Although the Yan clan was anxious to find Mu Fan's whereabouts, he was not a reckless person.

She thought about it and felt that what Xia Huai said was right.

So he stopped moving forward and asked, "Huai'er, what do you say we should do?" ”

"Mother, you and your sister will go home for the time being, I will first gather some people to help us find it nearby, and then I will rush to the county seat overnight to report to the official, and ask the county officials to help us find it in the mountains, only the three of us are too small."

Xia Yan lowered his head and thought for a moment and said, "Brother, you go directly to the official and bring the silver." My mother and I went to the village for help. ”

"That's fine, it can save a lot of time, let's go back quickly, we won't be able to get out if it's too late."

The three of them hurried home in the afterglow of the sunset, and Xia Huai simply packed up and caught up with the donkey cart and set off.

Xia Yan and Yan came to Zhang Xiaohu's house in the dark.

In the past few years, Xia Yan's family has not been in a good situation in the village, and no one has agreed to ask for help on weekdays, let alone on this cold winter night.

Zhang Xiaohu is one of the few people who knows Mu Fan, and his father is also more prestigious in the village, so he can only trouble them at this time.

Knocking on the door, Zhang Xiaohu was stunned for a long time when he saw Xia Yan standing outside the door.

The eldest sister came to the door in the middle of the night for the first time, and it must have been because she had done something wrong.

He hurriedly searched in his mind for any place that had offended Xia Yan in the past few days, thinking about it, it really made him think of it. hurriedly begged for mercy: "Eldest sister, that radish is really not what I want to eat, it was those guys who couldn't help but pull one out, and I couldn't help it." You know, there are no vegetables to eat in this winter, and we are tired of eating pickles. Xiaohu looked at Xia Yan flatteringly, "Don't say it, your radish tastes so ......."

"Alright." Xia Yan interrupted him, if he didn't stop him, he didn't know when he would say, "I'm not here for radish, I'm here today to ask your father to do me a favor." ”

Hearing that Xia Yan was not here to settle accounts, Xiaohu breathed a sigh of relief and continued to flatter: "Eldest sister, you ordered, even if it is the Daoshan oil pot, I will let my father help you go." ”

After explaining his intention to Xiaohu, he immediately patted his chest and promised that he would definitely complete the task.

Bidding farewell to Xiaohu, Xia Yan's mother and daughter came to Lizheng's house again.

Li Zheng and his wife were about to go to bed, and when they heard Xia Yan's shout, the elderly Li Zheng put on his clothes and went to open the door.

"Yan'er, what's wrong with you and your mother? How does it look so weak? Li Zheng looked at the weak appearance of the mother and daughter, and asked distressedly.

"Grandpa Lizheng, we're fine." Xia Yan blessed her body, "Yan'er has something to ask Grandpa Lizheng for help." ”

"You say."

After Xia Yan finished speaking, Li Zheng nodded and agreed.

Xia Yan and the others said goodbye to Lizheng, but when they turned to leave, they were stopped by him, "Look at your weak appearance, you must be looking for that kid who can't even afford to eat." What can you do without eating on this cold day, don't leave yet, I asked the old woman to boil some porridge for you and drink to warm your body. ”

The mother and daughter politely refused, Mu Fan hadn't found it yet, how could they be in the mood to eat.

The two dragged their tired bodies around the village and continued to search, and heard a deep and bold voice in the distance: "You are still not men, can we stand by and watch if there is someone in the village who needs help?" It's a big deal. It's not cold at all, and it's ugly to see you shivering one by one. Hurry up, shout. ”

"Mu ...... Where ......"

A weak cry made the man feel very uncomfortable.

He scolded: "Your mother-in-law didn't let you eat at night? A manly man can't even compare to a little doll, you see how energetic my son is. Come, shout at me. He took a breath, "Mu! Every! Where are you! ”

The voice was deafening, making Xia Yan, who was far away, feel a little numb in his ears.

"Big sister! Big sister head! Xiaohu quickly ran to Xia Yan's side with a torch, and said as if to invite merit: "Look, my task has been done well, my father has brought most of the men in the village here." Some people didn't want to help, so they went to Grandpa Lizheng to complain, but he scolded him back. ”

"Thank you." Xia Yan was very touched that there were so many people willing to help her when she encountered difficulties.

She and Yan walked in front of Little Tiger Father and thanked him: "Uncle Zhang, thank you." ”

"You're welcome, it's all from the same village, and it's right to help each other." He pointed behind him, "Don't look at their cowardice, but they still have a conscience, how can you watch your orphans and widows still running outside at night." ”

Then, as if he had thought of something, he carefully looked at the people behind him, and asked with some dissatisfaction, "What about the third child of the Xia family?" Didn't you let someone call him? It's his niece's business, what about people? ”

"We went to call, but he said his stomach hurt and he couldn't come."

"Fart!" The little tiger father was furious, "I saw him wandering around the village before dark, he can't come now, who believes it!" Lao Tzu had long seen that Xia Laosan was unpleasant, better than a monkey, but he didn't expect him to be this kind of person. ”

"Little Tiger! You come here. ”

Zhang Xiaohu didn't hear his father's shout, and was still immersed in Xia Yan's thanks.

