Unconsciously, it was dark again, Bai Shushu and Mo Heng came to the mansion again, the last time he came, Bai Shushu didn't find a tattered plaque lying in the west corner of the gate due to panic, the words on the plaque have been rotted and blurred, but the two big characters on it can be seen clearly.

"Zhou's Mansion"

Bai Shushu followed behind Mo Heng and continued to walk forward, a gust of cold wind blowing on their bodies, and Bai Shushu felt creepy.

"Woooooooooo......oo Woo woo woo ......" The mournful female voice sounded again, one after another, and kept reaching their ears.

"Let's go find her and ask." Mo Heng lowered his voice and said.

"Hmm." Bai Shushu nodded.

Walking through a long stone corridor, in a dimly lit corner, Bai Shushu and Mo Heng saw the faint blue ghost fire fluttering.

Walking in front of the ghost fire, Mo Heng and Bai Shushu stopped, and the ghost fire sensed their arrival and gradually stopped crying.

"Who are you? What are the grievances, why do you become a soul and not be reincarnated? Mo Heng asked.

The ghost fire suddenly appeared in front of Mo Heng, a fifteen or sixteen-year-old girl appeared in front of them, her round goose egg face looked particularly cute, a pair of watery apricot eyes were pouring tears, and when she looked up, the crystal tears slowly flowed down her cheeks, flowed to her chin, gathered together, and then fell on her clothes.

"You're immortals?" The girl asked.

"Yes, if there is any grievance, we will defend you." Mo Heng said.

The girl immediately knelt on the ground and kowtowed to Mo Heng and Bai Shushu and said slowly, "Immortal, I beg you to help Brother Jiu!" ”

"Who are you?" Mo Heng asked.

"We are not related by blood, but I have been waiting for him to come back, the road to Huangquan is too long and cold, I am afraid that he will be lonely when he walks alone." The girl said.

"My name is Ye Ruzhen, and I am actually a child picked up by Brother Jiu on the side of the road. Would you like to hear my story? Ye Ruzhen raised her teary eyes and looked at the two immortals in front of her.

Mo Heng and Bai Shushu both nodded, quietly preparing to listen to Ye Ruzhen's story.

When Ye Ruzhen was nine years old, her family was poor and hard, and she had a sixteen-year-old brother at home, and a three-year-old brother below.

The family's expenses are all on the father in his forties, A-Niang is sick again, and the poor can't even afford to eat, let alone buy medicine for A-Niang, who is a coolie in a grain store, and goes out every day against the sun before dawn, often going home with a stinky sweat. Ye Ruzhen is young but very sensible, every day Ye Ruzhen helps A-Niang and her younger brother at home, and helps the family do some housework that can be started.

Ah Niang has tuberculosis and often coughs, Ye Ruzhen often hears Ah Niang's violent coughing sound when she takes her younger brother in the middle of the night, and the sound seems to cough out her lungs.

Daddy said to her, "Your mother's illness can't be cured." Ye Ruzhen would cry when she heard it, and asked why A-Niang's illness was not cured?

Daddy turned his head and grimaced, then looked at Ye Ruzhen with red eyes and said, "Because we don't have the money to treat your mother, it takes a lot of money to treat your illness." ”

Ye Ruzhen cried and asked her father: "Why don't we have money?" Why can't we cure A-Niang's illness? ”

Daddy didn't answer Ye Ruzhen's question again, but kept silent, his eyebrows twisted into Sichuan characters, looking bitter and helpless.

Ye Ruzhen would cry, she didn't dare to cry in front of A-Niang, because she was afraid that A-Niang would be more sad when she saw it, so she ran outside the house and cried, the cold winter of that year was extremely cold, Ye Ruzhen only felt that her tears and snot were frozen into ice ballast and the piercing pain on her face.

She wiped her tears desperately, and she didn't dare to go home until she wiped them all away.

But she thought that she would not be able to see it when her tears were wiped away, but her eyes were still red.

She brought a bowl of fragrant hot rice soup to A-Niang, A-Niang saw at a glance that she had just cried, so a bitter smile appeared on her miserable white and sallow face, obviously she wanted to comfort Ye Ruzhen, but unfortunately when she smiled, Ye Ruzhen felt that her heart suddenly stabbed again, her nose was sore, and her tears kept flowing.

