Chapter 16 Beating the Mountain Drum (2)
Dong! Dong! Dong! Dong!
The sun rises to the clouds, and birds flap their wings and fly out of acre of acres of land. The dilapidated skin drum is pulled out from the hometown of the village and is set up in the village to dry the dam. The hammer head wrapped in red scarves keeps falling rhythmically, and the dust particles are shaking.
Seeds are planted in March, birds and beasts are driven away in April, and every household in Gengjia Village hears the loud shouting of going out of the mountain. They are like eating a banquet in the village, and they all gather together, shouting around the drum and following the man on the stone mill.
The sound of people was filled with noises, and the surrounding forests were shocked. The fields and birds were hovering around the sky and did not dare to fall. The wild boar, who was protruding his head at the edge of the forest, turned around in panic and ran back to the mountains.
The villagers running on the ridge of the fields did not see the wild beasts being scared away, but they still had to go back to the entrance of the village to report the good news to everyone. Some people who like to joke made up a series of lies that made people laugh and cry. They should not come any more wild boars going down the mountain. They swayed a row of big breasts and ran into the mountains, causing some wives to shout and scold him.
Over the past year, it was only possible that the solar terms of the year were so lively. Most of the villagers could not leave after beating the mountain drum. They gathered many incense and candles from house to house, and also respected the ancestors in the village. One by one, one by one, bowed and kowtowed, to bless the safety of the family and have a good harvest this year.
Wang Jinqiu looked up from house to house, looking around worriedly, looking at the road outside from time to time, his eyes were red.
"Dazhu hasn't come back at this time. Where has he been?!"
Old Man Geng was beside him, pursing his lips and not talking. He lay down for two nights, but his head was still drowsy, but Geng Qing did not come back. How could he have no man come forward at home? He forced himself to go to the ground, and his legs were trembling and he had to go to the mountain drum. Seeing him like this, his father in Omura spoke to his wife, and hurried over and scolded him in anger.
"What are you doing when you stay? Don't get angry if you don't recover from your illness... Just ask your sister-in-law to kowtow. What are you involved in?"
"Respect our ancestors, how can men in the family not come forward?!"
Old Man Geng squeezed the stick tightly and walked for two steps. His expression was calm, but his beard was full of anger, his voice was not loud, and most people around him could hear it. Geng Qing went out for so long and searched all the mountains around him. Even if he was taken away by wild beasts, he could always find some of them, right? But the village was good at hunting and went through the two mountains without looking at a trace.
"......Dazhu also grew up in the mountains, so he would not be able to know the way."
"Aren't you fascinated by ghosts last time? You must be enlightened. I think it must be a possessed female ghost who has been caught in the gate of ghosts, otherwise how could she remain silent, without seeing people in life or without seeing corpses in death?"
"What if Dazhu is going to the city?"
"What did he do in the city? His parents are here, and he has no shortage of food and clothing at home. There is no reason to be looked down upon in the city."
The families who had bowed and kowtowed gathered together, looking at Wang Jinqiu who was secretly wiping his tears over there, talking in groups of three or three, buzzing and noisy, and for a moment, there were all kinds of suspicion. The old Chao of the village who was in charge of beating the mountain drums couldn't stop his eyes. Old Man Geng pursed his lips tightly, and the stick in his hand leaned heavily on the ground, and Wang Jinqiu's voice was choked.
"I just hope the pillar can be safe and sound..."
"Aunt Jinqiu, you're at your house!" Someone shouted there, and Wang Jinqiu hurriedly wiped his tears and helped her husband slowly. The old couple put their hands together and bowed slowly towards the entire village. Before they could kneel down, someone suddenly shouted: "Look at outside, there are a group of people!"
There was a sudden noise around, and the villagers gathered together squeezed over. The old man Geng and his wife also looked back at the mud road outside the village. They thought Geng Qing was back, but there were a group of guards wearing short clothes. There were more than 30 people, carrying sticks and swords and soldiers surrounding a ox cart, and they came here with murderous intent.
"It's Liu Miao!"
"Okay, I'm picking here at this time. I obviously don't want my Gengjia Village to have a better life!"
A group of men in the village were suddenly furious. At this time, bringing people over is as unlucky as sending money to others for weddings. They rushed home and took a shoulder pole, hoe, and hatchet, gathered at the entrance of the village. "Everyone looks like he is fierce, don't let the other party think we are afraid!"
