"I haven't counted yet, so let's take it out and take a look while there's no one now!" The eldest brother didn't seem to be in high spirits.

"What the eldest brother said is that if you don't have enough money for a drink, maybe you can ...... it tomorrow" The man seemed to blink, and Li Hongji clearly heard the sound coming from his lips.

The eldest brother didn't answer, but he took out a small package from his bosom and shook it at his brother, making a "clanging" sound of metal impact, "About forty wen." ”

"Forty Wen? It's already good, big brother......"

There was a silence, and there was a slight sound of understanding.

"Forty-five." It should be the voice of the big brother.

"Forty-five Wen, big brother, we haven't met such a fat sheep for a long time, tomorrow at noon, we will have wine and meat to eat."

"It's only forty-five, look at your appearance," the eldest brother was quite disdainful, "It's tomorrow, but what about the day after tomorrow?" Brothers follow me, I can't be too aggrieved," the eldest brother said in a tone, "Hey, it's really not as good as a year, I want to be ...... back then"

Li Hongji completely understood, it turned out to be two robbers, Lao Tzu was so hungry that he was croaking, and tomorrow's meal has not yet been settled, you are actually thinking about drinking?

He has his eyes on these forty-five texts, but there are two strongmen below, but he is alone, black eats black, will it work?

Listening to the tone, it is estimated that the two strongmen are about to leave, Li Hongji didn't think much about it, he got up from the bed lightly, lay on the back of the mud bodhisattva, and looked down, but the black rumbling below, he couldn't see the face of the strongman clearly, and he felt that the two strongmen had already stood up and were about to leave the broken temple.

Li Hongji was in a hurry, and he blurted out: "Put down the butcher knife...... Knife, standing on the ground to become a Buddha...... Buddha! The words "knife" and "Buddha" at the back dragged on for a long time, and in this dark night, it looked gloomy.

"Who?" The two strongmen were taken aback, and immediately stopped and looked back.

"You...... We ...... Do iniquity, and ...... Can you cultivate in the next life? ”

"You...... ...... the hell Who is it? Big Brother Strongman asked in a trembling voice.

"I am ...... Manifest yourself, wait for you...... Still...... Ignorance...... Repentance? ”

"We repent, we repent......" The two strong men fell to their knees in fright and kowtowed to the Bodhisattva like pounding garlic.

"Known...... Repentance, you know...... How is it...... Expiation? ”

"Ask the great immortal for guidance!" The two strong men couldn't think of any other way than to kowtow.

"Let go...... Stolen goods, henceforth, daily ...... Early in the morning, worship the Buddha three times and invite yourself...... Condemnation. ”

"Drop the swag?" The two strong men were really reluctant, and the eldest brother held the package tightly in his hand and refused to let go.

"I ...... Self...... Guidance...... Bitter Lord...... Come and get a discount...... Wait ...... Iniquity. ”

"Yes, yes, put down the stolen goods and apologize to the Buddha from now on!" The little brother of the strongman was probably scared and took the lead in admitting his mistake to the "Bodhisattva".

"Go, go...... Bar...... Don't ...... Disappoint...... My ...... Good thoughts! ”

"Thank you Daxian, thank you Daxian, we will be good." The eldest brother of the strongman dropped the package, pulled the younger brother, and walked out of the temple with a smoke, not even daring to turn his head back.

Li Hongji waited for the strongman to go far away, so he jumped off the platform, touched it on the grass, and sure enough, he touched a package, which contained crops, hard and round, which should be the copper money that the strongmen said.

With these copper coins, he should not starve on the way home, Li Hongji was overjoyed, stuffed the package into his underwear, and collected it closely, and was worried that the two strong men would turn back, so he hurriedly took the quilt and walked out of the temple.

It was dark and he couldn't see the path clearly, Li Hongji was one foot deep and one foot shallow, he didn't know how far he went, and it was estimated that the two strong men would no longer be able to catch up, so he started looking for a place to live again.

But this place is relatively barren, it is too difficult to find a place to shelter from the rain and dew, and it is not easy to find a big tree, regardless of whether the ground is clean or not, Li Hongji half-spread the quilt on the ground, got into it, and slept with his head covered.

When he woke up, the sky was already bright, and the east had already revealed all kinds of glow, he reached out to touch it in his arms, the money bag was still there, and his heart was a little settled.

Seeing that there was no one around, Li Hongji turned over and fell on the quilt, poured out the copper coins in the bag, counted them one by one, exactly forty-five wen, and threw the cloth bag containing the money into the thorns on the side, and only took the copper coins.

At the current price, forty-five copper coins can buy ninety nest heads, and if you eat six a day, you can guarantee that you will not go hungry for fifteen days.

From Lingzhou to Mizhi, if you take a shortcut to the east, you must cross the Hengshan Mountain Range, but the distance is shorter than three percent, although the Hengshan Mountain Range is vast, but the mountain is not high, it is not difficult to walk, Li Hongji thought for a moment, or decided to take the path, he prayed silently in his heart, not more than fifteen days, otherwise he would starve.

Having made up his mind, Li Hongji didn't waste any more time, he packed up the quilt, put it behind his back, and walked towards the market in the city.

Li Hongji came to the west of the city, where the market is located, but the market is not prosperous, and even a little deserted, even there are few pedestrians passing by, he wiped his nose, tried to resist the temptation of spicy soup, ramen, and meat buns, and found a steamed bun shop, "Xiao Er, how much is a nest?" ”

"One or two, how much does the guest officer want?" Xiao'er put down the work in his hand, greeted him with a smile on his face, and saw Li Hongji carrying a worn-out quilt on his back, looked up and down, and his smile suddenly froze.

