Xiao Guozi stood stunned on the spot, looking at Xiuxiu sitting on the ground, not knowing what to do, and wanted to pull her up, but looking at her little black hands and dirty clothes, I was afraid that she would be even more angry when she touched this beautiful little girl.

Xiuxiu's father rushed out of the tavern, saw his beloved daughter sitting on the ground crying, and there was a little Hanako standing in front of him, and immediately guessed that it must be Hanako who bullied his daughter, and couldn't help glaring at the little pot, wanting to immediately teach this Hanako who didn't know how to live or die, but after thinking about it, he still helped his daughter up first.

"Xiuxiu, what's the matter, is this stinky boy bullying you?" Master Luo wiped his daughter's tears and looked at the small pot viciously.

"He, he, I'm kind, give him a honey stack, he doesn't eat it, also, and suddenly stands up to scare me......" Xiuxiu sobbed and spoke intermittently.

Hearing that his daughter was not beaten, Master Luo's heart was relieved, but he still glared at the small pot angrily, then touched Xiuxiu's hair, comforted her and said: "Xiuxiu, you are a person with status, don't play with this kind of Huazi, they are lazy and lazy, they don't know shame, they only know how to reach out and beg, they never want to be self-reliant, your kindness will only be treated as a donkey's liver and lungs by them, give them once, they will want a second time, okay, don't cry, behave, let's go back to eat." After speaking, he pulled Xiuxiu and walked to the store.

Professor Zhang of the academy who accompanied him out stood by and watched, smiling and saying to Xiuxiu: "Oh, big girl, you're still crying, it's so ugly." After speaking, he scratched the little girl's nose, and then turned around, and was about to step into the tavern door with Master Luo.

"The gentleman is poor, but the man with lofty ideals does not drink the water of the stolen spring, and the cheap person is not subject to the food that comes, although the boy is poor, but he also knows that he is with him, and the beggar disdains it!" The little pot was swollen and red-faced, his little fists were clenched tightly, and he raised his head and said loudly to the backs of the two people.

"Huh? ......" The two scribes turned their heads together and looked at the small pot in surprise, and Professor Zhang turned around and circled the small pot twice, with a sound in his mouth. turned around and said to Master Luo: "This little beggar is still a scholar!" ”

Xiao Guozi stalked his neck, bit his lip, and looked at Master Luo and Professor Zhang, at this moment he remembered the backbone that Mr. Wang told them, remembered his mother, remembered his sister, and remembered the carefree life in the village.

"I wasn't born to beg, I've never begged, I have my dignity." His whole body was trembling, but tears were streaming down his face.

Master Luo and Professor Zhang probably saw the mud-stained honey stack on the ground, their faces softened, and Master Luo asked Xiuxiu softly: "Xiuxiu, how did you give him food?" ”

Xiuxiu had stopped crying at this time, but her shoulders would still twitch from time to time, and after thinking about it, she said: "I saw that he was pitiful, so I gave him a honey stack to eat, but he was so dirty, I didn't want to touch him, so I threw the honey stack on the ground in front of him, but he didn't eat it." ”

Master Luo and Professor Zhang glanced at each other, nodded, and did not speak. Master Luo patted Xiuxiu's face, sighed, and led Xiuxiu into the house, Professor Zhang walked behind, turned around and beckoned to the small pot and said, "Child, come in with me." ”

Xiao Guozi didn't want to go in, he didn't know who these two people were, it seemed that they were people with status and status, but he especially wanted to hear the man inside tell the rest of the story, he was eager to know who killed the whole village, why did he do this? So he hesitated, bowed his head, and walked along the wall into the tavern.

"Hey, you begging for food, who let you in, go out." Xiao Er was startled when he saw that the two old men were followed by a man named Hanako, for fear of affecting his business, so he hurriedly stepped forward to drive away.

"Xiao Er, don't drive away, I asked him to come in, serve him a bowl of rice, it seems that this child is hungry." Professor Zhang said to Xiao Er.

"Ah?...... Yes! …… Okay......" Xiao Er was stunned for a moment, hurriedly agreed, and ran to the back kitchen.

Xiao Guozi timidly walked into the tavern, he didn't dare to get too close to the table, these days of no fixed place made him see too many white eyes and contempt, his poor self-esteem was torn off little by little, deprived, he was too young to face so many difficulties.

He couldn't see what the future would hold, he didn't know what the future would be, he didn't know that he had wanted to avenge his family, but these huge and distant goals were so insignificant compared to the starvation in front of him.

