"No, no one!"
"Bullshit, is that Ma Dazhu?" The old lady of the Li family snorted coldly.
"You've heard everything, why are you still asking me?" Zheng Chunmei felt annoyed and didn't want to argue with her. She was really tired after climbing the mountain and going through so much trouble tonight.
"Chunmei, I know you're still young, but men are unreliable. I used to think Ma Dazhu was okay, but he's no longer. His father is disabled, and his brother is injured. How will he support the whole family by himself in the future?"
The old lady of the Li family said earnestly, "Let's cut off all contact with him."
"It wasn't a very deep relationship to begin with." Zheng Chunmei said tiredly.
Ma Dazhu had never even touched her hand.
To be honest, the old woman knew about this before, but she turned a blind eye to it. Why?
Don't you just want Ma Dazhu to come to your house to help?
This kind of thing is not uncommon. It is common for families with many brothers to go to other people's families to ask for help because they cannot afford to marry a wife and do not want to marry into the family.
But before Zheng Chunmei and Ma Dazhu reached that stage, she was intercepted by Zhao Zheng who showed up out of nowhere.
Before Ma Dazhu could even smell the fragrance, Zhao Zheng had eaten him up.
"I'm glad you know." Mrs. Li was relieved to see that her daughter-in-law still had some sense. "Why did you come back so late today? Did Mr. Zhao give you a hard time?"
"No!"
"Did you get the food?"
"Just like that, rice bran paste, a little thicker than before!"
Can it be less strong?
My voice is all messed up!
"Damn Mr. Zhao, you're so stingy." Mrs. Li cursed fiercely, then closed the door and lay down on the bed. She said, "There's only enough food at home for three days. If there's no more food, we'll have to go begging."
Zheng Chunmei sighed softly and said nothing.
Once food is cut off, that is when suffering begins.
...
The next day, before dawn, Zhao Zheng arrived at the village entrance.
Deputy Captain Pan Dabo, team leader Jiang Wogua and Big Beard had gathered everyone early, so Zhao Zheng didn't have to worry at all.
"Morning, Captain!"
"Captain, have you eaten? I have a small piece of wild vegetable cake here, which was made by my daughter." Pan Dabo handed the wild vegetable cake in his hand to Zhao Zheng, and the team members who saw it all cursed inwardly.
"Damn Pan's big head, he's quite good at licking!"
"Is it necessary to fawn over a mere captain like this?"
Zhao Zheng smiled and didn't refuse. He took the wild vegetable cake and said, "I haven't eaten it yet. Thanks!"
Immediately, he threw the wild vegetable cake into his mouth.
"Everyone, line up! Today I'm going to talk about how to protect your property and your family when bandits come!"
Zhao Zheng cut to the chase, "First, we need to plan our retreat route in advance. Second, we need to leave some valuables at home to prevent bandits from getting in and getting angry and killing people!"
"Because we are the village guards, we have an obligation to protect the villagers, but our numbers are limited. We just need to take care of the area belonging to our team eight. According to the plan I will talk about next, we will go to the neighbors' homes and explain things clearly..."
Zhao Zheng's unique drill also attracted the team members, and they all listened very carefully.
Only Yan Dali looked unhappy and would retort from time to time.
Zhao Zheng ignored this pure argumentative person and clapped his hands immediately, "Now let's take action..."
Everyone started to move.
Soon the eighth team's drill attracted the attention of villagers and discussions from other teams.
"I'm dying of laughter. When the bandits came, he didn't resist and instead led the escape. Zhao Laosan is such a coward!"
"Are all the members of Team 8 cowards?"
These are the words of Ma Dazhu and several other young captains.
The vast majority of villagers had no intention of confronting the bandits. Although they were envious in their hearts, they still followed the captains' words and ruthlessly condemned this cowardly move.
"And Team Six, they're just like Team Eight, worthy of being partners, just as pathetic!"
Everyone burst into laughter.
Niu Dalei turned a deaf ear to it.
He had no thoughts of fighting, only the desire to live in his mind!
For two consecutive days, Zhao Zheng carried out raids in the village, sometimes during the day and sometimes at night.
Zhao Zheng also planned two retreat routes. As long as they retreated according to these routes, the bandits would never catch up.
Although this caused complaints from the neighbors, they still carried out the policy unwaveringly.
In addition, there was another thing that made Zhao Zheng very upset.
Xu Youde often takes the village guard team to patrol the Zhong family these days.
In Zhao Zheng's opinion, robbing a poor man by bandits is not as good as robbing a landlord.
But the reality is that the landlords kept slaves and tenants, built walls and bunkers, and had weapons.
If there are too few people, the attack will be difficult; if there are too many people, they will easily be cut off and their lair will be raided.
Most of the bandits are civilians who can't make a living. They say they live on the edge of a knife, but they can fight when the wind is in their favor, but they won't fight when the wind is against them.
But reality is often abstract.
The poor people who have no money are still the first target of these bandits. Landlords who do not need help can get the village defense soldiers for free, but all they get is a bowl of porridge, nothing more.
Besides this, there is one more thing.
Wang Dazhi came back. Afraid of being embarrassed, he sneaked back to the village last night.
There was no Lan Zi in his world from then on, which also meant that the Wang family was almost extinct.
After dark, Wu Yueying came to the Zhao family and said anxiously, "Uncle Zhao, I'll follow your instructions and ask my parents to come over. They'll be here tomorrow!"
"You don't know how disgusting that old man in the Wang family is. He actually wants me to send people to his house to help him and continue the Wang family's bloodline!" Wu Yueying hated her husband's family and detested them from the bottom of her heart. How could she accept such a shameless thing?
Zhao Zheng frowned, "You must not agree to this!"
"I didn't agree." Wu Yueying shook her head. "If they force me to do it, I'd rather die!"
"Don't be so extreme." Zhao Zheng soothed him, "Wait until your family arrives and negotiate as I say. After the deal is settled, you can go to the Zhong family and ask for the price to see how much silver you can redeem it for."
"After you've agreed on the price, just come to me."
Wu Yueying heard the hidden meaning in Zhao Zheng's words and said in disbelief, "Uncle Zhao, you, you plan to help me redeem my child?"
Zhao Zheng nodded. "Don't be too happy. It's not free. I have to be frank. I have a contract in hand. If you don't understand it, I can read it to you."
"You read, I listen!"
Zhao Zheng told her the contents of the contract, and Wu Yueying finally understood what the contract was. It was not only a contract to sell her and her two daughters, but also a sales contract.
The land I bought belonged to the Wang family.
"If you sign this indenture, you will belong to the Zhao family and will obey my orders. Of course, if you have money in the future, you can redeem yourself at any time. Just pay me back and I won't charge you any interest!"
"I'll sign!" Wu Yueying agreed without thinking.
"Are you sure?"
"I'm sure. I trust Uncle Zhao. And I promised you that if you can redeem my daughter, I'll be his slave for the rest of my life. I won't break my promise!"