Globe Trekker

Chapter 23 The Grace of a Meal

A few hours later, Wu Ming, who was curled up in the stone pit halfway up the mountain, woke up suddenly. He subconsciously picked up his rifle and looked around nervously. Finally, he looked at the westward sun, only to realize that he had been asleep for a long time. Nightmare, dreaming that I was surrounded by many officers and soldiers.

Wu Ming let out a long breath, put down his gun and lay on his back on the wall of the pit, repeatedly rubbed his astringent eyes and tense face, licked his dry lips, hesitated for a moment, stretched out his hand and pulled a section of strong grass root to chew slowly, and finally looked into the sky The clouds slowly moving north were in a daze.

Indistinctly, there was a voice of conversation coming from the direction of the ferry down the mountain. There was panic and nervousness in the tone, and it seemed to contain a sense of gloating.

Wu Ming straightened up, quietly lying on the wall of the pit to observe, and carefully listened to the conversation between the boatman on the boat and the old man on the other side, but he could only hear a few words such as "the Chen family is dead" and "the strong man is vicious".

The small wooden boat approached the simple wharf of the ferry, and the boatman lifted the fish basket to get off the boat, tightened the cable to tie the boat to the wooden stakes on the shore, and walked back to the town with the old man who was waiting with the cattle. The two talked excitedly while walking.

The sound faded away, the wide ferry returned to calm, there was no one in sight, the river flowed silently, the vegetation on both sides swayed in the breeze, and there was a sense of desolation everywhere.

Wu Ming rubbed his croaking belly, looked downstream at the old bamboo raft lying on the pebble beach, pondered for a moment and started to act, untied the leggings and put them on again, checked his weapons in an orderly manner and tightened his belt, took a deep breath, jumped out of the stone pit, and walked down the mountain When I came to the river, I turned over the old bamboo raft on the river beach and checked it carefully. Seeing that the bamboo raft was still strong, I immediately dragged the bamboo raft into the river, picked up the pole and quickly rowed towards the center of the river.

The swaying bamboo raft gradually came to the shore in the current. The place where it landed was more than a thousand meters away from the upstream East Ferry. No one paid attention to this barren section of the river. Wu Ming dragged the bamboo raft onto the river bank and then left, using the cover of vegetation to continue Travel along the river.

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

Wu Ming looked at the little girl in thin clothes and carrying a bamboo basket, and was about to squeeze out a smile to say hello, when the little girl suddenly dropped the bamboo basket and ran back as if flying, and disappeared at the edge of the forest ahead in a blink of an eye. Come terrified cries.

Wu Ming glanced around, stepped forward to help up the overturned bamboo basket, put back the vegetables scattered on the ground, patted the withered grass and dust stuck to the military padded jacket, tightened the rifle strap, put on the bamboo basket and strode towards The direction in which the little girl disappeared.

Turning around a small forest, a few mud-walled thatched houses came into view. In front of the houses, a middle-aged man and two teenagers held hoes and hatchets in full vigilance.

On the stone threshold, two haggard old men, a man and a woman, were standing. The little girl who had been frightened just now was leaning against the old lady's arms. Everyone's eyes were fixed on Wu Ming who had stopped, and they couldn't hide their eyes. A look of intense panic.

Wu Ming raised the bamboo basket full of vegetables in his hand: "Just now when I was patrolling here, I happened to meet your little girl, and I probably scared her, so I ran away without taking the vegetable basket."

The three men saw Wu Ming's gentle demeanor and listened to his local accent. They looked at each other for a moment, then lowered their hoes and hatchets one after another. The two old men on the threshold also showed relieved smiles.

The middle-aged man took two steps forward, looking at Wu Ming in military uniform, he was very puzzled: "Boss, didn't you take the team back to the county seat? Why are you..."

"It's like this, the brigade is closed, but the officer ordered us to search along the river beach again. If we don't see the strongman who killed last night, we can go back to the city. I, a small soldier, can only do so, and ended up with this At that time, I didn’t know that there were people behind this dirt bag by the river, so I came here by accident, I’m sorry!” Wu Ming smiled apologetically again.

After listening to Wu Ming's polite explanation and apology, the group of people didn't know what to do. Only the old man on the threshold was brave: "Boss, is the accent also our local? If you don't mind, go home and drink some water before leaving. Inspiration , how long are you still carrying that rotten hoe?"

Hearing this, the middle-aged man quickly threw the hoe aside, stepped forward to take the bamboo basket from Wu Ming's hand, and politely greeted him to come in and sit down.Wu Ming, who was suffering from hunger, was not polite, he said thank you in a low voice and accepted it calmly, and entered the hut with the humility of the whole family.

"Boss, you sit here, oops, the house is so dilapidated, I'm neglecting the guests." The middle-aged man whose clothes were full of patches moved a straw futon with both hands, and placed it respectfully by the central firepit. Hearing Wu Ming's habitual Thanks to him, he became even more panicked.

Wu Ming leaned the spear against the wall, untied the cotton coat and the small bundle around his waist, and put them on the bench beside him, returned to the middle-aged man, took a large bowl of hot water from the old lady, and said apologetically: "Thank you, old man. I've been walking for a long time and I'm starving. Is there anything to eat at home? Anything to fill my stomach will do!"

The family standing by the fire pond was stunned. The old lady nodded slightly and turned around to go to the back room. The old man greeted with an embarrassed smile: "There is food, there is food! The old woman is going to make arrangements, and smoking a bag of cigarettes can do it." Okay, sir, please sit down and warm up by the fire, this season is the coldest of spring, and the ground is still covered with frost in the past two mornings."

