When they stopped under the waterfall and looked up, the seven people in the cave behind the waterfall were still unaware of what was going on.
In order to survive for as long as possible with the limited food, the seven people had already started the food demand reduction plan.
They used to eat three meals a day, but now they only ate two meals a day. There was no difference in the number of meals they ate before. They used to eat two meals a day, just like most of the people of the Great Tang. A small portion of the people of the Great Tang only ate one meal a day.
Productivity could not keep up, and with all kinds of natural disasters, the people had no choice but to eat two meals a day and not see meat for a long time. Only those who lived close to the river could occasionally eat fish. As for mutton, that was the food of the rich. Pork was not exclusive to the rich, but they could not afford to raise it. Those who could cut some pig grass could only eat a little by the time the pig was ready to be slaughtered.
Now, the people of the Great Tang basically ate three meals a day. It was not that the seeds of the Sinongsi were good, but the Sinongsi was still unable to take care of the entire Great Tang. It was still far from that ideal period.
The main reason was that many places in the Great Tang now practiced cropping according to local characteristics. At the same time, they had also learned a lot of 'advanced' farming techniques from Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan. They did not completely rely on the weather to eat. Fertilizer made from feces and grass stalks was very useful in the fields.
It was impossible to eat meat every day, unless chickens were only ready to be slaughtered once a month and pigs grew up in three months. Zhang Xiaobao did have such techniques, but he did not take them out. First, the manufacturing process was very laborious and required various materials to be extracted.
Second, this thing was not suitable for people to eat. He and Wang Juan were like that. Anyone with a bit of power and money would not eat things that were ready to be slaughtered quickly. The pork they ate was the kind that could only be slaughtered after at least ten months.
The seven people in the cave saw that the lives of the people of the Great Tang were better. Compared to the lives of their own people, the difference was like heaven and earth, and they were still in the cellar.
As a result, he also ate three meals a day. Every day, there would be one meal with meat. But now, that was no longer the case. In order to fight a protracted battle, they had to eat two meals a day. Furthermore, both meals were diluted. They used two-fifths of the food they used before, while they saved three-fifths.
Since they ate less, their activities naturally decreased as well. Therefore, the seven of them fell asleep in the damp cave after lunch. Listening to the sound of the waterfall outside was like a lullaby to them after a long time. After getting used to it, it was like a lullaby.
He would wait for another two hours before he could eat his second meal of the day. Then, he would continue to sleep to ensure that his body was in good condition.
The people who came with Zhang Xiaobao did not understand the situation in the cave. They did not even see the cave, as it was completely blocked by the waterfall. Moreover, the sun was shining in the west, turning the water flowing down the waterfall into a mirror. It looked white with a hint of other colors.
Occasionally, when they looked in the right direction, they could see a small rainbow. Now, rainbows were no longer strange. When the sun was shining brightly, they could hold a mouthful of water and spit it out in front of them. Naturally, artificial rainbows could be seen.
Since they could not see inside from the outside, the people who followed naturally thought that the people inside were observing the situation outside. Therefore, they found things that could be written on, such as charcoal strips, and wrote the words for the people to surrender on a piece of cloth. A few people propped themselves up and faced the direction of the waterfall, waiting for the people inside to come out by themselves.
After a while, Xiao Bei and the others were tired of standing there. They ran to the river formed by the waterfall to see if there were any fish, but there was still no reaction from the waterfall.
"Little Young Master, is there really a cave behind? We can't see it. "One of them said to Zhang Xiaobao, who was sitting there and playing Gomoku with Wang Juan.
Zhang Xiaobao had already observed it with his binoculars, so he was not in a hurry. His purpose in coming here was not to directly capture people. His subordinates would do that. He wanted to bring his younger siblings to play.
He had seen Mount Lu's waterfall many times, so it was not attractive to him. He guessed that Wang Juan was the same, although Mount Lu back then could not be compared to the current one.
However, to his younger siblings, Mount Lu was still full of color. The flowers, birds, fish, and insects, as well as the unique natural scenery of Mount Lu, made his younger siblings very happy.
