The three brothers left quietly without alarming anyone in the clan, and even Cheng Dazhu, the father, didn't see his son in a blink of an eye.

While Chen Daya didn't notice them, Mingyi dragged and dragged Cheng Mingli to follow.

"Sister, Dad will beat us up if he finds out."

"No, Dad hurts me very much, and he will beat you twice at most."

Cheng Mingli: You are really my own sister.

"Sister, is this how my brother used it for you?"

Mingyi said with a smile: "How can you use it to describe my brother, my brother is very useful; In the future, my brother will take the imperial examination well and let me be a lady of the official family, which is really useful. ”

Cheng Mingli was speechless, with the idea before escaping the famine, he really planned to do a good job in the imperial examination; Let my sister be an official lady, and have more choices for marriage in the future, instead of being trapped in the countryside. However, when the drought came, the land dried up, and the villages, townships, and counties began to flee the famine, and their families were not spared.

Along the way, he saw a lot, and he understood that whether the future of the imperial examination trip was possible became unknown.

Since it was unknown, he couldn't promise his sister.

"It's hard to eat at home, and I won't be able to study in the future." He also regretted it.

"Brother, grandfather often said that the boat will naturally go straight to the bridge, and everything is possible as long as we survive." Mingyi can only comfort him like this, and she doesn't have a decision now.

How to save the world, how to end this troubled world.

However, in the world, you can't just live in the present because of what will happen in the future.

"Brother understands, let you be an official lady." He didn't know if there was a chance to make it happen.

"Being an official lady is to enjoy glory and wealth, right?" Mingyi talked as she walked, and it was not smooth for people to walk on the heavy dry leaves, and the road in the mountains was uneven, so she walked carefully.

Cheng Mingli nodded seriously, although he didn't know what kind of wealth was considered glory and wealth, but it didn't prevent him from nodding.

"That's right! Glory and wealth do not have to be enjoyed by official ladies. ”

"That's not right!" Cheng Mingli seemed to realize it later, and said: "If you are a lady from an official family, the people who choose to marry in the future will be different; My father and mother said, if I can go that far, you can marry someone of the same status. ”

Mingyi didn't expect his parents to tell his brother this, he was only ten years old, a half-old child; Putting such a heavy burden on his thin shoulders, his sister's life is happy, and his sister can choose a marriage partner.

At this moment, she didn't know how to describe the parents.

"Sister, don't worry, even if your brother doesn't take the imperial examination, he can make you rich." If you can't take the imperial examination, you have to make your sister rich, so you can only do business.

Merchants had a low status in the Daxi Dynasty, not even better than craftsmen; With such a status, my sister might as well be a child of a peasant family.

As a half-grown child who has been studying for five years, Cheng Mingli's thinking is flexible; The children of poor families are in charge of the family at an early age, and this is also the case for him.

Mingyi shook her head, "Brother, when we settle down, you can still study, if your grandfather and grandmother don't let you study, I will also make money to let you re-enter the school." ”

"There's no hurry." Cheng Mingli's heart is warm, his sister is a small one, but he said that he wants to make money for him to study, which shows his importance in his sister's heart.

The brother and sister were talking, and they followed behind the Cheng Yuanxi brothers from a distance.

When he arrived at the small valley, Cheng Yuanxi pointed to the two elder brothers, "The front is the valley I said." ”

Cheng Yuandong and Cheng Yuannan looked at it at a glance, and only felt that the vegetation in the valley was luxuriant, and there were many yellowish appearances; Even so, they felt good.

"There must be a water source down there, let's go, go in and have a look."

One person picked up a dry branch, and without a handy weapon, the branch was better than nothing.

The three brothers walked side by side to the entrance of the valley, saying that it was an entrance, but in fact there was no entrance; The road was covered with weeds, and they didn't know how to get in.

Faced with the unknowns inside, they resolutely chose to move on.

Food is the fate of them at present, it is best to find food, and if you can't find it, you must find a water source; The family doesn't have much water to use, and if they can't find it, they will face death of thirst on the road behind.

The branches hit the weeds, and they stepped on the ground covered with weeds, and walked forward step by step.

The further you go, the harder the road seems.

Cheng Mingli pulled his sister's footsteps to go in, "I can't go any further, my father knows that my brother will really be beaten." ”

"Brother, there must be food in there, let's go in and have a look!" Pulling Mingli's sleeve coquettishly, "Okay?" ”

Cheng Mingli shook his head decisively and resolutely disagreed.

"If we go in and find something to eat, we can take it back to my mother; We can also hide some secretly, so that every time we are hungry, our stomachs growl and we can't sleep at night. ”

This.

Cheng Mingli wavered.

He and Mingyi slept with their parents, and at night their fathers and sisters' stomachs often rumbled with hunger; He was hungry, hungry and wanted nothing to eat, but they had nothing to eat.

It's been two months, and my sister is getting thinner and thinner.

My father and mother also lost weight.

"No, we can't go in, we're too small." In front of life and food, Cheng Mingli chose his life, "Sister, let's wait here for my father and uncle and second uncle to come out, there is danger inside; My father and uncle couldn't guarantee that they would protect us, so they didn't bring us over. ”

Mingyi shook her head, squatted down, and thought mournfully; It would be nice if she had crept out alone, and if only she had gone into the valley to find something to eat!

The power of the divine soul cannot be used, but her own divine soul is powerful; The beast didn't dare to do anything when he saw her, she was relatively safe alone.

She was stupid to call Cheng Mingli this brother.

Cheng Mingli also squatted down and reached out to touch his sister's boring hair; It smelled in the hair, it didn't smell good, but it was his sister, and she didn't dislike it.

"When Daddy comes out, we'll go back."

Mingyi didn't speak, looking up and sweeping the surrounding environment; Although the outer part of the valley is almost depleted, it is not impossible to find it, and there are many trees outside the valley, and there are not so many weeds.

"Brother, let's look everywhere, even if we only find wild vegetables."

She hadn't eaten greens for a long time, not only her, but the entire team hadn't eaten greens for a long time; It's not that I don't want to eat, but I don't have to.

"Just walk on the side, can't go far?" Cheng Mingli said.

Mingyi nodded again and again, and Cheng Mingli took her to explore; During the exploration, he kept holding Ming's hand and didn't let her run around.

Mingyi can't go anywhere else.

"Brother, let's go over there, maybe we'll find something; It's too close. She wanted to go to the mountain trails on both sides of the valley entrance.

Cheng Mingli said that he wouldn't agree to anything this time, and it was the biggest concession to take her over for a walk, and let her die.