Sixty-eight

For several days after that, Xu You was always anxious, for fear that Zhao Chengjin would talk about the cat again, but he didn't mention it at all as if he had forgotten it, but Xu You didn't dare to take it lightly, that kid was cunning and cunning, and he specifically picked her to ask questions when she was absent-minded, which was very bad.

But soon, the drought intensified, and Xu Yu left all these trivial matters behind.

There were only two light rains at the beginning of July, and by the end of the month, there were gradually refugees in Yunzhou City, and Mrs. Meng no longer allowed a few children to go out again, and even Zhao Chengjin, who already looked like a teenager, was locked up in the courtyard. "The world is in chaos, and people outside can do anything," the old lady said, "and even cannibalism." ”

Ah Chu was so frightened that he didn't dare to say a word, and at night, he actually ran to the second uncle and aunt's house with a pillow.

Compared with ordinary people in the city, the life of the Meng family is quite good. Xue Dad and the second uncle stored a lot of food at home early, the well in the yard could also be fed with water, and Mrs. Meng even bought soybeans and mung beans to sprout beans at home.

During the day, the doors of every house are locked, and several children stay in the study honestly to read, and occasionally someone knocks on the door to get water, and Mrs. Meng refuses to open the door, only asking them to come back when Snow Daddy and the second uncle come home in the evening. After all, Daddy Xue and the second uncle are not there, there are only women and children in the family, so you should always be cautious.

But Rao is like this, and the house is still not quiet.

There were already refugees in the alley and began to knock on the door to beg from door to door, the old Liu family at the mouth of the alley was soft-hearted for a while, opened the door and gave the begging refugee two baked cakes, but someone broke into the house and snatched away a bag of flour in the kitchen, so angry that the old Liu family cried and scolded, and everyone heard the movement, and no longer dared to open the door casually.

"I don't know how long it will drag on, hey-" Old Lady Meng sighed helplessly, "If it had been before, I could still count on the imperial court to provide disaster relief and porridge, but now I really don't even think about it." I don't know how to live in the future. ”

Everyone in the family is preoccupied, and no one knows how long this drought will last, and they can't predict what will become of Yunzhou next.

There are more and more refugees, and the city of Yunzhou is becoming more and more unstable, and Lord Hu has no choice but to order the city gate to be closed to prevent the refugees from pouring into the city again, and at the same time mobilize the merchants in the city to donate food and materials, and set up a refugee camp outside the city, with two meals of porridge a day, although it can't fill the stomach, but it can still guarantee that they will not starve to death.

Compared with other counties near Yunzhou, this place is already considered a good place, Xue Dad and the second uncle came back to sleep at night, and said that the refugees from Cangzhou and Jizhou next door fought with the officers and soldiers in order to rush into the city, and there were countless casualties.

"I wonder if the Imperial Court will take the opportunity to send troops over to take back our gathering in Kyushu?" Old Lady Meng sighed, Xu You's heart moved when he heard this, and he couldn't help but look at Zhao Chengjin, his face was still calm, as if he didn't realize that if the imperial court really called, he would be able to take the opportunity to return to Beijing.

Xue Daddy shook his head, "It's hard to say, the Hu people are also staring at it now, Lord Hu said that there are more than 10,000 people in Jizhou, and they are guarding eighty miles east of Jizhou City, and they don't care if there is a famine in the city." Besides, those who rob things in Jizhou City are not necessarily refugees. ”

Everyone was surprised, Xu You immediately understood what he meant, Mrs. Meng was so angry that her face turned pale, and she scolded angrily: "Those things that have lost their conscience, how many people can't even save their lives, and they still take this opportunity to make a fortune, why don't God strike a thunderbolt to kill them." ”

Seeing that the old lady was emotional, Xu You hurriedly stepped forward to pat her on the back and persuaded in a low voice: "Grandma, don't be angry, someone will clean up those bad people after all." Although Xu You was also angry, he knew that he could not do anything, although the situation in Yunzhou was better than that in Yizhou, but who knew how long this situation in Yundao could be maintained, maybe next month, maybe tomorrow, someone would rush into the door of the Meng family.

Yunzhou is not peaceful, and Xue Dad and the second uncle are fast catchers, so they naturally can't stay at home. As a result, the Meng family didn't even have a doorkeeper, and during the day, the family's spirits were highly tense. Mrs. Meng is older, has experienced a lot of things, and seems to be calm, but the second aunt is not good, her face is not good when she gets up in the morning, and she immediately becomes vigilant when she hears any movement outside, which is simply a rumor.

