Chapter 536: Hiding Underground

In addition to the people in the village who went to repair the river, almost all the remaining laborers rushed over, many daughters-in-law and mothers-in-law were on the scene, and there were tenants and subordinates of the Li family, the Liu family, and the Zhao family, more than 200 people poured in, and immediately filled the people who had been taken away just now, and the foot of Oak Garden Mountain was boiling.

The mountain is boiling, and the mountain is not quiet, through the whistling wind and fire, you can vaguely hear the dog barking and people shouting on the mountain, but you can't hear it clearly. From the bottom of the mountain to the door of Zhang's house, there is more than a mile of winding roads, and there is almost a mile up vertically, which is not far away, but at this moment it is as far as the end of the world.

When the gourd was drinking at the foot of the mountain, the oak garden Zhang Zhai and the chestnut were also running back and forth in the yard, shouting loudly, and together with Zhang Dazhuan and Liu Heizi, he commanded the people to carry things, cut down trees, and dig pits along the well in the backyard vegetable garden.

When the fire was discovered earlier, Chrysanthemum found that it was impossible to escape from all sides, so she quickly arranged for someone to cut down the tree, wanted to empty the yard, and then stuck to the spot.

Who would have thought that it would be easy to cut down a tree, and the person who cut the bamboo had only cut down dozens of bamboos, but the fire had already arrogantly approached the Zhang family's house, and there was not enough time for people to complete the work.

The yard was full of fruit trees and bamboo, and the howling wind made the two-zhang wide separation zone outside the courtyard wall not play any role at all......

She immediately made a decision, calmed the desperate in-laws and panicked subordinates, and asked everyone to dig a pit down the well in the backyard vegetable garden, "Dig a cellar in this empty place, let's hide in it, let it burn, just avoid this time." ”

The entire Zhang Mansion is the emptiest in this place.

The drying field in the second courtyard is also empty, but there are still many peach trees and jujube trees at the door of the house, and once the courtyard is burned, the house collapses. The consequences were also unpredictable, but there was only a back house and an outer courtyard wall, and the well was in the middle of the vegetable garden.

After the fire started, the tap water connected to the bamboo was, of course, cut off. Not only that, but the water level of the well also dropped sharply, and finally it dried up, and I don't know why. Originally, there was no shortage of water on the mountain, and this well was just in case, so it was not dug deep at the beginning.

The huge courtyard was unexpectedly out of water. The heaviness in Chrysanthemum's heart has increased again, and she has to dig even deeper.

Seven or eight men were sweating and digging under the holes, unable to use more because there were not enough hoes and shovels, and two others were dedicated to loading earth.

Zhang Dazhuan and Liu Heizi led a few people to pull up the bamboo basket full of soil with a rope next to the pothole. They gritted their teeth and raised their breath with all their strength, struggling to the point that their faces were hideous, but they didn't dare to relax at all, and when they were soft, they changed to others.

Mrs. said. Don't dig too wide at the entrance, otherwise it will be easy to drift in. That's big enough. Wang Zhong, let them dig to the side. Dig a cave and come out. ”

Liu Heizi shouted loudly below.

Wang Zhong responded loudly from under the hole, which was already more than one zhang wide and two zhang deep.

Around the vegetable garden, Huang Mai Da Lao Chen Tou and a few hired workers are cutting bamboo and sawing fruit trees, trying to expand the vacant land as much as possible. It was also because there weren't so many knives and saws, so I had to have five or six people to do this.

Grape, Xiaoxi, Aunt Liu, Huang Mai Niang and others ran between the front and back yards, going back and forth, constantly carrying clothes, quilts, food and water to the backyard in the same way.

Because she didn't have time to prepare for food, Aunt Liu had to bring over the lotus leaf chicken, duck and rabbit buried last night, as well as all kinds of braised vegetables, and the grapes packed the family's snacks and dried fruits into a few hemp bags. and let the yellow wheat carry a few sacks of raw potatoes and peanuts; Cherries are still cooking ham and sausages in a big pot in the kitchen.

Shallot also packed a large bag of medicine and two jars of spirits, and asked people to move to the backyard.

Chrysanthemum did not participate in the cleanup, but directed back and forth between the front and back yards. She immediately put tens of thousands of taels of silver into her arms, packed the account books at home, and there were still a few hundred taels of gold and more than 10,000 taels of silver and scraps of copper coins in the treasury, and they dug a pit on the spot and buried them deeply. The rest is gone.

He Shi packed a small box of gold and jade jewelry that she had accumulated on weekdays, and then looked at those bed tents, cages, and all kinds of utensils, which one of them wanted to take away, and she couldn't take any of them away, she finally shed tears and cried to the chrysanthemum who had just come in: "What the hell is going on?" Mother hasn't done a bad thing! ”

Chrysanthemum pulled her out and whispered comfort.

As soon as I went out, I saw chestnuts rushing over, panting and asking, "Mother, what should I do with the book?" ”

Chrysanthemum frowned, only hesitated for a moment, and then said to him: "Put the important books against the wall in a box, move them to the pit at the back and bury them, and the others will go with him, and we will buy them later." ”

After hearing this, Chestnut turned around and ran, and called two subordinates with Xiaojing'er, and carried more than one box of books to bury it, but he was still reluctant after all.

Chrysanthemum and He walked down the steps and were about to go to the back garden, when the two looked up and swept the courtyard, and couldn't help but gasp - the fire had already burned to the door. Looking at the back of the east and west wings, there is also a sea of fire.

How much time has this been?

