With Pinxixi in hand, I have a supermarket in the Changzheng!

When they arrived in Zhaxi, the team still followed the old rules: not disturbing the local people and not staying in their homes.

The winter wind was biting cold, accompanied by drifting snowflakes. Although everyone was wearing padded military uniforms, they still felt chilly.

The campsite was located under the eaves behind the villagers' houses and on some open flat ground.

There is a thick layer of snow on the ground. If you sit on it directly, it will not only be cold but also get your clothes wet.

So I borrowed a broom and dustpan from the villagers nearby and started cleaning the snow on the ground.

"Sister Zhou Yue, Gou Wa and I will go chop some firewood, and we will start cooking dinner later."

Wang Tiezhu held a small axe in his hand and took Gou Wa to the nearby hill to cut down trees.

"Cut more so we can warm ourselves up by the fire at night."

Zhou Yue reminded them that it was hard to sleep on such a cold winter night, and completely out in the open air.

If the soldiers didn't burn some firewood to keep warm, they would definitely freeze to death.

"Hey, that's good!"

As he spoke, Wang Tiezhu called two more soldiers to follow him.

The four warriors, holding small axes in their hands, walked towards the mountain with high spirits.

Soon the soldiers dragged back many trees that were as thick as their thighs.

The soldiers in the camp, who were almost frozen into ice sculptures, rushed up to help, chopping the trees into usable firewood, and couldn't wait to light a bonfire.

Zhou Yue was also very happy. With the firewood, she could boil a few pots of hot water for the soldiers at night so that everyone could take turns soaking their feet to get rid of the coldness in their bodies.

When Zhou Yue was preparing to light the stove to cook, a woman in her fifties was running towards the camp.

The old lady ran stumblingly, slipped, and fell covered in snow and mud.

After getting up, she continued to run towards the camp, followed by a few children.

The people in the camp also saw the old lady running over in a hurry. When the old lady approached, Liu Yaowen walked over.

He asked gently, "Auntie, is there anything wrong?"

The old lady seemed not to hear his question. She squatted down, holding the freshly chopped firewood in her hands, tears streaming down her wrinkled face.

"Oh my God! What should I do..."

There were two little boys and a little girl at the back. The oldest one looked less than ten years old, and the youngest was only three or four years old.

They hugged the old lady and said, "Grandma, don't cry, don't cry, Grandma, don't cry."

The soldiers were stunned when they saw this scene. What was going on?

Why did this lady come over and cry so sadly into the firewood?

Liu Yaowen squatted down and said in a more friendly tone, "Don't be sad, Auntie. Can you tell me what happened?"

The old lady raised the firewood in her hand, her voice choked with sadness and anger.

"Why did you steal my wood?"

"Is this wood from your family?"

Gou Wa’s eyes widened, and he was stunned and incredulous.

These trees look similar to the ones we cut down when we passed through the mountains and wilderness before. They don’t look like they were planted by anyone on purpose!

The old lady continued to wipe away her tears. "I was hoping to sell the wood for some money in the spring, but I didn't expect it to be gone like this! It's ok for an old woman like me to starve to death, but what about these grandchildren? Wuuwuwu..."

Seeing their grandmother crying so sadly, the three children also hugged their grandmother and started crying.

This old lady and her three children were all wearing clothes with patches on top of patches, and it was obvious that they were from a poor family.

Zhou Yue felt extremely guilty. She had just asked Brother Tiezhu to chop more wood, but she didn't expect that this wood was what people needed to exchange for food and lives.

Instructor Liu Yaowen finally understood that the trees on these mountains were different from those he had encountered in the wilderness before.

Although these trees are not planted in their own yards, they are the private property of the villagers just like pigs, cattle and sheep.

The four soldiers who had chopped down the tree also knew that they had done something wrong. They all lowered their heads, feeling guilty and uneasy.

Wang Tiezhu walked up to the old lady and apologized sincerely.

"Auntie, I am wrong about this. Please calculate the price of this wood and I will compensate you."

