Locke's childhood was relatively happy, he had a sister who loved him deeply, a pair of honest parents, his favorite thing to do was in the hot summer, when his parents and sister were farming in the field, he fished in the ditch next to him, although it was only a small fish, only a thumb-thick dirt squid, but Locke was still happy to do it, because it was the meat in their family's life.

However, the good days are gone under the ravages of natural disasters. When Locke was 14 years old, a massive drought struck the small kingdom of Faustin, and three of the four provinces were in a food and water crisis, leaving Locke's family in Maple Leaf Village, a mining town in Kaidoziling, Del Province, in a desperate situation.

It had not rained for a whole month and a half, and it had reached the middle of June, and in previous years there was another month that was the harvest season, and often at this time, with the reduction of field activities, the parents should take themselves to the town to procure and sell some of the village's specialties to earn a little copper to maintain a modest livelihood, and the elder sister would also carry a bamboo basket and a headscarf, containing small items such as scarves and handkerchiefs that she had made from the leftover linen at home for half a year, and even sell them to passing traders or adventurers in the town.

Scarves and handkerchiefs made of coarse linen are not comfortable to use, but the durability and sturdiness of keeping out the cold are loved by small traders and adventurers who are not well-off, and Sister Locke's craftsmanship is still very good, June is the rainy season, and the temperature is still very low at this time of the year, and my sister's small things can always be sold. Little Locke's favorite thing to do is to sit on the stone next to the big maple tree at the entrance of the village in the evening, where he can watch his sister's return from a distance, when his sister wrapped in a blue cloth turban and carrying a basket appears from a distance, Locke will rush up excitedly, hugging his sister in the dust, groping for his sister's pocket?

Locke's sister is one of the few beauties in the village, when Locke was 7 years old, Locke's sister was already slim, although the sister was only ten years old at the time, but the matchmaker was about to break through the threshold of his family, after all, most people in this small village were married at the age of 15, and there were several children when they were 17 or 8 years old. Whenever this happens, Locke is always unhappy, because he thinks that these people are trying to rob his sister, Locke makes a lot of noise, messes around in front of the proposer, and the sister's family affair is finally dragged down. Outsiders always looked at Locke with strange eyes when they saw this situation, and then as if they thought of something, they left a few words in an uncomfortable tone and left.

Of course, the main reason is that Locke's parents also think that it is too early, there is no such thing as engagement when people get married in the country, only nobles have these rules, and generally after reaching the age, they look for young offspring in their village or town, and if they feel the same, their daughters will not suffer hardship, so they will marry. Looking for the young people in this town is because they know the roots, their daughter will not suffer after marriage, and she can see her daughter often, and her daughter will often go home to help the family. Locke's sister, Leah, is only ten years old, and Locke's parents were also married when Locke's father was 16 years old and his mother was 15 years old, and it is indeed too early now.

And Locke's parents also have their own thoughts, their daughter is so neat, they don't want to marry their daughter to an ordinary farmer's family or a blacksmith's child, if they can marry a son of the mayor's family or a merchant family with a small fortune, their daughter will be blessed, and by the way, they can also help their younger brother to ask for a daughter-in-law in the future. Moreover, although the Locke family is a humble peasant family, it is a hard-working family, and the honest old Locke, the hard-working Tia, their sensible daughter Leah, and the lively little Locke form this poor but warm happy family.

However, manpower still can't withstand natural disasters, and even if someone can, it is certainly not a person from a weak kingdom with a small territory and barren land, and it is certainly not something that the little Locke family can resist.

The drought had lasted for a month and a half, most of the crops in the fields had dried up, and Locke's parents were gray, and Locke found that half of his 30-year-old parents had turned gray in just one month. Little Locke, who likes to listen to the stories told by the town's bards, suddenly understands a truth, in this continent where the average age is less than 50 years old, his parents are about to enter their old age.

Little Locke hadn't eaten black bread for two weeks, and although it was hard and had a musty smell, it was made of wheat husk and dregs, and it was rich in nutrients, and his parents used to give him and his sister dinner with brown bread and potato soup once a week, even if the family was poor. And this time, the parents didn't. But Locke didn't ask his parents because his sister hadn't eaten for three weeks.

or like to stick to his sister since he was a child, and little Locke followed his sister to have a sense of understanding that his peers did not have. Little Hans in the neighborhood had already made the faces of old Hans and Aunt Mary more and more sad day by day because he had not eaten black bread for a week. Locke didn't.

The days were still going on day by day, from eating oatmeal porridge to cakes made from grain chestnuts, to wild vegetable soup, to chewing tree roots, the life of the Locke family was getting harder and harder day by day.

