Chapter 2 The struggle for a livelihood
"Where's your home?" Shen Xiaoyu asked the little boy, with the light of the moon, he found that although the little boy's face was dirty, the clothes on his body were very good materials, and the poor people in the village could only afford to wear coarse cloth clothes, and some of them still wore a pair of pants in a family. I've heard before that the children of rich families will be kidnapped, but is this family not taking money or what? I just heard that those two people were going to kill people.
The little boy looked at the direction, a little confused, and said, "Liaoyang City." ”
As soon as Shen Xiaoyu heard this, he said: "Liaoyang City has been walking along this path, and after seeing the fork of the road of the three big locust trees, take the road on the left, and you can get there." "She has been to Liaocheng, and she has been there when she bought medicine for her mother.
"Thank you, what's your name? My name is Qin Huaijin! ”
"My surname is Shen, and my father and mother call me Xiaoyu, you can go quickly, those two people may react and chase after me!" Shen Xiaoyu said that she had to go back quickly, her father should be in a hurry.
After separating from Qin Huaijin, Shen Xiaoyu ran all the way home, and when he was close to the door, he saw Father Shen standing at the door and looking around.
"Daddy!" Shen Xiaoyu shouted, Father Shen hurriedly looked over, the light was not good, but when he heard his daughter's voice, Father Shen was also relieved.
"Why did you come back? Didn't you say let's come back early? Father Shen complained.
Shen Xiaoyu smiled and said, "It's okay, I'll make porridge, and I can eat it with sweet potatoes!" She didn't dare to say that she had met the kidnapper on the mountain, for fear that his father would worry, so she went to burn the stove when she was busy, and in that case just now, she was reluctant to throw away the basket in her hand.
At night, Shen Xiaoyu lay on the bedboard, thinking about the little boy she met, she had always envied the children of the rich and noble families in the city, who had everything to eat and drink, but now as soon as her mother left, she felt that the days of wealth and nobility might not be so good, and the days of having a mother were good.
When he woke up, Daddy Shen said that he was going to the city, and the goods ordered by other families had been completed, so he had to send them, and Shen Xiaoyu was waiting at home, because every time the goods were delivered, the family could buy food.
The city gate in the city opened as soon as it was dawn, Qin Huaijin hid at the city gate all night, he only dared to squat in the grass and bushes, for fear that the two bad guys would find him.
As soon as he entered the city, someone saw him, and he was relieved to see that it was his own family.
The Qin family is in Liaoyang City, not an ordinary family.
Qin Zheng, the old man of the Qin family, has a wide range of contacts in Liaoyang City, and is a well-known good person, in his early years, he relied on the dowry of his wife to do business and developed, and then donated a small official position.
The family found the second young master, so he hurriedly took someone home, and the eldest lady of the Qin family, Qian Yuemei, had red and swollen eyes, until the moment she saw her son, she cried directly.
"Huai Jin, are you okay? Where the hell did it go? Qian Yuemei hugged her son and cried, her son was embarrassed, she was very distressed as a mother, how could she be frightened this night!
Qin Zheng saw that the people came back fine, so he asked the family to go to the yamen: "Go and tell the yamen that the people are back, and thank you gifts are indispensable!" ”
When Qian Yuemei heard this, she scolded: "Thank you for the gift? So the big yamen has no one who can do anything, and they can't even find a child, or the child came back by himself, what face do they have to ask for money?! ”
In front of people coming and going on the street, Qin Zheng hurriedly asked Qian Yuemei not to say: "The child just came back, bring it in, I'll let someone find a Lang Zhong to take a look!" ”
Qian Yuemei closed her mouth and led her son into the courtyard, this time she entered the door, her face was also dark, and the second wife of the Qin family came out.
In the early years, Qian Yuemei did not give birth to a son, so Mrs. Tai made the decision to take a concubine, but the concubine gave birth to her eldest son two years after entering the door, which made her feel aggrieved. Later, although she also gave birth to a son, although she was a concubine, she was not the eldest son, and it was even worse to look at the mother and son in the second room.
"Madam, Huai Jin is back? Great, thank God Bodhisattva! Wang Xiuyan said with a worried and happy look on her face.
Qian Yuemei's face was not good, so she only said a word of kindness and led her son back to the courtyard first.
The subordinates in the family here were running hot water, and Qian Yuemei took advantage of the fact that no one was around, so she asked, "What's going on?" Why did people abduct and come back on their own? ”
Qin Huaijin said: "I met a little girl, she saved me, there are two bad people, saying they want to kill me!" Qin Huaijin still has palpitations.
Qian Yuemei hugged her son and said: "It must be Wang Xiuyan's slut, you are the sister-in-law of this family, the woman who sings the song wants her son to monopolize the property of the Qin family, no way!" "If it weren't for her mother's help, Qin Zheng would be a small trader now, where would he still have today's scenery?!
When Qin Huaijin heard this, he said, "Mother, is this incident sure to be related to Wang Xiaoniang?" ”
"What little lady? The concubine is not even as good as a maid, if it weren't for the fact that she gave birth to a son to the master, she would have been beaten out with a stick! Qian Yuemei scolded.
Qin Huaijin was silent, he was actually not very hostile to Wang Xiuyan's mother and son, every time there was anything good in the second room, he would send it to him first, and he was also very respectful to their mother and son, and he didn't know why his mother hated Xiaoniang so much, just because the eldest brother above him was born to Wang Xiuyan?
