Ling'er inquired around Dongpo Village, but the results were unsatisfactory, and the villagers had different accounts of the whereabouts of the children: some said that they had gone to the city; Some say that they went on the official road to the provincial capital; Others said that as soon as the group of children left the village, they dispersed and divided into several groups and went in different directions; There were even people who said they saw the children being taken away!

Ling'er stood at the crossroads at the head of the village and looked at this side and looked at that side, the end of every fork in the road under the moonlight was dark and blurry, like a monster with a big mouth, just waiting for you to send it to the door to serve them dinner!

"Little girl, if you don't leave, I'm leaving!" The coachman, who had been silent, spoke, in a low and hoarse tone.

Ling'er turned around and saw the coachman leaning lazily on the carriage with his hands on his chest, his dark and sharp eyes unusually bright under the moonlight! Ling'er's body shook a little, her head went blank for a moment and then spun quickly, this guy is deeply hidden, he can't be a bad person, right? In the middle of the night, in the wilderness, he will die if he spoils himself!

No, no, no, this coachman is a member of the Ding family, I am a poor and sour little girl, and now I am still dressed as a boy, with no wealth and no color, and he can't get any benefit from dealing with himself! On the contrary, I remember that when I came out, the old Shen Tou told the coachman several times that he must send himself to the door of the house, and his own requirements should be met as much as possible, and the old Shen Tou from the master is responsible for the report.

In this way, this hidden driver will not only not be bad for himself, but a big help! Ling'er, who wanted to understand, felt a little at ease, she thought for a moment, straightened her clothes, walked to the coachman's side, and respectfully saluted the coachman.

The coachman's eyes narrowed slightly, but he opened his eyes to look at Ling'er, but he didn't say anything. Ling'er stood up after saluting, bowed her head and said respectfully: "Uncle coachman, I also want to go back early, but before entering the city, I asked my cousins and cousins to wait for me here, and now they are all gone, I don't know if something happened?"

Uncle Coachman, I know you have the ability, please help me find it, okay? As long as I can find them, I... I will definitely thank you again! ”

Ling'er raised her eyes and peeked, and saw that the coachman's expression and movements remained the same, but there seemed to be something more in his eyes? Could it be that he didn't believe he had the power to thank him? Ling'er hesitated slightly, and then said: "Uncle coachman, as long as you help me find my cousins and send us home, I will ask my father and mother to give you ten taels of silver!" It's true! ”

The coachman still didn't answer, still looking at Ling'er lightly, but the corners of his mouth were slightly upturned! What does that mean? Do you think the money is too little or don't believe me? Ling'er blinked and stretched out two fingers: "Twenty taels? ”

...... "Thirty taels? ”…… Ling'er raised the price several times, and finally gritted her teeth and stomped her feet, "One hundred taels!" Uncle, our family can only afford so much at most, please help!

Didn't you promise Grandpa Shen that he would definitely send me to my doorstep? I won't go home if I can't find my cousins, and you won't be able to complete your mission, and you won't be able to go back! Uncle, you help me find someone, I will pay you, and you can go back to pay the errand earlier, which is good for both of us, don't you say? ”

"Huh!" The coachman let out two low chuckles, and Ling'er looked up at him pitifully like a puppy! The coachman and Ling'er looked at each other for a long time, and suddenly the corners of his mouth curled, picked up the horsewhip, lifted the reins, and whispered: "Get in the car!" ”

Ling'er was stunned for a moment, and after a while, she became excited again: "Uncle, have you agreed?" ”

The coachman did not speak, but he was ready to set off with his whip, and Ling'er was overjoyed, and hurriedly climbed into the carriage with her hands and feet, and before she could sit down, after a snap, the horse flicked its tail and had to start to set off.

There are a total of six roads at this fork in the road, one end of the official road leads to the county seat, the other end leads to the provincial capital, and there are three wider dirt roads that are supposed to lead to the village, and a very narrow dirt road that leads to the province.

Ling'er felt that if the Jia family found the village, most of the little flowers would take the small dirt road, but the small dirt road was full of dense bushes on both sides. If it was daytime, she would have gone to look for it, but in the middle of the night, although the moon was good outside, she couldn't see her fingers in the bushes, and no matter how bold she was, she didn't dare to jump into the forest alone.

Turning to the coachman for help, he actually hoped that he would go into the woods with him, but now the coachman was driving the carriage back. Ling'er was puzzled: "Uncle, this is the way to Dongpo Village, let's just come back from there, what are we going back to do?" ”

The coachman didn't answer, but took out a water bag from the side and drank two sips, no, it was a wine bag! Ling'er had to ask again, and the coachman said, "Where is all that nonsense, look for your people carefully!" ”

Ling'er was stunned, what do you mean? She turned her head to look around, and then realized when the carriage had come up to the field road at the head of the village. All around are half-human-high crop seedlings, the sound of crickets and frogs comes and goes, a good scene of a harvest summer night, but what are you doing in the fields in the middle of the night? The coachman isn't here to find the flowers, is he?

