"Really?" Xue Chen was excited for a moment, then looked at Su Qiange again, and shook his head with half disgust, "It's not like, your frowning is not as good-looking as me!" ”

Su Qiange thought she had misheard, "What were you talking about just now?" ”

Xue Chen was obviously stunned, and his steps were much faster, "Go back quickly, it's late!" ”

"Say it again." Su Qiange chased after him with tears and laughter.

The two of them walked quickly on this empty ground, sometimes laughing, and their voices became farther and farther away, but they couldn't be ignored for a long time.

During the survey the next day, the water conservancy experts did not let Xue Chen go, on the one hand, they were worried that he was too tired for the past two days, and on the other hand, he really couldn't help if he went.

Of course, for the second reason, water conservancy experts will not let Xue Chen know.

There is no need to go out today, Xue Chen took out the previous survey data and looked through it carefully, I have to say that those materials are written in great detail, and the differences in each terrain are clearly recorded, but even so, he still can't find a breakthrough point.

Su Qiange was still dressed in men's clothes today, and walked over with a plate of fruit, with a smile on his face, "Master Hou, please use it!" ”

"Ge'er, what is this for?" Su Qiange was unusual, Xue Chen naturally saw it at a glance, and secretly said that Su Qiange didn't mind saying that she was not good-looking, and thought of some tricks to deal with herself.

Thinking like this, Xue Chen couldn't help but step back a little, with a defensive expression.

"What's wrong? I'm thinking about going out for a while, it's easier for men's clothes. Su Qiange was a little confused by Xue Chen's reaction, and looked himself up and down to confirm that there was no problem before answering with a puzzled face.

Xue Chen hurriedly breathed a sigh of relief, "You are suddenly so polite, I'm not used to it." ”

"You eat slowly, I'll go out first!" Su Qiange waved his hand, and he didn't care about him generally.

Xue Chen nodded subconsciously, then reacted again, and hurriedly got up and grabbed Su Qiange's hand, "Ge'er, why don't you take me when you go out?" ”

Su Qiange looked at Xue Chen with a look of grievance, and tilted his head to look at the mountain of information behind him, "You want to go too?" Don't forget that you still have business to do! ”

It was just to not disturb Xue Chen, Su Qiange wanted to go out by himself, but looking at Xue Chen's appearance, he didn't seem to want to stay here and study the method of water control with peace of mind.

Xue Chen sighed, "I've read these materials a few times, and I really can't see any breakthroughs, so it's better to go out and take a look, maybe there will be new ideas." ”

"Okay!" What Xue Chen said was reasonable, and Su Qiange naturally would not refuse.

The two quickly left the post station, perhaps because of the drought, there were many fewer people on the street, and many beggars appeared on the street.

Su Qiange walked and watched all the way, but suddenly she couldn't walk, she turned her head to look, and a small hand grabbed the clothes she had pulled, and said timidly, "Big brother, can you give me some money, I haven't eaten for three days." ”

Xue Chen hurriedly picked him up and wiped the dirt on his face, the child's appearance instantly became much clearer, his eyebrows were very clear, but he looked at his fair complexion, not like a child who grew up in the north.

"I'm hungry, brother, let's take you to eat."

Xue Chen had always been unbearable to see the child living on the streets, so he took him to find the nearest restaurant.

Su Qiange followed behind the two of them, looking around left and right, the doubts on his face deepened.

The three of them quickly found a restaurant, Xue Chen ordered a lot of dishes, and let the child fill his stomach first, Su Qiange watched from the side, and gently moved to Xue Chen's side, "Xue Chen, this child doesn't seem to be from the north." ”

Xue Chen's gaze kept wandering on the child, and when he heard Su Qiange say this, he nodded, "Indeed, it looks like he grew up in a water town, but how did he end up here?" ”

Xue Chen had been thinking about this question just now, thinking that when the child was full, he would ask again.

"And there are a lot of beggars on the street outside, the disaster here is not serious during this time, is there something wrong?"

Su Qiange had just looked around outside, and when the child was picked up by Xue Chen, there were still many people who were about to move, probably wanting to follow, but they didn't have the courage, and they looked like people who were forced to come out to beg.

Thinking of this, Su Qiange asked Xiao Er to take some more food, "Xue Chen, you look at the children first, I'll go out to see those people, I think I'm all hungry." ”

"You have to pay more attention, I'll look for you later."

The child was gnawing on a chicken leg in one hand at this time, Xue Chen couldn't bear to interrupt him, so he reminded Su Qiange again, turned around and served another bowl of soup for the child, "Eat slowly, it's all yours." ”

"Thank you, brother!" Thinking that it should be a child of a big family, even if it is already like this, he still does not forget to thank Xue Chen.

Xue Chen touched his head and looked out, Su Qiange had disappeared, and he thought that he had already gone to find those people.

It was not difficult to find those beggars, Su Qiange only walked a few steps out, and saw two or three people kneeling there, with a broken bowl in front of them, and the clothes on their bodies were rotten, but the material was worth a lot of money.

And even though they looked hungry, they just knelt there quietly, and didn't ask for help.

"Uncle, I just bought some food in it, and I don't think it's delicious, if you don't dislike it, I'll give it to you." Su Qiange half-squatted in front of a person who looked a little older, and spoke very politely.

Uncle looked at the food box in front of him and was stunned for a moment, obviously he didn't expect someone to take the initiative to deliver food, he looked up at Su Qiange, and saw that she had a sincere face, and there was something crystal in her eyes in an instant.

