This cake was kept, but it was dark for the family of three, and Yueniang hadn't come back yet.

The snow was falling heavier and heavier outside, the mountains and rivers were white, the wind was howling through the blizzard, and the pedestrians returning home struggled to move through the knee-deep snow.

The three grandparents and grandchildren who stayed at home became more and more anxious, the shopkeeper Wang rubbed his hands and kept pacing back and forth in the house, and Aunt Wang sat at the table and sighed: "It's so late, why hasn't Yueniang come back yet......"

Luo Qinghe looked at the heavy snow outside the window, and couldn't help but be impatient, he was afraid that Yueniang's body was weak, and no one would find out if she fell in the snow...... Thinking of this, he was about to go out with the old padded jacket that picked up the kang head, but was stopped by the second elder of the Wang family.

"Hello! You are just recovering from this serious illness, but you can't go! Your mother has encountered this heavy snow before, and it will be fine! Hurry up, go and boil some ginger soup for your mother, and cook two more bowls for us, this old bone can't help but freeze......" The shopkeeper Wang dragged Luo Qinghe to death, in order to prevent her from going out, he could only find something to ask her to do.

Luo Qinghe really felt that the room was also bitterly cold, and looking at the second elder of the Wang family who was full of worry in front of him, he could only grit his teeth. Luo Qinghe hurriedly wrapped his cotton jacket, went to the back of the house to split the burned old furniture into firewood, and hugged the house tightly to make the fire a little stronger.

"Isn't this the plaque of the shop!" Aunt Wang wanted to get close to the warmth, but when she looked down, she saw a broken word 'Wang' in the firewood, and she was immediately sad and reluctant.

"Forget the old woman, the shops are closed, what are you doing with the plaque, it's so cold, when the firewood is burned, it's the best use of it!" The shopkeeper Wang looked at it and said with relief.

"But how much firewood is left?"

"Don't worry, grandpa, we still have more firewood!" couldn't bear to add any more psychological burden to the second elder, Luo Qinghe didn't tell the truth, but secretly gritted his teeth and said: I have to find an opportunity to go to the mountain to pick up firewood tomorrow.

The three ancestors and grandchildren each had their own concerns, and no one found that the tide wood that should not have been lit was burning in the fire.

The sky outside is getting darker and darker, and the snow does not have the slightest tendency to get smaller, and the three of them are more and more anxious the more they wait, and they sit at the table with candles until the second watch and do not wait for the moon mother.

"No! It's so late and I haven't come back yet, I'm going to go out and look for it! Luo Qinghe couldn't sit still, wrapped his old cotton jacket again, and got up to go out.

Seeing that Luo Qinghe was so resolute, and he was already anxious in his heart, the second elder of the Wang family could only go with her. Shopkeeper Wang hurriedly stuffed the oil umbrella in the corner of the house to Luo Qinghe, and wrapped his jacket around her head, so he reluctantly let Luo Qinghe out.

On the silent village road, the blizzard howls wantonly.

Luo Qinghe braved the biting cold wind and stumbled forward in the knee-deep snow. Even when she wore the thickest padded jacket in the house, the bone-chilling wind still blew her bones and hurt.

I'm just out once, but my mother is in this cold wind every day...... Luo Qinghe sucked his nose that was numb from the cold, and thought of Yueniang who worked hard day and night, and tears couldn't stop falling.

didn't walk for long, through the hazy vision of teary eyes, Luo Qinghe saw a familiar person, wearing a straw mat and struggling to move forward with a broken umbrella.

"Mother?! Mother! Luo Qinghe suddenly had energy, quickly wiped away his tears and tried his best to rush forward.

"Huh?! Why are you here? Don't run, don't run, beware don't slip! Yueniang was exhausted and was moving home with difficulty, but when she saw Luo Qinghe's face, she instinctively worried about her safety.

The two finally met, looked at Luo Qinghe's little face that was red from the cold, and blamed him distressedly: "It's cold outside, what can you do if you are infected with the cold!" ”

"Mother, we can't wait for you to come home, I'm really afraid that something will happen to you!" Luo Qinghe knew that Yueniang felt sorry for herself, so she didn't care, and hurriedly asked, "Mother, why did you come back so late?" ”

When Yueniang heard this, she shook her head with a wry smile and said, "Let's go home first..."

