A few hours later, Wu Ming, who was curled up in a stone pit on the hillside, suddenly woke up, subconsciously picked up his rifle and looked around nervously, and finally looked at the sun that was on the west side, then he realized that he had been sleeping for a long time. He remembered that he had a nightmare just now, dreaming that he was surrounded by many officers and soldiers.

Wu Ming breathed a sigh of relief, lowered his gun and lay on his back on the wall of the pit, rubbed his stubborn eyes and tight face repeatedly, licked his dry lips, and hesitated for a moment and reached out to pull a strong grass root and chewed it slowly. Finally, he looked at the clouds slowly moving north in the sky, staring blankly.

A faint voice of conversation came from afar from the ferry at the foot of the mountain, with panic and nervousness in his tone, as if he contained a sense of gloating.

Wu Ming stood up, quietly lay on the wall of the pit to observe, listening carefully to the conversation between the shipboard and the old man on the other side of the straitor, but he could only hear a few words such as "the dead of the Chen family", "the strong man was fierce".

The small wooden boat leaned on the simple pier of the ferry. The shipman lifted the fish basket and got out of the boat. He tightened the cable and tied the boat to the wooden stakes on the shore. He walked back to the town with the old man who was waiting with the scalper. The two of them talked excitedly while walking.

The sound went away, and the wide ferry crossing returned to calm. There was no figure in the field of view. The river flowed silently, and the plants and trees on both sides kept swaying in the breeze, revealing a desolate atmosphere everywhere.

Wu Ming touched his croaking belly, looked at the old bamboo tray lying on the pebble beach downstream, thought for a moment and began to act, untied his legs and hit it again, checked the weapon in an orderly manner, tightened his belt, took a deep breath and jumped out of the stone pit, walked down the mountain to the riverside, turned over the old bamboo tray on the river beach and carefully inspected it. Seeing that the bamboo tray was quite solid, he immediately dragged the bamboo tray into the river, picked up the support pole and quickly paddled towards the center of the river.

The swaying bamboo strips gradually landed in the water flow, and the shore location was more than a thousand meters away from the upper Dongdukou. No one paid attention to this barren section of the river. Wu Ming dragged the bamboo strips to the river beach and left immediately, and continued to travel along Henan with the help of grass and trees.

Turning around a bamboo forest behind the mountain, Wu Ming stopped vigilantly: a little girl about ten years old with barefoot was looking at Wu Ming, who was full of hair and beard in horror.

Wu Ming looked at the little girl wearing thin clothes and holding a bamboo basket. Just as he was about to squeeze out a smile to say hello, the little girl suddenly threw down the bamboo basket and ran back like a flying ball. In a blink of an eye, she disappeared on the edge of the forest ahead. After a while, she heard the frightened cry.

Wu Ming glanced around, stepped forward and helped up the falling bamboo basket, put the vegetables scattered on the ground back, patted the dead grass and dust stuck to the military cotton jacket, tightened the rifle strap, and lifted the bamboo basket and strode towards the direction the little girl disappeared.

After turning a small forest, several mud-walled thatched houses came into view. In front of the room, a middle-aged man and two teenagers held their hoes and hatchets tightly.

On the stone threshold, two old and haggard old men, a man and a woman, stood on the terrified young girl. The little girl who had just been frightened was leaning tightly in the old lady's arms. Everyone stared at Wu Ming who had stopped, and the strong panic expression could not be concealed in her eyes.

Wu Ming raised the bamboo basket full of vegetables in his hand: "I just checked here and happened to meet your little girl. I guess she was scared and ran away without taking the vegetable basket."

When the three men saw Wu Ming's gentle expression, they listened to his local accent and looked at each other for a moment, then lowered the hoe and hatchet in their hands one after another. The two old men on the threshold also showed relief smiles.

The middle-aged man took two steps forward and looked at Wu Ming in military uniform and was very puzzled: "This boss, have you withdrawn the team and returned to the county town? Why are you..."

