Spring in the south is a tender green on the earth. Weeds are growing, the treetops are budding, and the buds on the branches are budding.

Dayuanba Village is also dozens of miles away from the nearest Yugan County, the capital of Raozhou. The water network here is dense, and the number of meandering rivers and streams is not clear. Canoes with bamboo poles and canopy boats paddling on the river can be seen everywhere, and in the paddy fields, farmers and oxen in straw hats have already started their year-round farming.

A woman with gray sideburns and unkempt and dark skin came back with a large back of pigweed, and walked through a path between a bamboo forest, an earthen dam, and a few thatched houses, which was the Du family's house.

The door opened by the small earthen dam is the back door, and the stove room is entered. A little lady hurriedly came up to catch the woman's back.

The woman immediately began to chatter, "Nong was still a fine boy at that time, and Daddy was going to sell you, and I cried several times when I was hungry." Under the eyes, Nong is born white and tender, and he is doing well outside, what do he do when he comes back? Nong looked at what life was going in Rinin in the countryside. ”

It's been too long since I've been away from home, and Xiaoniang even struggles to listen to the local accent. She is Du Qianrui, and now she is wearing a white-washed dress that does not fit, but her skin is white and delicate, and she looks very out of tune. It's like having the skin of a big lady, but she lives the life of a village girl.

After hearing this, Du Qianrui asked softly, "I'm coming back, isn't my mother happy?" ”

"Hungry." Du Mu shook her head, "It's just that Daddy Nong and Brother Lang got the money and ran to the county." Right now, all the families are plowing the fields, and Daddy Nong won't go back to his cowardly house, what will he eat this year? ”

Du Qianrui was speechless when she heard this, so she had to snatch the back of pigweed: "I'll chop it." ”

The clothes she wore back were also taken as pawns, so she could only wear her mother's clothes. Although her father and brother were very satisfied with her when she took out her belongings, her mother was not satisfied......

Just as my mother usually nagged, my father used to just go to the nearby market town to gamble and find a boat girl, and he almost had to go home at night; Now that I have the money, I have already gone to the county seat, and I can't see anyone for almost a month, and I won't come back at night.

At present, the rice fields need to be ploughed to grow rice and raise seedlings, which is the busy time for farming, so my mother is very anxious.

Du Qianrui picked up a sharpened firewood knife, rested on a wooden plank, and began to chop the hay. She had two cloths wrapped around her fingers, both of which were scratched by her usual work. After years of not working, he has become clumsy and easily injured.

…… Almost all the jewelry, all the things of little value that I brought back, all went to my father to pay off his debts. Now Du Qianrui only has an emerald green Hetian jade bracelet left, which is hidden in her underwear and not taken out; This bracelet is really beautiful, and her father took it very cheaply, and she was really reluctant.

If there is no money, her father may come back to farm, and her mother won't blame her, right? Du Qianrui didn't know what to expect, and she didn't know what to do.

"Ahh She screamed, and saw a cut on her left index finger, and the blood immediately soaked out and continued to drip down. Du Qianrui was in pain and sadness, and tears suddenly fell down.

At this time, the mother ran over when she heard the sound, stamped her feet, and said, "Nong will not do anything, come hungry." Nong went out to sweep the yard dam. ”

The finger was cut and bleeding, and in the eyes of the villagers, it was not a problem at all! Du Qianrui hurriedly wiped a handful of tears with her sleeve, gritted her teeth, and took her fingers to her mouth to suck the blood and spit it out.

She went silently to the stove, picked up her broom, and went out.

One hand couldn't sweep, so she had to hold the broom with both hands, and the bleeding from the finger that had just been injured had not stopped, and the grass handle was quickly stained red. Du Qianrui had tears in her eyes, and no one could complain...... After she went home, she only did some light work, which was not good, who else could blame?

I thought that it was miserable enough to be humiliated by people all the time for laughing and performing in Fullerhouse. She only now found out that she was no longer used to the life at home, and it seemed to be good to work in Beijing, and she didn't have to sell herself.

…… Perhaps, it turned out that we should cherish the good days of Jingshi. After all, not all women can enter the Church Division and the Fullerin Temple to be rakuka.

It's like a mother, who used to be a boat girl...... Sold on a battered awning boat. He was also humiliated, and he had to pick up customers, and he couldn't afford to sell it.

Because her mother was a boat girl, she got married in her twenties and gave birth to their siblings one after another. The person who married was a prostitute, patronized her business many times, and later became Du Qianrui's father.

is also a cheap business, what is my mother's life like now? Just in his early forties, he looks like a man in his sixties. But the mother can't have children, and some of their sisters are not married, and they are still picking up customers to survive. It's even worse when you're old, and sometimes even the old man who has a few pennies once also accepts it.

Du Qianrui looked at her mother's fate, imagining that she was still in Jingshi Fuller Academy, and she thought that she would not be much better than her mother in a few years. Doing things with color, what is left when people are old and yellow? What kind of talent, what is the use of not having a good skin? In the future, save some money and learn some human skills, and it is estimated that it will be good to be able to live as a bustard in Fuller.

At this moment, she saw that the dogwood next to the courtyard dam had sprouted. Although the small red fruit has not yet grown, Du Qianrui is also there with a pestle, and she looks at it for a long time.

…… Dogwood? Is it the kind of dwarf tree that grows a lot of tiny red fruits?

