Shang Cheng didn't leave the temple fair immediately, just looked around, and looked for a few of his companions by the way. At this time, there are four or five thousand people on the site in front of Niangniang Temple, and it is as difficult as finding a needle in a haystack to find a few people. And as time went by, there were more and more people, and there were no people on the dozen or so small stages; On the main stage on the south side, three male characters with painted faces and flagpoles stood out, with the sound of gongs and drums spitting smoke and spitting fire, and the whole stage was filled with smoke and sparks, which obviously showed that this was the prologue of the finale of the seven-day continuous drama "Splitting the Mountain to Save the Mother".

Shang Cheng knew that "Splitting the Mountain to Save the Mother" was an adaptation of the Buddhist story Mulian to save the mother, and when he was a child, he watched a drama movie "Splitting Huashan" with his grandfather on the playground of the central school in the township, and this is the story. He doesn't have any hobby for opera, and he's not curious about this story, and he can't understand the rhetoric and singing of Youling on stage.

Suddenly, he felt someone pull his coat.

Thief? This thought flashed in his heart - although he hadn't met anyone who ran this business for more than half a year, not having met it didn't mean that there were none, there were so many people here, and it was hard to guarantee that there would be guys who did this kind of business; And he still has a heavy string of money hanging around his waist, about one hundred and thirty yuan, which is easy to be taken care of by thieves.

He hurriedly turned around, his hand pressed his waist as well. Fortunately, the money hasn't been stolen yet.

The person who ripped his clothes was dressed up in about the same costume as him. a somewhat dirty light brown half-sleeved linen sweat coat, a pair of fat coarse cloth trousers, the cuffs of which were rolled up to the knees, and a pair of old round-soled cloth shoes with bare feet; The sun-tanned face had a flattering smile and a string of copper coins in his hand.

He didn't know the man, and he couldn't remember where he had faced, so he had to ask, "What's the matter?" ”

The man smiled and pointed twice to a nearby food stall, quickly said something, and held up the money in his hand. Shang Cheng looked in the direction of his finger, and didn't see any acquaintances after walking around, so he had to turn around and look at him suspiciously. It seems that this guy has recognized the wrong person. He shook his head and said, "You recognized the wrong person." "Turn around and prepare to go back.

The man grabbed him again, apparently not wanting him to go, and shoved the string of money into Shang Cheng's hand.

Shang Cheng was baffled by his actions, and he was not angry, so he squeezed out of the venue while blocking it; The man followed him relentlessly, clinging to his arm, trying in vain to throw the string of money into his arms. At this time, some people around had already noticed the strange behavior of the two of them, and soon a small circle was formed, and they whispered as if they had seen something strange. Probably they have never seen such a thing: one is desperate to give money to someone else, and the other is desperate and unwilling to ask for it.

Shang Cheng really couldn't resist that guy, and he couldn't do it in public, so he had to stop and ask with a wry smile: "Big brother, I don't know you, what do you mean by giving me money for no reason?" The man wiped the sweat from his head and said, "This ...... This...... This...... Be...... Qian ...... "The more he talked, the more anxious he became, and he didn't explain it for a long time, but his face swelled red and purple.

"It turned out to be a stammer!" The people around laughed.

The man was coaxed together, his face was black, he didn't speak, he stomped down and threw the money in Shang Cheng's arms, and pulled away the crowd and wanted to go out. But where can he go? Even if Shang Cheng didn't stop him, the crowd around him wouldn't let him go easily - the tall man said that the two of them didn't know each other, and it was not common to give money to others for no reason, so there had to be a reason for doing so, right?

