Infrastructure masters in the red building

When Zhao Wuguang and Wang Erlang climbed up the wooden ladder at the back of the city wall and looked across the Qingfang River, they were lying on the ground behind them, all of them were exhausted villagers, and they fell asleep immediately on the ground. The snoring was loud, but no one could wake anyone up.

The weather is fine this evening, and the clouds in the sky are outlined by the afterglow of the setting sun to form a complete Phnom Penh.

At the feet of the two inspection captains was a blue-gray cement and bamboo-reinforced concrete city wall stretching for nearly three miles, lying between two mountains and facing the gurgling water.

After two days and two nights of uninterrupted construction, these city walls have long been connected as a whole.Only on the main mainland leading to Taoyuanzhai under the Qingfang Bridge, the city wall was broken and replaced by two tall concrete pillars.Between the concrete pillars is a huge wooden shaft gate.Now all the people in Taoyuan Village have returned to the village, so the gate is closed, only two inspection captains climbed to the top of the high wall and looked around.

"Don't worry! Ye Bu received the yellow smoke, the bandits are still a while away. Everyone can sleep well tonight." Wang Erlang comforted Zhao Wuguang who was beside him.The latter has been tense since seeing the yellow smoke signal.

After all, everyone knows that the thousands of bandits who came to attack this time are completely different from the hundreds of people who came here last time.

The villagers of Taoyuan Village have tried their best to complete the protective wall that can temporarily protect them, but it is hard to say whether it will work in the face of those cunning and murderous bandits.

Wang Erlang gave Zhao Wuguang a "Hello" and said, "You said if we hadn't blown up those three biogas digesters last time, would the current situation be the same as it is now?"

The last time Taoyuan Village saw bandits invading the village, they decisively blew up three biogas ponds. The bandits fled and did not dare to stay here anymore, so they quickly evacuated.

But from another point of view, the fact that thousands of bandits are suppressing the situation together is probably not because Taoyuan Village performed too "excellently" back then, which attracted the attention of the bandit leader, or retaliated in anger.

Zhao Wuguang shook his head and said, "Erlang, it's useless to think about these things. Fate must happen sometimes. If this is destined to be a doom, we will bear it together. So many people sweated, blooded, and fought together. If you die...you will have no regrets."

Wang Erlang looked solemn, and when he heard the last word, he nodded lightly and said "hmm".

At this time, Lao Yao from the cement factory came over, looked around the cement wall along the Qingfang River, stretched out his hand to touch it as if in disbelief, and said, "It's so good?"

The two captains greeted Lao Yao and asked: "Old Yao, do you still have the cement on your end? Mr. Jia said that even if bandits come tomorrow, we must be prepared. One is to prepare to strengthen the wall, Build an inner wall inside the outer wall for the city defenders. Second, if the city wall is damaged, it must be repaired immediately.”

Unexpectedly, Lao Yao shook his head and said: "No more, there is no more bag, all of them are used up—there is still one kiln burning in the furnace, and when it is fired, it may be the last kiln, right?"

Knowing that Lao Yao had misunderstood, Zhao Wuguang smiled immediately: "You thought we couldn't think of your cement factory before closing the city gate? Earlier, when everyone left the city, they brought back piles of stones, and river sand and clay also came from outside the gate. Where are the ones brought in piled up, haven’t you seen them?”

Old Yao was very surprised, he turned quickly and walked towards the square in the middle of the village, but he couldn't walk fast.When Zhao and Wang saw his appearance, they knew that they must have been exhausted for the past two days.

The two captains jumped down from the ladder at the same time, stepped forward to support the old man, and said, "Take a rest, it won't be too late to see it tomorrow!"

"That's right, after that kiln is finished burning, you should turn off the fire first, have a good sleep, and be busy again when you wake up tomorrow!"

Lao Yao shook his hands again and again and said, "I'm getting old, and I can't sleep even if I want to sleep for a while. I'd better wait until late. I'll go and have a look now."

