The rivers and lakes are like plates, and people are like chess beads.

When the young lady saw the strange man, she frowned, and did not immediately come forward to say hello.

The two little children had already thrown themselves into her arms, rubbing their clothes affectionately.

Zhang Tiezhu explained as he leaned his hoe against the fence on the side

"it, this young man has nowhere to go, stay in our house for the night tonight"

The woman nodded, and Chu Lan called her sister-in-law, but the other party just nodded again and did not speak.

Chu Lan felt strange, why did this young woman seem to have such a heavy heart, did she dislike herself or did she have another hidden secret?

He wanted to turn around and leave, but it occurred to him that if it was the latter, it would be better to stay and see what was going on. So he tied the thin horse to the Zhuangzi at the door, but fortunately this was not a majestic horse, otherwise he might not have been able to enter the yard.

Zhang Tiezhu washed his face and led Chu Lan into the room, he was a little strange, why didn't this young man have a drop of sweat on his body all the way?

It was a very small room, and it was a little tight with an adult all of a sudden.

The rice has really been steamed on the stove, and there is white gas rising on it, and the enticing aroma is already permeating.

The little girl moved her nose, her little face was full of excitement, and she lifted the lid of the pot with her younger brother, and couldn't wait to take a look, the two children giggled, holding hands and spinning in circles.

It seems that this pot of white rice is better than a lot of delicacies from the mountains and seas.

Chu Lan's nose was a little sour, although the Chu family could not be called a big family, but their three meals were specially made, it turned out that for these two children, happiness was so simple.

The woman dragged her husband out the door. Zhang Tiezhu pulled out a seat before going out and asked Chu Lan to sit down without restraint.

Chu Lan's hearing was so good that even if he didn't deliberately listen, he could still hear what the husband and wife were talking about.

"Do you know what day it is? Why did you bring an outsider, are you sure you didn't want to harm him?"

"It's okay, the child, our food is ready, even if they come, let's give it to them, isn't it generally okay to pay enough public food?"

The woman frowned, "But don't you know, a few days ago, Aunt Wang's house, and the dog and their family were wiped out, and even the house was pulled by them with a few horses, so maybe something will happen."

The man smiled and comforted his wife, "It's going to be fine, not to mention that this boy is kind and a good person at first glance, he has nowhere to go, we can't let him sleep in the wilderness, right?"

"But he had a sword on his back"

"Look at how many years of hard work he can have at his age, most of them are used to defend himself when he goes out"

"But I only cooked for our family of three."

"It's okay, I can skip it. ”

Zhang Tiezhu's wife's expression eased, she didn't have some bad intentions, she was just afraid that Chu Lan would be in any danger if she stayed here, and she was afraid that she would involve him

Chu Lan's heart was warm, just because of his good face, the middle-aged man decided that he was not a bad person, and after a busy day in the field, he was willing to go hungry and keep the food for himself. He really likes such a family, and there is clean blood in his bones.

It's just that who are those people in their mouths, and what are the public rations, and on the way he has seen the collapsed houses, which were pulled by people on horses, are they rogues?

The meal for the three people was a little insufficient because of one more person, but the two dolls ate happily.

Chu Lan and the two children's bowls were full of a large bowl of rice, Zhang Tiezhu and his wife only had half of the bowls, and the woman had evened out the bowls of Tiezhu several times, she would rather be hungry herself than let her family and guests go hungry.

Chu Lan took out a large bag of beef jerky from the ring and put it on the table, the eyes of the two children widened, and even Zhang Tiezhu and his woman's eyes lit up, they had never seen so much meat during the New Year.

Along the way, he learned the names of two dolls, the elder sister is called Cherry, who looks like her mother between her eyebrows and eyes, very handsome, and the younger brother is called grassroots, tiger-headed, more like his father.

Cherries and grassroots eyes full of little stars, they wanted to get it, but their hands were stretched out halfway and pulled back, they remembered the lesson of their parents, without the permission of others, they must not touch other people's things, the two little ghosts looked at Chu Lan with some hope.

The table was very small, and the two dolls were sitting not far from Chu Lan, he stretched out his hand and touched the heads of the two children, and said softly, "Eat, it's for you to eat."

The two children were smiling happily with the fragrant and chewy beef jerky, perhaps this meal was the most fragrant they had ever eaten, and the good-looking brother brought something delicious.

Chu Lan borrowed a plate from Zhang Tiezhu, poured the beef jerky into it, filled a large plate, and there was a lot left, Chu Lan stretched out his chopsticks and sandwiched two large pieces of beef into Zhang Tiezhu and his wife's bowls.

The woman did not move, but turned her hand and put the meat into the bowls of the two children.

Chu Lan's heart trembled, what a good mother, suddenly she seemed to think of Liu Yeqing again, and thought of Liu Yeqing's appearance of beating the third uncle into a pig's head in order to give him anger, and she couldn't help but smile.

"Big brother, sister-in-law, you eat, I still have it here, there must be enough to eat"

Zhang Tiezhu didn't see it, he felt that the kindness of the little brother could not be disappointed, and he gulped down the rice.

The woman also took a few chopsticks, but always picked up the small ones and put the large ones into the bowls of the two children.

Zhang Tiezhu was a little distressed, he said vaguely, "Little brother's kindness can't be disappointed, come, eat, eat large pieces" He put the meat into his wife's bowl and stared at her to eat it.

A bowl of white rice, two or three side dishes, although there is no oil and water, but it is very fresh, and the icing on the cake is a plate of veal.

