amaotonovel Chapter 1275 Relief for work
Chapter 1275 Relief for work
Chapter 1275 Relief for work
After Lu Zhaopeng finished speaking, he looked at Qin Hao nervously, afraid that the other party would refuse again.
However, to Lu Zhao's surprise, Qin Hao readily agreed: "How many weapons and ammunition do you need?"
"...fifty packs of Hanyang rifles, one thousand rounds of ammunition, one hundred hand grenades..."
Lu Zhaopeng abruptly raised his head, his face filled with astonishment, like a drowning person suddenly thrown to the surface, completely unable to react to the sudden influx of oxygen. He agreed? The other party… just… so easily agreed?
“Remember,” Qin Hao’s tone shifted, each word clear and slow, yet heavy as a thousand pounds, leaving no room for doubt: “This is not friendship, it’s a deal. I can get you weapons and ammunition, but there are two conditions.”
"First, the source of the weapon. From the moment you got your hands on it, it either fell from the sky or you stumbled upon it by sheer luck and picked it up from an enemy corpse. Understand? You are not allowed to tell anyone where it came from! Nobody! Including your superiors, your comrades, not a single word, not a whisper!"
"otherwise……"
Lu Zhaopeng hesitated for a moment, but still nodded in agreement, because he had no other choice.
"Secondly, payment is made on the spot, with no delays in payment."
"Okay, I agree."
"Tomorrow at 3 PM, go to 'Liu's Old Shop' at the south end of Tanshi Street in the west of the city. Mention my surname. He will lead the way."
Before leaving, Qin Hao paused for a moment: "Yue Weishan is searching high and low for you, so be careful. Also, your younger brother Lu Zhaohai will be going to military school in the second half of the year. Your mother is being looked after by me in the village, so no one will dare to make things difficult for her. Just focus on your work."
Three days later. The atmosphere in Xi'an suddenly became tense. Like cold water thrown into boiling oil, the series of shootings shocked the entire city. The dead were the people whose hands were stained with the blood of the farmers' association members the most.
Yue Weishan's office.
"Useless! Good-for-nothings! A bunch of damned good-for-nothings!" Yue Weishan, like a wild beast utterly enraged, paced back and forth on the scarlet carpet, violently sweeping teapots and teacups to the ground, shattering them instantly. The brown tea soup splattered everywhere like spilled blood.
"One after another! This is a slap in the face! A slap in the face to Yue Weishan! A slap in the face to the Provincial Party Committee! What is this if not a provocation? This is the remnants of the Farmers' Association seeking revenge! Investigate! Dig three feet into the ground and dig them out! From today onwards, all police forces are to be mobilized! Deploy, stake out, search! Better to arrest a thousand innocent people than let one guilty person go free! Anyone who dares to disobey will have their whole family shot! Get out! All of you, get out there and get on your way!"
His hoarse roar echoed through the corridor. The immense pressure and boundless rage drove him to a complete hysterical frenzy, all his energy instantly ignited and focused on the "life-or-death" task of "cleansing up the remnants of the peasant association."
Arrest them! Retaliate! Show strength! Extinguish any sparks that might ignite a wildfire!
As autumn winds began to blow, they brought a chilly, somber atmosphere. On the parade ground outside the Army Officer School's new student barracks, slogans resounded. Rows of boys in brand-new gray uniforms were practicing bayonet techniques.
"Thrust! Thrust! Kill!" The instructor's voice boomed like thunder.
In the queue, Lu Zhaohai's face was tense, but his eyes were unusually resolute and focused. Sweat soaked through his clothes, clinging to his young and muscular chest.
Each thrust of his rifle was precise and powerful, carrying a suppressed ferocity.
His report card was posted on the bulletin board at the front of the line, showing him consistently ranking at the top in all subjects. The skills he had honed through rigorous training with Heiwa's security team in Bailu Village gave him a significant advantage at this moment.
Before we knew it, the golden autumn of 1929 arrived. This year, the Guanzhong Plain seemed to have received special favor from heaven, with abundant rainfall and perfect sunshine.
In the fields, the heavy ears of wheat bent their backs, the golden millet rippled in the breeze, and the plump ears of corn on the corn stalks were almost bursting out of their husks.
A bumper harvest is a certainty. However, grain merchants show little joy, as grain has suddenly piled up in the market, causing prices to plummet like a slide, becoming shockingly cheap.
Qin Residence in Xi'an.
"Watata." Leng Qiuyue tidied the kitchen cabinets, looking at the several bags of rice that the shop assistant had just brought into the house, her brows furrowed with confusion: "There are only a few people in our family, and the warehouse is already piled high with rice. Why did we buy so much again today? Do we need to rent a new warehouse to store it?"
