The next day, Meng Xiaowan went to fetch water with Mama Li. It hadn't rained for nearly half a year, and the rivers in the city had stopped. There are only two wells in the city that are still producing water, and there is a large circle of people waiting for water around the wells. Meng Xiaowan and Mama Li lined up for a long time to grab the wheel at the wellhead. Everyone else picks two buckets of water, and they have little strength, so two people can lift half a bucket.

The bucket was placed in the well and filled with water, and the two of them shook it up together. I probably installed a little more today, and I couldn't shake it after just a few shakes, so I had to stop and rest.

When the people next to them saw it, they told them to get out of the way. Seeing this, the two hurriedly put the bucket into the well, wanting to pour some back. But when the bucket became heavier, it sank to the bottom of the water and filled it to the brim, and now it could not shake the well.

Seeing that the people next to her were getting more and more irritable, Meng Xiaowan was so anxious that she was sweating profusely.

At this time, a man walked over, grabbed the well and shook it gently. The well turned like a wheel, driving the barrel to pop out of the well like an arrow, and was firmly grasped by the man, and the whole process was completed in one go. Then the man beat his bucket of water again, picked up himself and Meng Xiaowan's water with a flat pole and walked in the direction of home.

This man is Meng Xiaowan's next-door neighbor, Mingyue.

The two buckets of water add up to a hundred catties, and the bamboo flat burden is bent, trembling and trembling. But Mingyue was very strong, her back was straight, and she only used her hands to hold the two ends of the flat pole. It seems that he can't feel the weight of the bucket at all, and walks steadily on the bluestone avenue.

He walked very fast, leaving Meng Xiaowan and Mama Li far behind. By the time they returned to the shack with soft steps, Mingyue had already poured two buckets of water into their water tank. Then he rolled up his sleeves and took an axe to chop wood for them. Those large pieces of wood were placed at the door for a long time, but they were not burned because Meng Xiaowan and Mama Li didn't have the strength to split them.

Seeing that Mama Li glanced at herself, Meng Xiaowan returned to the house knowingly, and secretly hid at the door and didn't go away.

I only heard Mama Li at the door say to Mingyue in a sharp voice: "Hou Shengzi, my young lady has already promised to marry someone." In two days, the family will send someone to pick up the young lady. Don't come to my house if you don't have anything to do in the future, so as not to damage the reputation of the young lady. Got it? If you understand, you can leave. ”

This is very rude, but Meng Xiaowan knows that Mama Li has her own measure.

Mingyue didn't react, and only then did she respond lightly when she split the firewood under her hands: "I'll leave after chopping firewood." ”

For many days in the future, Xiaowan never faced Mingyue head-on, and sometimes when she turned around, she would vaguely see Mingyue's figure standing in the distance. The county seat is very small, and it is normal to meet by chance, Meng Xiaowan didn't dare to think about it, so she could only explain it to herself.

In late September, millet had been sold for 10 taels of silver a liter. The Du family still didn't hear back. The millet exchanged for the jade pendant has been eaten, and I can't even drink the thin porridge. There is really no way, in order to survive, the master and servant can only follow the example of others and go to the outside of the city every day to dig wild vegetables to satisfy their hunger.

In the year of the catastrophe, wild vegetables are the most expensive, not to mention the shepherd's cabbage and elm leaves, even the bitter artemisia is also the best thing. The wild vegetables in autumn are old and hard, and the two of them found a plant and dug it up like a baby, took it home and beat the hard skin with a stone, and boiled a small pot with a few grains of millet is the food of the two of them for a day. This thing can't be eaten enough, and it can't starve to death, so it can barely hang people's lives.

There is a mile back and forth from the city to the suburbs, which is an extremely difficult journey for Meng Xiaowan. The road was full of rubble, and the embroidered shoes she wore had thin soles, and it hurt to step on them. The process of picking wild vegetables is also very painful, eating wild vegetables every day has no oil and water in the stomach, and after working for a while, I will be dizzy. The most terrible thing is that when I squat down and stand up again, my eyes often go black, and it takes a while to return to normal.

After a few days, the situation was even worse, and there was no trace of green in sight on the mountains within a radius of ten miles, because as long as there was a little green, people ate their stomachs, and the wild vegetables were dug up clean. Then people began to dig up the roots and eat the bark. The bark of the tree is harder than that of wild vegetables, and after taking it home, it is necessary to beat it with stones for half a day, and then boil it with boiling water for half a day before it can be eaten. It takes half a day to chew to slag, and even then, when you swallow it hard, it's still so rough that you roll your eyes. Moreover, the bark is not digested after eating, and it is blocked in the abdominal cavity, and it cannot be pulled out after squatting in the pit for an afternoon.

