When the mother and daughter returned to the small village from the wilderness and forest, the morning star was already lit up in the sky.

It is said to be a small village, but in fact there are only seven or eight households. The courtyards are not next to each other, but they are all some distance away, or ten or so, or four or five zhang, ranging from ten to five zhang.

The few houses that are here are thatched huts and rafters, and urns and ropes. In comparison, the gray-tiled and white-walled courtyard where Yao Hei'er lives now seems to stand out from the crowd in the village.

It's no wonder that this is her husband, who is a Shenwu general, no, her ex-husband, who personally ordered someone to build it for her, and the natural "style" is not comparable to that of ordinary mountain people's homes.

Thinking of this, the corners of Yao Hei'er's mouth couldn't help but sneer.

A swarthy figure was hovering at the gate of the gray-tiled and white-walled courtyard. Although there was a distance away, Yao Hei'er could see at a glance that this figure was Zhong Cuiling.

Zhong Cuiling also saw the mother and daughter who were staggering, hurriedly greeted them, wiped her tears and said, "Sister, why did you go until this time to come back?" I only ...... I'm just ......" hurriedly covered his mouth and said no more. Suddenly, I saw Yao Hei'er's dress clearly, it was all scratched, there was a bloody scab on her forehead, and her hair was scattered, she became more and more flustered, and said, "Sister, what happened to you?" How does it look like this? ”

A trace of desolation appeared on Yao Hei'er's face, took Zhong Cuiling's hand, and said lightly: "It's nothing, I accidentally fell on the mountain." Let's talk about it when we get inside. ”

Zhong Cuiling bent down and hugged Qiong'er, and said softly: "Qiong'er, let's get home." ”

When she entered the room, Cuiling found that Qiong'er, who was crawling on her shoulder, was already asleep. There was a trace of horror on a dirty little face that had not faded.

She gently put Qiong'er on the bed, covered it with a quilt, scooped up water, helped Yao Hei'er freshen up, and found the towel in the box, and carefully wiped the blood scab on Yao Hei'er's forehead.

No need to ask, Zhong Cuiling already knew that the mother and daughter had been running for half a day and a night without bringing anything to eat.

Yao Hei'er smiled sadly at her, and Zhong Cuiling, who was laughing, felt a sour feeling in her heart, and only heard her say: "Sister, you haven't slept all night, have you?" I'm so useless, I didn't find anything. ”

Zhong Cuiling's tears fell down, and she barely smiled again, and said, "Sister, what's this?" When the morning comes, I will go to the old lady's house to see if I can borrow a few more nests, and we will buy rice and noodles at the market tomorrow, and then return them to them. ”

Borrow? Or is it begging? It's only been three days since I left the Du family, and I, Yao Hei'er, have fallen to this point?

No, never!

Besides, looking at the houses in the village and the clothes of the iron pillars, you can see that the families are just barely surviving, where can they have extra rations for their own families?

She yawned softly and said, "Sleep!" Tomorrow, we'll figure it out. ”

A high-pitched rooster crow sounded in the quiet mountain village. A few people in this courtyard fell asleep, and in everyone's dream, there was a sumptuous feast.

Yao Hei'er, who was eating Babao glutinous rice duck and drinking ginseng chicken soup, was awakened by a knock on the door.

She hurriedly turned over and sat up, looked at her daughters who were still asleep, and asked softly, "Who?" ”

Outside the door was a hesitant voice: "Aunt Hei? It's already noon, why haven't you gotten up yet? ”

Yao Hei'er rubbed her eyes, only then did she find that the bright sunlight had sprinkled all over the room, she was busy dressing up, and when she opened the door, it was indeed a small face of Tiezhu, who was looking at herself suspiciously.

Yao Hei'er straightened the messy hair on her sideburns and said with a smile: "Tiezhu, why are you here?" Then he looked at the courtyard gate, and found that the courtyard gate was not closed. I think it was last night, no, I was so busy at one o'clock in the morning this morning that I forgot to close the courtyard door.

Tie Zhu raised his face and said, "Aunt Hei, I passed by the door just now, and when I saw the courtyard door ajar, I wanted to come in and play." Aunt Hei, do you still have firewood and grass at home? I'm going to call you some! ”

Zhong Cuiling had also walked over, and was about to speak, when he suddenly heard Tie Zhu exclaim: "Aunt Hei, are you injured?" ”

When Cui Ling was also busy looking, she found that when she helped Yao Hei'er wash the blood scab on her face in the early hours of this morning, because there was no light in the room, she hadn't wiped it clean, and Yao Hei'er's forehead still had two eye-catching dark red blood stains.

Yao Hei'er hurriedly took Tiezhu's hand, walked to the middle of the courtyard, and said with a smile: "Good boy, how can you always bother you to help us collect firewood?" Where can you get firewood, I'll go with your Aunt Zhong. ”

Tie Zhu twisted his neck, took out an adult's tone, and said, "Aunt Hei, you don't know, my father is always collecting firewood in the back mountain." The trees in the back hill are so large that they need to be knocked down with an axe. My father sold all the firewood in a car when he was in the market. Do you have an ax at home? ”

Yao Hei'er shook her head.

Tie Zhu said: "Since there is none, there is a dead forest at the back of the village, which is full of trees that have not grown, and there are only some small firewood and grass. I picked up all the firewood we burned at home, and several children in the village, when they were idle, also collected firewood there. But ......" Tiezhu scratched his scalp.

