C356

Village head Zhang trembled and took out the banknote from his arms. Seeing the hundred Liang, he was so surprised that he couldn't speak any more. His mouth was tight all the time and trembled slightly. He looked up at Lu Beiyou's bright eyes. He only felt his face was hot and dry, and he felt uncomfortable.

They all treat Lu Beiyou like this, but others don't feel at ease and choose to help them.

In order to thank Lu Beiyou, village head Zhang was so excited that he wanted to kowtow to him. He wanted to kneel down and kowtow to him with a room of old people. This scared Lu Beiyou. If an old man kowtows to him, he would lose his life, not to mention dozens of old people in the room. If the kowtow is over, he would also play.

Lu Beiyou spent all his life to stop the kowtow ceremony of village head Zhang and other old people. When he stood up, he felt that his back was in a cold sweat.

He was scared. Compared with the calmness he had just been tied up, the present panic was sincere. Instead, Gu Man'er was watching and laughing.

"What are you laughing at? You and I are standing together. If they kowtow, you will suffer and die." Lu Beiyou said that with his white face and scared eyes, it was funny.

But after he made such a fuss, the atmosphere in the room was also relaxed. In order to make an apology for him, village head Zhang kowtowed. Thinking that there were still some sweet potatoes left in the room, he asked his wife to cook them for his father-in-law.

Village head Zhang and his benefactors annoyed Lu Beiyou and asked them to call him by his name.

Lu Beiyou thinks that giving them money is not the way. They are all old people here. Even if they buy food, they have to move it for a long time. It's all physical work, and they can't do it.

At dawn, Lu Beiyou and Gu Man'er took village head Zhang and some of the youngest old men to the county town to buy a lot of food. They specially ordered the clerks to send them to the village. They also called some workers to repair the dilapidated houses in the village.

All the old people in the village regard Lu Beiyou as a living Bodhisattva. When the environment in the village changes to a new dilapidated one, the workers are still very conscientious and even get rid of the weeds on the ground.

Lu Beiyou took a look at the field and thought that the situation was not as serious as the old man said. After a long observation, he came back to the county with the workers' ox cart. When the sun was setting, he came back in the carriage of the grain shop and bought some grain seeds.

This evening, they had dinner at village head Zhang's home. The meal changed the predicament of last night. At least there were fish and meat on the table. The fish was bought by Lu Beiyou, and he wanted to eat it. The chicken was bought by Lu Beiyou. There was an extra Rooster from the boss. The old woman killed them in order to thank them and cooked some sweet potatoes to take care of Lu Beiyou.

Lu Beiyou loves to eat this stuff. He didn't eat much fish and chicken, but he ate all those sweet potatoes.

Village head Zhang saw that he looked natural and knew that he really didn't put their kidnapping and robbery in his heart.

They are lucky to meet such kind-hearted people as Lu Beiyou and help them so much.

After dinner, Lu Beiyou asks Gu Man'er to wash the wild fruit he picked in the back mountain. Gu Man'er gives him a look in his eyes. The old woman says that she will do it herself. Gu Man'er asks her to sit down. No matter how reluctant she is, she still gets up to wash the fruit.

As soon as Lu Beiyou saw Gu Man'er leave, he changed his appearance and looked at village head Zhang.

"Village head Zhang, I always have a question. How come there are only old people in your village, not young men, not even children?" It's strange to say that young and strong men have been recruited to work by the state, but there are not even young women and children in a village.

Referring to this, village head Zhang sighed again. Even the old woman's face was full of grief.

It turned out that the young strong men in the village were really recruited by the state. The king of Nanman was also a romantic figure. In his prime, he had to rebuild a palace for his beloved concubine. The area was so large that it could not be completed in a short time. Therefore, a large number of hard-working workers were collected from the people. The price was not high, but it was mandatory. Every family was required to have the participation of strong men.

The village is far away from the county seat, and the so-called Tiangao emperor is far away. Some people don't want their sons to be coolies, so they plug money to make the officers and soldiers accommodating. So there are too many people lacking. The officers and soldiers in charge of recruiting are afraid that they can't explain. They force to these remote areas to pull people, and all the men who have some labor force in the village are pulled away.

Village head Zhang's son was dragged away before he became a champion. He was only a 12-year-old child. Village head Zhang watched his son get into the carriage like this. It was useless for him to shout.

"What about the women and children in the village?"

Gu Man'er also washed the fruit and came over. She sensitively observed that the atmosphere in the room was not good. The old woman was so sad that even village head Zhang, such a man of indomitable spirit, was red eyed.

"Well, it's all fate."

Village head Zhang recalled that after all the strong men in the village had left, the village was grieving, but before they could react, the group did not know where they learned that there were no strong men in their village. That night, they wanted to wash their village with blood.

When you see young women, you rob them. When you see young children, you beat them. Even the old people don't let go. If you go down with a knife, if you go up with a knife, you will lose a life.They are a group of inhuman robbers.

Maybe God didn't have the heart to see their village perish like this. Several people in the Jianghu who passed by their village saved them and drove the robbers away.

All the officials came back, but they scribbled and made a record.

Fearing that the robbers would come again, they all told the women to take their children back to their mother's home. They were the only old men left in the village, looking forward to the day when their son and grandson would come out at the entrance of the village.

Lu Beiyou frowned, "does your Nanman King care?"

Village head Zhang said, "you don't know. A year ago, the king of Nanman suddenly fell ill. All the princes under him were earning the crown prince's position one after another. They were in deep trouble. There was no air traffic control for us common people."

"Yes, otherwise, we would not force the people to become thieves. We have exchanged all the valuable things for food. We have been supporting for a year and a half, a whole year and a half." I hate it.

Originally, the strong men in their village could go to work in the county for food if they were in the flood. If it wasn't for the sudden recruitment of people by the imperial court and the loss of their labor force, their village would not be so miserable.

Gu Man'er has been listening in silence. Lu Beiyou noticed that her face was very cold. He reached for her hand to comfort her.