Sanzhi wiped away his tears, and his expression was a little more resolute: "It's better to send you to the clan first." Don't delay here. ”

Liu Xiaohua thought for a while and said, "Let's stay here with you for one night first." Wait until tomorrow to go to the clan study, and find Liu Er first. Let him ask someone to bring the letter back, and tell me that I have arrived safely. We'll talk about the rest of that time. ”

Sanzhi nodded. She also hopes that Liu Xiaohua can accompany her today. Atai was not there, and she was really scared to let her sleep alone with so many people.

At this time, the sleeping man in the room turned over and sat up with great movement.

Only then did Liu Xiaohua see clearly, it turned out to be a little girl. may be about fifteen years old, and he looks quite delicate, and his face is the numbness unique to the people at the bottom. Her eyelids drooped, and she quickly put on her clothes, "Are you going to go to the clan school?" Anyway, I was woken up by you and couldn't sleep. I'll take you there now. After speaking, he quickly glanced at Liu Xiaohua.

In fact, Sanzhi and Liu Xiaohua are already very tired. After a long journey, I didn't have a good rest. The body is dirty and smelly. Both of them were desperate to find a place to freshen up.

Sanzhi didn't have a good impression of this little girl who spoke very impulsively, but he didn't immediately express his obvious disgust as before, but he didn't show any expression, and said, "We plan to go again tomorrow." ”

The little girl was very unkind to her, and said coldly, "Don't say I didn't tell you. Tomorrow Atai will not have time to run around with you. I'm going to work, too, and I'm not going to be here. ”

"It's good if you don't have time to take a leave of absence." Mieda spoke a little rushed.

"Don't laugh." The little girl sneered, "You came today, and he didn't ask for leave." Why do you ask him to take a leave of absence tomorrow? Do you know how much less you can earn by taking a leave of absence? I really think I'm the eldest lady. ”

Sanzhi was so angry that his voice became sharp: "I am his daughter-in-law who has not passed through the door, and he asked me to come to him, so he has the responsibility to settle me well." This is what he should do, how can I be the eldest lady? When it comes to you, it's really wide. Why should I ask him to take a leave of absence, and I have to tell you. People settle down their daughter-in-law who has not yet passed the door, and they want you to ask. ”

The little girl blushed, stared at her, turned her head and threw the quilt, took off her clothes, and retracted back to sleep. I don't want to pay attention to them anymore.

Sanzhi glanced at her, pulled Liu Xiaohua and walked outside, saying, "If you don't help, you won't help, what's the big deal!" It's not like we don't know how to ask for directions. "The pace is fast and fast.

All the way out of the building, Sanzhi stopped suddenly, looking annoyed and embarrassed, "Atai must have something to do with her." Shameless! ”

Liu Xiaohua comforted: "If there is really something, why did Atai call you here." It's good if you two don't know each other? ”

Sanzhi said angrily: "You saw her like that, right? She thought she was someone from Atay! ”

That was also wishful thinking on her part. If you really suspect something, just ask Atai when the time comes. Don't worry about her. ”

Sanzhi's expression softened slightly.

The two men asked for directions as they walked out.

It turned out that the place where they lived, called Dasifang, was the dirtiest and messiest place in the city. It's full of odd jobs and people who haven't found anything to do. But ethnography is not far from here. Just walk through a small market.

Two people bought the cheapest naan bread to eat at the small market.

The cheapest of this kind of cake costs two pieces of money each. Liu Xiaohua silently pondered. One penny is equal to 100 fractions. The two dollars on her body can be exchanged for 200 broken money, which sounds like a lot, but she has to eat three meals a day, and she must eat at least half full at one meal, and two cakes can't run away. Two hundred dollars a month is about the same.

Sanzhi squeezed in and bought two naan cakes for Liu Xiaohua to eat.

The cake was hard and dry. It's unpalatable. Liu Xiaohua felt like she was eating plastic blocks.

