13. Wolf Disaster

After dinner, they cleaned up the stove together.

The evening class passed quickly.

Xu Xiucai taught as usual, and did not treat Bai Gui with any special care, as if he had forgotten about the apprenticeship at noon today. Because the teacher was strict, the children in the school were all studying hard, and it was rare to see people disrupting the class.

"Lonely and ignorant, stupid and ignorant, etc. are ridiculed. The auxiliary verb is yanzaihu."

After reciting the last two lines of the Thousand Character Classic silently, Bai Gui exhaled a breath of turbid air and relaxed a little. With the knowledge of his previous life and his good memory in this life, he finally finished reciting the Thousand Character Classic.

He learned the traditional Chinese writing method of one thousand characters.

"Learning is like sailing against the current. If you don't advance, you will retreat."

With the Thousand Character Classic as a foundation, Bai Gui felt that he could get in touch with other elementary school textbooks. He planned to return this "Thousand Character Classic" to Lu Zhaopeng in two days.

Now he felt that he could go further and continue to study other books for enlightenment.

"Should I borrow books from Zhou Yuan or from the Lu brothers?"

Bai Gui was a little embarrassed.

The Lu brothers were his employers. Although they were good people, he still found it difficult to accept the feeling of being inferior to them, so he distanced himself from them.

It seems that he and Lu Zhaoqian are similar.

Zhou Yuan had only known him for a short time, and although he seemed cheerful and generous, he also had his own little calculations.

If he didn't borrow books, the relationship he had just established would be broken, and it might be difficult to get along with each other in the future. It's not easy to ask for favors from friends you just made, otherwise people will think you are too utilitarian.

He didn't think Zhou Yuan was wrong about this, and his friendship with Zhou Yuan was not yet to the point of borrowing books.

The ancients valued books, and they would not lend them to anyone other than relatives and friends.

A book is worth a lot of money, and it costs several coins at a time. Books with good printing and typesetting cost several taels of silver.

In the preface to Sending Off Ma Sheng from Dongyang, it is written: "I borrow books from book collectors. I write them down by hand and return them on a certain date... I walk to deliver them and dare not exceed the agreed time."

People who borrow books have to be cautious and tremble with fear.

This shows how precious books are.

"Brother Gui, here is a crystal cake from Demaogong. Try it."

Just when Bai Gui was hesitant to pick up the pen, Lu Zhaopeng next door handed him a piece of snack.

The class was over, and the children in the school were preparing to pack their bags and go home.

"Thank you, young master, I'm not hungry..."

When Bai Gui was about to politely refuse, he hesitated for a while and chose to take the snack, wrapped it in a piece of oil paper and put it in his schoolbag.

"Brother Gui, why don't you eat it? This Demaogong is a royal tribute. The Empress Dowager Cixi and the Emperor took refuge in Xi'an and parked their car at Guangji Street to select it as a tribute. In recent years, Demaogong has been selling like hot cakes and it's hard to get a box."

Lu Zhaopeng frowned.

Demaogong Pastry Shop was founded in the 11th year of the Tongzhi reign of the Qing Dynasty. It is a famous Qin's pastry, named after the sentence "Yu Mao Nai De, Jia Nai Pi Ji" in the Book of History.

"Master, I've almost finished reading the Thousand Characters. Can I borrow other books for enlightenment?" Bai Gui deliberately changed the subject and didn't talk much.

"Oh? Yes, yes, yes!"

Lu Zhaopeng suddenly realized that Bai Gui had probably never eaten this pastry before. After getting it, he must have chewed it carefully, not like him, and he didn't think about it.

When he heard Bai Gui said he wanted to borrow a book, he was surprised and said, "You have only studied the Thousand Characters for a few days. Wouldn't it be a bit anxious to borrow other primers?"

He used to read books for the sake of novelty, and then turned to the next one.

He couldn't help but persuade him, "The primers are to lay a good foundation, don't be too ambitious."

That being said, Lu Zhaopeng did not refuse Bai Gui's request. He took out another copy of "Disciples' Rules" from the table and handed it to Bai Gui, "Remember, you must remember..."

