The seventh day of the fourth month...probably.

The defeated Kunyang officers and soldiers evacuated from the bottom of the mountain, and the entire mountain village cheered for it.

Yang Tong, the leader of the village, sent someone to inform Zhu Wang, and asked Zhu Wang to instruct Zhao Yu, Xu Fen and others to kill all the chickens, ducks and pigs in the village, bring out all the remaining wine and prepare a sumptuous meal to reward the bandits in the village.

In the afternoon, bandits returned to the village one after another, and also brought back the bodies of their companions.

The whole thief village followed by the crying of women and children.

At that time, Zhao Yu, Xu Fen and others stood at the door of the kitchen and watched with their own eyes the bodies of more than 20 dead bandits were placed in the open space in the village. There were about eight or nine women, either alone or with their children, lying on the bodies and crying.

Yes, unlike the bandits who were generally like evil people in Zhao Yu's impression, a considerable number of Yang Tong's bandits were civilians who fled from Wannan and Wanbei. They became bandits because they were desperate at the beginning. Simply put, they were the ones who were family members.

Nowadays, these bandits who died as bandits, their wives and children will naturally feel sad.

Xu Fen, Deng Bai and Deng Song are all familiar with this scene because they all came here like this.

Their fathers were all bandits who became bandits. When their father was still there, they all lived in the small houses in the village, just like the village, with one household in each house. They were not taken to the kitchen until their father died and their mother passed away.

Just as Zhao Yu and others were secretly feeling, a voice suddenly came from the side: "Did you see it? I saw the thief eating meat at the beginning, but today, I finally saw the thief die? This is the end of being a thief."

Zhao Yu subconsciously turned his head, and then he noticed that Chen Mo had appeared beside them at some point, leaning his arms around the outside wall of the kitchen, expressionless.

Zhao Yu knew that the second village leader was saying what he said, and he also accepted Chen Mo's statement. If he hadn't been desperate, who would have been willing to become a bandit and live a life of fear for the rest of his life?

But the problem is that he has no other way.

With a sigh in his heart, Zhao Yu asked quietly: "Where are the dead Kunyang officers and soldiers?"

“…”

Chen Mo was stunned for a moment, frowned, and then a little disappointment flashed in his eyes that looked at Zhao Yu.

“…It’s okay.”

He left expressionlessly.

Looking at Chen Mo's departure back, Zhao Yu breathed a sigh of relief and blew the strand of hair hanging on his forehead.

When I heard Chen Mo's tone of the last sentence, I had a bit of a kindness and righteousness. Of course, this is true, but Zhao Yu also had difficulties that he could not reveal.

Before dusk, when Zhao Yu, Xu Fen and others were cooking in the kitchen, Zhu Wang stepped in and said seriously: "Xu Fen, come on, I have something to tell you."

Xu Fen followed Zhu Wang out inexplicably.

Seeing Zhu Wang walking out seriously, Deng Bai asked curiously: "What's wrong with Uncle Bald Head, so serious?"

"Is it possible that he was caught stealing the wine from the village? Hahaha..." Deng Song guessed randomly.

Only Zhao Yu glanced outside the house and guessed a few points.

According to his speculation, it was probably because the counterfeit lost a lot of manpower this time, so Xu Fen, who was originally a "preparation", was selected.

Sure enough, after a moment, Xu Fen returned to the kitchen and no matter how the Deng brothers asked, he didn't say anything.

Until several people went to deliver wine and meat to the big house in the village, Xu Fen took advantage of the two Deng brothers' attention and grabbed Zhao Yu and whispered: "Huzi, I have something to tell you."

Zhao Yu glanced at Xu Fen and said, "Do you want to say that the village will arrange for you to go to the big house?"

Arranged to the big house means that the village is preparing to accept Xu Fen as a companion. Don’t look at Zhao Yu, Jingnv and others are now living in the thief’s nest, but the bandits in the village have never admitted that they are companions. At best, they are just a group of little kids working for them.

When Xu Fen heard Zhao Yu's words, he looked surprised and asked, "How do you know?"

"I guessed it once."

Zhao Yu chuckled and said, "This time the village lost more than 20 people, and there are so many wounded people. We must find a way to replenish the staff... Although the village repels Kunyang's officers and soldiers this time and makes their reputations, there will inevitably be people who will join the village one after another, but these people are not aware of their roots. You have lived in the village for many years and are old again. No matter how you look at it, you will be selected."

Xu Fen opened his mouth and was amazed: "It's so amazing to be from a wealthy family?" As he said that, he let out a long sigh and nodded and admitted: "Okay, you guessed it right. This afternoon, Zhu Wang called me outside and told me about this. He said that there was a shortage of personnel in the village. Someone thought of me and told Zhu Wang about this matter. Zhu Wang asked me to ask."

"Did you agree?" Zhao Yu asked.

Xu Fen nodded slightly.

Zhao Yu did not ask Xu Fen if he was really thinking, because although Zhu Wang looked rude, he was actually pretty good-hearted. After a group of children in the kitchen changed their words to call him uncle, he was becoming more and more friendly to the group of children in the kitchen and would not force him to push him up against Xu Fen's wishes.

In other words, this is Xu Fen's own decision.