Luo Qinghe's heart sank, and he guessed that it was the pair of silver bracelets that caused the incident, so he didn't ask any more questions, and helped Yueniang to go home with one foot deep and one foot shallow.

But as soon as she got home, when Yueniang threw the straw mat at the door, the second elder of the Wang family and Luo Qinghe gasped.

I saw that Yueniang's dress was wet, the corners of the collar and skirt were even covered with thin ice ballast, her hands were red and swollen, her face was colorless, and she was haggard and scary.

"You...... What's wrong with you......" Looking at Yueniang's description, Aunt Wang, who had been worried all night, finally cried.

"Alas...... Mother, that silver bracelet really shouldn't be taken......" Yueniang shook her head tiredly, and changed her soaked dress before she said slowly.

"I just arrived at Fang's house today, and I was about to return the silver bracelet to the second lady to explain it again, but I was called by Aunt Zhou in the back kitchen, saying that during the New Year in the first month, the Fang family will give porridge to the beggars in the city, and let me grind the corn not long ago into small grains, and then make corn porridge. But as soon as I went, I found that there were mountains of corn, and Aunt Zhou said that the donkeys in the yard were lent out, and if I couldn't finish grinding today, I would have to deduct my wages......" Yueniang said with red eyes, and in front of her family, her grievances also had a place to vent.

"Poor ...... What grievances are we still suffering there! Ming'er, you say to the old lady, thank her for her kindness, and come back! Aunt Wang wiped her tears in distress.

It's easy to say, but if you really quit your job, how can you maintain the livelihood of this family of nine cold days...... Yueniang smiled bitterly and shook her head:

"Actually, this work is not so hard, fortunately, the young master of the Fang family happened to pass by, and after he found out about my predicament, he sent a little maid to lead a donkey to grind the rest of the corn for me, and the little guy also lent me a straw mat to shield me from the wind and snow when I came back."

Taking the ginger soup handed by Luo Qinghe, Yueniang felt much warmer after taking a sip, and said slowly: "And before I came back, I returned the two silver bracelets to the second lady, and explained to her a few times, but the second lady didn't say anything, and accepted the bracelet for me to continue to work tomorrow." I watched her deflated. ”

Hearing her words, Aunt Wang was speechless for a while, but she couldn't bear to break it.

Tomorrow is the New Year, according to the rules, all the maids who have not signed the deed of sale can receive the master's reward and go home for the New Year, but the attitude of the second lady obviously does not want Yueniang to spend this New Year at home......

Yueniang just didn't see Aunt Wang's words and stopped, she drank all the ginger soup by herself, and said: "I'm really tired today, I ate at Fang's house when I came back, you don't have to wait for me, I'm sleepy, go to sleep first." ”

Having said that, the second elder of the Wang family knew in his heart that Yueniang's weak and haggard face was clearly not a drop of rice, but Yueniang had always been very stubborn, and the three of them could only look at each other without saying a word, and helped Yueniang to the warm kang head.

When the second elder turned around and went back to the house, Yueniang breathed a sigh of relief, didn't hold on any longer, closed her eyes tiredly and said, "Nannan, you help my mother change clothes, my mother really has no strength......"

Luo Qinghe nodded tearfully, waited for Yueniang to lie down and carefully covered the quilt, looked at Yueniang's sleeping face, and went to the kitchen lightly. The Fang family intends to embarrass Yueniang, how can it be possible to feed her? Luo Qinghe thought so, rummaged in the kitchen, and gathered the ingredients to boil a bowl of green vegetable and egg drop porridge for Yueniang.

Waiting for the porridge to be slightly colder, Luo Qinghe carefully brought it into the house, woke up the sleeping Yueniang and said, "Mother, you can drink some porridge to pad your stomach, otherwise you won't be able to sleep well at night." ”

But Yueniang was really tired, after taking a few sips of porridge and drinking, she hurriedly fell asleep, looking at her tired and tired appearance, Luo Qinghe was so distressed that she didn't know what to do, so she could only make another basin of hot water, gently wipe the cold on Yueniang's body, until she touched Yueniang's hands and feet to warm up, and went to serve the second elder of the Wang family...... Until all the work was done, Luo Qinghe put out the candle and went to sleep peacefully.

