, others will depend on it. This money will never be collected."

Chen Shan and Nong Mei frowned, "I don't know what you guys are thinking, even if the money is paid, the officials will stay in our village to guard us? At most, they will come around for a while, and leave with a mouth full of oil." After they leave, the thieves will enter the village. They are a group of cannibals, and the people of our village will have to protect themselves after all!"

He has said this many times, and many people agree with it, but the chief of the village has been holding on to this matter. Seeing that he still hasn't spoken at this time, he couldn't help but choked: "Second brother, I used to But I didn't see you value money more than life, those robbers should know what's going on in the village, aren't you afraid that you will be the next to suffer?"

These words were like cursing people, and Chen Shanhe's patience was exhausted. He looked at him coldly and said, "I don't know if the thieves will come to my house, but I know that you colluded with Chen Shan'an and the officials to get them from the village. scam money!"

When the two of them yelled at Maimang, the yard became chaotic. Some people pushed, scolded, and fisted. The children in the room screamed in fright. Chen Dingxin grabbed the pickaxe and coaxed people out.