It was dark, except for the snowflakes fluttering in the twilight.

The cold wind wrapped the snowflakes in their faces, necks, and collars. Huzi didn't have time to pay attention, he held the barrel in his left hand, and leaned forward with his right hand, which was full of chilblains, black, red, swollen, and fat, which formed a strong contrast with his black and thin body.

Lying on the edge of the pond was a toad, black, chubby, covered with terrifying black bumps, but in the eyes of the tiger, it was a supreme delicacy.

As soon as the hand touched the slippery and greasy feeling, he grabbed it violently, and the toad struggled desperately with his limbs in his hand, Huzi quickly lifted the lid of the bucket, threw the toad in, and firmly covered it, there were already seven or eight toads in it, this time it was alarmed, and it was scurrying around in the bucket.

The barrel was shaky, ready to be poured out at any time, Huzi had experience, his arm was bent, the tip of his elbow was pressed against the lid, and after a while, the movement was small, and Huzi waded through the knee-deep pond water, continuing to look for the next target.

The wind was blowing, the snow was drifting, but he didn't feel the slightest chill.

He had been waiting for this day for a long time.

From the thirtieth year of the Chinese New Year's Eve, he began to count with his fingers, and counted until the seventeenth of the first month, and finally he waited.

After the beginning of spring, the head is snowy.

The yellow clam went down the mountain to make a head.

It is said that it is because Huang Chao kills too many people, and the women are old and weak standing in rows, beheading like mowing grass.

The toad, which was supposed to wait until the spring flowers bloomed to come out of the hole, couldn't help but jump out and substitute food for the blood of the common people.

This day is Jiayin Day.

In order to commemorate the day of suffering, people call the toad that came out of the hole on this day Huang Cai (clam), and prey on it, it is strange to say, every day, the sky will fall snow.

The old man said that this is the same sorrow of heaven and earth.

Huzi is his nickname, and his big name is Jiayin.

It is said that his grandfather picked him up when he was catching yellow clams, and this name made him very uncomfortable and never mentioned it to outsiders.

Huzi took advantage of the sky to catch a large bucket full of yellow clams, and saw that it was dark and the bucket could no longer be filled, so he came out of the pool with regret, shook his legs, put on straw sandals, and walked to the village by the light of snow.

The spring snow is hard to accumulate, the road is full of mud, and when he returns to the village, the whole person has become a mud figure, he stopped in front of the grass hut with fire under the third stove at the entrance of the village, and shouted: "Third uncle, haven't you eaten yet, do you want to eat yellow clams?" ”

A voice sounded in the house: "No, I just came back from the city, and I was lighting a fire, and you went to catch it when the snow fell, how much?" ”

A tall and thin figure walked out of the dark grass hut, and his facial features could not be seen clearly in the dark, only his eyes gleamed in the reflection of the snow.

"Many, it's a big bucket full, I should have brought two buckets."

"Then kill four and eat, you can also eat here, there is something to discuss."

Huzi put down the bucket and rubbed the crook of his arm: "Okay, kill all the yellow clams in this bucket, and catch them again tomorrow morning." ”

The third uncle patted him on the skull angrily, "It's too hot, my stomach can't bear it, you go back and wash it, I'll fix this yellow clam." ”

Huzi turned around and left, returned to his shed, wiped his body with cold water, changed into a clean torn cotton clothes, and suddenly felt a warmth, but he was still barefoot with straw sandals, and when he arrived at the third uncle's house, he took off the straw sandals, roasted them vertically under the stove hole, and warmed up by the stove with his feet.

The third uncle has already killed more than a dozen yellow clams, and he is busy peeling and breaking his belly.

Huzi didn't help, he liked to catch yellow clams, and he liked to eat, but he didn't dare to kill.

Killing the yellow clam to behead him, he was soft when he first went under the knife, the yellow clam desperately used his two forelimbs against the blade, his eyes were wide open, and the despair before death deeply defeated him, and he never used the knife again.

The old man said that yellow clams are human.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have come out of the hole to save people, which made him unable to figure it out, since he had saved people, why did he have to kill it, and the old people couldn't answer, only that after that kind of misery to the point of despair, he could understand this truth.

Huzi sometimes thinks, no matter how bitter it is, is it as bitter as it is now, cooking wild vegetables in a red pot and have to pick out.

The third uncle came back from outside the door, holding a knife in one hand and a large basin of washed yellow clam meat in the other, and was about to pour it into the pot. ”

"Don't worry, I know that you can't see the four-handed-four-legged person, it's divided into four pieces."

Huzi put his mind at ease, put firewood in the stove, and saw that the third uncle held the salt shaker and pulled it out with a wooden spoon a few times, pouring all the coarse salt that was left, and exclaimed: "Third uncle......"

"Have a good meal, the third uncle also sold wine."

