Three days later, Yao Heier returned to Danjia Village.

Covered in dirt, haggard, tired, and desolate.

Qiong'er and Tie Zhu, as well as a few children from the village, each carrying a bundle of firewood, were walking from the dead forest behind the village.

From a distance, Qiong'er recognized that the person who was stumbling on the road was her mother, and threw the firewood on her shoulder to the ground in surprise, and ran over happily like a bird, shouting crisply: "Mother! Mother! ”

A reluctant smile appeared on Yao Hei'er's face, squatted down, took the daughter who came rushing in his arms, and picked off a weed on her head, but there was a slight apology in her heart, she should buy her daughter a few pastries she loves in the cold city, this child's little face is getting thinner and thinner.

Tie Zhu picked up the firewood that Qiong'er had dropped, and several other children also surrounded him, vying to call him "Aunt Hei". Yao Hei'er's cold heart, which had been soaked in despair for several days, suddenly warmed. A few enthusiastic children, with innocent and cheerful smiling faces, made her feel that this world is not only sinister with evil intentions.

She reached out to pick up the firewood in Tie Zhu's hand, Tie Zhu withdrew the firewood back, and smiled a little shyly: "Aunt Hei, you look very tired, I'll just take this firewood." I'm used to it. As he spoke, he ran quickly, and while running, he shouted happily: "Aunt Zhong, Sister Pei'er, Aunt Hei is back!" The two bundles of firewood on his shoulders and in his hands also jumped happily as the iron pillars ran.

With the shouting of the iron pillar, Zhong Cuiling held Jiu'er and Pei'er in her hand, and quickly appeared at the gate of Yao's house.

The two sisters reunited, relatively speechless, with tears shining in their eyes.

At night, several children fell asleep in bed. Pei'er, who was sleeping sweetly, was still reluctant to hold her mother's shirt tightly with one hand, as if she was afraid that she would go away again.

Yao Hei'er wrapped herself in the quilt, leaned on the head of the bed, and told Zhong Cuiling about her experience in the cold city this time, from beginning to end.

Zhong Cuiling listened to it again and again, shed tears over and over again, wanted to say something, and was afraid that it would arouse Yao Heier's sadness and sorrow even more, so she couldn't stop sighing.

Yao Hei'er said: "It's Mother Qin, a word that reminds me that my father and brother are already like that." But my mother and sister-in-law, if they had money, they could have been saved. There is a place again, but I don't know how much silver it will cost. We spent twelve taels on the market, and I spent ten taels on going to Hancheng, and now there are more than one hundred and seventy taels of silver left......"

Zhong Cuiling hurriedly took Yao Hei'er's hand and said, "Sister, is it possible that you want to go to Jiyan City?" ”

Yao Hei'er's eyes flashed with a hint of determination, and she said, "Can't you go?" ”

Zhong Cuiling lowered her head for a long time, and said slowly: "Sister, I know you are anxious, but I heard that Jiyan City is still more than a thousand miles away from Hancheng, if you go, when will you be able to arrive?" Jiyan City is so big, and I don't know where the old lady and the young lady are staying, how to find it? In that rich businessman, it must be a deep house compound, how can you get in? Even if you find it, you are determined to redeem the old lady, but I am afraid that people will be suspicious, but it will not be good. Besides, if you are a woman, you go on the road alone, if you meet a bandit ringing a horse, what is good? I have to think of a more appropriate way to make it. ”

Yao Hei'er said irritably: "Don't you care?" If I don't know, if I do, how can I let my mother suffer in someone else's house? ”

Zhong Cuiling saw that Yao Hei'er was a little impatient, and hurriedly said: "Sister, how can I not want to save the old lady, just think of a more appropriate way." Otherwise, I'm afraid I won't be able to save the old lady, even sister, what happens to you again, but what's good? The three children are still unworldly, and they still have to rely on your sister's teaching to make a difference. ”

This sentence reminded Yao Hei'er, she bent down and looked at the three children on the bed by the dim light in the room, they are still so young and have lost their father's protection, can they lose their mother again?

Suddenly, Yao Heier remembered that night in the sleep of Guanyin Temple, Guanyin Niangniang's words - filial piety and compassion. If you want to be filial to your mother, you can't be kind to your daughter; If you are kind to your daughter, you will not be able to save your mother thousands of miles away. Daughter and mother, at this time, she can only choose the same.

The wind was blowing, and the window lattices were crackling.

Thousands of miles away, the mother is an unknown. I don't know where she is, I don't know if she's safe or not, I don't know if I can really find my mother and save her from her predicament.

