The old man entered the back hall, and in the front room only the old woman and two young children stood against the wall.

The old woman standing with her back against the wall hugged the two children standing in front of her tightly, the two young children were probably frightened, and the girl's little head arched in front of the old woman's lower abdomen, and she didn't even dare to look back. The bolder boy hid in the crook of the old woman's arm, peeking at Liu Wei and Deng Zhan from time to time, but he only glanced at it every time, and then twisted his face to the old woman's arm, blocking his vision with her arm.

Kneeling in the corner opposite the old woman with Deng Zhan, Liu Wei looked at the two young children, stretched out his hand and took out a handful of copper coins in his arms, handed them to the old woman, and said to her: "Mother-in-law, don't be surprised, the two of us are guests from other places in Chang'an, and my mother-in-law will keep these copper coins and buy some food for the children." ”

With her arms tightly wrapped around the two children, the old woman glanced at the copper coin in Liu Wei's hand, shook her head vigorously, but did not come forward to take the copper coin.

"The guests don't know!" Liu Weizheng was a little puzzled by the old woman's behavior, and the old man who came out of the house with a jar of wine put the wine jar in front of him and Deng Zhan, and said to him: "There was a famine in Chang'an, and the government opened a warehouse for disaster relief, but what was sent to us and other people was just some coarse chaff mixed with stones. Nowadays, in Chang'an City, food is much more expensive than copper coins and gold. ”

As soon as the old man said this, Liu Wei and Deng Zhan glanced at each other, and did not immediately pick up the old man's words.

While talking to Liu Wei and Deng Zhan, the old man slapped the sealing mud on the wine jar and said to the old woman with the two children in her arms: "Old woman, why don't you go and get the bowl quickly." ”

Standing under the wall with her arms tightly around the child, the old woman was already frightened, and when she heard the old man call her to take the bowl, she quickly turned around in a panic and went into the back hall with the two children in her arms.

The sealing mud of the wine jar was slapped open, and the old man took off the sealed straw block, and suddenly a strong aroma of wine wafted in the house.

"Chang'an City has such good wine!" Smelling the strong aroma of wine, Deng Zhan, who was quite good at wine, took a deep breath and praised it from the bottom of his heart.

"Don't hide it from the guests!" Hearing Deng Zhan's praise for the aroma of his wine, the old man had a bright smile on his face, and the folds on his face were squeezed into one place, and he said to the two: "Xiao Lao'er was not from Chang'an earlier, but the imperial court moved the capital and moved here. ”

"My husband is from Luoyang?" When the old man said that they had been relocated to Chang'an, Liu Wei looked up at him and asked, "I don't know what the name of this wine is?" ”

"The little old man is from Luoyang Jiuquangou, this wine is called Du Kang......" While speaking, the old woman has taken out two pottery bowls with slightly broken sides from the house, and took the pottery bowl from the old woman's hand, the old man placed one in front of Liu Wei and Deng Zhan, and said to the two: "On the day of the migration to Chang'an, the little old man still has a lot of wine in his house, because he was reluctant to them, the little old man spent all his family wealth and hired a carriage to bring dozens of altars to Chang'an. ”

Deng Zhan carefully picked up the wine jar and filled the pottery bowl in front of Liu Wei and him, and his gentle movements were like an amorous teenager caressing the holy goddess in his heart, for fear of spilling half a drop.

"Good wine! Clear and sweet, it is really the best in wine. No wonder how many heroes and heroes in ancient and modern times always praise Du Kang! Picking up and pouring most of the bowl of wine, Liu Wei took a sip, first praised it, then put the wine bowl on the ground in front of him, leaned forward slightly, and asked the old man: "Since it is the wine brought from Luoyang, why did the old man hang a wine sign outside the door, and when the two of us came, why did they say that there was no food at home?" ”

"There is no money and food at home, and it is difficult to survive!" The old man sighed lightly, shook his head and said, "Although the wine is good, it can't fill your stomach after all. The little old man wanted to sell some wine and exchange for some food, but who knew ......"

Speaking of this, the old man couldn't say any more, tilted his head, and sighed heavily.

From the sad expression on the old man's face, Liu Wei saw that when their family came to Chang'an, they must have suffered unbearable pain from ordinary people, so he didn't ask any more, just picked up the wine bowl and took another big sip.

"Why does my husband only speak halfway?" Liu Wei didn't ask, but it didn't mean that Deng Zhan on the side wouldn't ask, just when he heard the matter, the old man suddenly stopped talking, Deng Zhan was anxious in his heart, and asked the old man: "Isn't it that the two of us eat a jar of wine from you, and your heart hurts?" ”

"It's better to give it to the guests than to fight!" The old man shook his head, and as soon as the words came out, two lines of old tears had already slid down his cheeks, and said to Liu Wei and Deng Zhan: "Two days after the wine sign was hung up, a group of idlers came, saying that my family was a winemaker, and there must be food hidden. The poor old man just brought these wines to Chang'an, how can there be any surplus food at home? My son and daughter-in-law couldn't hand over the food, and those people were beaten to death......

Speaking of this, the old man was already crying, and the old woman standing against the wall also sat on the ground, covering her face with her arms and crying.

"I didn't hurt the old man and the two children, those people still have some conscience!" Listening to what happened to the old man's family, Liu Wei twitched in his heart, lamenting that when human nature is despicable to a certain extent, it can reach a heinous situation.

