At this time, a white and chubby middle-aged man walked towards the crowd with a folding fan. An acquaintance whispered: "Wow, Boss Tan, it's really Boss Tan!" It's Boss Tan of Yuexiu Pawnshop. People subconsciously and automatically dodged a way for him.

Boss Tan paced Fang Bu as if no one was around, and slowly walked to Neng'er, first looked at the grass mark on his head, and then looked at Neng'er's body carefully like a foal. After a long time, he opened his mouth and said: "Little guy, my Yuexiu pawnshop has just opened a branch in Shaozhou, and I need a small guy who does chores, can you do it?" ”

"Yes, yes!" Neng Er hurriedly said: "I can make tea and serve rice, fetch water and sweep the floor, make beds and fold quilts." By the way, I can also beat your back, wash your feet, and carry a urinal for you. ”

"Hmm." Boss Tan nodded, as if inadvertently, "How many taels of silver do you cost?" ”

"Ten taels."

"What? Ten taels? Boss Tan seemed to have been pierced by a nail, and jumped up suddenly: "Little guy, are you robbing the road?" You know, a well-framed foal is only worth more than a tael of silver! ”

The old man who had helped him before said, "But he is a man, how can you compare him with an animal!" ”

Boss Tan didn't care: "In these years, a good horse is very rare, but there are two-legged people!" ”

He closed the folding fan and said to Neng'er: "Little guy, is eight taels of silver okay?" Otherwise, I'll go. ”

Neng Er was embarrassed and said, "Boss Tan, I don't know if I'm worth ten taels of silver." However, the shopkeeper of the pharmacy said that my mother's illness could not be cured without ten taels of silver, so ......"

"Little guy, do you know that if you talk about black hands, except for those who rob the road, they are those who sell medicine, and they don't pay for their lives. Therefore, the shopkeeper of the pharmacy is in favor of you. ”

"But, I know that I can't help it! If you are sick, you always have to take medicine. Boss, is this okay? If you think ten taels of silver is too much, and these kind uncles and aunts around you have already scraped together a considerable amount of silver change for me just now, can you give my mother the remaining nine taels of medicine money? ”

Boss Tan said: "Okay, I also see that your child is filial, so that's why I ...... However, you can think that once you sell yourself, you will be a slave for the rest of your life. ”

Neng'er nodded and whispered, "As long as I can cure my mother's illness, I am willing." ”

"Okay, you go with me to find a Chinese man and sign a deed of sale."

Neng'er was just about to follow Boss Tan out, when he suddenly heard someone shouting his name:

"Huineng. Huineng! ”

In Guangzhou, he didn't even have a distant relative, how could anyone know his name? He turned his head in response and saw a half-grown child dragging a man through the crack. It was Lin Shanzi, the boy who delivered firewood to the inn.

Lin Shanzi pulled the adult in front of Neng'er and said, "Dad, this is the Lu Huineng I told you. It was his help that the innkeeper continued to ask for our firewood. ”

Uncle Lin looked at the straw mark on Neng'er's head, and said in surprise: "Child, it turns out that you really want to sell yourself?" ”

Neng'er nodded and said softly: "My mother's illness is getting worse and worse, and the money we brought has long been spent, so ......"

Boss Tan hurriedly interjected: "We have already negotiated his worth, and the deal has been sold, and he is mine." ”

Uncle Lin ignored him and continued to say to Neng'er: "Child, have you thought about it? After you sell yourself into slavery, even if you have the money to get medicine, who will serve your mother? You lost your father at an early age, and you have been dependent on your mother since you were a child, and you have never left. If all of a sudden, the heavens are separated, and flesh and blood are separated, can your mother withstand this blow? Maybe ......"

Neng'er was stunned, frightened, and instantly drenched in cold sweat. He burst into tears, knelt down in front of Uncle Lin, hugged his legs, and whimpered: "If I don't sell myself, I won't have the money to ask my mother for medical treatment; If she is really a slave, there is no one to take care of her seriously ill mother...... Uncle Lin, please show me a clear path. ”

Seeing Neng'er's grief-stricken appearance, Uncle Lin couldn't help but burst into tears. He pulled up Neng'er and said, "Child, your sincere filial piety alone is enough to shake the earth and influence ghosts and gods. You see, aren't there so many people you don't know who have reached out to you? So, there will be a way. ”