"It's unpalatable. If only the package hadn't been lost. Sanzhi said, "The dry food made at home is much better than this. Seeing that Liu Xiaohua didn't say anything, she immediately explained, "It's not that I can't endure hardship." ”

Liu Xiaohua smiled and said: "I know, it's just complaining and complaining." ”

Saneda sighed.

The poor are always better at home than at home.

Liu Xiaohua ate and suddenly laughed.

Sanzhi asked her, "You can still laugh when it's so unpalatable?" ”

Liu Xiaohua smiled and said, "I have read a book before. It's thick, thicker than a big dictionary. It's my dad's. He said, "This book has been handed down from our ancestors, and it is written about healing. ”

Sanzhi was puzzled: "Who is your father?" Which relative? ”

Liu Xiaohua found that she was out of shape and immediately covered up, "En." It's a distant relative. ”

"On the books? Do you know how to read? Sanzhi was stunned: "Do you all know how to read in your family?" ”

Liu Xiaohua said vaguely: "Recognize some." My aunt taught me. ”

Sanzhi was very envious, "The village chief doesn't know how to read." "If she continues to ask, 'How does your aunt know how to read?', Liu Xiaohua doesn't know how to remedy it, but fortunately, she is attracted by other things, "That's a medical book?" ”

"It's not. It's a book made up. Liu Xiaohua said, "The symptoms and prescriptions written in the book seem to be real, but they are actually made up." However, there is a kind of bread mentioned in it, which is very similar to this kind of cake. The book says that it tastes like a cocoon on the heel. "I also said at the time, how did he know what the calluses smelled like?" ”

Sanzhi couldn't eat it anymore. He looked at her plaintively.

But in the end, I didn't want to waste it. After all, it was bought for two scraps of money. I endured the nausea and ate it all.

The people crowded around the naan stalls were all dressed in ragged clothes like them. The expression may be numb or sad. When eating, he stood on the side of the road, his eyes blank and empty.

As soon as one or two well-dressed people came up from the street and looked like employers, they immediately flocked to them. Raise your hands and shout loudly, "I have strength", "I can read and settle accounts", "I can understand a little charm." Don't get paid, just include food. ”

In the midst of these chaotic voices, there is a hint of joy in the talents selected by the employer.

The others will immediately scatter and wait for the next Lord's hired person to come. It's like a lonely soul on the path of hungry ghosts, waiting for the master who is willing to provide for him.

Liu Xiaohua stuffed the last bite of cake into her mouth, somewhat understanding Chen's worries. Surviving in this kind of world, there is no romanticism, and the reality is very cruel. But she was already here, and there was no other way out than to be more resilient and try to survive.

Not far behind these 'hungry ghosts'. It is the genealogy of the Liu family.

Liu Xiaohua looked up and looked at the jade steps that almost stretched to the sky, and her heart was shocked.

The staircase, with a warm sheen, could not see the end, and half of it was almost in the mist. Next to the steps, there is a small monument with two big characters "ascending to the sky" written on it.

Sanzhi went around to the side to take a look and exclaimed, "Aha, look!!" ”

Liu Xiaohua ran over, and was also shocked. It turned out that there was no cornerstone for this ascension. It's like folding paper into a zigzag staircase and letting it hang in the air.

Sanzhi pulled her, carefully stretched out one foot, and stepped on the steps, very steady, not moving at all.

"Oh my God!" Sanzhi screamed and pulled Liu Xiaohua and ran up. Obviously, he only walked a few steps, but the scenery around him seemed to retreat like a marquee. Sanzhi was so frightened that he hurriedly stopped.

Liu Xiaohua looked back and saw that the two of them had already gone up more than a hundred steps!

The treasure of the steps was so dense that the two of them couldn't really see each other, and there was a faint light on their faces. Sanzhi was surprised and delighted, and said, "We really look like we're going to become immortals!" ”

Liu Xiaohua also laughed.

