Chapter 85 Emergency treatment
Just when the courtyard was in chaos, the village chief Wang Mazi came in with a few guards holding guns.

"He Daqing, He Daqing!

You are the head of the household, so quickly organize the residents of your courtyard to pay the donation."

Hearing Wang Mazi asking everyone to pay as soon as he came in, He Daqing didn't care about Jia Zhangshi and He Yuzhu.

I turned my head and looked over.
As soon as I saw Wang Mazi, I started complaining,

"Chief, didn't our families just pay the donation some time ago? Why are you asking for more now?

If this continues, we ordinary people will have no money left.”

Hearing He Daqing's complaints, Wang Mazi began to preach earnestly, as if he was doing it for everyone's good.

“This is what you don’t understand.
Think about it, several families of yours live in a yard this big. If the city is broken, will you be able to survive?
You all know without me telling you,
This is impossible.

Beiping is now under siege and in imminent danger. You must actively pay for repairing the city defenses.

Protecting Peking is also ensuring your own safety.

Hurry up, don't waste time with me, pay the money quickly so that the higher-ups can start construction and build the city defense."

After talking to He Daqing, Wang Mazi noticed Jia Zhang and others sitting on the ground.

Then he asked with interest,
"Hey, what's going on today? Why are my sister-in-law Zhang and sister-in-law Yi crying so hard?

Are you guys seeing that Lao Yi and Lao Liu are not at home?
Bullying them."

Seeing that Wang Mazi, the bastard, had put such a big accusation on the three of them, He Daqing and Yan Bugui immediately spoke up to refute.
Then he asked back,

"Chief, speaking of paying for the repair of the city defenses,
When the higher-ups collected the money last time, they said they wanted to turn the steel mill outside Dongzhimen into a war fortress and a logistics supply base.

Do you know whether the steel mill’s fortifications have been repaired?

The artillery battle outside the city is so fierce now. Can Lao Yi and the others survive?

If nothing is repaired,

Then why should we just wait to die together? "

He Daqing's words made Aunt Yi and Jia Zhang stop crying immediately, and they looked at Wang Mazi pitifully.

Wang Mazi was just worrying about finding an excuse to collect donations from everyone, but he didn't expect He Daqing to turn around and ask this question. He thought, this is just like someone giving you a pillow when you feel sleepy!

So he slapped his thigh, bared his teeth and shouted,
"Ah, my! Ah, my!

Lao He, if you hadn't mentioned it, I would have forgotten that Lao Yi and Lao Liu are still working in the steel mill right now!

But don't worry, most of the steel mill's fortifications have been built, so Lao Yi and the others are still safe.

But there is no money now.
The other half of the steel mill's defenses could not be started.
I think you should hand in the city defense funds as soon as possible, so that we can continue to repair the fortifications when we have more money."

After saying this, Wang Mazi gave Jia Zhang and the others a sweet date.
"I tell you,

The steel mill was built to the specifications of a fortress, with reinforced concrete several meters thick.
If the city defenses were well built, not to mention the cannons outside the city, even if a bigger cannon hit them, it would only cost a layer of cement.

Can Lao Yi and the others come back alive?

Now it all depends on whether you are willing to contribute."

He Daqing and the other two were fine, as they knew the character of their superiors and did not believe Wang Mazi's lies at all.
But when Jia, Zhang and the other two heard this, they were like drowning people grabbing a life-saving straw.
He immediately nodded frantically to express his opinion.
"Hand in,
Don't worry, we'll hand it over right away.

You must hand over the money as soon as possible so that the superiors can repair the steel mill's fortifications as soon as possible.

When the battle is over, Lao Yi and the others can come back soon."

The three of them hurriedly paid the money themselves. After expressing their opinions, they looked at He Daqing and the other two and urged them,

"Lao He, Lao Yan, the three of you should pay your donations quickly.
Repair the city defense works as soon as possible, so we don't have to worry here anymore." Seeing Jia Zhang and the others cooperate so well, Wang Mazi was overjoyed and began to urge them.

"Yes, yes, yes, He Daqing, you guys should pay the donations quickly.

Once the city defenses are completed, you won’t have to worry about Mr. Ba breaking into the city anymore, and you can do business in peace.

This is better than just wasting time like this!"

Seeing that the people in the courtyard were divided, He Daqing and his friends had no choice but to pay the levy.

When Wang Mazi collected the money and left the courtyard with a happy face,
The neighbors were no longer in the mood to discuss how to dodge the artillery fire, and they all went back to their homes.

He Daqing also came to Yi Zhonghai's house and carried the deaf old lady back.
Then ask the White Widow to help apply the medicine.

He Yuzhu watched from the roof for a while.

He came down from upstairs and went to the central courtyard, preparing to ask He Daqing to go to the Drum Tower together to carry the burden back.

Just entered the middle courtyard,
Then I heard Jia Zhang in the west wing crying and calling out "Old Jia, you dead ghost!"

Hearing this, He Yuzhu walked forward with great interest and lifted the door curtain to take a look. He found that Jia Zhang was lying on the cabinet, holding Old Jia's seat and crying bitterly.

"Damn it, get up!

Why did you leave so early? Why didn't you take me with you? You left me here feeling scared.

You must bless Dongxu to be safe and sound,

If he were gone, our Jia family would be extinct!"

……

Hearing Jia Zhang's screams, He Yuzhu quickly lowered the door curtain and walked out to the main room.
Seeing the White Widow applying medicine to Old Lady Long, he stepped forward and greeted her.

"Old lady, are you okay?"

"It's okay, it's okay. I just twisted it accidentally. It will probably be difficult for you to walk these few days. I'm afraid I'll have to trouble your father to carry you up and down."

Then He Daqing said with a smile,

"Isn't this what I should do? Don't worry, old lady. It's just a sprained ankle. It will heal soon."

"Good good."

After greeting the deaf old lady, He Yuzhu got down to business.
"Dad, I don't think the shells can get in. Why don't we go to the Drum Tower and pick up the load?

We will have mutton offal soup and steamed buns for lunch today."

"Okay, since we can't get in for a while, we can't just leave our stuff out there.

There is still plenty of flour and meat over there."

Speaking of the supplies at the Drum Tower, the father and son quickly left the courtyard and came to the Drum Tower. Uncle Gui was also packing up his things at that time.
"Master He, will you come tomorrow?"

He Daqing thought about it, then shook his head.
"Let's take a few days off and see what's going on outside. If we can't get in for a while, we can do it later."

"I think so too. Let's take a stab at it and see how things turn out.

Return to Master He."

"it is good!"

Uncle Gui was about to leave with his load on his shoulder when he saw a group of knifemen at the end of the street heading towards Zhang Shuiba's water pit.
"Master He, Master He, did you see that? They are fighting over water again!"

(End of this chapter)