Chapter 761 Homecoming
Chapter 761 Homecoming
There is only half a month left until the Chinese New Year, but Shao Xun cannot rest yet.
On the 25th, he personally arrived at the estate of former eunuch Wang Shen in the southeast of Pingyang and remeasured the land, finding that it was more than 800 hectares.
There are farmers on the land, and this is the biggest problem.
Shao Xun didn't want to move before because he didn't want to cause too much trouble. But now a year has passed, the situation has changed a lot, and it is not as sensitive as before.
All the farmhands in Wang Shen's manor were sent to Shan County on the other side of the river.
Farms, fields and houses were given to the newly arrived soldiers of the Wansheng Army.
Team leader Zeng Yi was one of the first warriors to obtain land and houses. On the 26th, he moved in directly, carrying a round shield, a knife, and two pieces of silk in his hands.
"Ms. Lan, I'll ask you again, are you willing to marry Zeng Yi?" a minor official from Pingyang County asked repeatedly.
Zeng Yi waited silently by the side.
He was not very old, probably in his twenties. As for why he couldn't be precise about his age, it was because he himself didn't know.
It is common for many people not to know their exact age or birthday. They just give a rough estimate, such as "over 20" or "over 30".
He didn't mind it too much.
No one cares about a penniless person's life or death, let alone his age?
To be honest, apart from his closest relatives, the only person in this world who was truly kind to him was King Liang.
When in Lunu County, King Liang had more than ten horses, and he killed ten of them to make meat soup for the victims.
That day, Zeng Yi had diarrhea several times, but he still insisted on eating and drinking, and finally survived.
Yesterday, Prince Liang personally came to this manor and took the two thousand soldiers who would be living here to see their new home.
Zeng Yi took a look at it and didn’t care whether he was satisfied or not.
After experiencing life and death, I have become more open-minded about many things. Let it be.
"Lan! Why don't you reply?" The clerk suddenly raised his voice and said, "If you are unwilling, it is not too late to regret it now. Tomorrow more than 3,000 people will go to Shan County, and you can take the car and leave with them."
Lan opened his mouth and said something.
Zeng Yi didn't understand, but the clerk was amused and said, "I know you can speak Xiayan and Jinyu, why are you pretending to be with me?"
Lan said another sentence in Xiongnu language.
After hearing this, the clerk waved his hand and said, "Never mind, this is your own choice. Just stay. If you go to Hongnong, there may not be any man who wants you."
In this world, there are too many women who have lost their men, but not so many strong men.
Without a man, it would be very difficult for a woman to raise a child, and she would have to work hard to cultivate a few acres of land. She might even die. With this in mind, it was not wrong for Lan to stay.
The clerk turned around and looked at Zeng Yi.
Zeng Yi didn't look at him, just nodded and said, "I understand."
After saying that, he walked straight to the main room, leaned his large shield against the wall, then took off the sword from his waist. When he was about to put it down, he paused, looked around, went inside, and put the sword on top of a shabby cabinet.
The clerk didn't care about his attitude.
He was a Xiongnu, and was very respectful of the new "yellow-headed men". Not because the yellow-headed men were good at fighting, but because he heard that these people were the personal soldiers of King Liang, so he did not dare to offend them.
He chased into the house and said with a smile: "This woman is eighteen years old and has a four-year-old daughter. The man she married before was a Xianbei from Shangjun. He was conscripted to guard the Chen Pass last year, but he didn't know his destiny and died in battle."
Seeing Zeng Yi was not interested, the clerk stopped talking and said, "The Lan family is a noble family of the Xiongnu. This girl's ancestors were brave warriors, so she was given the surname Lan by the nobles. Don't think she is silent, she can actually ride a horse and shoot arrows. It's just that her husband died, and she had a hard time making a living, so she sold her horse."
Zeng Yi didn't say anything, just looked around the room.
The clerk suddenly felt bored, said a few words casually, and left.
Lan went into the kitchen, lifted the earthenware jar on the ground, and looked at the corn porridge bubbling inside, silently.
Actually, what is there to say?
This world has repeatedly destroyed people's lives, emotions, and wills, and people have become numb.
Some people, after being conscripted to fight in the war, are as fierce as mad tigers and say they are not afraid of death, but doesn't it also mean that they feel liberated?
In their eyes, compared with a hard life, death is not so scary. It is better to give it a try. If you die, you die. Maybe you can get something if you live.
Only the little girl still had a little light in her eyes.
She didn't know what kind of life she could have led. Maybe she thought that life was born this way, and once she got used to it, she wouldn't feel it was bitter anymore. The little insignificant happiness in life could make her happy for a long time.
Zeng Yi went out quickly.
Lan had just added some cheese and dried wild vegetables into the earthenware jar when he paused and lowered his head.
The little girl slipped out from the corner, she was a little scared of the newcomer.
Zeng Yi was wandering on the frozen road.
