Time is like the Girl River outside Huojiabao, flowing quietly, slowly, and firmly day and night.

In the blink of an eye, it has reached the wax moon of the seventeenth year of the Eastern Era.

On the first day of the lunar month, there was winter snow. This snow is several days at once, intermittently tight, loose, rainy, and snowy, implicated all the way to Xiaohan.

At noon that day, the sky finally cleared. The warm winter sun gently caresses the snow-covered earth. The ice edges hanging under the eaves of various houses shimmer in the sunlight. Huojiabao, which had been silent in the white world for five days, gradually woke up. The peddlers, who had not been seen for a few days, also became active, and they began to carry their burdens along the street again, and the shouts of the long pitch came and went like singing. On the official road that runs through the market town, there are more people and mules and horses; Men and mules and horses soon trampled the flat white road out of countless black mud paths. In the distance, Dayan Mountain was completely covered in snow, like a giant in silver armor, silently gazing at the land under its feet......

When it was almost evening, a woman's figure appeared at the mouth of the old locust tree alley at the east end of the market town. She carried a small cloth bag in one hand and tugged at her skirt in the other, staring at the rain and snow soaked road under her feet, carefully picking up the hard dirt where she could land.

This is a very ordinary young woman, about seventeen or eighteen years old, with the maturity and dignity of a woman, but with a hint of girlish childishness and shyness. She wore a bun that peasant women like to comb, and her black hair was curled together and fastened to the top of her head with a wooden hairpin. Maybe it was because it was still snowing and raining when she went out, and she pressed a piece of blue silk on her bun. The collared skirt that covered the long jacket had been washed a little white, and I could barely make out its original azure color.

The alley is very quiet, and occasionally you can hear the voices of adults talking in the courtyards on both sides, and occasionally there are two scolding voices of teaching dolls. Several watchdog dogs scurried from the dry place to the courtyard gate, staring at her vigilantly through the threshold until she walked through her own courtyard and slipped back with confidence.

She stopped in front of a courtyard, buckled the door knocker on the courtyard door, and shouted, "Third brother of the Yao family." In the courtyard across the alley behind her, a half-sized black dog was scratching excitedly at the courtyard door, and its mouth was making an urgent low, and after receiving no response, it barked long and short. Immediately he sprang out whining, whirling around her, snorting white air from his nose, sniffing at the little cloth bag in her hand, wagging his tail flatteringly, and threatening the two wild dogs who followed his master with an unsophisticated guttural growl, to keep them away from their master.

Its barking alarmed the neighbors, and people came out in the surrounding courtyards to check the cause of the dog's barking, and then they all saw the young woman.

"Merchant lady, you're back." The man on the side said with a smile.

"Lianniang is back." The hostess of the other side greeted warmly.

Fan Lian'er one by one, oh, no, now we should call her Lianniang, or call her a merchant lady Yiyi Lianniang spoke to the woman first: "Second sister is still beating straw bags?" The woman said, "Yes, it's beating." It's freezing in the winter, and there's nothing to do, so it's good to be idle and make a few grass pockets, which can be exchanged for a few living expenses. Lian Niang said, "You sell grass bags now for one penny, right?" …… Just now when I walked past the 'Old Money Notes', I heard them shouting for a penny and three straw bags. Then he said to the man, "Brother Liu, have you eaten?" ”

"Really? Is it a three-article? The woman asked. After receiving Lianniang's affirmative reply, she immediately regretted with chagrin, "My man just took the pockets he had made in the past two days to sell the ......" As she said that, she became happy again, and shouted to the hall, "Dead ghost, let's see how many straw bags there are at home that have not been sold?" Hurry up and move all the straw bags to the old money! They're out of the penny! ”

Brother Liu, who was standing in his courtyard and listening to them, shook his head with a smile and said, "No. My woman went to the mill to grind noodles, and she hasn't come back yet. ”

Lianniang said in surprise: "Your family eats white bread again today?" ”

Brother Liu had a proud look on his face, scratching his head and being a little embarrassed: "It's not that we eat, it's just for the baby to eat." He carried a book on his back at the private school today, and the gentleman praised him. I thought, since the teachers praised him for being good, I can't treat the baby badly as a father, so I asked his mother to grind some flour and make gnocchi soup for the baby...... Or Lianniang, you can also come over for dinner. The merchant brother is not at home, and it is a troublesome thing for you to open the fire alone, so you can come over and try my craftsmanship. ”

"Sister-in-law's craftsmanship is still to be tasted? The aroma that comes out of your stove every day teaches me to be greedy. Lian Niang smiled and said, "But today I didn't boil porridge last night, and I still haven't finished eating most of the pot and put it there......" In fact, she had already finished dinner at her aunt's just now, but if she said so, she would definitely offend her warm-hearted neighbors, so she made up a lie.

