Midsummer July, Ganlin Town, Hubei Province.

It hasn't rained for three months.

The sun is like a freshly baked pancake, charred and hot, steaming hot. Everything in the heavens and the earth was dyed yellow by this big cake, and the grass and trees had long since withered yellow, and so did the crops in the fields, and the roads were covered with yellow dust, which was already a foot deep. The dust was blown up by the wind, and the houses in the town were painted yellow.

Even the sky is gray and yellow, not as blue as before.

It's a pity that although this cookcake is large, it can't be eaten.

Huguang Province is the largest grain producing area in the Ming Dynasty, known as the "land of fish and rice", Ganlin Town is located at the northern end of Hubei border, the bank of the Han River, the water and soil are fertile, the rice produced is also famous for its crispy, often pay tribute to the palace in the capital to the emperor to eat. But this is all in the past, not to mention growing rice in Ganlin Town today, even the most drought-tolerant rye, can not grow a few acres.

Worse than the three consecutive years of drought was the four consecutive years of drought, when rice was so expensive that the bark of the poplars on the roadside outside the town had been stripped and eaten away.

The ones who gnawed off the bark were not the locals of Ganlin Town. After all, Ganlin relies on the Han water, and although the drought has been repeated, the river that was originally more than 100 zhang wide has become a stream several zhang wide, but after all, there is still a little water that can be used to water the fields and grow a little grain to make a living. It is not only Ganlin that can suffer from drought, but the entire Hubei border, and not all prefectures and counties have rivers passing through.

If the crops are not harvested, the only way to survive is to flee. From Hubei to Yujing, Ganlin Town, which is close to the official road, is a necessary place, because in the past few months, groups of displaced people can be seen everywhere inside and outside the town, on the streets and roads. That is, they, gnawed away the bark.

There were more and more of these displaced people, there were already thousands, and they dragged their families with them, but they did not bring any food with them, let alone silver taels, and the bark and grass were soon not enough for them to eat.

However, there are hungry people who do not have enough to eat, and there are also rich people who eat and drink spicy food.

"Linjiang Building" is the largest restaurant in Ganlin Town, located on the street in the center of the town, close to the Han River. Although today's Hanshui has become a small stream, and the scenery is greatly reduced, the business of Linjianglou is very prosperous, and there is no discount at all.

It was just noon, and there were already twenty or thirty horses tied to the bolted horse pile in front of the building, and in the restaurant hall on the upper and lower floors, the guests at each table were already full. This is the official road must pass through the place, to Huguang and Henan provinces of the merchant has always been a lot, and this riverside building is the largest restaurant in the north and south of the hundred miles.

The more than 20 guests sitting in front of the four big tables of eight immortals in the window of the east head are the most magnificent, but they are all carrying swords and swords, and they are all dressed as warriors on the rivers and lakes.

The three men led by him all carried steel knives on their backs, and the blade was wrapped in green cloth and could not be seen, only the handle of the knife was exposed, and the gold and silver threads tied to it were braided into a pendant, and the shape was like a feather, which was very special.

One in the center is in his forties, with a green beard and white face, thick eyebrows and eyes, and the two people on his left and right hands are thirty-five or sixteen years old, and the other is younger.

"Phoenix Wing Gang" is not a small Baidao sect in Qizhou, Hubei Province, and the "Five Phoenix Chaoyang Knife" inherited in the door is also a well-known knife technique in the martial arts of Yujing, which is said to be three points more powerful than the "Five Tigers Broken Door Knife" of the Five Tigers Dart Bureau in Xiangjing. And these three people are Guan Xiong, the leader of the "Phoenix Wings Gang", and his two younger brothers, Guan Hao and Guan Jie, known as "Phoenix Wings Sanying".

Sitting in front of the four Eight Immortal tables around them, eating and drinking with the Guan family brothers, all of them were disciples of the "Phoenix Wings Gang", except for the middle-aged man opposite Guan Xiong.

This man is burly, even if he sits, he is six feet, a head taller than the "Phoenix Winged Sanying", a bronze square face, and no beard, but it is sharp and angular, quite powerful. Unlike other people's warrior attire, he did not carry a weapon around him, only wearing a black robe, with a pair of big hands exposed under the big sleeves, and protruding bone joints, but it was obviously a sign that the outer door kung fu had been practiced to the extreme.

On the thumb of his right hand, there was a swarthy steel ring that was an inch wide and swarthy.

"Luohan Boxing" is a well-known outer door boxing method in the rivers and lakes, this black-robed strong man is the elder of the "Luohan Gate" in Yujing, named Qi Yuanhao, it is said that a style of "carrying the mountain and the sea" has been practiced to ten percent of the fire, and people give the nickname "Iron Arm Nezha".

Compared with the "Phoenix Wing Gang", the "Luohan Gate" Shili in Yujing is much larger, not only occupying most of the territory of Guide Mansion and Runing Mansion, but also has a huge backer, which is the "Shaolin School", the head of the seven major sects. "Luohan Gate" was originally a side branch of the "Shaolin School", and the head of the "Six Provinces Boxing King" Fang Changsheng was also a lay disciple of Shaolin.

Although Qi Yuanhao sat on the chair with a proud expression, Guan Xiong, who was the leader of the "Phoenix Wings Gang", was still very respectful and polite to this "Luohanmen" elder, and his two brothers also accompanied the smiling faces, raised the wine bowl and toasted repeatedly.

