Outside the nameless mountain village.

Standing on the hillside, the old ghost shielded the hot sun with his hand and observed it carefully for a while.

Eventually, after finalizing a courtyard closer to the outskirts of the village, he left four soldiers to guard the perimeter in case of accidents, while he trotted down the hill with five soldiers.

At this moment, the few fields on the outskirts of the village have all been harvested, and some have even been planted by hard-working villagers for autumn grain.

Therefore, in order not to trample on the people's crops, the old ghost had to make a big circle after coming down the mountain before finally entering the village.

Walking into the village, they walked all the way along the empty village alley for a few minutes, and the old ghost came to the courtyard of a house that they had been optimistic about.

Stopping the soldiers who were about to climb over the wall to enter, the old ghost hesitated for a moment and stopped outside the low courtyard wall.

Dangdangdang......

"Fellow...... Anybody home? ”

……

After a few shouts, the dilapidated door in the courtyard was slowly opened, and a hunchbacked old man with white hair walked out.

"Who...... Who is calling it? ”

"Fellow, we are the Eighth Route Army, we are here to ask you for some help."

Hearing this, his cloudy eyes narrowed, and the old man recognized a few people outside the hospital after a while.

After looking left and right in a panic, the old man hurriedly came to the gate of the courtyard on crutches.

"Old man...... We've been in the mountains for a few days, so help us sell us some food. ”

Hearing this, the old man hesitated for a moment, and then gritted his teeth and opened the courtyard door.

"Come, this is not the place to talk, let's talk about it when we come inside!"

……

led the old ghost to the house, and the old man immediately shouted at the back room:

"Old woman, Ah Hua, come out quickly!"

Hearing the shout, an old woman with a seven or eight-year-old girl opened the curtain and walked out, looking at the old ghosts with some fear.

"Two stupid girls, what are you in a daze. Hurry up and boil some water and boil some millet porridge for the comrades of the Eighth Route Army! ”

Hearing that the master's family was going to boil porridge, including the old ghost, several soldiers swallowed a few mouthfuls of foam. In the past three days, I slept in the mountains, and most of the rations on the big guy's body were distributed to the wounded, and they could only barely satisfy their hunger with some wild fruits and vegetables every day.

However, although their eyes were blue with hunger, the old ghost still did not forget Zhao Shixun's instructions and the discipline of the Eighth Route Army.

"No, old man, you can sell us some food, and we'll leave after paying, really!"

The words were closed, and the old ghost directly took out all the military tickets that Zhao Shixun gave him and stuffed them into the old man's hands.

Hearing this, looking at the stack of "vegetable gold" in his hand, the old man really shook his head, and touched the military ticket in his hand in disbelief.

But in the next second, he said embarrassedly:

"Comrade Balu, even if this meal of millet porridge is a little bit of heart I give to my comrades, we can't accept this money. It's not that my old man doesn't want to help, it's just that the food in the family has been snatched away by the two dogs, and the rest is enough for our family of three to barely make ends meet. You see, my son and daughter-in-law were forced to go out to find food. ”

Hearing this, the old ghost also saw the rice jar that had been opened by this family, and there was indeed only a little bit of food in it, which was at most enough for the old couple and the child to have ten days and half a month's rations.

"Old man, is there anyone in your village who has surplus food?"

"No...... This village is full of poor families like me, and the food has long been robbed by the devils. You see, most of the strong laborers in the village have gone out to carry the work, otherwise the family will be cut off next month. ”

Hearing this, the old ghost's face sank. He knew that today seemed to be going to be in vain.

And just when everyone was disheartened, the old woman who was boiling porridge suddenly remembered something.

"Old man...... There are quite a few wealthy families in Yaozhuang in front of you, so why don't you let the comrades go there and ask? ”

Hearing this, the old man first muttered for a few seconds, and then shook his head again.

"What do you know, silly! There is food in this Yaozhuang, but the village is next to the Ergouzi's turret, and there are traitor self-defense forces in the village, how do you let the Eighth Road Comrade go? ”

was scolded by her own man, but the old woman did not flinch. I saw him throw away the water scoop in his hand, walked over and tapped the old man's forehead heavily.

"Old thing, I think you're an old fool! If you can't go to the Eighth Road, you can't help buy some back?! ”

“…… Oh...... Look at me, I can't turn a corner.

Comrade Balu, you wait here, I'll put on the donkey cart and go to Yaozhuang for you to ask. Don't worry, I'll be back in an hour at most! ”

After the words were closed, the old man hurriedly picked up the whip and blanket on the wall, and went straight to the donkey shed when he went out. Not long after, with the help of the old ghost, the old man took out the donkey and got into the car, and then took all the military tickets and went out of the yard.

……

Seeing the old man driving out of the village, the old ghost glanced at the old woman who was boiling porridge, pondered for a moment, and beckoned a soldier over.

"You go back now, tell the detachment commander what happened here, and let him not worry, we will definitely bring food back within an hour."

……

Yaozhuang is a medium-sized village located near the official road, with a population of several hundred.

