In just a few days, Zhang Yuanwai, who was only in his fifties, was like an eighty-year-old man, with a thick sense of death all over his body, and he couldn't do anything to raise his strength, just like an old man who was about to die.

"Daddy, drink tea." Zhang Yuanwai, who was reading a book, heard a call, and a small hand held a tea bowl and handed it to him, the little hand was still a little trembling, Zhang Yuanwai raised his head, but it was his daughter Zhang Xin'er, but this daughter who loved cleanliness the most in Pingsuli is now like a little flower cat.

Zhang Yuanwai took the tea bowl and took a sip of tea soup, "Well, you made it yourself?" ”

Zhang Yuanwai always lets the kitchen put a lot of spices when he drinks tea on weekdays, because he is very heavy, and others are very difficult to stand his taste, the tea he drinks today is quite bitter, very light, not as rich as in the past, but he feels good when he drinks it today, it may be that the big changes in the family have made him change a lot.

"Daddy, isn't it delicious?" Zhang Xin'er blinked her big eyes, although the little girl had a round smile, her eyes were big and she looked very cute.

"No, it's delicious, it's okay to make tea for my dad in the future."

"Yes." Zhang Xin'er ran back happily, and the lady who was watching from behind also breathed a sigh of relief, for a period of time, these things weighed her down, she was too tired and tired.

"Master, I have something to tell you." The old servant ran in suddenly, and could see that his eyes were still a little red and swollen, and his face was a little nervous.

"What's wrong again?" Zhang Yuanwai, who had drunk tea, looked a little stronger.

"When I went to the town today, I saw a lot of scholars gathering, in groups of three or five." The old servant bowed down and said, "The master also knows that we are in the poor countryside, even if it is very good to have a scholar, there are still groups of three or five, this is a big thing." ”

"Anything familiar?"

"I haven't found it."

"Ying Shang, have you ever heard of this name?"

"Ying Xiang? I haven't heard of it, but if there is indeed a Ying family, it is not very good, but the family history is a Confucian family. ”

"It's okay, you run more for a while, contact friends, in case of emergency."

The old servant's eyes widened a little when he heard him, but he didn't ask much, "No." ”

That night, Zhang Yuanwai let out a message, dismissed the servants, gave them money, and told them to go back and leave immediately.

The next day, Zhang Xin'er looked at the empty mansion and was still a little confused, fortunately, before making a fortune, Mrs. Zhang was also a good hand in the kitchen, and it was not a problem to deal with the family's food and drink, and at the same time, Zhang Xin'er was asked to help in the kitchen, and the old servant left before dawn in the morning.

After half a month of this kind of day, Mrs. Zhang told Zhang Yuanwai that there was almost no surplus food at home, and she went to the village several times to buy food but could not buy food, and everyone saw her as if they saw a flood beast, and there were guards waiting at the entrance of the village, saying that the plague was rampant outside, and no one was allowed to enter or leave, but she clearly saw several groups of people in the distance who were blind to the random entry and exit, and how could they get to her and just couldn't get by.

After telling Zhang Yuanwai about this, all he got was a long sigh and a sentence, "Rest early." ”

Zhang Yuanwai knew that he was being targeted, and it was worth what they were waiting for, and at the same time he was waiting, until one night, an uninvited guest broke into the house, a fierce short fight, and the horizontal meat on his face made people look so frightened, Mrs. and Zhang Xin'er hid behind Zhang Yuanwai and did not dare to show up, but Zhang Yuanwai continued to eat the tasteless food on the table, not in a hurry.

"It's a guest from afar, why don't you have a drink together?" Zhang Yuanwai raised his wine glass, as if the other side was not a bandit with a full face, but an old friend he hadn't seen for many years.

The man grinned, and the big yellow teeth made the lady who was secretly looking at him exclaim, and shrank behind her husband again, and the man walked to the table and looked at the food on this table, not to mention, each of which was still very little.

"Why can't you open the pot?" The man glanced at the food on the table and didn't want to eat it, so he raised his glass and took a sip of wine, "Good wine." ”

"That's all there is to it at home." Zhang Yuanwai drank wine slowly, and ate two bites of side dishes from time to time.

"You fried four dishes of cabbage, what did your cook think?" The man really didn't understand when he saw that he ate all the boiled cabbage with relish.

"Aren't you satisfied with Chinese cabbage to eat?"

"That's right." The man took a sip of the wine glass again, but he didn't feel very enjoyable, so he simply threw it away, reached out and took the wine jug and drank it vigorously with his neck up.

"I don't know where my brother is?" Zhang Yuanwai looked at the arrogance of the person opposite and asked with a smile.

"I don't dare to say it." The man put down the empty flask, burped and said, "I'm afraid you'll settle accounts with me afterwards." ”

"Do I have an afterthought?"

"I think it's gone, but who can say this kind of thing, others don't know you, which of our reckless brothers in Youzhou doesn't know your prestige?" The man stared at the fat man in front of him with burning eyes, this fat man was a businessman back then, but he was out of the way, and everywhere he passed was unimpeded, no matter black or white, which did not give him some face.

"Hehe, is there anything else you want to say?"