I saw the red pepper rushing over, and shouted in panic at He Shi and Chrysanthemum, "It's burned in." Grandma, mother, the fire is in. ”

Her hair was unkempt, her face was covered with tears, the neckline of her little red cotton jacket was spread out, and the laces of her cotton shoes were not fastened. I was dragged out of bed in a daze, and I put on my clothes haphazardly, where can I care about whether it is good or not.

He hurriedly hugged her and comforted her in a stacked voice: "Don't be afraid of red peppers. I went with my grandmother to the vegetable garden, where there were few trees and the fire could not burn. ”

Chrysanthemum said solemnly: "Mother, you take them to the backyard, take care of a few small ones, and don't come back." Did you hear the red peppers? Don't run around anymore. I'll arrange it and I'll be right over. ”

He hurriedly agreed, pulled the red pepper and trotted to the backyard.

Red Pepper couldn't help but turn around, dragging her crying voice and shouting at Chrysanthemum: "Mother, hurry up!" ”

Chrysanthemum agreed, and ran to the kitchen, still at the door, shouting, "Cherry, don't do it." How much can you bring. ”

In the kitchen, Cherry was busy spreading the cakes, and she thought that there were a few little babies, and she had to make some hot food to bring with them. There was still something boiling in the cauldron, and a daughter-in-law was making a fire under the stove.

She heard the voice of the chrysanthemum, and hurriedly replied, "Madam, it will be good in a while, the ham is not cooked yet." ”

Chrysanthemum said sharply: "Then don't do it." Otherwise, when you're done, the fire will come in. Block the road, you can't go to the backyard if you want to. ”

Cherry listened, nodded hurriedly, and said, "Then I'll load the cake." This ham ......"

The daughter-in-law, who was burning the fire under the stove, hurriedly stood up and said, "The ham has been cut into small pieces." Very easy to cook. It should be fine now, so let's put it up too. ”

The three of them hurriedly loaded their things, then carried two large baskets of steaming food and rushed to the backyard.

After coming out, seeing Aunt Liu hurriedly hugging a few cotton clothes and going to the back, Chrysanthemum asked Grandma Liu and Xiaojing'er to go to the backyard, and then turned around and glanced at the compound. Resolutely turned his head and left.

When they arrived at the vegetable garden and counted all the people, the little children stayed by the well, ready to avoid entering the hole.

The men were still nervously digging cellars, clearing the soil, and cutting down trees; Aunt Liu, He's, Grape and other women didn't dare to be idle, helping to drag away the felled trees and bamboo. But the work was soon not done, for the fire had already burned into the courtyard.

"Uncle Chen, don't cut it. Let them come. Bulldoze the earth and cover the grass over there. Chrysanthemum saw that there was a fire in the yard, so she told Lao Chen to stop doing useless work.

A few words of work. The courtyard became a sea of fire, and the bamboo and fruit forests were burned, and only their group was trapped in the vegetable field in the center of the fire.

Oh, and five dogs. The Rhubarb family was next to the chestnut brothers and sisters, whimpering in a low voice, refusing to leave half a step.

Chrysanthemum looked at the fierce flames, and felt heartbroken and dizzy. Pain in the lower abdomen. She hurriedly sat down on a pile of quilts, took two deep breaths, and tried to calm the fear in her heart.

Shallots and red peppers stood beside her, shivering, not knowing whether it was cold or fearful; Grandma Liu also sat on a small bench, holding the potato with her dry hands. The expression is still indifferent.

Seeing that Chrysanthemum's face was wrong, Shallot hurriedly stepped forward and asked, "Mother, are you uncomfortable?" "As he spoke, he had to take her pulse.

Chrysanthemum pushed her away with a wry smile, saying that her panicked head was a little dizzy, and it would be good to rest.

If there were no accidents, she should be pregnant.

If it was normal, this would be a great joy, but at this moment, she didn't dare to tell anyone about it, for fear that everyone would be even more confused when they heard it.

In the pit below, Liu Heizi struggled to dig with a hoe, and at the same time felt remorse in his heart.

At night, he went to bed late, and soon after he fell asleep, he heard the big yellow dog bark wildly. He thought something was wrong, so he got up and looked around, but found nothing unusual, and scolded Rhubarb and his two dog sons in a low voice, and then went into the house to sleep.

After a while, I listened to the yellow dog still barking after falling asleep, and the two dogs raised by Huang Mai in the backyard also kept barking. He felt that there was something unusual tonight, so he got up again, only to find that the oak garden was on fire on all sides, and Zhang Dazhuan and Huang Mai were also alarmed by the dogs, and hurriedly dressed and came to the yard.

If he had found the fire when he first got up, would they have been able to run down the hill?

No one could answer him.

There were more than a dozen fungus fields in the woods, and more than 100 hired workers lived, and there was a cry for help, except for Wang Zhong and his people who rushed into the Zhang family's house to pick them up, the rest all fled for their lives, but whether they could escape or not, only God knows.

Chrysanthemum leaned on the quilt to rest for a while, seeing that the fire was too fierce, the flames blown by the wind were fluctuating, and after a long time, even if they were in the middle of the open vegetable field, they would be affected by the fire, after all, they were wearing cotton clothes, and there were cotton wool and other cold-proof things at their feet.

"Go down! Chestnut, you and Xiaojing'er take your younger brothers and sisters down first. Huang Mai, you carry Grandma Liu on your back, and then carry these things down to eat. Mother, you are also ready to go down. ”

Chrysanthemum didn't dare to wait any longer, and told the old and weak women and children to go down to the pit first.

Zhang Dazhuan also shouted at the top: "It's not small, let them come down first." Anyway, if we keep digging, it won't get in the way. ”

He also saw that the fire was pressing, and he didn't dare to let the old and young stay on it.

56 looks (one second to remember 56" 56xs)