I want to be a good person

The branches rustled in the night wind and some broken branches fell down. In the silent wilderness, strange cries could be heard from time to time and in the distance there were flickering green flames.

The light in the distance is looming, I wonder if it is the fireworks of the human world, or if there is a light left on for someone.

People, especially ordinary people, are born on the road of busyness, becoming the scenery of others, silently contributing their blood, sweat, kindness, and even their lives.

Taking out the donkey cart and continuing forward, Zhang Aiguo hoped that he could reach a leeward side and set up a camp. It was difficult to find a plain area, but fortunately, several rivers flowed through Wucheng County.

We finally found an ideal place to camp under a small river bank.

He untied the donkey's harness, nailed an iron peg into the ground, tied it up, took out a washbasin, poured some sorghum and a small amount of cornmeal, then took out another basin, poured some water and added a little salt.

In case someone comes, the hearing and vision of livestock are better than humans, and the sound of the copper bells on their necks is a warning. Livestock are more valuable than humans. In troubled times, people are just grass.

Ropes and copper bells were used to set up warnings all around, a tarpaulin was put up above the cart, bedding was laid out, and a lantern was hung.

The reason why the space is messy is that Zhang Aiguo put away all the things he needed and piled them up in a large area.

After preparing the campsite, we took out our pickaxe and shovel, walked towards the distance, and started digging the hole.

Three bodies, unwanted clothes and miscellaneous items were thrown into a two-meter-deep dirt pit, along with beggar's clothes. After the pit was backfilled, willow branches were inserted on top, perhaps with the intention of planting willow branches and eventually growing a shade tree.

The starry sky is brilliant, the moon is like a crescent, and everything is so natural.

Finally, I fell into a deep sleep in silence, my mind was relaxed. Cleaning the gun last night was purely to release the stress after killing someone. People are all made of flesh and blood. If one is suppressed for a long time and cannot vent and relieve emotions, psychological abnormalities will definitely occur.

"Hmm~Hmm~"

"Jingle Bell"

……

The rhythmic sound woke Zhang Aiguo up. He turned over and looked at the donkey. It looked very energetic as it had eaten good food at night.

The moon was still hanging in the sky. The stars had been blinking all night and were tired. I got up and found everything was gray.

The water in the basin had frozen. I put away the bedding and two benches, took out the two horses, let them exercise, and fed them some grain and salt. I looked around and saw that there were very few trees. It was bare except for the crops.

It was difficult to make a firewood breakfast. When I saw the glorious results of the night’s labor, I remembered something and hurried over.

Zhang Aiguo pulled out the willow branch, looked it up and down, and sure enough, he had inserted it upside down at night. He turned it over, poured a little water, solemnly planted hope, cut off from the past, and from today on, I am myself.

He took out the iron stove from the guard room, put it on the ground, the charcoal fire started burning again, and put the copper kettle on it, and soon steam came out.

I put two beaten eggs in a ceramic bowl, added a little salt, poured some boiling water over it, poured a little sesame oil, took out the steamed bun and had it with egg tea for breakfast.

I added hot water to the frozen basin, and put a basin of warm water with salt in it for the two horses to drink from.

Take a short break, stretch the joints of your hands and feet, and practice the scorpion crawl and eighteen hands.

Zhang Aiguo's body began to feel slightly hot, so he stopped moving. It was refreshing to sweat profusely, but he couldn't stand the cold wind from the fields and caught a cold. Haha, if he wasn't careful, he would return to dust.

The rubber truck is so smooth!

Zhang Aiguo enjoyed the bumpy ride of the iron wheels on the dirt road, but his stomach was churning and he felt miserable.

If you drive the cart instead of the donkey, the donkey will follow the road. Just follow the donkey.

The canal in Wucheng belongs to the South Canal section of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal. The South Canal is a section of river from the confluence of the Zhang and Wei rivers at Xuwancang to Si Nusi. It is 157 kilometers long and is the border river between Hebei and Shandong provinces. The left bank passes through Guantao, Linxi, Qinghe and Gucheng in Hebei Province; the right bank passes through Guanxian, Linqing, Xiajin and Wucheng in Shandong Province.

The canal is about 100 meters wide and 2 meters deep. The river is curved and the flow is slow, so it can only accommodate wooden boats with a load of 2 to 3 kilograms.

After the Yellow River was diverted, water transport stopped and only a small amount of private shipping was still going on. The hotels, taverns and shops on both sides of the canal became much more depressed and most of them closed.

When Zhang Aiguo arrived, what he saw was a scene of desolation.

I finally found a shop that was open and went up to ask for directions.

"Boss, where do we cross the river?"

"Go ahead, to the small pier, there are boatmen doing this business."

A man who was making breakfast pointed Zhang Aiguo in a direction.

"Thank you"

Zhang Aiguo bowed and saw that the other party was frying dough sticks, which looked very crispy and smelled fragrant.

"Boss, what kind of oil is this? It smells really good."

"Cottonseed oil"

“Give me one to try.”

"Our fried dough sticks taste great"

Zhang Aiguo paid for the fried dough sticks, which were really fragrant and delicious.

Cottonseed oil is also called sanitary oil. It is characterized by stable oil temperature and is particularly suitable for frying chicken and fried dough sticks. The fried chicken is particularly crispy and has a fragrant aroma. The crude black oil can be used as a simple lubricant.

I remember that in my previous life, there was a large supply of cottonseed oil, which was genetically modified, but it was rarely sold on the market.

As the saying goes, oil mixed with oil is a disaster for the devil. It is rumored that most of the cottonseed oil is mixed into blended oil and cooking oil.

Found the boatman, with a shabby wooden boat.

The boatman was squatting on the bow, puffing on his pipe. The pipe and socket were made of brass, with a bamboo pole in the middle that had been polished to an unusually smooth finish.

Seeing Zhang Aiguo driving the donkey cart, he grinned with yellow teeth.

“You want to cross the river?”

“Hey, we need to cross the river.”

"Why cross the river? The Japanese are coming and they are very fierce."

"It's okay. My uncle is doing business there. My mother is worried and asked me to go take a look."

"cough cough"

The boatman took the last puff of his cigarette, coughed twice, knocked the pipe on the sole of his shoe, rolled it in his pipe, and put it in his waist.

"Come up"

There were two wide ferry boards side by side, and they were shaking. We carefully led the donkey and drove the cart towards the boat.

"My son, be careful after you cross the river. There are many lackeys and conscienceless people there, worse than the Japanese. I am afraid that you will be caught and sent to the outside of the Great Wall to build roads and artillery towers."

"Don't worry, sir. I'm good at it."

"What's the use of knowing a few tricks? My family once participated in the Boxer Rebellion."

"Uncle, I didn't see it."

"It was useless. My father was holding a red tasseled spear, but before he could get close, the foreign devils opened fire with their foreign rifles and cannons, and a large number of them fell down. We couldn't defeat them."

"Uncle, you can also do boxing, but you didn't serve in the army in the past few years."

"The family tradition has fallen into decline. The poor are civil servants, but the rich are military. They became soldiers. Today they fight this, tomorrow they fight that. They fight here and there, and I don't know who they are fighting for. Later they were dispersed and simply returned home."

"It doesn't matter if it's not the case. The devils will definitely come again. We in Shandong can't escape."

"We'll see. At worst, we'll have to fight them to death. It's worth it if we can get another one."

"We have to target those who are alone, and we can't target them near villages. The devils are very vengeful and will massacre a whole village at any time."

"It's okay. I still have an old socket. I can definitely take one or two away with me."

"You are a real man."