"Fight for people's lives, don't the government care?" Deng Zhan, who was kneeling beside Liu Wei, was a chivalrous man who walked the world after all, and after listening to the old man's narration, his anger was like a flame splashed with oil, and he jumped into his head, he frowned, and asked the old man with a little anger in his tone.

"The government has sent a few soldiers." When it came to the official mansion, the old man shook his head again with great misery, and said to Deng Zhan: "Those idlers who kill people, they only want food, but the people from the government have moved more than a dozen jars for Xiao Lao'er with wine, and when they robbed the wine, they also knocked over a few jars......"

At the mention of the overturned jars of wine, the muscles on the old man's face twitched rapidly, obviously extremely distressed.

Hearing that several jars of wine had been broken, Liu Wei understood why he and Deng Zhan could smell the aroma of wine wafting from the alley when they walked at the entrance of the alley.

"What a bunch of thieves who plague the people!" After listening to the old man's words, Deng Zhan drank all the wine syrup in the bowl in one gulp, put the wine bowl on the ground, and said to the old man: "When the matter is done, I will kill the group of thieves for you and seek justice for your family!" ”

"Silence the guests!" Before Deng Zhan's words came out, the old man seemed to be very scared, trembling all over, waved his hand at him, and said to him: "Don't dare to say this nonsense." Now whoever dares to say that the government is not half a word, will be dragged to cut off his head! If the guest says that he wants to kill the soldiers, is it not death......"

"Don't be afraid, my brother drank too much! Just a joke! Liu Wei took a sip of wine, put the wine bowl on the ground, and said to the old man: "Don't hide it from the old man, it is a merchant who Zuo Fengyi came to Chang'an to sell grain, and he is willing to exchange the grain for your family's wine, I don't know if the old man is willing to give it?" ”

"This ......" Liu Wei proposed to exchange grain for wine, the old man was stunned for a moment, and from the embarrassed look on his face, Liu Wei could see that he was not willing to exchange all the wine for food.

"Old man!" Although the old man had a look of embarrassment on his face, the old woman who was sitting at the root of the opposite wall heard that there was food to exchange, and her eyes, which were already a little chaotic, suddenly lit up, and she hurriedly shouted to the old man.

"Let's change it!" After bowing his head and muttering for a moment, the old man let out a long sigh and said to Liu Wei: "Although the wine is good, it can't support my grandchildren who have no parents after all......"

"Later, I will let someone send the food first, as for the wine ......" Looking at the old man with a tangled face, Liu Wei smiled slightly and said to him: "When you want to use it in a few days, you will ask the old man for it." ”

"Can the guest trust the little old man?" Liu Wei said that he would send the food first and then take the wine in a few days, the old man opened his eyes and asked him with a confused face: "The guest is not afraid that the little old man will run away with the wine?" ”

"My husband is a lover of wine." Liu Wei smiled slightly and said to the old man: "People who love wine are different from people who drink heavily. An alcoholic only knows how to drink alcohol and does not distinguish between high and low, but every time he drinks wine, he will get drunk. After getting drunk, some people who drink alcohol can still sleep with their heads covered; And those who don't have wine will do a lot of ridiculous things. People who love wine taste the aroma, color and nature of wine, and love it as if they cherish their lover, how can a person who knows how to do such a thing? ”

Liu Wei's words stunned the old man for a while, and after a while, he nodded and said to him: "What Mr. said is true, although the little old man loves wine, he will not do such a faithless thing!" ”

Picking up the wine bowl and drinking all the residual wine in the bowl, Liu Wei had a faint smile on the corner of his mouth, and said to the old man: "Don't hide it from the old man, I owe Situ, the king of the court, a favor in previous years." Now I came to Chang'an, one is to sell some rice and grain and earn some profits, and the other is to meet Wang Situ and thank him for his kindness. But in the past, he has never been to Chang'an, can the old man tell me where the Situ Mansion was built? ”

"Wang Situ is a nobleman in the court, who doesn't know." As soon as Liu Wei's question was asked, the old man said to him: "Go out of the alley, keep going forward, walk through two streets, and turn left to Situ Mansion." ”

"Thank you, sir! In the next farewell! Asking the old man the location of Wang Yun's mansion, Liu Wei and Deng Zhan glanced at each other, stood up and arched their hands towards the old man, said goodbye to the old man, turned around and walked towards the door.

"The guests don't drink anymore?" Liu Wei and Deng Zhan drank a bowl of wine, and most of the wine syrup was left in the wine jar, and when they saw that the two were leaving, the old man hurriedly called out to them.

"I'm tired of my husband and sealed it for the two of us, and I'll bring some side dishes for the two of us to drink it again the next day!" had already walked to the door, and when he heard the old man calling, Liu Wei turned his head and arched his fist at him, dropped a sentence, and turned around and walked towards the alley.

Although he was reluctant to drink the wine that he hadn't finished drinking, Deng Zhan knew that Liu Wei still had important things to do at the moment, so he glanced at the wine jar on the ground before leaving, and arched his fist to the old man, reluctantly followed Liu Wei and walked towards the entrance of the alley.

Walking out of the alley side by side with Deng Zhan, Liu Wei did not return to the building, and rushed all the way to Situ Mansion in the direction pointed by the old man.

Sure enough, as the old man said, after walking through two streets and turning towards the street on the left, a magnificent mansion appeared in front of Liu Wei's eyes. There is a plaque with white characters on a black background hanging on the door of the mansion, and what is written on the plaque is the three big characters of "Situ Mansion".