The man couldn't leave, so he had to dance with both hands and not accept the copper coins handed over by Shang Cheng; Shang Cheng thought that he had no grudge against that person, and he didn't have any strength, so as soon as he forced the money to that person, the man dragged him by the arm and didn't let him go, and he still grabbed the copper coin with one hand and stuffed it into his arms. The two of them were in a stalemate when a woman suddenly walked out of the crowd, and when she came over, she whipped the person with something as filthy as a rag, and said, "Dead ghost, the old lady is so busy over there that you are still wrestling with people here?" ”

As soon as she said this, many of the people around her laughed and fell. She is *** straight and not as tall as other people's shoulders, and now she is hanging on other people's arms, not letting people go, and what kind of wrestling and playing? If you really play a "wrestling game", isn't it the same as playing when someone throws at his man?

Shang Chengguan looked at this woman and was a little familiar, like the hostess of the noon beef noodle stall. Could it be that he didn't have enough money for wine and food at that time, and people came to the door to ask for it? As soon as this thought turned in his mind, he immediately denied it. If there was really less money for food, the man would not have been able to stuff him with any more money. But if he hadn't given less money, he really couldn't think of anything that these two people had to do with him - it couldn't be that he gave more money for food, and others came to make up for him, right? The thought in his mind was swirling, and he naturally had a little less strength in his hands, and the man immediately shoved the money into his hand, and grinned happily as if he had won a great victory.

Shang Cheng grabbed the money in his hand and cried and laughed: "What do you mean by this?" ”

The hostess of the beef noodle stall spoke very neatly, and explained the matter clearly in a few words: "The guests ate noodles and drank wine at our place at noon, and the money for the wine and noodles and beef was a total of 116 Wen, and when you left, you gave 264 Wen, and you should be made up for 148 Wen." I wanted your companion to bring you back, but the two guests said that they would not be the same as you, so we would give you the money directly. My man walked around the field several times in the afternoon, but he didn't meet you, and just now he finally caught a glimpse of you, and he rushed to give you money......" said and gave a salute, "My man can't speak, he must have misunderstood you - you take care of it." ”

Shang Chengdeng's mouth was so speechless that he couldn't speak. The people around them pointed at the two of them, and they all sighed and sighed.

The setting sun had already disappeared in the dark clouds of the western sky, and the night was slowly but unhesitatingly enveloping the earth, and the distant walls of the city and the nearby villages were gradually becoming hazy. The air was filled with the smell of a thatched stove fire. There were still figures swaying in the drying field of a village on the side of the road; The bright children's voices of the dolls playing by the sunbath echoed faintly in the cool evening breeze......

Shang Cheng carried the string of copper coins and walked slowly on the dirt road with the people who had been pulled back to the city by sparse pulls.

This string of money is one hundred and forty-eight yuan, not more than a penny, and not less than a penny. He didn't know why he counted the money, and it was difficult to tell what kind of mood he was in after getting the result, and he didn't know what the meaning of knowing the result was, but he didn't know why he still counted it, not only counted it once, but counted it several times, and it was one hundred and forty-eight texts, not much for nothing, not a lot for a penny......

When Shang Cheng returned to his residence, it was already dark.

They lived at the back of the warehouse, surrounded by three mud-walled thatched huts. On both sides are the storerooms of the warehouse. Only one of the three huts was half inhabited by packers, and the other was half a place where the ladies and handymen of the inn slept and rested. He then moonlit into the first room. The only earthen window was lit with an oil lamp, and a dim light and shadow shrouded the bean-sized fire; Because of this light, the rest of the room became darker and deeper, so blurred that I could barely make out the general location of the objects.

Shang Cheng put two strings of money on his bunk. The crisp sound of metal crashing made a sleeping guy grunt in dissatisfaction, roll over impatiently, and soon let out an even snoring sound again. Shang Cheng pulled down his coat and trousers, wearing only a pair of large trousers, found a wooden basin behind the door, and kicked his shoes to the well in the courtyard. After a day at the temple fair, he is now covered in sweat and dust, and taking a shower is a top priority.

When he washed his head and face and was wiping the sweat and mud on his chest and back with his sweat towel, the mountain baby also returned.

