Luo Kai returned to his home, which had now become a small wooden house. There was also a small courtyard built with gravel outside. As soon as he entered the courtyard, a yellow dog with almost all of its fur scurried out and wagged its tail affectionately at him.
This extremely old dog was the one that had dragged Luo Kai out of the reeds. If it weren't for it, the old fisherman wouldn't have saved him on the beach.
The yellow dog had been wandering in the nearby fishing villages. Luo Kai immediately recognized it when he saw it. He simply adopted it and gave it a name: Huang.
Huang didn't have any self-awareness of looking after the house. It ran around outside all day long. Looking at its dirty body, there was no doubt that it had run wild outside again. It wolfed down the rice cake but was still not satisfied. It slipped to Luo Kai's feet and whimpered in a low voice. Obviously, it wanted more.
Luo Kai threw the unfinished rice cake in the bag to Huang. He stretched himself and walked to the water tank in the courtyard to wash up and go to sleep.
When he did a detailed examination of Huang, Luo Kai found that Huang was actually not old. It just had a kind of skin ringworm, so it was losing a lot of fur. Moreover, it was dirty all day long and looked relatively old.
Luo Kai ran to the nearby forest to find some anti-inflammatory herbs. He wrapped Huang tightly. Perhaps the herbs were not right, so the herbs had no effect. Now, Huang had almost become a hairless dog, looking very ugly.
Huang was very smart. It could even go to the sea to fish by itself. It was also good at catching rats. Since Huang was born, no rats had appeared in the barn.
In the morning, smoke rose from the kitchen chimneys in the fishing village. There were bursts of children crying and dogs barking. It was peaceful and peaceful, like a paradise.
Luo Kai had already woken up. He only needed to sleep for two or three hours a day to maintain his energy level. If he didn't feel sleepy, he would be very anxious. He didn't know why.
First, he practiced his martial arts in the courtyard for a while. Then, he made some simple food and led Huang to the fields.
When he passed by the village entrance, a huge and bloated steam truck appeared in his field of vision. In front of the truck, the men he met last night were surrounded by fishermen, and they were arguing about something.
Luo Kai walked over and asked the old man who was smoking a pipe, "Uncle, what are these people doing?"
The old man took a few deep puffs of his cigarette, shook his head and said, "Collecting taxes, each person has to pay 200 catties of grain, sigh!"
Luo Kai frowned. Two hundred kilograms of grain was not a small amount for the people of this poor fishing village. The land here was barren, and not much grain could be harvested from year to year. It was hard for them to even make ends meet. They had to rely on the annual subsidies from the young people who worked outside to make ends meet.
An angry curse came from the crowd, "Damn it, if you don't disperse, I'll kill you all!"
The one who spoke was the sturdy man with a headscarf from last night. Another thin man pulled him back and said in a clear voice, "Your village hasn't paid taxes for three years. Two hundred pounds of food per person isn't too much!"
The old village chief cupped his hands and said, "Sirs, you have seen our situation. The grain produced in the fields can't even feed ourselves. How can we have any grain to pay taxes? Also, I remember that in the early years, the county chief said that the poor are exempt from taxes. The few fishing villages around here are all exempt from taxes!"
The skinny man took out a document from his bag and said loudly, "This is the new tax order issued by my Great Lord. The tax will be levied according to the number of people. Farmers will have to pay with grain. No one is exempt."
"Isn't this so that we don't have a way to live!" The fishermen immediately made a ruckus and shouted to go to the county city to complain.
Seeing that the crowd was in turmoil, the thin man smiled and said, "Folks, I know that everyone is in a difficult situation. I have found a way for you. There is a Jiu Yuan farm fifty miles away from here. The chief there is going to build a large trading wharf here. If you want, the Jiu Yuan farm can pay the tax on your behalf!"
Luo Kai's eyes were slightly fixed in the distance. Is there such a good thing in the world?
You know, the fishing industry here has long been abandoned. If a wharf can be built, it can be said to have a way to survive for several fishing villages nearby, and help the fishermen pay the grain tax.
The old man on the side saw Luo Kai's doubts and laughed: "Hey, it's said to build a wharf. In fact, they want to buy our land. Someone came to talk about it a few years ago. They said that they want to plant rubber trees here. Rubber trees can only be harvested for more than ten years. How can we live in these ten years!"
"Is there no compensation?"
"Yes, it's said that we should move to the Jiu Yuan farm."
Luo Kai doesn't know if this is a good thing or a bad thing, but those who come to collect taxes are obviously not good people. He has been in the fishing village for less than a year and has no right to express any opinions. Seeing that the mood of the fishermen has eased, there should be nothing wrong, so he turned and left.
In the evening, Luo Kai went to Wanghai Cliff to exercise his body skills as usual. After the fierce sea tide last night, he felt that it seemed to be a little different today. His body seemed to be lighter, and he walked like a gust of wind, light and without much effort.
Unfortunately, the waves tonight are obviously much smaller, and some are better than nothing. After the exercise, Luo Kai lay on his back on the big stone and looked at the starry sky above his head, looking for the familiar stars and looking for the people in his memory...
The fishing village at night is quiet. The poor fishermen have no nightlife. They are reluctant to light candles. After dark, they have to go back to bed to sleep.
There is a dark cloud in the sky tonight, and the moonlight is a little mottled. Luo Kai walked on the familiar grass, and his mood gradually became quiet.
Walking and walking, suddenly he saw a black figure shuttling away in the village. Luo Kai had excellent eyesight. He vaguely saw a slender woman on the back of the black figure. His heart could not help but tighten. He hurriedly bent down to catch up. He liked the simplicity of the fishermen and would never allow anyone to hurt them.
The black shadow was very fast, almost running towards a small forest without touching the ground, and the person on his back seemed to be weightless for him.
Luo Kai bent his waist and chased after him. Over the past year of physical training had shown results. His physical fitness was completely different from when he was on South Tooth Island. The training of the Great Might Dragon Fist had made his strength stronger and stronger, and the Forging Soft Body Technique had given him unparalleled flexibility. Now, he was like a leopard cat, agile, swift, and silent.
As the distance got closer, he saw the woman on the back of the black shadow. Strictly speaking, it was a girl. She was the granddaughter of the village chief, called Erya. She was twelve or thirteen years old, and was a pretty and cute girl. Erya was very fond of the ugly Luo Kai, but she was somewhat afraid of the scarred Luo Kai. She often secretly played with Huang Huang when Luo Kai was not around.
Although the black shadow was masked, he had a strong body. Luo Kai recognized that he was one of the people who collected taxes during the day. He could not help but feel angry. This group of people was indeed not good people.