Seeing that Zhao Yu was silent, Xu Fen misunderstood and explained: "Don't worry, I won't leave you behind... I don't have brothers and sisters, you are my younger brothers and sisters. I promised this, just hope we can live a better life, and at the same time, it is also for the sake of having a strong sense of self-protection..."

He breathed and continued, "Anyway, in the future, I'll ask you to the kitchen. Hu Zi, when I'm not here, you will restrain Deng Bai, Deng Song, and take care of Ning Niang..."

"Let's wait!"

Zhao Yu raised his hand and interrupted Xu Fen's words: "I didn't say I want to stay in the kitchen."

Xu Fen was stunned for a moment, not understanding what Zhao Yu meant for a while. After a long time, he opened his eyes wide in shock: "Are you crazy? You even want to vomit when you kill pigs, but you still want to be a bandit?"

"That's because pig blood is in my mouth..."

Zhao Yu blushed suddenly and changed the topic: "Anyway, you have your ideas, and I have my ideas too... When you go to the big house, tell me about it."

"no!"

Xu Fen shook his head and said, "You are too young, stay in the kitchen for a few years before talking about it!... With Zhu Wang taking care of you, you at least have food and meat, why should you take this risk?"

"It will be too late in a few years!" Zhao Yu said in a low voice: "Before the next time Kunyang officers and soldiers come to encircle and suppress, I must gain a certain position in the mountain village."

"What?" Xu Fen was shocked when he heard this, looked around, pulled Zhao Yu to the corner beside him, and asked in a low voice: "How do you know that the officers and soldiers in Kunyang will come again?"

Zhao Yu lowered his voice and said, "That's a county! At least a few thousand households!... As a county magistrate of a county, will Kunyang County Magistrate allow a bandit in the country? The failure of Kunyang officers and soldiers this time is just because Kunyang does not want to delay the spring plowing. When the spring plowing is over, more officers and soldiers will come to encircle and suppress it!... This time it will be three or four hundred, and next time it may be thousands! Even if Kunyang County does not have so many people, he can still borrow soldiers from neighboring counties. By then, this hamlet may not be able to stop it!"

Obviously, Xu Fen was not as long as Zhao Yu thought. He was stunned and even a cold sweat broke out on his forehead.

"Then, what should I do?" he asked in panic.

Although he is the oldest in the kitchen, he is only sixteen years old to survive. In terms of knowledge and calmness, he is far inferior to Zhao Yu.

Seeing this, Zhao Yu lowered his voice and said, "Just like Brother Xu, you said, we must have the ability to protect ourselves... Brother Xu is thinking of holding the knife by himself, and I hope to give advice to the village at that time, but you know, if you want the village to listen to my ideas, at least I have to see the leader of the village at any time... Please, Brother Xu."

"this……"

Xu Fen's face showed a look of hesitation.

The next day, Xu Fen moved out of the kitchen.

Now I can't hide it from the boys in the kitchen. Deng Bai, who has always regarded Xu Fen as an example, was naturally very happy and hoped that Xu Fen could gain a certain position in the village and then make them a serious bandit. Ning Niang was mixed with joy and sorrow. She was both happy that Xu Fen finally got rid of the miscellaneous work and was worried that Xu Fen would encounter an unexpected accident. After all, this time the Kunyang officers and soldiers came to attack, and the village was seriously injured.

Looking at the scene in front of him, Zhao Yu suddenly remembered Chen Mo's advice to him again.

Chen Mo is indeed right. Whether it is Xu Fen, Deng Bai, Deng Song brothers, and Ning Niang, although they are still just a group of children, they have long been deeply imprinted by bandits because of their fathers. Even if they are allowed to return to civilians, they may not be able to adapt to civilians' lives for a while.

Furthermore, robbing such evil deeds that are not worthy of work will be addicted. For example, Xu Fen's father Xu Xin was born in Wannan to resist the rebels. But when Chen Mo met, Xu Xin was already a complete bandit.

Including the bandits in the village, these may have been hard-working civilians, hunters, or even military soldiers, but now? They are a group of bandits who do not work for production every day and only know how to loot everywhere.

When Zhao Yu thought of looting, he couldn't help but think of the movements that followed in the village.

This time, the village was attacked by Kunyang officers and soldiers and did not go down the mountain to loot for half a month. In addition, in order to celebrate the repelling of the officers and soldiers, the leader of the village Yang Tong ordered all the chickens, ducks and pigs that were stolen from the village. There is no doubt that when Kunyang County is busy with spring plowing, Yang Tong's gang will definitely seize the time to loot everywhere.

In the case of insufficient staff, since children aged 15 or 16 can use it, children aged 12 can naturally use it.

Zhao Yu was not worried about this. Even if Xu Fen refused to tell him about the situation, he had other ways.

In the afternoon, Xu Fen returned to the kitchen and nodded at Zhao Yu with Deng Bai, Deng Song, and Ning Niang.

『It's done!』

Zhao Yu clenched his fists.

Originally, he planned to wait until the second half of the year to start implementing his plan, which would be relatively safer, but the appearance of Kunyang officers and soldiers broke his plan, so he could only bite the bullet and go on.
Chapter completed!