Before he could speak, the mountain baby asked him first, "Where did you run in the afternoon?" Which wild woman's bed went in? Harm me and the stone temple will look for you. Just now I was talking about whether you won't be back tonight...... Why, someone knocked it out of the bed? ”

Shang Cheng was also a little surprised: "You came back before me?" What about stones? I reckon you'll be back tomorrow morning—don't you and you want to see those women singing the songs? What, didn't bring enough money? Still not being noticed by others? As he spoke, he wrung the sweat towel half-dry, and rubbed the oil mud on his arms back and forth.

The mountain baby squatted on the edge of the well, with a grass in her mouth, and said, "I'm back early." Don't say it, Shi really looked at a singer, and threw a handful of money on it, and the woman lifted her skirt to show him her thighs......"

"Thighs white, no?"

"White." Shan Wazi said honestly, "Not only are his thighs white, but his face is also white, and his thin eyes are slamming towards the stone, and that kid can't tell the difference between southeast and northwest at that time." ”

"And then?"

And then ...... Then I met those guys from Xiaoguozhuang in Nancheng, ran to eat some wine, and I don't know how to talk about playing money, no, they all came back to play money. Shan Wazi untied a few strings of copper coins from the waistband of his trousers, hooked them in his hand and counted them a few times, raised his head and smiled, "It's still a good thing - half a day's work, I won them more than 700 yuan, and I can build up my mother-in-law's rare stove house." ”

Shang Cheng splashed the muddy water in the wooden basin on the ground under his feet, came over with a sweat towel on his shoulders to fetch well water, threw down the bucket, grabbed the rope but didn't lift it up, frowned and asked, "Did you throw the stone into the Niangniang Temple alone?" His injuries have not healed yet, and he walked back alone for four or five miles, afraid that something would go wrong......" He didn't say a few words. There are still bandits in Lao Ou Village who have slipped through the net, these people hate the people in the warehouse, it is difficult to ensure that no one jumps over the wall in a hurry, Zhao Shishi is injured and has difficulty moving, which is the object of the bandits' revenge.

Hearing Shang Cheng's words with the meaning of blame, Shan Wazi was not annoyed, and tied the money to the waist of his pants before laughing: "You don't know his temper yet?" I heard that there is a place to play money, and I am afraid that my wife will have a baby and I have to put it aside. He's going to be throwing money at that old noodle shop on the back street—"

"He won?" Shang Cheng asked. He had seen how the mountain babies played with money. How much to bet on the first discussion, and then throw a copper coin on the ground, the person who plays straight, hold a copper coin in his hand to the height of his nose, aim at the copper coin on the ground and let go of the copper coin in his hand to let the copper coin in his hand fall freely, and smash the copper coin on the ground to win, not smashed over or not hit the loss. Occasionally, a line is drawn on the ground, and then a line is drawn every ten steps, and people stand outside this side of the line and throw the copper coin to that line, and the copper coin cannot exceed the line, and then whoever throws the copper coin is close to the line and wins.

"Lose!" The mountain baby grinned. "I've lost almost twice, and I'm still gambling with red eyes and throwing money - whoever dares to fight with him will stare at him and wave his fist."

Shang Cheng poured the water in the wooden basin on his thighs in the ground of his feet, stomped his feet to shake off the water droplets, put the wooden basin aside, walked back on tiptoe, and squatted down on the edge of the well, and said with a smile: "He deserves to lose." He fed himself alone, and the whole family was not hungry, but he should only help others. "After learning the mountain, the baby dug a grass root along the edge of the well and sucked it in his mouth. A crescent moon hung in the dark green sky, and the sky was full of stars and twinkling; The gentle night breeze blew, and a coolness soaked into my heart and spleen, and I only felt that the 36,000 pores of my body were cool, and I sighed comfortably and asked, "Do you have enough money to repair the house?" If it's not enough, I'll lend you some first. ”

"Almost." The mountain baby spit out the grass roots that had been chewed tasteless, pulled out the grass again, took it in her hand, and slowly tore the grass blades. "I've calculated, it costs seven and five to build three rooftops, and six hundred dollars to build a stove house, and I now have more than ten dollars in my hand, which is enough to spend. The remaining money is still in debt, and there is no need to go out to work this autumn and winter. He smacked his lips and became more and more excited, "Take advantage of this time to raise my few acres of land, don't spare money, buy more fertilizer to sprinkle, fatten the land, maybe you can have a good harvest......"

