"Is the fifth master willing to take it in?" Mr. Fan looked at Li Xiaoqi and asked, Li Xiaoqi turned around and looked at Li Zongliang: "I have to listen to the eldest brother in this matter." ”

"If Mr. is willing to stay and give some advice, our brothers and sisters can't ask for it!" Li Zongliang hurriedly stood up and replied, Li Xiaoqi also stood up, and with a wave, Mr. Fan got up and supported Li Zongliang: "Uncle is polite, Fan has fallen here, if it weren't for the uncle's shelter and care, this old bone would be forgotten, poor these children, I don't know how to do it!" ”

Li Xiaoqi turned his head to look at the children practicing calligraphy in the yard, and the young and old women who were busy in and out of the main room of the wing, and sighed secretly, Jiang is old and spicy, this Mr. Fan is better at business than her.

There is a lot of surplus grain on the mountain, Li Xiaoqi simply sent Lu Feng to take turns with Sun Qidi and sold a few truckloads of grain to the Zhengcheng black market, but this military food is all coarse grain, and it can't be sold at any price, coming and going, it's just to change some oil and salt seasoning back, Li Xiaoqi lit a few strings of grain selling money brought back by Lu Feng, and started to worry, this is not good, you have to think of a way to make money, Mr. Fan's silver, she ordered it, just order it, forget it, or keep it for Mrs. Fan as a dowry.

Li Xiaoqi made a few trips in front of and behind the mountain, and decided to go to Tang County tomorrow, he always couldn't make money behind closed doors on the mountain, take a look, maybe he saw the opportunity, made up his mind, and told Li Zongliang that he was going to take Lu Feng the next day and go to Tang County with Li Zonggui to live for two days to see the situation.

In the middle of the night, Lu Feng kept pulling the doorbell rope in Li Xiaoyi's house, Li Xiaoqi hurriedly got up, got dressed and ran out in a few clicks, Lu Feng was excited: "Something happened!" ”

"What's going to turn you on like this?" Li Xiaoqi looked at Lu Feng's expression, and his mind that was shocked by the continuous ringing just now fell back into place, whether he was excited or not panicked, nothing could happen to this matter.

The two ran to the front yard, Wei Shuisheng and Li Erhuai were wearing black night clothes, sitting on the chair on the left and drinking tea, Li Zongliang sat on the top, frowning and looking at an old soldier who was paralyzed in the middle of the room, snorting with a handful of snot and tears, squirming, and I don't know if it was kowtowing, begging bitterly.

Li Xiaoqi leaned on Wei Shuisheng's side, carefully looked at the veteran lying in the middle of the room, and looked like he was about fifty or sixty years old, thin and small, curled up on the ground as if he had no bones, his face was very dark, his wrinkles were very deep, and his extremely small eyes were sunk in wrinkles.

Li Xiaoqi turned his head and asked Wei Shuisheng and asked, "What's the matter?" ”

"He hid under that bush, and was just stepped on by Erhuai, so he had to be knocked out first and brought back." Wei Shuisheng said with a little helplessness, Lu Feng shook his head, made a chopping gesture and muttered: "Just kill it on the road, and bring it back, it's not too tired!" ”

The old soldier lying in the middle of the room shuddered, and his pleading voice was lowered by half a beat, lest he annoy any of them, and his life would be lost immediately. Li Xiaoqi looked at the old soldier carefully, took two steps forward, and motioned to Lu Feng: "Search him." ”

Lu Feng looked at the old box soldier with dirty clothes, pinched his nose, and reluctantly stepped forward and kicked the old box soldier: "Take it off yourself, take it out, don't make the master unhappy!" ”

The old soldier trembled, first put the flints, license plates and other messy things in the coat pocket on the ground, then took off the outer coat, turned it over and shook it vigorously, signaling Lu Fengquan to take it out, and then took out a few copper coins in the pocket of the clothes inside and put them on the ground, took off his clothes, and shook again, just one by one, one by one, and all that was left was the patched dirty clothes and pants, trembling and standing next to the pile of clothes.

Lu Feng nodded with satisfaction, the old man fell on the road, he didn't use his own hands, Li Xiaoqi carefully watched the old box soldier's every move, Li Zongliang looked at the old box soldier who was shaking, and waved his hand pitifully and ordered: "Hurry up and put your clothes back!" ”

The old box soldier agreed, quickly got dressed, and knelt on the ground again, Li Xiaoqi thought about it, poured a cup of hot tea and handed it to the old box soldier: "Drink a cup of hot tea to warm up." ”

The old box soldier's eyes were full of vigilance, he quickly glanced at Li Xiaoyi, held the cup with both hands, and drank it with his head bored, Li Xiaoqi stood up, looked at him with his fists, watched him finish drinking tea, and asked with a smile: "Are you a box soldier who delivers food?" ”

"If you go back to your father, yes."

"Just answer directly, you don't need to go back to your master, which county?"

"Pingyuan County."

Pingyuan County? Li Xiaoqi turned his head to look at Wei Shuisheng, and Wei Shuisheng explained with a smile: "Tang County used to be Pingyuan County, not far away. ”

"What if they can't find you tomorrow morning?"