She looked down the steps, and the destitute people, ignoring their cries, were toiling for their next meal. There were also a few sitting in the stinky ditch on the corner of the street, already dying, and their godless eyes fell on them, except for exhaustion and numbness.

Sanzhi followed Liu Xiaohua's gaze and looked at the people under the steps. There was silence as well. That is the real life of ordinary people, and from these people, she sees herself. When they go down these steps, they will return to this life. Will go back and sleep in a small room with a dozen people. Work hard every day, just to earn a few more scraps of money, just to not starve to death and freeze to death, and work hard all your life.

"Let's go." Liu Xiaohua grabbed Sanzhi's hand tightly and asked her not to look down again.

Sanzhi seemed to have been hit hard, and he didn't speak again all the way.

It looks like it's too high to have a head or tail of stairs, but it's only a few steps to the top. The surrounding white clouds are like the sea, and the orange sun is half peeking out of the sea of clouds. The blue sky shimmered like water.

At the end of the stairs stands a red wall. The mountain gate covered with copper nails was wide open, and you could see another scene inside the door.

Outside the mountain gate, two young men in green shirts were standing with their heads held high. When they came up, one of them asked, "What is it?" ”

Sanzhi didn't react at once. She's used to using foul language.

"I'm looking for my brother. Liu Er. He went on to study in ethnology. Liu Xiaohua hurriedly said.

"Liu Er? I haven't heard of a person named Liu Er. "That disciple is very kind," what is his name? ”

Liu Xiaohua was stunned for "......"

The young man couldn't help but laugh: "You don't even know what your brother's name is?" ”

Liu Xiaohua's face turned red all of a sudden, "You don't need a big name at home." It was chosen this year from a village near Mt. Chicken's Neck. Some time ago, I just entered the clan to learn. Can you help us inquire? ”

"There are a lot of people who have entered the family study this year. There are always a hundred or so of them. "The boy is in a dilemma.

"We belong to the South Fourth Branch." Liu Xiaohua hurriedly said: "Rong Zi generation." ”

"Rong Zi junior? …… Yes. The fourth uncle's branch. The young man's eyes lit up, "Are you Liu Nansheng's sister?" Did you get three people in your village at once, but only your brother came to learn the clan? ”

Liu Nansheng? It turns out that his name is this. Liu Xiaohua breathed a sigh of relief: "Yes." ”

"It's you. But you're not like your sister, you're like his sister. The boy looked her up and down narrowly, "It can't be impersonation, right?" ”

Sanzhi was afraid of regeneration, so he was anxious: "Why are we pretending." It's true. She is really Liu Er's sister. We lied to you and you won't die well. ”

The boy laughed "poof" and said, "Teasing you." Don't worry. "He's good-looking and well-dressed. When I laughed, my eyes lit up.

Sanzhi blushed and was very embarrassed and stopped talking.

"Don't say that you are a person of the Rong generation in the future. It can be shouted in the mountains, but it can't be called in the city. The word "the young man kindly reminded them" clashes with the name of the fourth uncle. To change the word for the south. In fact, according to the generation, Liu Er wants to be called Rong Sheng. It was also because of the fourth uncle that he changed his name to Nansheng. ”

Liu Xiaohua thanked him: "We just came out of the mountains, and we don't know this." ”

"It's no surprise that no one cares about those places in the countryside. It is also when you enter the city and the clan study that you should be careful. The young man said, "I'll go and help you spread the word, and find Nan Er to see you, you wait a while." In a hurry, he said a word to his companion and went into the mountain gate. It seems that he met Liu Er.

Liu Xiaohua thought that she would have to wait for a long time, but she didn't expect to see two people walking out one after the other after a while.

Liu Er, who was walking in front, hadn't seen him for a while, but he had grown a lot taller, his cyan robe was blown by the mountain wind, and he was carrying a cold and cold long sword behind him, and he had a towering crown on his head. It's like a fairy family coming out of a painting.

Liu Xiaohua looked at him, stunned. He walked in front of him before he came back to his senses. couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed, and secretly scolded himself.