"That's right, the team was withdrawn, but the commander ordered us to search along the river beach again. If we didn't see the strong man who killed last night, we would go back to the city. As a soldier, I can only do it. As a result, at this time, I didn't know that there were people behind this landblock that was leaning against the river. I came by chance. I'm sorry!" Wu Ming smiled apologetically again.

After hearing Wu Ming's polite explanation, a group of people apologized. They didn't know what to do, but the father on the threshold was brave: "Boss, I heard that the accent is also our locals? If you don't dislike it, go to the house and drink some water before leaving. Inspiration, when will you still carry that rotten hoe?"

Upon hearing this, the middle-aged man quickly threw the hoe aside, stepped forward a few steps forward to take the bamboo basket from Wu Ming's hand, and politely called him to sit in the house. Wu Ming, who was so hungry, was not polite, and whispered thanks and accepted it calmly, entering the hut with a humble manner from the family.

"Boss, you sit here, oh, the house is broken and you're neglecting the distinguished guests." The middle-aged man with patches on his clothes brought a straw futon with both hands and placed it respectfully by the central fire pit. Hearing Wu Ming's habitual thanks, he became even more frightened.

Wu Ming leaned the spear against the wall, took off the cotton coat and the small bag around his waist, put it on the bench beside him, returned to the middle-aged man, took a large bowl of hot water handed over by the old lady and apologized: "Thank you, old man, I've been away for most of the day and I'm hungry. Do you have any food at home? Anything you can fill your stomach with is OK!"

The family standing by the fire pit was stunned. The old lady nodded slightly and turned to the inner room. The father greeted him with an awkward smile: "There is something to eat and something to eat! The old lady went to do it. You can do it by smoking a cigarette. The boss please sit down and roast the fire. This season is the late spring cold. There is still frost in the fields these two mornings."

Wu Ming sat down with confidence, Wan Xie's long cigarette pole handed over by his father, and took the initiative to chat with him. Not long after, Wu Ming's gentle attitude won the favor of the family, and the simple and kind family slowly relaxed and started chatting with Wu Ming unknowingly.

During the conversation, Wu Ming was lucky enough to learn that all the officers and soldiers in the town had been withdrawn. The middle-aged man said that he had just returned from the town. For some reason, Mr. Chen's eldest wife and sister-in-law, after breakfast, were arranged by County Mayor Wang, hurriedly brought twenty strong men to the yard to hold the coffin and set off. He heard that the body of Mr. Wang who died of tragic death in Yingtan was sent back to his hometown for burial. Mr. Chen fell ill after being frightened and fell ill. The Chen family was filled with sorrow and did not even do a ritual of salvation.

This news is very important to Wu Ming. Although there is no expression on his face, it makes him feel deeply grateful.

As the conversation unfolded, Wu Ming learned a lot about Chen Jiyao's family and deeply felt the difficulties of life of this family. Two elderly people were still working in the fields in their sixties and seventies. The mother of three children was sick all year round and could not get out of bed once they were sick. The family had only six acres of slopes and could not continue. They had to rent twenty acres of paddy fields from landlords in the town. They worked so hard that they could not eat enough food for their children all year round, and they didn't even dare to eat salt every day.

Wu Ming looked at the blackened empty walls, the old cast iron pot that was sizzling on the stones of the fire pit, the children who were jealous when they put a few slices of bacon into the pot, and finally looked at the boy who was adding firewood to the fire pit: "How old are you?"

"Fifteenth." The young man replied in a low voice, and after he quickly stepped aside, standing with his younger brother and sister in restraint.

Wu Ming asked again: "Are you still studying?"

The boy looked at his father who was smoking a hookah. Seeing that his father was silent like a wood, he lowered his head sadly.