The happiness of a child was usually very simple. Even if they learned a few lines of a new song, they would be happy for the whole day if they could sing it. Even if they did not spend it, they would just hold on to it and not buy anything when they passed by the market.
Many adults found that as they earned more and more money, they could not find the happy times they once had. Perhaps it was because of a sense of responsibility, or perhaps it was because they had experienced too much that their hearts had become numb. However, the most fundamental reason was that the adults had begun to learn to accept their fate. Their hearts were no longer filled with dreams, or perhaps they were not willing to dream.
Zhang Xiaobao knew that his younger siblings would not be happy for the whole day because of a few copper coins. This was a kind of sorrow in happiness. Once the little ones were worried about money, the amount of money they needed was definitely not a small amount.
Most of the time, the happiness of the little ones actually came from the happiness of other children. A few hundred thousand strings of cash was just a number to them. They would not look at the money and laugh out loud. Just like the old crosstalk once said, "If you can laugh when you look at money, then you will get an illness that money cannot cure."
If they really put a pile of paper money in front of their younger siblings, they would only feel that it was taking up space. Their usual source of happiness was that they gave money to other children through various means. After seeing the happy faces of other children, they would feel that they had helped others.
For children, this kind of happiness was very cruel. In fact, this was the reason why many children from rich families had twisted personalities.
Zhang Xiaobao did not want his younger siblings to lack happiness, so he always thought of ways to personally bring them out to play. When other children caught and sold a bit of meat to a restaurant, they would feel the happiness of receiving money. However, the happiness of his younger siblings did not come from selling the meat, but from participating in the process.
In order to make Mount Lu more lively when more people were busy with their work, so that his younger siblings could have more days to play, Zhang Xiaobao was very unwilling to cooperate with his men to capture the enemy immediately after he grasped the enemy's whereabouts.
He admitted that he was very selfish now. The team he sent to Mount Lu was huge. There were people who flew in the sky, people who ran on the ground, and people who discovered that people could hide in the water yesterday, so he sent more people who could swim.
The huge team was not only manpower, but also material support. The direct and indirect costs of a day's consumption were equivalent to a small county's monthly income. If used on the common people, it was enough to let thousands of people eat the same meal as the New Year.
However, he was willing to spend money. His goal was to let more people make Mount Lu lively, without too much danger, so that his younger siblings could have as much fun as they wanted.
Therefore, when he heard the inquiry of his subordinates, Zhang Xiaobao did not immediately tell others about the traces he had found by the waterfall. Instead, he first looked at his younger siblings who had run to the riverside to look around.
The person who asked the question did not understand Zhang Xiaobao's meaning, so he assured Zhang Xiaobao, "Little Young Master, don't worry. We will definitely take care of Xiaobei and the rest and not let them face any danger."
Zhang Xiaobao looked at his subordinate and said, "If you want to know if there is a cave behind, you can use smoke. If there is someone inside, you will definitely be able to smoke it out."
"Ah? Smoke? Little Young Master, that is a waterfall. If you light a smoke and fly up, it will be washed away by the water. When the waterfall flows down, it will also cause the smoke to be less effective. It is better to use artillery. Bullets will probably not be able to enter. "
The subordinate looked at his young master in surprise and reminded him. He was very puzzled. How did the young master become so stupid? How could he not understand such a simple principle?
As he spoke, he looked at his wife, Cuckoo, and hoped that she could help him come up with a better idea.
Wang Juan seemed to be immersed in the game of Gomoku. She put down another white piece and said to Zhang Xiaobao, "It is your turn. Put down a few more pieces and I will definitely win. Your skill level is about the same as Xiaohai's. Xiaohai is good at calculation and can now solve a binary quadratic equation."
"Arrogant people will always lose." Zhang Xiaobao picked up a black piece and put it on the other side without thinking. He played four pieces in a row, which made Wang Juan have no choice but to block. It seemed that this move was useless.
"What? Is playing chess related to trickery? If that was the case, you would have already become an internationally known master of chess and Go. You didn't even know how to solve a binary quadratic equation before. "
Wang Juan was not convinced and blocked with her hand.
