Chapter 25 Understand and carry it out

  When everything was ready, the sky had already darkened, the wind grew stronger, and snowflakes fluttered down. Ding Yuluo stood at the head of the wind, loudly saying to the gathered militiamen: "Now, a big snow has blocked us here. We still have two and a half days' journey to Guangyuan, I'm not willing to give up like this! The carts can't move no matter what, but with these... these..."

  Ding Hao whispered: "Sled... uh, you'd better say snow crawler..."

  "Hmm, but with these snow crawlers, the snow can't stop our journey. These snow crawlers loaded with grain won't get stuck in the snow either. With them, as long as we work together, we'll definitely be able to deliver the grain to Guangyuan on time."

  "What?"

  The villagers who had never seen such a means of transportation before were discussing it in a flurry, saying "Can this thing work?"

  "Miss, this big car is all broken down, what... a crawler? It doesn't look sturdy enough, it'll probably fall apart after walking for a while?"

  Ding Yuluo said: "In a hurry, we can only think of such a method. It's true that there are no nails under the cart bottom, it's fixed with ropes, and the grain on top is not tied up with ropes. It's indeed a bit troublesome to transport, but as long as everyone takes care of each other along the way, if something goes wrong, we can unload the cart and re-tie it in time. The journey will only take two days or so, it won't be too much trouble. With mules pulling, and us lending a hand, this pass is definitely passable."

  "Big sister, with such deep snow, knee-deep, just walking empty-handed can exhaust someone to death, and yet you have to hold onto the grain and pull the rope? Is that a job for humans?"

  "Miss Ding, this money is earned with our lives and must be spent with our lives to make it worthwhile. For the Ding family, we have done all that is humane and righteous. This task, we really can't do anymore."

  "It's no use, it's no use, let's go, let's go. The Ding family is finished this time. Let's head back." Some people had already begun to urge everyone to disperse.

  "You... you...", Ding Yuluo's lips turned white, and he said in a hoarse voice: "You can't leave, the Ding family has treated you well, as long as you can deliver food to..."

  "It's all about making a hard-earned living during the Chinese New Year, but this kind of life... without any personal connections or relationships, we can't just risk our lives for your old Ding family, let's leave..."

  The voices grew louder and louder, while Ding Yuluo's voice became smaller and smaller. Seeing many people abandoning their grain carts and turning back, Ding Yuluo's knees went weak, and she almost fell to her knees in the snow.

  Ding Hao's eyes were quick and his hands were fast, he took a step forward to support her, then took a deep breath and shouted in the loudest voice: "All of you, stand still!"

  This roar carried far away with the wind, and suddenly shocked everyone. Everyone looked at Ding Hao with a surprised gaze, looking at this originally timid, then clever, now fierce-looking Ding Hao, unable to adapt to his sudden change for a moment.

  "Do you know what this grain is used for? The Tartars are 'mowing the grass' on the borders of our Great Song, and the garrison of Guangyuan is our stronghold. If the Guangyuan army eats the grain but can't hold Guangyuan City, the Tartars' war horses will be able to trample your home, burn your house, snatch your women, and take your life!"

  Everyone stared blankly at Ding Hao, who was standing in the wind, his face ashen. The snowstorm grew stronger, making it hard to see him clearly, but the voice carried by the wind was heard loud and clear.

  The wind and snow brushed against his face, Ding Hao shouted loudly: "At this point, you think you can just slap your butt and leave? You're really eating lantern grass ash and farting lightly! Do you know why the Ding family is paying you three times the wages? Because this grain was ordered by the government army, this grain must be delivered! You, you, and you..."

  Ding Hao pointed and scolded, the civilians he pointed at all took a few steps back in fear. Ding Hao questioned: "Do you all understand the laws of our great Song Dynasty? If you work for someone and receive wages but don't do your job properly, what should be done? Paying back the wages is enough! But now you're receiving orders from the border army, if you just run away with a pat on the butt and cause the border army to lose, causing countless civilians to suffer, do you know what the consequences will be? Confiscation of property! Beheading!"

