Ni's mother said: "Speaking of which, you may also know it, it is the daughter of Qiao Yuanwai in Xicheng." ”

Liang was pleasantly surprised: "Old Man Qiao's house? Oh, I heard that this Old Master Qiao is a big official! Ni's mother thinks about her son's marriage all day long, and she knows almost all about the people who have been high-ranking officials in Hezhou, but she doesn't know in detail.

Ni's mother said: "Isn't it, the ancestor of Master Qiao's family has been a don't drive in Xiuzhou!" But from the five high-ranking officials! ”

"Really? That's even higher than Old Lady Qu, and Old Lady Qu is only six grades. ”

"Isn't that a better match? Giggles"

Liang sneered: "However, our ancestor of the Zuo family is only an eight-grade person." People may not be able to see it. ”

"Hey! As long as it is a family of eunuchs, it will become, which cares how many products? Now that people still ask for you, how can you not look down on it! ”

"Huh? Does their family have a request from us? Liang was surprised and delighted, thinking that there was a door to this.

"Not really!" Ni's mother said, "Their family ......, alas, they can't live anymore without food......"

"Wouldn't it? I think their family is quite cheap, with high walls and big tiles, and the house is bigger than Master Qu's. How can there be no food? ”

On the day when the rebels attacked Hezhou for the first time, some of the rebels who mixed into the city took advantage of the chaos to set fire to the houses of the big families in the city, and the enemy attacked the city very fiercely, and set fire to the houses around the Dongcheng City with rockets, and the water dragon team in the city was busy fighting fires in Dongcheng that day, where can I take care of other places, Master Qiao's house was in Xicheng, and several places were on fire at the same time, and the family could not save this side and there, and watched a big house burn into rubble, the whole family cried to death. Alas! ”

"Is this miserable?" Liang also wiped her tears and lamented, she couldn't listen to people's sad things the most, and she couldn't help but shed tears.

Ni's mother said again: "It's not, fortunately, everyone is fine, these days, their family has borrowed from relatives' houses, and they lived until the day before yesterday, but it didn't work, and the relatives didn't let them live, and they found other relatives and friends, and they also found all kinds of reasons to shirk and not accept them!" ”

"Why is that?" Liang's eyes widened.

"It's not for food!" Mother Ni sighed faintly, "There is a shortage of food in the city, and the food of every family is tight!" Master Qiao's relatives and friends are not well-off, and they are too busy to take care of themselves, how can they help so much. The grain stored in Master Qiao's house was almost burned by a fire that day, thanks to Miss Qiao's cleverness, she didn't care about the gold and silver jewelry, and broke into the fire of the granary several times desperately, and rescued a bag of grain, otherwise, she wouldn't have been able to survive those days! It's a pity, Miss, she ......."

"What's wrong with her?"

"It's nothing, I have a little injury on my leg, but I'm fine, find our Huimin Hall, my Ni Da has already helped ......, this ...... is almost cured ....... Giggles"

"Oh......, that's good. Their house has burned down, so how will they live after that? ”

"Don't worry about this, although the Qiao family's mansion burned down, they also rescued some clothes, gold and silver jewelry, and some money. In addition, there are many fertile fields outside the city! Ordinary people live by collecting rent. The good field is still there, and it's easy to say anything. No matter how bad it is, there are also his two sons! As long as the rebels are defeated and the two sons get the news in, their family will soon be fine. I don't know how to live this day at the moment. ”

"That is, everyone has three disasters and eight disasters, fortunately people are fine, the house is burned, and relatives and friends refuse to take it in, so where do they live?"

"Where else can I live, go back to the rubble field of the old house, pick up the remaining scorched wood and build two wooden houses, and have a place to live for the time being!"

Liang said: "It's been snowing heavily these days, can you live in that place?" ”

"It's not, Master Qiao used to be not in good health, and he often came to my family Ni Da to see a doctor, so the two families are more familiar. This time her daughter was injured and came to the door to see the injury. Two days ago they lived in a wooden shed, and the old couple had a cold again, and yesterday they also came to our pharmacy to see a doctor, and when they talked about it, Mrs. Qiao and the young lady both cried like tears. ”

As she spoke, Ni's mother's tears fell, and Liang also wiped her tears.

Ni's mother said again: "We talked about food again, and then we learned that their family had been out of food for three days, and they were unwilling to borrow it from relatives and friends, or even exchange it for land." The family didn't know what to do. Alas, I happened to see the officers and soldiers escorting Xiaolang to march all over the city and send food to the officers and soldiers. Master Qiao heard that your family Zhong'er risked his life to treat the wounded, and he also killed the enemy bravely, killing more than 20 enemies, and praised Zhong'er for being a good man. Mrs. Qiao said, your family can take out ten buckets of rice and sell it to the official army, and there must be a lot of food at home, so I don't know if there is anything left. Master Qiao also said, if there is really food, you can exchange it for anything! When I heard this, my heart moved, and I remembered that your family Zhong'er had not yet married, and the young lady of the Qiao family was one of the best in a hundred in appearance and character, and the ancestor of the Qiao family was an official, just a good match, so I moved my mind, and when I told them this, the Qiao family immediately agreed, saying that as long as I could feed the family with food, I would get married immediately. ”

