It's December, and it's the third snow in the north. Snowflakes as big as goose feathers dress up the land in a snow-white world. The old man said, Ruixue is a good year! Many people are overjoyed, thinking that next year's harvest should be good, and they can have some surplus food to tear a few pieces of cloth for their children and mothers-in-law, and buy a few clothes! Because of the severe cold, birds and beasts are almost extinct. In this vast wilderness, it seems that only the curling smoke from the village can prove that there are traces of human activity on the land.

It's sad every year, every year is hard, every day is hard, every day is hard. For Zhao Hu's family, who are in Pingshu, Yanguo, this year's winter is particularly difficult because Zhao Hu's father is sick. In modern times, malaria is nothing, but in this era, doctors really don't have a very good way to deal with it. Not to mention that there is one less strong laborer in the family, it is necessary to assign someone to take care of it. Zhao Hu, who was sixteen years old, took over the burden of the family prematurely and experienced the bitterness of running a family.

The biggest problem in front of Zhao Hu is to make money, and the more money you make, the better it is. As long as you have money, you can hire a better doctor to treat your father, and when his father is cured, this hurdle will be over. But in this world, how can a sixteen-and-a-half-year-old man make money? Zhao Hu thought of many ways, to do odd jobs for people, to run errands and lead people at the city gate, to take advantage of the fine weather to go into the mountains to chop firewood and even take risks hunting, but after working for a month, the money he earned was only enough to maintain his father's usual medical expenses. Everything that can be sold at home has been sold, and everything that can be pawned has been pawned, but there is still a long way to go before my father's illness is cured. This journey is enough to decide the life and death of his father, and it is enough to determine the rise and fall of this family.

An opportunity that is not a chance has come. In December, news of King Yan's conscription reached Pingshu City, the easternmost small town of the Great Wall of Yan. The character of Pingshu people is like the name of the city, and the character is peaceful and relaxed. The town is a little less noisy though. But it's also a little more humane. The news of the conscription spread undoubtedly, and in this cold winter without a trace of entertainment, King Yan's will became the biggest talk on the streets, and finally mobilized the feelings of the Pingshu people. Within half a day, almost every citizen of Pingshu City knew that King Yan had ordered Pingshu City to contribute five hundred elite soldiers, and Zhao Hu was no exception.

this era. Ordinary people should be recruited into the army purely "compulsory labor", not only do they not get paid, but on the contrary, they also have the risk of losing their heads. Perhaps because they were worried that the three armies would not be able to work hard, various countries successively promulgated a number of reward systems to encourage soldiers to fight bravely against the enemy. The danger of making the stingy elites of money addicts use their wealth to boost their morale is self-evident.

Since ancient times, money can make ghosts grind, although in today's troubled times, although the conquest has been carried out year after year, as long as it is not a disaster to destroy the country, few countries will raise the whole country's troops. This also means: Although every year the countries issued a decree to call up soldiers, there were always some people who could work at home to do farming. The danger of joining the army is there, and those who are unfortunately drawn to serve in the army, but if their family is a little rich, they can naturally come up with a sum of money to find someone to enlist in the army for themselves. Anyway, the county magistrate is concerned about the number of people, and as for what should have been Zhang San's service and Li Si's service, it is completely out of the county magistrate's consideration.

Zhao Hu's father just served his military service last year, and this year's will is only to transfer 500 young people. It is far less than a quarter of all the young people in Pingshu City, and naturally it is not in the ranks of this year's service. Follow the township. The five hundred places were quickly distributed. Those who were selected to serve were naturally miserable, but they couldn't. If you want to blame your own bad luck, the last group of people who served only defended the frontier for three months, but their own batch had to go to the battlefield with real knives.

The news of going to war is by no means groundless. The county lieutenant of Pingshu is a local, and naturally has a tradition of local people protecting their shortcomings. Secretly released the rumor that this group of soldiers were going to go to the battlefield, which was a big favor. After all, the casualty rate on the battlefield is too high, and those who don't have a future can still find a mother-in-law to sow seeds before the battle, and those who have a future can explain some aftermath. This is also the tradition of Pingshu, or the tradition of the entire Yan Kingdom.

