People say that in addition to the old and welcome the new, the bad chapter before the New Year is turned over, and people are greeted only by the prosperous days, but the sky does not fulfill people's wishes, and after the New Year, it snowed a few times.

The old people who were snowy said that it was rare to see in a hundred years, and they all raised as if they were going to collapse the sky.

Shen Qingqing hadn't gone to Master Liu's house to deliver glutinous rice dumplings for a long time, and finally waited for the snow to stop for a day, Shen Qingqing hurriedly put the glutinous rice dumplings he had made before into the back basket, told Xiao Douding not to leave the house, and then took the ox cart to the town.

According to the season, today should be considered the market in the town, but the heavy snow almost obscured the road, and the weather was surprisingly cold, and there were hardly any people in the market.

Shen Qingqing felt that it was not good, and when the ox cart arrived at the top of the town, he simply stopped sending glutinous rice dumplings and went directly to the grain store.

In the past, the grain store could be regarded as a bumper harvest of grains, and everything was full, but now some of them are simply none, and some are only half a bag left.

The boss was not very enthusiastic when he saw Shen Qingqing coming: "What is the girl going to buy?" ”

"Boss, how are these wheat and rice sold?" Shen Qingqing asked.

The boss stopped knocking on the plate in his hand: "Eight coins of silver for a pound." ”

"What? Eight coins a pound of silver? Shen Qingqing was so frightened that her eyes were about to fall.

Some time ago, she asked for five coins of silver, which was already outrageously high, and she didn't expect that the grain would rise now.

The boss put down the abacus and sighed: "Sister, you don't know, some time ago was some time ago, and now is now, this snow is so heavy, the official roads are almost blocked, and the grain outside can't be transported in, and these eight thousand silver can already be regarded as priceless." ”

Food, which every ordinary person could afford, was now treated as if it were gold and silver treasures.

Shen Qingqing couldn't help but look outside, it was not obvious on the ox cart before, but now he found out that if the original bazaar, men and women met to visit the Queqiao, and the peasant family would come to see the world when they were free, but now the street was empty, and occasionally there was a person who was also neck and nose was frozen red, as if the outside air could eat people.

The boss put his hands in his sleeves, leaned on the counter, and said, "This is a different year now, a different year." ”

Shen Qingqing counted the food in the house, and thought about when he would be able to survive this year, so he bought half a catty of grain and put it on the ox cart and went to Master Liu's house.

Who knew that this old man Liu was not at home, waiting for her was a housekeeper, no matter how far their business had been done before, Master Liu came to greet him personally, why didn't he see him at this time?

After Shen Qingqing unloaded the glutinous rice dumplings, he couldn't help but ask, "Butler, is there anything urgent about this Master Liu today?" ”

The housekeeper touched his beard and counted the glutinous rice dumplings, and said homely to Shen Qingqing: "Sister, is there anything abnormal in your village?" ”

"Something out of order?" Shen Qingqing frowned, recalling that when she came over, there was nothing abnormal except that every family did not go out.

The housekeeper sighed: "My lord got a rumor that there were bandits in several villages, it seems to be called Chujia Village." Do you know Chujia Village? ”

Shen Qingqing remembered as long as he remembered a little, this Chujia Village was indeed not far from them, and they would arrive by bypassing the creek and climbing a few hills.

Thinking of this, Shen Qingqing's heart couldn't help but go up a little: "What? Has Chujia Village been robbed? ”

The housekeeper nodded: "Yes, there are more bandits in this year, every household has no food to eat, the bandits directly looted the village, almost all of them are dead, and those who have not died may not survive for two or three days." ”

Shen Qingqing sat in Master Liu's house, holding a stove in his hand, a charcoal fire next to him, people running around, and the supply of precious snacks was endless, but he didn't feel so terrible, but when he thought of such a tragic thing happening in the village not far away, he felt that the sentence that Zhumen's wine and meat stinked and that there were frozen bones on the road was right.

Shen Qingqing said a few more words, and then took the money and went home.

Shen Qingqing thought that if this bandit went directly around the mountain and came to Anning Village, it would damage her own vital interests, and this bandit still had to think about how to guard against it.

Shen Qingqing didn't go home when he arrived in the village, he went directly to the village chief's house, the village chief's house was quite rich in the village, and some people couldn't live in thatched houses, they were very clean and tidy with red walls and green tiles.