Liu Er took her and Sanzhi aside, frowning, "I haven't settled it here yet, why did you come here?" Looking her up and down, I saw that she was not much different from a beggar, and I was even more displeased, "How did it happen like this?" ”

Sanzhi was afraid that the two siblings would quarrel, so he hurriedly explained, "We encountered a lot of things on the road, so we made it like this." "Got up this head, the grievances in her stomach really have a place to vent, starting from the incident of going out of the mountain, as she spoke, her eyes were red, and she sobbed quietly. Choked up and extremely aggrieved. In the end, she is still young, and she always shows some little daughter posture.

Liu Xiaohua recalled the difficulties along the way, and she was also silent.

Liu Er was very surprised when he heard it. 's attitude towards Liu Xiaohua is better: "Ji Liu, this person is far away, right. ”

He said seriously to Liu Xiaohua: "Ji Liu used to sell himself to Prime Minister Zuo Cheng as a slave with Chongyang. Later, he gave his sister to Zuo Xiang. Zuo Xiang liked his sister very much, so he gradually began to promote him. He didn't have the surname Ji before, and what the surname is is no longer correct, this surname Ji is still given by Zuo Xiang. ”

As he spoke, Liu Er's face was a little sarcastic, "What is Ji?" Beauty too. Not a good word. Whoever is forced to take this as a surname, and the person with a little backbone has already been killed by a head. It can be seen that he is a faceless villain. The former prince was a great favor to him, how did he repay it? There was a bit of hatred in his eyes.

Liu Xiaohua couldn't help but shudder when she thought of those heads. But when he saw the hatred in Liu Er's eyes, he was shocked in his heart. Because in her memory, Liu Er is a person who hides his feelings very much. It's rare for a love to leak out like this.

But she immediately withdrew her gaze and pretended not to see.

Liu Er was silent for a while, not knowing what he was thinking, but when he came back to his senses, he saw that he had lost his temper, and immediately looked at Liu Xiaohua. Seeing Liu Xiaohua looking at the sea of clouds in the distance, she didn't notice his gaffe, and breathed a sigh of relief without a trace. said to Liu Xiaohua: "I will ask someone to bring a letter back to tell Sù A-Niang, you have arrived safely." ”

"Don't tell her about the road." Liu Xiaohua hurriedly said. I shrank my foot stiffly and tried to hide the big toe that had put the shoe out of the hole. I feel that I am like this, and it is embarrassing to stand with Liu Er. He is like an immortal, and he himself is like a beggar.

"I know." Liu Er felt that Liu Xiaohua had finally spoken a few words, and he had some trust in her. Unprecedentedly concerned about her, and asked, "Are you scared now?" "A girl in a mountain village has never seen so many dead people, let alone experienced anything complicated. How could it not be afraid.

But Liu Xiaohua's appearance is enough to make him look at him differently. He felt that his understanding of 'Sister A' might not be as deep as he imagined. looked at Liu Xiaohua's gaze, a little deeper.

The Liu Xiaohua in front of him was indeed different from what he had in his impression.

Her gaze is no longer as ignorant and snobbish as before. On the contrary, it is like spring water in the mountains in winter, clear with a bit of ice. The way she spoke and stood did not have the characteristic cringe of people who came out of small places, but it seemed that she was very calm and had her own opinions.

Perhaps, it is the various experiences along the way that have made her so different.

Liu Er retracted his gaze. As if unintentionally, he asked, "Sister, although A-Niang does not allow you to enter the clan study, in fact, have you ever thought that A-Niang can't control it here anyway, you can not listen to A-Niang?" In fact, the clan has already recorded your name in the roster, and as long as you come, you can enter at any time. By then, you have already entered the clan study, even if A-Niang knows, can you endure it? It's not just a matter of finding a way to get your wish. ”

Sanzhi's eyes lit up and he was about to speak.

Liu Xiaohua immediately said: "This is not the case." ”

Sanzhi was stunned for a moment. But then he pretended to be okay and didn't say much.