Compared with the nearby mountain villages, the mountains of Yaozhuang are not as steep as other areas, so the area of arable land near Yaozhuang is also relatively large. Correspondingly, Yaozhuang is also one of the wealthier villages in the nearby ten miles and eight townships.

Since this place was less than five miles away from the village they found, it only took more than twenty minutes for the old man to drive the donkey cart to Yaozhuang.

At this time, in Yaozhuang, in addition to the family of Yao Wenyuan, the richest village head, there were as many as seven or eight larger landlords.

However, for the matter of buying food for the Eighth Route Army, the old man even had a stake, so he did not dare to speak out casually.

In this way, the old man drove around the village, and after thinking about it, he finally came to the courtyard of a family with a distant relative to him, and knocked on the door.

"Hey, isn't this Uncle Zheng, why do you have time to run to our house when you are not at home with your granddaughter at noon."

The young man who was opened the door made a joke, and Old Man Zheng was not angry, but just glanced inside:

"Eldest nephew, where is your father? Inside the house, no? ”

"I'm taking a nap. What's the matter, Uncle Zheng has something to do with my father? ”

Hearing this, he didn't speak, Zheng Laohan first bolted the donkey cart to the wooden stake in front of the door, and then directly pulled the young man to approach the courtyard.

"Go and wake up your father, I'm in a hurry to find him!"

……

A few minutes later, a man who was much richer than Zheng Lao Han lifted the curtain of the back room and walked out with a cigarette pouch and yawning all the way.

"Oh...... Oh....... I said third brother, you don't sleep at home at noon, what are you doing with my wasted food. ”

When the other party said this, Zheng Laohan's face turned slightly red.

After the summer grain harvest, Zheng Laohan's family basically only ate one meal a day after sowing the autumn grain in order to save grain. Therefore, their family usually leaves their son and daughter-in-law to go out to work, and the old couple and granddaughter are all nested at home and do not come out.

However, although he knew that the other party was making fun of himself, Zheng Laohan was just happy.

After glancing outside the house, Zheng Laohan untied his jacket, and then cautiously walked in front of the other party and took out a stack of military tickets.

"Old Five, how much food do you think you can buy with this money?"

The man who was leisurely smoking originally planned to go back to the house to sleep after a few words, but when he saw the military ticket in Zheng Laohan's hand, his eyes widened at that time.

cough cough cough ...... Ahem......

In shock, he breathed a sigh of strength, and the man who was called Lao Wu was immediately choked so red that he almost didn't cough up his lungs .......

“…… Three...... Third brother, where did you get the money from? ”

After a while, the man pushed away his son, who was patting himself on the back, and subconsciously stared at Zheng Laohan and asked curiously. He didn't say the price of food, but first asked about the source of the military ticket.

As a distant relative of Zheng Laohan, Zheng Baokang knows very well how poor his cheap third brother's family is. Just the few acres of barren hillside land of his family, even if he hasn't eaten or drunk for three or five years, he can't earn these vegetable gold!

In his opinion, eighty percent of the other party has found a way to make a fortune!

Hearing this, looking at Zheng Baokang's treacherous expression, Zheng Laohan hesitated, and finally quietly stretched out his right hand and gestured a number.

"Eight...... Eight-way? ”

"Ahem, ahem, ahem......"

Shocked and didn't come up, Zheng Baokang coughed violently again.

"Dad, Dad, are you alright?"

Seeing that his father was coughing heartbreakingly, the young man couldn't help but glared at Old Man Zheng.

"Uncle Zheng, our family has never offended you, why did you push our family into the fire pit.

You don't want to look at what time it is, you still dare to lead the dirt road to your own home, you don't want to live, do you!? ”

"Ahem, ahem...... Close...... Shut up! ”

finally gasped for breath, Zheng Baokang raised his leg and kicked his stupid son.

Stopping his son's endless whining, he stroked his chest a few times, then stood up and looked out of the house.

"Son, you go to the yard for a while, from now on, no one is allowed to put me in the yard!"

"Oh...... but Daddy."

"But, go!"

……

scolded his son, Zheng Baokang closed the door casually, and walked straight to Zheng Laohan.

"Third brother...... have you been to someone else's house before you came to me?"

"Look at what you said, can I ask this kind of thing casually?

Let me tell you, I didn't go anywhere, I went straight to your house. ”

Hearing this, Zheng Baokang hesitated, but in the end he didn't resist the temptation of the stack of military tickets.

However, although he was excited, Zheng Baokang still deliberately said:

"Third brother, you also know that the Japanese have just levied military rations, so the price of this grain is not higher than in previous years, it is very ......."

Seeing that the other party was going to raise the price, Zheng Laohan's face immediately sank, and he was almost about to scold. However, as soon as he remembered the explanation of the Eighth Route Army before leaving, he finally gritted his teeth and endured it.

"I understand what you mean, Lao Wu, although you bid, I will never counteroffer."

…… To be continued, many chapters have been sealed recently, and Hanhai is trying to find a way, hoping that this book will not be harmonized.