The back garden of the capital, Changping County. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info

It's October, and it's winter, and most of the fallen leaves on the trees have fallen off, and the sky is really starting to get colder.

Liu Shuangli took Lian'er's hand, walked to the door of the main house in this dilapidated courtyard, looked in through the half-covered door, and saw that there was an old woman with silver hair sitting in the corner of the door with her head half-hanging down.

Liu Shuangli coughed lightly and called softly: "Mother-in-law, mother-in-law." After screaming several times, the old woman in the house seemed to be startled and turned her head to look outside.

Liu Shuangli gently pushed the door open and looked at the old woman sitting in the house: "Mother-in-law, my sister and I are passing by here, and our mouths are a little thirsty, can you ask my mother-in-law for a bowl of water?"

"Water?" The old woman sitting in the room said silently, the whole person was stunned, and she opened her mouth wide for a long time as if she didn't understand.

"Yes, my sister and I want to ask my mother-in-law for a bowl of water to drink, is it okay?" Liu Shuangli asked again with a smile.

"Water, water, by the way, it's water-" The old woman muttered, and finally the corners of her wrinkled eyes finally opened, and a strange light flashed in her eyes, as if she had just woken up from a dream, and said with difficulty, "There is water, but baby, you, you, hey-"

The old woman sighed lightly, stood up tremblingly in her chair, and walked out of the house step by step.

"Mother-in-law," Liu Shuangli called softly, and hurriedly reached out to support the old woman, "Slow down, I'll help you." ”

"Water, water is there. The old woman stretched out her finger and pointed ahead, struggling to move her steps.

"Where?" Liu Shuang said bizarrely. The ground was dusty ahead, and the road was full of firewood, so there was no water.

"There it is. After taking two more steps, the old woman pointed hard ahead.

This time, Liu Shuangli, who helped the old woman walk a few steps, changed the angle and finally saw the front clearly.

There, too, was dusty, but there was noticeably less firewood than elsewhere. In the empty corner, there was a small area that was clearly specially cleaned, and a small wooden shed was erected on it.

Liu Shuangli helped the old woman to the shed, and only then did he see that it was not actually a wooden shed, but a large water tank covered by a few wooden boards.

Liu Shuangli lifted the cover on the water tank and looked into the tank. But when I saw the water in the tank, I didn't see much of it, but at a glance, I could see a thick layer of sand and mud at the bottom of the tank. So that this water tank looks a little out of wheel, I don't know if it's still a water tank, or simply put it into the mud tank.

"Mother-in-law, this-" Liu Shuangli said in surprise.

"There's sand in the water, and I can't eat it. I don't know how many times I've told him not to be lazy when he picks up water, go up to get water, filter it and pick it up again. But he just didn't listen, he just cared about being lazy, and picked up all the sand together. Every time, I pick a bucket of water, and half of the bucket is sand, how can I use it? The old woman chattered, seeing Liu Shuangli looking at the water tank with an embarrassed look, and kept apologizing, "Baby, I'm really sorry, it's all because of our uncompetitive son, who is lazy all day long, and there is sand in the water he picked up, hey, what should I do - or my mother-in-law is here to filter the water in this tank." ”

As she spoke, the old woman really reached out and took the long bamboo scoop hanging on the side of the tank to remove the water from the bottom of the tank.

When Liu Shuangli saw it, he immediately grabbed the long bamboo scoop and said with a smile: "Mother-in-law, you don't need it, this water looks very clear, so the sand is not tight." As he spoke, Liu Shuangli really scooped up half a scoop of water, took a sip of it himself, and called Lian'er to come and hand her the remaining half a scoop of water.

"Lian'er, look at your mouth is chapped and bleeding, come, drink this water to moisten your mouth, you have to drink it all in one gulp. Liu Shuangli frowned, his tone was gentle but could not be refused.

Lian'er took the bamboo scoop, saw that although the water in the scoop was mixed with mud and sand, it was not turbid, and she could see it, she took it with a smile, and opened her thirsty stomach, and those sand and mud were automatically ignored by her mouth.

Liu Shuangli saw Lian'er drink this water, and he didn't frown, very relieved. This little girl also came over with a hard time, and went north with her all the way, although she often cried, but not once she cried because of the hard life, she cried because her mother was no longer around, worried and worried. Such a gracious and sensible girl, how can Liu Shuangli not regret it.

After returning the bamboo scoop, Liu Shuangli hugged his fists and thanked the old woman, and pulled Lian'er and was about to leave.

The old woman dragged Liu Shuangli and said again and again: "The baby is so good, so good." Don't go, don't go. ”

"Mother-in-law?" Liu Shuangli couldn't break away from the old woman's hand, so he could only be surprised.

The old woman had tears in her eyes, she saw that these two babies were well-dressed, handsome, and generous. These people with status drank the water mixed with mud and sand in her house, but they didn't like it at all, and they thanked them sincerely. made her moved for a while, and instinctively dragged Liu Shuangli and didn't want to let her go.

"Come on, come here. The old woman pulled Liu Shuangli back to the front of the house, took a bamboo basket from the corner of the door of the house tremblingly, and grabbed a handful of unnamed fruits from it. The fruit looked the size of a thumb, and the skin was sandalwood-purple, like the purple reflected in the yellow mud of the sunset.

