The little girl looked at the silver in Leng Qiuling's hand, and a trace of embarrassment flashed in her eyes, she already knew the importance of the silver at a young age, and gritted her teeth The little girl said, "Then you come in, my family is poor, and there is nothing to entertain you." ”

The little girl moved her body and let Leng Qiuling and Zhihua walk in, and what caught her eye was three thatched houses, with some weeds and other things hanging on the stone slab in front of the door, and a few ropes pulled up in the yard, on which were a few patched clothes.

"Little sister, what about the adults in your family, my brother has something to say to them." Leng Qiuling looked around, stood at the door and said.

"My name is Cao'er." The little girl looked directly at Leng Qiuling and said, "My brother and sister have not come back from working in the fields, and I am alone at home to take care of my younger brother." ”

"What about your father." Zhihua asked suspiciously, looking at the age of the little girl, I am afraid that her brothers and sisters are not very old, and they have to work in the field at such a young age, and this father and mother are too unresponsible.

Cao'er lowered her head and said after a long time, "Daddy fell off the cliff and died while hunting, you sit down first, and I'll pour two bowls of water." ”

Zhihua looked at Cao'er's back uneasily, and said to Nuo Nuo, "Young master, I really don't know, this little girl is too pitiful, she has no father and mother at such a young age." ”

Leng Qiuling nodded, piled up the weeds on the stone slab in the middle, and sat on it, the young father and mother were gone, it seems that this child has also suffered a lot, otherwise the defensive psychology will not be so strong.

Soon Cao'er came over with two coarse porcelain bowls, Zhihua hurriedly took them, handed one of them to Leng Qiuling, and hesitated, "Young master, this water ......." ”

Leng Qiuling looked down and saw that the water in the bowl was not clear, and it was mixed with some fine broken sand, it was obvious that it had just been beaten out of the well, Leng Qiuling did not hesitate, picked up the bowl and took a big sip.

"Young Master." Zhihua was also surprised, she couldn't drink such dirty water, but she didn't expect Miss to care at all.

"Zhihua, you can also taste it, this water is good and has a hint of sweetness." Leng Qiuling put the bowl in his hand aside, looked at Zhihua and said.

"That is, don't look at our poor village, but we have the best water here, and many rich people in the town pull water from us." At the mention of this, Cao'er was filled with a sense of pride all over her body, and her gaze softened more and more when she looked at Leng Qiuling.

Zhihua hurriedly picked up the bowl and took a sip, because the water entered the trachea because of the rapid drinking, Zhihua coughed for a long time before he recovered.

Taking advantage of this time, Leng Qiuling inquired with Cao'er about the situation in the village, there are a total of forty-eight households in Taoyuan Village, all surnamed Li, there are patriarchs in the village, and there are two more authoritative old people in the village, because it is far away from the town, and the road is not easy to walk, so there are no relatively wealthy people in Taoyuan Village. But I have more work to do than other people's adults, and I am even more tired.

"Cao'er, don't you have any relatives in your family? Your father's side or your mother's side. Zhihua looked at Cao'er sympathetically, she was also an orphan but she entered the cold mansion since she was a child, and later stayed with the young lady, so she didn't suffer at all.

"We don't have any relatives in our family, and they're all white-eyed wolves." Cao'er clenched her fists tightly, her eyes full of anger, "After my father died, my uncle set his sights on my family's houses, if it weren't for the help of my father's friends, we would have been sleeping on the streets a long time ago." ”

Leng Qiuling and Zhihua glanced at each other, the difference in their living environment since childhood made them unable to believe that there was anything to rob in these dilapidated houses.

Leng Qiuling and Cao'er chatted happily, but they didn't notice that it was completely dark, and there was a knock on the door outside, Cao'er jumped up from the ground and ran to the door, "It's the eldest brother, they're back." ”

Leng Qiuling also stood up, the dim light made her a little uncomfortable, Zhihua took out flint and candles from the baggage and put them on the table.

"You are the guests that Cao'er said, sit down quickly, there is nothing at home, you can bear with me if I am not thoughtful." A sturdy man walked in first, with a pair of particularly bright eyes on his dark face, which made people feel good at first sight.

She was followed by an eleven or twelve-year-old girl, whose facial features could only be regarded as beautiful, because she had not eaten enough for a long time, the little girl was so thin that it seemed to be blown away by a gust of wind.

"Big brother, this is my eldest brother Li Wei and second sister Dacao." Cao'er introduced with a smile.

Leng Qiuling's expression froze for a moment, this girl from a poor family is really worthless, and the names are all big grass and two grass, it's too casual.

"Hello, we passed by here and couldn't find a place to stay, so we thought about spending the night here."