He often sads, he doesn't want to be a beggar, but he is becoming a beggar little by little, he has learned to steal, although he keeps explaining himself that he is just stealing food, he just wants to fill his stomach, and he will not really steal money, but stealing is stealing, and after every stealing, he always feels ashamed, even if it is just a sweet potato, a radish. He often felt scared, could it be that he ended up being a beggar? In this life, he lived by stealing and begging, and finally died by some unknown gutter, bitten by wild dogs, and no one even helped him bury him.

Timidly, he crouched down by the wall, put his hands on his knees, and buried his head in the sight, letting his unkempt hair block his view.

The three people at the table were all looking at him, but that Zhao Laosan was not affected at all, and continued to take a bite of food, take a sip of wine, and eat happily.

"Little baby, where are you from? How many years have you been reading? How did you end up here? Professor Zhang asked softly.

"I, I'm ......" Xiao Guozi opened his mouth, but he didn't know if he should tell the truth, he didn't know who in this world could be trusted, who could help him avenge his hatred. Just as he was hesitating, Xiao Er brought a big bowl of rice, covered with a few slices of meat and some green vegetables. Xiao Guozi's eyes lit up, and he hurriedly took the bowl and chopsticks, swallowed a mouthful of saliva, and then got up and bowed to the two masters: "Thank you, master, for the reward." Seeing Master Luo smiling and waving his hand, he quickly squatted back to the corner and devoured it.

It's been a long time since I've eaten something so delicious, the rice has a sweet taste, releasing bursts of refreshing aroma, and the green vegetables are also so tender and delicious, I have eaten so many green vegetables before, I have never felt so delicious, not to mention the meat, just take a bite, as if I am in the clouds. The heart of the small pot seemed to be about to melt, for the first time in more than ten days, he had eaten rice for the first time, and for the first time he had eaten cooked vegetables, he felt that he had never eaten such good food once since he was born, so fragrant, so beautiful.

The two old men looked at him eating, sighed, and no longer asked, but turned to Zhao Laosan: "Third brother, go on, what cousin of yours found out?" ”

Zhao Laosan was probably full of seven or eight servings, put the chopsticks on the edge of the plate, and took another sip of wine, then said unhurriedly: "The two old men are really kind, and they are so good to this little beggar, they really deserve to be the top figures in our town......" Looking at the eyes of the two old men, he immediately changed the topic: "My cousin, this time it is hard work, of course it is not good if you don't work hard, such a big case has alarmed the Zhejiang Governor's Office, and the above ordered that the case must be solved, limited to ten days, if there is no explanation, I'm afraid my cousin's ass is about to bloom. So they didn't let go of all the clues, one by one, after investigation, the dart bureau was from Suzhou Prefecture Jisheng Dart Bureau, escorted a batch of goods to Yongjia, after the dart escort was delivered, they were returning the same way, so although they brought a lot of knives and guns, but there was no goods, so their suspicion was the first to be ruled out. The caravan, on the other hand, came from Ningbo, and when my cousin arrived on horseback, their goods were piled up, but it was evident that they were not looted, but indeed sold by merchants. ”

"Why are you so sure?" Professor Zhang was puzzled.

"Because there are not many varieties of goods, basically embroidery, tea, ceramics and other things, packed very neatly, if it is robbed from Shannan Village, it must be gold and silver jewelry, magnetic silk, everything, a wide variety, as long as it is valuable, it will be snatched and loaded on the car, different sizes, piled up in a mess, it will not be so neat." Zhao Laosan said.

"Well, that's right, could it be that you left by boat?" Master Luo asked.

"Of course, taking a boat is the most likely, although my cousin and they are in a hurry to catch up, but they still didn't catch up with those boats, because although the river is not big, but soon it flows into the Feiyun River, the river is wide, there are many boats, so once you enter the river, it is difficult to distinguish who it is, although the government contacted the sailor to find it, but the whole river did not see a big boat passing by, there are many boats dredging and transporting, but there are dozens of thieves in the slaughtering village, the sailor searched all the boats, and did not find that there are boats that can sit dozens of people passing by."

"Will they scatter and leave on the boat?" Master Luo pondered.

"Most of the fishermen who live on the boat are near the coast, and if there are a lot of unfamiliar faces at once, they will definitely find that the sailor has asked a lot of boatmen, and they have not found a large number of strangers in the past few days." Zhao Laosan said.

"Then it seems that there must be something strange about this funeral procession." Professor Zhang slapped the table and said affirmatively.