The banquet was very rich, and several jars of aged Shao wine were opened. In order to entertain Qi Yuanhao, Guan Xiong called the most haode dish in Linjiang Building, with chicken, duck and fish on a whole table, and there were a lot of delicacies and game.

The aroma of the table full of wine and food wafted down the lobby to the gate of Linjiang Building, and also into the nose of a teenage girl on the street. The little girl sniffled, a salivating look on her face, and ran towards the door of the restaurant.

There are so many homeless people on the street, and a high-end restaurant like Linjiang Lou is certainly not something that can be entered casually. As soon as the shopkeeper saw a child intruding, he immediately shouted: "zhanzhu!"

The little girl's clothes were very dirty, and it was clear that she was the child of the outcasts. The shopkeeper shouted, "Where did you come from, little girl, go and go! This is a place for rich old men to drink, not for you to go in!"

He was so impatient that he was about to throw the little girl away, but when he looked at her face, he couldn't help but be stunned.

The little apple's face was white and red, her dark eyes were as bright as jewels, her forehead was neatly flowing, her long hair was flowing at the back of her head, and she was loosely tied with an emerald green ribbon, black and shiny, like the finest silk.

Just when the guy was stunned, the little girl had broken free from his grasp and jumped off the ground, but was stopped by the shopkeeper at the door of the restaurant and could not enter, and said, "Let me in!"

The voice is delicate, like a jade bead falling on a plate.

The shopkeeper came back to his senses and asked, "What's the name of the little girl?" You can't go in alone, where are the adults in the house?"

He asked like this because he saw that the little girl's appearance was beautiful and lovely, although the clothes on her body were dirty and old, but the fabric seemed to be good, and it was a brocade skirt style with large sleeves and round necks often worn by scholarly ladies, so he guessed that this girl might not be a homeless, but got lost when the adults in the family went out, probably because she had soiled her dress from playing.

The little girl replied, "My name is Ning Ning, and my father and mother are both on the pine seed slope." ”

Songzipo is a small hill, not far from the town of Ganlin, where displaced people from all over the world gather. The hillside was covered with pine trees, which often bear pine seeds, which give it its name, but now there is not a single pine seed there, and even the bark is hard to find.

It turns out that they are still homeless!

The shopkeeper's face was stretched and he was about to drive her away, but the little girl suddenly stepped forward and hugged the shopkeeper's thigh and said, "Uncle shopkeeper, my father and mother have nothing to eat all day, Ning Ning wants to sing in the restaurant and make money to buy them steamed buns to eat, begging my uncle to let me in, okay?"

Being begged by such a little girl holding her legs, even a hard-hearted person will be soft-hearted. The shopkeeper really couldn't reach out to chase her anymore, so he only frowned and said, "You little girl, how can you sell what to sing?"

When I was in my hometown, my father and mother often took Ning Ning to the teahouse, and those sisters who sang sang little songs like Ning Ning would do, and my father praised me for singing better than them!"

As she spoke, she took out two half-foot-long bamboo boards from her waist and said, "If Uncle doesn't believe it, Ning Ning will sing it to you!"

can often go to the teahouse to listen to people singing, this little girl's original family background should be good, at least she is the daughter of a well-off family, which can be seen from the fabric of her clothes and the cute appearance of ice and snow.

But as soon as the drought came, the entire village and town, and even the whole city became homeless, and it was such a teenage girl who could only follow her parents to flee from her hometown.

What kind of world is this, God really doesn't have long eyes! The shopkeeper said secretly in his heart.

When he saw the little girl take out the bamboo board, he really wanted to sing to him, and immediately patted her little head and said, "Okay, okay, don't sing, let's go in!" But you have to be careful, don't offend the guests, or I can't afford to blame the shopkeeper!"

"Uncle Xiexie, don't worry, Ning Ning will not offend the guests!" Ning Ning was overjoyed, and stepped into the door as soon as he opened his calves.

There are two floors in the Linjiang Building, both of which are open halls on all sides, there are no private rooms, and the downstairs space is larger, and there are more guests.

Ning Ning found an empty table in the center of the hall downstairs and climbed up to the chair with her hands propped up. Just because she was too short, if she didn't stand on the chair, she wouldn't be much taller than the Eight Immortals Table, and the guests couldn't see it at all. When she climbed into the chair, she showed the two bamboo boards and "crackled" them.

The sound of the bamboo board was loud, which immediately attracted the attention of all the diners in the hall.

After knocking more than 20 times, Ning Ning stopped, she coughed lightly, opened her mouth and sang: "The golden beauty fell into horse makeup, and the partridge forest picks autumn flowers...... Wearing flowers and fragrant snow, he once annoyed Lu Lang ......"

This is the opening remarks commonly used by storytellers and singers in the teahouse, also known as the "set poem", Xiao Ningning is also used to hearing it, at this time knocking on the bamboo board and half-chanting and half-singing, and learning is very clear-sighted. It's just that she is young and has a crisp and immature voice, which is different from ordinary rap artists, but she has a unique style.

Ganlin Town is not a big place, it is rare to see a singer in the restaurant, how can I see this elf-like little girl, the guests in the lobby are all interesting, and they have turned their eyes over.