A voice in my head said. The tone of every word, the tone of the voice, seemed to be in her ears, as if she had just whispered in her ear.

Du Qianrui even remembered the spotless white silk lining under the bronzed neck. And that thoughtful look, calm but sharp.

At this moment, there was a "clanging" sound of metal knocking outside the bamboo forest, and then someone shouted: "Bee candy, handkerchief, hairpin...... Jingling! ”

Du Qianrui was stunned there, her eyes cast out from the deep bamboo forest path, as if she had passed through a corridor of time, and returned to her childhood many years ago, when she was thinking about the age when the merchant had everything in her burden, and thinking about the funny expectation that a merchant would take her away.

…… Your thoughts at that time were indeed a little immature, and the merchant may not be able to help you.

The voice said again.

Du Qianrui suddenly showed a wry smile on her face, and there were tears in the corners of her eyes.

Why? It didn't take long from acquaintance to parting, but his shadow was deeply imprinted in Du Qianrui's heart, and I am afraid that I will never forget it for the rest of my life. The reason may be that he gave Du Qianrui hope, if there is no expectation, how can there be such a loss?

……

When night fell, there was a dog barking outside, and there was a faint sound of people. Soon her mother knocked on Du Qianrui's door in the hall, "Come out, Daddy Nong is back!" ”

Du Qianrui had no choice but to open the latch, and with the help of an oil lamp the size of a bean, she saw her father bring back a strange fat man. The fat man was dressed in a robe and a scarf and hat, and he estimated that he was over forty or fifty years old, and the fat on his face was already a little sagging. When the fat man heard the door, he immediately turned his head, and his eyes were straight!

As soon as I arrived at someone else's house, I stared at someone's family, and this person was also completely rude. But what kind of serious person can you get with a person like Dad?

Du Qianrui was about to close the door, but his father was immediately annoyed, and slapped his palm on the dilapidated square table with a "bang", "Don't discipline!" Don't come out to salute? ”

Du Qianrui looked helpless, but at home, how could she disobey her father? She had no choice but to walk out slowly and reluctantly.

"This is Shopkeeper Li." Dad pointed to the fat man next to him and said with a smile.

The fat man also laughed "hehe", and even wiped his saliva with his sleeve! Seeing this, Du Qianrui felt sick to her stomach for a while, and almost didn't retch.

She saw that the smile on her father's face suddenly disappeared again, and she was frowning and giving herself a look. Du Qianrui had no choice but to bend her knees slightly and said, "I've seen Shopkeeper Li." It's getting late, and I'm inconvenient to meet guests, so please forgive me. ”

"Yo! Yo ho! Shopkeeper Li looked very excited, "Beijing official dialect!" Yes, Lao Du, you girl can be on the stage. I like it very much, so I make a price. ”

"What?" Du Qianrui just wanted to turn around and go back to the room, but immediately stood still again, she turned around, her body was trembling slightly, and her face suddenly turned pale, "Dad, are you going to sell me a second time?" ”

Shopkeeper Li didn't wait for Lao Du to speak, and immediately said neatly, "Miss Du! Nong must be self-aware, and Nong's father is also for Nong's good. Who does Nong want to marry? Stretch some mud legs in the countryside, Nong will be like your mother in the future! If you go back to be a prostitute, it won't last long. ”

"I'm not a prostitute!" Du Qianrui airway.

In front of his father, he despised his mother for not having a good life, and insulted her indiscriminately as a prostitute...... But Dad was expressionless. Du Qianrui suddenly felt that even if she endured her disgust and followed the shopkeeper Li, she would not have a good life!

Lao Du's voice said: "Shopkeeper Li runs a pawnshop, and my sister is a concubine for him, eating and drinking spicy food." Nong was disgusted. ”

No wonder my father knows, and the slightly valuable things are probably in the shopkeeper Li's shop.

Shopkeeper Li immediately took over the conversation, "Sister, those things are all in the hungry shop, Nong will go with me, and those things will be returned to Nong." ”

Du Qianrui exhaled secretly, "I'm a little cold, I can't support it, let me go back to the room to rest." ”

"Take medicine for the wind and cold!" Shopkeeper Li is serious.

"That's it!" Lao Du said, "Nong go into the house." ”

Du Qianrui immediately hid in the bedroom separated by a wall and quickly bolted the door.

Father's shouting came from outside, "Mother-in-law, you can't get any water, bring the water quickly!" ”

Then there was the sound of her mother's "grunting", she didn't dare to speak too loudly, and she couldn't hear clearly through the wall. After a while, my father's angry scolding voice came, "Hungry to find a good home for the eldest sister!" Why is it big, what are you doing to support your family? ”

Then there was the mother's muffled voice. Dad said again: "Hungry, how much money does it cost to plow the field?" Isn't Hungry thinking, Shopkeeper Li gave money, Hungry paid off the debt, and there were a few people left. ”

Du Qianrui threw herself on the rough quilt, covered her head inside, and couldn't help crying. She clutched herself tightly to prevent being heard. Soon she couldn't breathe, so she had to hold back her crying and open the quilt to breathe.

She sat on the edge of the bed in a daze, surrounded by darkness. This nightmarish day after day is day after day...... She always seemed to be unlucky, but after being sold this time, it seemed that there was no end to those days.