Liang sneered: "This ......, how many people are in their family?" ”

"There is a family of three in Hezhou, and Master Qiao has a total of two sons and one daughter. two sons, one of whom was running business outside and had been running around for many years; The other is an official in the capital, I don't know if it's an eight-grade or nine-grade official, anyway, he is an official. Now the old couple and their daughters in the family, the maids and servants are all disbanded, the daughter of the Qiao family is fifteen years old this year, and many matchmakers come to say goodbye, and the old couple feel that the child is still young and is not willing to give, so they have been around. didn't want to encounter this, and the old couple regretted that they had killed their daughter. This daughter is sensible and keeps comforting the second elder. Let me tell you, I have seen this girl, she is really a first-class character, you will like it at first sight! ”

Liang smiled bitterly: "Old lady, you are so attentive, then I will tell you the truth, our master is particularly fond of the granddaughter of the Qu family, but Zhong'er doesn't like it, and would rather let her be a maid." We can't, the lord told me in private, that's it first, be a maid for Zhong'er, let the two of them get along, maybe the feelings will come everywhere, and then get married, it will be a matter of course, hehe"

"That's ......!" Ni's mother was a little disappointed.

"And ......," Liang continued, "our family has a very strange temper, and he prefers to choose his own daughter-in-law, and he wants to be in love with him, and he hates buying and selling marriages the most. - The little sister of the Sang family in the fragrant tea shop is also presentable, and she can also talk to Zhong'er, and Zhong'er also likes it, but the old mother of the Sang family is too snobbish, and she has to ask for a bride price of seventy yuan, and later she wants to discount the grain, and Zhong'er refused in a fit of anger. If Zhong'er knew that he would exchange food for his daughter-in-law, he would not do it. ”

"This is different," Ni's mother said busily, "The Sang family is greedy for money, and here is to survive, now the streets are full of children and daughters, a bowl of rice and a steamed bun can be bought, and even some people, in order for the child to have food and not starve to death, give it for nothing." Could it be that they are all philistines? ”

"That's right......," Liang sneered.

Ni's mother said again: "As for exchanging her daughter for food, that's what we said in private, just don't let Zhong'er know about it?" ”

"But the White Girl's side ......"

"Hey! Old sister, it's still the same sentence, since Zhong'er is not happy with the white girl, the twisted melon is not sweet, don't force it. Besides, the white girl is now Zhong'er's maid, isn't that the person in the house? In the future, if Zhong'er falls in love with Miss Qiao's family and marries her, when will she change her mind and like this white girl, it will be simple, this white girl will not promise to be a wife, a concubine and a slave, and let Zhong'er take her into the house to be a little when the time comes. That's not just a matter of your words. Zhong'er is so promising. Isn't it supposed to have three wives and four concubines in the future? ”

Liang smiled and nodded: "This is also true." However, our family Zhong'er said that his daughter-in-law must be agreed by himself, and we can't arrange it. The lord also accommodated him and listened to him. Look at this ......."

"It's not easy to do, first find a reason to let him take a look at Miss Qiao's family first, by the way, Miss Qiao's family happened to have a broken leg, so she used the excuse to let him be treated, let's look at it in private, if it's a little interesting, then ask Zhong'er in private, he wants to be satisfied, isn't this family a family? Hee-hee. As long as we don't talk about exchanging food to support their family, Zhong'er doesn't know. ”

"That's a good idea!" Liang grinned, "Then how much grain do they want?" ”

"Everyone has difficulties, and they don't dare to ask for more, they just say that they can feed the family, and in the future, Miss Qiao's family will pass through the door, and she will be from your Zuo family, so you just need to feed them and the old couple through this famine."

"Oh, it's just two of you, that should work."

Ni's mother was pleasantly surprised: "Then you agreed?" ”

"I don't count this matter, I have to discuss it with the master, and then take a look at the daughter of the Qiao family, we haven't met, let's talk about it after we meet, can you see it?"

"This is natural, or else, you will tell your master in a while, I will go back and tell the Qiao family, and under the pretext that Miss Qiao's leg injury is being seen, I will send you Guizhitang, and let your family Zhong'er see a doctor, and it will be decided immediately if it is not successful." What do you see? ”

"Okay!" Liang smiled and agreed, "If this is done, how can I thank you?" ”

"Thanks what! You've helped my family enough, and that's all as it should be. Mother Ni sneered, "Of course, if you two have more food and sell us a bucket or two of rice, then you can't thank you enough, and you will save our lives." Giggles"

Liang was embarrassed: "It stands to reason that the thousand-year-old ginseng you gave me to marry my daughter-in-law is worth a thousand gold, in exchange for such a good girl as Zhi'er." We are grateful. If you are allowed to sell grain, we will sell it to you, but the general has already said that we are only allowed to eat this grain for our own family, and we are not allowed to sell it. ”

(To be continued)