Seeing this, Dong Rong was slightly disappointed, and wondered if she was going to ask someone, but she didn't want to quietly walk out of the corner. The old man's beard and hair were mostly white, and his body was thin and shabby, and he was obviously a poor man. The little boy behind him is only eight or nine years old, although he is also skinny and skinny, but it is rare to be neat and clean. The two walked up to Dong Rong's sister and brother, and the old man glanced at Dong Ping's robe and saluted very respectfully.

Dong Ping hurriedly stepped aside, bowed his hand and asked, "If the old man has something to say, he doesn't have to salute, he is late." ”

A flash of gratitude flashed in the old man's eyes, he grinned and showed the few remaining teeth, and said, "This young master, madam, the old man belongs to this Niujiazhuang outside the city. This little boy's name is Xizi, and he is the only son of the old man's neighbor's family. This poor child was born only a month ago without a father, and a few days ago he fell ill and died of his mother, and the family's land and property were exchanged for silver money to buy decoction and medicine. Now that he has no food and clothing, he begged the old man to take him to find a way to live. If the young master is still pleasing to the eye when he sees this child, it is better to buy him and go back. ”

Dong Ping heard that the child's life experience was so pitiful, and he liked it even more when he saw that his facial features were upright and his eyes were clear, but his sister didn't speak, and he couldn't speak first, so he stood quietly aside and was silent.

Dong Rong was worried that his younger brother would answer without asking the details, but now she was very happy to see him so calm. She bent down and took the boy's hand to look at it carefully, and found that he had calluses on his thumb, index finger, and middle finger, so she asked, "Xizi, can you read?" ”

The boy raised his head, his eyes were full of surprise, obviously he didn't expect Dong Rong to ask like this, he nodded slowly and responded, "When my mother was alive, she taught my father half of the three-character scripture, and my father didn't have the money to send me to a private school, so he laid a sand table at home to teach me to write with branches." ”

Dong Rong nodded with satisfaction, simply squatted down and asked him again, "Then are you willing to come to my house?" On weekdays, I follow my younger brother to study at the academy and take care of his daily life. He'll teach you to read and write, okay? ”

The little boy turned his head to look at the old man, the old man had already looked at the Dong family sisters and brothers carefully from top to bottom. It is said that people are old and refined, although he has never seen anything in the world in his life, but he still has the ability to distinguish people. The Dong family's sisters and brothers are not very luxurious and exquisite, but their clothes are also sewn from fine cotton, and they have gentle expressions and clear eyes, so they are not vicious people at first glance. If the child goes away with them, even if he does not enjoy it, he will not be mistreated and suffered.

Thinking like this, the old man gently pushed Xiao Tong and said in a low voice, "Silly boy, what are you doing in a daze, why don't you kowtow to this young master and lady quickly." ”

The little boy obviously trusted the old man very much, and when he heard this, he knelt down "poof". Dong Rong hurriedly pulled him up, patted the dust off his legs for him, and said with a smile, "Since you have no relatives alive, then ask this old man to be a witness." I will buy you out for the rest of your life for eight taels of silver, and if you want to leave the country one day in the future, allow you to redeem yourself. ”

A strong laborer only needs ten taels to buy out the death deed, and five taels for a child like Xizi is enough. Dong Rong's opening is eight taels, which can be regarded as extremely generous. The old man was really happy for Xizi, and pulled him to salute the Dong family sisters and brothers. Dong Rong saw that the men, women, and children on the side had plans to come forward to entangle, so she hurriedly dragged the old and the young to the county office.

The little officials in the county government are familiar with the file, and as soon as they stretched out their hands and collected twenty yuan of hard work, they wrote the documents with a wave of the pen, and Xizi signed his name, and Dong Ping's little scholar was freshly baked.

The old man told Xizi over and over again to put the money for selling his body, and then he sighed and went home, leaving Xizi to hold back his tears and take over the big and small packages in Dong Ping's hand.

Dong Ping has never been a slave since he was a child, but he was called by the Niu family as a slave every day. Now that he has suddenly been promoted to a master, he is still a little uncomfortable, and he wants to reach out and get half of it back when he sees that Xizi is struggling to hold the package.

Dong Rong stretched out her hand to stop her younger brother, it is okay to treat the slave well, but you must act in a measured manner, otherwise the slave will be so spoiled that the slave forgets his duty, but he does a bad thing with good intentions.

Dong Ping is also smart, so he naturally guessed his sister's intentions, so Han Han smiled and stopped talking. Dong Rong touched the little money left in her purse, and felt that she was too addicted to shopping and went home.

When the two masters and one servant rushed back to the small courtyard, the silly pillar was standing outside the courtyard gate and watching, and the orange sunset sun stretched his shadow very long. Seeing the three of them appear on the bluestone road, he strode over to meet them.

Dong Rong felt happy in his heart for no reason, reached out and took a handkerchief to wipe the sweat beads on his head for him, and said angrily, "Don't wait in the yard, what are you doing when you come out to dry?" ”

Silly Zhu smiled and didn't answer, but Dong Rong became more and more distressed, pulling him to talk about what delicious food he bought while walking. Xizi was so tired that her little face was flushed, and when she saw the two of them like this, she couldn't hide the curiosity in her eyes. Dong Ping thought about it, and felt that he would get along often in the future, and he would have to tell this child a few words about some things, so he patted his head and whispered, "Xizi, this is my sister's husband and your master." His mind is weaker than ordinary people, and you must not be lazy in your words and actions on weekdays. Got it? ”

Kiko hurriedly withdrew her gaze and nodded vigorously, and her little face turned even redder. Seeing this, Dong Ping was satisfied, took him to put his things in his wing, and then pointed to the ear room next to him as his future residence. The family suddenly increased the population, and it was inevitable that there would be a shortage of east and west, but fortunately, it was the height of summer at this time, and the weather was very hot. What's more, it won't be a long time to live here, and the academy will start classes in two days.