Li Hongji knew that Xiao Er regarded him as a flower, and he didn't say much, he handed over a copper coin, "Two nests, and then a bowl of white water." ”

"Okay, wait a minute, the guest officer, it'll be good right away!" Seeing the copper coin, Xiao Er's face improved slightly.

Li Hongji found a dining table, put the quilt in the corner of the dining table, and sat and waited for Xiao Er.

Xiao Er held the white water in one hand, and put two steaming nest heads in the other, and put them on the dining table where Li Hongji was sitting.

Li Hongji didn't look at Xiao Er's face either, and when he saw that Xiao Er was about to walk away, he said unhurriedly: "Xiao Er, this nest is good, come sixty more, pack." ”

"Sixty? Guest officer, you ...... Can you eat it? Xiao Er thought he had misheard, and his eyes widened wider than the head of the nest.

"You don't have to worry about this, just wrap it up, I'll have to hurry in a while." Li Hongji had already swallowed a nest head, he took a sip of hot water, and picked up another nest head.

"Guest, you ...... I ...... "Little two branches."

"What's wrong? But worried that I don't have any money? Li Hongji took out thirty copper coins from his arms, divided them into three piles, and piled them under Xiao Er's nose.

Xiao Eryi grabbed the copper coin and held it in his arms, "Wait a minute, the guest officer will be fine immediately, and it will be fine immediately." Then he ran away with a puff of smoke.

Li Hongji sneered and continued to eat his nest head.

Before the second nest was finished, Xiao Er came back, "Guest officer, you want the nest." He carefully placed a large piece of old cloth wrapped in a nest on the dining table, "Exactly sixty, the guest officer may wish to order it." ”

"Ao," Li Hongji glanced at it, but he didn't count it, he untied the kettle on his waist, "Xiao Er, please fill the pot with water." ”

"Yes, guest officer," Xiao Er took the kettle and glanced at Li Hongji, "The guest officer bought so many nests, is it to go a long way?" ”

Li Hongji frowned slightly, stared at Xiao Er, and was silent.

"Don't misunderstand the guest officer, the villain has no malicious intent," Xiao Er knew that it was taboo to inquire about the whereabouts of the guest, he leaned over and added hot tea to Li Hongji, "Guest officer, there are strong people nearby, and it is a small talent to remind the guest officer."

"Strongman?" Li Hongji's brows stretched slightly, "What kind of strongman?" Where to hang out? ”

"Guest officer," Xiao Er looked around, except for Li Hongji, there was only one person eating steamed buns in the store, and he hurriedly lowered his voice and said: "The strongman is either east of the city, or west of the city, or five miles, or twenty miles, and his whereabouts are uncertain, so everyone guesses that the strongman may be a person in the city." ”

Li Hongji had seen the strongman last night and knew that the strongman did exist, "What about the government?" Doesn't the government care? ”

Xiao Er looked around and saw that there were no new guests coming, so he approached Li Hongji and whispered: "The guest officer doesn't know, the strongman commits the crime, the means are clean, and he never leaves clues, and the government took it a few times, and then gave up." ”

Li Hongji said in his heart, except for a broken quilt on Lao Tzu's body, he has no long things, and the only remaining fourteen copper coins, and this pile of nests, are black and black, and he is afraid that the strongman will take it? Besides, it's daytime, can a strongman still dare to rebel? "So, thank you Xiaoer."

"The guest officer doesn't need to be polite, the guest officer is a guest of the shop, so the villain will remind," Xiao Er was about to leave, and felt that he was a little sorry to inquire about Li Hongji's whereabouts just now, "Guest officer, if this nest is left for a long time, it will be dull and tasteless, and the villain has his own salted radish strips in his house, can the guest officer prepare some?" It's also a little bit of the villain's heart. ”

Li Hongji thinks about it, if the nest head is placed for a long time, it will inevitably be air-dried, and it will be hard and unbearable. That's a good idea. ”

"Objectivity, wait a minute, it'll be good right away." Xiao Er brought the kettle, and after a while, he returned the kettle, wrapped some radish strips with dried lotus leaves, and handed them to Li Hongji.

Li Hongji thanked Xiao Er, stuffed the radish strips into the old cloth that wrapped the nest, put the quilt on his back, carried the old cloth, left the steamed bun shop, and went to the east city gate.

Out of the East City Gate, Li Hongji identified the direction and went all the way to the east.

Outside the gate of Lingzhou East City, less than ten miles to the southeast, enter the Shipo Mountain, the mountain is not high, there is a path in the forest that can be walked, Li Hongji broke a wrist-thick pine branch from the dead tree, used it as a crutch, and walked towards the deep mountain step by step.

The withered branches blocked most of the sun, and the mountains were even colder, but Li Hongji was busy with the road, but he didn't feel the cold, he pondered all the way, this time home, how to face his wife, how to repay the debt owed to Ai Juren.

However, Li Hongji is not worried, he comes from the later generations, has hundreds of years of experience in the later generations, and carries a large number of technical drawings, as long as he can get some principal, in this backward northern Shaanxi, it should not be difficult to be a rich man, or a few years, he will become a squire like Ai Juren.

Li Hongji wiped a handful of fine beads of sweat on his head, and was just about to step over a rock, when he suddenly felt something strange in front of him.

On a pine tree in front of him, a middle-aged man in his thirties leaned on his left leg, his right leg slightly bent, his hands clasped around his chest, and a dead branch in his mouth, which vibrated rhythmically up and down in his mouth.

What is this person doing in the mountains on such a cold day?