In the early morning, there was an occasional rooster crowing in the freezing snow, Luo Qinghe couldn't sleep well, and after being woken up, he subconsciously looked at Yueniang, but found that Yueniang's lips were chapped and her face was flushed, Luo Qinghe raised his hand and touched her forehead again, and said secretly in his heart: "It's over, it's over, I still have a fever when I was so warm last night!" ”

Luo Qinghe hurriedly got out of bed, tied his hair together and was about to go out.

"Nannan...... Why are you going? Yueniang heard the sound, only to feel dizzy, but subconsciously asked.

"Mother, you have a high fever, I have to hurry up and ask you for a Langzhong!" Luo Qinghe responded casually, "Don't get up yet!" ”

"No! It's too cold outside, my mother is out of the way, and it's fine to sweat if you do more work! Yueniang was only afraid that Luo Qinghe would catch the cold, and she was about to get up and stop her when she struggled.

"What else is the job?!" When Aunt Wang heard the movement, she hurried over in her clothes and scolded: "Do you still go to Fang's house to be bullied when you have a fever!" Let's stop it! The jacket is only made for the nannan, and the rest of the silver is left for food and drink, and I can still beg for this old bone if it is not enough! ”

"Nonsense! We have hands and feet to beg and let others see what they think! The shopkeeper Wang said: "Besides, Nan Nan has already made a baby kiss with the big families in the town, if they know that we are beggars, how can we afford to look down on Nan Nan!" ”

The shopkeeper seemed to have made a lot of determination, and shook his hand and said, "Hello! Tomorrow you will go and sell our ancestral house, although it has been a disaster, but you can sell it together with the land, it can still be worth some silver! ”

Selling a house?! In this cold winter, if the house is really sold, where does the family live? Seeing that the shopkeeper was so resolute, Luo Qinghe could only grit his teeth and say, "Don't worry about it!" Stay at home with peace of mind, I'll go to the Fang family to intercede! ”

"Nan Nan ......" Yueniang was shocked, how can this be! subconsciously wanted to stop it, but he was already dizzy, trembling and trembling, Luo Qinghe ran away.

"Aunt Wang, Fang Cai, Qing He came to my house and told me what happened in the past two days, her Uncle Guo heard it and led Qing He directly to Fang's house, I was afraid that you need someone to take care of you here, so I brought my little niece here!" At this time, Aunt Guo's enthusiastic voice suddenly came from outside the door.

"Qinghe also asked me to invite Lang Zhong, it should be almost there, if there is anything you can ask my niece to do, this is also a good child!"

Seeing that Aunt Guo came, the sorrow that shrouded the hearts of the Wang family was much less in this enthusiasm, and the Wang family and Aunt Guo confided again, waiting for Luo Qinghe's news at home.

Before noon, Uncle Guo came to Wang's house alone.

"How's it going?" Aunt Wang saw the two of them through the window, and quickly got up and welcomed them into the house.

"Your granddaughter, you're so smart!" As soon as he saw Aunt Wang, Uncle Guo couldn't wait to praise Luo Qinghe.

"After Qinghe arrived at Fang's house, he told people that although he was young, he was patient and careful, and he couldn't do too heavy work to learn things quickly, and finally made sense, and the man promised to let Qinghe work for Yueniang for a few days, I just watched the fire, and I wouldn't be too tired, so I came back with peace of mind."

"Qinghe also said that you don't have to worry, she is clever and will not have any stubble, so I hope that your two elders will be well, and she also told Yueniang to take care of her illness, she will only have three of your relatives!"

Upon hearing this, the Wang family had mixed feelings and nodded again and again.

Yueniang didn't stop stubbornly, and quickly drank the medicine, just thinking that this illness would get better as soon as possible, so that she could exchange her daughter who was making a living alone in the deep house as soon as possible.