She looked at the deposit slip her husband handed her; it clearly indicated a newly rented, fairly large warehouse in the east of the city. This was obviously not for their own use.
Qin Hao had just changed out of the long gown he wore when he returned from Guanzhong University. He picked up the warm tea that Leng Qiuyue had already prepared on the table, took a sip, and calmly glanced at the lease agreement: "A bumper harvest is a good thing."
"If you can't finish it, just leave it at the bottom with coarse lime, ventilate it frequently, and keep out the rats. It can be stored."
Upon hearing this, Leng Qiuyue stopped asking questions. In any case, the family had no shortage of food and clothing, and her husband had never been stingy with money for her and her son.
Qin Hao's gaze shifted to the few saplings in the yard outside the window, recently planted and whose leaves were already beginning to turn slightly yellow. This year they've had a bountiful harvest, but what about next year?
The giant wheel of time silently rolled over the joyous songs of autumn harvest and the silence of winter, sailing into the scorching summer of 1930.
Bailuyuan, which should be lush and green at this time of year, is instead shrouded in a terrifying stillness.
The sky was like an overturned, giant iron pot scorched by a raging fire, so blue it was blinding, yet without a single cloud in sight.
The sun hung overhead, relentlessly pouring out its light and heat, mercilessly scorching the earth. The air visibly twisted and trembled in the rising heat waves.
The land! The once rich loess soil, which nurtured all things, was now cracked open with shocking gashes, like a dying python on a dried-up riverbed, twisting and grotesquely spreading to the horizon. Deep within the cracks lay a despairing blackness.
The households on the plateau had long since run out of food and cooking smoke, and the silence was terrifying.
Bai Jiaxuan stood on his own bare, dust-covered threshing ground. His once sturdy back was completely bent by this unexpected misfortune, and his sunken eyes were filled with cloudy tears. His rough, withered hands stroked the equally cracked and rough walls, finally landing heavily on the cold iron lock of the granary.
"Open the warehouse!" Bai Jiaxuan squeezed out the two words through gritted teeth, his voice hoarse but carrying an undeniable determination.
The lame old man, leaning on his cane, stumbled forward, the iron lock clanging loudly as it clattered open. The granary door was pushed open, revealing the few remaining stacks of grain. Scattered among them were dozens of sacks of old grain—the villagers' last lifeline.
"Lame old man, take a count, divide it by head... divide it by head, try to distribute it evenly." Bai Jiaxuan's voice was full of exhaustion and helplessness: "Every household, regardless of age, everyone who has a breath left, should get a share to keep them alive."
Bai Xiaowu hesitated for a moment, looking at the pitiful reserves in the granary, but ultimately said nothing. He responded heavily and began to work with the lame man, carefully and almost stingily measuring out the life-saving grain with a rough wooden measuring cup. He watched as the villagers, with their sallow faces and empty eyes, lined up, silently and cautiously taking it away in tattered bags or earthenware pots.
This meager aid attracted disaster victims, who swarmed in from all directions like ants drawn by the scent of blood.
They were a family, ragged and emaciated, their eyes burning with the last flame of survival. At first, they timidly lingered at the village entrance begging, but soon hunger completely consumed all reason and reverence.
Someone shouted, "There's grain in the ancestral hall!" and the crowd instantly turned into a raging powder keg, erupting in a desperate roar.
Dozens, hundreds, and more and more disaster victims, waving withered branches, stones, broken bowls, and some even holding rusty machetes, broke through the heavy but now incredibly fragile black lacquered wooden door of the Bai family like a flood bursting its banks.
Cries, screams, smashing, and looting shattered the already deathly silence on the plain!
"Food! Food!"
"Grab it! If you can grab it, you'll live!"
"Please, please give us some food! Our child is starving!"
Heiwa and his gang of brave soldiers were utterly powerless in the face of these frenzied disaster victims. They could pull the trigger without hesitation when facing bandits, and they would even risk their lives against regular soldiers, but when it came to these disaster victims, none of them could bring themselves to do it.
Bai Jiaxuan could no longer hold back his turbid tears, which mingled with the blood on his face and slid down his cheeks. He pounded his chest violently, letting out a beast-like roar: "Heaven has no eyes! This is going to extinguish the roots of my Bailu Plain! Ancestors above, I, Bai Jiaxuan, am powerless! I cannot protect the grain in the ancestral hall! Nor can I protect the lives of my fellow villagers! I have failed my ancestors!"
……
In the Qin residence in Xi'an, Leng Qiuyue was packing Qin Hao's luggage, her face full of worry.
"How about I go back with you?"
Qin Hao shook his head and comforted her, "There are disaster victims everywhere in the Guanzhong area right now. It's safer in Xi'an. Besides, what will happen to the child if you come back with me? What will happen to Bai Ling and the others?"