Xu You couldn't help, but Zhao Cheng volunteered to come out to guard the door, "Grandma, don't worry, although I am young, I have also practiced, and ordinary three or five people are not my opponents." Even if the eldest and second uncle are not there, I can protect you well. He spoke in a low voice, not patting his chest and promising anything, but this appearance was unwarrantedly reassuring.

But in fact, maybe two or three people can deal with it, and if you really have to come in four or five - okay, Xu Yu thought, and her, and Mrs. Meng. Besides, they still have a kitchen knife, which can scare people somewhat.

The first day passed peacefully, and at noon on the second day, there was a sudden cry in the courtyard next door, Ah Chu pricked up his ears and listened for a while, his face was a little ugly, "It seems to be Xiao Wu, it's Xiao Wu crying." ”

Xiao Wu is the owner of the black cat, he lives next door, he is about the same age as Ah Chu, he is a black and thin ghost, and Ah Chu plays well with him.

Old Mrs. Meng was soft-hearted, thought about it, patted Ah Chu's hand, and comforted: "I'll go and see what's going on." ”

There were still refugees in the alley, and the old lady didn't dare to open the door, so she took the stairs and leaned on the fence to say hello to the house next door. As soon as I got up to the wall, I saw Xiao Wu and his mother holding the child crying sadly, the old lady's heart was about to break, and she whispered: "Old Wu's family, what's going on?" What about your family? ”

Xiao Wu's mother approached with Xiao Wu sobbing in her arms, and said while wiping her tears: "Go...... I went to the streets to find a job. The food at home was all eaten, and Xiao Wu was so hungry that I wanted to kill the cat, but he had to let it. Auntie, you said that the cat's life can be important, that is, if you don't eat it at home, it will slip out, and sooner or later it will be a dish on someone's table. This stupid kid doesn't listen to what he says......"

The black cat? Xu You's heart trembled, and he immediately stood up, and Zhao Chengjin's face also showed an obviously uneasy look. One of them had made a cat himself, and the other had raised a cat as his closest friend, so naturally he couldn't see this kind of thing, and his heart immediately became nervous when he heard this.

But neither of them is an impulsive person, even if they are in a hurry, it is not good to rush forward to stop them, after all, now is the time of life and death, and even human lives cannot be saved, let alone cats.

Mrs. Meng has seen the cat of the Xiao Wu family more than once, and she also knows that the black cat is in love with Xu You, and now she heard that it is going to die, she is somewhat sorry, hesitated for a while, and finally said: "Otherwise, I still have some soba noodles at home, give you two catties first, so don't let the child go hungry." Don't kill that cat yet, the family has been raising it for so many years, and it's hard to blame you if you want to kill it. ”

Xiao Wu's mother was surprised and happy when she heard this, and hurriedly hugged the child and came over to thank her. Mrs. Meng sighed, went down the stairs, went back to the kitchen, scooped a few scoops of buckwheat flour with the basin, weighed it, and added another scoop. Although there is still some food in the family, there are many Meng families, and I don't know how long this drought will last, no matter how soft-hearted the old lady is, no matter how much she listens to and sympathizes with Xiao Wu, she doesn't dare to joke with her family's life.

In the evening, Xiao Wu's father came back and sent two corn cakes to the Meng family, saying that Xue Dad introduced him to help in the yamen, and he could receive two catties of cornmeal every day, and it was no problem to meet the family's rations temporarily. Mrs. Meng breathed a sigh of relief.

Everyone didn't expect that at noon the next day, something would happen in the alley.

When she got up in the morning, the weather suddenly became gloomy, Mrs. Meng looked up at the sky, and her face finally looked much better, "I'm afraid it's going to rain," she said: "Look at the clouds in the sky, it looks like the dragon lord is about to turn over." ”

"If only it had rained." The second aunt sighed: "It's raining, and everyone has a way to live." ”

As the old lady expected, by noon the rain had come down.

