"Alas!" The scholar sighed: "Birth, old age, sickness and death are all predestined, if we really contract that strange disease, we can only blame ourselves for this fate." Right now, while you and my brother are still well, it's better to have a drink and forget all about this trouble. ”

"Brother is right. In the end, he is a reader, and he understands more than me. Come on, come on, I'll treat you today, just eat good wine and good food. ”

"How can you let your brother invite, it's still the old rule, you and I are responsible for each other."

"Let's just say that you scholars have a lot of rules. Don't look at my brother, I'm poor, I still invite a meal here from Manniang. Do you say, Manniang? ”

Man Niang lowered her head and smiled, but did not speak.

The farmer seemed to feel that he had lost face, his expression was slightly embarrassed, and then he found another conversation.

"Manniang, did you find that child?"

The farmer was a loud voice that couldn't be hidden, and as soon as he asked this, the whole yard was quiet, and even the young mother who was holding the child couldn't help but raise her head to look at Manniang.

Man Niang still had a faint smile on her face, but the smile had frozen. The originally calm eyes also overflowed with some sorrow. After a while, she shook her head lightly and said, "No." ”

As soon as this "no" switch landed, the quiet atmosphere in the courtyard changed again. The first to speak was the scholar sitting across from the farmer.

"Don't worry, as long as we all help find it with our hearts, we can always find the little steamed buns."

"Yes, yes, don't worry, Manniang, I'll pay attention."

The farmer scratched his head and hurriedly added.

"Thank you Young Master Lin, and thank you Brother Ma."

"Haven't you found it yet?" The arms of the young mother holding the child tightened a little. The baby girl who was sleeping sweetly in her arms twisted her head uncomfortably because of her mother's action. The small eyelids lifted slightly, followed by the flattening of the mouth, as if they were about to cry. The young mother quickly patted her hand with her hand, then lowered her head and gently pressed her face against the pink quilt.

The baby girl chirped twice and then fell silent again.

"Can you ask what's going on?" Xing Ruyi couldn't help but ask.

The young mother looked up at her and asked softly, "Madame is not a local, is she?" ”

"No, no, we're passing through."

"How did the lady get here?" After asking, the young mother added: "Ordinary people don't know about Manniang's courtyard, and even if they do, they won't choose to eat here." ”

"I came to smell the food." Xing Ruyi pointed to his nose.

"I see." The young mother nodded and smiled: "Since Madame is here, you must taste the tip of the liver made by Manniang." ”

"Does it taste good?"

"Hmm." The young mother said, patting the child in her arms twice.

"Good boy." Xing Ruyi got up, leaned over, and stretched out his finger to touch the baby's cheek gently.

"Does Madame have any children?"

"Yes." Thinking of Yin Yuan, who was far away in Qingqiu, Xing Ruyi's heart softened: "A boy is already very big. ”

"But Madame is about the same age as me."

"Get married early, give birth early." Xing Ruyi said, deliberately glancing at the fox.

The fox was calm and did not react in particular.

"It's good to get married early. I'm not late, but this kid is late. The young mother lowered her eyes: "Madame, is this a long away?" ”

"Go to Luoyang to visit friends." Xing Ruyi touched the baby's face again: "I just heard Mrs. mention that ordinary people will not come to Manniang's yard, is there any taboo here?" Manniang here, although it is a little remote, it is also quiet and elegant. The food is also exquisite, and the taste is not as bad as the restaurants outside. Why would Madame say that even if someone knew, they wouldn't come here to eat? ”

"Madame is from outside, so naturally she doesn't know what happened here." The young mother was silent for a moment, and then continued: "Madame has seen that there are all the people who come here to eat. There are not only old men with a lot of money, but also scholars who read and read words, and ordinary people like us. It may seem no different from the restaurants outside, but only we locals know that we don't gather here just to eat. ”

"Could it be that there is something else?"

"Hmm!" The young mother nodded: "The people who gather here are all neighbors. We were all from the same village, but then something happened in that village, and the big guys scattered. It's just that every once in a while, I have to come here to get together. See old people and talk about them. ”

"What's going on with Manniang's child? Is it lost? ”

"This ......" the young mother hesitated, "I guess it's lost." ”

"Lost?"