"Go back to Master ••••••, the mission is important, the old soldier is not worth much." The old soldier seemed to hesitate, and replied honestly, Li Erhuai yawned when he heard it, Wei Shuisheng and Li Zongliang nodded, this veteran is a very honest man, but Lu Feng was interested, and last time he planted himself on this word that he didn't know what to ask and couldn't find the edge.

"Pathetic! How many times have you sent food? ”

"This is the fourth time."

"A trip for a few days?"

"Seven days, this month should be sent to Pingyuan County, this is the last trip." The old soldier replied very honestly,

"You sleep under that bush every time?"

The old soldier squeezed his eyes hard, and moved as if he was chilling before replying: "No, it's just this time, it's leeward and warm there, it's just a coincidence." ”

"What makes you suspicious?" Li Xiaoqi asked bluntly, the old soldier's eyes were squeezed even more, Li Xiaoqi looked at him, his voice was gentle but cold: "Everyone is just trying to survive, you can make it clear that robbers and bandits do not harm people's lives in vain, in the end they hurt yin morality." ”

The old soldier kowtowed, hung his head and said: "Every time I rest in this place, I sleep deeply, return to the master, the small one has a problem since childhood, I wake up once I sleep at night, just this place, I go back to sleep until dawn before I wake up, and the small one is on my mind, thinking that this is the last trip, maybe I can find out what is going on, and the little one can sleep well every night in the future." ”

Li Erhuai laughed out loud and patted the arm of the chair: "It's not easy!" ”

Li Xiaoqi stared at the old soldier and said slowly: "Are you hungry at this time?" ”

The old soldier looked at Li Xiaoqi with a stiff face, and suddenly kowtowed to the ground: "Master, the little one should be damned!" Little damn it! The little one didn't think about anything else, the little one was confused, the old man was old, and he couldn't help himself to look at the strangeness, and begged the master to spare the little one, but the little one really didn't see anything, and he didn't know anything. ”

Li Erhuai looked at the kowtowing old soldier inexplicably, and then turned his head to look at Wei Shuisheng and said strangely: "What kind of dumb riddle is Xiao Yu playing?" ”

"The veteran didn't tell the truth, he knew there was something strange in dinner, and he didn't eat it, otherwise he would still be sleeping in the camp at this time." Wei Shuisheng explained to Li Erhuai with a smile, Li Erhuai blinked his eyes a few times before he understood, moved into the chair and muttered: "One sentence has gone around so many corners, and it's not too tired!" Lu Fengxiao's shoulders shrugged, and he didn't know whether to laugh at Li Erhuai or at the old soldier.

"Ye said, bandits don't harm people's lives in vain, as long as you answer sincerely, Ye will spare you this time, say, what's wrong?" Li Xiaoyi's tone was also gentle, the old box soldier shuddered, moved, and replied honestly: "Hui Ye, I really fell asleep, the little one has taken sweat medicine once, it's a bit like, I really didn't see anything else, I beg my master to spare my life, I won't dare next time." ”

"You're a military household?" Li Xiaoqi abruptly changed the topic, and the old soldier swallowed his saliva and nodded: "Yes." ”

"How bad is the attack?"

"Thirteen."

"How old are you this year?"

"Forty-three."

Li Xiaoqi was taken aback, he was only forty-three years old, but when he looked at it, he looked like he was fifty or sixty years old: "Where is my hometown?" Who else is in the house? ”

"Huangzhou Mansion, there is a younger brother, brother-in-law, nephew and niece at home, and the side is gone."

"You are from Huangzhou, why did you go to Pingyuan County to be a box soldier?"

"When the little one first attacked the errand, he was not a box soldier, the little father was the head of the forbidden army Dragon Guard, the battle in Huangshuixi, the whole army was wiped out, a small father in the capital escaped with a small life, and when he came back, the little father was dismissed and filled with a box soldier, and the small one remained in the forbidden army, and he was withdrawn at the age of thirty-five, and he was sent to this Pingyuan County to be a box soldier." The old soldier replied with his head down.

Li Xiaoqi squatted down and looked at the old soldier carefully, the battle of Huangshuixi was the most tragic battle fought by the Dragon Guard, ten percent of the dead and wounded accounted for seven or eight percent, and his father actually escaped with him! Either the martial arts are surprisingly strong, or the luck is too good!

"Your father became a van soldier, and you are still in the Dragon Guard? What other battles have you fought after the battle in Huangshuixi? ”

"Yes, I've been fighting, I can't remember, I don't know how many battles I've fought." The old soldier hung his head and replied in a low voice,

"You're a fellow man? Or something else? Have you ever been on the battlefield? Li Xiaoqi looked at the old soldiers, curious, the Dragon Guard Army was led by General Yuan after the Battle of Huangshuixi, General Yuan is known for his bravery, and he will fight hard with the lives of his soldiers, every battle is extremely fierce, in those years, the Dragon Guard Army has been fighting with Beiping, the entire Dragon Guard, except for the famous General Yuan, has not died, the following generals, I don't know how many rounds of death, of course, later General Yuan was impeached, was killed by the emperor in the vegetable market, Mr. Lin also called for him, he deserved it! If he dies, those who serve as soldiers will have a few more years to live.

"No, the small one is a small soldier, and he has to go to the battlefield when he returns, and he has never been left behind." The old soldier replied sadly, and Li Xiaoqi exhaled softly: "You are in the Long Guard, under General Yuan, back to the battlefield, for so many years, you have been unharmed, what is the way in the middle?" ”