So, Zhao and Wang returned to the ladder and watched Lao Yao walk slowly towards the center of the village.

Wang Erlang said: "Old Yao has put in a lot of effort this time. Mr. Jia originally said that his cement factory was temporarily expropriated and that he would be compensated at that time, but he said nothing."

But Zhao Wuguang said: "It should be so. In our village, no one thinks only of themselves at this juncture."

Wang Erlang sighed softly, and said: "To be honest, before I came to this Taoyuan, I never thought, I never thought that I could live like this..."

He lowered his head, his voice was a little excited, and he said after a while: "It's really different...it's different from before..."

It is indeed very different.

Everyone here is willing to contribute hard for others, because they know that this kind of dedication will return to themselves in the future, just like Jia Fang often said "I am for everyone, and everyone is for me".

At this time, Zhao Wuguang sat down on the newly repaired wall, patted the hard wall beside him and said, "Sit down, let's sit down and chat for a while, brothers!"

Wang Erlang also sat down, and the two sat side by side on the wall, looking at the Qingfang River Valley and Qingfang Lake in the distance under the afterglow of the setting sun.

"Do you still remember the fight when we first met?" Zhao Wuguang said.

Wang Erlang smiled "puchi" and said, "I remember, at that time, it was because of a kid who didn't wash his hands after eating. Do you think we are ridiculous or not?"

The two of them had worked together for two years, and had been best friends for two years. They had a fight as soon as they met, and it was because of such ridiculous reasons--now thinking about it, Wang Erlang himself smirked and shook his head vigorously.

Unexpectedly, at this time Zhao Wuguang took out a small package from his bosom, and then pulled out a small piece of paper, shook out the package, and rolled it into a small paper roll.

Wang Erlang immediately shouted: "Tobacco!"

He has seen this kind of thing before, it was originally picked up by the men of Taoyuan Village to relieve their fatigue.But after Jia Fang came to Taoyuan Village, he banned this thing, saying that it was not good for the health, and there was something invisible and intangible in it called "nicotine".

In addition, this flue-cured tobacco is so strong that people who have smoked it smell like smoke, and the girls in Taoyuan Village don't like it. After hearing Jia Fang's talk about the dangers of this stuff, they forced the men in the village to quit smoking even more.Flue-cured tobacco is rarely seen now.

Zhao Wuguang rolled one, ignited it, and said, "I'll smoke it for the last time, and I won't smoke it again. Don't tell my little sister."

Zhao Wuguang's daughter-in-law is Tian Xiaomei, the most efficient and capable new daughter-in-law in Taoyuan Village.

Hearing this, Wang Erlang's heart sank a little, so he stretched out his hand and said, "Is there any more? I'll take it with you."

Zhao Wuguang held the flue-cured tobacco roll in his mouth, freed his hand to roll another one, lit it for Wang Erlang, handed it to him, and then fulfilled his promise, wrapped the little paper bag in his arms into a package and sent it to Qing Throw it in Fanghe.

Here, Wang Erlang choked so much that he burst into tears, and said, "Sure enough, it's powerful!"

Zhao Wuguang patted him on the back, and suddenly said: "Erlang, let's sit together today, and only speak from the bottom of our hearts."

"Even if something happens to me tomorrow, don't worry about me! Take good care of your brothers. This is the responsibility we bear. Mr. Jia trusts us, and everyone in the village trusts us. Fulfill your responsibilities and don’t just think about yourself.”

They seem to have taken an oath when they entered the job.

Wang Erlang paused, his eyes were sore and swollen, the flue-cured tobacco rolled between his fingers was so hot that he wanted to throw it away.

"In my life, there are only two lucky things. One is to marry a younger sister, and the other is to have a brother like you."

A heart is always sinking.

"You have been refusing to get married, and your family is urging you, and I am also anxious, and want to urge you..."

Zhao Wuguang said straight away, but Wang Erlang remained silent.

"But I also know why you don't want to get married. But every time I talk, I can't say it..."

