The next day, when Zhong Cuiling went to return the family's bowl, she borrowed another bucket. Yao Hei'er ordered Qiong'er to watch her two younger sisters at home, and she and Cuiling carried the bucket with a stick, and went to the well at the entrance of the village to be crooked, splashing, and running four or five times, and finally carried half a tank of water.

There is water. How do you turn it into boiling water? Don't think about tea, it's good to have boiling water.

The master and servant—no, the two sisters stood in front of the stove in the courtyard, looking at the half pot of water that had just been poured into the pot, and they were at a loss.

The courtyard door was gently pushed open a crack, and a boy of five or six years old reached through the crack in the door.

Zhong Cuiling hurriedly smiled: "Sister, this is the grandson of that old lady, called Tiezhu." Then he hurriedly called the boy and said, "Iron pillar, come in!" ”

The boy smiled shyly, pushed the courtyard door open slightly, squeezed in through the crack in the door, and called "Auntie" in a restrained voice.

Yao Hei'er looked the boy up and down, and saw that he was wearing a gray coarse cloth coat with a few black patches on it, a pair of straw sandals under his feet, and a few black ashes on his little face. Although he was a little sloppy, he revealed a bit of cleverness, and said with a smile: "Good boy! You wait, your aunt will bring you snacks to eat. ”

Yao Hei'er only said one sentence, and saw that Zhong Cuiling was busy giving herself a look, and she suddenly understood in her heart that there were only two pieces of dim sum left at home. It's just that the words have come out of my lips, and it's hard to take them back, so I have to bite the bullet, go to the room, take a piece of osmanthus chestnut cake, and hand it to the boy.

The boy was shy and timid, but then he smelled the tempting sweetness of this snack, so he couldn't help it, thanked him, took it, took a bite lightly, and said with a smile: "Auntie, what is this?" It's delicious! ”

Yao Hei'er gently stroked the boy's head and didn't speak.

Because of this piece of dim sum, Tie Zhu became familiar with Yao Hei'er, he looked at the two beautiful aunts who were at a loss in front of the stove, and said with a smile: "Auntie, are you going to make a fire?" I'm the best. He looked around again and said, "Auntie, why don't you even have firewood and grass at home?" I'll pick you up some! As he spoke, he ate the snack in one go, swept away the residue on his fingers, and ran out again.

Qiong'er and Pei'er strictly adhered to their mother's teaching: "A girl's family can't just come out to meet people." At this time, he was just hiding on the clay kang in the room, patting his sister with his little hand, and looking at the boy curiously through the window.

After a while, the iron pillar ran back again, and I don't know where he brought a small bundle of dry firewood, and took out a fire sickle from his coat pocket, and led the dry wood, and put it in the hole in the stove, and in a short time the flames burned.

Yao Hei'er and Cuiling looked at each other and smiled helplessly. Tie Zhu bent down to blow the fire in the stove, and said proudly: "Auntie, I am at home, and I often help my grandmother and my mother make a fire, but my mother is not as fast as me to make a fire." ”

The water is boiling.

Tie Zhu raised and added two more black and gray faces, showed an innocent smile, and said, "Auntie, you bring water to scoop." ”

Yao Hei'er and Cui Ling looked at each other again. Cui Ling smiled a little embarrassedly: "We don't have a water scoop at home. ”

Tie Zhu rolled his black eyes in confusion, and said busily: "Wait until I go to my house to get it." Before Yao Hei'er could speak, the kid disappeared again.

What Tie Zhu brought back was not only a water scoop, but also two bowls, and four black-faced nests.

He handed these things to Yao Hei'er and said very sincerely: "Auntie, my grandmother heard that I ate your snacks, so she asked me to take these nests." Although this is not as delicious as the dim sum at your home, it is also very fragrant. Auntie, you taste! As he spoke, he used his little hands stained with black ash to break a nest and send it to Yao Hei'er's mouth.

Yao Hei'er hurriedly squatted down, ate the nest with the hand of the iron pillar, and chewed it carefully - it was very fragrant, really fragrant.

