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The morning mist was filled, a breeze blew, and the air was cold.

The stars receded, the east was unclear, and the sky was in chaos.

This is the darkest hour before dawn.

It is also the time when people are most likely to be sleepy and sleep best - at the turn of spring and summer.

With the sound of a creak opening door, the first sound of dawn came from a hut built next to the city wall, and the low door opened, and out of it came a peasant in his forties.

His surname is Liu, he is middle-aged, his back is hunched, and the hardships of life are vividly shown in his body, so the neighbors call him Liu Laohan.

There was no light in the house, and he was blind when he opened the door, but this did not prevent Liu Laohan from getting up early to work. It's not that there is no oil lamp at home, and it's not that he can't afford to use it, but he is reluctant to use it, and he can save it if he can.

Out of the door, there is a not too big firewood yard, and on the east side of the yard is a straw shed, and there are stacks of dry firewood in the shed. This is a family of four, and Liu Laohan is a farmer who makes a living by collecting firewood. The family does not rent land for farming, nor does they have family crafts, and they have been collecting firewood for a living since their ancestors settled here, and it has been passed down from father to son for three generations.

Two miles in front of the door is Nanshan, relying on the mountains to eat the mountains and the water, Liu Laohan's family is relying on this mountain forest that stretches for dozens of miles. Fortunately, his house is very close to the county seat, so he prepared dry firewood in advance, and dared to send a load of dry firewood into the city every day when the city gate was opened. There are several wealthy families in the north of the city who are Liu Laohan's old customers, and a message came yesterday evening, asking him to send firewood early in the morning. Don't make a mistake. Therefore, Liu Laohan got up before dawn. It's better to get up earlier than the chickens, and you don't need to light the lights. When it was dark, he took two bundles of dry firewood out of the straw hut, put them in front of the courtyard gate, inserted the burden, and when he opened the firewood door, he carried the burden out.

"Daddy, wait for me!" As soon as he took two steps out of the yard, Liu Laohan heard his son's shout, and he didn't need to look back to know that his heart had caught up. He didn't let go of his burden, he didn't look back, he tried to keep his balance as much as he could. Standing still and waiting, this is the most effortless. If you put down the burden, the weight of the fall together is very difficult for him, he is no longer young, he has been collecting firewood every day for more than 30 years, his body has long been tired, his waist board is not good, he does not have the momentum of young people, but he has good patience. In contrast, it is easier to carry the burden.

"Dad, I'll go ahead and get dewy, or you'll have leg pain (rheumatism) again." The seven-year-old son, who is quick on his legs and feet, trotted all the way to catch up. Holding a four-foot-long bamboo pole in his hand, he walked in front of Liu Laohan and knocked on the thatch on the side of the road, knocking down the crystal dew on the green leaves.

"Good dog. Walk slowly, don't fall. "Seeing my son so young, I know that I feel sorry for myself. Liu Laohan was very relieved, and his shoulders, which were originally pressed by the burden, had no pressure at all. Feeling full of strength, he followed his son briskly, and said a few words from time to time, for fear that the dog would fall and bump into it.

The dog is Liu Laohan's youngest son, born by his wife, and can be regarded as an old son. Liu Laohan also had a wife and a young wife in his early years, and his daughters were sixteen years old, Liu Laohan loved his daughter very much, and couldn't bear to marry her off, and wanted to find her a son-in-law, but he couldn't find a suitable candidate, so he kept dragging it out and didn't get married. Unexpectedly, eight years ago, Liu Xie, the son of heaven, and hundreds of officials came to Wancheng, and the princes of the five roads gathered in Nanyang, Wancheng was in chaos, and there were chaotic soldiers under the princes' tents everywhere, and they did all kinds of evil acts of rape and plunder. So Liu Laohan's family, who lived outside the south gate of Deng County, suffered a great disaster, the sixteen-year-old daughter was ruined by the chaos, even the wife in her thirties was not spared, the mother and daughter were ruined to death overnight, Liu Laohan and his 50-year-old father were tied hand and foot by the rebels and thrown in the yard, watching their wives and children (daughter-in-law and granddaughter) being ruined by the chaos, but there was nothing they could do.

Under a catastrophe, Liu Laohan's family was ruined, and after burying his wife and daughter, he was once worse than dead, thinking about avenging his wife and daughter all day long, but unexpectedly the old father fell ill again, so he couldn't get out, so he could only endure his anger, while making a living, while treating his father.

Maybe God opened his eyes, or maybe the time has come for the retribution of the princes' rebellion. Not long after Liu Laohan's family suffered, the Xiliang army under the command of the general Li Li approached Nanyang, forcing the princes to flee in a hurry, and the rebellious soldiers in Deng County were the last to flee. That day, Liu Laohan was chopping wood on the mountain, and happened to meet the three rebels who had ruined his wife and children. Two of the rebels fell into the trap and were pierced into hedgehogs, and the other was frightened and ran around the mountains and forests, and was chased by Liu Laohan and chopped him alive with a firewood knife. Afterwards, he himself was slashed by the rebels who were dying and counterattacked, but fortunately he was injured in his left arm, and the wound was not deep, and he would not be in the way after recuperating for half a month.

avenged his wife and children with his own hands, and Liu Laohan really cheered up, feeling like a man, and finally let go of the humiliation in his heart. Half a year later, the general Li Li sent troops to capture Nanyang, and the deputy general of the Wuwei Battalion was forbidden to serve as the general of Deng County, guarding the border county town between Nanyang and Jingzhou. In Liu Laohan's heart, General Yu Ban is a good person, a life-saving benefactor of their family, equivalent to his reborn parents. His home was burned down by the raging rebellion, so that he had to hide in the mountains with his old father, but after General Yu Ban took over the county seat, he personally rebuilt his house with his soldiers and gave him another home.

