After repeatedly telling Aunt Da Niu to pay attention to safety, the village chief took the officers and soldiers back to the village to rest, and Aunt Da Niu's son also went with him, and he didn't think about staying behind to help his mother finish her work and go home together.

Seeing them go away, Aunt Da Niu packed up the farm tools, added a little firewood to the fire, went into the house and carried a clay pot out to wash her hands, and then fetched a can of water and came back and put it on the fire to boil the water, and when she went into the house again to get dry food, she patted the hay bed vigorously, and after a while, the hay made a rustling sound, and the hay was turned over, and a man came out from underneath.

"Oh, I slept soundly." The man stretched his waist, twisted a few times and stretched his body that had been numb for a long time, he looked quite handsome, and he was not a mouthful of rotten teeth when he laughed, but he was a woman who was favored.

"Were you awake when the officers and soldiers came in?"

"Awake."

"And you heard it all?"

"I heard, so what, I've come all the time, and you say you haven't seen me with your front foot, and you're going to expose me with your back foot? reversed, obviously lying during the questioning, how do you think the Bai family army will clean you up? They weren't the kind of court army that couldn't hold up the walls in the mud. ”

"You're a homeless person, it's good if I give you food and drink, what else do you want?"

"I didn't think about anything, but I was tired, so I borrowed your place to rest for a few days."

"No, if someone finds me, I'll be finished."

"Don't worry, since I want to borrow your place to rest, I naturally won't expose myself, otherwise where can I find another place on this cold day?" The man's words are sincere, and he is also sincere, who told this woman that she didn't expose him in front of the officers and soldiers just now, "You continue to be busy, don't worry about me, I'll sleep for a while." ”

The man stooped down to tidy up the hay bed that had just been turned, and lay down comfortably on it, scooping out the loose grass beside the bed and covering him.

Aunt Da Niu didn't have a problem with him, the officers and soldiers had already left, and they really didn't dare to shout loudly anymore for fear of turning back and not being able to explain clearly, so after glaring at the man, he stamped his feet out of the door, sat down by the fire and waited for the water to boil.

The man in the house fell into a deep sleep after hearing that there was no sound outside, and after confirming that the woman would not expose him, the last consciousness before falling asleep was still thinking about how to wake up and persuade the woman to take him into the village, carrying so many plague patients, he knew that he would definitely live for a short time, and he didn't know when he would get sick and die, since he had suffered so much and could not end up with a good death, then no one wanted to have a good life.

Aunt Da Niu drank a jar of boiling water outside, and stayed up until the fire was about to go out, and the winter night was cold and unbearable, she really couldn't hold it anymore, so she went into the house to avoid the wind, and curled up on the pyre to barely sleep for a while.

In a daze, Aunt Niu turned over and fell down from the pyre, fortunately the pyre was not high, but it also startled Aunt Niu to sweat, groping for the dry leaves sprinkled on the ground, Aunt Niu panted and stood up in the dark, and her body was cold, so she wanted to light the fire outside to keep warm, in the past, when she was alone, she would make a small fire near the door before going to bed, tonight was going to deal with it overnight, but now it seems that it is not possible, if she does not make a fire, she herself is cold and sick, and the family has no money to give her medicine.

Thinking of her body, Aunt Da Niu leaned against the wall in the dark room and touched the door, it was also dark outside, her fire had long been completely extinguished, not even a spark, fortunately, the fire was only a few steps away from the door, Aunt Niu counted the steps and quickly kicked the stone around the fire, and on the remaining charcoal in the fire pit, she felt the flint on her body and skillfully lit the fire.