  Ding Hao's severe tone and expression stunned the villagers, who were illiterate and didn't understand what the laws of the Song Dynasty were. All they knew was that Ding Hao was a good friend of the county magistrate and the head of the Shallow Mouth Prison, so if he said the law was this way, then it must be this way.

  "What if a soldier deserts in the face of battle? Behead him. Why do this? Because we fear that everyone will learn from his example and suffer defeat. What if someone transporting military rations deserts in the face of battle? Without military rations, it is certain that you will be defeated. You think about it yourselves, what a great crime this is!"

  Even if you don't have a brain, using your butt to think should be possible. Are you going to throw away the grain like this? Fine, go ahead and leave! But you can't escape fate, just like how you can't hide from the first day of the month until the fifteenth... By then, you'll be in prison, sentenced to death, and your whole life will be ruined. There will be other men who will farm your land, live in your house, sleep with your woman, and beat up your kids!

  The villagers were all stunned, and not a single fart dared to come out. The man had two guns, one for himself and one for his son. The man had two plots of land, one outside the house and one inside. Now you want to confiscate both guns and both plots of land, and even behead us? This... this... if I had known earlier, I would rather die than take on this task...

  In the midst of the howling wind and snow, only Ding Hao's hoarse roar could be heard: "Now, put in a hard effort to deliver food to Guangyuan. When you return, you won't lack a reward. Later, you can proudly pat your chest and boast to your son: If it weren't for me, your old man, the tens of thousands of troops in Guangyuan would have suffered greatly!"

  Here is a vast wilderness, the sound has no echo, Ding Hao's hoarse voice shouted out, just transmitted into people's ears, and completely dissipated in the air. It was precisely because of this that it added a kind of fierce determination. The team of over a thousand people finally stirred, after hearing Ding Hao's words, they began to realize that this desperate situation was no longer just the desperate situation of the Ding family alone, they were all on the same rope as ants.

  "Ding...Ding is in charge..." A young villager stammered: "We're used to hardship and exhaustion, we've been selling our labor all our lives. We can endure more bitterness and fatigue, even in the coldest winter months, we just huddle on the kang. But this kind of work? No way! The snow is knee-deep, those four-legged animals can still struggle on for a while, but we're only two-legged humans!"

  "You must live on in order to be human!"

  Ding Hao stood on a large rock and shouted loudly: "Retreat is death, advance has life. Before the grain arrives at Guangyuan, no one should consider themselves human. From now on, we are mules, we are horses, we are two-legged livestock!"

  Ding Hao finished speaking, jumped off the stone, ran to the front of a snow-covered sled, put a thin rope on his shoulder, pulled hard and shouted: "Go!"

  Ding Yuluo's eyes were red, and without saying another word, she quickly ran off, pulled up another thin rope, stood shoulder to shoulder with him, pulled the rope tight, and tied it around her own shoulders.

  Ding Hao helped the mule pull the snow shovel, shouting loudly: "Don't be lazy, walk hard, this thing is heavy when it's just pulled up, as long as you speed up, it will get easier and easier..."

  Liu Eleven's face turned red and his neck thickened as he stood up, just like he had drunk a jar of wine. He raised his arm high and shouted: "We're all men, follow me! The grain has arrived, we can hold our heads high and live with dignity. If it doesn't arrive, then damn it, go be a mourner's dog!"

  "Come on, let's go!" The villagers and the militiamen, stimulated by the life-and-death situation, had their laziness completely dispelled and finally brought out all their ferocity. With red eyes, they rushed forward in a swarm, snatching up their ropes, advancing step by step into the vast expanse of Guangyuan against the shrill north wind.

  Everything for survival.

  "Ah, stupid..."

  Ding Yuluo and Ding Hao walked shoulder to shoulder, leaning forward, pulling a simple sled loaded with grain, shouting in hushed tones.

  "Hmm?" Ding Hao pursed his lips, his cheek muscles tense, staring straight ahead, his feet forcefully pushing back against the ground.

  Ding Yuluo said in a low voice: "Ah-Dai, actually... what you said is wrong. If the grain can't be transported, it will only affect my Ding family, not these ordinary people and carters."

  Ding Hao's eyes flickered slightly, and he lowered his voice: "I know, but they don't..."