The night was dark, and Qiao Xiaojing went out of the village alone.

The river at the edge of the village rises and falls like ink-blackened silk, lapping against the old stone bridge.

Qiao Xiaojing on the bridge couldn't help but stop, and subconsciously looked at the big stone in the middle of the river, the dark night enveloped everything, looking around, there was chaos between heaven and earth, and it was completely empty and black.

But Qiao Xiaojing felt that her eyes seemed to be through this darkness, and the tall and pointed stone was clearly visible, and on the stone lay a young man, staring at herself with bright eyes, with a bright smile on his face full of dirt. He is my younger brother, although he is not related to me by blood. The inexplicable thought was like a long thorn that went straight into Qiao Xiaojing's heart.

How incredible, a child who symbolizes shame and betrayal has become my younger brother!

This child was neither born to my own mother nor raised by my biological father, but I have to admit that he is my younger brother. It's all because of that monster stepfather who was depraved, shameless, and ruined my life's happiness.

O iniquity, shameless sinner, let the innocent suffer like purgatory.

A cool breeze hit, Qiao Xiaojing woke up as if in a dream, she convulsed, hung the burden that had slipped on her arm and wrist again, and hurriedly walked forward. Alone, she walked in a hurry, like a lonely goose anxiously looking for a flock of geese. A lonely figure walked through the poor mountains, and the dark mountains receded and gradually disappeared into the night.

The sky was slightly bright, Qiao Xiaojing walked into an alley paved with bluestone slabs, and from time to time there was a dog barking, which became more and more quiet. At the end of the bluestone alley, turn right and you will come to the gathering area of the hawkers, on both sides of the road are all kinds of platforms of different heights, the platforms are covered with canvas, which is the place where the hawkers do business during the day.

Qiao Xiaojing looked back and forth, left and right as she walked, looking cautious.

Passing through the gathering area of the hawkers, and then turning left, about ten meters or so, there is an inconspicuous storefront, above which hangs a horizontal plaque of "Sai Xi Shi Tofu Workshop", where Qiao Xiaojing works is in the backyard of this tofu factory.

Qiao Xiaojing did not stop when she walked to the "Tofu Workshop", but walked forward as always, came to the corner, secretly observed the movements around her, and after making sure that there was no abnormal situation, she walked to the door of the "Tofu Workshop" again.

Qiao Xiaojing's knock on the door was very rhythmic, first three times, then two times, with a slight pause in the middle.

Soon the people in the store took off a door panel, and a woman who looked like a mother-in-law poked out half of her head, looked left and right, whispered hello to Qiao Xiaojing, and took off another door panel, Qiao Xiaojing entered the "Tofu Workshop", and the door panel closed again.

Judging from the name of the tofu shop alone, many people may think that there must be a beautiful girl here, but in fact, the woman who looks like a mother-in-law is the owner of this tofu factory, she has been running the tofu shop here for almost 20 years and has a high reputation.

She, the so-called "Sai Xi Shi", inevitably disappointed people who saw her for the first time, and heard from the neighbors that this woman was indeed as beautiful as a flower when she was young, and she was as beautiful as Xi Shi.

The woman inserted the door panel and entered the room on the right next to the door.

Qiao Xiaojing walked to the left side of the courtyard, came to a room with broken doors and walls, pushed open the door, and then a dull "creak" sounded. There are a lot of miscellaneous items piled up in the room, and you can see that it is a utility room at a glance.

The room is not well lit, and it is dark and dull. There were many dry branches for burning on the ground, a willow frame hanging on the beam, a plow hanging on the wall, and near the corner there were two pairs of oxen ploughing the land, a cow spoon for pulling carts, and a grinding disc for making tofu. Next to the wall was a somewhat old black cabinet, which was very ordinary, with a torn quilt with exposed cotton and a few torn clothes, and the rest was the dust that had not been cleaned up for many years.

There are many ordinary people's homes with such cabinets, and many families also have such utility rooms, and the furnishings of this utility room make it difficult for people not to make the judgment that the owner of this household is an authentic farmer. If you really think so, then it's really wrong, Qiao Xiaojing and they just used this ordinary cabinet and this ordinary utility room to make a fuss.

Xuanji was in the old black cabinet placed next to the wall, Qiao Xiaojing walked around the utility room, stood in front of the window and observed the situation outside, everything was normal as before, she closed the door. I walked over to the cabinet and gently moved it away, and a bright light shone into the utility room.

It turned out that there was a small hole in the back of the cabinet, about one meter high and about seventy centimeters wide, which could be used for people to bow in and out.

I have to admire Qiao Xiaojing's wisdom, they are simply a bunch of geniuses!

Qiao Xiaojing hunched over the small hole, and used the handle behind the cabinet to pull the cabinet back again, clinging to the wall. On the other side of the hole is an abandoned wooden cart board, which happens to block the hole.

When I came to the other side of the cave, I saw a completely different world, with a larger courtyard. This courtyard is boxy, except for the utility room, the other three sides are covered with houses, six houses on each side, a total of eighteen houses, the doors and windows are the same size, the style is the same, the whole courtyard appears very neat and unified.

"Sister Cuiyu, Sister Cuiyu, hurry up and come out, there are distinguished guests visiting. Ah Zi heard movement in the yard, hurriedly got dressed, and when Qiao Xiaojing came back, she was overjoyed, and called out to Jade who was still asleep.

