Zhuang Jiaxiong and his squad left Siping and headed south. If possible, Zhuang Jiaxiong really wanted to go to the town where Clerk Han Haitao was, and he also missed Militia Captain Li Zhengqing in the village. The fact that the bold and vigorous Sister-in-law Li could organize the women in the village truly impressed Zhuang Jiaxiong with her leadership ability.

However, the sampling investigation this time adopted a lottery system, and everyone ended up drawing villages they hadn't been to before. Zhuang Jiaxiong was no exception.

In winter outside the pass, everywhere was snow-white. Even knowing the direction, the perception of environmental changes was very limited. The group arrived at the destination and immediately started working. The Village Head gave the list of personnel participating in sewing clothes to Zhuang Jiaxiong, and Zhuang Jiaxiong's squad visited them household by household according to the workflow.

"You say the fastest sewer in the village is a man?" While surprised, Zhuang Jiaxiong also felt it seemed fine, as most tailors were men.

"Yes, Big Brother Song also made us all a wooden piece for sewing collar badges." The family being questioned took out a wooden piece. It was a combination tool with many small holes drilled in it, consisting of inner and outer pieces that could clamp together.

Zhuang Jiaxiong learned from the male host of this family to thread the needle from both sides. Even Zhuang Jiaxiong, who had no experience in sewing clothes, could clumsily adopt the double-sided needle method.

After sewing a line along the edge, taking down the collar badge clamped in the wooden piece, pulling the two loose threads tight, and hammering it a few times with a small wooden mallet, a decent seam was completed.

"This Big Brother Song is amazing," Zhuang Jiaxiong praised.

"Isn't he just!" The family praised along. After talking for a while, the man suddenly lowered his voice and asked, "This cadre, I heard other villages give one *jin* of grain for making ten collar badges. Is that true?"

Zhuang Jiaxiong originally wanted to chat a bit more before asking about grain deduction issues. Unexpectedly hearing such a rumor, his expression changed instantly. "Who did you hear that from?"

The male host of the family probably saw Zhuang Jiaxiong's face look unkind and hurriedly explained, "This cadre, our village says twenty for one *jin* of grain. Other villages say fifteen, some say eighteen, and some say ten. I was just asking."

Zhuang Jiaxiong looked at the other two cadres; everyone's face showed surprise. The original purpose of the spot check was to see if cadres deducted grain. Unexpectedly, things in the village were much more troublesome than imagined. But thinking about it, it wasn't strange. With the government subcontracting work, it would be strange if there were no rumors.

After sorting out his mood, Zhuang Jiaxiong asked, "Are the people saying this the ones sewing collar badges themselves?"

The male host thought for a moment and suddenly looked enlightened. "Cadre says so, it really is like that. Those who say this are all people coming to visit. Those who do the work either don't say anything or say the same as the government: twenty for one *jin* of grain."

Just as his voice fell, footsteps suddenly sounded outside. The village Militia Captain rushed into the room and shouted to the personnel of Zhuang Jiaxiong's work group, "Bandits are coming toward the village!"

Hearing there were bandits, Zhuang Jiaxiong wasn't very afraid. When attending school in the capital, he had heard many legends about Shandong mounted bandits and bandits outside the pass. Although the reputation of Fujian bandits wasn't loud, they were truly fierce. In a province like Fujian with many mountains, little land, and a large population, gathering in the forest to become bandits wasn't strange at all. Zhuang Jiaxiong had guns at home. When picking and selling tea every year, besides their own hands, they often hired extra people to ensure safety.

Soon, the group arrived at the village entrance. They saw the village cadres and militia had already come out. There were also some sturdy young men who followed out carrying wooden sticks.

The Militia Captain had a gun in his hand. He fired a shot at a group of people outside the village entrance, instantly stopping their approach.

Zhuang Jiaxiong pulled out his registered self-defense short gun [pistol] and also fired a shot at the bandits. This gun was given to him by his father for self-defense. He handed it in when he was in Siping, and it was issued to him again for this trip. Zhuang Jiaxiong hated this world where individuals had to rely on guns for self-defense, but unexpectedly, he still used it.

