Chapter 3: Morning Dew

"Interest, what interest?" Cheng Mingzhen was stunned for a moment when he was asked, and immediately realized that the old man regarded the grain he had just given them as a loan shark, smiled, and added with a pleasant face, "Forget it, give it to you, no interest."

"Okay, good man......" When the old man heard that the food was given away for nothing, instead of taking advantage of the joy in his eyes, he became more and more frightened. The rest of the people who were waiting for the decimeter to be put into the pot didn't dare to move, and they looked at Cheng Mingzhen with their eyes full of confusion.

"What's wrong?" Cheng Mingzhen was a little impatient, frowned and asked, "If you have something to say, don't be a mother-in-law!" ”

"Can a good man, can you leave a name?" The old man swallowed his saliva fiercely and asked with a heartfelt voice. "If the good man leaves his name, I will burn incense and pray for the good man during the New Year's festival in the future!"

"Forget it, forget it! What harvest can you have, you men! Cheng Mingzhen was tired of the old verbosity, but also moved by the loyalty of the other party. Degree. A thousand catties of grain, which sounds like a lot, is distributed to these homeless people, and each person is less than a catty. Even if you boil porridge and eat one or two a day, at most it will last for ten days, which is really a drop in the bucket. But it is this drop of grace, but the other party still does not want to take it in vain, and always tries to give something in return, in order to prove that he has not completely become a beggar.

"If you don't get in the way, you're repaying. Get out of the way, you're still in a hurry! Zhang Jin looked impatient from the sidelines, and rushed forward to reprimand in a low voice.

The old man was taken aback by his vicious words, and he didn't dare to insist anymore, so he stood up, patted the soil off his knees, and then stretched to the ground, "The old man's surname is Liu, and he is the patriarch of this group, and he can't thank him for his great kindness." Degree. If the good man has a place for us in the future, just send someone back to say hello! ”

"Let's go, let's go, let's go, it's so long-winded!" Several guards drove away like flies.

The old man was pushed and shoved to the side of the road, and the brigade passed through the dead city and continued on his way. Until it was more than two miles away from the city, occasionally people turned back, but now the old man still led the homeless people to stand on the side of the road, looking at the backs of everyone and making frequent moves.

"He's a rare real man!" Duan Qing held back his emotions in his heart, chased after Cheng Mingzhen, and praised in a low voice.

"He is a man with half of his neck buried in the loess, if he is not real, can so many people listen to him?" Cheng Mingzhen took a long breath and responded in a low voice. Degree.

He had been thinking about it just now. There are white bones everywhere along the way, but there are still thousands of homeless people gathered in the deserted city of Luoshui County. Supporting each other in their struggles to survive. This probably has a lot to do with the old way of doing things. It's like marching to war, with one soldier and one bear. To take the lead is to follow the banner, and the cleaner the banner, the stronger the cohesion. I have always received a little favor from myself, a passing bandit, and I always want to repay it. Whatever the rest of the people do for him, he will surely reciprocate. Following behind such a person who is solemn and upright, and knows how to repay his kindness, those homeless people themselves feel relieved.

"That's right!" Duan Qing thought about it, and quickly understood the meaning of Cheng Mingzhen's words. He is also a government official in Guantao County, and he understands in his heart how much of a political character has a great impact on the following. Morality is an ethereal thing, but in fact it has a silent power. An honest and self-reliant official, even if he does not do anything, will be peaceful under his rule. And when a morally corrupt guy becomes an official, the people are unlucky. Not only did he have to scrape the ground, but even the small officials and officials under his command were also working up and down, plucking the feathers of the geese. Soon the place will be ruined.

"What about being honest and honest? In this world, good people are not rewarded, and disasters live for 10,000 years! If the Thousand Ten people don't steal or rob, what do they live on? Zhang Jin didn't think that those homeless people could end up with any good results after the old man, they lacked food and clothing, and they didn't have the courage to take risks like this, and they would starve to death sooner or later.

When it comes to how to survive in a difficult situation, the surrounding atmosphere immediately comes alive. Several guards pursed their lips and retorted, "Don't worry, as long as no one belittles them, they will definitely not starve themselves to death." Right now, you can eat elm money, bitter pockmarks, and cabbage. After a few days, the mountain cloves, mushrooms, and yellow flowers also came down. If you are quick with your hands and feet, you can also pick up long-legged whites, big-eyed thieves, hares or something at night to replenish some meat. As long as you can survive until autumn, the crops in the field will be able to harvest a stubble. Not only is there enough to eat, but you may also be able to leave seeds for next year! ”

"If you dig a rat hole, you can dig up some wild grain!"

"If it's me, I'll catch fish with a net. There was no one nearby, and there must have been a lot of fish in the river. Part of it was eaten by itself, and part of it was dried for the winter! ”

Zhang Jin was attacked by a crowd, and couldn't help but feel a little annoyed in his heart, waved his hand, and said with a sneer: "Go, go, go, it's not about how you live." We can use these methods, can they use them? There are a lot of crops planted in the fields, but when they harvest them, which is their turn to eat? Zhang Da is not in charge? Don't stare at the big and small dreadlocks around? Today, I met us, and I changed to other heroes who passed by, and I am afraid that even the dried wild vegetables were taken away! ”

Everyone felt a chill in their hearts, sighed, and closed their mouths. Although Zhang Jin's words sounded annoying, they were not wrong at all. If there is no Juluze nearby, there are no Dog Mountain and Purple Mountain, which are claimed to be under the command of Juluze, but they are a group of big and small dreadlocks, Liu Laohan and others may still have a way out. But at present, Hebei Province is full of bandits, and the Jinzi camp can't look down on the little food in the hands of the homeless, which doesn't mean that others can't look down on it. A casual handpiece passed by, and the last hope of survival for Liu Laohan and others was extinguished.

