Globe Trekker

Chapter 30

The night in the deep mountain is still a bit cold, gusts of mountain wind pass by the entrance of the cave, and the occasional mournful sound is a little scary, and the long calls of owls, jackals and other birds and animals can be heard from time to time in the distant mountains.

It's a different scene during the day.

It has been sunny and sunny for many consecutive days, the air is fresh, green everywhere, the mountains and forests are undulating under the warm sun, and the valley below the cave entrance is filled with birds singing and full of vitality, but the people trapped in the cave have no mood to appreciate it at all.

At noon, the six hostages outside the entrance of the cave, men, women and children, sat and basked in the sun. They were already familiar with each other, and they gradually let go of their guard and chatted casually.

Thanks to Wu Ming's insistence, the bandits guarding them did not make things too difficult for these people. They acquiesced that they could go down more than [-] meters like Wu Ming, wash their faces and clothes by the spring, bask in the sun, and wait one by one to be blackmailed. Fei Yang washed his hair and changed his face, and his mental outlook improved a lot after combing his hair, but the two old people still looked worried, but the two unlucky foreign monks, one soil and one foreign, got closer and closer to Wu Ming.

On the afternoon when he was first allowed to release the wind, the foreigner with high nose, deep eyes and chestnut hair once again solemnly thanked Wu Ming, and introduced himself that his Chinese name was Lei Mengde, an American, a pastor affiliated with the North American Church of Christ, and eight years ago. When he came to China, he was first in Shanghai, and later he was sent to Tianshui Church of Hangzhou Christian Church, where he was promoted to be a priest who worshiped God all his life. He and his companions were on the way to visit Sanqing Lake after guiding the work of the orphanage in Yushan Church. Unfortunately, he was caught by bandits.

Wu Ming was very interested in hearing the rather Chinese name of Lei Mengde, and immediately thought of Cao Cao, so he asked casually how to write it in English?
Lei Mengde picked up a piece of stone and wrote a string of English on the ground, and Wu Ming casually read out his full name: Raymondo.Graham.

The two pastors were very surprised, and quickly asked where Wu Ming received his civilized education?Did you ever attend a parochial school?Wu Ming replied in embarrassment that he had heard it from everywhere, but the two pastors didn't believe it at all, so they kept probing in English.

Wu Ming was very clear about the thoughts of the two foreign monks, but he didn't care. Firstly, he was not wary of these hapless hostages, and he also had a sense of identity with the fallen people in the end of the world. Practicing my long-lost spoken English can also pass some boring time, so I am happy to have a conversation with two foreign monks, one Chinese and one foreign.

At the beginning, Wu Ming felt that his mouth and tongue were very awkward, and his pronunciation was not accurate. He was corrected by the serious foreign monks from time to time. Some words had to be thought about for a while before he could remember them. Three or four thousand English words have not been abolished.

Five days later, Wu Ming showed an astonishing ability to comprehend, and he was able to talk casually with the two priests, and became more and more fluent.

This result greatly impressed the two priests, who even praised Wu Ming as a language genius, and their relationship with Wu Ming became closer unconsciously.

Wu Ming, however, was ashamed of himself, and found that there were many mistakes in what he had studied hard for more than ten years. There were many problems in grammar and pronunciation, and from time to time, the rigorous and stubborn Yankee would correct him kindly.

Under the background of a pastor from Hangzhou named Dai Zichen next to him, Wu Ming had no sense of accomplishment at all.

Dai Zichen, who is only 26 years old with a short, round face, opened his mouth with a string of authentic standard American English. When encountering words that Wu Ming didn’t understand, he could write down words easily and patiently explained the meaning and usage of words to Wu Ming. Wu Ming thinks that this guy grew up in the United States, instead of learning English three years ago after he became a follower of Jesus.

Meeting such a strange talent, Wu Ming admired him very much, but also felt quite frustrated. Who knew that Dai Zichen was equally astonished at Wu Ming's intelligence.

A few unlucky hostages basked in the sun at the entrance of the cave every day, and under the towering tree next to the clear deep pool [-] meters below the entrance of the cave, several bandit leaders and their masters were not idle.

About forty years old, a burly bearded man sat at the head of the thick log square table and listened attentively to the return from the second master.

The second head, who is in his thirties, is holding a teacup and looks worried: "The foreign church in Yushan City has just completed the Gospel Church and Welfare Institute, and it seems that it is really out of money. In my opinion, it is enough to accept 1 oceans and fifty bolts of foreign cloth, otherwise we have to wait, who knows when the people they sent to Hangzhou for help will come back?"

"Master, what do you say?"

The bearded man seemed to be undecided. After all, the ransom he asked for at the beginning was [-] oceans, but in the end the bargaining price was reduced to [-] yuan. Up to now, the foreign church still can't get it together, and he still has to pay fifty bolts of foreign cloth.

The master lifted the porcelain pot, poured tea in front of everyone, sat down shaking the hem of his robe, and expressed his opinion slowly:
"The second child's worry is justified. These two foreign monks can't stay for too long. If the time is too long, the government may be alarmed. From the Qing Dynasty to the present Republic of China, the government respected and feared foreigners. Hundreds of thousands died. As a Chinese, an official will not take a second look. If a foreigner dies, I am afraid that the whole country will be shaken, so we had better accept it as soon as it is good, otherwise it will not be worthwhile if the officers and soldiers are besieged. We can get [-] yuan Thousands of ransoms can be regarded as make do with it, over the years, we have left room for things, and there is no need to kill them all."

The three bandit leaders nodded one after another, approving the master's analysis.

Seeing that the second master was about to interrupt, the master raised his hand to signal him to pause, and solemnly said to the three of them:
"It's not the two foreign monks who are in trouble now, but the two old men and the woman with the big belly... None of us knew before that the unlucky son of his family turned out to be the head of the security team in Changshan County, and was later replaced by the new The security commander of Quzhou was put in prison. When we took them up the mountain to get 150 taels of gold bars and a few antiques, we all thought we had caught a big fish, but we sent people back to the east, only to find out that their Fang family had lost power. Selling land and borrowing money to save people, it is estimated that the gold and antiques we got are going to be sent to Quzhou to save people, so whether to let these people stay or not, we have to come up with an idea as soon as possible, but, goose Hair plucking is certain, and businesses that lose money cannot be done.”

The bearded man thought for a while, and waved his hand: "Let go, let go, it's useless to keep it, just take it when you see it! That woman with a big belly is also quite pitiful. I went back a few days and saw the big belly of my mother-in-law. It’s not a good feeling to feel strange.”

"Brother, what should we do with the boy surnamed Wu?" asked the third master.

The bearded man gritted his teeth, hesitated for a long time, but still couldn't make up his mind: "I wanted to let him go after I got the confirmation yesterday morning, but after thinking about it, I felt that it would be a pity to let him go like this. He looks like an amiable scholar, but as long as you look carefully, you can see that he is extraordinary, which made me lose my opinion for a while."

"That's right!"

The master said with some emotion: "Think about it, this guy is unarmed, he dared to kill two officers with a stone, and he didn't forget to take his gun away when it was over. A while ago, this guy was caught in the trap of hundreds of officers and soldiers. , and then sneaked into Huanggu Town, where hundreds of officers and soldiers were strictly guarded, to seek revenge, and knocked off half of the head of the enemy who killed his mother. This ability?"

(End of this chapter)