Shoko remembers that she was thrown into the ditch by her mother, and her head was hit a hard object, and it became a blank.

At this time, Xiangzi wiped her eyes with sobbing, and her tears had turned into hot and dry heat. With his hands, he dug a shallow pit in a slightly raised flat ground. With great difficulty, the mother was moved into the pit. Pluck some clean grass to cover up the mother's body. He brought a lot of lumps of dirt and smashed them on the grass, forming a low grave. And he made a stone wall round about the grave with stones.

Xiangzi looked at her mother's grave and fell to her knees with a "poof", and her already dry eyes welled up with two sticky tears.

Shoko picks up the burden on the ground. He knew that it was dry food, and a small packet of silver dollars.

He turned back three times and walked along the trench towards the north. Turning a corner, the scene in front of him made him overwhelmed with horror.

At the bottom of the narrow ditch, there were piles of corpses. The black and red blood stains covered the green and yellow river sand. Shoko glanced at it with a stunned gaze and a lightning scan, confirming that it was the caravan's people. The man who was crushed underneath, with only half of his head exposed, was none other than the coachman hired by his family.

Shoko looked sad and frightened, and stepped through the gap between the corpse. As if suddenly remembering something, he turned around and removed the dry food and water bag from the corpse. Tied together, put on their shoulders, and walked forward blankly.

The sun had disappeared from the bottom of the ditch, outlining the edge of the ditch with only a dazzling gold. A goshawk, in the blue sky, hovering leisurely, as if having discovered a rich dinner.

Shoko dragged her tired body and struggled to move forward like a sleepy beast. Then he turned a sharp bend, and when he didn't know what was on the right side of the ditch, a large piece of earth collapsed, and half of the ditch was filled. Xiangzi was overjoyed in his heart, and his whole body suddenly came with strength. Throwing off his arms, he followed the collapsed slope and came to the top of the ditch.

By this time, the sun had turned red, and there was no sign of life in sight, and it was so barren that only the yellow of the land remained. Only not far away, the road on the earthen beam, vaguely left Xiangzi, a little hope to live.

Shoko felt that the farther north she went, the hotter and drier the weather became. So, when the sun is big, I hide in the shade and sleep under the weed. In the morning and evening, when the weather is cool, I have enough strength to hurry.

However, to his confusion, he had not seen anyone for three days. Not even a single house was inhabited. On both sides of the road, in addition to the undulating loess sandbags, you can occasionally see one or two bushes of stalks, which are not thriving.

On his body, there is only water and dry food that can last for half a day. When the shoes were worn out, they were tied to their feet with empty hydration bags. The face that had never seen water, and those sticky things had long since turned into black-brown lumps, falling off freely. The originally white and tender cheeks have been dressed up in locks of flowers by sweat and sand.

At noon that day, he finally saw an intersection. This made him both excited and confused. He stood in the middle of the intersection, looking around blankly. In both directions to the west and north, there is a yellow color that cannot be seen at a glance, and only in the distance to the east seems to faintly show the outline of the house. His spirits were lifted and he decided to head east.

At this moment, at the bend of the road to the east, two carriages came, and a man rode a black horse and walked in front of the carriage.

Shoko, her eyes were wet with excitement. It was the first time he had seen a living person in a few days.

I saw the man on horseback approaching. Suddenly, from the grass on the side of the road, two sandgrouses flew out, and the "whoosh" of their wings frightened the horse. The horse spread its hooves and ran toward the dirt slope by the roadside.

When he flashed in front of Xiangzi, he saw that an object on the horseman was hung on the ground by the sand date tree on the side of the road. Xiangzi traced the past and saw a jade pendant as white as mutton fat. He reached out and picked it up, and glanced in the direction the horse was running, and the man had reined in the horse and was coming this way. So, Xiangzi raised the jade pendant in his hand and shouted, "Uncle! You're dropping something. ”

The horse rider subconsciously touched his waist, shook his head with a knowing smile, turned his horse to Xiangzi, leaned over to take the jade pendant, and put it in his arms. With an approving gaze, he looked at Xiangzi and said with a smile on his face: "Doll, where are you going?" ”

Xiangzi timidly glanced at the man and muttered, "I don't know where I'm going." ”

The man smiled at Xiangzi and said, "You baby, don't stay at home, what are you doing in this rotten Gobi?" ”

When Shoko heard this, two bursts of hot tears couldn't help but roll down from her dirty face. He choked up and said: "My mother and I went to my uncle's house outside the gate, halfway, my mother let the bandits beat ...... death."

As she spoke, Shoko began to cry. When the man heard this, he seemed to be moved with compassion. He rolled the saddle and dismounted, and gently patted Shoko's sand-stained head with his hand. Whispered: "Don't cry, doll, speak slowly, where is your uncle from?" ”

Shoko wiped away her tears and held back the wriggling discomfort in her throat. He said in a stiff voice: "I don't know where my uncle is from, I only know that he is outside the gate." ”

The man sighed deeply and said, "Come with me!" ”

As he spoke, he turned around and shouted at the carriage, "Put this doll on the cart and give me some food and drink." With that, he walked slowly towards the road to the north. This man on horseback is the shopkeeper Yao.

The arrival of Xiangzi brought happiness to the Yao family. Especially Juanzi, I like this brother who fell from the sky very much. Inseparable all day long, if it weren't for his mother to stop him, even when he slept, he would have to be on the same kang with Xiangzi. That year, Xiangzi was thirteen years old, and Juanzi had just turned ten. Xiangzi is not only white and smart, but also has read a lot of books. For Juanzi, who doesn't like to go to school and study, Xiangzi is more than enough to be her teacher.

It's strange to say, the things in the world are really one thing descending from one thing. Juanzi didn't like to study, and she went to school for three days to fish and two days to dry nets. Even the teacher didn't have a problem with her. But since Xiangzi arrived home, she not only went to school on time every day, but also carried books after school and asked Xiangzi to speak.

Juanzi's father and mother are in their eyes and happy in their hearts. Openly and secretly, they all say that Xiangzi is the godson of his family. To be honest, although the recognition ceremony was not officially held, in fact, the Yao family has never regarded Xiangzi as an outsider.

But Xiangzi has his principles of life. To do things, Xiangzi should be the Yao family, and everything will be done with the attitude of the master, and he will do his best to do it seriously. As a man, he always admonished himself to be a subordinate. Don't fight for food, don't fight for clothing, don't inquire about the gossip at home.

For Juanzi's sister, although he likes it very much and can work hard for her, he never dares to think about it. This may be an allusion to the principle of the ancients, "Dunlun is divided".

Therefore, in the seven years of the Yao family, Xiangzi has not had conflicts and unhappiness with anyone. Even the little shopkeeper Peach, who doesn't know the depth and is weird all day long, he tries to hide as much as possible, and rarely meets her. When he met her and had nothing to do, he made Juanzi angry, and he also tried his best to make Juanzi happy. Never say it, if it doesn't fit your identity.