Locked in the tent and not knowing the sun and the moon, Jin Xiaolou had to rely on the daily delivery of meals to calculate the time.

It's rice, but it's just pumpkin mashed and wheat kernel soup cooked together, and it's delivered once in the morning and once in the evening, and every time I come back to deliver food, it's still the woman I saw for the first time.

The woman looked shy and quiet, and every time she put down the soup pot and left, she never said a word to Jin Xiaolou. However, in her expression, she could always see that she was tentatively caring about Jin Xiaolou's body.

Until the fifth day, Jin Xiaolou was already well, and he was worried about Si'er in his heart.

The first few times I asked the woman, she always didn't say a word, this time, hearing the sound of footsteps approaching, Jin Xiaolou quickly stood up, and as soon as the woman entered the door, Jin Xiaolou walked towards her, and took the initiative to take the soup pot, while casually asking: "I think you are also a mother, right?" ”

Jin Xiaolou has been paying attention to it for several days, this woman always has the same handkerchief tied around her waist, and the style on the handkerchief is a tiger head doll with red thread sewn on it, sitting next to a cluster of peony flowers and playing with a rattle.

When Jin Xiaolou was pregnant, Nanyang volunteered to learn to do needlework, and the first thing he learned was to make a handkerchief for the baby's mouth, the baby was prone to drool, and the mother must always have a handkerchief at her side, wipe it from time to time, or tie it directly around the child's neck.

Generally, the handkerchief is embroidered with tiger heads, peony Buddha's hands, which imply health and wealth.

Therefore, Jin Xiaolou guessed that this woman also had a child.

"You know what it's like to be a mother!" Jin Xiaolou looked at her earnestly, "I just want to know my child's current situation, I just want to know if he is okay, that's all." ”

After Jin Xiaolou finished speaking, he took a deep breath and pinched his tiger mouth tightly, expecting to wait for the woman to speak.

It was cold and stuffy in the stone room, and the sound of hens and goats was in my ears, and the smell of my nose was unpleasant.

The woman was stunned, and under the light of the fire, Jin Xiaolou clearly saw that the woman's eyes lit up for a moment, but soon dimmed again.

She shook her head, didn't say anything, bit her lip and pushed the door open and ran out.

Jin Xiaolou stood in place, and a hen was frightened by the woman's sudden run, and flew to Jin Xiaolou's lap, and Jin Xiaolou was also unconscious.

She hadn't heard Si'er's movement for several days, the silence outside was like an abyss that swallowed everything, Si'er was the fire in the abyss, Jin Xiaolou was afraid, afraid that the fire would be extinguished.

But in the next second, the woman turned back again, opened the door, and slowly rushed inside: "Your child is very good, Sister Jing fed him with goat's milk, and now she doesn't cry or make trouble, and she is very well-behaved." Sister Jing likes him very much, and she doesn't want to exchange him for ......."

The woman's voice was a little hoarse, her eyes were red, and she seemed to have just gone out to cry, and when she said Si'er, her tone became brisk.

Jin Xiaolou could hear that she also liked Si'er, but her words made Jin Xiaolou worried.

"For what?" Jin Xiaolou asked nervously without knowing it.

The woman consciously lost her words and retreated in a panic.

This time, she didn't come back. Until the early morning of the second day, he came again to deliver food to Jin Xiaolou.

Jin Xiaolou grabbed the man's sleeve and asked earnestly, "You guys...... What should I trade my child for? ”

The woman raised her head suddenly, her pale lips trembled violently, and it took a long time to gradually calm down, and she spoke: "You are right, I was also a mother and a child, he is only three months older than your Si'er, and he is as cute as Si'er, but he does not have such a good life as Si'er......"

As she spoke, two lines of hot tears rolled down the woman's cheeks.

"Those of us who are homeless are wandering in the desert, we are hungry and full, and we have no food in the desert, so we can only hope that the men will come back from the nearby villages to grab some food and livestock." The woman leaned against the stone wall, covered her face with her hands, and sobbed as she said, "But since your man came to Gongbian and organized soldiers and even villagers to guard the village, it will be difficult for us to get things back. ”

"My child didn......'t have it at that time," the woman sniffed and looked at Jin Xiaolou, "However, I don't blame you, after all, it's our fault to steal things, I only blame myself, I married a ruthless man, committed an unforgivable felony, and had to go away from home and hide in Tibet to live." ”

It was indeed difficult to survive in the desert, but for now, it seemed that they had a source of food, chickens and sheep in the shelter, and even pumpkin and wheat kernels for her, the prisoner.

