vernacular

Chapter 55

Lin Zhanyu remembered that it was a midsummer day. At that time, he took the child who had just finished breakfast to school, and he heard the newspaper seller shouting as soon as he left the alley.

There has been a lot of chaos outside recently, students are on strike, workers are on strike one after another, and soldiers are bullying mermaids and ordinary people. Of course, everyone will not be willing to be wronged, and they have taken to the streets to march, vowing to ask for an explanation.

Wei Qingjun and Lin Zhanyu were worried about their children, so they decided to accompany them on the way to and from school.

"Outside the number! Outside the number!"

The man shouted so loudly that it attracted the attention of almost everyone on the street.After hearing the content clearly, Lin Zhanyu couldn't help taking a deep breath.

"War?" The child stared at a pair of blank eyes: "Is there really a war?"

"It's written in black and white." Lin Zhanyu squeezed into the crowd to buy a newspaper, pointed to the words on it and said to the child, "It's true."

What Lin Zhanyu didn't expect was that Wei Xueyi let out an "ah".

"Sadness?" Lin Zhanyu looked at him: "Isn't this something that was expected earlier?"

"I know, but," the child frowned slightly: "It will take a few years for this war to end."

"It doesn't matter." Lin Zhanyu comforted in a low voice: "Xueyi, when we catch up with this era, we have to do what we should do. No one wants to fight, but when war becomes the only way out, if we don't go, we can still fight." how?"

"You're right." Wei Xueyi nodded: "Uncle, I've made up my mind. When I grow up, if the battle is still going on, I'll go find my Uncle Xiao Qiao."

"You don't want to build a house and build a bridge anymore?" Lin Zhanyu asked.

"I haven't finished yet." Wei Xueyi went on to say, "If there is no war, I will build houses again."

Lin Zhanyu was stunned, with mixed feelings in his heart, he was worried about the current situation, and he also felt distressed for the child.

"Let's go." He buried all his thoughts in his heart: "You are going to be late."

However, what Lin Zhanyu didn't expect was that the child had just entered school, and he wanted to go directly to Wei Qingyun, but when he turned around, he saw a man who seemed to be in conflict with the newspaper seller.

The little brother was wandering around the city, and happened to arrive at the school at this moment.

Lin Zhanyu approached a few steps curiously, and after listening for a while, he realized that it was not the little brother who provoked him.

The man was extremely sad and angry, almost wailing in pain: "Why is there a war again! Thirteen members of my family have died!"

Surrounded by a group of people, they were whispering.

Some people's faces are full of melancholy, while others are as full of resentment as the broken man at the moment.

The boy who sells the newspaper walks around the streets every day, but he is used to seeing such scenes, and he is no stranger to it: "You haven't paid for the newspaper yet. Hey!"

The man swung his arm while dancing, but the younger brother couldn't dodge in time, and he threw all the newspapers in his arms out.

In an instant, a thick stack of newspapers flew high into the sky, and then fell down in a rustle.The sky is gloomy, the newspapers are also gray, and the world is chaotic and gloomy, just like people's mood at this time.

"What are you doing?" The little brother was still annoyed, and said aggrievedly, "You pay me for the newspaper!"

"Okay." Someone started fighting, and someone like Lin Zhanyu kindly helped him put away the newspapers.

When they left, the conflict between the two sides had not completely subsided, but Lin Zhanyu had no choice but to leave.His brother Wei is still waiting for him, and they also have a living to ask for.

The noise got farther and farther away from him, but Lin Zhanyu saw the newspaper being thrown into the sky and then fell down.But he has nothing to do.

Not only him, but anyone else has no idea at the moment.

They can only go forward.

Some people do it for their beliefs, some do it for their own way of life, and some do it for the future livelihood of the poor and suffering like themselves.When summed up, these various thoughts seem to be the same thing at such a time.

They must go all the way forward and never take a step back.

Qiao Li had previously asked them to lend a live opportunity to listen to the opinions in Hefei City. This was not a difficult task, but as the current situation became more and more turbulent, Lin Zhanyu found that there were countless things that he needed to report to Qiao Li.

However, before he and Wei Qingyun could carefully inquire about other people's thoughts, they encountered a predicament on their own side: wars cost a lot of money, and after all the calculations, this burden finally fell on the common people. In comparison, the amount of tax they have to pay this year has greatly increased.

"What kind of tax did you pay again?" Holding his latest tax bill, Lin Zhanyu got a headache looking at it.

This day it was Wei Qingyun's turn to pick up the child. As soon as he took Wei Xueyi into the house, he saw Lin Zhanyu with a sad face.

"What's wrong?" Wei Qingyun asked.

Lin Zhanyu stuffed the tax bill into his hand: "Brother, please take a look."

Looking at ten lines at a glance, Wei Qingyun is also inevitably worried: "How much do you have to pay?"

Lin Zhanyu nodded: "Fortunately, I made a lot of money before, and I have saved some family property. Otherwise, after paying the tax, it is still a question of whether I can get rid of the pot tomorrow."

Wei Qingyun sighed, but heard the child ask in horror: "Uncle, is our family going to be unable to afford food?"

"Nothing." Lin Zhanyu grabbed Wei Xueyi's shoulders and pushed him into the room: "Do your homework well, this is not your concern."

"Aren't they afraid that the common people will be dissatisfied with their nonsense like this?" Lin Zhanyu returned to the small courtyard after the children were settled, and Wei Qingyun was already sitting on the stone bench.

"Wealthy businessmen, high-ranking officials and dignitaries have always been in collusion. Who would want to control our lives?" After he approached Wei Qingyun, he said, "Don't say anything. I will send everything I see and hear to you, Senior Brother Qiao."