"Xiaoru, don't cry." A-Niang comforted Ye Ruzhen, raised her calloused thick hand to help Ye Ruzhen wipe her tears, her hands were a little rough, and Ye Ruzhen felt that her face was shaved painfully.

"I don't cry." Ye Ruzhen put the rice soup in her hand, rubbed her tears desperately with her hands, and she felt that she was not angry again.

"Xiaoru, A-Niang knows that you are a sensible and obedient child, so in the future, A-Niang will leave, you have to be good, you know?" Ah Niang's voice was very soft, slowly caressing Ye Ruzhen's face.

"A-Niang, don't go, don't leave us!" Ye Ruzhen suddenly threw herself into A-Niang's arms, for a nine-year-old child, she didn't know what death was, but as long as she thought that A-Niang was going to leave her, her heart felt fear, and that unknown fear overwhelmed her.

"What a stupid thing to say." A-Niang raised her hand and touched Ye Ruzhen's hair, smiling dismally.

Later, Ye Ruzhen watched Ah Niang's illness get worse and worse, and watched Ah Niang vomit blood on the rough yellow handkerchief.

Because she has no money, she can't do anything.

On a nine-foot cold winter day, A-Niang quietly left them and didn't breathe anymore.

People from poor families couldn't afford to buy yellow paper for coffins when they died, so they had to take a broken straw mat and wrap A-Niang's body in a cold and dark pit, and then bury it with soil.

It's so cold and dark underground, will A-Niang be afraid?

She was crying in front of A-Niang at that time, tears kept flowing down as if a thread had been broken, and she asked her father: "A-Dad, will A-Niang never come back?" ”

Daddy's nose was sore, and he squatted down and said to Ye Ruzhen in front of him: "Instead of living in such pain, it's better to go like this, it's good." ”

"Don't! No! Don't go! I don't want my mother to go! A-Niang is gone, I'm a motherless child! Ye Ruzhen cried, but it was to no avail.

When the loess is plucked and the leaves are broken, people will be turned into mud.

At that time, Ye Ruzhen felt for the first time that no money was such a terrible thing.

Without money, people will die.

In fact, when she had no money before, she felt that as long as she could be with her father and aunt, even if she ate pickles and drank rice soup, she could live her life.

Later, half a year after A-Niang's death, my father married them another stepmother, who was Zhang Sanniang, the daughter of the boss of the grain store, who was also in her thirties, and had a twelve-year-old son by her side.

That Sanniang looks a little strong, always wears jewels all over her body, her face is coated with thick rouge, the base makeup on her face is like a white wall, she wears an exaggerated pearl necklace around her neck, she wears a colorful gemstone ring on her hand, and several jade bracelets on her wrist, looking like a full nouveau riche.

Because Zhang Sanniang saw that Ye grew up honestly, and she had just died of her husband, so the two had some relationship after coming and going, and my father may have been poor and afraid at that time, and thought that there were still three children to take care of at home, and then Zhang Sanniang's family was a rice shop, and the family was also well-off, thinking that his children should not have a hard life there.

Although Zhang Sanniang is five big and three thick, compared with Ye Ruzhen's mother, it is more than a big difference, but when she first met Zhang Sanniang, Zhang Sanniang showed a good wife and mother, gentle and virtuous appearance, Ye Cheng didn't think about anything more, so he married this Zhang Sanniang.

Ye Cheng's family is poor, so he is not married, it can only be said that he is rich.

Generally, men who are in the family of their father-in-law have always been looked down upon, because they have no money and no power, so Ye Cheng is often low in Zhang Sanniang's house, and he doesn't dare to gasp for breath when he has something.

Before I knew it, two years had passed.

Ye Ruzhen was often bullied by Zhang Sanniang's son Zhang Fugui in that family, Zhang Fugui had a fat head and big ears, was fat, and the flesh on his face was about to hang down, and his eyes were wrapped in the fat meat, revealing only a small point.