The two children were eating happily, and the younger brother suddenly turned his head and asked, "Dad, why did you name me Caogen?"

"Because the name is a little more down-to-earth, it's easy to feed"

The grassroots are a little unconvinced, "But why is my sister called cherry?"

"Because the poor raised a son and a rich daughter, and the cherries were ripe when your sister was born"

"Can I change my name when I grow up?"

"Can't!"

“。。。。。。 ”

Chu Lan didn't speak, just laughed on the side, the little girl approached Chu Lan and whispered to Chu Lan, "Don't pay attention to my brother, he is still young, and when he grows up to my age, he will be mature." ”

"How much older are you than your brother?"

The little girl said with a serious face, "Half an hour!"

Chu Lan"。。。。。。 ”

Well, twins, I thought you were so much older than him!

A bowl of rice was definitely not enough for Chu Lan, but he knew that there was no extra rice in the pot, so he snorted, saying that he was full and full, and even pretended to burp.

The atmosphere eased a lot because of the appearance of beef jerky, and the woman occasionally said a few words to Chu Lan, and she was no longer as cold as she was at the beginning.

She asked, "Little brother, where are you from, and where are you going?"

Chu Lan replied truthfully, "I'm from Yinyue City in Cangzhou, and I'm going to travel to other places."

As soon as he finished speaking, Chu Lan smashed his mouth, why is it so like coming from the Eastern Tang Dynasty, and he wants to go to the West Heaven to worship the Buddha and ask for scriptures?

Zhang Tiezhu suddenly remembered something, trotted out of the door, brought a small shovel, dug on the ground, and ran back with a jar after a while, as if he was very excited.

He flicked the lid open, and the smell of wine came to his nose.

Tiezhu's wife, raised her eyebrows, "Hide wine?"

Tiezhu scratched his scalp, "I'm not happy, and this is not something I hid, my father hid it before, but I found out"

His wife bumped him with her elbow, but she didn't stop it, but just reminded him to "drink less as much as you drink"

Tie Zhu took out two bowls, and handed them to Chu Lan after pouring them full.

The grassroots smelled the wine and leaned forward "Dad, I want to drink"

"Drink fart"

"What, this is a fart, Dad, you drink fart?"

Zhang Tiezhu rewarded him with a chestnut.

The two of them drank three bowls of beef jerky in a row, Zhang Tiezhu was already a little drunk, and Chu Lan didn't feel it yet.

This wine is not good, it has a bit of bitterness in the mouth, but it has been some years, and it has a lot of stamina, Chu Lan has practiced martial arts for many years, and the amount of wine is much larger than ordinary people, Zhang Tiezhu is a real crop man, and he rarely drinks alcohol, because he is poor, he only uses his own crops to brew, but he can't keep it, and he will drink it in a few days. Therefore, after three cups, the tongue is a little bigger.

After a while, he slowly sobbed, and said vaguely, "Little Brother Chu, it's not that my brother doesn't want to keep you, let's leave after today, this village is not peaceful." ”

Tiezhu's wife patted her husband lightly, and apologized to Chu Lan, "Don't mind, he's just doing this virtue."

Chu Lan waved his hand to signal that it was okay, the iron pillar crawled on the table, the more he cried, the more fierce he became, his wife wanted to help him up, but he broke free.

"Brother Tiezhu, you can tell me about anything, I can help you!"

Tie Zhu laughed, his voice was full of bitterness, and the two dolls were very obedient at this time, but just sat on the side and watched quietly

"Don't go brother, I understand your kindness, but they are really not something you can deal with, so I still don't mention it, come and drink and drink"

He lifted the wine bowl but was snatched by his wife and drank it, where did she drink a woman, and her cheeks instantly flushed.

She had nowhere to vent her grievances, and today an outsider came, and she poured it out.

"Little Brother Chu, you don't know, there was no quarrel with the world here, although it was not rich, but the life was quite comfortable, and there was no problem with food and clothing, but later there was a place called ... ”

"Don't say it, don't say it," Zhang Tiezhu interrupted her

"I don't, I'll just say, I just want others to judge, they call themselves holy religions, but they are a bunch of out-and-out bastards, they have to come to the village every month to collect food, if they don't give them they will kill people, we really don't have the ability to resist, so we can only do it, but their appetite is getting bigger and bigger, the days are getting harder and harder, to be honest, this rice is the last"

She sobbed as she spoke, Zhang Tiezhu cried even more fiercely, and the two children also cried. They don't understand the hardships of their families, they just look at their parents, and their hearts hurt a lot.

"I didn't have a good face for you at first, because today the gang of outlaws is coming to our house, although the food has been prepared, but a few families still suffered misfortune a few days ago, I'm afraid that something will happen to you, just... ”

"What do you tell Junior Brother Chu to do, do you want him to get into trouble, this is our own business, don't implicate him"

"I just want him to judge"

"But why?"

The wife was speechless for a while, opened her mouth, and did not speak.

Chu Lan's eyes revealed perseverance, "Because I am a swordsman, because I am a swordsman who still has some conscience"

Zhang Tiezhu was excited, raised his head and said, "Don't be impulsive, you can't deal with them."

A gust of wind suddenly blew in outside the window, and the sound of hooves outside the house was like a cannon, Chu Lan heard it clearly and knew that there were about a dozen people.

The husband and wife trembled, and most of the wine woke up in an instant.

Zhang Tiezhu opened his mouth, his voice trembled a little, and said bitterly, "They are coming"