I didn't wake up until the end of the night. Ran Er said to Qinglian:

"It was my mother who saved us. Otherwise, we might be buried by a collapsed roof. ”

When I got dressed and came to the yard, I didn't see the rhubarb, and because it was snowing all the time, I couldn't see the paw prints left by the rhubarb on the snow. Ran Er couldn't help but be a little worried, knowing that on such a snowy day, it is estimated that it is also difficult for rhubarb to forage. So when I made breakfast, I made an extra portion, and I wanted to feed it when the rhubarb came back. Until the evening, Rhubarb hadn't come back, and Ran'er and Qinglian began to be a little nervous about Rhubarb. It's just that there is no other way than to wait at home. After dinner, I cleaned the snow on the roof again, and saw that the snowflakes in the air were getting smaller and smaller, so I fell asleep with peace of mind.

After breakfast the next day, Rhubarb, which Ran'er and Qinglian had been worried about, came back. The two of them were sitting on the kang and talking, when they heard the barking of rhubarb from the courtyard. happily dressed up, opened the door, and found that rhubarb had caught another rabbit, which surprised the Ran'er sisters. Ran Er hurriedly brought the rice prepared for the rhubarb, mixed some leftovers, and served it to the rhubarb. Seeing Rhubarb swallowing it with his head down, he returned to the house and fiddled with the rabbit that Rhubarb caught.

Seeing Li Shun deal with rabbits last time, Ran'er basically learned. Following Li Shun's example, he cut a small hole in the rabbit's head, and after a while, he took off the whole rabbit skin, found a bamboo branch to prop up the rabbit skin, hung it on the outer wall, and the two stewed rabbit meat again.

"Sister, it would be nice if there was rabbit meat to eat every day."

"Lian'er is hungry, right?"

"yes, doesn't my sister like to eat?"

"I like it."

Ran'er's family has always been rarely visited, when the mother is there, although the face has always been a gentle expression, but the mother does not like to talk much, occasionally come to the house to find Ran'er to play, most of them are more restrained. In addition, the mother's illness and death are relatively strange, and the langzhong in the village did not see what kind of disease the mother had, which inevitably caused private discussions among the people in the village. Afraid that something could pass people's illness, they restrained their children one after another, and they were not allowed to associate with Ran'er.

Ran Er occasionally remembered the coincidence with Qinglian, and always wondered if it was secretly arranged by her mother. Worried that he was lonely, he let the sensible Qinglian accompany him. Especially the last few times I went to my mother's grave, every time the paper ashes would fly in the air for a while. Does my mother want to sue herself, and my mother has always been by her and Qinglian's side? And the dream in the first night, it was so real and clear. The mother was obviously worried that the snow would collapse the roof and hurt Ran'er and Qinglian, so she deliberately woke up Ran'er and asked Ran'er to get up quickly. Thinking of this, Ran Er suddenly felt extremely warm in her heart.

No one thought that it had snowed for 16 days since it began to fall in the thirtieth day. It wasn't until the morning of the sixteenth that the sky cleared.

Ran Er and Qinglian looked at the thick snow in the yard and were a little worried for a while. It's too thick, it's a head taller than Ran'er. The two of them walked on the cleared passage as if they were walking through a snow cave.

Fortunately, there was enough food and firewood prepared by the two of them, otherwise they would really starve.

I haven't seen Rhubarb for a few days, so Ran'er and Qinglian guessed that they were probably hiding somewhere. With such a thick layer of snow, it is rhubarb, and it may be difficult to walk on it.

After all, this is Jiangnan, and after the sun comes out, the temperature rises very quickly. In less than two days, more than half of the snow had melted. Ran'er and Qinglian also began to sweep the snow in the small yard little by little, and transported it to the stream outside the door as much as possible.

Every year when my mother is here, on the fifteenth day, I have to make a small lantern for Ran'er, insert half a candle in it, and light it after dark. Ran'er likes it very much, and every time she finishes fifteen, she will keep the lantern well. Last year, Ran'er was not in the mood alone, although she had Qinglian this year, she didn't take it out because of the snow. It wasn't until the eighteenth night, after dinner, that Ran'er took out the lantern that her former mother had made for herself from a corner of the outer room. I picked a big one and hung it at the door of my house.

"Lian'er, is it good-looking? I made it for my sister when my mother was there. ”

"It's good-looking, my mother's hands are so skillful."

"Hang here, if the rhubarb gets lost, you can find it by looking at the lantern."

Ran'er and Qinglian didn't see rhubarb for several days, thinking that after a sunny day, rhubarb would come back, but now that the snow has melted, and there is no rhubarb in sight, the two of them are becoming more and more worried.

"Sister said rhubarb would be fine, right?"

"No, Rhubarb is very smart and will be fine."

When Ran'er was comforting Qinglian, she was also comforting herself. In the middle of the night, the sleeping sisters were awakened by the sound of rhubarb. Overjoyed, he quickly dressed and came to the small courtyard, where he found Rhubarb standing on the ground on three legs, one of his hind legs curled, as if he was injured. Ran Er asked Qinglian to lead Rhubarb into the house, lit the lamp herself, and walked to Rhubarb's side to observe the curly hind legs. I saw that a large piece of fur had fallen off it, and the blood had already coagulated. I couldn't help but feel very distressed, so I found a clean old cloth and carefully bandaged the rhubarb. He brought food and fed it to the rhubarb, and after the rhubarb was full, he returned to the nest with a limp.