"Got rich, third uncle?"

The third uncle didn't answer, but only looked at the steaming pot in a daze.

After a while, the smell of meat began to permeate, and the third uncle stirred it with a shovel and said, "Let's eat here, I can't afford to cook, accompany the third uncle to have a drink, and wait for the meat to finish before putting the slag noodles." ”

The two of them sat down by the stove, one occupied a corner, the chopsticks were like flying, they ate seven or eight pieces of meat first, and Fang took a sip of the wine bowl, the aroma of wine mixed with the aroma of meat, indescribably happy.

The third uncle sighed and said: "In this world, there is no way to live, uncle is going to do a big deal, do you want to do it?" ”

"What kind of deal?"

"You take the bill left by your grandfather tomorrow, if Gong Laojiu gives money, everything will be closed, if you don't give it, everything will be closed, Lao Tzu will give him a white knife to go in, and a red knife to come out."

Huzi's hand trembled, the chopsticks were loosened into the pot, and he hurriedly probed and caught it, and said in surprise: "Murder is a crime, and you will be beheaded in prison." ”

The third uncle buried his head and drank a big sip of wine, held his breath for a while, and said hatefully: "This nest has been holding my breath for too long, I have worked hard to plant the field, the millet is not ripe, either the bandits are coming or the army is coming, I don't have a bite to chew, I look forward to next year this year, next year and the year after, every year." ”

"Why do we work in vain every year and go hungry every day, why do you ask your grandfather to give his life for the sixteen taels of silver, Gong Laojiu said that if you don't give it, you won't give it?"

"Don't worry, the third uncle has investigated, the old dragon in Bianliang City has died, and the new emperor has ascended the Jinluan Palace and issued an edict, this decree is the way for you and me to live, and you don't have to be afraid to kill someone."

Huzi looked at the third uncle in a daze, under the reflection of the flickering firelight, the third uncle's innocent face suddenly became hideous and terrifying, and his body subconsciously shrank back, and asked, "What order?" ”

"The Holy Lord has expanded the forbidden army, just to see if you are agile and brave, even if you are a thief in the mountains and forests, a person who kills people and sets fires, as long as you are recruited, all your sins are gone."

"Huh?!"

"Originally, I didn't believe it, but Niu Er, who went down to the field, broke into Sun's house with a knife in the morning, and killed seven of his family in a row, and his mother-in-law still dragged him to the hall to scourge the knife first and then wiped it, so he went to the recruiting office in a bloody way, and the people still received it, less than half an hour, put on a military uniform, and stood on the street with a high spirit, the Sun family had no choice, it was useless to sue the official, the official had a recruitment task, how dare he resist the order."

Huzi's face was full of disbelief, "That Niu Er is so bad, how could the imperial court want someone like him to enter the forbidden army." ”

The third uncle took a piece of yellow clam meat and ate it, spit out the fine bones with a pop, and said: "I didn't believe it at first, but then it sounded reliable." ”

"The old emperor Guo Wei's family was killed by the former Han Emperor, and it was his fake son Jin Wang Rong who ascended the throne at the moment, I heard that the Manchu Dynasty was not convinced by many people, the old emperor had a son-in-law and a nephew, why should it be his turn to sit on the throne?"

Huzi said: "And then the new emperor will recruit troops in a mess?" ”

"Can't be wrong, he wants to protect the throne, but this is also our chance, give the third uncle a word, do you want to do it?"

Huzi's heart began to beat violently, and the sixteen taels of silver bill was a huge pain in his heart.

The old man has been a soldier all his life, and the silver he saved after breaking a leg is stored in the pawnshop in Xiayi City, and he thought it was the most reassuring.

In order to save food, the old man ate too much unsalted river mussel meat, and there were worms in his stomach, his abdomen was distended like a drum, and he was reluctant to move the silver when he died.

It is useless for Huzi to look for Lizheng and look for the yamen, and it is useless for the third uncle and a few other good family members to accompany each other to make trouble.

People say that this is his old man's property, not a cat and a dog can come to take it casually, the pawnshop should be creditable, to ensure the safety of the guest's property, and he is not allowed to collect it on his behalf.

But how can a person be resurrected after death!

This is angry.

But there is no way, people have nursing homes, they are covered by the government, they are rich and powerful, they can't argue at all, and the matter is gradually dragged down, but this depression is getting stronger and stronger with the suffering of hard days.

Huzi picked up the bowl, wiped the wine clean, and said, "Listen to you, third uncle, just him." ”

……………………………………………………

"The Book of the Later Week"...... The emperor is a brave and brave man who is mostly out of the group of thieves, so he is recruited by the order, and those who respond to the order will be punished by the penis, and they will be punished by the guards, until one day they will be killed and plundered, and the army will be promoted at dusk, and they will not dare to look up to them......"