The cold dew has passed, the twilight sky is gloomy, the rain is as fine as a weave, and it falls silently in the cold wind, and the crows seem to be unable to bear the bleak autumn rain, and they fly away from the trembling dead branches, and the miserable screams sweep through the low sky, echoing for a long time. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info A group of ragged people staggered forward in the mud in the rain and fog, men, women and children were uneven, and occasionally there were babies crying from time to time for a long time.

In the fourth year of orthodoxy, there was a great flood in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, the fields were destroyed, and tens of thousands of acres of official fields were not harvested. Many peasant families sell their children and daughters, and they are unable to cover the rising taxes. As a last resort, more than a dozen peasant households in Xiaoqiao Village, Longquan County, together with their families, should flee south to Lingnan instead of guarding a few acres of thin fields and waiting to starve to death. I heard that the climate there is pleasant, and if you dig a good piece of land in the mountains, you may be able to live in peace. Since leaving their hometown in August, begging all the way, the old people and children can't go fast, and the group only left Yongan County in early September and went to Longyan.

In this group of displaced Zhejiang peasants, a boy of seven or eight years old was left alone at the end of the line, bowing his head and moving forward with difficulty. A few strands of hair tangled in front of his forehead, and water beads flowed down his cheeks and into his pale lips, and there was a faint trace of blood from a tooth on his lower lip. The stained clothes were soaked with sweat and rain, revealing a thin figure. In the end, he couldn't hold on, and after struggling a few steps, his body went limp, and he collapsed into the muddy water on the side of the road.

"Alas, what a wickedness!" An old man hid his face and sighed, and walked away tremblingly. Soon the wandering crowd was gone, as if nothing had happened.

It rained all night.

In the early morning, the east was white, and a few rays of morning light reflected the boy's pale face, bringing a hint of warmth, and he slowly opened his eyes. A gust of wind blew, and he couldn't help but shiver and get up, a headache hit, and his legs were sore to the bone. Finally sat up, suddenly felt dizzy, he closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths, and then he looked around. I saw a tree trunk in the pond not far away, so I gritted my teeth and got up, grabbed the crutch and slid forward step by step. Maybe it's not far away.

God helped, and after walking for a while, I saw a small town in front of me from a distance, and the number of pedestrians gradually increased. Speaking of novelty, the people who came and went on the road mostly led buffaloes, as few as one or two, and as many as a dozen. It turned out that this was a fork in the road, and most of the cattle bought and sold in the nearby townships came here, and over time, it became this small bull market. I didn't know what this town was called, because there were many cows, so people in the past called it "Niumao Town", and the original name of the town was gradually forgotten. Later, there was an old show who felt that the word Niu Mao was indecent, so he changed it to "Niu Mao Town", and erected two wooden arches at the east and west of the town, which is now Niu Mao Town.

The boy stood on the side of the road and rested for a while, and saw a small temple not far from the entrance of the town. Thinking that it would be good to have a place to rest, he walked towards the small temple with the trunk of the tree on his head.

This is a long-abandoned land temple, and even the door panel is missing, thinking that it was used as firewood. When I walked in, it was really pitiful, except for the offering table and the dusty land lord and the two ghost envoys, the rest were empty. Strangely, the temple was quite clean, the cobwebs on the walls had been dusted off, the green brick floor seemed to be swept often, and there was a small straw shop at the foot of the wall next to the offering table. Is there a place like this where people live? The boy wondered. But fatigue and illness made him unable to think so much, and sat down on the straw and stretched.

I was just about to lie down and sleep for a while, when I heard someone shouting at the door: "Phew! Who are you? Why are you sitting on my bed?"

Outside jumped in a boy about his own age, dressed in ill-fitting adult clothes, wearing a broken straw hat, barefoot, and a clean face. Looking at him like that, he was about a little beggar.

The boy breathed a sigh of relief, and said weakly: "It's disturbing, I didn't mean to, I'm so tired, and I have nowhere to go ......" His voice was hoarse and almost inaudible.

