Murong Zhining closed her eyes tightly, and she fell asleep for two days. The occasional blinking of long eyelashes proved that her life was not over, and she looked lifeless.

Murong Zhining has been wandering in her own dream and can't get out, in the dream, there is a young woman she has called a nurse since she was a child. During her escape, she was sold by traffickers to an old farmer in the mountains as a daughter-in-law, and later was robbed by thieves to a thief's den to be a wife in the village. No matter how much hardship she suffered, the nurse always took her with her, loved her like a mother, and finally escaped from the den of thieves with her.

After escaping from the thieves' den, they went to a place called Majiazhuang and lived incognito. She didn't know what her name was, she only knew that the nurse kept calling her Xiao Ling'er.

The nurse has a good hand in embroidery, and she has stayed in a big family at a glance. With this skill, the nurse fed Xiao Ling'er and taught her to read and write, and they lived a peaceful life in Majiazhuang for two years.

The nurse often took Xiao Ling'er to the river to wash clothes, which was the happiest and most beautiful time of Xiao Ling's childhood. The nurse squatted by the river and washed her clothes, and the breeze blew across the river, waving ripples like fish scales. The sun shines softly on the water waves, and the swaying halo falls on the nurse, who looks like the fairy in the story. That was the most beautiful picture Xiao Ling'er had ever seen, and she really wanted to call her mother.

Naughty little Ling'er, chasing the shrimp in the water with her bare feet for a while, and then going to the shore to flutter butterflies among the flowers. From time to time, the nurse cast loving glances at her while washing her clothes, and their laughter drifted away like silver bells.

After washing her clothes, the nurse pulled a bamboo shrimp pot ashore from the water's edge. In the shrimp pot that was put down early, there were many large and small fish and shrimp jumping around, Xiao Ling'er was dancing happily, she knew that the nurse was going to make a delicious meal for her tonight.

On the way home, Xiao Ling'er was jumping up and running in front. Suddenly two men with masked faces, one tall and one short, jumped out of the grass. The tall masked man directly held Xiao Ling'er in his hands, wrapped his thick arms around Xiao Ling'er's thin neck, and viciously threatened the nurse: "Hand over the things, otherwise I will pinch this girl to death." ”

The short masked man slowly forced the nurse with a knife. The nurse could have escaped, but she didn't, she slowly retreated and stared in horror at the masked man who was holding Xiao Ling'er hostage, thinking about a way to get out.

The nurse pretended to be afraid: "Hero, please don't hurt my child, I have some silver here, you can take it." The tall masked man yelled viciously, "Don't play fool with me. He used a little strength in his hand, and Xiao Ling'er's pink little face immediately turned red, and she coughed violently.

The nurse was afraid that he would hurt Xiao Ling'er, so she anxiously begged them: "I will hide the things you want, let this girl go, and I will take you to find it." The tall masked man sneered: "Don't play tricks, believe it or not, I'm going to kill her soon?" The nurse didn't show weakness: "If the little girl is missing a hair, you don't want to get the drawings." If I hand it over now, you will not leave her alive, let her go, or the fish will die and the net will be broken. The tall masked man was afraid that he would be anxious for the nurse, so he let go of the hand holding Xiao Ling'er. The nurse winked at Xiao Ling'er, and Xiao Ling'er ran desperately towards the village.

Usually the nurse taught her not to panic in case of trouble, to be calm and composed. She is a sensible child, she has no time to be scared and cry, she runs desperately, she wants to call someone to save the nurse.

By the time Xiao Ling'er moved in to rescue the soldiers, the masked thief had already fled. The nurse was stabbed twice and fell in a pool of blood. They carried the nurses back to their homes and called a doctor to treat them. However, because of the excessive blood loss, the doctor was also weak, so he could only shake his head and sigh.

The nurse was dying, she forced everyone to avoid it, she had something to say to Xiao Ling'er.

The nurse took out a yellowed piece of paper from her arms and handed it to Xiao Ling'er, the paper was stained with the nurse's blood, and Xiao Ling'er cried in pain. The nurse told Xiao Ling'er in a weak voice that she should keep this piece of paper no matter what, and told Xiao Ling'er: "Your name is Murong Zhining, remember that it is Zhizhi of Anzhi Tinglan, your skin is like condensation of cream, your mother will come to you one day, your mother is a businessman...... Shang ...... "The nurse's voice became smaller and smaller, her head tilted, and Ren Xiaoling'er didn't wake up again no matter how she cried.

The old Zhou family at the east end of the village adopted nine-year-old Xiao Ling'er. The masked thieves did not stop, and attacked Majiazhuang several times in the dark of night, trying to kidnap Xiao Ling'er, but they were stopped by the villagers who rushed to hear the news. One of the short masked thieves was injured by a villager with a shovel and died on a road not far from Majiazhuang as he fled. Everyone thought that the thief had learned a lesson and did not dare to come again.

On a dark and windy night, the tall masked thief broke into Lao Zhou's house again, killed five members of Lao Zhou's family, put Xiao Ling'er into a sack, hung it on horseback, and galloped all the way south.

To the south is the capital of Huayan, and there is a heavily guarded pass on the road. The masked thieves did not dare to break through during the day, and hid in the small woods on the mountains to rest, waiting for their chance. The masked thief tied Xiao Ling'er to a tree and sat under another tree with a knife in his arms. Probably because he was tired, he pushed his boots to the side and sat down and fell asleep. Xiao Ling'er took the opportunity to carefully observe the appearance of the thief, although her face was covered, a scar on her left eyebrow was clearly visible, and there was a fleshy mole on her right ear.