"What's your child's name?" Jin Xiaolou empathized with this woman's sadness, and his heart was also terrible.

"Ah Jin." The woman's eyes lit up, "It's a white and pure boy." ”

She sighed, and her mood slowly calmed down: "Don't worry, Sister Jing will take good care of Si'er, and in a few days, she will send Si'er to Gongbian and return it to your man to exchange for cattle, sheep and rice noodles." ”

Hearing this, Jin Xiaolou finally put his mind at ease.

"And you too." The woman opened the conversation box and said everything she knew, "Someone sent a letter to Brother Shanying, saying that as long as you and your child are tied up, the man guarding the side must respond to your requests." The man who wrote to him said that when we got what we wanted, he tore you up and left far away. But Brother Shanying has always had rules for doing things, as long as he takes you to exchange for enough cattle, sheep and grain, enough for us to spend this winter, he said that the exchange is the exchange, and he will never do anything that is untrustworthy. ”

Jin Xiaolou was silent, the eldest brother of the mountain eagle in this woman's mouth, thought to be the man who sat on the wolf's skin that day.

Jin Xiaolou looked at the woman's appearance, her dry and dark face, stained clothes, and long braids of her hair were made to wash less......

And that day, the faces behind the torches were exactly the same as the woman in front of them.

These homeless people are struggling to survive in the desert.

A thought rose in Jin Xiaolou's heart, and she suddenly stretched out her hand and held the woman tightly: "Please, help me convey it to Brother Shanying, tell him that I have something important to say to him, please ask him to be sure, he must agree to see me!" ”

The woman apprehensively pulled her hand back: "I'm ...... I don't dare to say such a thing! ”

Unexpectedly, Jin Xiaolou's hand was squeezed tighter, and the woman couldn't take it back for a while.

"Ah Jin is gone, but you are still young, and you will have children in the future." Jin Xiaolou arrived sincerely, "For the sake of the next child, please bring my words to Brother Shanying." ”

……

Jin Xiaolou waited until the afternoon, and the reason why he knew that it was afternoon was because his stomach had already screamed three times in succession.

When the meal was approaching, it was not the woman who came back to open the door, but a man who had never met before.

The man entered the stone room, pulled over Jin Xiaolou, and pushed it out. After being in the dark and smelly stone room for a long time, when he first came out, Jin Xiaolou only felt that his whole person was refreshed.

Standing at the mouth of the cave, he closed his eyes and let the sunlight shine on his face, and after a while, he opened his eyes again and looked at the person in front of him.

The boss of this small gang is the man sitting on the wolf's skin in front of him, covered in scars, Brother Mountain Eagle.

"What do you have to tell me?" Brother Shanying squinted his eyes and looked down at Jin Xiaolou from above.

The reason why he agreed to listen to this woman was only because he had seen this woman's desperate tenacity a few days ago, which made him feel that this woman was not an ordinary person.

However, the woman who delivered the message violated his rules, and even if it was something he wanted to hear, she was dragged in and beaten with ten rattans, and now, it was difficult to even get up.

"I know you took me and my baby in exchange for some food with my man." Jin Xiaolou spoke.

Hearing this, Shan Yingwu laughed to himself, it turned out that it was for this? He also thought that she was a different woman, it turned out that women were all the same.

"Are you scared? Don't worry, my mountain eagle does what he says, if he wants to rob, then he will rob it all, whoever dares to obstruct me, will go in with a white knife and go out with a red knife! If you want to exchange, that is, one hand to deliver and one hand to hand, as long as your man is obedient, I promise not to hurt you and your child a hair. ”

Jin Xiaolou also smiled indifferently: "I came to tell you that this is not a long-term solution. ”

Shan Ying smiled and straightened up: "What do you mean?" ”

"Today you arrested me and the child in exchange for food, who are you going to arrest tomorrow in exchange? This plan only works for a while, and when the food you have exchanged is eaten and no one can catch it, what will you do? Jin Xiaolou continued, "You can live a stable life, no one wants to live a life with today and no tomorrow, and I think you are the same." ”

"I have a way to make sure that you don't sleep in the open anymore, at least the men can fill their stomachs every day, and the women and children don't have to worry about it."