The little beggar looked at him in a daze, approached him, and handed him half a bowl of rice: "Here you go, it's still hot." Seeing that he didn't say a word, he took the food and stuffed it into his mouth with his hand, then squatted in front of him and asked, "You are also a vagabond, right?" Same with me. ”

He didn't eat a grain of rice for a day and a night, and he didn't care about it, so he swallowed the rice in two bites, relieved himself, and said, "Thank you." ”

The little beggar looked at him a few more times, and suddenly smiled: "If you meet me, it will be your fate." I think so, since you don't have anywhere to go, be with me first. You can rest for two days first. Oh, your clothes are all wet, I've got dry ones here, you put them on first. I saw him bend over and take out a patched package from behind the throne, and when he opened it, he saw that it was all old clothes that he had begged for. He took out a jacket and said, "You wear this, it's warm, I'll go get something to eat." Then he went out again.

He came back in the evening and brought with him a lot of food, a bowl of porridge, a few dumplings, and two oranges. After a while, he didn't know where he got some firewood and made a fire. The two children sat down by the fire, eating and chatting.

"You are also a famine, these days, God has always been against us poor. Last night there was a large group of people fleeing the famine, and I was afraid that they would seize my little temple and block the door with grass, and I was afraid all night! Oh, have you seen them? The little beggar took a hard bite of the ball.

"I came with them halfway through, and then I fainted, and no one cared about me." A trace of sadness flashed in the boy's eyes, "Let's not talk about this, let's talk about something happy." By the way, I don't know your name yet. ”

"My surname is Duan, which is the paragraph with two paragraphs, and my name is Duan Yunyi." Xiaoyi can actually write, gesturing on the ground, "What about you?" What's your name? ”

"My name is Qiu Yinming."

"Write?"

Xiao Ming also worked neatly on the ground.

"Alas, you also came from a scholar's family, just like me. My mother died early, and my father didn't pass the exam a year ago, so he vomited blood and died, and I have no other relatives...... What about you? ”

"I ...... I haven't seen my father, and my mother is dead. Xiao Ming whispered with some flickering, and I don't know if Xiao Yi heard it. Xiaoyi didn't ask.

Under Xiao Yi's careful care, within a few days, Xiao Ming was almost cured. Since then, there has been another little beggar on the streets of Niumao Town. The two children are smart and well-behaved, and they have something to gain every day.

One day, Xiao Ming and Xiao Yi went to the street to beg, Xiao Ming said: "It's better for us to go separately to beg, there is always one person who is lucky." ”

Xiaoyi agreed: "I'll go over there." ”

Let's say that Xiaoyi held a broken bowl in his hand, sang the lotus flower, and got a few pennies in half a day, and was about to rest at the foot of the wall, when he saw a person sitting on the threshold and napping at the door of the pawnshop opposite. Isn't that the big gangster Niu San? Xiaoyi muttered to himself.

Speaking of this Niu San, he was originally a pig killer and inherited his father's butcher business, but he was lazy by nature, and the business was abandoned a few years ago. Now he wanders the streets every day, helping people with chores and eating together. This person is easy to provoke, but he is born strong, and he has the martial arts of one or two hands and three-legged cats, so the gangsters in the neighborhood call him big brother, and the people in the town naturally dare not provoke him. That Niu San had an uncle, Niu Tai, who opened a pawnshop in the town, and saw that his nephew was not doing his job every day, so he arranged a chores for him in the pawnshop to make less trouble.

On this day, Niu San finished his work and rested at the door, and the shopkeeper just asked the man to send him lunch, and he was sleepy for a while, so he put the food aside, and closed his eyes to recuperate. Xiaoyi saw the bowl of hot dishes and the white rice in the basket at a glance, and saw that Niu San seemed to be asleep, so the cat bent his waist, tiptoed, tiptoed over, held his breath, and slowly stretched out his hand.

It was noon, there were few people on the street, Xiaoyi saw that there was no one around, so he quickly grabbed the bowl, quickly retracted his hand, held the bowl in his arms, and fled. In a hurry, his feet slipped and he stumbled forward, but fortunately the dish did not fall, but the stones in the ground were kicked and rolled over, impartially, and hit Niu San's feet. The three cows were in a daze, and they woke up after touching the stones. As soon as he squinted, he saw a little flower child running away, holding a porcelain bowl in his arms, which was the next meal that he had not touched, and suddenly his heart was on fire, he jumped up, and scolded: "Little rabbit cub!" If you dare to steal Lao Tzu's things, don't kill you! He pulled his legs apart and chased after him.

In the end, he is still a child, where can he catch up with the young and strong Niu San, Xiao Yisan dragged Niu San back by the collar in two steps. Niu San raised his big slap and slammed it towards Xiao Yi's head. Xiaoyi made an "ah" and was knocked to the ground, and the bowl in his hand flew out a long way and shattered. The left side of his face immediately swollen and ached.

