The village was quiet, and there were only two families in the four courtyards with lights on.

Zhong Xiangsi chose a house with red peppers hanging in front of the door and knocked on the door.

"Anyone? Fellows, fellows! Zhong Xiangsi patted the loose wooden door.

A figure flashed in the room with the lights on, and it seemed that there were indeed people in the house.

Zhong Xiangsi shouted a few more times, but there was no more movement in the room.

Zhong Xiangsi gritted his teeth and said, "We are passers-by here by chance, because the child is sick and wants to stay with you for the night!" It's really windy outside, fellow, we are a family, you can do well, let us in, I will pay you money! ”

He Mai looked at the white-lit window a little nervously, for fear that there would be a voice of rejection from inside.

"How many of you?" A man's voice came from inside the room.

"Four adults, one child!" Zhong Xiangsi heard the voice and replied happily.

"There is only one room, and you will give me five hundred copper coins this night!" Said the man in the room.

"No problem!" Zhong Xiangsi said loudly.

The man who answered came out of the house, wearing a padded jacket, about forty years old, with an ordinary appearance and a somewhat wary expression.

"Come in." He opened the wooden door and leaned slightly.

"Thank you." He Mai is the first to say.

The man glanced at her and nodded in return.

There was also a room five or six feet square in the courtyard, which was poorly furnished, and there was a thin layer of dust attached to the table and the kang, and it seemed that no one had lived in it for a few days.

The kang in the house was cold, and the man let them go in first.

"You're going to sleep here tonight." The man said indifferently, "There is a well in the courtyard and a firewood house outside. ”

He Mai was already very satisfied, and said, "Got it." ”

She gave the man the 500 copper coins she had promised, "Don't bother you, go and rest." ”

The man took the money and walked out the door, and when he went out, he glanced sideways at everyone, "Don't make a noise at night, and don't make a fuss if you hear any strange noises." Get in trouble, but don't blame me for not telling you. ”

He Mai was confused, "Strange thing? What is it? ”

The man sneered, "If you don't know, you don't know, just listen to me." If you know, I'm afraid you'll regret it! ”

He slammed the door shut, and there were only four staring faces left in the room, except for a kerosene lamp.

"It's just a ghost." Zhong Xiangsi said coldly, "Let's rest here just to take care of Mu He." Tonight, your father and I will keep vigil, and you and Rokuro will rest. ”

Rokuro shook his head, "Mother, I'm in good health, how can I let you keep vigil with my father?" I'll go get some firewood to heat the kang, and you and He Mai will rest early. ”

Yan Xing said: "I'll go get some water and soak your feet for a few of you." ”

Zhong Xiangsi and He Mai were left in the house, and He Mai said: "Mother, I think this place is weird, let's not stay longer, and leave early tomorrow morning." ”

Zhong Xiangsi nodded, "Leave early tomorrow morning, this place does feel weird, and I don't know what the person said, don't sleep too hard tonight, there may be something in the second half of the night." ”

"Got it, mother." Wheat.

Yan Xing came back from fetching water, so he went to a few nearby houses, Zhong Xiangsi knew that he was in order to see the situation so that he could get out at any time if there was a good situation, and asked him a few words to let him go.

"I'll go with my dad too, right?" Rokuro asked outside the door.

Zhong Xiangsi shook his head, "Don't go, no matter what your father and I do, you don't go, you must stay with Mai'er and Mu He." Now it's no better than in the barracks, we have to be careful everywhere. ”

Rokuro nodded and said, "Got it, mother." ”

Zhong Xiangsi and He Mai cleaned the house briefly, swept the thin ash off the kang, and spread a thin layer of sheets.

The kang was hot, He Mai sat on the edge of the bed with Mu He in his arms and felt it, very satisfied, "Mother, this house will be very hot, much better than living in a carriage." Tell Dad to come back, let's rest early. ”

The well water that Rokuro had brought up was also boiled, and a pot of hot tea was brewed.

Zhong Xiangsi took a torch from the corner and said, "I'll go find your father." Liulang, you are good to take care of Mai'er and Muhe, don't leave this house. ”

Just when Zhong Xiangsi went out, a baby's cry suddenly came from outside.

Mu He's crying made He Mai distressed and distressed for a while, so she was very sensitive to the baby's crying.

"Are there any other babies here?" He Mai was surprised, "Listening to the cry, it should be similar to Mu He, it should be just born." ”

Zhong Xiangsi frowned, "Listening to the voice, it should be from the house of the person who didn't turn on the light." So, there are people living in these four courtyards? ”

Rokuro listened attentively and felt strange, "What kind of child, he only cried once, and then he didn't move?" ”

"yes, why did you cry—"

Before He Mai's words fell, a shrill and loud cry was heard.

Accompanied by the cry of a baby, there was a low coaxing voice of a woman.

The man who had just led everyone in the door poked his head out of the main house in the courtyard and said in a low voice, "Don't make a noise!" ”

"It turns out that these four villages are full of people. I'm afraid that our movement is too big and scares the kid? "Wheat Road.

"What a sound, it's just that the child wakes up in the middle of the night." Zhong Xiangsi said, "You wait here, I'll go find your father......"

Zhong Xiangsi took the torch and quickly disappeared into the courtyard.

In the house, He Mai and Liulang glanced at each other, He Mai was a little foggy, "Mother seems to be very vigilant, and you also seem to be very nervous." What are you all guarding against? ”

Liulang was silent for a while, and said comfortingly: "People in the rivers and lakes are out of the house, this is a necessary habit. You and Mu He have us, don't worry about being afraid. If you're sleepy, go to sleep......"

"Wait for my father and mother to come back together." He Mai yawned, leaned on Rokuro, and muttered, "The bed in our yard is still comfortable...... You don't need to burn a fire, it's hot......"

Liulang was a little sad when he heard it, thinking that the situation of He Mai and Mu He today was inseparable from him.

If it weren't for him, I'm afraid that He Mai and Mu He would have already fallen asleep with peace of mind at this time, how could they be like now, and it would be difficult to sleep and eat......

He stopped talking, wanting to let Hemai sleep peacefully for a while.

At this time, there was a knock at the door.

He Mai suddenly woke up from her nap, "Mother is back?" ”

"I'll take a look." Rokuro Road.

Outside the door, a woman shivering in the wind with a baby in her arms looked at Rokuro pitifully.

"Who are you?" Rokuro did not let his guard down because of the woman's identity, and interrogated calmly.

"I'm a villager here, I'm ...... I hear the cry of a child in the house," she said, glancing carefully through the crack in the door, "I want to borrow some ......."