XXXIX. Growth
Sitting behind the counter of her small shop, Awujia carefully arranged the four loaves of bread, closed the lid again, looked at the sparse pedestrians outside, and sighed.
Her husband, Kuwa, came out of the kitchen and patted the flour on his apron and said, "I just made four more loaves of bread, but the shop has run out of flour, why don't you buy some back?" ”
"What's the use of buying it?" Awujia glanced at him and pointed to the wooden plate containing the four loaves of bread, "These may not be able to be sold yet." Now there is not even a single merchant passing by, and outsiders are not allowed to come, and it is not a festival, who in the village will spend money to buy these things to eat? ”
Kuva was robbed by his wife, and he was a little sneering: "What do you know? This is all for the purpose of catching the spies, and if the spies continue to do bad things, our country will suffer. We are to obey the king's commands. ”
"Didn't the king just die? Who knows who gave the order? Ah Wujia refuted impatiently, seeing that her husband's eyes widened and he was about to say something, so she took the first step to block his words, "There is no business to do now, you go to your mother's house to pick up your daughter first, I haven't seen the child for a few days." ”
Kuwa tore off his apron and walked out of the store, but saw a little girl with gray, black hair and green eyes standing timidly in front of the counter, looking inside with her feet crossed, and whispering, "Uncle and aunt...... I think...... Buy bread ......"
He felt that this little girl was born, and immediately became vigilant: "Whose child are you?" How come I never met you? It can't be a spy, right? ”
The little girl shrank her head, as if she was a little scared, and when Awujia saw it, she remembered her daughter, and she couldn't help but soften: "Husband! What are you talking about?! How could such a young child be a spy? Don't scare people. Then he smiled softly at the little girl: "Whose daughter are you?" Auntie doesn't seem to have seen you in the village, you're not a local, are you? Who brought you here? ”
The little girl was still timid: "Uncle and aunt brought me here, and my aunt's family is here." I...... I'm here to buy bread, and my aunt said it's going to be used to entertain guests......"
"That must be Juma of the Farrar family, I just heard her mother say yesterday that Juma was going to take her man back to her parents' house to visit relatives, but I didn't expect to come back today." Awujia happily drove her husband away, "Go quickly, I heard that the Juma man's family is very rich, and when you take back the child, we will go to see her together, and we can see the world." ”
When Kuva heard this, he muttered something and went, and Awuja quickly took four loaves of bread wrapped in paper, handed them to the little girl, and said, "There are still four in the kitchen, they will be baked soon, you can wait for a while." She was very happy to be able to sell these unsalable high-priced products, and stuffed a piece of sugar bar, which was the favorite of the children in the village, to the little girl: "Eat, this is given to you by the aunt." Come and tell my aunt, do you have meat to eat every day? What does your Aunt Juma usually do? ”
The little girl licked the candy bars, just smiled and shook her head, and was forced to ask in a hurry, so she said she didn't know. Ah Wujia pouted a little disappointed: "It must be your aunt who told you not to say it, right?" Hmph, maybe her man's family is not as rich as she said......" glanced at the child, "the clothes he wears are similar to ours......" paused, her eyes fixed on the child's hair: "Why is Juma so careless?" I didn't even comb your hair properly! After that, he stretched out his hand and combed the little girl's hair into two braids, and sorted out the belt for her by the way: "A woman who has never been a mother just can't do it, this method of tying a belt is only used by boys, you are a girl, you should be tied like this......"
This little girl is Minna, who drank the hair color change potion, she blinked, let the proprietress of the small shop help her tidy up her clothes and hair, and she was a little puzzled: "Didn't Grandpa say that Nuojia's children dress up like this?" That's not right. Since she entered this country, she has met people who have hated her, but this woman, although verbose, reminds her of her mother and feels a sense of intimacy. When Awujia finished tidying up for her, she smiled sweetly and thanked her, in exchange for the other party gently touching her head.
The aroma of bread came from the kitchen, and Awujia hurriedly said, "A stove of bread has been baked, you wait, I'll bring it to you." Then he went into the kitchen. Minna sat next to the counter, holding bread and licking candy sticks, thinking that this "mission" would be very simple.
This thought flashed through her mind, and several people came to the front of the store, the leader of whom was an officer dressed as an officer, and when he saw her, he looked at a document in his hand, as if he was checking something.
When Minna saw the knife on the other party's waist, her heart suddenly tightened, and she remembered the officer who died under her grandfather's hands, and lowered her head a little weakly, her whole body tensed, ready to run away at any time.
When the officer saw a little girl from his country in the shop, he asked an old man next to him, "How many people are there in this house?" Is that their child? ”
The old man craned his neck and squinted at Minna, but his eyes were dizzy, and he saw only a little girl dressed as a villager, about the same height as the daughter of Kuva and Awuja, and nodded, "It's their daughter." He shouted, "Is anyone home?" Kuva? Awuja? ”
Minna was startled, and turned her head to see Awujia sticking her head out of the kitchen: "Here, is it the village chief?" Are you looking for me? ”
"Where's your Kuva?"