Yao Hei'er smiled: "But what? ”

Tie Zhu said: "But there are children collecting firewood, and adults have never been there." ”

Zhong Cuiling smiled: "Aren't adults allowed to pick up firewood there?" ”

Tie Zhu scratched his scalp again, and said, "It's not that it's not allowed-" Because he didn't know how to explain, he had to say it again: "The people who collect firewood and grass there are all children." Grown-ups have never been. ”

Yao Hei'er hesitated, gritted her teeth, and said to Cuiling: "You go and wake up Qiong'er, and let her go with Tiezhu to collect firewood and grass!" ”

Zhong Cuiling was shocked, and forgot that she had changed her name, and said, "Madam! Are you crazy? The eldest lady hasn't eaten a single bite from yesterday to now! You also asked her to collect firewood and grass! ”

Yao Hei'er straightened her back and said expressionlessly: "She is no longer a young lady from a big family, she should learn to work like the children in the village!" I'll go back to the back mountain in a while and find something to eat! You're still at home, watching two little kids! That's it! ”

Tie Zhu looked back and forth at the two arguing aunts, and asked in confusion: "Aunt Hei, Aunt Zhong, why hasn't you eaten all the time when you said Qiong'er?" Aunt Hei, why did you go to the back mountains to find food? On the back mountain, there are just some wild fruits. Although it is delicious, it does not satisfy hunger. ”

Yao Hei'er's face turned red.

Tie Zhu seemed to understand, and hurriedly said, "Aunt Hei, is there nothing to eat at home?" I'll go to my house and get you some! Without waiting for Yao Hei'er to agree, the kid ran away again.

Yao Hei'er and Cui Ling looked at each other, both had full words, but they couldn't say it.

After a while, the iron pillar came with an old lady with stumbling steps. This old lady, about sixty years old, has a wrinkled face, gray hair, and cloudy eyes, but she exudes gentleness and kindness. Like the Iron Pillar, she was dressed in a gray coarse cloth shirt with variegated patches, and a pair of black cloth shoes underneath her feet. In her hand, she was holding a small white cloth bag.

Without waiting for Yao Hei'er and Cuiling to speak, Tie Zhu opened his mouth first and said, "Aunt Hei, this is my grandmother." Aunt Zhong has seen it. ”

Yao Hei'er hurriedly bowed down and said ten thousand blessings. The old lady hurriedly grabbed them and said with a smile: "Ouch, look at these two girls, they look handsome, they speak well, and they are thoughtful, I am from the mountains and wilderness, and I don't know how to repay the courtesy." Don't laugh. ”

Yao Hei'er and Cuiling hurriedly invited the old lady to sit in the room. When I entered the room, I found that the three children didn't know when they got up, and Qiong'er was coaxing her two younger sisters to prevent them from making trouble. Pei'er also saw that there were guests at home, who she had never been in contact with, and her heart was full of curiosity, and she forgot the hunger in her stomach.

When the old lady sat down, Yao Hei'er shouted, "Qiong'er, Pei'er, come to see grandma!" ”

The voices of Qiong'er and Pei'er sounding obviously weak, but they still walked over in a proper manner and saluted the old lady.

The old lady became more and more at a loss, and said, "These two little girls are even more painful. Hurriedly pulled the two children up, put the cloth bag in his hand on the table, and said, "Girl, I just heard from my grandson that you don't have anything to eat at home." Take a few rough nests, don't dislike them. I will eat a little. Supposedly, you are new to the house, and I should have come to see it a long time ago, but I didn't dare to come and walk around because I saw that your family was rich. The day before yesterday-" looked at Cuiling and said: "When this girl came to my house, she asked where there was a rice and noodles seller, and I never thought that you didn't bring it at all, but only thought that it was for the future." I just heard what Tie Zhu said, and I realized that it was you young people who had never been a housekeeper, and they didn't know how to prepare in advance. When this market is still eight or nine days away, how can you wait? As he spoke, he hurriedly took a nest, broke it open, and handed it to Qiong'er and Pei'er.

Qiong'er and Pei'er didn't care about what their former mother taught them, they had to be dignified and polite at all times, and they gnawed on them immediately.

Yao Hei'er looked at her daughter's gobbling up, her heart was sour, and she couldn't help but shed tears.

The old lady also understood a little in her heart, and said: "Child, I see that you are a rich and noble family, and I don't know why, and I don't want to ask if you suddenly come to our mountain." It's just that people live for a lifetime, and they will inevitably encounter ditches and bumps. ”

Yao Hei'er hurriedly wiped her tears with her sleeve, and said with a reluctant smile: "Your old man looks about the same age as my mother, and I will call you an old man's aunt in the future." Not to mention anything else, these nests that my aunt brought now have saved my family's life. I'll never forget this alone. He opened the box and took five taels of silver to give to the old lady.

The old lady hurriedly excused herself: "Girl, since you call me an aunt, this is what I should do." Where is my nest worth so much money? It's just that to be honest, my family is not rich, so you bought rice and noodles at the market and gave it back to us. ”

As he spoke, he hurriedly pulled the iron pillar and walked out. Yao Hei'er saw that she insisted on not accepting it, so she had to send her out, and thanked her again and again. Because he said to Tiezhu again: "Good boy! You sent your grandmother home, and you took your sister and went to the woods to collect firewood and grass. Can it be made? ”

The old lady hurriedly said, "What do I want him to send?" This road has been going on for decades, can't it be done for a while? Tiezhu, you can go with your sister! ”

Tie Zhu had already seen that Qiong'er was a beautiful sister he had never seen before, and he agreed with joy. waited for Qiong'er to eat the nest, so he went with Qiong'er.