For the first time, Eagle Guard blocked this man who was shouting Young Master Gu in his mouth.

Qingshu and Qingyang stopped and turned their faces in surprise to look at the man on the side of the road.

This is a square-faced man, twenty-three or four-year-old. He is quite tall, but his whole face is yellow and thin, and I don't know if he is sick or because he can't eat. He was dressed in washed, faded coarse cloth with at least five patches on it. Even the shoes he wore on his feet were patched.

Probably realized that I was reckless, or some other reason. The look of surprise in the square-faced man's eyes faded, he confessed, and retreated with a disillusioned face. He stopped beside a little girl who was kneeling on the side of the road and picked her up.

This little girl, who is only five or six years old, is also yellow and thin. Her hair was a little yellow, and she wore a patched floral garment. At this moment, with a stick of grass stuck in her head, she was looking at them timidly with tears in her eyes. The viewer couldn't help but feel a little pity.

Qing Shu and the others looked at it a few times and prepared to walk away.

At this time, the man choked up and shouted, "Sell the little girl to bury the mother, two taels, two taels of silver, please be kind to the lord, lady, young lady, young master, do well, buy the little girl!" ”

Qingyang, who had taken a step, stopped and looked back.

The little girl looked timidly at the passers-by and spoke in a weeping voice, "Sell yourself to grandma, give grandma," she sniffed, "mourning." This was obviously taught by an adult.

Qingyang looked at the little girl, then at the expressionless Qingshu, and then involuntarily touched the money bag on his body.

Luo Xiaorong and Qing Hao saw his action, turned their faces and looked at the little girl who was going to sell their bodies a few more times.

At this time, Steward Ding quietly said something to Xiao Juan, who was accompanying him. Xiao Juan looked at the square-faced man in surprise, then took a few steps forward and whispered to Qingshu.

Qing Shu listened, turned his face to look at Steward Ding, "Didn't admit your mistake?" ”

Steward Ding replied respectfully, "The little one didn't admit his mistake. ”

Qing Shu groaned slightly, and instructed Ding to take charge, "You go over and see what's going on." Then he called Qingyang, "Let's go!" ”

Qingyang's hand was still on the money bag. He hesitated for a moment and asked Qing Shu in a low voice, "Give twenty copper plates, okay?" ”

Qing Shu shook his head, and then took the lead and walked away.

Qingyang saw it, didn't ask any more questions, and followed with Luo Xiaorong.

They walked unhurriedly. After a while, Steward Ding caught up. Qing Shu motioned for him to step forward. Steward Ding naturally didn't dare to slack off, stepped forward, and respectfully followed Qing Shu's side.

"What's going on?"

Qing Shu's question was asked, attracting the sideways glances of several of them in Qingyang.

Steward Ding said, "This person is indeed from Fengjia Village." His name is Feng Huzi, and he is Shanzi's good brother. He said that there was a flood here this year, and the water receded quickly, but the grain production was halved. After paying the government's taxes and grain, they only had a few buckets of grain left, and the people couldn't survive. In order to survive, in order to prevent their children from starving to death, many people sold their sons and daughters. He insisted on keeping the child with him. It's just that yesterday he was gone. He didn't have the money to bury the old man, so he came to this point. ”

Qing Shu was silent.

Steward Ding's voice lowered, "Miss, his mother, she starved to death in order to save a bite to eat for her grandchildren." His daughter-in-law was also too hungry to get up. ”

Qing Shu's voice was faint, with a hint of sadness, "How is the Shanzi family?" When they left Beijing, it rained one day, so they stayed in the home of Shanzi, a villager from Zhuanghu.

Shanzi's grandparents felt like they were a drag and almost hanged themselves. Shanzi found out early and saved the person. The situation is not very good. ”

If you don't know each other, you just don't care if you close your eyes. However, Steward Ding recognized Huzi, and Huzi recognized Qingyang. She couldn't turn a blind eye, "Give him a tael of silver and let him go back to bury the old man." people, but we don't want them, we don't lack girls. ”

Steward Ding agreed and went back to do what Qingshu explained.

At this time, Qingyang and the others all followed Qingshu quietly, and they were not in the mood to hang out at all. Qing Shu didn't want to go back the same way, and he didn't want to meet Feng Huzi's father and daughter. So they made a detour back to the inn. And they were greeted by Steward Ding with an expression of doing something wrong. At the feet of Steward Ding stood a little girl with teary eyes and a little girl with a stick of grass on her head.

