In the Qingming season, just after the rain, where the grass is overgrown, a long road paved with small black stones is faintly exposed, and there are pools of clear water in the potholes.

At the fork of the long road, there is a small courtyard.

The wall climbs the palm-sized ground brocade, the wall is mottled with powder, very dilapidated, a row of tall metasequoia is planted outside the main entrance that can barely be distinguished, and on the side of the road to enter the door, low shrubs such as wolfberry and hydrangea are mixed, and the chaos is quite a bit wild.

A small field near the gate of the courtyard is neatly planted with peanuts, and the oval leaves are washed by raindrops, making them look more and more verdant.

The courtyard is also a green color, and the tall teak trees shade the ground, hiding many random piles of debris on the ground.

The sound of trickling water in the fresh air after the rain slowly draws the eye to the well under the grape trellis.

The light leaked through the leaves and fell mottled on a woman's body by the well, a faint light outlining her graceful posture and reflecting the droplets of water on her washed clothes.

The woman's slightly withered yellow hair was loosely pulled, and the withered hair hanging down half of her shoulders was used as the bun of the unmarried girl, and a delicate butterfly silver hairpin on her head fluttered with her movements.

The woman was dressed in a thin azure jacket, with golden dark lines on the white brocade edge, and a string of fine crimson purple flowers delicately embroidered on her chest, which looked about wisteria from a distance, and the batik green cotton skirt with white floral flowers below looked beautiful and refined against the background of green leaves.

Although this kind of dress is not graceful and luxurious, it is elegant and by no means ordinary, but I don't know why she would wash clothes in such an ordinary farm yard.

The bright spring color and the woman working silently can't help but remind people of the Xizi of the Huansha on the bank of Ruoye.

Unfortunately, it was only a moment, and a rapid barking of dogs broke the silence, and the woman heard the noise of chickens flying and dogs jumping, and with a loosening of her hand, she dropped the half-twisted clothes back into the water, splashing a string of shining splashes.

She looked up at the people who had broken into the courtyard in amazement, her eyes were full of confusion, as if they were covered with gray clouds, but she unconsciously took a few steps back.

"Yo, what a pretty little lady." Coming in was a tall man, dressed in blue brocade and with elaborate embroidery, but his hair was messy and unkempt, and there was a lot of ruffian in his every move.

The man leaned at the few yellow dogs that were chained next to him, snorted lightly, didn't put the grinning dogs in his eyes, stepped forward in a few steps, dragged the woman who was still confused, and pulled him closer to him.

Only then did the woman come back to her senses, and her slightly hoarse voice scolded in a low voice: "Who are you?" Let go! ”

The man smiled more and more triumphantly, clasped her hand and gently hooked his thin chin, and looked at her.

A delicate little face came into view, although the cheeks were still a little pale and sickly, but the pair of dark water-colored eyes, and the two eyebrows as thin as distant mountains, all indicated that she would become a rare beauty after resting well.

"Oops, it's Xiao Liu here!" An old voice came from behind, and an old woman rushed down the aisle and slapped the man's hand away unceremoniously.

She was so heavy that the woman who had just broken free from the "wolf's claws" couldn't help frowning when she heard it, secretly suspecting that it should be very painful.

The old woman's hair was almost gray, her copper-colored face was dry and cracked, and she wore a white-washed coarse cloth garment, with at least four or five patches of various colors, which did not match the woman in brocade and silver hairpins standing aside.

", you know what I'm here for." The man rubbed the back of the hand that had been beaten hard by the old woman, looked away from the eyes that fell on the woman, lowered his face and circled two fingers, and gestured to the appearance of the copper coin.

He has not forgotten that he was collecting debts for others today.

The old woman known as "" frowned, lost all the ruthlessness just now, anxiously rubbed her rough and deformed hands, and smiled a little, "Xiao Liu, you see, you have to buy rice seedlings soon, can't you give a few more months?" ”

The man stared at him with a pair of small eyes, and deliberately made a look of wanting to eat people, ", you don't know, I'm just collecting debts on behalf of others, although I have the heart to see the grace for the sake of this beautiful little lady, but I can't hold the upper family down." Besides, you asked your relatives to send that kid to the army, do you really think that Master Zhou doesn't know this idea? It's just that he doesn't know where to go, and he doesn't pay off his debts, and this delay has been more than half a year! ”

"This ......" the old woman said, it is indeed inappropriate to be in arrears like this, but there is no choice but to have four walls, where will the money come from to pay off the debt?

"But ......" The man suddenly put on a malicious smile, and his restless eyes glanced at the woman in Tsing Yi again, "I think this little lady looks pretty good, I heard that the young master of the Zhou family is missing a few concubines, if it is ......"

"Swallow is still mourning for her father." The old woman seemed to have suddenly touched the sore spot, her face changed sharply, and her eyes were fierce for a moment, but before the other two found out, she had already regained her flattering expression, and this instantaneous change only happened in her eyes, and her complexion did not change at all from beginning to end.

She had changed her mind, and with a trembling hand into her waist, laboriously pulled out a little bit of silver, and carefully weighed the weight.

Where did the man wait, stretched out his hand and snatched the silver, weighed it in his hand, only more, no less, ruffian smiled, immediately put it in his sleeve, turned around and left.

After walking a few steps, he didn't forget to glance back at the woman in Tsing Yi, and walked away with a whistle, "It turns out that she is the swallow, ha, Kefu Kefu, right?" It's so much fun! It's a pity that this good look! ”

The woman in Tsing Yi was even more confused, and her cloud-covered eyes flickered for a moment, looking at the direction where the man had left.

The old woman was so angry that she was trembling, her neck was bent and she couldn't speak, and her face turned red.

The woman looked back and noticed the old woman's strange appearance, and hurriedly reached out and patted her back gently, comforting her.

After a long while, the old woman breathed a sigh of relief, shook her hand on her chest and sighed, "This silver has more than the principal and interest!" He robbed them all, what will he use to buy rice and plant it in a few days? ”

"Mother, you can dissipate your anger, you can save again when the silver is gone, if your body has three lengths and two shorts, you can't draw it." The woman raised her eyebrows, her tone was a little jerky, and then she lowered her head to wring the clothes in her hand.

The old woman slowed down, looked at her daughter beside her with a little surprise, her eyes lit up, and she instantly returned to normal, "Yanzi, your speech has changed, this scene of illness, people suddenly understood." ”

The woman smiled secretly bitterly, and her elegant eyebrows were lightly constricted, which was naturally different from before.

She is at a loss now, she obviously doesn't belong here, but her previous memory is very vague, and she only faintly finds two words in her memory, called "crossing". As for how she came here, what her original name was, and what her experience was, she had forgotten it cleanly, and the past was like a blank sheet of paper to her, without a word.

And now she is called "Zhu Yan", and her milk name is about the "swallow" called by this old woman, she has been weak and sick since she was a child, and her heart is heavy, and she finally has a serious illness at the age of eighteen.

She only felt a deep sleep, and she didn't know how long she slept, but when she woke up early yesterday morning, she found herself in an ordinary farm yard.

The old woman in ancient costumes, the old-fashioned bed tents, tables and chairs all remind her of the authenticity of this incident, and she can't accept it if she wants to accept it.