Chapter 53 Robbery
The sun sets, and the afterglow is like gold. The sky is dyed orange-red, brilliant and warm. The sun gradually sets, and the afterglow shines on the thatched grass on the river bank, making the withered yellow thatch appear golden. The river surface sparkles like rhinestones, which is very dazzling.
The cows and mules were washed clean by their owners at the riverside, given enough water to drink, fed with grass and rested.
The rested oxen and mules were harnessed to the carriages and headed for Changqing Village. People took turns to work and rest, and the animals also took turns to work and rest.
Empty wooden barrels were stacked on top of each other, empty wooden basins were stacked on top of each other. Zhao Zhuang was driving his own ox cart, and Zhao the Butcher was sitting next to him, puffing on his pipe.
Lin Yougui and Lin Youxiang sat by the door of the carriage, the four of them chatting casually. Their faces were filled with smiles, as they were about to harvest rations to make up for the food shortage.
There was not much food left in each household, and they had to live by counting the grains of food they had, eating porridge and dried vegetables and drinking only water to fill their stomachs.
As the sky gradually darkened, several figures jumped out from the bushes by the roadside, holding sticks and kitchen knives.
Zhao Zhuang hurriedly tightened the rope, and the people in the car almost flew out. Fortunately, they reacted quickly and grabbed the car to stabilize their bodies.
Butcher Zhao was furious and started to yell, "Which bastard is walking without eyes? Your eyeballs are useless in their sockets. I'll dig them out and throw them on the ground. Then you can step on them and hear the noise!"
The brothers Lin Yougui and Lin Youxiang looked at the people standing still with weapons in front of the ox cart, and quickly picked up the hatchets and axes from the carriage, held them tightly in their hands, and came out of the carriage and stood.
Zhao Zhuang roared: "The knife has no eyes, everyone think carefully! There are more than a few of us!"
"Leave the ox cart to me and I will spare your lives!" One of the tall and thin men raised a knife, shook his legs, and said to the four people in the cart.
"Hurry up! Otherwise we won't be polite!!!" The tall and thin man next to them was holding a sharpened wooden stick and pointing at the four people in the car.
Lin Yougui lowered his voice and said to the three people: "There are 11 of them! I have a whistle!"
Lin Youxiang whispered, "Don't hurt the cow! Call someone!"
"What a bunch of blind things! A good dog doesn't block the road! Get out of my way!" Butcher Zhao drew out the butcher knife from his waist, got out of the car and walked towards Niutou with it held high.
Zhao Zhuang quickly drew out the butcher knife from his waist and followed his father.
Lin Yougui was just about to blow the whistle when he heard the sound of hooves clattering from the opposite side, coming from far away and gradually getting closer, mixed with the voices of people talking and laughing.
Lin Youxiang's eyes lit up and he shouted at the top of his voice: "Awang! Big Bull! They are trying to steal our ox cart!"
Awang was driving the car which was more than 100 meters away. “What? A bullock cart? We are driving a mule cart!!!”
"Brother Yougui!!! What's wrong?!" Tian Daniu noticed something was wrong.
Shen Jingfu narrowed his eyes and took a look. "Oh no, I'm afraid we've been robbed!"
Lin Youfeng clenched the knife in his hand, "%￥＃@￥＃%＃%!!! How dare you rob us! We are not vegetarians!!"
Lin Yougui thought that the opposite carriage must be full of slurry. The car was not moving fast, and it would be too painful if it spilled! He blew the whistle immediately, and blew it as hard as he could!!!
The loud whistle sounded through the sky! The riverbank where we landed was only a thousand meters away from Changqing Village, and the ox cart was right between the two places.
When the young and middle-aged men on duty at the settlement heard the noise, they immediately picked up their weapons and rushed to the official road.
Lin Youcai came back from the city and reminded everyone that they should be afraid of refugees and locals. Everyone sharpened their knives and prepared, because if you don't hurt others, they will hurt us!
If there are more people on the other side, just blow the whistle for help quickly. The two places are not far away and can be heard.
