C283 Mythical Old Man
C283 Mythical Old Man
The villagers were all very enthusiastic as they dragged the group into the village. Chopping firewood and lighting fire, they said that they were going to slaughter chickens and lambs, but during this time, Chen Yi stopped them and brought out the food that he and Yu Fei had bought in the town!
A group of men with good reputations in the village sat with the crowd in the yard and chatted while the women cooked. A group of children with their big wolfdogs were standing outside the yard, occasionally poking out their heads to take a look.
Tiger-whisker Groove was really poor, there was only one telephone in the entire village, and that was a telephone line that had been eliminated decades ago. Even the line that was used was something that Old Master Yu only kept after years of maintenance during the war!
The dozen or so households did not have a television set, nor any kind of household appliances. The only thing they had was children running all over the mountain. Even the smallest households had three or four of them.
The roof was made of turf and could be considered to be completely useless. The only thing that attracted Chen Yi's attention was the wall medals pasted into the main hall!
From the militia model in the forties, to the military contest in the fifties and sixties, and then to the first and second class meritorious service in the seventies and eighties, the glory of several generations of Yu family members was hanging on the wall!
Everyone chatted for a while. Old Master Yu didn't greet everyone and took his big wolfdog with him to the back mountain. Chen Yi was curious and followed him.
The old tutor had built a wooden house at the back of the mountain, built on a tree nearly a hundred years old. A rope ladder hung limply down, and if one wanted to climb up to the wooden house, they had to climb up from here. At the bottom of the house was a small mound.
What made Chen Yi surprised was that right in front of the grave, a skeleton wearing a tattered military uniform was tied up by a pile of iron wire. It was as if it was atonement as it knelt in front of the grave.
Chen Yi didn't ask directly, instead, he followed the old man to a fire pit not far away from the wooden house. There was a small wooden table with a tea set covered with a cloth.
Chen Yi sat on a small stool, drinking tea while looking at the old man, "What is the village living on now!?"
"Growing bracts, raising chickens and ducks, accumulating raw eggs. On the day of the fair, I'll bring another basket of them to town and sell them for daily necessities!" As the old tutor spoke, his expression didn't change in the slightest.
"But I just looked at it. There aren't many places on the mountain that can open up wastelands, so the harvest isn't that good …" Chen Yi put down his tea cup and said worriedly, "Furthermore, it will take a day to get to the mountain. What should we do if there's something urgent? What about the children going to school!? "
With such living conditions, logically speaking, if someone gave them the money to move out, it would be like a pie falling from the sky. But even so, the dozen or so families still didn't agree to it, which confused Chen Yi very much!
The old man sighed, "That's true, but there's no other way. We can't leave …"
After saying that, the old man frowned as he lit up a bag of cigarettes. He then sat down and puffed up his cigarette!
"Why can't I leave!?" Chen Yi asked.
Hearing this, the old man raised his pipe and pointed towards the grave underneath the wooden house, "He saved the lives of everyone in our Tiger-whisker Groove, we cannot forget our roots, we have to guard his soul!"
Chen Yi looked at the grave carefully. The repairs were very neat and tidy. In the surroundings, even if it was within five meters, there wasn't even a single blade of grass. It could be seen how diligent the old man was!
As for the skeleton kneeling in front of them, from the looks of it, it was no taller than 1.5 meters. Its shabby military uniform also resembled the army of R Country from a few decades ago!
"Lordmaster, what's buried here is …"
"Old hero, Commander Jiao!"
A hint of sincere respect flashed through the old tutor's eyes as he spoke!
"Looks like this Commander Jiao did quite a bit of work for the country when he was still alive!" Chen Yi nodded.
"Some people say his surname is Guo, and others say his surname is Fang, but I don't care about that. To be able to beat up Japanese, he's a true hero!"
"What happened next? How did Commander Jiao die!? Who is kneeling in front of this grave!? "
The old man's story aroused Chen Yi's curiosity. He was ready to get to the bottom of it and listen to the whole story.
"Grandpa, Mr Yi, it's time to eat!" But at this moment, Yu Fei ran over and forcefully interrupted the old man, "Grandpa, my grandma said not to forget to take down the half roasted wild boar that was roasted yesterday!"
"I can't forget it!"
The old man took two quick puffs on the cigarette in his hand and knocked twice on the sole of his shoe. Then he started to dig into the fire, revealing a huge 'leaf bag'. Needless to say, it must be the wild boar Yu Fei was talking about!
This old tutor, the wild boar he'd beaten yesterday, had actually left half of it buried under the fire. After a night of baking, it must be incomparably tender!
The old man told Yu Fei to carry the bag of leaves, and the three of them went down the mountain just like that!
When Chen Yi and the others returned, everyone had already sat down. A dozen big bowls were placed on the table, and they had already filled up their own brew.
"You guys drink first, I'll take this boar rack!"
As the old man chuckled, he tore open the bag of leaves, revealing the roasted half of a wild boar that was tender to the touch. In an instant, the fragrance filled the entire courtyard!
"Old Master Yu, it's already so fragrant, yet you're still roasting it!?" Zhou Tianpeng looked at the pork that had been skewered with a wooden stick and almost drooled from the corner of his mouth!
"We have to roast it. All the fruit trees in our mountain range are at least a hundred years old. Only by roasting it will it smell good!" The old man had a smile on his face as he set the half wild boar on the fire. He took out a dozen more bottles and jars from his room and started sprinkling them on the surface.
There was no need to even mention roasting the wild boar, the dishes on the table were enough to stir everyone up!
Chen Yi looked at the old man's skillful movements and was curious, "Old man, do you usually use this to play wild boar?"
Chen Yi asked as he pointed at the machete by the wall!
"How could it be fake!? In the past, when the country didn't confiscate guns, they had also used guns. After the policy changed, they could only use this guy as a trap! "
When everyone heard this, they broke out into a cold sweat!
It had to be known, wild boars were not something that could be easily messed with. Not to mention its three to four hundred jin body weight, just its invulnerable fur was something that ordinary people could not break!
The wild boar liked to rub itself against the pine trees. Its already hard hair was coated with a layer of rosin, and then it rolled around in the pile of rocks. Once the rosin dried, the stone on its body would become a natural armor.
However, for an eighty-six year old old man to actually use a machete to kill a wild boar, this was a myth!
Everyone toasted each other as they drank the strong alcohol. Their faces were all flushed red!
"Old Master, these awards on your wall are quite impressive. There are quite a few soldiers in your family, right?" Zhou Tianpeng held the bowl, drinking while looking at that wall of prizes with great respect!
The old tutor's expression dimmed as soon as he finished speaking!