Soon, militiamen with firelocks [muskets] also came out. There were three firelocks in the village. The accuracy was poor, but the sound of firing was loud. After a few shots, the bandits knew the village was prepared and dared not continue to approach.

The bandit leader could shoot with both left and right hands and had gained the nickname "Li Shuangqiang" [Two-Gun Li]. Seeing that this village actually had "cannon hands" [hired gunmen] stationed, he was very puzzled. The village in front of him was quite poor, and bandits were usually too lazy to raid it. However, after the beginning of winter this year, he heard from villages in the neighboring Liaoning territory that for some reason, the village had connected with the Siping government, so the Siping government gave cloth and grain.

Originally, the bandits didn't believe it, but several nearby villages said so, so they had to come and try. This village was too poor; let alone enclosure walls, few families even had wooden fence gates. Once they rushed in, they could take whatever they wanted.

The anger brought by the firelocks in the village dissipated a little. Li Shuangqiang suddenly figured out one thing, so he shouted to his subordinates, "Brothers, they have firelocks and fast guns. Then they must have money and grain. Otherwise, which family's cannon hands would come to such a place?"

Hearing this, the minions understood and instantly gained courage. Here, Li Shuangqiang began to shout toward the village, "I wonder which family's cannon hands are here; state your name!"

Zhuang Jiaxiong hadn't expected the bandits outside the pass to be quite similar to Fujian bandits. Fujian bandits would also pull this stunt when encountering resistance, first trying to get close with words, hoping to make the guards retreat in the face of difficulties. If they didn't retreat, it was also best to let these guards persuade the master to spend money to avoid disaster.

Now, although Zhuang Jiaxiong wasn't a soldier, he was a member of the government. What he did was protecting the territory and reassuring the people; how could there be any room for negotiation with bandits?

Zhuang Jiaxiong asked the nervous-looking Militia Captain, "Have you sent people to the town?"

"Sent one wave," the Militia Captain answered.

Zhuang Jiaxiong worried about accidents on the road and ordered, "Send another wave."

The Militia Captain looked at Zhuang Jiaxiong, suspecting that Zhuang Jiaxiong wanted to take the opportunity to slip away while sending the second wave of people.

Unexpectedly, Zhuang Jiaxiong continued, "Captain, you shout back and forth with the bandits first, but absolutely don't believe the bandits' words. We just stall them and wait for the town's Armed Work Team to be sent over. I will guard the village entrance with you; we must block the bandits."

Only then did the Militia Captain relax. He sent someone to deliver the message again, then shouted to the bandits, "Friends opposite, which mountain are you from? Which incense do you burn?"

Zhuang Jiaxiong had absolutely no interest in these words. Seeing the bandits and the Militia Captain shouting back and forth, temporarily stalled, he stepped back a bit and discussed how to defend with the Village Head.

With the experience of his own tea garden, Zhuang Jiaxiong knew that a watertight defense wasn't realistic. Defending separately wasn't realistic either. The best way was to grasp the bandits' movements and block them in the direction of their attack. This required someone to coordinate in the middle.

Although the Village Head was nervous, he wasn't scared out of his wits. After communicating with Zhuang Jiaxiong for a moment, he began arranging for strong young men to go to the two entrances of the village to guard and monitor.

Seeing the Village Head so calm, Zhuang Jiaxiong asked again, "Village Head, how many sessions did you study in the training class?"

"Went twice," the Village Head replied.

Night fell, and the village became very quiet. At this time, the villagers had been concentrated in several safe places. Everyone knew life was more important. Besides, the village was so poor that the bandits really had nothing to rob.

Moreover, the talk between the bandits and the Militia Captain had broken down long ago. They tried to attack several times but were scared back by the firelocks.

Just then, the Militia Captain actually led a team of people appearing at the safe stronghold. In the snow, Zhuang Jiaxiong felt the leader looked a bit familiar; he seemed to be the Armed Work Team Captain from the town.

The man stepped forward and whispered, "Our Armed Work Team is here; the bandits are finished!"