As expected, they had probably been watching them for a long time, waiting for dark to strike. There were too many people where they were staying, so they couldn't do it. They were worried that they would stop driving when it got dark, so they couldn't help but rob people on the road as soon as it started to get dark.
The 11 robbers heard someone coming from behind, and they blew their whistles again, and they panicked instantly.
I might as well go all out. Since I have already robbed someone, I might as well deal with the four people in front of me first, steal the ox cart, and drive away.
The tall and thin man raised his hand and shouted, "Charge! Grab the car and run away!!!"
11 people rushed over holding wooden sticks and kitchen knives!
Butcher Zhao stood firmly, raised the butcher knife and pointed it at the person who was rushing towards him. With one slash, blood splattered everywhere. The person's head rolled and rolled like a ball, and rolled to the side of the road, with his eyes wide open.
Blood was oozing out of his neck and his tall and thin body was twitching.
Both sides were stunned by this sudden scene!
At the end of October, the temperature is getting cooler, still more than ten degrees during the day and in the single digits in the morning and evening.
At the landing place on the river bank, everyone was busy and sweating profusely.
More than twenty women were rinsing and filtering the acorn pulp. They rinsed the pulp repeatedly, their clothes were soaked, and they didn't care at all.
Those who fetch water, carry water, pour water, collect firewood and prepare the fire, each has his own job and no one is idle.
Lin Zisu wiped the sweat off her head and handed the spatula to Xia Tao to continue stirring the rinsed pulp in the pot. "Slow down the heat! Sister Qiuyue, don't turn up the heat. If it's too dry, add some water. If it's too dry, the acorn tofu won't taste so tender."
Lin Qiuyue: “I know.”
Lin Zisu got in the car and took off her coat, then took off the thin sweater that her mother had altered for her, put on her coat and got out of the car. The weather was cool in the morning and evening, but she didn't feel cold at all when she was working.
In the morning, Lin Zisu took a small bucket of acorn slurry, rinsed, filtered, and settled it for a few hours in the afternoon, and then started to cook it in the pot.
Looking at the amount of water used, Lin Xianwen decided to settle down near the river for convenient water use. Otherwise, no well could handle such a large amount of water.
People and livestock use a lot of water, not to mention the water used for soaking and washing acorn kernels and rinsing and filtering the slurry.
Looking at his sister getting off the car and walking towards him, Lin Xianwen leaned over and muttered, "Fortunately, it was just a man-made disaster, not a natural disaster."
Lin Zisu nodded: "If natural disasters and man-made disasters come together, there is really no way to survive. There are so many of us, I am afraid most of them will die on the way. However, escaping from this man-made disaster is not much better."
Lin Xianwen: "That's much better! At least we have water to drink and use, and occasionally we can dig up wild onions and vegetables, pick wild fruits, and collect acorns. If there is a natural disaster, we will die, and the whole army will be wiped out, and only a few people will survive. If there is a flood, everything will be washed away, and it will be the same. We have had a smooth journey this way. If there is a natural disaster, it will not be safe for thousands of people to travel. Our own people will rob each other!"
Lin Zisu sighed, "That's right! It's so hard to live! Now I have acorn powder, which will last me for a while. It would be great if I can encounter an acorn forest on the road ahead."
Lin Xianwen: "Winter is coming! The situation is not optimistic!"
Lin Zisu: "Take one step at a time, see what happens next. There's no point in overthinking."
"Zi Su, do you think it's done?" Xia Tao called Lin Zi Su to come over and take a look at the pot.
"Here it comes." Lin Zisu took the spatula and stirred it. The light brown slurry had turned dark brown and was very viscous. "Okay, wet the basin with some water, pour them into the basin, and let them cool down and become a lump." You can wet the basin with water or apply oil, the purpose is to prevent the basin from sticking. Oil is too rare and too expensive, so you must wet the basin with water.
Seeing the acorn slurry cooked and scooped into the basin, she was very pleased! After a few days of hard work, she could finally eat acorn tofu.
Just as we were feeling happy, we heard exclamations from the official road.