When the old lady heard this, she stopped crying and asked, "Are you really going to compensate me?"

In fact, when she came, she didn't have much hope of getting the money back for the wood. After all, they were all soldiers, and there were men with guns everywhere.

Even if they cut down the trees and didn't pay for compensation, she couldn't do anything about it. But she didn't expect that they would actually take the initiative to ask for compensation.

Wang Tiezhu helped the old lady who was squatting on the ground up.

"We are the Red Army. If we accidentally cut down your tree, we must compensate you!"

Then the old lady calculated the value of these trees, and it wasn’t very expensive in total, only 2 yuan.

The four people who went to cut down the tree together each contributed about 60 cents.

After collecting the money, the old lady left the camp with her three children.

But these four soldiers still felt guilty, because the Red Army discipline stated that they could not take even a single needle or thread from the masses.

Especially Gou Wa and Wang Tiezhu, their heads hung particularly low, looking like dejected roosters.

After all, they had just joined the party some time ago, and now they had made such a mistake. They really didn’t know how to face everyone.

"Instructor, I was wrong and I will apologize."

Gou Wa was the first to admit his mistake to Liu Yaowen.

"Instructor, we shouldn't cut down the villagers' trees."

Wang Tiezhu followed closely and conducted a self-examination.

Liu Yaowen looked at them with satisfaction and patted their shoulders.

"You didn't know about it beforehand, it's not your fault, but you still have the courage to take responsibility, you are all good comrades in our battalion!"

The four soldiers who were cutting trees felt a little better when they heard what their instructor said.

Liu Yaowen took money out of his pocket and returned the sixty cents they had just paid.

"The firewood is for everyone to use. We can't ask you four to pay for it."

The four soldiers refused to take the money. "It's okay, instructor. We gave this money voluntarily."

Liu Yaowen stuffed the money into their hands and said, "You must take this money."

He knew that it was not easy for the soldiers. After following the team for so long, they only had a few cents saved.

Immediately afterwards, instructor Liu Yaowen sent people to notify each camp that the trees on the mountain belonged to the villagers and could not be cut down without permission.

Some of the firewood chopped on the ground was sent to other camps.

But the amount of wood was limited, and it was definitely far from enough to support so many people in the large army. Only more than 20 battalions were allocated some firewood.

Zhou Yue saw the pitifully little firewood on the ground and decided to make a fire and soak her feet in hot water tonight.

Not only that, dinner was also extremely simple. Cooking rice porridge consumes too much firewood, so we just boiled a few large pots of water, sprinkled some barley flour in it, and stirred it into a paste.

The firewood burned very quickly, and Zhou Yue originally wanted to boil some hot water for everyone to drink to drive away the cold.

As a result, after cooking, there was no firewood left.

The Red Army probably would not spend money to buy firewood for heating.

Because there were too many people in the team, and the wood burned very quickly.

If they bought wood to burn for heating, it would definitely be a very expensive expense. The Red Army soldiers, who were used to a hard and simple life, would certainly be reluctant to spend that money.

"Sister, I've laid it out for you, can you try it?"

Although the snow on the ground had been swept away, the ground was still wet and we definitely couldn't lie down directly on it.

So everyone got some hay nearby and spread it on the ground as a cushion.

Brother Zhou Xing just brought over a big bundle of hay and spread it very thickly on the ground. This was the only thing he could do for his sister in the snow and ice.

Zhou Yue touched his brother's head and said, "Brother, you are awesome!"

Although it is hay, this pile of grass is not dry. After all, it has been covered by the heavy snow and has become moist. You can feel the moisture when you touch it.

But under today's conditions, it's good to have a cushion. Zhou Yue was not brought up in a pampered environment, so she can accept it.

For the soldiers in the army, the tide is acceptable, but the biting cold is unbearable!

Before going to bed, snowflakes started falling again. When the cold wind blew, the padded military uniform lost its protective effect.

How can I endure this long winter night? !