"If Madame wants to know, I don't mind telling Madame about you. This is not a secret, and many people in the neighborhood know about it. It's just that everyone is secretive and doesn't want to mention it again. The young mother hugged her child tightly: "It all started two years ago. That year, bandits somehow broke out, and several nearby towns were in trouble. At that time, I had only been married to my husband for a short time, and I was still a new daughter-in-law who had just entered Cui's family, so I was inevitably scared when I heard such a thing.

I remember, in those days, I always couldn't sleep. In order to reassure me, my husband also put an axe commonly used by farmers in the house. The in-laws too, day and night turns, there is always one person with his eyes open.

In fact, it wasn't just our family, almost everyone in the town lived like this at that time.

One night, the lights went out. The door of my house was suddenly slammed open, and a man with a broken arm rushed in, and I was so frightened that I couldn't even scream, but hid behind my husband and shivered. I still remember that my in-laws' faces were also ugly at that time. We didn't know who the one who rushed in was or if there was someone else behind him.

The man rushed in and stumbled to the ground. The husband soon lit the candle in the room, and I saw the man's face, which was pale and pale. The broken arm, in the light, looked particularly infiltrating. I subconsciously closed my eyes and didn't dare to look at them again.

Husband, he is a man after all, and he is a little bolder. He told me to stand still and cautiously leaned over. Then I heard the man speak. He said, "Please allow me to hide for a moment." As soon as the husband wanted to refuse, there was another voice outside the door.

At that time, we were all worried, worried about whether the bandits had come to us. But there was only a brief commotion outside, and soon there was no sound. After a long time, the husband spoke again, and he asked his father-in-law for a lantern, and carried it to the gate of the courtyard. ”

The young mother gasped nervously.

"What happened?"

"We heard the cries of the husband, the terrible kind. I sat down on the ground in fright, and my mother-in-law was no better than me. My father-in-law was quite calm, and he said to me while pulling his mother-in-law. If the robbers really came, we would be paralyzed in the house and just let the robbers eat the meat. Regardless of whether the husband has suffered misfortune or not, he can't stay in the house and wait for death. ”

"Your father-in-law is an understanding person."

My father-in-law helped my mother-in-law, and I followed them and walked out of the house with my feet limp. In the distance, I saw my husband standing there motionless. I was scared, but I didn't dare to call him. At this time, the mother-in-law suddenly let out a terrible scream, which frightened her father-in-law and quickly covered her mouth and nose, and said repeatedly: Don't shout, don't shout, are you going to call the thief back again?

I don't know where I got the courage, and I rushed to my husband at once. When I felt that there was still heat on him, I was relieved. When I turned around, I saw a round melon-like thing lying in the doorway. When I got closer, I saw that it was a head, a bleeding head. The five senses that had disappeared from the fright seemed to have all returned at that moment, and I could smell the thick smell of blood in the air.

My father-in-law had experienced a lot of things, and when my mother-in-law was quiet, he leaned over to the head to check. Only then did we know that the head was the youngest son of the Liu family next door. For a long time after that, I had a repetitive nightmare. I dreamed that the head of the son of the Liu family suddenly fell, his face was covered with blood, his eyes were round, and his teeth were clenched, as if he was a little dead, and it seemed that he had not finished speaking. ”

"Did the bandits ransack your town?" Xing Ruyi asked again, but saw the young mother shake her head gently.

"In fact, until now we don't know exactly what happened in the town that night. At first, we thought it was the bandits who ransacked the town, and we panicked all night and never slept well. It wasn't until the next day that we realized that there were indeed people dead in the town, and something had happened, but it was a little different from what we had imagined. ”

"Something different from what you think?"

"That night, five people died in the town, all young people. Listening to my father-in-law and husband, these people all have a bad reputation in Suri, and like the sons of the Liu family, they don't do anything serious. At the same time, there are also some children missing from the town, both old and young, who are not seen in their sleep. ”

"Missing in your sleep?"

"I heard people say that the families who disappeared only came to their senses after hearing the commotion outside, and then found that their children were missing. When I came out to look for it, I found out that something had happened in the town and that someone had died. ”

"Who is that man with a broken arm? Is it one of the five? ”

"Not really." The young mother looked at Manniang: "He is Manniang's husband, and he is the only one who saw the robbers and murderers that night, but it's a pity that ......"

"What a pity?"

"It's just a pity that he's dead." As soon as the young mother finished speaking, the baby girl in her arms cried "wow".