They have passed such a tense day for more than half a year. The front line is fighting, and there is no peace here as the rear.The backlog of emotions needs an outlet, and unfortunately, after raising taxes and violent law enforcement to arouse public outrage, some big businessmen began to transport rice out of Hefei City.

In such a world, there is a shortage of food everywhere.Some businessmen, however, had a black heart and sold the rice and noodles in the city at a high price. They only cared about counting the money for their own happiness, and did not care about the life and death of the people in the city.

"How much rice do we have at home?" Wei Qingyun asked after picking up Wei Xueyi from school one day.

"It's not much, but it can last for a while, half a month is fine." Lin Zhanyu thought about it: "Why don't we go to shopkeeper Wu to have a look? Maybe we can borrow a few buckets."

"They open restaurants. They are more lacking than us." Wei Qingyun shook his head: "I went to see it on purpose when I came back just now. It is also very difficult there, and it has been closed for a long time."

"What's going on?" Lin Zhanyu frowned.

"I heard that some foreign businessmen bought rice and shipped it outside, and the price of local rice naturally soared." Wei Qingyun explained.

"This is too much." Lin Zhanyu felt inconceivable: "How can they use destroying the livelihood of ordinary people as a way to make money? They really lost their conscience."

"Who doesn't say that food is the foundation of livelihood. These people only think about how to get promoted and make a fortune, but they put the people in dire straits. Sometimes they are unlucky." Wei Qingyun snorted coldly.

"By the way, there is this." Lin Zhanyu suddenly remembered that he still had something to hand over to him: "Senior brother Xiao Qiao's letter."

After Wei Qingyun finished reading, the gloom on his face finally eased a little: "Go, write some new work, including those profiteers who specialize in speculation."

"That's a good thing." Lin Zhanyu smiled: "If you want to satirize them, you can say something, it's all ready-made."

It works well when written out alive.They moved between various venues, and every time they made insinuations and sarcasm, many oppressed judges applauded them.

Lin Zhanyu knew that what they did would easily lead to disaster, and he and Senior Brother Wei were also prepared to be approached.However, he found out later that the people he scolded didn't care about them at the moment:

The transaction was not completed, and it was too late to transport rice out in batches.Eager for money, naturally he can't care about the overall situation.

It is becoming more and more difficult to buy food in the city. Seeing that the food stock at home is getting less and less day by day, Lin Zhanyu is hard not to worry.

"How about I go outside and take a look?" Guessing that the small bucket of rice at home will be empty in a few days, Lin Zhanyu really has no choice: "You take Xueyi to wait and see what happens in Hefei, I will bring more money Go to Shanghai."

"That's good." Wei Qingyun replied: "The shopkeeper Wu has closed down. I can't think of any other good way at the moment."

So the two simply packed their luggage and chose a sunny morning. After Wei Qingyun sent the children to school, they were going to send Lin Zhanyu to the train station.

But unusually, after they went out, they found that the pedestrians on the street were hurrying, all heading in the same direction.

Wei Qingyun looked around, and hurriedly grabbed a middle-aged man who looked kind and asked, "Brother, where are you going?"

"Wharf." The man stretched out his hand and pointed: "The rice merchants in Shanghai are going to ship grain out, hurry up and grab it, or it will be gone if you go late."

"Grab rice?" Wei Qingyun was taken aback.

"Yes." After that, the man broke away from Wei Qingyun's hand and continued to run forward desperately.

"So that's how it is." Wei Qingyun knew very well that everyone was finally forced to the point of no return.

"Under the current situation, this can at least keep the food in Hefei City from being transported to other places." Lin Zhanyu looked at him: "Come on, let's take a look too?"

"Success." Wei Qingyun grabbed Lin Zhanyu's forearm: "Anyway, the family is short of food, if we can snatch the food from these unscrupulous businessmen, it will save you from running around."

After this commotion, none of the grain on the pier was shipped out.Lin Zhanyu and Wei Qingyun squeezed into the crowd, and when they came out again, although their lab coats were crowded and dirty, they managed to grab the rations.

Everyone tasted the sweetness, and it became more and more difficult for profiteers to transport rice abroad.This kind of action not only protects the granaries of the common people, but also vents their anger, which is very pleasing to the hearts of the people.

However, the other party also has a long-term mind, and every shipment must be escorted by a soldier.Although there are many people here, but mortal bodies are no match for steel guns and bullets.

In the late spring, something big happened.A group of people wanted to stop the unscrupulous dealers as before, but the conflict was so intense that a young man was shot and killed.

"What?" Lin Zhanyu, who was cooking, frowned after hearing Wei Qingyun who just came back talk about this matter: "What's the situation now?"

"It's making a fuss." Wei Qingyun put down the newspaper: "If you don't give an explanation, you will definitely have trouble."

"The price of rice has been fluctuating a lot these days. I bought a lot of it when it was cheap. But even ordinary rice costs [-] French coins." Lin Zhanyu shook his head and took out the dishes: "I was complaining a lot. Yes, plus this one, it’s also expected.”

"It's not just about this." Wei Qingyun lowered his voice: "Many workers and students marched and rallied. The price of goods is too high, but the salary is too low, and life is difficult."

Lin Zhanyu sighed: "What do you say, Senior Brother Xiao Qiao?"

Wei Qingyun gestured to add firewood to the fire, and then pointed to his mouth.

"I understand." Lin Zhanyu nodded in response.

Finally, with the concerted efforts of everyone, in the late spring of the 38 Republic of China, they received the long-awaited news.