Cao'er pulled Li Wei's arm and whispered in his ear, "Big brother, they said they would give us five taels of silver for one night." ”

"Grass." Li Wei's expression suddenly became stern, and he said sharply, "How does my father and mother teach me from small things, it is a good thing to help others, how can I collect money." After a pause, Li Wei looked at Leng Qiuling embarrassedly and said, "Little sister is not sensible, let you laugh, rest assured that there are no other empty houses in our family, you can live for a few days if you want, don't want silver." ”

"Big brother, they took the initiative to give it, and it wasn't what I wanted." Cao'er said dissatisfiedly.

Li Wei had a calm face and said, "Then you can't ask for it, what is the difference between you and bandits and bullies for five taels of silver for a night, if your father and mother know about it, they will not be at ease in heaven." ”

Cao'er's eyes turned red, and she burst into tears, crying, "Do you think I'm willing to ask for it, the second sister will be divorced if I can't raise any more money, I don't want to lose the second sister, woo woo ......"

Leng Qiuling blinked, it seems that there is still a story here, took out a handkerchief and wiped her tears with Cao'er, and said softly, "What happened, Cao'er, what does your second sister's divorce have to do with silver." ”

Cao'er was out of breath crying and couldn't answer Leng Qiuling's question at all, Dacao on the side sighed and walked over to hug her sister and coaxed a few words softly, "Before my father died, I was set a family affair, which was supposed to be married this year, who knew that not long ago the man proposed to let me prepare a dowry of five taels of silver, otherwise their family would have to withdraw from the marriage, in fact, I want to open it, and I will withdraw from the marriage, it's a big deal not to marry for life, who knows that Cao'er actually took this matter to heart, hey......"

Leng Qiuling sighed after hearing this, fifty taels of silver was just a meal for her, but she didn't expect that here it was a huge amount of money that the family couldn't get by smashing pots and selling iron, Leng Qiuling shook her head and said, "How can their family make such a harsh request even if they know that you can't take it out, is there something going on." ”

"It's not that I think my family is burdened, I'm afraid that after her son marries the second sister, she will have to help our family." Cao'er wiped away her tears and said mockingly, "It's really unconscionable, if my father hadn't saved their family, he would still be alive and well." ”

"Okay, Cao'er, what their family said is not unreasonable, even if I marry you, I don't worry about you, it's better not to marry someone in this life." Dacao was bitter in her heart, she also had hatred and resentment, but looking at her younger siblings and hard-working eldest brother, she could only suppress these feelings and pretend to be calm.

"This is too much, it's just a child's play to treat the reputation of my daughter's family, and it's okay if this kind of person doesn't marry." Zhihua was angry, patted Cao'er's shoulder and said, "Don't be sad, it's a good thing that your second sister doesn't marry in the past, she will definitely be able to find a better family in the future." ”

Zhihua's consolation did not make the family feel relieved, Li Wei and Cao'er still looked sad, Cao'er said with a crying voice, "If you withdraw from the marriage, the second sister will not want to marry in this life, and other families in the village will not want a girl who has been divorced at all." ”

Leng Qiuling and Zhiying looked at each other, they never thought that the consequences would be so strict, Li Wei pulled out a smile and said, "Okay, let's not talk about this, eldest sister, you go to cook, everyone will rest early after eating, the boat will naturally go straight to the bridge, there will always be a solution to the problem." ”

Dacao glanced at the grass worriedly and walked out, a gust of wind blew and extinguished the candle, and the house fell into darkness again, Zhihua fumbled for a long time before lighting the candle again, and then took out two more candles and lit them and put them elsewhere in the house.

Dinner was quickly ready, a pot of gruel and a few black and yellow nests, in order to welcome the guests, Dacao also went to the home to borrow a piece of pickles and cut it.

"I don't have anything at home, forgive me." Li Wei scratched his head embarrassedly, there was really nothing to entertain guests in this situation at home.

Leng Qiuling waved her hand, picked up a pickle and put it in her mouth and said, "It's okay, these things are fine, let's eat, don't be hungry after a tired day." ”

The others picked up the bowl and began to eat, and Dacao casually pulled two mouthfuls of his three-year-old brother from the back room and began to feed him.

Leng Qiuling put down the chopsticks after eating two bites, such a little thing is estimated to be not enough for two people to eat, but now it has to be divided into six people, no wonder the children of the Li family are all malnourished.

After dinner, Li Wei reassigned the room, vacated one of them for Leng Qiuling and Zhihua, and Dacao also took out a relatively new quilt and spread it on it.

"Young master, this family is too pitiful, why don't we help them." Zhihua was moved by a trace of compassion, she really couldn't bear to watch this kind girl encounter this kind of thing.

Leng Qiuling turned over, turned her back to Zhihua and said, "Let's see the situation tomorrow, even if you help people, you have to pay attention to methods, otherwise it is very likely to be self-defeating." ”