The price of serving as a substitute was quickly inflated. Many idlers who made a living from this (not the Song Dynasty that was purely a person who was purely a helper during the economically developed period, and in the Warring States Period, it was impossible for such people to survive. In this case, it refers to people who are idle in winter) have room to play. One hundred and fifty knife coins per person, no bargaining! This price is close to the net profit of a family of five for a year's hard work, and it is still when the wind and rain are good. Many people who originally wanted to find someone to serve on their behalf weighed themselves and gave up the idea. But more people have taken out their family savings in exchange for peace this time.

People just have a herd effect, when everyone is weighing the pros and cons, as long as one person is willing to pay for peace, all people will come out to buy it. One hundred and fifty sword coins seems to be a lot, but compared to his own life, it is not worth mentioning. It's just a hard year, and it's worth the money. Many people remember that Pingshu City also received the order to recruit young men to the battlefield a few times, but on those occasions, only three-fifths of them came back alive at most, and less than half of them could come back completely. Who can guarantee that his luck is so good, he will be the lucky half!

It seems that aware of the "generosity" of the buyers, the sellers raised the price of their service higher and higher, gradually exceeding two hundred knife coins. But the "enthusiasm" of the crowd has been fully mobilized, and they are almost grabbing their own prices. Everyone has only one thought, that is, they will be snatched away by others if they don't do it early. Each takes what it needs, and the deal is reached. Fewer and fewer people remained.

After all, idlers are a minority, and idlers who dare to "live" for others are either hard-working or strong in martial arts. Soon, these people had buyers. The two sides negotiated the price and broke up. Zhao Hu watched with interest as the idlers made so much money that he had never seen in his life in a quarter of an hour, and his heart was secretly drooling. If you have so much money, you can get better for your father's illness! After hesitating, Zhao Hu still didn't dare to step forward to join the ranks of idlers. That is, when Zhao Hu hesitated, the buyers and sellers dispersed, and the street corner became empty, except for Zhao Hu, there was no one else.

Zhao Hu clearly remembered that the last remaining idle man had the highest transaction price, a full two hundred and twenty knife coins. It also scared off a few buyers who were eager to hire him for service. As the idlers go from more to less, from there to nothing. Many of the buying officers who were drawn to serve were disappointed. This scene made a deep impression on Zhao Hu.

I think there is something very important about this service, otherwise the adults above would not have asked to leave tomorrow. Zhao Hu let out a long sigh and prepared to turn around and go home. Today's money is not settled yet! It's already noon, and if you don't think of any way, my father's medicine will only be enough for tonight. The doctor said. If the drug is stopped, the consequences are unimaginable.

At the moment when Zhao Hu turned around, a hurried figure suddenly appeared on the corner of the street, accompanied by "Wait a minute! Wait a minute! The voice made Zhao Hu turn around. Zhao Hu turned around, and what caught his eye was a middle-aged man with a hurried pace and beads of sweat on his face. The other party's family is well-off. The reason is simple, have you ever seen a hungry person with a big belly?

"Excuse me......" There was only one person around, Zhao Hu was very sure that the other party was shouting must be himself, but the problem was that he really didn't know the other party, Zhao Hu opened his mouth suspiciously, wanting to ask the other party's intention.

The person who came waved his hand again and again, stopped Zhao Hu, and said with a pant: "Finally let me arrive!" Go ahead! How much do you want to serve me? ”

The name of the person who came was Zhang Ming. The family has a small business and is quite wealthy. This time. Zhang Ming was unfortunately selected to be one of the 500 people to serve, so he was in a hurry. After receiving the notice from the lieutenant chief, he immediately hurried here, but he hurried slowly, and he was still a step too late. There weren't many idlers in Pingshu City. There were only thirty or forty people. Although there are not many people who are willing to spend money to hire people to help them serve, this time they are on the battlefield, and there are always people who are willing to spend money to buy peace. Zhang Ming naturally knows the truth that there is no market.