"I still don't know how to calculate the relationship between the average GDP and CPI, but I definitely have the ability to influence the average national production growth of a place and the degree of currency depreciation under the radiation of the local commodity prices. Don't think of things as absolute."
Zhang Xiaobao continued to find a place where he could play and said to Wang Juan with a smile.
The person waiting for orders was anxious, "Young master, young lady, you two … waterfall … right?"
Wang Juan seemed to have heard someone else's voice. She frowned and said to the person with dissatisfaction, "You are Zhang Yuan, one of the first batch of Zhang family to enter the inner courtyard. You have parents, a single uncle, a wife, and two children.
You are not stupid. Being one of the first batch of people to enter the inner courtyard, you should be smart. Why are you still asking? Inner courtyard, whose inner courtyard is it? Didn't you hear what Xiao Bao said? Don't think of things as absolute. What is our purpose for coming here? Stay away, think carefully, and come back to talk after you think clearly. "
Wang Juan's words were already a reprimand. She now understood Zhang Xiaobao too well. At the same time, she and Zhang Xiaobao also had the same idea, which was to treat everything as a game. Only in front of their family would they become real.
She had already thought that the method used to deal with Zhang Xiaobao was biased. She should not have directly labeled Zhang Xiaobao as an international swindler and then arrested him. Instead, she should have used the orphanage Zhang Xiaobao came from.
As long as they used the name of the orphanage and acted in a diplomatic way, many small countries in Africa would not need to spend too much effort to rope them in, even if the orphanage only took 1% of the benefits in the entire process.
In that case, in a situation where the country did not need to mobilize other people, Zhang Xiaobao would naturally take the initiative to attack and cooperate with the corresponding things. This was because that was Zhang Xiaobao's root, where his soul was entrusted. Even if he knew that he was being used, he had to do it.
Now, what she and Zhang Xiaobao cared about was each other and their families. Otherwise, the two of them would be lonely. Now, who could challenge Zhang Xiaobao's position? Although the enemy this time came up with a plan to pollute the environment and burn down Mount Lu.
But to her and Zhang Xiaobao, the enemy's way of doing things was not grand enough. What was truly grand was an open scheme, not a conspiracy. Compared to Li Longji, who could become an emperor, the people from a few countries working together were too low-level.
That was why she wanted to support Zhang Xiaobao. At the same time, she was dissatisfied with the first batch of people from the inner courtyard who were recruited from outside.
The person who asked the question did not know what Wang Juan was thinking. When he heard the girl's words, cold sweat soaked his back. He left the place where people were playing chess and found a tree. He squatted there and carefully thought about what he had done wrong to make the young master and the young lady angry.
"Here, here's a fish for you to eat. Just grill it and put some salt on it. You don't need to put anything else. It tastes good." After being reprimanded by Wang Juan, the person who was squatting under the tree ran to think about things. Suddenly, Xiaobei appeared in front of him, holding a fish that weighed more than half a kilogram in her arms.
"Miss Xiaobei, what are you …?" The person asked in confusion. He looked at the fish and did not know what to do.
Xiaobei stared at him. "Take it. It's for you. You are the inner courtyard, and I am the master. I have to think about the inner courtyard first when I catch the fish. The others have to wait until we catch more fish.
Let me tell you, there are also fish under the waterfall. They are all stupid fish. I guess they fell from the waterfall and became confused after hitting the water. We can use the net in my brother's backpack. We can catch a few with one net. Hehe.
I didn't jump into the water. My clothes are still wet. I'll net a few more in a while. Then I have to change my clothes. Otherwise, my brother and sister will be angry. They brought us here to play, not to make us sick.
We never knew that Mount Lu was so fun. It's not worse than the northern part of Hebei Province. Over there, you can scoop up fish with a ladle. Here, the fish fell and became confused. Hahaha … "
Xiaobei threw the fish to the person as she spoke. She held her stomach and laughed. No one knew why she was so happy.
Hearing Xiao Bei's words, this person blankly hugged the fish and looked around. Sure enough, he saw that there were a few people from the inner courtyard who had the same status as him, and they all had a fish in their hands.