Uncle Lin clasped his hands into fists and said to Boss Tan: "This kid's surname is Lu, his name is Huineng, and he is originally from Xinzhou. He lost his father at a young age and had a very unfortunate life. However, he has a very kind heart, and when he is in trouble, he can't forget to help others as much as he can. So, I want to take him away and try to help him get through it. ”

Boss Tan said: "This can't work? Dare to steal my business! ”

"I'm not stealing business with you. First, I am a farmer and I have no overnight food, how can I afford to buy a population? Second, even if I can afford it, I won't do this unconscionable thing. ”

Boss Tan said: "He is willing to sell, I am willing to buy, why is it a loss?" Besides, he sold himself for his mother's treatment. When I bought him, I saved his mother's life. ”

Neng'er also said: "Yes, Uncle Lin, if there is not enough medical expenses, my mother she, her, she ......"

Uncle Lin smiled slightly and said, "Child, don't worry, you can't delay your mother's treatment." The shopkeeper of the pharmacy said that it takes a lot of silver to cure your mother's illness. However, it doesn't mean that you have to take out so much money at once! Medicine, to take one at a time. The money people give you is enough to pay for medicine for a while. You two will move from the inn to our village first, settle down temporarily, and then we will slowly figure out a way. Besides, your mother's illness is because she has no relatives and no place in Guangzhou, so she got sick in a hurry. Once your life is stabilized, I believe her illness will slowly get better. ”

Neng'er heard Uncle Lin say this, and a smile appeared on his face. He turned to Boss Tan, bowed deeply, and said, "Boss Tan, I'm sorry, I'm ......"

Uncle Lin also said, "Boss Tan, I'm sorry to delay your time." If you really need manpower, I can let my son apprentice you. ”

Boss Tan glanced at Lin Shanzi, who was smiling, and said, "Just this two hundred and five, Leng Touqing, I don't want him even if you give me the silver!" ”

After saying that, he flicked his sleeves and left.

Neng'er led Uncle Lin and Xiaoshanzi back to the inn, helped me to the little donkey, and carried me to Henglingang outside Guangzhou, where I lived in an idle thatched hut.

Uncle Lin said hello, and some of the villagers lent a pot, and some helped a few bowls, piecing together everything, as if they had the appearance of a home.

To Neng'er's surprise, I actually took out some broken silver from the placket of my clothes. You know, we are already penniless, and it is precisely because we have no money to get medicine that we can sell ourselves!

Li Shi said lightly: "In case you are desperate and come to the point of starvation, this is the life-saving money left for Neng'er." ”

This is the mother, who would rather die of illness due to the lack of medicine herself, but also leave a way for her son to live.

"Niang ......" Neng'er's heart was rolling, and tears came out of her eyes......

The next day, Neng'er and Lin Shanzi went into the mountains to collect firewood, and then picked them up in the city to sell them and bought some rice and noodles.

As Uncle Lin expected, after leaving the unfamiliar city and settling down in the familiar countryside, my life has settled down, and my illness has improved. In just a few days, not only was he able to get out of bed and move, but like the women in the village, he picked up some needlework from the city to support the family.

Neng'er was confused by his mother's illness and the miracle of healing without medicine, and couldn't help but fall into a deep thought that did not match his age:

The mother's body was originally fine, however, when the mother learned that Wen Tingshi died suddenly, she was full of hope, and her hundreds of miles of travel were in vain, and in this unfamiliar Guangzhou, the life of the mother and son suddenly disappeared. So, under the sudden impact of huge psychological pressure, the mother immediately fell ill and struggled on the verge of death for several days, almost dying. And since settling down in Henglin Gang, I haven't taken any medicine, but my mother's body has healed inexplicably, as if she had never been sick. It's all dreamlike, but it's real. If illness is illusory, it almost killed me; And if it is real, why can it be cured without treatment?

Neng'er couldn't figure it out, so he didn't bother with it anymore. However, this suspicion is like a faint white cloud, which has been floating faintly in Neng'er's heart.

The days of collecting firewood are boring and toiling, lonely and monotonous, and the remuneration is pitiful. Because it is a livelihood that does not require capital and can be done with strength alone, many poor families who are desperate and have no place to live make a living make a living from it. There are many people who chop firewood, and the price of firewood is of course cheap. It can be said that the silver in the woodcutter's hand is condensed in sweat.