For Xu Rui, the conversation with Emperor Hongwei was actually a torture of himself, and it wasn't until Emperor Hongwei asked him if he was willing to become an official that he finally figured out what to do next.

People live for a lifetime, and plants and trees for an autumn.

Although he came to this world full of doubts, he didn't want to think that since God gave him the opportunity to choose, then he didn't plan to live for others in this life.

The world is so big, and the wonderful things are so rich, why be a cold war machine?

In this life, I, Xu Rui, should put aside all my worries, live my own life, and live like a human being!

In the moment when he figured out the future, Xu Rui only felt that the clouds had dispersed and the sky suddenly opened up.

However, cheerful is cheerful, and there are some things that give him a headache but still have to be done.

After a big battle, there were countless casualties, and the most painful people were actually the living.

Although the Northern Armed Forces have not entered the city in the past few days, the list of fallen soldiers has already been reported, and the military department has notified the families in accordance with the usual practice to compensate the orphans.

A few are happy, a few are sad.

Those who return safely will naturally beat gongs and drums, but those who die in battle are like the end of the world.

Although Xu Rui is used to seeing life and death, he has always been reluctant to participate in this kind of thing, but this time there are a few people he can't avoid, whether it is Yang Weiyuan, Xu Fang or Ergou, he owes a favor, and now it's time to repay the favor.

Ergou's house is in the northwest, so naturally he can't visit at this time, Yang Weiyuan is his father-in-law, and he will go home when he finishes his business, and he is not in a hurry, so Xu Rui was the first to go to Xu Fang's house.

After the defeat of the Xu family, Xu Fang, as the last domestic slave of the Xu family, was arranged by Yang Weiyuan to enter the army, and he could have been freed from his slave status, but because Xu Rui was still there, this honest man still regarded himself as a subordinate person.

In order to get closer to Xu Rui, Xu Fang set up his home in Rongyang Hutong, which is only separated from the Jingwu Marquis Mansion by a small river, but the river side is singing and dancing, and this side of the river is indeed dirty and messy.

The division of the country and the continuous conquest have given birth to many dark corners, and Rongyang Hutong is one of them.

Most of the people living here are disabled soldiers, or military orphans, who have lost their breadwinners and spent all the pensions of the imperial court, so that these people who are struggling at the bottom have taken risks and become thieves, robbers and prostitutes.

Xu Rui, who came here for the first time, was deeply shocked by the squalor here.

Although he was born in a slum, the difference between the civilizations of the two worlds makes the same slum fundamentally different.

As soon as I stepped into this alley, an indescribable stench came to my nose, the snow on the ground was uncleaned, and the sewage of every household was dumped at will, and then stepped on by everyone into disgusting black broken ice, emitting an indescribable stench.

At the mouth of the alley, an old man with no limbs was lying on the foul-smelling black ice, his face was very hollow, if it weren't for the rolling of his eyes from time to time, Xu Rui would have thought it was a corpse.

The old man was holding a small bowl begging for money in his arms, and it was obvious that this highly disabled soldier had been used as a begging tool by his family, and such a bleak evening scene was really embarrassing.

Xu Rui stopped beside the old man, thought about it, took out the few coppers that Liu Yi had just given him, and put them into the old man's bowl, the old man looked at the sky silently, motionless, as if he hadn't seen this scene at all.

Xu Rui sighed and walked towards the alley.

While he was digging out the money, several children of six or seven years old hid to the side, their faces numb and terrible, but their eyes were fixed on the money in the bowl.

That look Xu Rui was too familiar, and in order to survive, they had become beasts that annihilated humanity.

Sure enough, as soon as Xu Rui left, the children immediately rushed up and cleaned the bowl containing the copper, as if they had been licked by wild dogs.

Xu Rui turned a blind eye to all this, and didn't care that they sneakily followed him, and what was hateful in his eyes was not human nature, but damn war.

With Xu Fang's military salary and military merits, he didn't have to live in this kind of place, but he still chose here, of course, for only one reason, that is, for his young master.

For the sake of the young master, he did not hesitate to take his life, how could he care about living poorly?

Listening to Xu Fang, the wife and young master of the Yang family were very harsh on Xu Rui, beating and humiliating at every turn, and it was even difficult to guarantee food and clothing, and the money that Xu Fang saved was subsidized by Xu Rui.

It's just that the child's growth has too much to do with the environment, and he has squeezed out Xu Fang's huge resources, what will his children become?

Xu Rui thought about the son Xu Fang was still thinking about before he died, and he was worried and distressed.

In the depths of the alley, a dilapidated courtyard hung with white sails to pay tribute to the dead, this is Xu Fang's home, even in this cramped alley, it is considered the most dilapidated place.

Xu Fang really gave everything to himself......

Xu Rui felt a pain in his heart, and was about to knock on the door, but his hand was raised halfway up and hung in the air.

He came back, but Xu Fang didn't, for this family, it is undoubtedly devastating news, his family should hate himself, right? How do you deal with them?

Even on the battlefield, Xu Rui had never had such hesitation, but he didn't dare to back down, because the person who would rather eat moldy oranges himself than keep good oranges for himself might be watching him from a corner.