Qing Shu frowned, "What's the matter?" ”

Steward Ding's head hung low, "According to the instructions of the young lady, the little one gave Feng Huzi a tael of silver and asked him to take it back to bury the old man." At the same time, it is clear that Miss is not short of girls, so she will not buy this girl. Who would have thought that Feng Huzi kowtowed, said a few words to this girl, took the silver, left the girl and ran away. The little one went to chase, and the girl ran behind crying, and fell down. The small, the little one turned around to help her and chased the person away. ”

Qingyang was very angry, and puffed out his little face angrily, "He's bad, he doesn't want a daughter." ”

Wow, the little girl cried, and retorted in a small voice, "Daddy is good, Daddy is good, you are bad, you are bad." ”

Qingyang was dumbfounded. And Luo Xiaorong and Qing Hao's reaction was to quickly cover their ears and hide behind Qingyang.

Qing Shu sighed, "Xiaoyang, her father is not bad, her father will leave her for her good." Probably thinking that the girl would at least have something to eat with us; If you bring it back, I'm afraid there will be no way to live, and it will be a matter of time before you starve to death. ”

Qingyang was stunned.

The little girl was not only grateful to Qing Shu for her father's defense, but cried even louder.

Qing Shu pressed the corner of his forehead, "Take her to eat something and send her home tomorrow." ”

As soon as she heard that she could go home, the little girl's crying gradually weakened, and she sniffed, and wiped her tears and snot with her sleeve.

Qingshu didn't say anything more, and took Qingyang and them upstairs.

Bu Wu stood on the corridor and looked at them with a smile, "I heard that you bought a little girl?" ”

Qing Shu was depressed, mumbled, said that he was tired, and went into his room.

Early the next morning, they left the town and continued on their way. Six or seven miles out of town, there is a forest. As the carriage and horses walked through the woods, Qing Shu remembered what had happened here in the first place. It was in this woods that their group of Gufu was ambushed in broad daylight. At that time, it was Zhou Boyan who used their people as bait, which led to a group of local bandits who were the cause of trouble, and they were all wiped out. Although it is a good thing to be able to catch all the bandits, they were used as bait by Zhou Boyan without knowing it. For this, she was angry enough.

At that time, she didn't want to see Zhou Boyan at all. Now, she left her heart on Zhou Boyan. If there is no accident, in the future, she will be Zhou Boyan's wife.

Passing through the woods, the scattered adobe houses of Fengjia Village can be seen in the distance.

Steward Ding hurried a few steps, followed to Qingshu's carriage, and called out to Miss.

Qing Shu in the carriage listened and said, "Go!" Come back soon. ”

Steward Ding responded, took the little girl of Feng Huzi's family with him, and called a family member, and the three of them went to Fengjia Village together. Two years have passed, and Fengjia Village has not become rich, but has become more and more impoverished due to the floods. After entering the village, Steward Ding couldn't remember the location of Shanzi's house, so he asked the little girl next to him, "How do you get to Shanzi's house?" The little girl seemed to be a little confused, and he asked again, "How do you go to Uncle Shanzi's house?" Recognizable or not? ”

The little girl seemed to react, nodded, and then pointed to the east.

Soon, Steward Ding found Shanzi's house. He asked aloud, "Is anyone home?" He pushed open the fence door. The courtyard is still the same yard, and it is very big for the villagers. It's just that the courtyard walls and houses are more broken than two years ago.

The door of the hall opened, and a man came out. His square face was dark, and he had the same yellow and thin face as Feng Huzi. On his body, the feeling of straightforwardness that he once gave people was much lighter, and it seemed to be diluted by a depressing, sluggish thing. It turned out that the tall and strong man, because of hunger, bent his back.

Steward Ding tentatively shouted, "Brother Shanzi." ”

Feng Shanzi was stunned, and when he saw Steward Ding's appearance clearly, especially the scar on Steward Ding's face, a look of surprise appeared in his eyes, "You are, you are Young Master Gu's person." Please, come in. While warmly inviting people in, he shouted into the house, "Little grass girl, come out quickly, there are guests at home." ”

An emaciated woman walked out quickly, holding a one-year-old boy in her arms. She asked gently, "Is it from my mother's house?" When I saw the little girl standing next to Steward Ding and Steward Ding, I was stunned, "This is ......"

A little girl who looked like she was five or six years old came out after the woman, and happily shouted to the little girl, "Xiaohua, aren't you happy?" "Yesterday evening, she went to Uncle Huzi's house to look for Xiaohua. Huzi said that Xiaohua went to a big family to enjoy happiness and never came back.

The little girl, that is, Feng Xiaohua, she sniffed, "I want to go home." Then he turned around and ran out.