Qian Yuemei saw that she was a little fierce, so she said: "Don't worry about these things, remember my mother's words, stay away from the second room in the future, what is the matter with the second room looking for you, you just say that you are not feeling well, do you know?" ”
"Yes, my son knows." Qin Huaijin nodded, since he was a child, his mother has let him pretend to be sick all the time, so that now he can't even go to the school, and his husband comes to teach at home.
After the hot water outside was put away, Qian Yuemei took her son to take a bath, and she was relieved to make sure that there were no major wounds on her son's body.
Qin Zheng asked Lang Zhong to come over, Qian Yuemei withdrew all the subordinates, and asked Lang Zhong: "Doctor Liu, is my son okay?" ”
After Dr. Liu took the pulse, he shook his head: "It's okay, it's just that there are some slight scratches on the body, just put some medicinal powder on it." ”
When Qian Yuemei heard this, she took out a silver ticket and said, "Doctor Liu, what to say when you go out, you know it." ”
Dr. Liu accepted the money very calmly, and said, "Don't worry, it's not for me to hurt the sky, I know what to say!" ”
Qian Yuemei was relieved and let the child sleep first.
As soon as Dr. Liu went out, Qin Zheng was also waiting at the door, and as soon as he asked about the child's condition, Dr. Liu said: "The second young master's body is already weak, this time the fright is too much, and the body is losing again, it is estimated that it will take a while to take care of it!" ”
When Qin Zheng heard this, his brows furrowed, and he said: "Why is this child's illness always not getting better, you are also the number one in Liaoyang City, you can't say that it is not curable, this is ......"
Doctor Liu waved his hand: "It's okay, just take care of it, nothing will happen!" After that, he left first.
Qian Yuemei heard the words outside inside, thoughtfully, her son, no one can harm her!
…………
When the end of summer arrives, there are more people in the back mountains, but there are fewer and fewer things to be found, and everything that can be dug before is dug up, and by this time, there is no harvest of fruits.
Shen Xiaoyu made a mistake in his heart, his father's salary was getting less and less, and the money to buy grain in winter was not enough, every household was in this situation, and there was no way to borrow money, and it was estimated that it would be difficult to survive this winter.
After a busy day, Shen Xiaoyu only dug up two wild sweet potatoes in the end, and there were fewer and fewer things to find.
"Little fish, what did you dig up?" Erniu from the same village came over and asked.
Erniu is two years older than her, Erniu's father and mother have business all day long, and they will have children to play if they have nothing to do! There is an elder brother on the top of the second cow, there are four younger siblings on the bottom, and there is a pair of in-laws on the top, and the family of ten people is very spectacular. Shen Xiaoyu felt that the rations of his two people were very difficult, and ten people in this family would not be enough to eat stones.
"I didn't dig anything!" Shen Xiaoyu said and showed the basket to Er Niu, the basket was empty, there was really nothing.
Erniu smiled, two snots hanging under his nose, and he was about to "cross the river".
"I just watched you hide two sweet potatoes in your sleeves, you can share one with me, I'm hungry!" Erniu said stupidly.
Shen Xiaoyu glared at him and said, "Don't give it, you hide aside, I want to go home!" "This fool eats more than anyone else!
Shen Xiaoyu wanted to leave, Er Niu pulled her and didn't let her go, he had a lot of strength, he reached out and touched Shen Xiaoyu's sleeve, looking like he wanted to grab it!
Shen Xiaoyu was in a hurry, the two of his family were going to starve to death, and there was still something to rob, so he immediately picked up his fist and looked at Erniu's eyes It was a pink fist.
After receiving an eye cannon, Er Niu was also anxious, and said, "What can you do if you share one of me?" There are only two people in your family, and you can't starve to death! ”
"Fart, I won't give it, you just say you won't give it to the sky! Get out of here! Shen Xiaoyu scolded, who is still used to who at this time?
When Erniu saw that Shen Xiaoyu was so powerful, he directly grinned and howled.
Shen Xiaoyu felt that the situation was not good, this Erniu was stupid, he was still a slug, and he cried when he had nothing to do, because of this, the children in the same village gave Erniu the nickname "Rice Porridge", especially Erniu's mother Fang Cuifen was a shrew, and when she heard the child's howl, she came over and made a mud, which she really couldn't afford to provoke.
"Erniu, you're a calf thing, you cry here!" After Shen Xiaoyu finished speaking, he hurriedly smeared oil on the soles of his feet and left.
When he got home, Shen Xiaoyu began to clean up and cook, and his tongue was astringent when he ate sweet potatoes every day, which was already good, and sometimes he couldn't even eat sweet potatoes.
Father Shen looked at his daughter like this, so he called Shen Xiaoyu to him and said, "Girl, Dad pondered for a while and wanted to find you a mother-in-law." ”
"Looking for your in-laws? So fast? Why? "Shen Xiaoyu is only ten years old, she can't accept letting her marry so early.
Father Shen sighed: "Dad has no ability, I'm afraid he can't support you, if you get married, at least you won't starve to death!" "This is a way to live for my daughter.
When Shen Xiaoyu heard this, he asked, "Who are you marrying?" The people in the village are so poor. ”
"Let's see if there are any good people." Father Shen said, as long as you can eat enough.
Shen Xiaoyu smiled: "Ten miles and eight villages are like this, how can there be good people?" The people in the city are good, and people don't look down on them. Speaking of this, Shen Xiaoyu seemed to think of something, his face darkened, and he said, "Dad, you don't want to sell me to some old and ugly rich man, do you......?" ”