Ling'er's eyes lit up, yes, the seedlings in this crop field are so high, it is not a problem to hide a hundred or ten children, maybe they are really here! Thinking of this, she immediately climbed out of the carriage, sat next to the coachman, raised the lantern and looked hard, and shouted with both hands in the shape of a trumpet: "Da Qiang, Zhuang Er, Qi Liu, and Tenth Sisters, where are you?" ”

The carriage was moving slowly in the field, Ling'er was busy jumping up and down, but the coachman was leisurely leaning on the carriage, drinking wine without a ride, and seemed to enjoy it quite a lot! After doing this for a quarter of an hour, Ling'er's voice was hoarse, and she was about to ask the coachman for water, but the carriage suddenly stopped.

"Uncle, why did you stop?"

The coachman didn't answer, but his eyes were staring at the side of the road motionless, Ling'er followed his line of sight, it was a large pile of firewood, below were bundles of branches and trunks, and on top were sturdy thatch, which should have been deliberately piled up here by the farmers, this kind of firewood pile can often be seen in the fields in the countryside, and there is nothing special!

"Uncle, do you want to make a fire?"

The coachman was dull for a long time, and suddenly said, "There are people there!" ”

"Huh? What the? Ling'er couldn't react a little.

The coachman jumped out of the carriage, took the lantern on the side of the carriage, and walked slowly towards the pyre, Ling'er was stunned for a moment, and hurried to catch up. Step by step, they approached the pyre, and circled the pyre for half a circle, but Ling'er did not notice anything unusual, but the coachman stopped, stretched out his hand, and the thatch spread out, revealing a hollow.

The coachman raised the torch to the hole, and something suddenly popped out of it, Ling'er was so frightened that she took a few steps back and sat on the ground, but the coachman grabbed the thing with his hand!

"Go away, scoundrel! I don't care about you! Suddenly there was an angry but weak and familiar roar from the cave! Ling'er turned around and saw that the coachman was grabbing a wooden stick sticking out of the hole, only to see him pull it gently, and a black shadow jumped out of the hole with the stick and fell to the ground with a snap.

The man lay on the ground and groaned in pain, the coachman stood aside with a stick, and before Ling'er could react, a shadow suddenly popped out of the hole, and suddenly pounced on the man on the ground and cried!

The coachman lifted the lantern and took two steps closer, and the young figure above raised his head and cried: "Uncle, woo~~ please... Please, don't, don't hit my brother! ”

Ling'er's body was shocked, and she pounced on it: "Tenth sister? Ten sisters! It's really you! It's really you, that's great! ”

She was so happy that she hugged the child, the child was probably frightened, and there was no response for a long time, and when she saw Ling'er's face clearly, she was stunned for a long time, and suddenly she grinned, and cried!

Ling'er was startled, and hurriedly patted and coaxed to comfort her, but the tenth sister cried so much, and the person on the ground said in a hoarse voice: "Boss...... You... You're back! ”

Ling'er lowered her head, and was startled when she saw the person clearly, and quickly let go of the tenth sister to help the person: "Daqiang!" How are you! Why are you here? What happened to your injuries? Someone else? ”

"Old... Boss, he's ...... They ......, "Da Qiang's body is quite weak, and he can't say a complete sentence for a long time!" Ling'er saw that his face was pale and sweating all over his body, and quickly took out a handkerchief to wipe his sweat, "Daqiang, don't worry, take a rest first, and speak slowly, ah!" ”

Ling'er comforted the tenth sister while taking care of Daqiang, the coachman stood aside and watched for a while, hung the lantern on the branch on the side, turned around and walked to the carriage, and after a while brought a wooden box over and squatted beside Daqiang, the wooden box was opened, and there were a bunch of porcelain bottles and herbs inside, as well as gauze silver needles and so on!

Ling'er hurriedly stepped aside and watched the coachman re-clean Daqiang's wounds, apply medicine, and bandage them with his hands and feet. Two quarters of an hour later, Daqiang's condition stabilized, and Ling'er fed him a bowl of boiling water and asked about the children's condition.

It turned out that after Ling'er left, Zhuang Xuewen arranged tasks for the children, some people took care of Daqiang in the yard, some people went to the village entrance to post a sentry, and some people went to the village to inquire about the situation.

At noon today, when the Jia family came to look for someone, the children who were on guard hurriedly ran back to report the news, so that the children could leave early. However, the ten children were all injured, the largest was the most seriously injured, and the youngest also needed to be taken care of, just in case, the children entered the vicinity of this farm, Zhuang Xuewen discussed with everyone, and decided to find a secret place to hide Daqiang and the tenth sister first, and the eight of them were divided into four groups to go in different directions.

If the Jia family catches up, everyone has a better chance of escaping, and if they don't catch up, they will come back to find Daqiang and the tenth sister. That's why Ling'er can find Da Qiang and Ten Sisters here.

"Where did Zhuang Xuewen and Qi Liu separate, did they agree on anything to come back? Where did they meet, did the Jia family chase here? ”

Da Qiang said weakly: "I don't know, when they hid me and my tenth sister here, I didn't agree, and I fainted in a hurry!" ”

Ling'er was even more anxious when she heard this, so that the other eight children left separately, and it was even more difficult to find them! Where will they go in the middle of the night? (To be continued.) If you like this work, you are welcome to come to the starting point (qidian.com) to vote for recommendation, monthly pass, your support, is my biggest motivation. )