The eldest sister actually said thank you to me, hehe, does this mean that I have the potential to become the right-hand man of the eldest sister, and I will have food to eat with the eldest sister.

"Zhang Xiaohu! What are you doing again! ”

"Ah, Dad, you called me?" At this time, Xiaohu reacted, and ran to his father, "You say." ”

Little Tiger Father pointed at Xia Yan and the others, "Go and send your Aunt Yan and them home." ”

"Uncle Zhang, if we don't go back, my mother and I will find someone with you."

He said without questioning seriousness: "No, you must go back." It's a cold day, how can you women blow the cold wind outside, so many of us are looking for it, you can rest assured. ”

He thought about it again and said to Xiaohu: "By the way, go home and call your mother, and ask her to cook a meal for your Aunt Yan's house, and you and your mother will stay at your Aunt Yan's house tonight." ”

Xia Yan still wanted to refuse, but was blocked back by the little tiger father: "Look at you and your mother's weak appearance, if you don't eat anymore, you won't even die, what will you do to wait for Mu Fan to come back?" ”

lowered his lips and lowered his head without saying a word.

"Let's go, Yan'er, what your Uncle Zhang said is right. We must regain our strength before we can have the energy to continue looking for him. Yan knew his daughter's stubborn temper, so he could only persuade softly.

Xia Yan nodded, and reluctantly followed Yan home.

That night, the whole village was lit by torches and shouted by the villagers, and they stayed awake all night.

The sky was bright, and Xia Huai drove a donkey cart to the county seat of Qinxian County.

As soon as he came to the gate of the county government, he jumped off the donkey cart quickly, and even the donkey didn't have time to bolt, so he rushed to the hammer door in front of the gate.

"Open the door! Open the door! ”

After knocking for a long time, the door slowly opened.

A tired servant yawned and walked out.

He looked Xia Huai up and down and asked, "Where did you come from to ask for food, what are you doing knocking on the door so early in the morning?" Do you want to try our prison meal? ”

"Brother Guancha, someone in my family has been lost, I am here to report the case, please let me go in to find the county master."

"You kid don't report the crime and don't see what time it is?" The official felt that the fire was too big, and the night duty on a cold day was uncomfortable enough, and he lost a lot of cards at night playing cards with other brothers who were in charge of the night, and finally waited until dawn to make up for sleep, but was interrupted by a little screaming Hanako who had no eyesight.

"Is the county master what you want to see? Isn't it common for you to ask Hanako to lose one or two, and you need to report to the official? ”

Xia Huai prayed: "Big brother, my name is not Hanako, I am a villager from Bianxi Village. My brother is afraid that he has been lost in the foggy mountains, and I want to ask the officials to help me find it. It is a matter of human life, and I hope that the eldest brother will notify the county master as soon as possible. ”

The official looked at Xia Huai carefully, looking at Xia Huai's somewhat frozen hair and damp coarse cotton jacket all the way, and his pale face, which had not eaten or slept that day, was silent.

This is a child of a poor family, who can't even work with a little oil and water. Will he report this case or not? In winter, even their officials didn't dare to go in, and if they took it, the other officials might not know how to complain about him.

Let's see how much benefit this person can give.

The servant stretched out his hand and rubbed his thumb and forefinger twice.

Xia Huai immediately understood, took out the silver from his arms and put it in the hands of the officials.

The official was stunned and asked dissatisfiedly, "No?" That's it? ”

Xia Huai nodded awkwardly, before he left, Yan Er said that he would bring some silver, in his eyes, one or two pieces of silver was enough, but he didn't expect this official to be too little.

"Come on, you hurry up and go away, it's really an eyesore to stand in front of our county yamen." After speaking, he stuffed the silver into his arms and made a posture of closing the door, wanting to block Xia Huai out.

"Don't, big brother." Xia Huai immediately pressed the door to stop him from continuing to close the door, "Big brother, how much did you say?" ”

Heh, this kid's strength is really not small.

The official pushed hard a few times, but the door did not move at all, so he had to give up.

He rolled his eyes a few times and said with a smile: "You kid is quite good." You also know how dangerous Wubi Mountain is, why do you want to give some benefits to our brothers who enter the mountain, right, or who would want to go in? One person needs at least two taels, so you can give twenty taels. ”

"Twenty taels!"

"What, don't want to?"

"Yes, yes. It's just that I didn't bring so much silver today, and I will make up for it when I go back. Please also ask the eldest brother to report in a hurry, otherwise it will be too late. ”

The official sneered, "No credit, do you think I will believe the words of you, a poor boy?" ”

He looked up behind Xia Huai, raised his head and asked, "Is that donkey yours?" ”

After receiving Xia Huai's affirmative answer, he walked to the donkey cart and touched its head, "Tsk, this donkey is really good." In this way, you can give this donkey to the brothers, so that the brothers can eat a donkey meat hot pot to warm their bodies, and they can also do things for you.

"No, it's my family, I can't give it to you."

"Hahaha." The official smiled and leaned back, "It's funny, there are people in this world who are family members with donkeys, boy, are you also a donkey?" ”