This time Niu Sanke is even more popular. "! You stinky boy, don't count stealing me, and smash my bowl! Lao Tzu has been idle these days and is trying to find someone to vent his anger, but you actually come to the door. If I don't teach you a lesson today, I don't have a fucking surname cow! With that, he straddled his legs and rode on Xiaoyi's back, grabbed his hair with his left hand, and raised his fist with his right hand to beat him indiscriminately. Xiaoyi was miserable, and occasionally passers-by passed by, but they also walked around quickly, not daring to ask.

At this time, Xiao Ming was not far away. Just now, a kind old woman saw that the child was pitiful, and gave him the freshly boiled porridge and a large clay bowl. Xiao Ming was so unhappy that he came to Xiao Yi with a bowl of hot porridge in his clothes.

Suddenly, Xiaoyi's shout came, he ran along the sound, and saw Xiaoyi being ridden by a big man in the crotch and beaten to death. Xiao Ming saw that his good brother was in trouble, and in a hurry, he didn't have time to think about it, so he held the bowl and ran over quickly.

Niu San was angry, and he didn't notice that someone was running towards this side in the back of his head. I saw Xiao Ming rushing behind Niu San, raising the bowl, aiming at Niu San's head, and buckling it upside down. Suddenly, the hot porridge flowed Niu Sanyi's neck. While Niu San was sitting on the ground and shouting "Wow Wow", Xiao Ming picked up half of the broken clay pot on the ground and smashed it in Niu San's face. Niu San couldn't stop it, and was hit in the left eye by the sharp corner of the broken crockpot impartially. I heard a scream, and in an instant, my skin broke and my blood flowed. Xiao Ming was also startled, and quickly pulled up Xiao Yi, hid in the alley, and then quickly fled back to the small temple.

At night, the moonlight was as shallow as water, and the evening breeze brought a hint of cold. Xiao Yi was lying on the grass by the wall, and Xiao Ming was dressing his wounds with cold water.

"Does it still hurt?" Xiao Ming asked.

Xiao Yi bared his teeth and grinned: "It's okay, if you do what we do, you will inevitably take two beatings." Fortunately, my body is hard and can't be broken. ”

Xiao Ming was a little worried: "Do you think that Niu San will find us?" ”

Xiaoyi said: "I don't know, but you did a good job!" Otherwise, I wouldn't have been so lucky. ”

"I'll get you something to eat." Xiao Ming stood up, took out some broken branches from behind the idol, set up a fire, and fished out two rice crackers from the broken bowl, and skillfully roasted them on the fire. After a while, the fragrance came to my nose. Xiao Ming pinched the rice crackers twice and handed them to Xiao Yi: "It's baked." Eat more while it's hot. ”

"Hmm." Xiaoyi took it, a little hot, so he blew it a few times and bit it down.

Xiaoyi chewed the food and said vaguely, "You're so good." What a good brother of mine. ”

Xiao Ming smiled slightly, didn't say anything, and the firelight danced in his eyes.

"As I say, we'll all have food in the future." Xiaoyi swallowed a mouthful of bread, and suddenly his dark eyes rolled, "Hey? Actually, we can become brothers. How? Share the blessings and the difficulties. We're family. ”

Xiao Ming nodded: "That's a good idea." Then we'll bow down now...... But how? ”

"Probably swearing by something...... To what? Lord of the Land? No, no, it's so ugly......" Xiaoyi seemed to have no pain all of a sudden.

"Just to the sky." Xiao Ming picked up Xiao Yi and came to the door. The night is deep, and the moon is in the sky. The two knelt side by side.

Xiao Ming looked at Xiao Yi and said, "Well, then what?" ”

"That's about it." Xiao Yi clasped his hands together in front of his chest, looked at Xiao Ming, squeezed his eyebrows and said, "You say." ”

Xiao Ming hesitated for a moment: "What did you say?" ”

Xiaoyi scratched his head and said, "I never swore an oath, so let's talk about it." ”

"Okay, then." Xiao Ming thought for a while and said solemnly: "I, Qiu Yinming, have been brothers with Duan Yunyi since then. Fortune and misfortune are shared, and hardships are shared. Well...... The heavens are above, and if there is a breach of contract, it is not good to die...... Kowtow. ”

"Oh." So the two of them kowtowed four or five times seriously to the vast night sky outside the door.