After eating the bark for a few days, Meng Xiaowan felt that her mouth was full of bitterness. My stomach swelled as if I was blowing, and when I walked a little, my eyes went straight to Venus. The stomach was empty, the front heart was close to the back, and she didn't feel anything except the hunger that grabbed her heart and liver. I often hallucinate in front of my eyes, and sometimes in the blink of an eye, I feel that my front is full of steamed buns and wonton rice. From time to time, a wave of dizziness would pass through my head, worse than death. Once she couldn't stand it, she bit her lip with her teeth. As soon as the fishy sweet liquid gushed out, it was quickly rolled down by the tongue, stimulating the stomach and intestines to throb violently, and only then did he breathe a sigh of relief.

On this morning, she and Mama Li had just supported each other, stationed on crutches, and carried a small bamboo basket out of the city to pick up tree bark. As soon as I reached the gate of the city, a wave of dizziness hit me. She wanted to bite her lip, but the roots of her teeth were weak, and she didn't even have the strength to bite her lip. Immediately afterwards, his legs could no longer support the weight of his body, and the whole person fell to the ground.

Mama Li, who was beside her, was also taken down by Meng Xiaowan and supported her body hard. Seeing that the people around her had sallow faces, their eyes were closed, and there was already less air in their nostrils and more breath out, Mama Li burst into tears, and shouted hoarsely at the top of her voice: "Oh, help, my young lady is no good, my son is ......."

But these years are full of bankruptcy, and people are no longer surprised, only an old man leaning against the wall whispers: "Give her a stutter and she will live." ”

Hearing this, Mama Li cried even louder. How can she eat?

At this time, a familiar person came over, picked up Meng Xiaowan's head, took out the wine bag and poured some thick wine. The sweet white liquid rolled down her throat, and Meng Xiaowan muttered and gasped.

"If you're hungry, go home first." Picking up Meng Xiaowan horizontally, Mingyue said to Mama Li.

Life is the most important thing, and at this moment, Mama Li can't care about the reputation of any young lady, and follows him with a crutch.

Back in the small shack, Mingyue put Meng Xiaowan on the bed and walked out again.

Looking at the angry Meng Xiaowan, Mama Li just cried by the bed, shouting that if Meng Xiaowan died, she wouldn't live. Just crying sadly, Mingyue came back, holding a basket in her hand and a cloth bag on her shoulder.

Start a fire on the stovetop and add water to the pot. Take out a piece of brown sugar, three eggs, and a piece of ginger from the basket. Throw the brown sugar into boiling water and boil, beat the eggs and stir twice with a spatula to make egg drops, and then cut the ginger into thin slices and throw it down. After a while, two bowls of steaming brown sugar egg drop soup were served.

Mingyue handed a bowl to Mama Li, sat on the edge of the bed and picked up Meng Xiaowan, and put the soup to her mouth.

When a person is hungry, his nose is more agile than that of a dog, and the desire for food becomes an instinct of the body. As soon as she smelled the smell of brown sugar egg drop soup, Meng Xiaowan slowly opened her eyes, and then a bright light flashed in her dim eyes. I couldn't wait to put my lips to the bowl and drank it, but I couldn't bother to change my breath, as if the bowl was filled with fairy dew and sweet rain.

After a bowl of soup, she felt that her body suddenly warmed, and the tips of her numb fingers slowly tingled. The muddy brain also regained the ability to think, and then he realized that he was nested in Mingyue's arms. Suddenly, his face was like a peach blossom, and his eyes didn't know where to look.

Mingyue didn't notice her nervously wringing hands, and took a pillow and stuffed it behind her with an expressionless face, and then took the cloth bag she carried in, and took out something wrapped in paulownia leaves.

Before opening the package, Meng Xiaowan instinctively swallowed her saliva, because of the fragrance of steamed buns wafting out of the paulownia leaves.

She hadn't touched rice and white flour in months, and she was hungry!

Sure enough, Mingyue opened the paulownia leaves layer by layer, and inside was a huge steamed bun. It is not adulterated with grain, it is white, and the dazzling white-flour steamed bun seems to be steaming.

"Let's eat......"