The corners of Yao Hei'er's eyes were a little wet again. She touched Tiezhu's head and smiled, "Good boy, it's really delicious." You can call me Aunt Hei from now on! He pointed to Cuiling and said, "She is Aunt Zhong." In the future, when you are free, just come to our house to play. ”

Tie Zhu smiled shyly again, turned around and ran out, and when he reached the door, he turned back and said, "Aunt Hei, my grandmother said, this water scoop and bowl, wait until you go to the market in a few days to buy a new one, and then return it to us." ”

Four black-faced nests, let this family of five last another day.

Qiong'er sensibly gave the only remaining piece of dim sum to Pei'er, and herself, her mother, and Aunt Zhong gnawed on the unpalatable rough nest together.

A piece of dim sum is obviously not enough for Pei'er to eat. In the afternoon, she was so hungry that she cried. Yao Hei'er reluctantly soaked the remaining half of the black noodle nest in boiling water, broke two thin branches as chopsticks, and fed them to Pei'er. Pei'er only took one bite and threw it up. Yao Hei'er was distressed and annoyed, and couldn't help but raise her slap, but it didn't fall for a long time.

On the morning of the third day, Pei'er devoured the rest of the nest soaked in water yesterday and ate it in one go. Qiong'er watched from the side and didn't say a word.

Yao Hei'er opened the blanket, looked at the silver inside, and said to Qiong'er with a smile: "Good boy, endure for two more days, and when there is a market, my mother will take you to the market, and my mother will buy you whatever you want to eat." But what he thought to himself was, "It's a good thing that I didn't have enough strength the day before yesterday to throw this money back to that person, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to buy anything even on the day the market opened." Man, at any time, you can't be angry with silver! ”

At this time, these white flowers and silver cannot be eaten as food.

In the box, there are many gorgeous clothes, which cannot be eaten. Yao Hei'er wanted to laugh, she really didn't bother with these hearts, she never knew that a person's first need was not gorgeous clothes, not brocade bedding, but food. I thought I had packed a few boxes of things, but I didn't remember to bring the most important food. Even those snacks were packed with hand.

Yesterday, there were ten days left to leave the city; Today, there are nine days left to leave the city. I'm afraid that if I can't wait for the market to open, a family of five will starve to death.

Yao Hei'er thought about it for a long time, and had to say to Cuiling: "Sister, when we were young, my father took us out to visit the spring, and there were many wild fruits on the mountain, which were very sweet and delicious, and we ate them, and when we got home at night, we couldn't even eat." I'm just in the yard, and I see that there is a mountain behind me, maybe there are wild fruits on the mountain or something, I'll pick some and we'll eat them. ”

Cuiling hurriedly put down Jiu'er and said, "Sister, it's time for me to go." You just wait at home. ”

Yao Hei'er hurriedly stopped her with her hand and said, "Jiu'er can't do without you, you are at home, I'll go!" Moreover, I am a sister, you are a sister, from this point of view, it is time for me to go! ”

From the day she was born, she easily didn't go out, even if she went out, it was not a sedan chair, it was a car, and Yao Hei'er, a wealthy lady surrounded by countless slaves, opened the suitcase, picked a skirt with a slightly shorter hem, a shirt with the narrowest cuffs, pulled the eldest daughter Qiong'er, walked out of the yard, and walked towards the mountains and forests behind the village.

The reason why she brought Qiong'er was because Yao Hei'er hoped that her daughter would be able to eat the wild fruit as soon as she found it. Qiong'er's eyes now flashed like a hungry wolf.

The mother and daughter ran on the mountain road for a long time, and finally saw an unknown fruit tree not far away, which was full of red and bright fruits, exuding a jewel-like light.

Yao Hei'er was overjoyed in her heart, and ran over in a hurry, but unexpectedly her feet slipped and she fell down the hill with her daughter. Yao Heier, who was in a panic, did not forget to hurriedly hold her daughter in her arms at the last moment. But she accidentally hit a hard object on her head, whether it was a stone or a stump, she didn't know. Then, it was a long time in a coma, until her daughter's "mother" woke her up from the coma.