Subsequently, Liu Laohan took in a woman with a big waist and a round waist among the homeless, who is said to be a woman on the grassland, she is Liu Laohan's stepwife and the mother of the dog. The arrival of the dog's mother gave Liu Laohan a complete home, his stepwife rarely spoke at first, Liu Laohan treated her very well, as long as there were some good things in the family, she didn't have to be strong, and she finally accepted Liu Laohan. Then there was a dog, and the family lived in harmony, although they were not rich, they could be fed and clothed, and their lives were quite happy.

The stepwife has an average appearance, dark skin, but she has rich breasts and fat buttocks, and she is very good to give birth to, if it weren't for Liu Laohan's poor health, it is estimated that there are a group of children now. Despite this, Liu Laohan is also very satisfied, especially watching his son grow up day by day, and his stepwife never complains, raising children, taking care of his old father, and keeping the house in order.

"Dogs run slowly, watch the road, and don't fall." Carrying the burden and following the dog, Liu Laohan's heart was warm. The name of the dog is the son's milk name, the name given by the wife, she said that the shepherd dog of the grassland is the most intimate partner of the herdsman, Liu Laohan has no objection to this, the cheap name is easy to feed, he also hopes that his son will grow up healthy and healthy, and the son will protect him and his wife in the future "sheepdog".

Seeing his son bouncing along the city wall towards the east gate, Liu Laohan would think of the child and his mother. In his heart, she is the most beautiful woman in the world, the most virtuous wife, and marrying her is a blessing that he Liu Laohan has cultivated for several lifetimes. Perhaps, for him, his wife is on par with Emperor Li Li's dozen concubines, not the slightest difference, or even surpassing.

Watching his son walk, the road under his feet seems to be very short, from the south gate of Deng County under the city wall all the way to the east, until the east gate has three miles of road, in the past, Liu Laohan always had to rest halfway with a load of firewood, and change his shoulders to rush to the east gate, but today he didn't feel tired at all, and rushed to the east gate in one breath. The weight of a load of firewood is still the same as before, because he has been collecting firewood for more than 30 years, and he knows in his heart that each load of firewood is the same weight, and the difference will not exceed ten catties, which is within the prescribed range of several old customers, and it is only a lot more. It is this honest duty and good reputation that gave Liu Laohan's family a relatively stable life.

His family lived outside the south gate, but a few old customers lived in the north city, which was far apart, and there were many people in the city, so it was very difficult to walk with a burden. So every time he sent firewood, he went around from under the city wall to the east gate, because the east gate is also a mountain forest, and there are not many people in and out of the city, and it is very close to go to the north city from the east gate, only more than 300 steps before and after, which is very convenient.

The road at the foot of the city wall was stepped out by Liu Laohan. It was next to the mountains and forests, and there was originally no road, but after years of walking, a sheep's intestine path came out. However, this road is usually only walked by him, and the neighbors rarely walk here, standing at the south gate naturally enters the city from the south gate, and only he lives at the south gate but enters the city from the east gate.

When he arrived outside the east gate, as Liu Laohan expected, there was no one at the city gate, only him and his son, and the load of firewood placed on the ground. By this time, the east was already white, and in a little while when the first rays of sunlight came out, the gates of the city would be opened. Liu Laohan didn't know that when the city gate was opened, it was when the Chang'an imperial examination was officially kicked off, hundreds of miles away, and there were many other things he didn't know, such as that he and his precious son were in extreme danger at the moment??????

"Daddy, I want to pee." The naughty son is always restless, standing outside the city gate and not being quiet for a moment, finally tired of playing, sitting on the dry wood to rest, the butt is not hot, and there is something wrong again.

Liu Laohan loves his son so much that it hurts to the bone, he knows that the dog follows him into the city to eat the sweet cakes of the Ye family's pastry shop, and he has to buy a little for his son and wife almost every month. Although four sweet cakes are equivalent to the value of a load of firewood, he still does not hesitate, at most, he has to contribute a little more, and if he makes two more loads of firewood, it is not difficult to do what he can.

"Go, daddy is waiting for you."

By the time Liu Laohan said yes, the dog had already run away, and he seemed to know what his father would say, or that his father had never refused any of his requests. What's more, it's such a small thing as peeing?

―――――― (It's a little unbearable to write, and the love is uncontrollable in the depths, and there are not many warm pictures of Xiaoqi, and the tiger wants to preserve this sincere feeling, and he doesn't want to mix other things.) I hope you will forgive me. ―――――――――――――――― (......