"There is only one person in the family, and if I do it willfully, maybe even your studies will be affected. I don't want to make A-Niang angry anymore. Wasn't it enough to be ignorant before, and to make her angry? Liu Xiaohua looked very ashamed.

Liu Er sighed and said to himself: "Actually, I feel sorry for my sister. It's all my fault, if I don't go to the clan school, Sister Ah can go to school, and I have a great future in the future......"

"What does this have to do with you? If you want to have a future, you have to see if you have that blessing. I was terrified just by the sight of the people in the temple. Not to mention anything else. Liu Xiaohua looked palpitating.

The two worked hard to play a drama of deep love between sisters and brothers. Sanzhi saw the sourness in his heart and was moved.

When she went down the steps, Liu Xiaohua only felt that talking to Liu Er for a while had overdrawn her acting skills this year.

She thought about it, and had no intention of turning back, but when she saw Liu Er still standing there looking at her, she couldn't help but be frightened, but she immediately waved at him with a considerate expression of 'sister cares about you, go back quickly and don't be cold by the mountain breeze'.

Liu Er also smiled at her, her face and expression were not clear behind the clouds. Then he turned and walked towards the mountain gate.

Liu Nansheng is really more flattering than Liu Er. Liu Xiaohua watched his clear back disappear into the sea of clouds, and he was really completely relieved.

After walking far, Sanzhi said puzzledly: "I thought you wanted to enter the clan study?" ”

"I mean. But you can't let him know. Liu Xiaohua was confused. The key is not to let him know how to enter.

Liu Er, I'm afraid he is most concerned about whether his own future will be hindered. He really doesn't have a good impression of Liu Xiaohua, and he doesn't have much affection. Although he loves the Chen family, if he finds out that Liu Xiaohua may affect his future, it is really difficult to say whether he will tolerate it for the sake of the Chen family, after all, it is not the first time that he has the intention of killing her.

Sanzhi didn't know what she was thinking, thought about it, and suddenly realized, "Are you worried that your brother is guilty of you, so you said you don't want to?" ”

Liu Xiaohua said against her will: "Yes." Until I've made enough money, don't let him know that I want to go into the Clan. Don't let him be denied peace of mind. ”

Sanzhi nodded and said with emotion, "I know." "She has a younger brother, and she thinks she has a deep understanding of the relationship between Liu Xiaohua and Liu Er." Finding a job, Atai will help. I'll also help you save money together. ”

Liu Xiaohua knew that in such a difficult day, Sanzhi had her own rights and couldn't get by, how could she save money for herself, but she also knew that she sincerely hoped to help, so she couldn't bear to discourage her interest and kindness. The two of them happily planned the future all the way.

When I walked down the steps, I had a sense of returning to the trance of mortal life.

Liu Xiaohua looked at the poor untouchables, and then looked back at the jade steps to the roof, feeling a little melancholy. The things you want are obviously close to the end, but they seem to be far away. Sanzhi also lost his interest in chatting and silently stopped talking. "We're going to have a good life." Liu Xiaohua comforted her.

"Hey! Feed! ”

At this time, suddenly a cry sounded on the platform.

Liu Xiaohua turned around. It turned out to be the boy guarding the door. He was panting and pointed at Liu Xiaohua, "Why are you walking so fast." Chase me to death! ”

Sanzhi said, "I didn't go very fast." Three or two steps down. ”

The young man said angrily: "This ladder to the sky is also very annoying. Ordinary people only need three or two steps to walk, and the disciples can lose half of their lives when they walk. ”

"What are you chasing us for?" Liu Xiaohua asked him, "Is there anything you want to bring to me?" ”

As soon as he slapped his head, he rushed over and pulled Liu Xiaohua and walked back, "Quick." Fast. Your Excellency wants to see you. ”

Liu Xiaohua was surprised, and her heart beat wildly.

Sanzhi asked puzzledly, "See us?" How does that Venerable know us? ”