Shang Cheng knew that Shanwazi had more than a dozen acres of sloping land, but the terrain was high, it was difficult to get water, and the harvest would not be visible when the weather was a little dry, so he could only barely support the family's food and drink, so he had to often go into the mountains to hunt or go out to work to subsidize the family. As soon as he went out, the work in the field could only be lost to his mother-in-law; After all, the woman's family has little strength, and the little land can't be managed, and the doll is small, so it can't be used...... Most of the families he is familiar with are like this, Liu Laozhu's family was dragged down by the illness of his dead mother-in-law, the mountain baby was damaged by the spring drought for two consecutive years, and the family in Lijiazhuang that was related to the seventeenth aunt, there are two reasons - I heard that the father of the family is still a showman, and he is considered the leader of the village, but a sudden illness made a family that had just flourished show its failure......

The two of them were thinking about their own thoughts, and neither of them spoke. After being silent for a long time, Shan Wazi asked, "What about you?" What are your plans to go back? ”

"I want to buy a house." Shang Cheng said. He told the Huo family about the sale of the house by the government.

Shan Wazi's fingers drew the road on the edge of the well, and only after a while did he say, "It's a good thing that the house can be bought." ”

A good thing, of course. What's more, Huo Shiqi can still do some tricks and feet in the official, and he can do things with ten yuan and eight dollars.

"And then?"

Shang Cheng looked at his companion with some astonishment. And then? What then?

"What are you going to do when you buy a house?"

"Keep looking for work. I heard that the yamen was recruiting people to take charge of grain transportation, and I wanted to do it. Shang Cheng said. Shan Wazi asked in surprise. What else can he do but work hard? You can't just be a tenant for someone else, right? To be honest, he did have this intention before, but he has recently dismissed this idea. Listening to Huo Shiqi, the imperial court may have to fight a big war with the Tuqi people in a few years, and in the past two years, they began to hoard a large number of grain and grass equipment in Yanshan, and the pack teams from the interior to the border pass have been shoulder-to-shoulder-how many of these jobs have to be done by people? He has already made up his mind, go back and register at the county office, specializing in this thing, as long as he is willing to work hard, it is not a problem to earn more than ten times a year, and he can buy a good horse in two years, and it will be easier to make money after that - Liu Laozhu is even working for the government with people and horses, and he receives double wages, and the forage for the horses is still counted separately......

It was about the first time that the mountain baby heard about this, and asked in surprise, "Is this true or false?" Didn't the government talk about the military as a rumor? After listening to Shang Cheng's explanation, he picked and painted on the ground with his fingers for a long time before squinting his eyes and said, "Then I won't go back and take care of those lands, I'll come to you after repairing the house, let's go to the government to find something to do together." I calculated that after two years of doing this, I could buy three acres of river beach land after throwing away all kinds of expenses. He grinned.

"Okay, I'll explore the way when I go back, and I'll go to you if the news is confirmed." Shang Cheng said. After thinking about it, he added, "If I can't get out, I will definitely ask someone to carry a letter to you." ”

"Oh."

After talking for a long time, Shang Cheng was also a little cold. Seeing that the mountain baby didn't seem to have anything to say to herself, she took the old cloth shoes she had dropped from the ground, knocked the soil on her feet, and went into the house to lie on the straw mat. The rough straw mat burrs immediately pricked him all over his body, especially the old scars left by carrying stones, which almost immediately became as if they had been burned by fire, and his heart and lungs hurt. He couldn't help but snort in pain.