Xiao Ling'er felt a small stone on the ground with her tied hand, she held the small stone and continued to cut and grind the rope tied to her hand, with great effort, and made several bloody cuts on her hand, and finally broke the rope. Before escaping, Xiao Ling'er untied the thief's horse, let the horse go, and then threw the thief's boots into the valley. She deliberately knocked down a row of grass to the west, smeared the blood on her hands, and then decisively fled in the opposite direction.

She didn't dare to stay and kept running. When it got dark, she was sleepy and afraid, so she fled to a farmer's cattle pen and slept for the night, and the next day she continued on her way.

The thief didn't chase after him, and Xiao Ling'er didn't dare to stop. When she was thirsty, she drank a sip of mountain spring water, and when she was hungry, she went to the land temple to steal some offerings to satisfy her hunger. She didn't know where she was going, she only knew how to go like a wooden man, until she collapsed hungry and cold under a ridge.

When Xiao Ling'er woke up, there were a few people around her, and they were villagers from Lotus Pond Pass.

Hetang Pass is a small town adjacent to Shangjing, and the folk customs are simple. The villagers were very enthusiastic, the owner poured a bowl of hot water for Xiao Ling'er, and the west family brought Xiao Ling'er a pancake. A peasant woman fed hot water to Xiao Ling'er's mouth and slowly fed her some cakes. The woman said that her family was not wealthy, and if Xiao Ling'er wanted, she could stay in her house as a child daughter-in-law. Xiao Ling'er has nowhere to go, and she doesn't know what a child daughter-in-law is, people are willing to take her in, so she naturally won't pick and choose.

Xiao Ling'er followed the woman back to her house.

The peasant woman's name was Yin, and her man was a butcher with a very short temper, and often beat Yin to the point that his nose was blue and his face was swollen.

When the butcher saw that Yin had brought back a skinny little girl, he yelled, "Are you crazy? There is no extra ration at home, and you still bring your mouth back? ”

Xiao Ling'er knelt on the ground and pitifully hugged the butcher's leg: "Uncle, you are kind enough to take me in, I won't eat your food for nothing, I will do anything." I've been a little girl for a big family, and I can do a lot of work. The butcher pushed the little girl away and said to Yin, "Stay for the time being, be strong in a few days, and send it to Ge Yuanwai's house to be a girl." ”

Xiao Ling'er stayed in Yin's house, she was well-behaved and sensible, always competing to do some heavy housework, although she was bitter and tired, she no longer suffered from cold and hunger, and hid in Tibet.

The Yin family also has two children, and they rely on the butcher to kill some livestock and send them to the restaurant in the city to make a living. The butcher was originally an indiscriminate industry, coupled with the fact that Huayan had foreign wars every year, and the taxes levied on the people were also relatively heavy, so the life of the common people was not stable, and meat was a luxury, and only the hotels and restaurants in the city could afford it. Usually, except for red and white ceremonies, New Year's and festivals, people are reluctant to buy meat to eat, so the business of killing pigs is not a good business to make money, and it can only make the family barely have enough food and clothing.

The butcher was fierce and vicious, and scolded Yin if he didn't beat him, which made Xiao Ling'er very scared. However, the butcher did not beat his own children, nor did he beat Xiao Ling'er, and even when he talked to Xiao Ling'er, he changed to a gentler tone than his own children, and Xiao Ling'er didn't feel that he was vicious after a long time. Later, I learned that the butcher beat Yin because Yin secretly used the family's money to help her idle brother.

The Yin couple slowly fell in love with the sensible and well-behaved Xiao Ling'er, and did not send her away, but raised her as their own child. Xiao Ling'er quickly dissolved into the family, and after suffering from snacks, she finally had a stable and warm nest.

One day, Yin's younger brother was beaten to her head and ran to her house, and he knelt down and begged Yin to give him some money to pay off his gambling debts, crying that the debtor would cut off his hands.

Yin Shi was furious, sighed and cried: "In these years, eating at home is a problem, where is the spare money to help you pay off your debts? You have not cheated money from me, I will give it to you again, your brother-in-law must kill me." ”

Yin's younger brother is called Yin Hua, and he is a scoundrel. People in their thirties, lazy and lazy, not doing their jobs, and only thinking about making a windfall by gambling money.

Yin Hua owed a few hundred taels of silver to the gambling house last year, and was chased, but the debt was really helpless, so he sold his wife to a brothel, and sold his eleven-year-old daughter to a family as a maid. As soon as these things were mentioned, the Yin family hated it so much, and he just wanted to send Yin Hua away quickly, and he didn't want to have anything to do with him.

Yin Hua's eyes turned and stared at Xiao Ling'er who was drying corn in the yard, and a pair of thief eyes turned and he didn't know what bad idea he was playing? Yin didn't want to entangle with him anymore, so he pushed him out of the door.

The next day, Yin went out early in the morning to deliver pork bones to Ge Yuanwai's house. After a while, a young woman came to Yin's house, and she said to Xiao Ling'er anxiously: "Your adoptive mother Yin fell down on the road, sprained her hamstring, and couldn't walk, she asked me to come and ask you to come back with her." Xiao Ling'er was very anxious when she heard this, and without thinking about it, she followed the woman, and as soon as she went out and turned a corner, she was put a bag on her head, tied her hands, and pushed into a carriage.

Xiao Ling'er only thought that the thief who had chased her and the nurse before came to the door, she didn't call for help or resist, silently thinking of a way to get out, that evening, she was taken to Wanhua Pavilion, and the woman sold her to Qin Meixue for one hundred taels of silver.