The family Ding who came with him wanted to chase after him, but Steward Ding stopped him, "I was going to send someone back, let her go!" ”

Shanzi and his wife invited Steward Ding in. Then, Xiaocao's mother used a coarse porcelain bowl to hold a bowl of water for Steward Ding.

Steward Ding looked at the empty room and guessed that the things in the house were probably taken away. He retracted his gaze and went straight to the point, "That's right. Yesterday, our master was resting in the town and happened to meet your brother Feng Huzi. He asked for two taels of silver to sell his daughter. The young lady and the young master couldn't bear it, so they gave him a tael of silver, asked him to go home and bury the old man, and explained that they would not buy his daughter. It's just that he took the money, but he left his daughter and ran away. ”

Shanzi didn't speak. Feng Huzi quietly told him about this last night. Seeing that Steward Ding led Xiaohua over, he also guessed that people didn't want Xiaohua. People don't want small flowers, but Huzi spends the silver, what should I do? He couldn't help but pull his hair.

"A foil is a foil, but the master won't buy a little girl. Now that they've been sent back, you can talk to your brother later. Steward Ding took out five taels of broken silver from his sleeve pocket, "Take care of the family, grit your teeth, and start spring." When spring opens, you won't be afraid of going hungry. "With wild herbs and weeds to eat, people can live.

Shanzi hugged his head and said with a painful face, "Steward Ding, we can't ask for this silver, take it, take it back!" "He doesn't want to sell his sons and daughters, but can he really feed his children?

"Don't think it's for you, it's lent to you. The master said, when you get through the difficulties, work hard, and life will be better in three or two years. After three years, the master will send someone over, and when the time comes, you will have to pay back the five taels of silver you borrowed. Speaking of this, Steward Ding took out two taels of broken silver, "This, give it to Feng Huzi." In this way, he owes our master three taels of silver. Again, it was returned after three years. ”

Hearing this, Shanzi Huo Di raised his head, "Borrow, borrowed?" The color of surprise in his eyes was so bright.

"Yes, it's borrowed. Hurry up and put it away, save it, and the family will always get through it. ”

Shanzi shook his hand and picked up the silver, "Thank you for your master's life-saving grace, thank you." His lady covered her mouth and burst into tears. Although the grass is small, he also knows that silver can be exchanged for food. She looked straight at the silver and held back to keep herself from swallowing.

Shanzi said excitedly, "Wait, wait, Steward Ding, then, I'll go to Xiucai's house and ask Xiucai to write a loan deed." I drew a charge, drew a charge, and returned the silver after three years. ”

Steward Ding held him down, "Shanzi, no need, the master said it, I can trust you." It is because he can trust you that the master will give him silver when he saw the tiger in distress yesterday. After that, he stood up, "Go on, don't be discouraged." I have to go back, the master is in a hurry, and it is difficult to catch up after a long delay. ”

Shanzi and Xiaocaoniang tried their best to stay, but Steward Ding said that the master couldn't wait, and said goodbye and left Fengjia Village in a hurry. Shanzi was grateful, and sent Steward Ding out of the village until he couldn't see anyone, and he didn't turn home.

At this time, Feng Huzi, who saw his daughter coming home, ran to Shanzi's house. Shanzi handed over the two taels of silver given by Steward Ding to Huzi, and repeated Steward Ding's words, saying that both of them owed Young Master Gu the silver. Huzi was excited, shaking his hands and putting away the silver.

I have to say that Shanzi is a careful person. "Huzi, the whole village knows about yesterday's tael of silver, but today's tael, you have to collect it, buy a little grain, and don't let people find out. The mother-in-law at home must be instructed not to show it. Nowadays, everyone can't eat enough, and if it is exposed, it will cause trouble. You also know that your brothers are not worry-free, but they will rob it...... Your mother-in-law's mother-in-law's family can't let her know, it's not worry-free......"

Huzi listened instructively.

After sending the tiger away, Shanzi instructed Xiaocao to watch the door, and if anyone came to the house, remember to shout to tell them. Then, he went with Xiao Cao Niang to meet his grandparents who were lying weakly on the kang. With the silver, there is life-saving food, and their family of six has a way to live.

On the other side, Steward Ding ran away, and it didn't take long to catch up with the team and return to Qingshu.

Qing Shu listened to the situation of the Shanzi family and nodded, indicating that he understood. Food, food, it's really too important. Next year, she will plant bud grain. Because, for now, only bud grain has the highest yield. She gave Shanzi and Huzi's family life-saving silver, she has done her best, and what will happen to these two families after that depends on their own.