Just as Xu Rui was struggling, a hearty singing voice suddenly came from the courtyard.

"If there are relatives returning to heaven, I mourn myself; sad but not sad, ambitious reward; Ambition to live up, sacrificial wine; The wine is dry and the tears are dry, and the road is still ......"

It was a song to pay tribute to the souls of the dead, but the original lifeless tune was sung a little high-spirited by a childish voice, and there was a moving power hidden under the faint mourning.

The singing was like a charcoal fire in winter, which made Xu Rui shake all over, and subconsciously pushed open the dilapidated courtyard door.

In the dilapidated courtyard, a fourteen or fifteen-year-old boy knelt in the snow, singing loudly to the sky, with deep sadness on his face, but full of indescribable fighting spirit, like a cold plum blooming unyieldingly in the wind and snow.

Hearing the sound of the door opening, the singing stopped abruptly, and the young man suddenly turned his head and looked at Xu Rui in surprise.

The young man was dressed in rags, with strips of white cloth tied around his arms, and his eyebrows were handsome, which was very different from Xu Fang's rude honesty, but for some reason, at this moment, Xu Rui seemed to see another Xu Fang from him.

"Who is Childe looking for?"

After a short period of surprise, the young man immediately regained his composure, stood up, and respectfully asked Xu Rui, his tone was neither humble nor arrogant.

The youth's calmness contrasted sharply with this dirty, dilapidated alley, and won Xu Rui's favor almost instantly.

Xu Rui came back to his senses, and also arched his hand at him and said: "I didn't knock on the door just now, how rude it is, please Haihan, is this place Xu Zhai?" ”

"Dalang, who's here?"

The young man was slightly stunned, and was about to answer, when suddenly a woman came out of the back room.

The woman is only in her early thirties at most, but the wind and frost of the years have carved indelible marks on her face.

"Young Master?!"

The woman suddenly exclaimed, and knelt in front of Xu Rui with her legs bent.

"Mother!"

The young man was startled and hurriedly rushed to the woman's side, but the woman pulled the young man and said, "Kneel down quickly, he is the young master your father said, no, you should call the master!" ”

"Huh?"

The young man was slightly stunned, and knelt down like his mother, and solemnly kowtowed to Xu Rui three times.

Xu Rui was stunned by this sudden scene, and finally came back to his senses, and hurriedly rushed to the front of the two mothers and helped the young man up.

He also wanted to help the woman, but he was afraid that there would be a difference between men and women, so he withdrew his hand and persuaded: "Madame, why is this so, please get up quickly, please get up quickly!" ”

The woman shook her head, and two lines of tears welled up in her eyes.

"The young master is a golden nobleman, but he deigned to come to this dirty place, Xianggong must be very pleased to have a spirit in the sky, and the slave family's kneeling is not only a courtesy, but also a joy for Xianggong."

Speaking of Xu Fang, Xu Rui felt even more guilty in his heart, and sighed: "How can there be any golden nobles in this world, compared to him, how humble is Xu Rui?" If it weren't for me, he wouldn't have died in a foreign country, and you wouldn't have lived in such a hellish place! ”

The woman looked at Xu Rui deeply and shook her head again.

"Xianggong said, the young master is here, the Xu family is here, the Xu family is his root, and it is also the root of our mother and son, for you, how much suffering and how many sins we have not complained, the slave family believes that Xianggong Jiuquan must feel that he deserves to die."

The young man nodded: "Father said that you must not be greedy for life and not forget your roots, otherwise you will be no different from pigs and dogs." ”

As he spoke, the young man who had already gotten up knelt down stubbornly again.

Xu Rui was shocked, the most difficult thing in the world to repay is favor, and what Xu Fang gave him was not just favor, but kindness.

Before coming here, he had thought of countless possibilities, after all, the pillar of the family died for himself, even if he was cold to himself, or even spoke ill of him, it was reasonable.

He didn't expect that what was waiting for him was not only not accusations, but such deep friendship.

Xu Rui let out a long sigh and knelt down with his robe.

The woman was suddenly shocked and wanted to help Xu Rui, but Xu Rui had already bowed down.

"Xu Rui, how can he be so virtuous, he has received such a great favor from your whole family, although I am not talented, but I am willing to live up to it in this life, and share honor and disgrace!"

"How does this work, how does this work?"

The woman hurriedly dodged Xu Rui's big salute, beckoned her son to help Xu Rui up, and Xu Rui got up and bowed again.

In another world, he is an orphan, a cold war machine, and has almost no friends except for Mo, who is also lonely, but here he meets Yang Weiyuan, Xu Fang, Ergou, and now he meets this affectionate and righteous family.

Xu Rui felt that he was innocent and treated himself well, and what he lost and longed for in another world was fulfilled here.

The so-called affection is not a charcoal in the snow, let alone the icing on the cake, it is the bits and pieces that are integrated into the bloodline, and it is precisely because they have been lost that they will be cherished.

For the family, Xu Rui's words and deeds are from the bottom of his heart, without the slightest artificiality.