"Thank you so much, little boy!" The uncle said, glanced at the two people next to him, and then opened the food box, and the three of them sat there and ate, but even if they hadn't eaten for several days, they still chewed and swallowed slowly, and they looked like they were very well-cultivated.

Su Qiange was not in a hurry, and sat down directly next to them, looking at other places with a leisurely face, without looking at those people at all.

"Little boy, can you leave your name, we will repay you in the future." After eating, the old man cleaned up the plate neatly and put it back next to Su Qiange.

Su Qiange smiled and shook his head, "The old man is polite, it's just an old man who raised his hand, you don't have to take it to heart, just look at the appearance of a few of you, you don't look like people here, let alone a poor family, how can you be here?" ”

When the old man heard Su Qiange's question, he sighed deeply, "The little boy is right, we are originally businessmen in the water town, and we have some family property, and we are doing well, but a few days ago, there was a sudden rainstorm in the water town, and the entire water town was flooded, with countless casualties, and only a few people escaped." ”

mentioned the sad thing, the old man's tears couldn't hold back, and kept falling, Su Qiange hurriedly comforted him when he saw this, but he didn't know what to say for a while.

"Ge'er, what's going on?"

Xue Chen saw Su Qiange sitting there from a distance, and when he got closer, he found that the old man was crying, thinking that something was wrong, and hurriedly greeted him.

When Su Qiange saw Xue Chen coming, he hurriedly got up and picked up the child in his arms, "They are indeed not from here, the old man and his family escaped from the water town, and there was a big flood over there and it was flooded." ”

"Floods?" Xue Chen's good-looking brows tightened again, "I haven't heard of this!" ”

"Uncle said that it happened only a few days ago, and I think the news has not been reported to the court." Su Qiange opened his mouth to explain, pointed at the old man again, and said silently, "I'm not good at comforting people." ”

Xue Chen smiled, scratched the tip of Su Qiange's nose, and looked doting, "Leave this matter to me." ”

Xue Chen said, sat next to the old man like Su Qiange, and patted him on the shoulder, "Uncle, don't be sad, the court will make decisions for you in this matter." ”

The old man shook his head, and didn't seem to agree with Xue Chen's point of view, "Far water can't quench your thirst, not to mention that our water town is just a small place, and we will encounter floods on weekdays, but I didn't expect it to be so serious this time, so many people, I didn't escape." ”

The old man stretched out his hand and grabbed at the air, as if he wanted to grab something, but finally he threw himself into the air, and his expression was even more painful, "I just watched them being washed away by the water, but I couldn't help at all. ”

"Don't be sad, we'll be responsible at this point, do you know how many people escaped this time?" The matter is so serious, Xue Chen needs to understand the situation as soon as possible in order to report it to the imperial court and let the emperor know about it.

The old man thought for a while, "If I remember correctly, there were about two dozen people who escaped at that time, but they were separated after coming here, and I don't know how many people are still alive." ”

Xue Chen nodded and muttered, "In this way, you go back to the post station with us first, and leave the affairs over there to me." ”

"Who are you?" When the old man heard the word "post station", he saw that Xue Chen cared so much about the affairs of the water town, and was very interested in his identity.

"I am the Marquis of Pingnan, and I came to the north to deal with the drought on the orders of the emperor, since there is something wrong in the water town, I naturally can't sit idly by."

"Pingnanhou, it turns out that you are Pingnanhou, then Su Yushi must also be here, we are saved, we are saved!"

As soon as the old man heard Pingnanhou, he couldn't hide the joy on his face anymore, just listening to what he meant, he wanted to see not Xue Chen, but Su Qiange.

Xue Chen coughed in a low voice, glanced at Su Qiange again, and then said to the old man: "Su Yushi is naturally here, you can go back to the post station with me first, and I will arrange for someone to prepare a place for you." ”

"Thank you, thank you, thank you." The old man never thought that he would meet a nobleman, and he was even more grateful, and saluted Xue Chen several times before getting up and following Xue Chen towards the post station.

Along the way, I also met a few fellow villagers, and the old man enthusiastically introduced Xue Chen to them.

Every time the old man introduced, Xue Chen had to accept a thank, and after a few times, the smile on his face froze, Su Qiange followed beside him, looking at his helpless appearance, and secretly laughed several times.

Along the way, Xue Chen was followed by more than a dozen people, all of whom fled from the water town, and finally returned to the post station, Xue Chen hurriedly asked Zheng Yi to arrange accommodation for several people.

And the child in Su Qiange's arms was also recognized by those people as the child of a friend's family, so he took it over and lived with them in the room arranged by Zheng Yi.

At night, Xue Chen stared at the flickering candlelight, with a thoughtful expression, he had a thick pile of information in his hand, he hadn't turned a page for a long time, and he didn't have the heart to read it.

"What do you think?" Su Qiange put the freshly brewed tea on Xue Chen's table and shook it in front of his eyes.

Xue Chen reacted at this time, and squeezed out a smile at Su Qiange, but the smile was too reluctant, "It's okay, I'm just thinking about those people during the day." ”

"I've just been to see it, and I've all fallen asleep, and it seems that I haven't had a good rest these days." Of course, Su Qiange knew what Xue Chen was worried about, but Zheng Yi arranged them very well, so there was no need to worry about it.