The sky always gets dark earlier in winter. As soon as the class was over, it was a little dark.

When the primers had just walked out of the school for three or four steps, there was a loud wolf howl in the distance, and the scolding and frightened voices of three or four villagers.

"Mr. Xu, Mr. Xu..."

Seven or eight villagers walked into the ancestral hall holding torches, shouting Xu Xiucai. Some of them held machetes, some held red tassel spears, and some held earthen guns.

"What's wrong? What happened?"

Xu Xiucai frowned, feeling that something was wrong.

"There are wolves. Just now, someone from the next village came to report that some livestock were found with their throats bitten off in the village, and a lamb was lost, so he came to inform the neighbors and let us be on guard."

The villagers said.

The Qing Dynasty implemented the Baojia system and the Lijia system, stipulating that no matter whether it was a state, county, city, or township, every ten households formed a pai, and a paichang was appointed. Ten pai formed a jia, and a jiachang was appointed. Ten jia formed a bao, and a baochang was appointed. A seal was hung at the door of each household, with the household name and the number of people written on it. The Lijia system was established on the basis of the Ming Dynasty, with 110 households as a li, and the one who paid the most taxes among these 110 households was the lichang.

It can be said that the Qing Dynasty was the dynasty with the strictest control over the grassroots, that is, to prevent rebellion.

But at the same time, the Baojia system and the Lijia system also helped to deal with such emergencies.

If a village discovers traces of wolves, it will send someone to inform the entire township.

Although some villagers are simple and honest, a considerable part of the reason is also related to taxation. If the wolf disaster is not reported properly, the village that first discovered the wolf disaster will bear the consequences.

Before everyone could react, the clan leaders Bai Jiaxuan and Lu Zilin hurried over, beating the gong with anxious expressions. They were relieved when they saw that their children were intact.

"I heard that the wolves are not coming now. Don't be in a hurry. Zilin, you take the strong men in the village to patrol back and forth first, and I and the rest of the people will send the children back home."

Bai Jiaxuan said.

Naturally, everyone had no objection.

No matter what happens, women and children are the most important and should be protected the most.

Bai Gui was also protected and returned to Lu's house.

He lay on the kang, feeling a little worried.

When encountering wild wolves, Bai Youde, Liu Mouer and others, who were long-term workers, must have gone first, while Bai Jiaxuan and Lu Zilin, who were big households, were responsible for command and could not be easily injured.

In the late Qing Dynasty, there were many wild animals running around in and outside the village. It was not until after the founding of the People's Republic of China that these wild animals such as wild wolves were killed to protect agricultural production and safeguard people's safety. They did not appear for decades.

Bailuyuan is close to Qinling Mountains, which are rich in wild animal resources.

Now that the snow has blocked everything, the wolves also need to find food, so it is normal for them to come down the mountain to the plain.

It was probably two quarters of the morning.

Bai Gui, who was half-closed his eyes, heard the sound of the wooden door. Bai Youde, who looked tired, tiptoed carefully and walked over.

He suddenly said, "Dad, there is a piece of snack on the kang. It is from Demaogong. Try it."

The reason why he didn't eat the Demaogong snack that Lu Zhaopeng gave him was because Bai Youde had bought this Demaogong snack from Xi'an City after a day's journey, and Bai Youde had never eaten a bite.

"Dad is not hungry. Dad has eaten it. This snack is a tribute. It is a good thing. You are tired from studying. Eat it."

Bai Youde touched Bai Gui's forehead and coughed lightly a few times.

"No, Dad, the young master gave me two pieces of dessert, look."

Bai Gui held the lamp, and under the dim light, there was another piece of dessert in his open palm.

Exactly the same, no big changes.

"Then Dad will eat it."

Bai Youde chewed the dessert carefully, he ate very patiently, it seemed that it was the first time to taste such delicious and sweet food, and his face full of wrinkles was a little relaxed.

He didn't eat very elegantly, and the puff pastry that fell on his hand was licked clean by him.