"Don't think about any reinforcements, I came here today to remind you that those old guys you were looking for were stopped by someone and couldn't get over, as for which old servant..." ”

Zhang Yuanwai picked up his glass again, "The old man thought of this day the moment he came to settle in Youzhou, I was too selfish and implicated my wife, son and daughter. ”

"Hey." The man walked over the wall, "There was a bag of grain and some game outside the door, which I hunted when I came, and it was given to that little girl." ”

When the man was far away, Mrs. opened her mouth to say something, but in the end she didn't say anything, but ran out of the door and saw the man waiting on a horse, and when she saw Mrs. Zhang come out, she grinned, and jumped off her, and the man threw out two bags, and then turned around and patted the horse and left.

Mrs. Zhang took the bag back, one bag had at least more than 20 catties of dry food, and the other list still had blood stains, which should be the game he said.

"Sir." Mrs. looked at this old guy who had lived with him for more than twenty or thirty years, he was still an ignorant girl, and the village was in a bad situation, because he grew up and smelly, and no one wanted to have it, so he wandered alone and didn't say anything, and one day he picked up this guy back, and he slept all day long, and was the same as a pig, and he relied on himself, and finally ate all his food, and ate himself.

has lived with him for so many years, from two guys who have nothing, and slowly became a rich man, although he is not rich, but he is more than the next, his son was also promoted, and he can be regarded as getting ahead, he is old, and he gave birth to a little girl, who is sensible and pitiful.

"Don't say more, a husband is your husband, nothing else."

"Yes."

Both of them couldn't sleep for a long time that night, and Mrs. also tossed and turned, looking at her husband who was breathing smoothly next to her, and the husband and wife for many years let her know that her husband was not actually asleep, but just forced to calm down, and he hadn't slept peacefully for a long time.

"Master, do you think we can still live?"

"I can't." The seemingly sleeping old man replied neatly, "I'm sorry." ”

"Fool, if it weren't for you, I wouldn't have known where I starved to death, and after living for so long, I would have been enough for a long time, but Xin'er was still young."

"Don't worry, she'll be fine." Zhang Yuanwai said very surely.

"Yes." Mrs. Zhang replied, then stopped talking, and slowly the two fell asleep.

After two days, the gathering of scholars began outside their door, and then began to denounce themselves, Zhang Yuanwai saw clearly in the courtyard, the corners of his mouth kept sneering, and Mrs. Zhang was by his side, holding his arm tightly.

Zhang Yuanwai saw the Ying Sheng who had come to his house before, and he looked like he was indeed their leader, but he was definitely not their initiator, with him, he couldn't do this.

He saw an old man again, it was not difficult for a young man to be able to blend in at this time, but an old man who could blend in seemed to be someone with some identity.

Then he saw another old man, and said that Ying Shang was speechless, although it was far away, but he saw clearly, the old man was very decent, and there was one, and the only young man who appeared alone, his eyes never left the righteous old man, and he knew that his daughter's chance to live had come.

After that, he made a play to attract Li Wei's attention, he had explained to his daughter many times before, it was very difficult to fool other people, but it was not difficult for a young man, and sure enough, under his continuous guidance, Li Li took away his daughter, and he could finally rest assured, looking at that young man, he did not look like a cunning and evil man.

After sending away his daughter, he could finally put his mind at ease, and then began to decorate the mourning hall, and the husband and wife could no longer buy white cloths, because the whole village from that day on, all the people who sold goods not only saw them as if they were beasts of a flood as before, but also had a trace of vigilance and strangeness in their eyes.

He knew that the words of "Ying Xiang" that day had an effect, there is nothing in this world that is only right and wrong, people are more willing to believe what they want to believe, as for the rest, they don't care, people begin to doubt, they begin to re-examine his arrival, from new memories and everything about him, when doubts begin to appear, then everything will become false.

They have changed from fear to strangeness, from passive resistance to self-resistance to active resistance to themselves, when a village begins to doubt and reject itself, then his life really becomes difficult to move an inch.

Until three days ago, there was really no surplus food in her family, and the long-term worry finally made Mrs. Zhang sick, there was no food and no one was willing to treat her, and it was even rumored that Mrs. Zhang was infected with the plague, which made the already difficult two even more embarrassed.

Zhang Fatzi, who has not begged for half a life, begged everyone around him in just three days, and trampled his face under his feet with his own hands.

He begged his neighbors and begged them to give him some food, but all he got was the cold gate, and he knelt down and kowtowed to them, begging, but he didn't get a mouthful of food, and even if anyone saw them from afar, they would avoid them, and everyone would avoid them as a plague.

He wanted to go out with his wife on his back, but a group of guards forced them back with cold knives, and he knelt down for those people to make way for his wife, but no one cared about him, he forced his way but was stopped, and his wife was almost taken away and burned to death by the villagers, so frightened that he hurriedly carried his wife home.

In just three days, he knelt down too many times, begged too many people, his voice was hoarse, and he lost too much weight.

But this prayer still didn't get even a grain of grain or a single herb, and he could only watch his wife's face get worse and worse, and her body became weaker and weaker.