The mountain boy also came in, and touched his bunk by the light, and when he was about to lie down when he kicked his shoes, a man swept in, snatched the oil lamp, and ran to a bunk, and tore open the blanket and took the money.

This sound immediately drew scolding from several sleeping guys.

"Make your mother! Scold and pick up a few of you again! The man who had committed the wrath of the crowd spoke louder than anyone else, and while carrying the copper coin in his bosom, he cursed inadvertently. It seems that this is an ordinary and arrogant guy, and the few people who were shocked by the good dreams immediately fell silent.

"Make your mother!" Shan Wazi immediately scolded back, "How much did you lose?" It's as if the mother-in-law ran away with someone! ”

"It's not much, it's only four times to lose!" Zhao Shishi didn't dare to say anything to Shan Wazihun, so he grabbed a few handfuls of money and tied the blanket and threw it at his feet, ran over and put the oil lamp back in its original position, and then saw Shang Cheng. "Brother Shang is also back? Let's go, go play a few handfuls too! A few guys in the warehouse went to sleep, and there were few people playing and there was no interest, so you went to make up a number of people, and it was also lively? ”

Shang Cheng turned over and ignored him.

Seeing that Shang Cheng ignored himself, Zhao Shishi was not in a hurry to turn over the book, so he sat on the edge of the pit and said, "Brother Shang, why are you the same as Brother Shanwazi?" He is a person who has a mother-in-law and a doll to raise, and he doesn't dare to spend money and talk a little; You are a single person, how can you learn from him? Look at you, if you don't play money, you don't drink, and you don't look for women, what's the point of living like this? ”

Shang Cheng closed his eyes and was not annoyed, but said: "You dare to talk nonsense again, believe it or not, I slapped you against the wall?" ”

"I'm telling the truth. What do we bachelors do with so much money? Isn't it just to eat and drink and coax your belly every day, looking for two women to be beautiful? When the money is gone, let's earn it again - we have the strength! Saying that, he sneered and said with a smile, "The old housekeeper in the warehouse just said that there is a prostitute on this back street, and there are several little girls with fine skin and tender meat at home, and it is only 500 wen a night of sleep—will you go together?" Guaranteed to let you pick ...... first"

Shang Cheng became more and more embarrassed when he heard him, suddenly sat up, raised his arm and slapped him. Zhao Shishi had already limped out of the door, and when he arrived in the courtyard, he was still shouting: "If you are willing to come, let the mountain baby lead the way-brother patted his chest and promised, I will let you pick first!" "The obedient voice has gone far.

Shang Cheng took a sip, cursed in his mouth, and fell on the straw mat again-he sat up again with a slug in his mouth: "Make a mother!" He accidentally lay down violently, and the burr of the straw mat pierced the scar on his back, and his back immediately became hot and painful.

was so troubled by Zhao Shishi, several people in the room woke up, and when they heard Shang Cheng scolding him angrily, they all thought that he hated Zhao Shishi, and some people were doing peacemaking in the dark: "Brother Merchant, don't go to your heart, Zhao Shishi is such a person, he is straightforward and fast-talking, and he can't hide his words in his heart, in fact, he is still quite convinced of you." Saying that, he sighed, and said, "Stone's parents died early, and they all survived by taking care of the family...... without their parents to discipline them."

The man babbled on and on for Zhao Shishi, but before Shang Cheng could speak, Shan Wazi distinguished for him: "Fourth Uncle Zhao, Brother Shang doesn't really want to beat him." If you really want to beat him, with the little skill of the stone, even if there is no injury on his body, it will be given for nothing. Several people next to him also said that Shanwazi's words were reasonable. That Fourth Uncle Zhao also knew that what everyone said was not a lie, and he didn't argue much, just chanted over and over again about the good of the father and mother who died on the stone.