After calming Leng Qiuyue down, Qin Hao picked up his luggage and went out of the house. A convoy loaded with grain had been waiting outside for a long time.
A large grain convoy of various vehicles trudged along the rugged, dusty dirt road under the heavy night sky, its axles groaning under the strain. Mules and horses puffed out thick white breaths, and the men followed, their expressions solemn, their steps uneven.
The heavy wooden wheels of the carriage rolled over the cracked, dusty dirt road at the entrance of Bailu Village, raising a cloud of choking, grayish-yellow dust. However, to the villagers of Bailu Village, this dust was like a signal smoke that life was rekindled.
"Grain, lots of grain."
"It's Hao-ge! Hao-ge has returned with the grain!"
"Thank God! The child's father is saved!"
"Young Master! Young Master, help me!"
The villagers gathered at the entrance of the Bai family's house and beside the ruins of the ancestral hall, whether they were from Bailu Village or starving people from neighboring villages who had come after hearing the news, all regarded this grain team as a god sent from heaven.
Inside the ancestral hall, the scene was a mess and dilapidated after yesterday's frenzied looting by the disaster victims. Bai Jiaxuan, supported by Xiancao and Bai Zhaoshi, managed to stand up.
"Da." Qin Hao stepped forward, his voice steady.
"Hao'er, why are you back..." Bai Jiaxuan's throat choked with emotion, a thousand words stuck in his chest, unable to express the frustration.
"Da, don't worry, it's alright, leave it to me."
Heiwa approached with his head hanging low and ashamed: "Brother Hao, it's my fault for being useless. I failed to protect everyone."
Qin Hao looked around at the villagers who were ravaged by hunger and disaster, then looked at the disaster victims who were staring greedily at the grain carts, and patted them on the shoulder.
"This isn't your fault. First, gather the brothers from the security regiment and protect the grain carts."
"Ugh."
At the sound of a whistle, the militiamen, carrying rifles, assembled and drove back the disaster victims who were trying to approach the grain carts.
"Let's put the grain into storage first, and we'll talk about the rest tomorrow morning."
To prevent disaster victims from looting the grain, Heiwa led all the militia members to guard the area around the granary. This time, they would not hold back.
The next day, the clan chiefs of more than a dozen villages in Bailuyuan came to the Bai family for a meeting.
Upon hearing that Qin Hao had brought a large amount of grain, the expressions of the various clan leaders relaxed considerably.
"Don't be too happy yet, everyone. This batch of grain will only last us a few months at most, not to mention there are so many disaster victims."
"If the disaster has not been alleviated in a few months, the entire Bailuyuan Plain may be wiped out."
"What...what should we do!" The village chief of Shanggou Village trembled. "Young Master Bai, you...you are knowledgeable and resourceful. Please give us an idea. Whatever it is, as long as it saves our lives, our entire village will go through fire and water without hesitation!"
"Yes! We'll listen to you!"
"Brother Hao, whatever you say goes!"
"Young Master Bai, you make the decision!"
Qin Hao took a deep breath, no longer holding back, his gaze sharp as he swept over each clan leader who had spoken: "Alright! Since you elders trust me, I'll tell you my plan. The first major problem is that the news of the grain carts entering the village cannot be kept secret. The surrounding disaster victims will swarm in like hungry wolves smelling blood."
These words immediately turned the faces of the clan leaders pale. They were also still apprehensive about the starving disaster victims.
Qin Hao's tone was icy: "If the disaster victims flood in, they will deplete our already meager food reserves! In their struggle to survive, they might even turn into rioters!"
“Therefore!” he said firmly, “I hope everyone can organize all the able-bodied men and women immediately! Let Heiwa take unified command! Gather all these disaster victims together for easier management.”
Without any hesitation, the clan leaders almost unanimously declared, "Alright! We'll do as you say!"
"Hand over all the militia members from our village!"
"I'm entrusting my life to you!"
"Anyone who dares to disobey, I'll break their legs!"
After the clan chiefs finished expressing their opinions, Qin Hao changed the subject: "These disaster victims lack food, but what about strength? Do they lack it? They need to survive, and we need to maintain stability, so we can't let them be idle. Idleness can easily cause trouble."
"We must get them to work! We need to build a new irrigation canal that can irrigate more than a dozen villages in Bailuyuan. Regardless of whether they are from the same village or from another region, all men and women who can work will be paid according to their labor and given food according to the day's work! The more work they do and the better they do, the more food they will receive! This is not only to give them a way to make a living and to keep them employed, but also for our own sake! Once the canal is built and the water is brought in, irrigation will be guaranteed, and even in a drought year, we can still harvest a life-saving crop! In the future, villages will no longer have to travel dozens of miles of mountain roads to fetch water! This is a way to make a living, and it is also a foundation for the future generations of Bailuyuan!"