The old woman handed over the fruit and said, "Come, baby eat this, although this mountain fruit is a little sour, it is the best for quenching thirst and sore throat." ”

"No, mother-in-law. Liu Shuangli pushed the fruit and shook his head repeatedly. In fact, when she listened to the old woman's chatter, she had already heard that the old woman was obviously blaming her son for not picking up good water to come back, but in fact it was not. In a home like theirs, it would be nice to have water in the tank. The north has been suffering from drought in the past two years, which Liu Shuangli has always known, the crops cannot grow due to lack of water, and a large number of people have fled from home. It is already an enviable thing to have a mouthful of water and food in a home. The old man's son not only kept water in the house, but also supported his mother so well, and then looked at the firewood in the courtyard. This is a very capable person in ordinary people's homes.

"The baby doesn't like the wild mountain fruit of the mother-in-law?" Seeing Liu Shuangli pushing back the fruit, the old woman was obviously a little unhappy.

"No, mother-in-law," Liu Shuangli hurriedly shook his head and explained, "It's just that my sister and I really just came to ask for a sip of water to drink, and after drinking it, I am very grateful to my mother-in-law, how can I ask for my mother-in-law's mountain fruit again." ”

"Take it, baby, it's not in the way, our son who is not angry, every time he goes up the mountain to chop wood, he can pick back a big bag of such mountain fruits. You see, just like the firewood in this courtyard, there are also many wild fruits in this mountain. There is still water left in our water tank, thanks to this mountain and wild fruit. This mountain fruit is good, as long as you eat a few pieces every day, you won't feel thirsty for a day, which is very good. Come, baby, take it, take it. The old woman said, and without refusing, she stuffed those fruits into the pockets of Liu Shuangli and Lian'er respectively.

Liu Shuangli couldn't refuse, so he could only thank him and take over these unknown mountain and wild fruits.

Coming out of the old woman's house, Liu Shuangli looked at the sky and it was almost noon, and took out corn and sweet potatoes from the package. Only two corns were roasted in the morning, and although half of them were burnt, the other half was still edible if it was not black. Sweet potatoes don't mind, they can be eaten raw and cooked.

Liu Shuangli and Lian'er finished eating two corn and sweet potatoes, rested in the afternoon, and continued on the road. Seeing that they were all ordinary people along the way, Liu Shuangli temporarily let go of the heart that had been hanging since the morning, and began to compare the appearance of the hall masters of the Zhengmeng in his memory when he met people, and asked passers-by if they had seen such people.

But no one had seen it, and everyone was shaking their heads at them.

Liu Shuangli was puzzled, whether it was the news from the Han Mansion or Chen Fan and their gang of bandits, they all said that the people of the Zhengbei League were in Changping County. Why is such a big gang, there must be a lot of people entering the city, and half of them have foreign accents. It's been so many days, and no matter how much it should bring some movement to the city. Why has it turned around in such a big circle, but the people in this city have no impression? Could it be that for such a long time, the people of the Zhengbei League have been out of nowhere, and they have been out of nowhere?

The sky gradually darkened, and Liu Shuangli knew that there was no result today, so he could only take Lian'er by the hand, find an inn in the city, ask for an upper room, and rest temporarily.

Early the next morning, after having breakfast with Lian'er, Liu Shuangli immediately told Lian'er to stay in the guest room and not to walk around, and went out to inquire about the situation of the Zhengbei League.

Since Lian'er came to this county, she has been told that her father is here. Yesterday afternoon, I followed my eldest brother all the way to ask passers-by, and I also knew that my eldest brother was helping her find her father's whereabouts and residence. Now that the eldest brother was going out to inquire, but he didn't bring himself, he was a little unhappy, so he wanted to go with him.

Liu Shuangli persuaded with a smile: "Lian'er, it's more convenient for the eldest brother to go out alone, and you can go to more places to inquire, so that you can find your father as soon as possible, do you say yes." Wouldn't it be nice that your father and daughter could be reunited sooner?"

Lian'er just shook her head and didn't listen, just begging to find it together. Seeing this, Liu Shuangli put up her face and persuaded a few times, but seeing that Lian'er just didn't listen, she finally got a little annoyed. Without further words, she suddenly hit Lian'er's acupoint, making her unable to move and unable to speak.

Liu Shuangli helped Lian'er, who had been ordered to the acupoint, to fall asleep, and looked at the little girl with a pair of big eyes, full of resentment. She couldn't help but smile softly, and comforted softly: "Okay, Lian'er, don't look at the big brother like this." Come, you sleep on the bed first, and this acupoint will be automatically unlocked after an hour. The eldest brother knew that Lian'er was also anxious to see her father, and wanted to find it himself. But, after three months of hard work, the eldest brother finally knew that your father was in this city, so he was naturally anxious, so he wanted to find his father for Lian'er as soon as possible. The eldest brother is looking for it alone, it is more convenient to move, and he can go quickly when he finds it. Lian'er, don't make trouble, wait here well, and when the big brother finds your father, he will naturally come to pick you up. ”

After speaking, Liu Shuangli covered the quilt for Lian'er and walked out of the guest room. Then he called Xiao Er of the inn, ordered him to find a lock, lock the guest room, and took out two strings of copper coins and handed them to Xiao Er. said that he had something to do, and it was not good to take his sister with him, so he was annoyed to send some food to his little sister in the guest room at noon, but he must not let his sister run away.

The innkeeper knew what he meant, took the copper wire, bowed and nodded, and promised that he would do it. (To be continued.) )