There are sparse wheat seedlings in the field, and they are not growing well. I don’t know why.
It’s strange to say, when he was returning to Pingyang from Yecheng, he saw many wheat fields along the way, but he didn’t feel anything at the time. He was even too lazy to take a second look and just marched mechanically.
Even until yesterday, he looked listless.
My parents worked hard all their lives, became ill and passed away early.
His brother and sister-in-law were very kind to him, and his nephews and nieces were also very cute. Those were the few warm moments he had in the past twenty years and were very precious.
It’s a pity that due to a flood, everything is gone.
When his brother and his family left, it seemed as if they also took away a large part of his life.
He lived in a daze, relying only on his survival instinct. He was grateful to King Liang for saving him from danger, but not too grateful, because he could accept whether he lived or died. But today seemed a little different, really different.
When he saw the mother and daughter, he wanted to cry for some reason, but he held back his tears and stood there grimly without saying a word.
After walking in silence for a while, he came to a fence wall, pushed the door open, and stood in the yard.
"Team...Team leader?" A man in the yard was boiling water. After seeing Zeng Yi, he stood up and wiped his hands.
"Give me the two pheasants you shot on the road." Zeng Yi took out a piece of silk and said, "This piece of silk is yours."
The man looked at the silk and was somewhat tempted. After a moment, he said in embarrassment: "Captain, two pheasants are not worth a piece of silk."
Zeng Yi shook his head and just asked, "Do you want to change it?"
The man struggled for a while and said, "Change!"
Xuan said again: "Captain, I will help you clean it up."
After that, he started to scald and pluck the chicken.
Zeng Yi waited quietly.
This yard is smaller than his house. There is also a woman in the house, making steamed cakes.
The New Year is coming soon. No matter how difficult life is, we must have a good meal. Otherwise, I really don’t know what is the meaning of living.
The soldier quickly processed the two pheasants, then asked the woman to bring over a few more steamed buns, which were put in a bamboo basket, steaming hot.
Zeng Yi took the steamed buns and pheasant without any hesitation, handed them to Juanbo, nodded, and left.
His steps seemed to be lighter, and Zeng Yi didn't know what he was expecting.
He felt that he was a rough man, uneducated, uncultured, who did not understand romance, poetry, or songs, and could not describe his thoughts. He only knew that he had to do this thing.
They soon arrived home and Zeng Yi walked into the kitchen.
Lan was wiping her tears. When she saw Zeng Yishi, she turned away hurriedly.
The little girl hid behind the firewood pile, looked at him first, then at the steamed buns in the bamboo basket, and swallowed.
"It's New Year's Day, let's have a good meal." Zeng Yi placed two pheasants on the chopping board and said the first words of the day.
Then he took out a steamed bun from the bamboo basket and handed it to the little girl.
The little girl hesitated for a moment, but finally couldn't resist the temptation of the steamed buns and walked out from behind the pile of firewood.
One step, two steps, three steps, and finally he stretched out his little hands that were as frozen as a carrot and took the hot steamed bun.
Zeng Yi smiled slightly, took out another steamed bun from the basket and handed it to Lan.
Lan was a little surprised. He turned around, picked it up, and gently put it in his mouth to take a bite.
Zeng Yi suddenly blushed. He hurried out of the kitchen, came to the yard, and found a small stool to sit down.
The vegetable patch in the yard was empty.
The edge of the well was covered with a broken wooden board and covered with snow.
A few jujube trees swayed gently in the cold wind, looking thin and malnourished.
There were a few sheep penned in a corner of the yard. They were skinny and would bleat when they saw people.
On one side of the wing, the window frame was almost rotten, and a large piece of window paper was missing.
This house became dilapidated like this in just one year.
Zeng Yi, however, watched it with great interest.
At this moment, he suddenly felt a deeper gratitude towards King Liang.
This gratitude seemed to come for no reason, yet everything seemed to be clear.
He could better understand the feelings of many Yellow Head Army soldiers when they saw King Liang, although each person was grateful for something different.
Live on, there is hope as long as you live! This is the sentence that King Liang often said when he was helping the people in disaster relief.
He changed the fate of too many people.
These people all became his strength, including Zeng Yi.
The little girl came over with a steamed bun.
Zeng Yi glanced at her.
The little girl was a little scared and stopped. Then she looked at the steamed bun in her hand, mustered up the courage to step forward and handed it to Zeng Yi.
Zeng Yi shook his head and said, "You eat it."
The little girl swallowed, shook her head, and insisted on handing it to Zeng Yi.
Zeng Yi took it, slowly put it into his mouth and ate it. While eating, he tore off a piece and handed it to the little girl.
The little girl took it happily and ate until her cheeks were bulging.
Zeng Yi noticed from the corner of his eye that Lan's figure seemed to flash past from behind the window.
He smiled and said that the steamed bun was a little sweet.
(End of this chapter)