On the way here, Zhang Ming heard several bad news one after another. In previous years, the price of more than a hundred sword coins had now risen to more than two hundred, and just like that, those who found their service were still complacent. Zhang Ming is ready to be "bloodletted", of course, provided that he is fast enough to take down the few remaining idlers before others make a move.

Running to the front and looking at the burly young man in front of him, Zhang Ming couldn't help but feel that his luck was really good. Zhao Hu's precocious maturity and body polished since childhood have become the best evidence that Zhang Ming mistakenly thinks that the other party is an idler! After all, those who dare to serve others with their lives will not be able to survive the battlefield if they are not in good health. And Zhao Hu's patch seems to have become another kind of evidence - in these years, who will come out to sell his life if he has a solid family? ! Moreover, in Zhang Ming's opinion, the person who can appear on this street corner at this time is the one who was selected to serve in the street at this time. If Zhao Hu is going to serve, looking at his dress, he also knows that the other party can't afford to hire someone to serve. That is naturally the second situation - the other party is an idler.

As soon as Zhao Hu heard Zhang Ming's words, he knew that he had been misunderstood, and immediately subconsciously stretched out his fingers and wanted to say: "I'm not an idler!" ”

But a gust of wind blew, and the fluttering snowflakes fascinated people's eyes, and they blew away the last three words of Zhao Hu. Zhang Ming only saw that the other party stretched out five fingers, and his ears heard the words "five hundred"!

"What? The other party wants 500 knife coins? That's the net money I can make in a year of hard work! The price I heard on the road just now was only two hundred and twenty knife coins, and this price has risen too fast, right?! Zhang Ming regretted that he was late. The other party seems to be honest, but in fact, he wants to take the opportunity to raise the price! These idlers are really more shrewd than the other! Don't underestimate it! If your expression is not so urgent, you should still have to discuss!

Zhao Hu looked at the sky anxiously, the wind was blowing, maybe it would fall heavily in the future, if he didn't hurry up, there would be no money for today. My father still has to take medicine tomorrow morning, no matter what, I have to earn two knife coins today! Can't waste any more time here! Zhao Hu immediately came to a conclusion.

Thinking of this, Zhao Hu pulled out his legs and was about to leave. But this qiē is in Zhang Ming's eyes, but it has another meaning. The other party made it clear that he liked to buy it or not, and he looked like he was determined to eat himself. Thinking about it, the hesitation on his face just now made the other party very dissatisfied, if he bargained again at this time, the other party might have to raise the price or even turn around and leave. Forget it, who makes himself so precious for his little life! Just let the other party take advantage of it!

How did Zhao Hu know that the sentence "I am not an idler" just now was heard by the other party as "five hundred" under the influence of a gust of wind and snow, and he was worried about his father's impatience and the other party's idle expression, and was understood by the other party as fearless. That is, Zhang Ming has just made a windfall, otherwise he will be replaced by anyone. will not give a sky-high price of 500 knife coins, that is, Zhang Ming spares his life, otherwise another person would not regard his life as so important!

So in the next second, Zhao Hu heard a heavenly voice that he had never heard in his life, and Zhang Ming happily took out a small piece of gold. said: "Five hundred knife coins!" No more, no less, just the right amount! Now you can agree to serve me! ”

Zhao Hu's eyes lit up suddenly, and there seemed to be nothing else in the whole world except for the piece of gold in front of him and himself! A voice named Desire shouted desperately in his heart: "Promise him! Promise him! Promise him that this piece of gold is yours! Your father's illness is over! Your dilapidated house can be repaired! Your mother won't have to work so hard! Your sister won't have to go hungry! ”