Zhang Fugui would always walk up to Ye Ruzhen and call her mockingly: "Little beggar!" Little beggar! Pauper! Pauper! ”

Ye Ruzhen didn't look at him with a calm face, but when Zhang Fugui saw that Ye Ruzhen didn't reply to him, he felt that Ye Ruzhen was easy to bully, so he shouted even more: "Little beggar!" Little beggar! Pauper! Pauper! ”

Ye Ruzhen said angrily: "Who are you calling a little beggar!" I'm not a little beggar! ”

Zhang Fugui looked up to the sky and laughed: "You are a little beggar!" A poor bastard with no money is a little beggar! ”

Ye Ruzhen knows her father's position in this family, Ye Cheng has told her many times, if you can endure many things, don't make trouble in this family, this is good for them.

Ye Ruzhen took a bowl of red bean porridge for her younger brother and was about to leave, but who knew that Zhang Fugui ran in front of her and slapped the bowl in Ye Ruzhen's hand, only to see that the white porcelain bowl fell to the ground with the red bean porridge that night, and fell to pieces at once.

Ye Ruzhen squatted down to pick it up, her white and tender hands pinched those white porcelain shards, ready to pick them up little by little, who knew that Zhang Fugui stepped on her hand with one foot, Zhang Fugui twisted it hard, and continued to laugh and laugh presumptuously: "Little beggar!" Pauper! You are only worthy to eat what no one wants on the ground! As he spoke, he twisted his toes even harder.

Ye Ruzhen only felt that her hand was scraped by those debris on the ground, and this pain went all the way to her heart.

She gritted her teeth, not wanting her tears to fall.

Zhang Fugui felt that he was still angry, looked at Ye Ruzhen who was squatting on the ground, and suddenly straddled her back and rode her as a horse.

Zhang Fugui was very heavy, and immediately pressed half of Ye Ruzhen's front body to the ground, her scraped bloody hand snorted on the white porcelain shards again, her forearms were broken, and looking at the big wound, blood gushed out, staining her sleeves red.

"Drive, drive! Ye Ruzhen, let me go! Ye Ruzhen! Move me! Is it because you are so poor that you don't even know how the horse moves? Hahaha! You poor bastard, poor bastard! Zhang Fugui kept shouting, and his fat body was trembling.

Ye Ruzhen endured the great pain, crawled up little by little, and crawled slowly on the ground, leaving a long blood mark on the cold ground.

She felt that her dignity was slowly being trampled on, she was like a person who had fallen into the dirt, she wanted to resist, but her father's face appeared in front of her, and her father was telling her: "You must know how to tolerate everything and don't make trouble." ”

I think of my brother who works in the rice shop, because he stays in this house, he can have a job, and I think of my younger brother who is still waiting for a bite of rice to eat.

So no matter what, she can't resist, she can only endure and endure all this.

After a long, long time, when Zhang Fugui stopped his movements and looked at Ye Ruzhen's blood on his hands, he turned around with satisfaction and left happily, he jumped and walked, and the flesh on his body trembled.

Ye Ruzhen raised her hand, the flesh and blood had been blurred by those broken white porcelain pieces, and there was no one around, so she dared to cry, and tears fell down.

"Auntie, I miss you so much! A-Niang, I miss you so much. Tears slid down her mouth, and she felt nothing but bitterness.

She didn't dare to tell her father about these things, because she knew that her father was already very difficult, and she couldn't make trouble for him anymore. Zhang Sanniang treated Ye Ruzhen's little sister long and her little sister short in front of Ye Cheng, with a gentle and virtuous appearance, Ye Cheng thought that his daughter was doing well with her, but he never knew what Ye Ruzhen had experienced over the years.

Ye Ruzhen is also a soft-hearted person, others treat her a little better, and she forgets that others treat her badly.

Zhang Sanniang raised her slender eyes to look at Ye Ruzhen, and found that she looked more and more like her dead mother, so she was even more angry in her heart.

Zhang Sanniang's arrogance in the past two years has made Ye Cheng less enthusiastic and more indifferent, so he thought that Ye Cheng was thinking about his dead wife.

Ye Ruzhen looks very similar to A-Niang, so as long as Zhang Sanniang sees Ye Ruzhen's face, she will be angry, and she can't wait to cut off the face in front of her, so as to eliminate the hatred in her heart.