It turned out that that guy knew everything—— Wang Erlang thought with great frustration, suddenly lowered his head, took two sharp breaths, and suddenly choked until the sky was dark, until tears burst out of his eyes, and finally he used it hard Wipe the back of the hand.

After all, he was also a captain, and he was no worse than the person beside him.

Zhao Wuguang's tone also slowly turned into hesitation: "Because I'm afraid that if I speak out, I will scare you away, and I will lose you, my brother, by my side—"

"But who knows if I can say this tomorrow?"

Wang Erlang looked up at the sunset in the distance, thinking in his heart: tomorrow, who knows what will happen to them tomorrow?Today, if he can sit with this person beside him and confide in his heart, if he really encounters misfortune, then at least at the last moment of his life, he has heard a little truth.

"I will always regard you as the best friend, and we will always be friends for life - so I look forward to your well-being, and hope that you can find someone who suits you, even though this person is not me."

"In case something happens to me tomorrow, I can rest assured that my little sister, she has always had ideas, and her parents and brothers are there. I hope she will forget me as soon as possible—"

"Just like I hope you will forget about me quickly—"

When Zhao Wuguang got to this point, Wang Erlang finally couldn't hold back and cried.He threw away the flue-cured tobacco roll in his hand, buried his head and cried silently for a while, and finally understood what Zhao Wuguang meant.Zhao Wuguang is the luckiest two in life, and he really has one of them.

So proud, so happy, so disappointed and frustrated.

Finally he raised his head and said to Zhao Wuguang with red eyes: "Brother, I promise you, as long as we both survive tomorrow, I will forget you from now on."

Zhao Wuguang stared at him, patted his shoulder lightly, and then stretched out his hand to him: "In order to let you forget me safely and smoothly, don't worry, I will live well tomorrow."

The two held their right hands together, shook them vigorously, and then let go, neither of them knew whether this would be the last time they shook hands like this.

As the sun went down, the golden cloud in the sky gradually turned blood red.

Jia Fang was still standing in front of the Xianliang Temple, and Jia Yi and Bing Ding were secretly protecting him from somewhere.

All five protective walls have miraculously been built.All inspectors are fully armed and on standby.And a large number of exhausted villagers are trying to catch up on sleep at this moment, trying to recover some physical strength before the critical moment arrives.

The Xianliang Temple where he is now has also changed from a dangerous area without any shelter to a safe area "inside the wall".

But Jia Fang was standing in front of the Xianliang Temple at this moment. He was the same as Lao Yao, Wang Erlang, and Zhao Wuguang. He didn't know what kind of fate was waiting for Taoyuan Village.

When the sun rises, red smoke rises into the sky.

In the southern valley in autumn, there was some mist when getting up early. The red smoke was mixed in the mist and was not conspicuous. Only the most concentrated inspectors noticed it, and immediately rang the assembly bell.

All the inspectors had been assigned positions in advance, and in an instant, they had all rushed to the vicinity of the five protective walls.

Other villagers have also moved.They first went to the eldest sister who was in charge of cooking to fill their stomachs, and then gathered in the center of Taoyuan Village to stand by.Once there is a problem with any of the five protective walls, personnel need to be replenished at any time.

The cement factory in Lao Yao has also been firing kilns.Cement and concrete are still produced in a steady stream.

The villagers continued to follow Jia Fang's instructions, and poured one triangular support body after another inside the protective wall to stabilize the protective wall. According to Jia Sanye, the triangle is the most stable.

Some other people are using thick bamboo poles to build scaffolding-like bamboo supports, and laying a layer of wooden boards on it, which can support the members of the inspection team to move easily inside the more than ten-meter-high protective wall, and they can see the protective wall while running. The reality outside the wall.

While the inside of the wall was busy all the time, the bandits outside the wall arrived.

The first place to appear was on the side of the Qingfang River, where someone came to spy on it once.A large group of bandits followed light weapons to the bottom of the valley near Qingfang River, and then saw the newly built "Qingfang City", the cement pillars erected in strange directions, and the white flags floating on the pillars , and the blood-red "quick as a law".