The daughter around is three known. It is known that they are now crying and waiting to be fed, that they are inseparable from their own teachings, and that they are now terrified like frightened birds.

Should she give up what she knows for the unknown thousands of miles away? If you go to save your mother, you will inevitably take the family's silver and even the hairpin ring to sell, what should the three children do for a living? Is it possible that they should live on the black-faced nests of the villagers?

Yao Hei'er burst into tears. The difficult choice made her heart twitch like pain.

She stood up suddenly, got out of bed in her clothes, and rummaged through the several cages she brought, and urged Zhong Cuiling to say, "Cuiling, you go and get the lamp, shine it on me." ”

Cuiling didn't understand what it meant, and asked blankly: "Sister, it's all this time, you have been running for a few days, you should have a good rest, if you are looking for something, it will be the same tomorrow." ”

Yao Hei'er's words were short and unquestionable: "Quick! Bring the lamp! ”

Zhong Cuiling didn't dare to disobey, so she had to agree, put on her clothes, and came with a lamp.

On the bed, on the table, and on the lid of the cage, clothes, sweat towels, books, shoes and socks were piled up.

Yao Hei'er flipped through the box and said, "Next time, if we pack up the cage, we should put everything in the box and write it on a piece of paper, so that we don't have to work hard to rummage through it." ”

Zhong Cuiling said "oh" helplessly, both of them were packing boxes for the first time, so they naturally had no experience.

Finally, Yao Hei'er held a book in her hand, stopped checking it, and said with a smile: "That's it." ”

Zhong Cuiling hurriedly got closer to take a closer look, because she had been Yao Heier's accompanying girl, she also knew a few words, only to see this thick book, but it was a set of "Historical Records", I didn't understand what it meant, only to hear Yao Heier and said: "In this "Historical Records", Mr. Sima Qian wrote a "Biography of the Goods Colony", how many troubled ancients changed their fate through business, they made it, how can we not do it? ”

Although Zhong Cuiling has also read books for a few days, they all know nothing, this thick "Historical Records" has never been read, listening to Yao Hei'er say this, he understood a little in his heart, and said: "Sister, do you also want to learn to do business?" ”

Yao Hei'er held the book and said, "Exactly! 'Fushan Xirao wood, bamboo, bamboo, Xuan, jade, Shandong, fish, salt, lacquer, silk, sound, Jiangnan out of Nan, Zi, ginger, cinnamon, gold, tin, Lian, dansha, rhino, tortoiseshell, pearl, tooth leather; Longmen, Jieshi North Doma, Cattle, Sheep, Zhanqiu, Tendon Horn...... Folk customs are served with food and drink, and the tools of life and death are also. Therefore, it is necessary to eat it from agriculture, hide it from it, make it from work, and communicate with it...... Every man is left to his own devices, and every man does his best, in order to get what he wants. Therefore, the levy of cheap things, the levy of expensive levies cheap......'"

Zhong Cuiling shook her head blankly and said, "Sister, I don't understand." ”

Yao Hei'er sighed: "In previous years, you asked you to study with me, but you refused, but after knowing a few words, I felt that it was enough." He read to the "Historical Records" again: "The Book of Zhou said: 'If the farmer does not come out, he will lack food, if he does not work, he will lack his work, and if he does not come out, the three treasures will be ......'" Seeing that Cuiling still shook his head, he changed his way and said: "When Jiang Taigong was sealed in Yingqiu, there was all saline-alkali land, and there were few people, so Jiang Taigong ordered the women to weave, improve their skills, and sell all the fish and salt to other places, so that the Qi country soon became rich." ”

Zhong Cuiling smiled at this time: "I understand this, it turns out that the god-like Jiang Taigong is also in business?" ”

Yao Hei'er couldn't help laughing, and said: "Confucius's disciple Zigong, who used the method of buying cheaply and selling expensively, did business between Cao and Lu, and became the richest among Confucius's disciples; After the Qin State broke the Zhao State, the Zhuo family migrated to Shu, the Zhuo family and his wife, only pushing a car, were migrated to Linqiong, melted iron and forged in the Iron Mountain, and became the richest family in Shu, the family has thousands of child servants, Tianchi shooting, Fubi monarch ......"

Yao Hei'er was silent. If you can really be richer than the king, what else can you do? Redeeming his mother and sister-in-law is naturally not a problem, and maybe, it can be ......

Today, Xu is just a small country on the side of security; To the north, there are also the kingdoms of Hu and Yan; to the south, there are also the kingdoms of Yue and Jing; To the east, there is also the country of Lu. Between countries, there is a constant scuffle, who could have predicted what would happen tomorrow?