Crossing the farm gate, the whole family reunites in the disaster year

"Hurry up and return the eggs to the owner. We don't want them."

Mancang's mother hurriedly grabbed her son's hand and wanted to return the eggs.

The girl in front of me is so fair and clean, and it’s obvious that she is well taken care of at home. I don’t know how precious eggs are.

My son is only five years old. It’s not worth taking someone else’s egg for just a few words of directions.

Mancang burst into tears: "My sister gave it to me, I didn't ask for it."

Cui Zhaozhao stopped Mancang's mother and looked at the honest and decent woman with mixed feelings.

"Auntie, I took the initiative to give the eggs to Mancang. He helped us, and this is what he deserves."

Mancang's mother licked her cracked and bleeding lips and said, "This... is too valuable. Even the children in the village can tell the way. It's nothing."

Cui Zhaozhao smiled and looked at the lowered little head.

"Because Mancang is the bravest, he is the only one who stepped forward to help us find the way. The eggs are a reward for brave children."

Mancang raised his head and was stunned for a moment.

His sister praised him for his bravery. She was smiling, and her eyes were brighter than the sun when she smiled.

Like the fairy in my mother's story.

Captain Yan listened to her serious deception and thought of his little daughter at home. She was young but had a lot of weird ideas in her head. She always made his head hurt because of her talk. The corners of his mouth curled up unconsciously, but he immediately suppressed them.

"Okay, business is important. We have to get to the next village before sunset."

The villagers around watched from afar, intimidated by the swords on the prisoners' waists and dared not get close.

An elderly man came out tremblingly. He was so thin that his clothes seemed to be supported by a piece of bamboo pole. There was turbidity and numbness in his sunken eye sockets.

"I am the head of Beili Village. I wonder why the official came to our village?"

Captain Yan bowed and said, "The county magistrate has sent people to find water for the village."

"really?!"

Li Lizheng's eyes lit up. The county magistrate did not abandon Beili Village.

"Then, have you found any water?"

Captain Yan looked at the Cui siblings standing beside him.

Cui Zhaozhao touched Cui Jingwen and nodded at him.

Cui Jingwen perked up, saluted the village head, and cleared his throat: "With Cui here, I naturally found a water source for everyone, and the water source is right in the village."

The crowd in the distance was in an uproar.

"I was thinking of leaving the village and fleeing, but now I don't have to. We have water."

"Thank you, the magistrate, thank you, the official, and thank you, my God, the village is saved."

Mancang's mother hugged Mancang and choked with emotion: "Dad, did you hear that? The village has water now. We don't need to sell all the grain anymore."

"Dad, don't sell me. My sister and I can both help with the housework." She wiped away her tears and pulled out a gray ball from her sleeve. "Eggs! I earned them. Come on, Dad, eat them."

Mancang's father's voice was hoarse. If there was no other way out, he would not want to sell his child.

"No, no, no, we can farm as long as we have water. I won't sell it to anyone. We can live a good life."

Cui Zhaozhao looked down at the ground.

"Every man and woman in the village who can still move, grab their tools and start digging as soon as possible to get water."

Li Lizheng is in high spirits. Beili Village may not be good in other aspects, but when it comes to people's hearts, no other village in the surrounding area can match their unity.

"Brother, where do we dig this well?"

Mancang's father couldn't wait to go home and get a hoe and a shovel, and waited for the young man to tell him the location so that he could be the first to put in the effort.

Cui Jingwen stretched out his finger, circled it in the air, and pointed it at the house behind him.

"here."

bang-

The hoe fell, and Mancang's father's heart also fell to the ground.

"My...my home?"

The water is in his house, so where does he live?

Mancang's father was so worried that he squatted in the corner with his head in his hands.

Captain Yan frowned and said nothing.

Should they quickly take the two siblings away? If they couldn't dig out water and the villagers erupted, the four of them would probably get beaten up too.

Mancang cried even harder. He should have invited the kind sister to visit his home. Now his family is ruined after receiving an egg.

Mancang's mother couldn't help wiping away her tears.

She would not stop the digging of water. With water, everyone could survive, but this was her home. The family had no money to build a house. What would they do in the future?

"I'll return the eggs to you, sister, please don't dig up my house." Mancang cried with snot bubbles.

"Stop crying." Li Lizheng interrupted Mancang's sobbing in a deep voice, stretched out his hand and pulled Mancang's father up, "Now that we have dug out water, the house still belongs to your family. The ten feet of land to the east of the house is allocated to your family as compensation from the village. The well is inside your house, and from now on your family will help the village manage the well. This is a good thing that no one else can ask for, so why are you crying?"

"Yes, Mancang's mother, we are all indebted to your family. When the fields produce grain, I will give you ten kilograms first."

"I'll also contribute ten pounds. We don't have the money, but we have the strength. If your family needs to build a house, I promise to help."

"There are hundreds of families in our Beili Village. We will be able to raise money for you to build a house next year. Don't cry."

The villagers talked to each other and even planned how to build a house for the Mancang family. Every word they said was heartwarming.

Even Captain Yan felt a warmth in his heart unconsciously.

I used to think that the villagers were illiterate and a group of uncivilized and unruly people, but now it seems that they also have simple and sincere feelings.

We really have to leave quickly. The prerequisite for love and affection is to be able to dig out water. The two children instigated the digging of all the houses in the village, but they still couldn't dig out water.

The people of Beili Village are united as one, and hitting someone will definitely hurt.

Cui Jingwen dug the first dig at the location pointed by Cui Zhaozhao. The room was cramped, so the villagers lined up and took turns digging.

Captain Yan pulled the brother and sister out from the crowd.

"For both of your sakes, let's get out of here."

Cui Jingwen didn't care where to go, he just wanted to eat now.

Cui Zhaozhao tilted his head: "No hurry, let's leave after we dig out the water."

She spent five taels of silver and had to rely on Captain Yan's eyes to witness it so that she could go back and ask the county magistrate for the reward.

"You." Captain Yan heard the sound of hoes hitting the ground in the house and felt that they would be targeted in the next second. "We are only responsible for escorting, not committing suicide."

Cui Zhaozhao said calmly: "No, don't worry."

At this time, a constable came running over excitedly with an iron pot.

"Boss, the meal is ready."

The air is filled with the aroma of rice.

This was a subsidy specially allocated by County Magistrate Wang. If it weren't for this trip, they wouldn't be able to afford to eat.

Captain Yan's face was completely black, and he was about to die, but he was still thinking about eating. "Give me a bowl, fill it up."

Cui Jingwen asked for a bowl without hesitation. He was almost starving this morning.

While everyone was sharing their food, Cui Zhaozhao reached into her bag and secretly bought a bowl of pickles. It was the seaweed shreds commonly seen in later generations, mixed into a sweet and sour taste with a slight spiciness, and was very delicious with white rice.

"I brought some homemade pickles. If you want to eat some, help yourself."

Cui Jingwen took away half a bowl with one chopstick. He had been craving this for a long time. His mother was just partial to him. He had never seen this before at home.

But it doesn't matter, he can eat it for free.

Don’t mention it, it still tastes familiar.