Xiao Qi is a poor man, born without a mother, when he was seven or eight years old, there was a great drought, many people starved to death in the village, Xiao Qi's grandmother and father also died in this disaster, when Dad left, he took out a small cloth bag, which was a handful of soybeans and wheat for seeds, he asked Xiao Qi to leave the village and go as far as possible: "The village can not stay any longer, you go, go to a bigger city, there are many rich people in the city, you may be able to find food to eat, you must live well." Xiao Qi hastily buried his father, and before he had time to grieve, he left his hometown with the people who fled in the village.

Bumpy and wandering all the way, tossing and turning, hungry and cold, relying on the confidence given by the bag of soybeans and wheat, Xiao Qi followed the people who fled the famine and walked and walked, the crowd gathered and scattered, scattered and gathered, Xiao Qi and the people in the village had already been separated, before and after he followed more than a dozen different people who fled the famine, eating hundreds of meals, wearing hundreds of clothes, and finally came here-—— Yancheng.

Yancheng is a well-known trading town, with a large population, fertile land, abundant grain and grass, everyone lives and works in peace and contentment.

The small temple is also a land temple a long time ago, since the main business of this small city changed from agriculture to trade, the land temple has lost its former glory, slowly little by little into a barren land, there is still a statue of the land father-in-law, the pastel on the statue has long been gone, revealing the mud tire inside, mottled and dilapidated. The incense case in front of the statue has long since disappeared. The temple is very broken, but it is enough to shelter from the wind and rain.

There is also a spring a few hundred meters next to the small temple, the spring water is clear and sweet. There is no better place for them to live than here. Grandma Huang and Xiao Qi cleaned up the small temple and started a peaceful life. Every day they go to the county town to beg during the day, and at night, they return to the small temple to rest.

Grandma Huang contracted a cold and coughed in the winter of the second year of her stay, and she coughed for more than ten days and did not get better. Xiao Qiduan fed the soup with the silver that he had finally accumulated, and bought the decoction, but he still did not save Grandma Huang's life, the old man was old, hungry and cold on the way to escape, old and frail, unable to withstand the fatigue of running around, and he was already in his last years.

Before leaving, Grandma Huang took out a small silver pendant engraved with a small fish and said to Xiao Qi: "Good boy, this is my granddaughter's, I may not see her anymore, this pendant will be left for you to think about in the future, grandma can no longer accompany you, I will bless you in heaven, you live well." After speaking, he reluctantly swallowed his last breath.

Xiao Qi cried for a whole day, and finally buried his grandmother in the woods, when he was lonely and sad, he would go to Grandma Huang's grave to say a few words, and often took out the little fish pendant to take a look.

In the second year after Grandma Huang left, he found Zhuang Xiaochu in a coma on the side of the road, and he thought that this must be Grandma Huang looking at him too lonely for the past year to guide the people who came to accompany him, so he used all his strength to carry Zhuang Xiaochu home step by step.

Two months passed, Zhuang Xiaochu finally accepted the fact that he had crossed into a beggar, his health was slightly better, and he followed Xiao Qi to the street.

After coming out of the small temple and passing through a small road, I went directly to the official road, and after walking along the official road for a while, I entered Yancheng.

Yancheng is a small boxy city, and the streets and alleys are distributed in the shape of a well. In the south of the city is the county government, the official residence and residence of the county lords, the officers and soldiers are stationed in the north of the city, and the west and north of the city are residential houses. There are shops on both sides of the streets that extend in all directions in the middle of the city, selling tea, selling cloth, selling silk, selling all kinds of gadgets, eating and drinking, there are many outsiders who come here to buy, sell, the traffic is busy, it is very lively. Behind the shop is the inner courtyard of the store. Of course, the most lively in this is the 32-meter street, which is 32 meters long, all of which are time-honored brands, the earliest commercial street in the city, and a fertile place for begging.

Xiao Qi did not ask for food on Thirty-two Meter Street, his begging position was in Yanshui Lane, he said, Thirty-two Meter Street is a group of beggars stationed in Nancheng, they have a gang, known as the one-eyed beggars, they occupy the best street in Yancheng, who wants to occupy their streets? They will expel people from the country at the least, and at worst, they will discount people's legs and feet. On the first day Xiao Qi came, someone told him.

Zhuang Xiaochu accompanied Xiao Qi to stay in Yanshui Lane for a day, nothing to come, when it was almost dark, there was a foreign merchant with a handsome little lady, this is a typical while buying, while taking the little lady out to play, the little lady saw a pair of thin and weak beggars sitting on the side of the road, the bowl in front of the door was still empty, kind, the little lady took the little silver horn and threw it, and the silver horn grunted and rolled at the feet of Xiao Qi. "Thank you, ma'am, you are very rich, ma'am. Zhuang Xiaochu hurriedly thanked him. "Hey, he's pretty good at talking. The little lady threw a little silver horn into the plate again. "Madam, you look like a fairy, your heart is more than a weeping lotus, you must be a prosperous husband and a noble son, and you will be rich and noble. Thank you ma'am. "On this day, Zhu Laosi's chopsticks brothers, the lame Lao Li in Yanshui Lane, all returned empty-handed, and only Xiao Qi and they got two silver horns.

Xiao Qi was so happy that he took two silver horns to buy a few baked cakes, and with the rest of the money, he wanted to buy a pair of shoes for Zhuang Xiaochu, Zhuang Xiaochu said, don't spend it indiscriminately, keep the money and let's plan it.

In the evening, Zhuang Xiaochu and Xiao Qi were eating baked cakes and chatting, Xiao Qi told Zhuang Xiaochu that it is rare to get two small silver horns like today, and sometimes, you can't beg for anything, if it rains, there are few pedestrians on the road, people rush by in a carriage, and you can't beg for several days, you have to be hungry, Zhuang Xiaochu said:

"Didn't you think about changing?"

"I've thought about it, but how can we change it? We beg for food, we just rely on luck and heaven to eat. ”

Zhuang Xiaochu said: "I don't want to live like this every day. We can think of a way, work hard, and fate can be changed. ”

"Okay, brother. Xiao Qi said: "You can do what you say, anyway, I will listen to you." ”

Zhuang Xiaochu said: "Do you know why we can ask for an extra silver horn today? Because we can speak, everyone likes to say good things, and only by coaxing others to be happy, our money bags will be full." Then, we have to find a way to save some money, first change our own outfits, and make ourselves refreshing, so as to increase their begging income, you see our customers, are all merchants, they don't necessarily like sloppy and dirty beggars, this is called investment. Xiao Qi doesn't know what investment is, but what Zhuang Xiaochu said must be right, and he will definitely listen.

In the next few days, when the brothers were not on the street, Zhuang Xiaochu trained Xiao Qi at home, and he taught Xiao Qi to learn to praise others, for example, when he met a beautiful girl, he said that he would praise her for her beautiful appearance and moon appearance; if she did not have a flower and moon appearance, she would praise her for her blue heart and wisdom; if she was a special look, she would praise her for her excellent temperament; when she met a man, if he was a person in the government, he would praise him for his immeasurable future and rise step by step; if he was a merchant who came and went, he would praise him for his wealth and wealth...... When you praise someone, you have to smile and look at the other person with great sincerity.

Zhuang Xiaochu himself doesn't understand that in modern society, he is silent, but he doesn't know anything, and in a different environment, for life, all his potential has been stimulated.