Looking at Xiao Bei's happy expression and recalling what Xiao Bei had just said, this person finally understood why Miss Cuckoo and Young Master Xiao Bao were angry.
As members of the inner court of the Zhang Clan and Wang Clan, they had to take care of the affairs of the Great Tang, such as the livelihood of the people, intelligence, technology, disasters, and so on. This was very normal. Even the common people of the Great Tang believed that the Zhang Clan and Wang Clan were definitely on the side of the Great Tang.
But the Inner Courtyard was still the Inner Courtyard. The people of the Great Tang had to depend on the will of the master. The Inner Courtyard's first loyalty was not to the Great Tang, but to the master.
Who was the most powerful existence in the main family? Naturally, it was Miss Cuckoo and Young Master Xiao Bao. Although there was nothing that could cause the main family's young master and young lady to have a dispute with the main family's master and madam.
However, everyone in the Inner Courtyard knew that if the young master and young lady wanted to kill someone, the main family's madam and master would not be able to stop them even if they wanted to.
But if the main family's madam and master wanted to kill someone, and the young lady and young master said that it was useful to save them, then they would definitely save them. Master and madam would definitely not kill someone when the two of them were against it.
But now, the two people with the most authority in the main family had brought their younger brother and sister to play. He could not see the situation clearly and insisted on letting them come up with ideas to catch the bad guys. He even questioned the situation behind the waterfall.
Of course, the main family was angry. Since they already knew the bad guys' methods, why did they have to end it immediately? Wouldn't it be better to play with Xiao Bei and Xiao Yuan for a while?
Thinking back to what Xiao Bei had just said, "You are the Inner Courtyard, and I am the master. I have caught the fish, so I have to think about the Inner Courtyard first." For a moment, this person did not dare to raise his head to look at Xiao Bei.
"Hey, say something. You should at least thank us. We caught the fish ourselves. Let me tell you, if you want to eat fresh fish, you don't need to put too much seasoning. A little salt is enough. I have experience. It's fine to roast the outside of the fish. The meat inside is still tender.
Actually, Big Brother has other things to do. Otherwise, Big Brother would have roasted the fish for you. The outside wouldn't be burnt. Really, wait, I'll continue to catch fish with them. The people above don't come down. I really want to climb up myself, but it's too dangerous. I'm not afraid of falling. It's just a waterfall.
But I don't know how to climb that mountain. It's almost straight. I reckon only Big Brother can climb it easily. Alright, I won't talk to you anymore. I'm going to catch fish. Remember, this fish is yours. No one is allowed to snatch it. Tell me who wants to snatch it, and I'll take care of him. "
Xiao Bei said a few more words to this person, then turned around and ran off into the distance with his two little legs.
Looking at Xiao Bei's leaving figure, this person took a deep breath, stood up, and walked to Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan. Looking at the two people who were still playing chess, he lowered his head and said, "Little Young Master, Little Miss, I know I was wrong. I … I …"
"Don't bother, okay? What wrong? I asked you to light the cigarette. What does it have to do with you being wrong? Go, what's wrong with the waterfall? If the smoke is thick enough, even the waterfall can't block it. What if there are other ventilation holes in their cave? Smoke is not meant to make people faint. Do you know? "
Zhang Xiaobao said impatiently.
If it were someone else who suddenly heard a new word, they would not understand it. But Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan were used to the new words of the Little Young Master and Little Miss, and they had learned them.
Hearing the Little Young Master's words, this person was even more grateful. He knew that the Little Young Master understood what he wanted to say, but didn't let him say it. It was nothing more than a kind of care.
"Yes, I know. Light the cigarette. Little Young Master, Little Miss, I won't make the same mistake in the future. When it's time to light the cigarette, I'll let Little Miss Xiao Bei and Little Young Master Xiao Yuan do it personally. They have good intentions, and the cigarettes they light are the most terrible for bad people."
This person did not continue to say what he was wrong about. Since they were not willing to listen, he understood that they wanted to see what he would do in the future. Therefore, he asked who the person who lit the cigarette was. It meant that he knew what was going on and was willing to be played by the little guys of the main family.
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