Finally, one day, Locke was gone, and he chose to join the army. Before the age of 12, Locke and Leah slept in separate beds, Leah was both an older sister and a mother to take care of Locke at night, that night, although Locke was already very careful, he was still discovered by his sister Leah, who had lived together for many years, Leah did not stop Locke, but let him come back alive with tears.

As if remembering the stubborn brother that night, Leah showed a distressed and relieved look.

"I hope Locke will come back safely......" Leah sighed and said softly. This family is more than a little better than before, but the lack of parents is not more happy, their only son is fighting outside, life and death are unknown, and the old couple has no chance to enjoy a moment of peace.

Maybe it was because I remembered what my parents just said about giving Locke a family affair, Leah also used her brains, there are very few beautiful girls in the village, even if there are, judging from the plans of old Locke and Tia, they must not look down on it, that is, to marry the girl in the town, the mining town is a small town, mainly rich in ore and animal fur, and there are mostly merchants, among whom there are not many rich businessmen, but there are also many of them, I believe that if a squad leader marries, some small businessmen will agree to marry their daughters.

When Leah sells her handicrafts in the town, she often sees some young ladies shopping in groups, she is very envious of those young ladies, they are so carefree, they can do whatever they want, but Leah is just envious, she is not very yearning for a good life, just want to do something she likes, thinking that her dear brother may marry one of the young ladies in the future, she panics, and feels that her brother is going to leave her.

Many of the messages that her brother brought back were to buy silk scarves or clothes, and Leah was very moved, indicating that her brother had not forgotten her. But the money sent back is limited, and now not only the price of food has risen, but even the price of salt has begun to rise, Leah doesn't dare to spend money at all, and she has bought two silk scarves over the years, and she hasn't bought clothes, and the poor people never buy new clothes, they all buy cloth and make it themselves, last year Tia pulled a foot of new cloth to make a skirt for Leah, which is very beautiful, Leah only wore it once and didn't dare to wear it, she was afraid of getting dirty.

On the other side, old Locke and Tia lay on the bed board and did not fall asleep, old Locke is only in his thirties and less than forty this year, but he is already so old that he is almost plowing the land, all of them are tired over the years, Tia is also, Tia, who is just thirty years old, has to bear the burden of plowing the land and doing housework with Old Locke, and her arms have been tanned over the years, thinking that Tia was also a beauty in Maple Leaf Village back then.

Old Locke was very touched by his wife's help over the years, lying on the bed, Old Locke held Tia's hand with one hand, just like 20 years ago, Old Locke held Tia's hand for the first time, so many years have passed. Tia also held Old Locke back, and the old couple lay quietly, feeling each other's temperature.

"Locke's child......" Tia began, "hey, he doesn't know what Leah is thinking, and we don't understand it." ”

Old Locke did not speak, and in this respect he did not know what to say.

"Back then, your sister entrusted Leah to you to raise, although the family was poor all these years, didn't she still raise Leah well, I have long regarded her as my own daughter, you say Locke ......" Tia held Old Locke's hand tightly, looking a little excited.

"Children and grandchildren have their own children and grandchildren, and the affairs of Locke and Leah, let the children solve it themselves. Locke Sr. said.

"That's all there is to it. Tia said helplessly.

Locke and Leah didn't realize that they had a bond with each other at all, maybe it was just because they were in this mountain. Old Locke and Tia are parents, from the message brought back by Locke and Leah's reflection, of course, they can see that they are different, once or twice, for so many years, it has been like this, and they can't think about it as parents of the two.

"I have heard from the chief of the village that this is the case with the aristocracy, and it is said that the second lady of Baron Kaidozi is his cousin......" muttered old Locke in the dark.

"Why are you in charge of so many people! We are commoners, can we compare with nobles!" Tia objected. Although Old Locke and Tia are very harmonious at home, under normal circumstances, Old Locke listens to Tia, because he loves his wife too much and feels indebted to Tia, and she suffers a lot with herself.

"Let's wait until Locke comes back......" Old Locke decided to stop the conversation, he was worried that the two of them would talk too loudly for his daughter to hear.

"Yes. Tia replied, putting her arm on old Locke's arm and leaning over to him, "Can Locke come back?"

"Look at you, and say this......" Old Locke patted Tia on the shoulder, "How old our son is, don't you know, he will definitely come back alive, sleep, sleep, don't think about it, I have to go to the field tomorrow to harvest the vine potatoes." ”

"Yes. Tia replied.

It's late at night.

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I took the time to write a chapter today, and this time I failed the exam, alas, Sangxin.