Ran Er and Qinglian saw that Rhubarb's injuries seemed to have been beaten with sticks or stones, but they didn't know where or who hit them. While he was guessing, Grandpa Li came. The two sisters hurried into the house and spoke:

"Happy New Year, Grandpa. Ran'er and Qinglian planned to wait for the road to dry it again, so they went to pay New Year's greetings to their grandfather. ”

"Don't pay attention to the number of courtesies. You guys don't have anything to do here, do you? The snow was so heavy the other day that I didn't worry about you. ”

"We're all fine here, Grandpa Xie misses."

"I have something to tell you today, because of the drought last year, there was no harvest in some places, and many people have come out to drive out the famine. We also have a lot of people here these days, stealing chickens and dogs, doing everything. You two children stay in this barren mountain and wilderness, afraid that you will be bullied. Come with me to live at home for a few days, and when spring begins, the people who have driven the famine, and the land will be clean. ”

Ran Er thought in her heart that her mother was secretly taking care of herself and Qinglian, so she didn't want to leave the small courtyard, and it was not good to refuse directly, so she had to say euphemistically:

"Grandpa, we want to stay for two more days, and if someone really comes to harass us, we will move to Grandpa's house."

Hearing that Ran'er didn't want to leave, Grandpa Li didn't force it, and said to Ran'er:

"It's good to take a look at it again, and when I go back, tell the second child to pay more attention to your movements here. The day of spring is not far away, and those who are driven by the famine, it is estimated that they should return to their hometowns in the near future. ”

Grandpa Li has a total of three sons, Li Shun also has the eldest brother Li Cheng and the second brother Li Wu. Li Wu lives in the east of Xia Village, closest to Ran'er's courtyard. After sending Grandpa Li away, Ran'er said to Qinglian:

"Maybe the rhubarb was beaten by those wasters."

"Sister, what is a famine."

"In the area where the disaster has occurred, people go out to beg for food, which is called famine."

"My sister said they would come and steal our food at night?"

"In the future, when we go to bed at night, we will put the door of the house to death with a thick wooden stick, and there will be rhubarb guarding outside, so that no one will steal it. We should be vigilant when we go to bed in the future, and once someone comes, my sister will leave my sister alone and go to the village to report the news. ”

"Is that sister in danger?"

"No, those people are just for food, they don't hurt people."

Immediately, Ran'er led Qinglian to the bamboo forest behind the house, found a thicker bamboo, cut it down, and cut off two thick top door bolts. Let Qinglian take it, and Ran'er dragged the remaining bamboo home as firewood. Four or five days later, the rhubarb had recovered. When he walked, although he was still a little lame, it did not prevent Rhubarb from moving freely. As for being harassed by the desolate people, it has never happened. Late one night at the end of the first month, the sleeping sisters were awakened by the barking of rhubarb, quietly dressed, and saw several dark shadows faintly outside the fence through the crack in the door. Ran Er knew that it was not good, it should be the person who drove the wasteland as Grandpa Li said.

Ran Er told Qinglian at the same time:

"After a while, if those people force themselves into the courtyard, I will open the door of the house, and you will run quickly and go to the village to call someone."

While bringing an oil lamp and lighting it. It means to sue sù to come to someone, and there are people in the house. Don't let them come in as if it were an empty house.

In the silent night, the rhubarb's cry was very harsh, Xu saw that the rhubarb was fierce, the lights were also lit in the house, and a few black shadows outside the fence door stood for a while, and then quietly left. Seeing that Rhubarb was no longer barking, he thought that those people should go away, so he was bold, opened the door and came to the courtyard, and looked around. Seeing a bright light at the corner of the path in the distance, Ran Er guessed that it should be Uncle Wu of Grandpa Li's family who heard the movement and wanted to come over and take a look. When he saw that the rhubarb was no longer barking, he stopped there and observed. After a while, the lantern turned around and disappeared at the foot of the mountain. Ran Er and Qinglian closed the door again and returned to the kang.

"Sister said they would come back?"

There was some trepidation in Qinglian's tone. Ran Er comforted Qinglian and said:

"It shouldn't be today, and it won't come in the future, I think there is rhubarb, it's unlikely."

"Well, Rhubarb was so powerful just now. Was my sister scared just now? ”

"I'm afraid, my sister's heart is still beating now."

When Qinglian heard this, she reached out and touched Ran'er's chest. Ran Er also hugged Qinglian and said:

"Sleep, it's almost dawn."

In the morning, as soon as Ran'er and Qinglian got up, Uncle Wu came.

"At night, I heard Ran'er's dog barking fiercely, and when he got up and walked to the foot of the mountain, he stopped moving, and when he saw that there was a lamp in the house, he did not come again. Nothing happened, right? ”

"Thank you, Uncle Wu. During the night, a few dark shadows stood outside the door for a while, and when they saw us lighting the lamp, they left. ”

"I guess I think you're here as an empty house, and I'm probably going to come in and spend the night. It's okay, it's better to take care of rhubarb in the future, and don't let people give it medicine. When I hear the dog barking, my uncle will come over quickly. Don't worry. ”

"I'm causing trouble to Uncle Wu."