The Female General Dominates All After Transmigration-Chapter 48: Beef Dumplings and the Wisdom of Age
The two of them left the dilapidated temple without searching further west.
Less than half a mile further west would be the boundary of Longsheng Village, where mulberry trees are planted. It’s a place for gathering mulberries and raising silkworms, with few miscellaneous trees and shrubs in the mulberry grove. This season, it’s nearly impossible to hide people.
When they returned to the village, Zhang Wanxiang met them at the village entrance and told them that Captain Wu from the commune and Political Commissar Xu were both there, interrogating people at the brigade headquarters.
Ling Chengyan nodded and greeted the two of them, then went home herself.
Little Yu continued to diligently chop the meat filling with a knife. Seeing Ling Chengyan return, she smiled and said, "Sis, take a look, is it good?"
Ling Chengyan washed her hands, approached, and used the tip of the knife to pick up the meat filling for a look, nodding: "It’s very fine, very good. You go rest, I’ll handle the rest."
"Sis, should we mix the dough? I’ll do it." Little Yu shook her arm and found another task for herself.
Ling Chengyan smiled and shook her head: "Your arm will be sore tomorrow for a whole day, just rest, I’ll be done soon..."
"I’m not tired." Little Yu didn’t let her finish, asked what kind of flour to use, and went inside to mix the dough.
Ling Chengyan’s cooking skills are just so-so, definitely not superb. Especially when it comes to wrapping dumplings and buns, she is nowhere near as skilled as Little Yu.
The little girl soon mixed the dough, looked for a kneading board, and realized that Ling Chengyan didn’t have one after dividing the household, so she had to borrow one.
They started working, Xiao Xing joined in the fun, picking up and arranging the dumplings. Three pounds of beef plus onions, ginger, and a big green radish, the couple of them wrapped a large tray of dumplings. Ling Chengyan boiled them, used a rod and basket to hold them, and sent Xiao Xing to give a portion to her eldest aunt.
Next, they wrapped more and sent a bowl to Xiao Juan, with the rest, they each ate more than a bowl, leaving half a basket at the end.
Starting early meant eating early, and after the meal, it wasn’t completely dark yet.
Little Yu brought over three bowls of dumpling soup, Ling Chengyan held the wakeful Shi Tou, pinching a bit of beef filling to intrigue him. The little guy smacked his lips, making a buzz, eating deliciously, amusing Little Yu and Xiao Xing to laughter.
Zhang Wanxiang and Wu Qingyun ran over, Ling Chengyan offered them dumplings to eat.
The two were a bit embarrassed, but Ling Chengyan shoved a pair of chopsticks into each of their hands, and they started eating with a grin, claiming they had already eaten. The two only ate a bowl.
Ling Chengyan fed Shi Tou milk, instructed Little Yu to close the main door properly, and then went with Zhang Wanxiang and Wu Qingyun to the brigade headquarters.
There were already twenty to thirty people standing at the brigade headquarters; the three walked in and stood at the entrance of the courtyard without going in. Political Commissar Xu Dong came out of the house and called, "Has Comrade Ling Chengyan arrived?"
Zhang Wanxiang raised his hand to answer, "Present!"
Xu Dong smiled, "When did Comrade Ling Chengyan become a male comrade?"
Causing a burst of laughter among the crowd.
Ling Chengyan stepped forward, Xu Dong nodded and turned to enter the house, Ling Chengyan also followed in.
In the house, besides Captain Wu from the commune and Political Commissar Xu Dong, there were militia captains and public security directors from surrounding brigades, scattered ten-plus people sitting around. As Ling Chengyan walked in, everyone’s gaze focused on her.
"Comrade Ling Chengyan, please describe the situation."
Ling Chengyan nodded, walked to the blackboard at one end of the meeting room, drew several lines with chalk on the board, then said, "This is the main canal, this is the road out of the village. The campsites of these people are here, less than two hundred steps from the road... less than two hundred meters. If one goes quietly through the path in the fields, it is almost possible to directly sneak into the back of these people’s campsites."
She described the campsite’s situation and then dropped the chalk and returned to the doorway.
"What Comrade Ling Chengyan described matches what we interrogated this afternoon; they have eleven people, all young and strong, the youngest is sixteen, the oldest thirty-four..."
Xu Dong briefly introduced the situation again and then looked at Captain Wu.
Captain Wu stood up, his hand pressed on the table, and said, "Tonight’s operation concerns the safety of several brigade villagers, we must not fail. Let’s divide into teams, surround from three directions, and then catch them like shutting the door to catch a dog. We must not let a single person escape and ensure all are captured."
Then, they allocated attack directions and personnel to each brigade.
Once the plans were made, militia captains from various brigades went out to gather their troops. Ling Chengyan was also about to go out and join them when Xu Dong called her to stop, "Comrade Ling Chengyan, you did a great job this afternoon, you don’t need to join tonight’s encirclement action."
Ling Chengyan was slightly surprised, but still nodded without objection.
Xu Dong smiled, "Comrade Ling Chengyan, don’t mind, although you’re not joining the night’s encirclement, there’s still a task for you to complete..." 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦
Not letting her join the encirclement but to lead the group to Pox God Temple.
It’s preliminarily estimated that people living near Pox God Temple are genuinely wandering beggars. Having Ling Chengyan lead people there, mainly women, makes it easier to communicate, less likely to scare the elderly and children.
Xu Dong mentioned that for those purely begging, the county had arranged vehicles and would gather them to be sent home.
Being able to ride home is good for these elderly and children wanting to return home, sparing them the hardship of walking hundreds or even thousands of miles.
Walking and hiking for more than half a month, using a car it takes about a day to get home, just like the elderly beggar said, without delaying planting autumn grains.
To avoid alerting the target, militia members didn’t light torches or use flashlights, forming small teams, advancing towards their targets according to the assigned tasks.
Ling Chengyan led Zhang Wanxiang, Wu Qingyun, and four or five young militia members, circling to the west of the village and walked the path towards the Pox God Temple.
There was no light inside the temple, and from ten steps away, Ling Chengyan gestured for those behind her to stop. She slowly approached, arrived at the temple complex, and listened with her ear against it; someone was whispering inside.
She waved her hand, and the few individuals behind came forward, spread out, and guarded the derelict temple.
Ling Chengyan stepped alone into the ruined temple, switched on the flashlight she held: "Is anyone in the house?"
The speaking inside stopped abruptly.
Standing in the courtyard, Ling Chengyan asked again, and after a moment, there were rustling sounds inside the house. Then, an old lady walked out using a stick, accompanied by a child.
"Who is it? What do you want?"
Ling Chengyan moved the flashlight’s beam aside and said, "Aunt, we met just this afternoon, do you remember me?"
She took two steps closer and continued, "The front village..."
"Meat!" The child suddenly spoke.
Ling Chengyan nodded, "Yes, meat. I brought you some dumplings."
Saying this, she handed over a small bundle she was carrying, which contained a bowl of dumplings.
"You’re a kind girl..." The old lady’s tone relaxed considerably, sighing, without stopping the child anymore. The child took the bowl, grabbed a dumpling, and first tip-toed to stuff one into grandma’s mouth before starting to eat heartily.
"Girl, you must be here for something, right?" The old lady wobbly walked over, whispering.
Truly wise beyond her years!
