Back to the Beginning of Ming to do Charity

Zou Pusheng looked at Lin Yuan. Of course he knew Lin Yuan, and he knew what Lin Yuan had done along the way.

Zou Pusheng had never underestimated anyone who managed to gain a foothold in these troubled times, and he also knew when he should hold himself proudly and when he should bow his head.

He said to Lin Yuan: "The Southern King has come to see me, naturally, there is something important."

Lin Yuan smiled and said: "Having just arrived in Hanyang, we naturally need the elders to lead the way."

Zou Pusheng: "Zou naturally listens to the Southern King."

He even said mischievously: "Compared with a sharp knife, it is naturally more preferable to have wealth and and honor."

Lin Yuan looked at such an old middle-aged man pretending to be cute, and the goosebumps he shook off nearly covered the entire floor.

The people of Hanyang were now hiding in their houses.

At night, they didn't even dare to light up the candles. The entire family shrank in a small room, hoping that early tomorrow morning, their life would return to what it used to be. It didn't matter if it was good or bad, it was at least stable and the kind of life they were familiar with. They didn't want to make any changes.

Those with rebellious spirits had all been killed long ago, and those who lived to this day were basically as meek as cattle and sheep.

Lin Yuan remembered that he had watched on TV once, someone saying:

"China's working people are the most hard-working people in the world."

"When the wealthy life is not guaranteed, the people only want to be able to eat fully and dress warmly. When food and clothing are not guaranteed, the people only want to live in peace. But when even the bottom line of a peaceful life is crossed, the people will take up arms to rebel."

Without being driven to a dead end, the people only hope to live through their own efforts.

"There is almost no food at home." The woman scooped out the last bit of grain from the barrel and turned to look at her husband and in-laws. The wrinkles on her face were like the dry cracked land, and there was no light in her eyes. Her child sat at her feet, sobbing softly about being hungry.

When people were hungry to the limit, they would cry. The feeling was indescribable.

Just give them a bite and you could ask them to do anything.

And this memory of being extremely hungry would accompany them throughout their lives.

"Cook a bowl of porridge for your man." Her mother-in-law was lying on the kang, motionless, her eyes closed.

Her father-in-law did not speak. When one was at the end of the line, all resources must be given priority to the breadwinner at home.

So long as the strongest one survived, then the others would also have a chance to survive.

The woman looked at the bowl of coarse grains with saliva collecting in her mouth.

She wanted to eat a little bit, even if only a little bit. So long as there was something in her mouth, she wouldn't be so uncomfortable.

The man suddenly stood up: "I'm going out to find food."

The entire family looked at him.

The man resolutely said: "Mother, even if only I eat it, there is no food at home, so sooner or later we'll all starve to death."

"You can't go out!" The mother-in-law's eyes widened, "The outside is in such upheaval, if you are gone, we won't be able to live!"

The man had already reached the door: "Mother, I will be extra careful."

He did not dare to look back, fearing that he would not be able to hold onto the courage to go out and continue staying instead. But he also knew that after staying, he would face death from thirst and starvation.

There was no one on the streets. Except for some soldiers who were not Hanyang's soldiers on patrol. He avoided these soldiers for fear of being seen by them. He knew that these soldiers did not see lives as lives at all when they fought. If they killed someone, they also wouldn't have to face any punishment. As for those who died, no one would find justice for them.

The man hurriedly walked through the alleys. He didn't know where to find food, but he had no other way.

In his anxious state, he bumped his head into the back of someone.

The man froze, and he regretted that he didn't think to take a knife along with him.

He could only stand there stupidly, watching the man in military uniform who had been knocked into turn around.

He was about to die. The man took a deep breath and wanted to put up a last desperate fight.

Unexpectedly, the soldier smiled with teeth when he saw him. He smiled as he said, "It's rare to see common people coming out. Are you here to buy food?"

The man opened his mouth several times, but he couldn't utter a word. His whole body was shaking, cold sweat was dripping from his forehead, and he didn't know what he was even thinking.

"Go now, it's still the old market, but these days, we are doing rectification. If you want to buy food, you have to walk a few steps forward." The soldier said, "Should I take you there?"

The man stammered: "No, no need…..I can….."

The soldier smiled and said: "Coincidentally, I'm not on duty right now, I'll take you there."

As he said, he patted the man on the back. The man did not dare to resist. He could only follow the soldier while looking for opportunities to escape along the way. Who knew what the soldier wanted to do, maybe he wanted to trick him to a more desolate place to kill him.

As a result, the man just looked for a chance all the way. After all, he had gone hungry for a long time and had little strength. He didn't dare to resist, so he could only subtly find a chance to escape.

But in the end, even until they arrived at the place, he still hadn't been able to run away.

"Here, you can go buy whatever you want by yourself." The soldier said, "By the way, my name is Zhou Dashan. I belong to the 3rd company, 2nd platoon, 4th battalion, 8th squad's foot soldier. If you think I am a good person, you can go to the barracks and give me a pennant. This is called making it convenient for each other."