Wu Ming sat down humbly, thanked his father for the long cigarette stick, and took the initiative to chat with his father.It didn't take long for Wu Ming's gentle attitude to win the favor of the family. The simple and kind family gradually relaxed and chatted with Wu Ming unknowingly.

During the conversation, Wu Ming luckily learned that all the officers and soldiers in the town had withdrawn. The middle-aged man said that he had just returned from the town. After breakfast, he hurriedly took twenty strong men from the nursing home to help the coffin and set off. I heard that the body of the tragic Wang Steward was sent back to his hometown Yingtan for burial. None of the rituals were done.

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

As the conversation unfolded, Wu Ming learned a lot about Chen Jiyao's family, and also deeply realized the hardships of the family's life. The two elderly people were still working in the fields at the age of 70 or [-]. The mother of three children was ill all the year round. I couldn’t get out of bed, and my family had only six acres of sloping land to live on. I had to rent and plant twenty acres of paddy fields from the landlord in the town. I was exhausted and couldn’t feed my children all year round. I didn’t even dare to eat salt every day.

Wu Ming looked at the blackened and empty walls, at the old cast-iron pot that was sizzling on the rocks in the firepit, at the greedy faces of the children when they put a few slices of bacon into the pot just now, and finally looked at the The boy who was adding firewood to the fire pond: "How old are you?"

"Fifteen." The boy replied in a low voice, and quickly stepped aside after finishing his work quickly, standing with his younger siblings restrainedly.

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

The boy looked at his father who was smoking a hookah, saw his father was as silent as a log, and then lowered his head sadly.

The old man removed the cigarette holder in his mouth and sighed, 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 Dashan from the county town donated 500 yuan to the school in the town to support the town. I was able to study for free with boys from several surrounding villages. The eldest and second son of our family were lucky enough to be selected to study for two years. I never expected that the good times would not last long. The year before last, Cao Dashan was kidnapped by bandits in Leping, and finally the family sold the house and land. It took [-] oceans to redeem him, and Cao Dashan fell ill after returning, and died within a month."

"In the second year, the school in the town said it couldn't continue without money, so it raised the tuition fee to [-] yuan, and no credit was allowed. Those who couldn't pay the tuition fee had to drop out of school. Our family has seven mouths to eat, and most of the food in the field costs Paying the rent, and having to deal with various taxes, the whole family has to work hard to eat, how can there be any money left? The eldest and the second will not be able to go, there is no way, life is getting harder and harder, Before you came, the boss and his father just came back from the town to help Mr. Chen's family. At least they got a few copper coins, or the family would have to run out of salt, alas! This is fate, in this life, the child can only be appointed! "

Wu Ming looked at the two boys standing aside, clearly seeing the tears in their eyes.

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

Wu Ming quickly stood up, took the big bowl and chopsticks with both hands, sat down slowly after a moment of silence, held the bowl and ate with big mouthfuls, without touching a dish in the pot from the beginning to the end, and soon everyone in the family was amazed His gaze was swept away, he put down the bowl and walked to the wall a few steps, untied the small bundle on the bench, took out the atlas, dictionary and two other books and came to the boy.

"I didn't expect to come here. I didn't have any preparations. These books may be useful to you, so just treat them as a gift! If possible, I suggest you continue to study. My family is poor, but people live in this world and cannot be poor. ambition."

Wu Ming stuffed the book into the young man's arms, took out ten oceans and stuffed them into his younger brother's hands, went back to the wall, picked up his spear, and bid farewell to the shocked family: "Thank you, uncle, uncle, for this meal I have a full meal. I have military duties, so I can't stay for long, so this junior is leaving!"

"Ah, ah! Wait! Can't do it!"

The old man threw down the pipe and ran up to grab Wu Ming, while the middle-aged man ran to the wall and grabbed the bundle and cotton coat that Wu Ming had left behind. He also didn't want to accept Wu Ming's heavy gift, and yelled that Wu Ming only ate a bowl of dry rice without touching a piece of meat, and he was very sorry for the distinguished guest.

Wu Ming supported the trembling old man with one hand, and pushed away the ocean that the old lady desperately stuffed with the other: "Master, aunt, I am also a child of a poor family. My family members died early, and now I am the only one left, okay?" Come on, you don’t have to worry about dressing and eating as a soldier, and you still get paid, so there is no burden. You can treat this money as a gift from me, a junior, to the two younger brothers. Speaking of which, we are all fellow villagers. !"

Wu Ming couldn't help but turn to the middle-aged man: "You keep this old cotton padded jacket and some clothes in the bag. The weather is starting to get warmer, so I won't need them either. I'll still have money in the army in the second half of the year. Uncle, before leaving, little My nephew would like to say something, if the uncle thinks it's okay, let's find a way to let the two younger brothers study. They can also go home and work during the busy farming season. They are still young and have a long future. They can study for one more year. It's changed, it's different from previous years, although it's chaotic, there are more opportunities, as long as the child can study for two more years, maybe he will be able to honor his ancestors in the future. I'm leaving, and there will be a period later!"

"This..." The middle-aged man was so suppressed that his face turned purple, and he could not speak a word.

Wu Ming immediately asked the two elders to stop, smiled at the two stunned teenagers and little girls, and strode away.

(End of this chapter)