The only food he wanted was given by the fool in the village who had been begging for food at his door all day, a dirty multigrain cake, which was his ration for the day.

In the end, Mrs. Zhang, who was terminally ill, smiled and gently stroked the fat man's face and said, "It turns out that my husband is so good-looking when he loses weight." Then the hand hung down, and the whole person was silent, and the lady's eyes were still open, as if she wanted to look at herself more, and hated her husband for so many years.

Zhang Fatzi, who forced a smile on his face, closed the eyes of his favorite wife with his own hands, demolished several of his doors, and made two thin-skinned coffins, one for his wife and the other for his son and daughter-in-law's clothes, the coffins were very simple and could even be said to be ugly, but he couldn't let his wife and children die without a stable place.

He found a brazier, no one sold him any paper money ingots, no one gave him a white cloth spirit flag, and the extremely simple mourning hall was arranged, and he was keeping a vigil for them.

He burned some dead branches and leaves in the brazier, and some of the books and toys that his son read when he was a child, and told them the story between them, and no one bothered them until Fan Ze arrived.

Listening to Zhang Fatzi finish talking about everything during this time, Fan Ze, who was resting against the pillar like him, also sat up straight and was silent.

After Zhang Fatzi finished speaking, and the wine was finished, Fan Ze got up silently and went to the wine cellar to bring two more jars of wine and put them in front of him, "Drink, maybe it's good for you to be drunk." ”

"Thank you."

"I'll find a way to get you something to eat, there should be a lot of chickens and dogs in the village."

"I don't eat their stuff!" Zhang Fatzi suddenly said, "Don't worry, I'll be hungry for a few more days, just come over on time tomorrow!" ”

"Yes." Fan Ze nodded, then turned to leave.

This night, Zhang Fatzi drank a lot of wine, and the two large jars were drunk by him, but he still didn't get drunk.

Early the next morning, Zhang Fatzi went back to the back hall to boil some hot water by himself, then took a good bath, and then changed into clean and comfortable clothes.

Then he took out a dusty box from under the bed, patted the dust on it, opened the box, took out a piece of exquisite jade from it and hung it on his waist, took out a sparkling hairpin inlaid with an extra-large gem and tied up his hair, and then took out a pile of golden name stickers, if you look closely, it is a pile of famous thorns.

Zhang Fatzi, who cleaned himself up, cleaned the mourning hall, and then opened the main door and walked out.

Along the way, the villagers looked at the fat man who had a new look and a stiff head, and their eyes widened one by one, they had known each other for so long, and they had never seen him like this.

Zhang Fatzi walked to the door of a relatively neat and wide courtyard, stretched out his hand and knocked on the door, but no one answered.

"Zhongshan Zhang Shiping asks to see Runan Yingjia Yingsheng Gongzi!"

There was still no answer behind the door.

"Zhongshan Zhang Shiping asks to see Runan Yingjia Yingsheng Gongzi!"

The courtyard was still silent.

"Zhongshan Zhang Shiping begged to see Han..."

Before he finished shouting this time, the courtyard door was opened, and a sturdy man walked out, "My son-in-law invited Mr. Zhang to come in and talk." ”

Zhang Shiping followed him into the courtyard, and after entering the main hall, he saw the son-in-law of the Ying family, Ying Xiang, who had come to visit him before, sitting on the main seat.

Zhang Shiping just appeared in the hall, silently looking at the group of people in front of him, and he was also the group of people who forced themselves to ruin their homes.

"Mr. Zhang, I really didn't expect to see the world-famous businessmen in this poor and remote place, when someone told..."Ying Shang looked a little excited, but halfway through the words, he knew that something was wrong, so he quickly stopped, "Mr. Zhang, please take a seat." ”

Zhang Shiping was not hypocritical, he found a vacant seat and sat down, picked up the teacups and snacks and fruits on the table and ate them, without worrying about his safety at all.

"Mr. Zhang is here, do you have anything to say to us?" Ying Shang looked at Zhang Shiping, who was eating and drinking.

"Are you sure you want me to say it here?" Zhang Shiping glanced at Ying Xiang, and also at the guards in this room.

Ying Sheng was a little embarrassed on his face, and he couldn't make up his mind, hesitated for a while, waved his hand to let the guards retreat, and then said to Zhang Shiping, "Now Mr. Zhang can say that there are no outsiders here." ”

Then Ying Sheng pointed to the only middle-aged man left, "This is the head of my family, who has followed my Ying family for many years, and is absolutely loyal and loyal..."

"Anyway, he is also an important minister, when did he fall to being a housekeeper for others?" Zhang Shiping interrupted Ying Shang's words and continued to eat the pastries on the table, "Although I don't know which one you are, since I was liquidated by the Zhen family, I have lived in seclusion for so many years, and there are not many people who can know me, and there are not many who know me and are willing to go to such great lengths to toss me." ”

Zhang Shiping was a little embarrassed, looking at the middle-aged man in the corner now, "I always thought that I should have nothing to worry about, I don't know what Your Excellency's order is?" ”

The middle-aged man raised his head, revealing a face that was a little old, but still very handsome, "An address!" ”