There is strength in numbers, and that's a good saying. By the time the sun had just sunset, the meal was ready.

Li Si, who was commanding everyone, stopped Li Niushi and asked him to call Zhang Rui over. In the past two days, the villagers' respect for Li Si has increased by more than one level because of Zhang Rui, which makes this man very happy.

In Li Si's eyes, Zhang Rui's achievements are like his son's dog hair, and that sense of pride makes him excited.

……

When Zhang Rui arrived, the sky was getting dark.

Originally, Zhang Rui should have been asked to say a few words, but looking at the hungry and drooling people, Zhang Rui didn't say much, just summoned the people who passed today's assessment and asked them to maintain order.

There are too many people eating, so naturally there are no tables and chairs to sit on like last night. It can only be carried out in the form of a canteen, with the elderly and children in front of the line, and a person serving food in front of each water tank containing food.

The queue first queues up to finish the meal, and then goes to the loading tank of their favorite dishes to line up to eat.

Looking at the long queue of each food bowl, Zhang Rui estimated that there must be more than 1,000 people, and it seemed that people from the three neighboring villages had come over.

Fortunately, the meals were plentiful. The villagers all know each other, and there are bandit members to maintain it, so the order is very stable. There are also more jars for rice and dishes, and the speed of cooking is very fast.

Six hundred catties of rice were cooked for rice alone, and the water tank was enough to fill nine jars. This means that there are nine places to serve meals at the same time, so no matter how large the amount of food a person is, he can feel at ease. The more popular meat stewed soybeans were boiled in six jars, which made people feel the weight, and there were a lot of other dishes, even the greens were boiled in three jars.

There were only a lot of meals, so no one wanted to risk infamy to cut the line. The most important thing is that the sixth brother has already spoken, and he is waiting for the meal with peace of mind.

……

In the clearing, everyone who cooked a meal gobbled it up. Many people ate a bowl of rice with meat and soybean juice without a few bites, and then went over to continue cooking.

…

The sky was getting darker and darker, Zhang Rui asked Li Niushi to light the firewood in the open space, and the huge fire not only gave people in the dark a sense of security, but also gave enough light to the people who were eating.

Like everyone, Zhang Rui's stomach was already hungry. However, as a leader, he can't eat himself first and ask the team members to maintain order there hungry. So, when the order was stable, he asked the team members to take turns to eat. He took the team members who had already eaten enough to comfort the elderly everywhere, so that they could eat slowly and be full.

Zhang Rui's action was unanimously favored by the old people, and many old people couldn't help crying.

Although many people say that Kangqian is prosperous, it is the prosperous era of officials and Manchurians. What is the business of ordinary people, especially tenant farmers? Usually a good year is just to eat bran and vegetables to have food and clothing, as long as there is a slight drought and flood disaster, you have to owe a debt or sell your children to live.

The cries of the old people caused many people to grieve, and they had forgotten how long it had been since they had eaten meat.

When some old people learned that Zhang Rui was so hungry that he hadn't eaten yet, they all wanted to give up the food in their bowls for Zhang Rui to eat. Sometimes Zhang Rui really can't push it, so he can only eat a little.

People's hearts are flesh and blood, and while touching the elderly, it also makes the members who follow Zhang Rui have a sense of honor. Especially when some old people hold their hands and teach them earnestly, they are all honored.

…………

Dinner lasted almost an hour.

The moon was already hanging in the sky, the moon was bright, and the stars were shining in the sky. In hot weather, the nights can be especially cool.

Some people who had something to do, some people who went to bed early and some people who were blindfolded went home.

In this era of no entertainment, there are campfires and a group of people chatting around is good entertainment.

At this time, someone suggested that Zhang Rui should come out and say a few words. This proposal waited until everyone agreed.

Zhang Rui was pushed out by everyone and came to the location of the bonfire. He said as he saluted around him

"Thank you, folks, this year is not easy for anyone. It is only by supporting each other and helping each other that we can overcome this difficult time. ”

"yes..."

"What the sixth brother said is good..."

"That's right, it's about helping each other..."

……

Zhang Rui's words struck a chord with the villagers...

After a while, Zhang Rui had to make a pressing movement with his hands. The people around looked at Zhang Rui and quieted down.

"However, we can still help each other through natural disasters together. But what about man-made disasters? We all know that a few days ago, the village recruited bandits, and not only some of the food was robbed, but also several people were killed in a row. It's a pity that they all have wives and sons, and the backbone of the family is gone, so how can their wives and children live! ”

Saying that, Zhang Rui couldn't help but be moved on his face, and he had a particularly sad look. Everyone listened to Zhang Rui's words and was all emotional. What if you run into it?

"The dog village is not particularly far from our side! Are there any people from the dog-fighting village? Zhang Rui shouted

"I..."

"We're both from Dog Village..."

At this moment, two voices came out of the crowd.

I saw two sturdy young men with a height of about 1.65 meters and a rare physique coming to Zhang Rui and bowing to Zhang Rui.

Zhang Rui looked at it, and he was still a member of the bandit team?

One of them, who was a little taller, said: "Sixth brother, my name is Chen Deyun, this is my younger brother Chen Decai, and both of us brothers are hunters in the dog village. It's a shame to say that although the two of us witnessed it with our own eyes, we couldn't do anything but watch the villagers being killed. ”

Saying that, the faces of the two were full of grief and indignation.

"If the bandits rob the food, forget it, and kill people. But when we went to report to the officials, the government not only ignored us, but also beat us, saying that we were Diao Min. I watched several families cry bitterly. We are very worried, those bandits have no humanity, they don't even spare children. ”

"Originally, the government ignored it, and we didn't have hope of killing the bandits. If it weren't for the coincidence, I heard the sixth brother say that he would recruit a bandit team. Our two brothers won't come together, and now we want to kill a few more bandits to avenge the villagers. ”

Zhang Rui watched them walk over, patted the shoulders of the two with his hand and said, "Okay, this is a bloody man." Let's work together. Kill this group of bandits. ”

"Hmm... Definitely..."

"I want to kill them and avenge the villagers..."

…………

Zhang Rui comforted the two of them to sit down on the side, and said to the people around them: "The bandits have been living on our side for a long time, and I believe that everyone here will have two or three things with the bandits." If anyone else has a grudge against the bandits, you can also come out and talk about it, so that we all know that the bandits are hateful and should be killed. ”

With the accounts of the two brothers, Li Deyun and Li Decai, the villagers rushed to tell all kinds of hateful deeds of the bandits. Even Li Si came out and said about his dog's hair.

All kinds of grief and indignation, all kinds of tear-jerking things are being told

It's late at night, but people don't want to sleep.

Until the campfire is no more.