Before Mingyue's voice completely fell, she took the steamed bun and divided it into two halves. Half of it was handed to Mama Li, who was also hungry, and the other half stuffed it into her mouth and took a few bites. Suddenly, I thought that this kind of eating was too ugly, so I hurriedly turned my back to Mingyue, held the steamed bun and said vaguely: "Thank you......"

After speaking, my heart warmed, and tears were about to fall.

A steamed bun is worth at least one gold bar......

"There are still two steamed buns in the bag, I'll get something to eat tomorrow." Mingyue's voice was cold, but she couldn't hear the slightest displeasure. Then he nodded at Mama Li, got up and went out.

Seeing him off, Mama Li immediately closed the door and opened the cloth bag he brought, and her heart immediately fluttered with excitement. There were not only steamed buns in the bag, but also a large bag of dried sweet potatoes, a bag of raw white rice, and a piece of red and white bacon.

Mingyue knew Meng Xiaowan's hard work at a glance.

But Meng Xiaowan is engaged......

Mama Li decided to pretend to be confused. In the afternoon, she boiled water and boiled porridge with rice, bacon and weed roots.

After eating a full meal, Meng Xiaowan was unwell and rested early. Mama Li slept for a while and felt that she was not full, so she got out of bed and took dried sweet potatoes to eat.

Unexpectedly, when a few thugs came to steal their food, Mama Li scuffled with those people, and finally was outnumbered, Mama Li was stabbed, and soon she rolled around in pain, and the thugs took the opportunity to run.

I was awakened by the sound made by Mama Li, and saw Mama Li falling to the ground moaning, and her body was soaked in blood. Meng Xiaowan was frightened, and hurriedly lit the straw to ask for a doctor.

When he pushed the door open, he happened to bump into Mingyue head-on.

"What's wrong?" Mingyue asked.

"My nurse...... It hurts ......" Meng Xiaowan was so frightened that she was incoherent.

The shack is so small that you can see the inside of the house at a glance. After Meng Xiaowan looked at Mama Li, Mingyue turned around and ran: "I'll go ask for a doctor." ”

In less than a stick of incense, he ran back with a white-bearded old doctor on his shoulder. The doctor was still wearing obscene clothes, his hair was scattered, and his face was pale when he was lying on Mingyue's shoulder, apparently being pulled up from the bed.

Putting the doctor in front of the bed, Mingyue said briefly: "Cure her, a liter of rice." ”

Hearing this, the doctor hurriedly examined Mama Li, but when he saw that Mama Li's abdomen had been pierced and bleeding nonstop, he could only shake his head: "No, let's prepare for the future." ”

As soon as she heard this, Meng Xiaowan knelt in front of the bed and cried out loud.

I don't know if she was stimulated by her crying, or if she returned to the light, Mama Li, who had dilated pupils, suddenly turned over and grabbed her arm, and grabbed Mingyue's hand with the other hand. looked at Mingyue with straight eyes, and said in a hurried tone: "Hou Shengzi, my lord is rich, and he will give a lot of money to his uncle in the future." I took care of Miss for many years and she was like my own daughter. She and the son of the Du family have a shallow relationship and can't get married. Today, I will marry her to you, so I will ask the doctor to be my guarantor, and you will hurry up and worship while I am still angry. ”

What is the nurse talking about? Doesn't it mean bye-bye......

Meng Xiaowan's head exploded, and in an instant, her whole body was hot like coals. She mustered up the courage to sneak a glance at Mingyue, and when she saw his clear eyebrows furrowed slightly, she couldn't help but panic even more.

But Mama Li was very anxious: "Hurry up!" I don't know where the strength came from, the old man actually pulled Mingyue's tall body to his knees.

The doctor next to him also urged: "Hurry up, it's almost too late." ”

Mama Li's urging became more urgent than the other, and Meng Xiaowan, who had always relied on her nurse the most, was dizzy when she was urged. I don't know if she moved first or Mingyue moved first, the two bowed obediently.

If you bow twice, you will be considered to have worshiped heaven and earth.

Mama Li hurriedly said again: "Worship each other too." ”

The two turned around again and bowed to each other. Together, looking at the slightly stunned Qingjun face opposite, Meng Xiaowan's tears rolled down.

Seeing that they finished worshipping, Mama Li took Meng Xiaowan's hand and put it in Mingyue's hand, and said to Mingyue with her last breath: "Uncle, I handed Xiaowan over to you, you have to protect her in this life." ”

Then there was no sound, two streams of purple blood flowed out of his nose, but his hand pressed Meng Xiaowan and Mingyue's hands together. (To be continued.) )