Before Cuiyu went out, Qiao Xiaojing and Ah Zi had already come to Cuiyu's room, and the three of them were silent and hugged each other tightly.

The three of them exchanged pleasantries, and the conversation got to the point.

Qiao Xiaojing told Cuiyu and Ah Zi about what they saw and heard when they returned home, and finally the focus fell on Qiao Shuangxi's proposal to form a guerrilla team, and comprehensively described the content of the conversation in the back mountain of Qiaojia Village, and talked about some ideas.

"Great, great!" Ah Zi was very excited when he heard that the team was going to grow.

"This is indeed an unexpected harvest, so that our work of preserving food in the autumn is even more powerful. Even Jade, who had always been sensible, was excited, and when she spoke, she clenched her fists tightly, looking very confident.

The three sisters sat on the edge of the bed and discussed the food, housing, military training, and political quality education of the new personnel, and the process was very harmonious. Just as the three sisters were laughing and laughing, Dazhi and the big man walked in.

"You've arrived just in time, and there's a task for you two to complete. After a brief greeting to each other, Qiao Xiaojing explained the work tasks to Dazhi and the big man in a serious manner.

"What?" said Dazhi and the big man almost in unison.

Qiao Xiaojing talked about the idea of forming a guerrilla squad and the specific implementation methods again, and after listening to Qiao Xiaojing's words, Dazhi and the big man reacted exactly the same as Cuiyu and Ah Zi.

"We must do a good job in all aspects of the new recruits in advance, so that they can adapt to our lives, improve their military and political qualities, and improve their revolutionary combat effectiveness as soon as possible, so as to make positive and greater contributions to our work of ensuring grain in the coming autumn. Qiao Xiaojing had a serious expression.

"How big are the new players, when will they be able to report here?" the big man was anxious.

These questions need to be answered by another person. Qiao Xiaojing also had similar doubts in her heart.

"Who?" Ah Zi also questioned.

"We negotiated a meeting outside the city at three o'clock in the morning in three days' time, and by that time we would have exact information on how many people were, how to get into the city, who would be responsible for answering them, and all the problems would be solved. Qiao Xiaojing was full of confidence in the formation of a guerrilla squad and believed in Qiao Shuangxi.

"I'll have news in three days, I'm really looking forward to it. Dazhi smiled so that his eyes became a slit.

Seeing Dazhi's expression, everyone also laughed.

"Get down to business. Qiao Xiaojing continued, "In the past two days, we will clean up the empty house and prepare for the new team members." Three days later, Dazhi and the eldest man went with me to see Qiao Shuangxi. ”

"What about the two of us?" Jade didn't want to be idle.

Before Qiao Xiaojing opened her mouth, Dazhi and the big man seemed to have colluded in advance, and said in unison: "Clean." ”

Cuiyu and Ah Zi glared fiercely at Dazhi and the big man with a hippie smile, looking very angry.

"There's really nothing else for you to do, but you can't be idle, so let's clean up, which is also your strength. Qiao Xiaojing deliberately put away her smile and pretended to be serious.

Although Cuiyu and Ah Zi were a little reluctant, they still accepted the order.

Dazhi and the big man pouted and laughed when they saw Cuiyu and Ah Zi, Qiao Xiaojing really couldn't hold it anymore, and laughed out loud. Jade and Zi laughed too, and the small room was filled with laughter once again.

"Once the new team members arrive, you two must be careful, and we must do a good job in their military skills training, which must be scientific and reasonable, but also close to actual combat, and train combat effectiveness as soon as possible My requirements are very simple, the people you train must not only have the ability to fight alone, but also have the ability to fight together, and wield their energy to the maximum as much as possible. Qiao Xiaojing made a request to Dazhi and the big man.

"What about us?" Jade was eager for a satisfactory answer.

"Won't it still be cleaning?" Ah Zi was worried that he would continue to do things that were not technical at all.

"It's still Ah Zi smart. Qiao Xiaojing said with a smile.

"Ahh

"Just kidding, you two have a big mission, how can you always let you clean up?" Qiao Xiaojing came between Cuiyu and Ah Zi, put her arms on their shoulders, and said with a smile, "You two are responsible for strengthening the political literacy and consciousness of the new team members, so that they know who to fight for, which is much more difficult than simply going into battle to kill the enemy, and of course it is more important." ”

Cuiyu and Ah Zi received the task and applauded excitedly.

Two days passed in the chatter of Dazhi and the big man, Qiao Xiaojing took Dazhi and the big man to disguise themselves as farmers from the countryside to sell things in the city, and went out of the city with willow frames, flat shoulders and hemp ropes respectively.

They arrived outside the city early and squatted in a forest waiting for Qiao Shuangxi's arrival.

On this night, the bright moonlight hung above their heads like a clean mirror, and the dappled light was scattered on the ground through the dense branches, like a flickering lamp, and the world in front of them was extremely beautiful.

The hand of time just pointed to 2:45 in the morning, and suddenly a person wearing a black cloak appeared in front of Qiao Xiaojing and them, because the cloak blocked the light, Qiao Xiaojing and they couldn't tell if the person in front of them was Qiao Shuangxi.

Blown by the wind, the black cloak swayed up and down, like a storyteller's mouth.

The air in the forest suddenly became tense.