But when I opened the door, I saw the village chief with a sad face: "Qingqing has to come here today." Have a seat. ”

As she spoke, she poured a cup of hot tea for Shen Qingqing, and Shen Qingqing hurriedly took it, she still respected the village chief.

After thinking about it, Shen Qingqing said the words he heard directly: "Village Chief, when I went to the town today, I heard that the village next door to us was attacked by bandits, have you heard of this matter?" ”

It's okay not to talk about this matter, but as soon as he said this, the village chief sighed again and again: "I have also heard about this matter, and now I am worried about it." ”

"This Chujia Village is very close to our Anning Village, so we can't help but take any precautions, right?"

The village chief touched his gray beard, as if he had aged many years in the past few days: "I have been worried about this matter for several days, but if you look at the current year, I feel uncomfortable walking twice on the road, and some people in the village still can't eat, how can I take some precautions?" It's good to starve and not die. ”

The village chief has achieved this age, whether it is experience or things he has handled, he has experienced more than Shen Qingqing, and since the village chief has said so, then things have reached the point where people are at a loss.

The door inside the house was not closed, and a pot of charcoal fire between the two people would not feel how cold it was, and the two people looked out of the house in unison.

The sun that had just come out was hiding under the dark clouds at this time, and the light snow was falling one after another, and now this snow scene was a real disaster for people.

Shen Qingqing is definitely not a person who sits still, and after thinking for a while, he said: "This Chujia Village is not only relatively close to our Anning Village, but also quite close to other villages, since the village chief, you are thinking about it now, presumably the village chiefs of other villages are also thinking, otherwise we will unite several villages and patrol the surroundings of the village every day, which is also more reassuring." ”

The village chief didn't expect it, he looked up at Shen Qingqing, his already old eyes were rolling left and right, and he patted the table in less than half a moment: "Okay, this method is indeed good." ”

Although Shen Qingqing has never handled such a thing, but after watching too many TV series and watching it, he still knows how to draw a scoop with a gourd.

She spoke again, "We can gather these young men first, and divide them into small groups of three or five people, with homemade weapons in their hands. There are three classes in the morning, noon and evening, if necessary, we can gather all the women together, and if there is any accident, some people can take care of it, and those bandits will probably have stage fright when they see that there are many of us. ”

The village chief touched his beard and knocked on the table: "I'd better gather the teenagers first, it's unrealistic to surround everyone together." ”

When Shen Qingqing wanted to refute it just now, he thought about it again.

She was only concerned about the safety of the village, but she didn't expect that the relationship in the village was also complicated, and several racial forces had become feuds, and trying to gather them together was like killing their parents.

And some families are relatively wealthy, and some families are already poor and can't open the pot, if they get together, how to count the food.

"Done." Shen Qingqing stood up. "Village chief, then I'll go first."

"Wait a minute." The village chief also stood up, he was on crutches, and the moment he stood up, Shen Qingqing suddenly found that the village chief seemed to be a little shorter.

The dust of the times fell on everyone's shoulders, and it almost crushed the backbone.

"You and I went to talk about it, and the villagers also believed it, but you haven't worked in vain these winters, and your ingenuity has already spread throughout the villages, and you are more trustworthy."

This Shen Qingqing didn't expect that she was just thinking about making money, and she didn't expect to be unintentionally inserted into the willows.

Shen Qingqing was not ambiguous, and directly supported the village chief: "Let's go and contact the young adults in the village first." ”

In this winter, people don't go out, so as long as they knock on the door of every house, most of the young people are in the house, and they are very enthusiastic when they see that the village chief is coming.

They went to Wang Erhu's house in the village first, Wang Erhu had a total of three brothers, all of whom were extremely strong, and the big man stood in front like a wall.

But Wang Erhu here is honest and honest, and he is very reputable in the village.

Seeing the village chief coming, Wang Erhu hurriedly poured two cups of tea: "Village chief, Qingqing girl, why did the two of you come over today?" ”

"This next village has encountered bandits, you've all heard about it."

The rumors in the village spread quickly, and I don't know if it's difficult.

That Wang Erhu slapped the table: "If the village chief has anything, you can hurry up and greet him, we are a big village, are you still afraid that he will be a bandit." ”

To live is to have this kind of fierceness.