Dong Rong felt that she had treated the stupid pillar badly, and she didn't even drink a sip of tea and entered the kitchen while tying her apron. Seeing this, Xizi didn't dare to rest, and followed up to help burn the fire and fetch water. He was born in a peasant family, and these jobs are also easy to do, Dong Rong praised him twice, and when the braised pork came out of the pot, he first filled half a bowl for him to pad his stomach.

Xizi held the big pottery bowl, staring at the oily and fragrant pieces of meat inside, he was stunned for a long time before carefully picking up a piece and putting it in his mouth, and then tears crackled and fell.

It happened that Dong Ping came in and was about to step forward to comfort him when he saw him like this, but Dong Rong waved his hand and drove him out. Some injuries can only be healed by licking the house slowly by yourself, and you don't need anyone's help.

Sure enough, when the dinner table was set, Kiko ran out with a greasy grin, although her eyes were still a little red and swollen, but the panic and unwillingness on her face disappeared cleanly. Dong Rong called him to eat together, but he kept his status as a slave and refused to live or die. Dong Rong smiled and filled a big bowl of japonica rice, sandwiched some of each dish, and handed it to him in a bowl.

Kiko bowed down and thanked her, then hugged the bowl and sat on the small stool to eat very happily.

Dong Ping saw this qiē in his eyes, lowered his head and ate slowly, only to feel that he had learned a lot of truths that were not in books today. It turns out that what my sister said is ordinary, and life is full of learning.

As soon as everyone picked up their rice bowls and ate a few bites, there was a knock on the two doors of the small courtyard. Xizi trotted forward and opened the door, and Wang Lu's cousin and Du Juan's sister-in-law walked in sweating profusely. The two of them carried a basket of vegetables and half a bag of bud noodles, obviously rushing back from Huaishu Village.

Dong Rong went to the stove and took two pairs of dishes and chopsticks, pulled the two to sit at the table to eat together, and finally asked about Aunt Cao's body.

Wang Lu and Du Juan Xu were hungry and ruthless, and after eating two bowls of rice in one go, they talked about their mother's high fever that had not subsided, but they had already eaten medicinal soup, and it was good to sweat at night.

Dong Rong thought that Aunt Cao was also fifty years old this year, if she was still half a young person in her previous life. But in this time and space, with heavy work and lack of food and clothing, the physique of the peasant family is not good, and there are really many people who are killed by minor diseases such as wind and cold.

She remembered it very much, and after hastily eating, she went to check today's large pile of loot, and finally chose two boxes of soft snacks, a packet of frosting, and went to the rice bowl in the stove to scoop five or six scoops of japonica rice, and moved a jar of bud grain wine.

After finishing all this, the cuckoo couple also finished eating, and she directly stuffed the things into the arms of the two of them and drove them back to Huaishu Village.

Wang Lu waved his hand desperately and said anxiously, "There is nothing to do at home, we rushed back because we were afraid that we would not be able to do business tomorrow." ”

Du Juan heard what his man said without a head, and hurriedly said, "Sister Rong, don't worry about your family, my mother... Well, it's almost there. She was lying in bed and scolded us for being lazy and delaying our business, and urged us to come back early. ”

Dong Rong insisted on stuffing things over, and said, "My aunt is not in good health, so it stands to reason that Silly Zhu and I should both go to serve the sick." But this business is really inseparable from people, so I took some food to make up for my aunt. Besides, there is no work to be busy this night, you go back to guard your aunt, and I and the pillar are also at ease. ”

Du Juan thought about it, so he took the things and said with a smile, "Cheng, then we will go back and stay for another night, and we will definitely come over at dawn tomorrow morning." ”

"Okay, if it's late, I'll deduct my wages." Dong Rong pretended to have a fierce face, which made everyone laugh.

Cousin Wang Lu wanted to say something, but Dong Rong pushed them out, and at the end he carefully told Du Juan how to help Aunt Cao wipe the wine and cool down.

The cuckoo is a cheerful temper, and after remembering it carefully, he hurriedly pulled his man into the night. To be honest, there are only clumsy father-in-law, uncle, and two children left at home, and she is really worried that they will not be able to take care of her mother-in-law.

Aunt Cao was originally dizzy from fever, but occasionally when she opened her eyes, she saw her son and daughter-in-law rushing back again, and brought her nephew and nephew's filial piety delicious food.

The cuckoo found a piece of new cotton and dipped it in wine, wiped the old lady's chest, back, forehead and armpits, and then boiled two bowls of thick japonica rice porridge, added half a spoonful of frosting, and smelled sweet and sweet. The old lady ate all the light in one breath, and her complexion became better and better, and she pulled the old man and talked to herself for a long time, until she was really tired and lay down again.

The cuckoo guarded for half an hour, and when he saw that the old lady was sweating profusely again, and her forehead was no longer hot, she was relieved. ZM