Maping County is a small county town in the southwest of the Great Sui Dynasty, and as a fortress bordering southern Xinjiang, this small county town has always been an important military town. Therefore, compared with other counties in the southwest, the population here is more dense, and the transportation is more convenient.

Twenty miles west of Maping County, there is a quarry. In addition to the poor families in the vicinity, the workers here were more exiled prisoners from the imperial court.

The men settled near the quarry and were guarded by officers and soldiers. If someone tries to escape, these officers and soldiers can cut it off first.

"Thank you, Miss Wen. ”

The worker's stone pillar, who was smashing the stone with a hammer, put down the tools in his hand, took the steamed bun in Miss Wen's hand and a bowl of water that was faintly yellow, sat down on the spot, and ate it in a big gulp.

Miss Wen smiled, signaled that she was not welcome, and successively distributed steamed buns and handed water to several other people. Then he carried the basket and the kettle to another group of people.

"Alas, this Wen girl looks like she was from a big family, but she fell into this field, it's a pity. The man sitting next to the pillar, about forty years old, was dressed like the pillar in a sleeveless gown, with an open chest and a sweat towel around his neck. Looking at the woman in the distance, she shook her head and sighed.

Another said: "What's the use of being born, have you heard of it, another one died over there last month, and it seems that he is still the son of a county guard." If you want me to say, these people are not as good as us, at least they have strength. His words immediately drew echoes from several people.

By "over there" they refer to the site south of the quarry, which guards more than twice as many officials and their families.

"Phew, that's it, it's not enough to stuff your teeth. ”

Just as everyone was finishing eating and preparing to start work, they heard the sound of a handful of flowing air in the distance. This voice is familiar to everyone, Sun Erqian is a tyrant in this vegetable market. This man is lazy and lazy, he is an idle scoundrel, how did he change his sex to work in this quarry today, you know, this quarry work is the hardest.

Miss Wen seemed to explain something to Sun Erqian, the distance was too far, everyone didn't hear it very clearly, followed by Sun Erqian's unbridled laughter: "It doesn't matter if you don't have it, anyway, grandpa doesn't like to eat that, he loves tofu, especially the white, tender and delicate tofu, haha......" The eyes swept naked over Miss Wen, and a big black hand stretched out, wanting to touch Miss Wen's face.

Miss Wen took a step back vigilantly, avoiding the Lushan claw.

A wave of anger rose in Shi Zhu's heart, and he couldn't help but clench the hammer in his hand, wanting to rush forward. No, but he was stopped by the person next to him.

"What are you doing? ...... scoundrel?"

Stopping him was the man who had expressed regret for what happened to Miss Wen, and he pouted and motioned to Shizhu not to be impulsive and look over there.

An officer and soldier with a big knife at his waist walked over and shouted loudly: "What are you doing, what are you doing, don't you hurry out after delivering steamed buns, is this a place for women to stay? And you, hurry up and eat and work, otherwise you won't be paid today." ”

Miss Wen whispered in response, quietly clenching the hand under the basket. Sun Erqian muttered a few words, but finally didn't dare to do it against the officers and soldiers, squatting on the stone and biting the steamed buns, and saying some dirty words in his mouth.

After delivering the steamed buns and water, Miss Wen carefully avoided the rocks under her feet and walked out of the quarry. The officers and soldiers who scolded Sun Erqian just now chased after them: "Miss Wen, Miss Wen, wait a minute." ”

Miss Wen stopped, looked at the young man who had caught up, and said with a smile: "Brother Yang, thank you just now." ”

This official surnamed Yang, called Yang Dashun, has just turned twenty, and his father turned out to be a small soldier, and he took the path of his boss and arranged his son to be a guard in the quarry. This job is much easier and has a lot of oil and water than others.

Yang Dashun looked at Miss Wen's flower-like smile, and was a little stunned for a while, and he didn't know where to lose what he wanted to say, so he finally held back his sentence: "No thanks, it should be." ”

His stupid appearance caused Miss Wen to bow her head and chuckle: "If there is nothing wrong, I will go back first, my brother is still waiting for me to go home for dinner." ”

Yang Dashun looked at the snow-white neck that was exposed when she lowered her head, his heart softened into a puddle of water, and he didn't know what she said, so he just knew how to say: "Okay, you're busy, busy." ”

When Miss Wen walked away, she remembered her mother's instructions, and when she was about to open her mouth and shout, she felt embarrassed again.

This Wen girl is none other than Yuwen Yanshu, who was exiled here with her brother Yuwen Zhihong. Not only were they exiled here, but they were also deprived of the surname Yuwen and changed their surname to Wen from then on.

This is not a big deal for Yuwen Yanshu, no, it should be renamed Wen Yanshu now, and it is not a big deal. Change your surname, change your surname, except that you are not used to it at first, and then you will slowly get used to it. Here the sky is high and the emperor is far away, who knows what her surname used to be.

But Yuwen Zhihong cares a lot, how can people who don't even have a surname be worthy of their ancestors, and what face will they have to see their parents a hundred years later.

"Ahem, ahem. "A muffled cough could be heard from the dilapidated hut.

Wen Yanshu walked into the room quickly, and sure enough, he saw his brother copying books again, wearing coarse linen clothes and a thick quilt on his knees. I was still turning the pages of the book in my hand, reading and writing one line at a time.

After Wen Zhihong arrived here, he relied on his own talent to find a position as a scribe in the general's mansion here. But when he went to the quarry with his boss a year ago, he was crushed by a boulder rolling down the mountain and broke his legs. Although his life was saved, a pair of legs were wasted, and his body was not as good as before, and it was just autumn, so he had to be covered with a thick quilt.

"Brother, it's time to eat. Wen Yanshu walked over, picked up a patched coat and covered him, and pushed him to the small kitchen to eat.

The crudely made wheelchair squeaked and rolled on the ground, as if it was overwhelmed, but it was strong enough to support the weight on it.

The kitchenette is really small, with a stove in the east corner and a big water tank in front of the stove. One table is usually both a chopping board and a dining table, and the rest is difficult to even turn around.

There were only two yellowed hard steamed buns and a bowl of egg and wild vegetable soup on the table, Wen Yanshu scooped up all the eggs in the soup in a bowl and handed it to Wen Zhihong: "This is what I picked up when I was digging wild vegetables yesterday. ”

"You eat, my brother doesn't have to go out, he doesn't need to eat these. Wen Zhihong pushed the soup to her again.

"Brother eats. ”

A bowl of soup was pushed around by their brother and sister, and the heat was gone, and in the end, Wen Yanshu compromised and took another bowl, half for each person.

"After eating, I went to the river in the afternoon, where I laid a net yesterday, and luckily we had fish to eat today. Wen Yanshu drank the almost tasteless egg soup, and his smile was full of anticipation and yearning.

"Good. Wen Zhihong said sullenly, sad no, his sister, the daughter of a pampered family, is now so happy to be able to eat a fish, how to make him not uncomfortable, it is also useless for him to let his sister suffer with himself. But he couldn't let his sister see his sadness, his sister was hard enough, and he couldn't add any more burden to her.

He had to laugh, very easily: "Did you follow the method that your brother taught you?"

"Yes. Wen Yanshu smiled: "I have two more nets, I will definitely catch a few more, and when the time comes, I will sell those that I can't eat." "The money from the sale will make a cotton coat for my brother, and it will be cold immediately, my brother's health is so poor, he can't afford to use charcoal now, so he can only wear more.