"Gone out, do you have something to do with him?"
"It's nothing, you're busy." The old man waved his hand, and when he saw Ah Wujia shrinking his head and going back, he smiled and said to the officer, "It's this family of three." The officer nodded, and without paying attention to Minna, who looked nervous at the sight of him, he led the old man and his men on to the next house.
Minna was greatly relieved to see him leave, and although she did not understand why the old man recognized herself as the aunt's daughter, she had finally deceived him.
At this time, Awujia came out with a plate of bread, handed it to her with a smile, and said, "Plus the four just now, a total of eight, and you will receive forty-eight copper plates." Do you have any money on you? ”
Minna hurriedly took out a gold coin, and Awujia stared at it: "This is a gold coin, right?" Your family is really rich. After saying that, he took a bite of the money, and when he saw that it was real, his eyes lit up, but he immediately became worried again: "But I don't have so much money to find you, what should I do?" ”
Minna blinked, a little stupid, grandpa only said that one gold coin was enough to buy these foods, but he didn't say what to do if others didn't have money to find it, so he squeaked: "That...... Then don't look for it, okay? ”
"How's that going to work?!" Awujia glared at her, "We've never done anything like this in our store!" After thinking about it, he hesitated a little: "Why don't I go find someone to borrow?" The village chief must have that much money......" She looked up at the old man and the officer not far away, as if she was planning to look for them.
Minna was startled, she couldn't hide from the officer, how could she make the other party pay attention to herself? Busy said: "That...... Then I'll buy more food, what else does Auntie have here? Hearing this, Awujia hurriedly recommended to her the boiled noodles and roasted sweet potatoes that had been cooled, and Minna swept the whole store of food, including the bread she had bought before, just enough to buy nine silver coins and eight copper plates, and successfully got back the change of ninety-two copper plates.
Awujia smiled so much that she couldn't see it: "What a good boy, when I see your aunt when I go back, I must praise you well." ”
Minna laughed dryly, thanked her, and walked back with a large pile of food, meeting soldiers on the way, and acting as if nothing had happened. In fact, she looked nervous, but the little girl was not the object of suspicion of the soldiers, so she did not pay attention, and she was able to walk to the house on the edge of the village and meet her grandfather, who was hiding behind the house.
Xiao Tianjian quickly took the pile of food that looked like it was about to squash his little granddaughter, stuffed it into the storage ring, and then picked up Minna and swept into the mountains and forests. After coming to a safe place, he asked about the process of buying food, Minna said it one by one, he didn't think there was anything, but he heard it in a cold sweat, thinking that if there were not so many coincidences, and the child was a little clever, he would have been dressed up a long time ago, and it seemed that he would have to educate her well in the future.
If you want to deceive someone, you must first learn to overcome your nervousness and avoid contact with acquaintances!
With enough food and Minna being able to conjure water with magic, most of their physical needs along the way were met. After combining various situations, Xiao Tianjian decided to give up the level and sneak through the mountains and forests next to him. The little granddaughter has a light foundation, her foot strength is much better than that of her peers, and when she was in the Elven Forest, she practiced her climbing skills for a few months, and with her own help, there should be no big problem.
As it turned out, Minna not only didn't have a problem, but even adapted better than him.
She is thin and flexible, with strong hands and feet, and it is easier for her grandfather who is a martial arts master to climb vines and trees in the mountains and forests. Moreover, this large area of alpine and dense forest reminded her of the days in the Elven Forest, and the boredom since entering the Noga Kingdom has also dissipated a lot, if it wasn't for her grandfather to stop her, she would even want to shout. She climbed trees and climbed freely, so she simply didn't even walk the "mountain road", and went directly to the "air" road.
Xiao Tianjian was a little speechless, his little granddaughter had been well-behaved for so long, he had actually forgotten how headache she had at the beginning. I really don't know how a person like her mother, who pays attention to etiquette and decency, raised such a monkey-like daughter. He used to feel that Dora was too strict with the children, but today he began to feel that his daughter-in-law is not easy, he, the number one master in the continent and an invincible person in the world, walks with his lively granddaughter, and actually has to work hard to take care of the child, for fear that something will happen to her.
"Grandpa!" Minna lowered her voice from a large tree in front of her and called out to him, "Hurry up, you're so slow!" With that, he craned his neck to look at the third level not far away, turned around and dragged over a thick vine, and swung to the next tree.
Xiao Tianjian cut off a snake hanging from a branch next to him with a sword, and followed, feeling even more depressed.
In this way, they made their way through the mountains and forests, and finally reached Monri after seven days. Xiao Tianjian took out his and Minna's real identity certificates, passed the level of Nuojia, and really left the country.