Brother Liu didn't insist, and asked her, "When will my merchant brother come back?" It's been almost half a month, right? ”

"It's been a month and a half. He went to the nineteenth day of the month, and today is sixteen days. ”

While talking, the second sister and her man came out again. She watched the man carrying a burden, with a heavy bundle of straw bags hanging at both ends of the burden, and the clogs were trampling all the way to the mud, and she flew out of the alley, before she turned her face and said to Lianniang: "Speaking of which, the merchant brothers are not awake one by one, if I ask for a beautiful daughter-in-law like you, where can I be willing to leave for half a month?" If I were a man, and if I found an aunt like you, I would definitely revolve around you every day, and I would like to tie you to the waist of your pants......"

The second sister's unbridled words immediately made Lianniang's face flushed.

It seemed that the second sister was going to continue, and Brother Liu next to him was also uncomfortable, he didn't go or not, he was smiling on his face and touching the ground with his eyes, and suddenly heard a scream like killing pigs in the house: "Dad!" My sister is on the kang again! As if he had found a life-saving straw, he cursed "this dog thing" and went back to his house.

“…… When the merchant brother comes back, you can talk about him. If you are embarrassed to say it with thin skin, my sister will help you say it! The baby is not in a shadow, and he is still running outside, what is this? I said Lianniang, you ......"

The second sister talked and talked with interest, chattering non-stop through the alley, and there were people in several neighboring courtyards who stood up to take a look, several men and women, all looking at Lianniang with a smile on their faces, and taught Lianniang to blush all the way to the root of the ear.

Fortunately, Yao San, who was busy in the back room, heard the voice and came out to see what was going on, so he helped her out.

At this time, Lianniang's face was already burning, and when she saw Yao San come out, she hurriedly handed him the cloth bag in her hand, and said, "Third brother, there are a few hard-boiled eggs in the bag, and there is a bag of sugar, you can take it to make up for your sister-in-law...... " Without waiting for Yao San to speak, she turned around and stepped back, pushed open the courtyard door of her house, and then took the key to open the door of the hall, and heard the second sister saying: "...... Yikes! Brother merchant, you are back! One by one, this is not what my sister said about you, you are not afraid that your daughter-in-law will be angry and will not let you go ......to bed for more than ten days."

Dead second sister! Lianniang grabbed the futon and twisted it vigorously. This narrow ghost, it's not like playing tricks on himself once or twice, and he makes himself ugly every time! Hmph, I won't fall for her this time!

Then she heard her man's voice.

"Second sister, I just saw the second brother taking his purse to the front street to play for money......"

"What?!" The second sister's voice was immediately teased. "This dog thing! He dared to play tricks on the old lady and ate him alive! Then I heard her scolding all the way out.

My own man is back!

Lian Niang's heart immediately pounded like a deer. She stood up and touched her hair with her hand, and then stretched out the jacket and skirt, and shook it at all, there was no ash at all, and she walked out of the back room reservedly......

The thousand words she had just brewed in her heart immediately disappeared beyond the nine heavens; She immediately ran up in distress and wanted to give him a hand, but stopped the man from drinking: "Heavy! …… Get out of the way! ”

Shang Cheng walked into the corner of the hall until he squatted down and asked Lianniang to help put down the sack, took off his jacket and put it on the sack, and then said, "There are two more bags!" I'll carry it. One by one, you quickly boil some boiling water, and then make a pot of tea. I invited the junior of the Gao family to come to the house for dinner. Do you have any good food at home? If you don't have it, go buy some; There must be meat, and there must be wine......" he said, and went out again.