His superior had said that so long as they did things for the people and the people were grateful to them and sent pennants to the military camp, they would get bonuses and award money.

If you received a lot of pennants, you could even get a house.

The soldiers were all eagerly wanting to perform well, and it was now a race to be the first to get the house reward.

The houses awarded from above were all good houses with good locations and large spaces. There were vendors and markets in the front and back. It was the kind of house that you might not even be able to buy with money. If there was such a house, there was definitely a bigger possibility of marrying a wife in the future.

The man could only nod his head vigorously to show that he understood.

Zhou Dashan was satisfied: "Then you go buy what you need yourself, I'm leaving now. If you have any difficulties, just find a soldier, they will not ignore you."

At this time, the man looked at the market in front of him and couldn't say a word.

And Zhou Dashan had already left.

Was this still the messy and filthy marketplace in his memory? In the past, people just sold their goods on the ground. There were rotten vegetable leaves and eggshells that were inedible on the ground, as well as many puddles and mud. Now there were tables set up on the roads that reached up to a height of a grown man's waist, and the ground was flat and clean. There was food on the table, and behind the table was a food seller.

The man looked at the food on the table and swallowed fiercely.

He had been hungry for a long time, and he could even eat raw food if he had any.

"This big brother, do you want to buy food? My food is all fresh." The young man guarding the food stall waved to the man.

The man couldn't hold back, he walked over and asked, "Which is the cheapest?"

The young man smiled and said: "Soy beans, this is the cheapest, but soybeans are a good thing. Stir-frying it with a little salt makes it very delicious. After grating it, you can drink soy milk and eat bean curd cakes."

The man took out the money from his pocket: "I want this."

Young man: "You didn't bring a cloth bag?"

The man was taken aback for a moment, that was right, how would he bring it back?

The young man said again: "I have a cloth bag here. How about this, I will use my cloth bag to fill you half of the soybeans. Go back and get your cloth bag, and when you return mine to me, I will fill your bag up with the rest."

The man whispered: "If you don't give it to me….."

The young man smiled and said: "Your soybeans are worth about the same money as my cloth bag, not to mention, there is a supervisor here. We can go to the supervisor and have him be the witness, if I don't give you the rest, they will arrest me and I will have to go to jail."

The man still didn't believe it: "If you team up with them to lie to me, what should I do?"

The young man was exasperated: "Then what do you say?"

The man thought for a while: "I will go back to get the bag. I won't take advantage of you, and you can't take advantage of me."

After finishing talking, the man got his money back, and his body, which was clearly weak from little food, ran off at the speed of a sprint.

There was food! They could buy food! The soldiers didn't kill him!

With a smile on his face, the man ran back home all the way.

When his family saw him come back with his hands empty, their eyes dimmed a lot, and his wife said chokingly, "Sit down for a while, and I will cook mash for you."

The man waved his hand: "Go, take out all our money and cloth bags, I'm going to buy food!"

"What? There is food? Can we still buy food now?" The family looked at him with hope in their eyes.

Food meant being able to survive.

The man patted his chest and promised: "I just went out and ran into a soldier. He took me to the market. The market is now completely different from before. It is clean and big. Everything is very clear and organized. I will go buy some soybeans, and then buy some rice that hasn’t been hulled. Let’s have a full meal today."

"The soldier took you there?" His wife wanted to ask some more.

The mother-in-law said: "I'll get the money, you get the cloth bags! Ask later when the food is bought back!"

The man took the money and the cloth bags and went straight to the market. There were soldiers on the way asking him if he needed help. He was able to speak now. After turning down several people, he arrived at the market to buy food. Carrying one bag on his shoulder, and carrying another big bag in his hand.

He didn't feel that it was heavy at all, he felt that if he had another hand, he could carry another bag back.

"Hey, you are still here." Zhou Dashan came over, "I thought you already finished buying and went back."

The man said cautiously: "Forgot to bring the bag."

Zhou Dashan took the bag from him insistently.

The man's eyes widened and he was terribly scared.

He knew it, he knew that these soldiers were not good things, and they wanted to rob his food! Rob the food that allowed him to stay alive!

Zhou Dashan: "Don't look at me like that. I'm afraid you will be crushed before you get home. Go, I will send you back. Remember to send me the pennant!"

After he finished talking, he went ahead.

The man didn't dare to dawdle, so he could only follow. He wanted to take his bag of food back, but there were soldiers patrolling on the road.

When they arrived at the door of the man's house, Zhou Dashan put down the food bag and once again reminded: "You must send me a pennant, don't forget."

Then he repeated which squad he belonged to.

The man nodded vigorously, and he finally breathed a sigh of relief when Zhou Dashan left.

He knocked on the door of his house and moved the food in.

Looking at the two large bags full of food, the man finally had some smile in his eyes.

"Wife, go and cook, cook more, we will all be full!"