Monri is located at the junction of Noga, Weisha and Van A, backed by the mountains on the border of Van and A, the terrain is high in the east and low in the west, and it is a big town. In the center of the town is the bazaar, with it as the center, the whole town is divided into three parts, belonging to the sphere of influence of the three countries, people from different countries live in different areas, resulting in a town has three architectural styles, and the people who live here, clothing, food and customs have their own characteristics, many people will go to the three districts in their leisure time to experience different national customs, however, this area is deeply influenced by the underground forces of the Weishide capital of Weisha, armed fights occur from time to time, and it can never become a real tourist attraction.
Minna followed her grandfather into the town, only to think that there were more people here, more than there were people in the city, more than in the places where she passed, and even the streets of Nomonka were not necessarily so lively. People are shouting about goods from various countries, and customers are picking and choosing what they want, but strangely, they don't seem to have the habit of haggling. Minna whispered to her grandfather, only to know that this is the local "rule", but she doesn't understand, why is this?
Gradually, the grandfather and grandson left the control of the Nogar and embarked on a different path. The houses on both sides of the house are white or light blue walls, black roofs, and have no superfluous decorations, which looks very simple. The front of every house is decorated with an eight-pointed star, which is the symbol of the Cult of Light. Most of the pedestrians on the road were dressed in simple and clean clothes, the women had almost no jewelry on them, and the children walked steadily.
Minna felt something and asked softly, "Grandpa, is this an area close to Fan'a?" "It must be, this is the place where the god of light is sheltered, and even the air has become holy, and Minna can't help but take a light step, so as not to offend the people here.
Xiao Tianjian nodded, and looked at an all-white house on the side of the road with some disgust: "When you meet these people in the future, stay away and don't associate with them." ”
Minna looked at her grandfather in surprise and was about to ask him why he said that, but he grabbed him tightly and turned into another street, turned to the right, and came to another area, and the scene in front of her suddenly changed.
The houses here are beautiful in color, light yellow, sky blue, pink, white, most of them have onion-like roofs, and the flower beds around the houses are also very neatly manicured. Minna immediately put away her previous doubts and asked curiously, "Grandpa, where is this?" Why are the roofs of these houses so strange? ”
Xiao Tianjian showed a smile on his face: "This is the characteristic of Weisha. We are now in a neighborhood controlled by Wisha, where the Xiao family firm has a shop, and I have a house here. ”
Minna happily asked, "Grandpa has a house here?" Can we live in it? ”
"Of course, my house is very beautiful, it is white, with golden carvings, there is a big yard, and there are gazebos, verandahs and pools, it is very comfortable to live in, it was given by a friend of mine. I'll take you to meet him later, he has a lot of good things, and he likes children very much, maybe he will give you a few small gifts. ”
Minna's heart jumped when she heard this, she had seen several of her grandfather's friends, all of them were very interesting people, I wonder what this one was like?
They had not gone far before they came to a street full of shops and stalls, and the people were dressed very differently from what they had seen before, and they looked at some of the inhabitants' costumes that they had seen in the snow-capped mountains of the northern part of Nogar, but much lighter, and some of the women would even wear dresses made of light gauze, decorated with multicolored gems or pearls, and the navel loomed to reveal a small waist. Most of the women dressed like this are very beautiful and rich, and they either follow the rich or walk in the company of women who are also dressed in the same way.
Minna looked at them with great interest, very interested in the things that looked like musical instruments on their backs, and was pulled by her grandfather, so that she didn't lose him because she was just looking at the freshness.
Coming to a shop at the back of the street, Xiao Tianjian stopped. Minna guessed that this was probably the shop of the Xiao family's firm, but why was the shop closed?
Xiao Tianjian was obviously puzzled, and asked the people in the shop next to him, and learned that the manager and clerk of the commercial bank had been taken away half a month ago, and he couldn't help but be shocked, could it be that the incident at the Nomonka branch had been staged again?! He hurriedly took his granddaughter over the back wall and entered the shop.
The space inside was huge, and Minna walked around, whether it was the dining room, the room, the kitchen, or the storeroom, it was all empty, and the furniture was covered with a thin layer of dust, and it was clear that it had been unoccupied. Are the people here expelled like the people of the Normonka branch? But something seems to be wrong......
Suddenly, she heard the sound of a mechanism in the innermost room, and hurried over, only to see her grandfather standing by a bookshelf, and a hole slowly opening in the floor in front of him. She consciously stepped forward and sent a light spell into the hole, which was a secret room, but empty.
Xiao Tianjian muttered: "The people, money, and goods are not there, and the transfer is really ...... completely" But why? Obviously, there are still foreign merchants in the town, why were the people of the Xiao family driven away?
"No......" he slowly realized that this speculation was unreasonable, "it doesn't look like someone has driven ......"
"Nothing broke!" Minna cried out first, "There is only dust on the ground, no litter!" It's not the same as Nomonca! ”
(It's so depressing...... It rained heavily for most of the day, thunderstorms, and I almost didn't dare to turn on the computer...... Can you see Minna's growth in this chapter? Although there are still shortcomings...... Ah, ticket ticket~~~)