[Marriage first, love later] She is happy after marrying a widower

Luosong Village is one of the ten villages next to Qingshui River. The village is not far from Qingshui River, but it is not close either. It is about two or three miles away.

The village is not big, with dozens of households scattered around. Most of them are simple farmers who make a living by farming and lead a simple but stable life.

After Song Yanzhi arranged people to intensify the investigation around Qingshui River, many villagers in Luosong Village responded to the call of the village chief and joined the investigation.

After all, this not only concerns the safety of the entire village, but the reward offered is also very attractive. For these poor villagers, it is a rare opportunity to make money.

The village chief is an old man over fifty years old. Time has carved deep wrinkles on his face, which are the traces left by years of hard work.

He is a loyal, honest and kind-hearted person, and enjoys great prestige in the village. Whenever someone has a problem, he will take the initiative to help, and everyone respects him.

These days, he leads the young men in the village to patrol back and forth along the Qingshui River all day long. His serious and responsible appearance is praised by everyone who sees him.

Every day before dawn, he would go from house to house to call up the able-bodied men, and then lead everyone towards the river. Along the way, he would remind everyone to pay close attention to the movements on the river.

However, after patrolling for four or five days, the surface of the Qingshui River remained very calm, without even a single unusual ripple, let alone any suspicious persons.

The initial enthusiasm and drive of the young men gradually wore away, and they began to relax.

"Uncle Village Chief, we patrol this river every day, but there are no people here. At night, you can't even hear a bird singing."

There was a young man in the village named Zhuzi. He was a chubby guy. At first, he followed the village chief on patrol with great enthusiasm. He thought it was a new thing and he could make a lot of money. He was very happy.

But in the past few days, his impetuous temper could no longer be suppressed, and he couldn't help but complain.

His complaint was like opening a floodgate of complaints, and the other young people also started complaining one after another.

"That's right, it's still chilly this spring. When the breeze blows in the evening, the cold wind penetrates right into your bones, making you shiver all over.

Uncle Village Chief, there has been no movement for several days. How about we not patrol tonight and go home early?

The house is warm and there are hot meals to eat."

Ergouzi shrank his neck and, while speaking, stuffed his hands into his sleeves and squeezed them together, trying to keep himself warm.

We are all farmers. Our lives are not rich and our clothes are thin. Most of us have only a few pieces of coarse cloth clothes with patches on top of patches. On this still chilly spring night, it is normal to feel cold in the cold wind blowing by the river.

"Uncle Village Chief, please go back. I haven't had a good sleep in a few days. I'm so sleepy. I really can't stand it any longer."

Shuanzi yawned and spoke with a tired face. He could hardly open his eyes and there were dark circles around his eye sockets, making him look like a giant panda.

The village chief felt helpless as he listened to everyone's complaints. He sighed, stopped, turned around and looked at the group of young people.

He said earnestly, "My children, this is a critical moment. If we are not careful and let Jiang Zhi cross the river, our lives may be in danger.

I'm sure everyone has heard of Jiang Zhi's name. He's a ruthless man. If he attacks us, will our village be safe? Everyone should just hold on a little longer.

This concerns the safety of our entire village. Since we agreed to help with patrols, we must shoulder this responsibility."

"Uncle Village Chief, it's not that we don't insist, but look, it's so quiet here, apart from the sound of us talking, what other sounds are there?

There is no movement at all, how could someone come?

I can't do it anymore, whoever wants to do it can do it, I want to go home and have a hot meal and warm myself up."

Zhuzi curled his lips and said reluctantly, thinking to himself, here he is blowing in the cold wind every day and getting nothing, so he might as well go home and have a good sleep.

"Well, let's put it this way, those who want to go back can go back, and those who don't want to go back can continue to patrol with me.

Old man, let me tell you this: when the subsidies come from above, don't say you have less money than others."

The village chief knew that a forced melon would not be sweet. Since no one was interested in it, there was no point in keeping it, so he could only say this helplessly.

It turns out that their patrol of the river was not in vain.

The official who came to their village that day to inform them said that the villagers who patrolled the river every day could get three hundred yuan each day. This was not a small amount of money for the villagers who barely made a living by farming.

Moreover, if they found and captured Jiang Zhi's men, they would be rewarded with two taels of silver, which was a huge sum of money, much more than what they could earn from farming in a whole year.

Therefore, many people in the village put their full efforts into it from the beginning, waiting to catch Jiang Zhi's men so that they could make a fortune.

"There's not a soul in sight. I'll come back tomorrow. It's really cold today."

Zhuzi muttered, clasped his hands together, and walked towards the village without looking back.

As he left, those who had just been shouting that they would not patrol also followed him and left one after another.

As a result, there were only seven or eight people on the village chief's side who were willing to continue patrolling.

Most of these people are older, married and have children, and have elderly people to support at home. They really can't bear to spend the 300 yuan a day, and think that the more they can earn, the better to supplement their family expenses.

"Hey, these little bastards are just so unstable."

The village chief looked at the dozen or so young people walking away and shook his head helplessly, his face full of regret. However, he couldn't say anything more, so he could only say quietly: "Let's go, let's go on patrol."

"Village chief, stop sighing. These children don't understand. We are doing this for the good of the village. They will understand sooner or later."

Uncle Lao Shuan from the village patted the village chief on the shoulder and comforted him.

"Yeah, I hope they understand. Let's continue patrolling and make sure nothing goes wrong."

As the village chief said this, he led the remaining few people and walked towards the river with slightly heavy steps.

In the cold night, the slightly hunched back revealed a unique determination and helplessness, as if carrying the hope and safety of the entire village, disappearing step by step on the path leading to the river.

Little did they know that danger was approaching them.