My father moved the cigarette mouth away from his mouth and sighed, and the wrinkles on his face gradually squeezed into a pile: "I can't afford to study even if I miss it. Five years ago, Cao Dashanren donated 500 yuan to the town school to support boys in the town and several surrounding villages to study for free. Our eldest son was lucky enough to be selected for two years. Unexpectedly, the good times didn't last long. The last year, Cao Dashanren was tied up to the mountain by bandits in Leping. Finally, his family sold houses and land, and collected 30,000 yuan to redeem the people. Cao Dashanren couldn't afford to fall ill after coming back and died within a month."

"The next year, the town school said that it was impossible to handle it without money, so it increased the tuition fee to 1.5 yuan. It was not allowed to pay the tuition fee. Those who could not pay the tuition could only drop out. Our family had to eat seven times. Most of the grain in the fields had to be rented every year, and they had to deal with taxes of one kind or another. The family had to work hard to eat before they could have a meal. How could there be any extra money? The eldest and the second brother couldn't go there. There was no way. The life was getting harder and harder. Before you came, the eldest and his father helped Mr. Chen's house from the town. At least they got a few copper coins, otherwise the family would have to cut off salt. Alas! This is all fate. In this life, the child could only be appointed!"

Wu Ming looked at the two boys standing aside and clearly saw the crystal tears in the eyes of the two children.

"Old man, why are you talking nonsense?" The old lady brought a large bowl of steaming corn rice to Wu Wei: "There is no paddy field at home, so there is no rice, only cornmeal grown from the slope, so I neglected the distinguished guests."

Wu Ming quickly stood up, took the big bowl and chopsticks with both hands, sat down slowly in silence for a moment, holding the bowl and eating it in big mouthfuls, and never moved the food in the pot from beginning to end. He quickly glanced at the family of young and old, put down the bowl and walked to the wall a few steps, untied the small bag on the bench, took out the map album, dictionary and two other books and came to the boy.

"I didn't expect to come here. I was not prepared. These books may be useful to you, just treat them as a meeting gift! If possible, I suggest you continue to study. Your family is poor, but people cannot live in the world and be poor without their ambition."

Wu Ming stuffed the book into the boy's arms, took out ten oceans and stuffed it into his younger brother's hand, returned to the wall and carried a spear, saying goodbye to the family who was shocked and overwhelmed: "Thank you, uncle, and I have a lot of food for this meal. I am in military affairs and can't stay for a long time, so I will say goodbye!"

"Oh, ah! Wait! It's not possible!"

The old man threw down the cigarette pole and ran up to pull Wu Ming. The middle-aged man ran to the wall to grab the bag and cotton coat left by Wu Ming. The old lady rushed to snatch the ocean from the child's hand and chased the door, saying that she was unwilling to accept Wu Ming's heavy gift, and shouted that Wu Ming only ate a bowl of dry rice and didn't move a piece of meat, which was very sorry to the distinguished guest.

Wu Ming supported the trembling father with one hand and pushed away the old lady's desperately stuffed ocean: "Uncle, aunt, I am also a child of a poor family. My family died early, and now I am the only one left, so I am easy to deal with. You don't have to worry about getting married and eating in the army. There is also money to get paid, so there is no burden. You can just regard these money as a gift for my junior to give to the two younger brothers. Speaking of which, we are all fellow villagers!"

Wu Ming turned to the middle-aged man without saying a word: "You keep this old cotton coat and a few clothes in the bag. The weather has begun to warm up, and I can't use it. There is still a lot of money in the army in the second half of the year. Uncle, before leaving, I want to say something. If the uncle thinks it is OK, I'd better find a way to let the two little brothers study. They can also go home to work during the busy farming season. They are still young and have a long time to read more. This world has changed. Unlike previous years, although it is very chaotic, there are many opportunities. As long as the child can read two more years, he might be able to shine his ancestors in the future. I'll leave, and there will be a date later!"

"This..." The middle-aged man's face turned purple and he stammered and couldn't say a word.
Chapter completed!