Xiao Yi looked envious: "You said it so well, you have sworn a lot before." ”

"Nope."

At this time, Xiao Yi seemed to remember something big again, and pulled Xiao Ming's sleeve and said, "Oh! This must not be forgotten. Brothers, brothers, there must be brothers, brothers. I was born on the eighth day of the eleventh month of the fifth year of Xuande, what about you? ”

Xiao Ming smiled: "The same year as you, September 13." I'm my brother. ”

Xiao Yi pouted: "Okay, I'll let you be my brother." "I said this, but I was still happy in my heart. The things that were beaten during the day have all disappeared at this moment.

The two were happily chatting when suddenly, the silence of the night was broken by the rapid flapping of the wings of a perched bird, and the dappled shadows of the swaying branches fell on the walls. The flames were blown from side to side by the wind, as if they were alive. Xiao Ming suddenly became nervous, made a gesture, signaled Xiao Yi not to make a sound, and said, "Listen, over there." ”

Xiao Yi pricked up his ears, listened in the direction Xiao Ming pointed, and whispered, "It seems that there is someone." It's so late, how could anyone be near this deserted temple, wouldn't it be passing. ”

Xiao Ming frowned: "No, it seems that the voice is close, I always feel that I am coming here." Hurry up, let's hide first. With that, he pulled up Xiaoyi and quickly glanced at the four walls. This poor little temple is so small and empty, it can't even hide a cat, let alone two people! That is, he said, "Let's go, go outside." ”

Although there is nothing in the temple, it is a good place for Tibetans to be outside the temple. The small temple is surrounded by a lush bamboo forest, through which a path leads to the entrance and exit, and in front of the bamboo forest are weeds and vines several feet high, which are even darker and denser at night. They found a bush of vines, got in, and peered out through the gaps between the leaves.

Sure enough, there are people.

I saw four people dressed in short clothes coming this way. From the clothes, it can be seen that they are locals, all three of them have wooden sticks in their hands, and one seems to be the leader, carrying a single knife. The four of them walked straight towards the small temple. The leader spoke: "You three go in and pull those two little bastards out for me." Look carefully, don't let them run away. Those two boys are very ghostly. ”

The three people with sticks copied the three loaves of bread, rushed into the small temple, and immediately jumped out again, and said to the leader: "Big brother, run away." ”

The leader said angrily: "Rice bucket! The two little furry children were able to escape. I'm not a fucking cow! ”

Xiao Ming and Xiao Yi almost screamed at the same time. Niu San has really come to take revenge! The two of them lay on their stomachs in the bushes, not daring to move, staring wide-eyed.

Let's say that Niu San entered the small temple and saw that the fire on the ground was burning brightly. "Humph! The fire hasn't been extinguished, where can it go? Show me around. ”

At this time, Xiao Ming and Xiao Yi were facing the temple gate, the moonlight was very bright, and when Niu San walked out of the door, the two were shocked. He! How could it be...... I saw that Niu San's left eye was wrapped in a strip of cloth. Blind! No wonder ........ the two of them didn't even dare to get angry now.

The three with sticks swept through the bushes and grass with sticks, and one of them walked towards Xiao Ming and Xiao Yi with a sharp beak monkey cheek. The two children were like fifteen or sixteen rabbits in their hearts, pounding uncontrollably. The man put his stick into the bushes, swept it a few times, and walked away, without touching anything. Xiao Ming secretly breathed a sigh of relief, and his palms were sweaty.

After a while, the group seemed to be tired of searching, and Niu San said, "Let's go." Count them lucky, Lao Tzu will find them another day, and he must kill them. ”

When the figures of the four disappeared into view, Xiao Ming and Xiao Yi came out of the bushes. "It's dangerous! It scared the hell out of me! Xiao Yi let out a long breath.

Xiao Ming said: "I don't think we can stay in this place anymore, Niu San will definitely come to us again." Let's go. ”

Xiaoyi sighed and said, "It's hard to get a bite to eat here, and I'm going to leave again." The two returned to the small temple in despair. When it comes to tidying up, there are actually only a bag of all kinds of old clothes and a few broken bowls. Wrapped it into two packages on his back, he left this small temple that was once his home.

Standing in front of the wooden archway in Niumao Town, Xiaoyi muttered: "Where are you going?" In the middle of the night, there is no ghost. ”

Xiao Ming shook his head: "I don't know either." There's just one big road here, so let's keep going. ”