Another called Reason said in an inaudible voice: "Can't agree! Can't say yes! You're not an idler at all! You have no battlefield experience at all! Although you are good at martial arts! But how useful is an individual's martial arts on the battlefield?! You've never seen blood except for a hare! On the battlefield, you will die for life! ”

Clearly, lust triumphed over reason in the end. After all, this money is too important to Zhao Hu and Zhao Hu's family. For the first time, Zhao Hu decided to deceive others. Zhang Ming thus heard the long-awaited reply - "Okay! I promise you! Five hundred knife coins! I'll serve you! ”

Although I don't understand why Zhao Hu's face was blue and red just now, and he was even more vill when he said this, this did not affect Zhang Ming's happy mood at all! His life was finally saved! People are alive, money is dead, and money can be earned when it is gone! What's the use of more money when people die! Although 500 sword coins is really a lot, it is worth it to avoid this disaster.

The two of them, who were worried about the extraneous branches, quickly went to the official office to hand over the formalities, and Zhao Hu received his license plate. With his own handprint, the deal became a foregone conclusion. No one can go back! The people who will gather at the gate of the official office tomorrow have changed from Zhang Ming to Zhao Hu, that's all! Both sides take what they need, and they can't talk about suffering losses or being deceived.

With a large sum of money in his arms, Zhao Hu only felt that his steps were both light and heavy. I have the fate of my family of four! Under suspicion, Zhao Hu spent more than half an hour, walking through the streets and alleys, and went around before sneaking into his home.

Looking at his younger sister who was sensibly boiling herbs in the yard and his mother who was busy going in and out, Zhao Hu's eyes moistened all of a sudden. My sister is only ten years old. It was already so cold, but he was wearing thin clothes. My mother was already full of gray hair before she was forty years old. I've grown up, so I can't let them suffer anymore! Zhao Hu, who still had some regrets, suddenly felt that everything he did was worth it, even if he exchanged his life for five years of peace for his family and his father's recovery, it was worth it.

"Brother! You're back! Zhao Hu's little sister was the first to notice Zhao Hu's arrival, and her words revealed joy. In the eyes of Xiaomei, her brother is the most powerful! Nothing can bother him! The family has been cut off from rice in front of him a few days, but his brother can make money every day! Buy medicine for your father, buy food for yourself! When I grow up, I must make money like my brother!

Xiaomei remembers very well that when the family ran out of food, many people came to the door and lobbied their mother, saying that they were going to sell themselves to marry or become slaves! These bad people, fortunately, their brother drove them away! Otherwise, you will be miserable! I've heard that those people like to torture children the most. It is precisely because of this incident that my brother's image in his mind is much taller, even surpassing his father!

The well-behaved little sister immediately found that her brother had tears in his eyes, and shouted to the house in a little anxious: "Mother! My brother cried! Come and see! ”

Seeing that she thought about it and didn't dare to get up, it was obvious that the herbs boiled in the kettle under her feet had extremely high requirements for the heat, and it was precisely because of this that the little sister was about to cry in a hurry! What's wrong with my brother! How did you shed tears! Who bullied his brother? Hum! When I grow up, I'll clean them up!

Zhao Hu's mother ran out in a hurry, and when she saw Zhao Hu wiping her tears, she immediately became anxious, kept patting Zhao Hu's body, and said with concern: "What's the matter, son?" Who bullied you? Why are you crying? Hurt? Where is it? Show it to my mother! ”

Zhao Hu burst into tears and laughed and said, "It's okay! Mother! My son is fine! ”

"Silly boy? Why are you crying when you're fine? You tell me honestly, is someone bullying you? It's a bad day, and it's not easy to do the work outside! Go home and take care of your father! Mother go out to make money! ”

Zhao Hu waved his hand again and again and said, "It's okay!" It's okay! My son just misses you, mother, you see, I made a lot of money today! Daddy's illness is saved! There is salvation! As he spoke, he took out a hundred and ten sword coins and a small piece of gold from his underwear! (To be continued......)

PS: Change the style and try it. Ask for recommendations!