A man was shouting in the crowd, and a group of village men squeezed together with shoulder poles and hoes and shouted, staring at the ox cart that stopped at the entrance of the village, as well as the vicious thugs of the Liu family, protecting the hospital.
On the ox cart surrounded by the guard guard, Liu Mang looked at a group of village men blocking them with farm tools, grinned open his mouth, and laughed "sneering", looked at the sky, then waved his hand to the side and pushed him to the edge of the car.
"...I should come and sing incense sticks like beating the mountain drum. I bow to you. You don't need to greet each other like this, and everyone doesn't need to have such an expression. I'm patrolling my country, Liu's fields, isn't a problem for you. But well, since everyone is together, there's no need to wait for the old people in the village to look for it from house to house."
The sound was not loud, but there was a loud guard next to him. He recounted the words. The people in Gengjia Village crowded at the entrance of the village were silent. Look at me, I look at you, and I don’t understand what Liu Miao meant for a while. He was strong-willed and spit on the opposite side with a hoe.
"Bah, you're so crazy," he turned around and shouted to the village: "Don't listen to his nonsense. As long as they dare to step over, we will fight."
"Yes, fight!"
The crowd was angry, dancing farm tools, shouting Liu Mang to get out of Gengjia Village, "If you don't leave, I will beat you to death with a blow!"
"You bad-hearted person, today I'm not afraid that the ancestors of Gengjia Village will come to you in the middle of the night!"
However, Mr. Liu on the ox cart over there was not annoyed, and the villagers still shouted. Finally, after the screams became less and less, he touched the beard on his lips and slowly raised his hand and pressed it.
"Have you scolded enough? Listen to me first. What I said just now is not unreasonable. This is the case... There is a young man named Geng Qing, who is from your village, right? Yesterday, he went to our yard and looked pitiful. He said that his father was beaten up and needed medicine. He was weak and could not plant the thin field at home, so he wanted to sell it to me. At first, I didn't want to. I thought of him as filial piety and gave him dozens of dollars to get medicine for him. But this young man is stubborn and doesn't want to get money for nothing. I am a soft-hearted person, so I agreed to sell the field... He also said that he could sell the field on behalf of Gengjia Village. Let's take a look."
Liu Mang took out two pages of paper from his arms, a wrinkled field deed, and a black paper and white calligraphy with a letter of confiscation. "Did everyone see it? It doesn't matter if you can't see it. Let the old people in the village come over and see it clearly."
The words came to the entrance of the village and echoed in the crowd. The men and women of all sizes in the village were completely dumb and the farm tools they were holding were hanging down a little. Naturally, they knew the "Geng Qing" mentioned by the other party. Soon after the young man recovered from his illness, he changed his name to himself.
Some old people in the village also knew a few words, came out of the crowd, looked at the letter of the deed in the hand of the rich man Liu. When they turned around, they were trembling and almost fell. Seeing the old man's expression, Wang Jinqiu turned pale and sat down to the ground, staring at the wrinkled Tian Qi in Liu Mang's hand with no eyes. That was what she gave to her son.
‘I’m sorry everyone…’
Old Man Geng turned around tremblingly with a wooden stick, looked at the villagers with extremely ugly faces, and lowered his head: "I'm sorry to everyone... Zhuzi is sorry to you..."
Liu Mang saw how everyone was feeling, and he was a little confused. However, at the moment, these people were still satisfied with their indifference. He raised two pages of paper in his hand, "I didn't expect that Geng Qing, the village, took 60 taels and didn't give it to you. He embezzled that silver by himself. It's really heartless. I'm not worth it for you, but I have paid the money to buy the land. You can't let me suffer losses, right? There are also the ones who are in charge of the above."
Niu Jiaji, three miles away from Gengjia Village, shouting and crying, Wang Li was lying on a low stool, leaning against a chair, enjoying the desserts his wife bought for him. The thick woman next to him touched the two silver ingots while kissing her.
"This silver is always better than strings of copper coins, and you can't see enough. In the future, you have to get a ingot back every day. Even if you go out to raise a young man, I will turn a blind eye."
He was lying on the back of the chair and was stunned for a moment, then he started to laugh.
"Where do you say, how could I do that... But when Mr. Liu took over the fields in Gengjia Village, he was happy that there was always oil and water to take over."
Bang!
The door that was inserted suddenly opened inwards. The couple in the room stood up in fear. Two officers in yamen clothes at the door stood on both sides with their swords pressed on their waists. Looking at the silver in the woman's hands, the corners of their mouths raised up.
Chapter completed!