"That's it, that's it!"

The two little ghosts who followed Tonghuan Sanliu to "step on the plate" were so frightened that their eyes protruded, and they hid behind their companions at the same time.

"That's what we saw at the beginning!" These two young guys couldn't remember that the scene they saw before was not that complicated at all, and they both covered their faces at the same time, mourning: "That's that Zhuge Wuhou's 'Eight Diagrams Formation'."

"When we came here earlier, it seemed that there were doors of life... Why now, it seems that they are all doors of death, all of them are doors of death!"

The ghost knows how they distinguish between the door of life and the door of death.

But the two little ghosts managed to frighten the companions around them.For a while, no one dared to go up, and they all stared at the "quickly like a law" on the concrete pillar in a daze.

"Hurry up! Cross the bridge and rush into the stockade, do you remember? Everyone disperses, chop and rob everyone, and avenge our brothers who died last time!" The leader gave orders loudly.

"Rush from... from where!"

A group of people did not dare to rush in through the "gate of death".The leader reprimanded loudly: "What is the gate of life and death, you can let me in when you get here!"

With a kick, a bandit was immediately kicked into the area marked with white lines on the ground. The man was kicked and fell down. In the white mist, the brothers around were nowhere to be seen.Immediately, he also felt hairy, yelled loudly, got up and ran.When I ran, I had preconceived ideas in my mind, so I followed the path drawn underground, but I didn't expect to run in the same direction.

After turning a few turns, the bandit suddenly saw a portal appearing in front of him, thinking that there was life, he was overjoyed, and rushed out immediately.

"Why did you come out again?" The bandit headed angrily reprimanded.

The man who ran out frightened himself to tears: "I'm in... the gossip formation, and I've been running forward!"

"Ghost hitting the wall, ghost hitting the wall...it must be!" The two little ghosts who came to Taoyuan Village with Tonghuan Sanliu to spy earlier said in unison, "It must be a ghost hitting the wall!"

The bandit at the head immediately stretched out his hand, and each of them gave a slap in the face: "What the hell hit the wall! It's broad daylight, where did the ghost hit the wall?!"

"A few more people, rush in together, don't think about anything when you go in, just rush forward, and you will reach the Qingfang Bridge at the other end."

At the moment, a few more people really rushed in.Not long after, a few more people rushed out from the same path, and the number of people who came out was two fewer than the number of people who went in.The rest of the bandits who had been intimidated by the two little ghosts for a long time were immediately frightened: "No way, boss, this is obviously what they call the Eight Diagrams Formation—look, this is the gate of life, and anyone who rushes in from this end will come out." No one who went in from another place came out!"

"Hey, Boss, even though I'm a bandit, I want my life!"

"Boss, if you don't believe me, go in and try for yourself—"

The leader immediately faltered, pretended to be calm, coughed twice, and said, "Don't be surprised if you don't see it, it will defeat you!" He hung up a book bag, but few of the bandits under him could understand it. .

"Wait where you are, until the sun rises and the fog clears!" The leader finally gave such an order.

But Tonghuan Sanliu showed a puzzled face, he bypassed the "demon city" surrounded by light blue cement pillars, and went straight to the Qingfang River.

He came to the shore and stared blankly at the scene in front of him—the row of fence-like cement pillars that he saw earlier had been filled in now, forming a continuous line of light gray. Absolutely - the wall.Tonghuan Sanliu stood by the Qingfang River, and he couldn't see the end at a glance.

Is he dreaming?

Tonghuan Sanliu quickly rubbed his eyes, and when he opened them again, the blue-gray wall was still in front of him.The rising sun shines on the smooth wall through the mist, reflecting a faint brilliance.

When Tonghuan Sanliu saw this wall, he remembered the construction scene he saw the day before yesterday, and after only twelve hours, it became like this.Tonghuan Sanliu was stunned on the spot, and a thought suddenly came to his mind:

——What are you waiting for, run now!