Almost only a matter of a few seconds, the first second was still soaking wet, the next second suddenly there were bean-sized raindrops down, smashing on the green tiles of the roof, making a "bang" sound, and after a while, the heavy rain made a downpour, and fell to the ground with a bang, and a thick layer of water soon accumulated in the yard.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, and the old lady sat in the corridor and sighed long, "God has finally opened his eyes, and our Yunzhou can be regarded as being saved." ”

There was a knock on the door outside the courtyard, and Mrs. Meng was stunned for a moment, a little surprised, "This is the boss, they are back?" As he spoke, he got up and went to get his umbrella and prepare to open the door. Just changed the clogs and was about to go out, Zhao Chengjin suddenly stepped forward to stop her, and said with a calm face: "Grandma, don't worry, I'll go over and have a look first." ”

Old Lady Meng hesitated for a moment and nodded, "That's right, the yamen is so busy, and the boss doesn't have time to come back." You have to ask first. Brother Shun is with Grandma. ”

Zhao Cheng took the umbrella in Mrs. Meng's hand and put it on for her, and the two helped each other to the gate of the courtyard. Xu You suddenly became a little nervous, came out of the study, and stood at the door looking at them.

The knock on the door outside became more and more urgent, and there were even some cursing sounds, and Zhao Chengjin's face suddenly changed. Old Lady Meng also immediately became nervous, swallowed her saliva, and whispered to Zhao Cheng: "I'm afraid I'm here to rob the Dao." "It's raining so hard outside that there's probably no one on the street, and even if there's a commotion in the alley, people outside won't necessarily hear it.

These people just saw such an opportunity before they made a move.

Zhao Chengjin took a deep breath, put his ear to the door and listened carefully, the more he listened, the more ugly his face became.

"How many are there?" Mrs. Meng asked.

"I'm afraid there aren't more than a dozen," Zhao Chengjin gritted his teeth and replied in a low voice, "I'm afraid I've already inquired about our family." "Zhilu Dao's family has no male presence during the day, and even Zhilu Dao's family may have food in stock. Although it has finally rained now, the crops in the field have long since died, and I don't know when I will be able to harvest it when I will replant a stubble, and the grain prices that gather in Kyushu are bound to not fall for a long time.

At this moment of speaking, the door was hit a few times, and Zhao Chengjin didn't care about anything else, so he stuffed the umbrella into Mrs. Meng's hand, rushed to the kitchen in the rain and hugged a thigh-thick wood out to block the door. Xu You saw that something was wrong, and hurriedly rushed over to help. Unexpectedly, when he approached, he was driven back by Zhao Chengjin, "You hurry up and take the second aunt and Ah Chu to hide in the cellar, they will rush in after a while, I am afraid that I will hurt you." ”

The heavy rain had already drenched Zhao Chengjin, and his summer clothes were thin, all of which were sticking to his body, making him look more and more thin. He shouted at her at the top of his voice, his face was flustered like never before, his eyes were slightly red, frightened and frightened, and even with some anger, like a little lion cub who was about to attack at any time.

"Let's go!" Seeing Xu You stunned in place, he became more and more anxious, and even stretched out his hand to drag her. Xu You suddenly came back to his senses, gritted his teeth, and shook his hand vigorously.

She was about to turn around when there was a muffled thud and the door slammed open.

Mrs. Meng had already come out of the kitchen knife and rushed to the front in the lead. Zhao Cheng was afraid that something would happen to the old lady, so he quickly grabbed the wooden stick on the side and grabbed it in front of her to meet the enemy, but with the other hand, he pushed Xu You five steps away.

Those homeless people finally blasted open the gate of the Meng family, and at this time they rushed in desperately, Zhao Cheng blocked the front with a calm face, waved a wooden stick and smashed it on the head of the comer, and the ruthlessness of the attack made the homeless people behind suddenly feel a little frightened.

The reason why they dared to attack the Meng family was because they heard that there were only a few old and weak women and children in the Meng family, so they had the courage to get the last vote.

"What are you afraid of, just a kid, there are a lot of us, and I'm afraid that we won't be able to kill him." The people behind were also irritated by Zhao Chengjin's evil appearance, and while rushing in, they waved their fists and kicked their feet and beckoned Zhao Chengjin. Mrs. Meng also rushed forward with a kitchen knife, and greeted people on her neck when she saw them.

Xu You knew that he was not good at what he knew, although he had also been a policeman before, but now this body was really no match for others, so he had to quickly retreat, called the second aunt who was already scared and her legs were weak, and grabbed Ah Chu's arm and rushed towards the cellar.

Before she could rush to the cellar, she heard a loud roar in the yard, "Ge Laozi's bastard, he actually bullied our old seven, Lao Tzu stabbed you to death!" ”