The atmosphere around him immediately became solemn again. Part of it is due to pity for the weak, and part part is the fear of its own survival. Those who are around Cheng Mingzhen and Du Juan are their absolute henchmen. I know why the Seven Masters and the Nine Masters came out this time, and I also know that the connection between Jinziying and Julu Ze will be torn off sooner or later.

The surroundings are so barren, and the strength of the Jinzi Battalion is so weak. They are like a lonely goose that has left a flock, not knowing how far they can fly in the end and where they are going to fly.

In contemplation, everyone moved forward silently. Along the way, we passed several abandoned villages, either completely empty, or the people inside were so frightened that they hid in advance, leaving only a pile of old and dilapidated adobe houses. Occasionally, a few people who couldn't escape were scared and fell to the ground begging for mercy. Just looking at the clothes on their bodies, everyone knew that there was no oil and water to scrape, so they gave them a little food and let them escape.

The next morning, not long after they left camp, they saw another city. The city walls and enemy towers look newer than those of the city, and the official roads outside the city are relatively smooth. It's just that there are still not many people inside, only one after another dry bones that have long been blackened.

The city is called Ping'en, and Cheng Mingzhen is familiar with it. For a long time before going to Guantao, he lived here with his mother. Zhang Jin claimed to have broken through it, singled out the young woman who looked Zhouzheng, and cut down all the remaining captives. Cheng Mingzhen ran fast at that time, so he escaped with his mother behind his back. Degree.

Revisiting the old place, he didn't know whether he should be happy or sad. Ping'en County is his hometown, and his family still has a few acres of thin fields here. But the bandits destroyed the place, turning it into a grave completely. And now he is one of the destruction. Spread the tragedy that once happened to you to others without any mistakes. If he doesn't, destruction awaits him. It's like a nightmare, falling deeper and deeper, getting more and more desperate, and not knowing how to wake up.

"Let's go, Qingzhang is better than this, when Ermao was stationed there last time, I saw a few Zhuangzi with people nearby!" Duan Qing was overwhelmed by the empty houses on both sides of the road, chased after Cheng Mingzhen, and urged in a low voice.

"This place is actually quite lively!" Cheng Mingzhen's gaze withdrew from a shop and grinned in response. Look at the doorman's face, it was supposed to be a cloth shop. The goods inside have all been emptied, and next to the two rotten stools, there is a half-hung calculation chip and a black inkstone. There was also a pile of gray-white mud pressed next to the inkstone, which was probably the residue of the ledger.

"He***, this hellish place is really panicked!" Han Gesheng also stepped forward, hoping that Cheng Mingzhen could lead everyone to leave as soon as possible. The whole of Ping'en County is a dead city, and everything stays at the moment of destruction. In broad daylight, the wind blows through the streets with a crying sound. At night, there is no guarantee that the souls will rise from their bones and continue their business.

Leave all the unpleasant memories behind you, forget the tragedy as soon as possible, and out of sight. It's a good idea, at least to make your mood feel better for a while. But Cheng Mingzhen suddenly took the mount near the county office. "Let's set up camp here, tell the brothers, find a house near the county government to rest, and carry out all the bones of the dead that we can see out of the city and bury them!"

"What?" Even Du Juan, who had never participated in the debate, was taken aback by Cheng Mingzhen's decision, turned around, and asked in surprise.

She didn't mean to question her husband's decision, but she couldn't imagine how the living could rest among the bones of the dead. The houses in Ping'en County are indeed relatively neat, but they are all inhabited by the dead, and the living are here, and it is inevitable that they will be adversely affected.

"This place is between Lishui and Qingzhang, and controlling one city is equivalent to controlling the other two cities!" Cheng Mingzhen jumped off his mount, handed the reins to the guards, and slowly stepped onto the steps of the county office. There were two skeletons at the door, as if the ghosts had left behind to guard. He pulled it with his boot, and it immediately shattered into powder. The hidden gate was in disrepair, and there was a shrill moan when pushed, but it could still be pushed open, and it barely functioned as a gate.

"What the hell are you going to do?" Du Juan was panicked by Cheng Mingzhen's headless and brainless actions, caught up, pulled the corner of his clothes and asked.

"I want to stay here!" Cheng Mingzhen looked at her, and the smile on his face was very heavy. The deserted villages, the dead cities, and the numb outcasts, the loyal old, the things he saw these days, fluttered before his eyes repeatedly. "I'll be the county magistrate myself, and we'll support ourselves!"

Note 1: Mountain clove, i.e. wild begonia fruit. Slightly bitter and edible. Long-legged whites, i.e. frogs. Big-eyed thief, scientific name hamster. The above are all wild animals and plants in Hebei and can be eaten.

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