That day, Zhang Sanniang found a reason to go to a far away place to buy food, and then tricked Ye Ruzhen to the backyard of the mansion.

Ye Ruzhen cried and asked Zhang Sanniang with red eyes: "Mother, why are you doing this to me?" ”

Zhang Sanniang raised her thin eyebrows, looked at Ye Ruzhen in front of her, and said in a shrill voice: "Stinky girl, I can't afford your mother!" Who told you that you were born in a poor family, life and death depend on your fate, you can't be the master! ”

"Why? Let go of me! I'm going to find my daddy! Ye Ruzhen cried.

"Your father?" Ye Ruzhen smiled contemptuously and continued: "Stinky girl, I'll tell you!" In fact, the person who doesn't want you is your daddy! The idea of having someone take you away today is also what he thought! ”

After Ye Ruzhen heard this, the whole person was stunned in place, her face was pale, she couldn't believe her ears, she felt that a basin of cold water poured her thoroughly from beginning to end, and her heart seemed to be rubbed hard, and she began to feel lifeless.

How can it be? How could Daddy come up with this idea, how could Daddy not want me?

"You're a liar!" Ye Ruzhen shouted.

Zhang Sanniang picked up her silk handkerchief, covered her red lips, and smiled softly: "Stinky girl, you are still too young!" Your father doesn't listen to me in this house! Don't you know all these years? ”

Ye Ruzhen trembled all over, her breathing almost stopped, she would rather be deaf and die than believe such words.

How could her father not want her?

"You're a liar! You lie! There's no way Daddy doesn't want me! Ye Ruzhen cried and kept repeating that sentence.

"The family's livelihood is not good, I told your father that the four children can't be raised, and you can only send one away, but guess who he chose?" Zhang Sanniang was vivid when she spoke, and she simply played Ye Cheng's demeanor and tone into three points, and Ye Ruzhen's heart that originally firmly believed that Ye Cheng was a little shaken.

Maybe because he was a girl, or maybe because he was poor, my father didn't want to live a poor life anymore, so he chose himself.

I have lived in poverty for many years, and I know what a terrible life it is!

Just like the day my mother was buried, my father said in front of him: "It's better to go like this than to live in such pain." ”

If he had to choose, he wouldn't want to go back to that kind of life.

It turned out that he had endured it for so long, and in the end he was ruthlessly abandoned.

Looking at Ye Ruzhen's pale cheeks, Zhang Sanniang was very proud.

Ye Ruzhen's heart was like a knife, and she even forgot to struggle, anyway, no one in this world wants me, what else do I have to struggle? Daddy just wants to live a better life, what's wrong?

In the end, Zhang Sanniang asked a group of people to stun Ye Ruzhen and carry her away in a broken sack.

If Ye Cheng comes back, Zhang Sanniang just needs to say that the girl went out to buy things by herself and didn't come back, anyway, the world is so chaotic, there are so many people who starve to death and freeze to death every day, what if there is one less girl.

His family's financial resources are enough to shut him up, hasn't he been like this for so many years?

Ye Ruzhen was sold to a green building outside five towns in this way, and became a raised girl, and the mother in charge of the work was bent on cultivating her into a future Oiran when she saw her appearance and signs.

The mother in charge was also born in Oiran that year, and many people have seen it, and it is accurate to see people.

I only remember that the mother in charge lifted Ye Ruzhen's chin with her hand when she saw Ye Ruzhen for the first time, looked at Ye Ruzhen with slender and shrewd eyes, and said: "The little girl looks quite symbolic, and if she cultivates it well in the future, she can become a signboard in this building." ”

"Who are you? Where is this? I want to go home! Ye Ruzhen looked at the person in charge in front of her in horror and cried.

The mother in charge of the king only chuckled at her and said, "Where should you be?" I bought it from the hand of the human tooth for ten taels of silver! I don't care where you came from before, and I don't care where you want to go in the future, in short, you can only stay in this green building now! ”

Ten taels, it's really a high price, she hasn't seen so much money since she was born.

It turns out that he is still worth a little money.