The fifteenth

More than a month later, the eldest brother and Qiusheng came back after the whole family was thinking about it day and night. In addition to the cost of capital, the whole family is very happy to earn so much money that they can't save in the previous year. The eldest brother also brought back a handsome woman who was as old as Lilac, and later became Lilac's sister-in-law.

Speaking of which, the acquaintance between the eldest brother and the sister-in-law is quite bizarre.

Since the day when Qiusheng and his eldest brother supported Yiyang, the road has been smooth.

The row is like going to the sea, it is very dangerous to beg for food in the water, the water is rising, the rapids are muddy and rocky, all rely on the boatman to be familiar with the water conditions and road conditions of the waters, and the skills are high and the heart is careful, and the slightest carelessness will lead to the death of both people and goods.

Thanks to Qiusheng, the boatmen they hired have often walked on this river for many years, and they are well versed in the water conditions and do things steadily, and they calmly avoid crossing many sharp bends and dangerous currents downstream. There were several shoals where everyone had to come down, and they worked together to pull the ropes over, and when they were hungry, they ate something on the spot and continued to move forward.

That night, the row has traveled more than forty or fifty miles, the river here is wide and there is a river bend and shallow, the old boatman knows that this place is called Yanyun Bay, which is a natural anchoring place. It happened that there were no other rows in the bend that day, so everyone in the lower row used cables to firmly fix the rows to the willow trees on the shore. The old boatman named Liu Dingkai was a little uneasy, and after repeatedly checking and confirming that it was safe, everyone lit a fire on the beach to cook rice.

After the meal, everyone set up a bunk on the row, sat on the bunk and chatted nonsense. Master Liu has read a lot of biographical stories on weekdays, walked the rivers and lakes and seen a lot of knowledge, and knows a lot of taboos and anecdotes about going out to make a living. That Master Liu's mouth is like a river, from the Three Heroes and Five Righteousness to the Romance of the Tang Dynasty, the gangs in the rivers and lakes fought each other to the son of a certain family who endured humiliation for ten years and finally avenged his father's revenge, as well as going out to beg for food and various taboo rules, that brilliant listen to everyone in Qiusheng with relish.

When he was tired of talking, Master Liu squinted, owed a debt, and yawned. Seeing this, the young shipwright Wang Jinyi hurriedly served Master Liu with tea, water, and cigarettes, and begged for compensation and said with a smile: "Master Liu, come to Duan Luo Tong to sweep the north again, the last time you mentioned that Luo Tong was in command and still started fighting!" Wait a minute, I'll fan you to repel mosquitoes, okay! ”

At this time, Master Liu took a deep breath of smoke, took a breath and said, "Okay, an old man will let you listen to the monkey cub today," after finishing speaking, he knocked the cigarette ash on the long cigarette stick on the row, and continued: "Anyway, Luo Tong received the handsome seal..."

At this time, when the night was approaching, the surrounding villages were silent, and the people had fallen asleep. The silent countryside is full of stars, and the vast four fields present a deep hazy scenery under the starry sky, and a few frogs are heard from time to time in the rice field ditch.

Suddenly, there was a faint noise in the distance, and Xu Zong looked at the shadows, and a few people were walking along the river and mountain road with torches in their hands, as if they were looking for something. Xu Zong thought about the long night, and instead of lining up to the riverbank to relax, he secretly pushed Qiusheng when he had made up his mind, "Brother, how about going to the riverbank to relax?" ”

Qiusheng was listening to it with great interest, and said without looking back: "Don't go, I'll listen to the book." Xu Zong saw that Qiusheng was not going, so he went up to the riverbank, walked and stopped, and enjoyed the scenery of the village along the river under the starlight, and unconsciously was half a mile away from the row.

When Xu Zong was walking across a small stream stone arch bridge, suddenly a person rushed to a small road next to him and collided with him, knocking Xu Zong three or five steps away, and suddenly frightened Xu Zong, almost screaming! The man fell heavily on the stone slab, but he gritted his teeth and did not say a word. Xu Zong took a look at the starlight, and it turned out to be a seventeen or eighteen-year-old girl, with her hair scattered and her face looking at him in horror.

Xu Zong was about to ask, but the woman suddenly knelt on the ground and kowtowed, sobbing in a low voice with a cry: "Good brother, don't make a noise, you will risk my life as soon as you open it!" Xu Zong was stunned, and he didn't know what to do for a while, and while he was thinking about it, the girl had already limped into the thorn nest under the stone arch and disappeared. Xu Zong stood on the stone arch bridge and walked back and forth a few times, thinking that it was best for those who went out to be idle.

Having made up his mind, he walked across the arched bridge and continued along the road until he met a crowd of torch-lit people by a pond. A man in his forties in front of him saw Xu Zong and said, "Houshengjia, where are you from?" So nocturnal? Xu Zong hurriedly replied: "Uncle, I am going to Yiyang Road to stay in Guidi, and I can't sleep when I'm bored." At this time, the young man who was a few years older than the Tongxu Sect next to him asked eagerly, "Good brother, did you see anyone walking by the river just now?"

"Mao, who did I see when I came from the bend of the river, who are you looking for?" The ghost made the god-like Xu Zong blurt out without thinking.

"Oh, I really saw a woman, that's my daughter, some crazy people ran out in the middle of the night, if you really see it, tell it!" Another woman in her forties, with tears on her face, pleaded. Seeing this situation, Xu Zong was thinking about it and wanted to tell it, but after thinking about it, he just said that he would say it if he saw it, and he might cause trouble or not. After thinking about it, he said: "Auntie, the black light is blind, and I really dare to see it." Why don't you try to look along the river?! Xu Zong turned around and pointed in the direction of the stone arch bridge, thinking that even if he found the woman from the side of the stone arch bridge, there would be nothing to say.

When those people heard this, they thanked them and continued to search along the stream. Xu Zong stood still and watched the people look along the stream, and used torches to shine on the stone arch bridge, and after crossing the bridge, he did not go to the boat row in the bay, but turned his head and continued to search along the other side of the stream. After a while, Xu Zong saw that the men were far away, and turned back to the river bay boat platoon.

As soon as she arrived at the stone arch bridge, the woman had climbed out of the thorn nest and sat on the side of the road, grasping the condyle with her hand, and under the starlight, she saw the woman biting her lower lip, and beads of sweat appeared on her forehead, and it seemed that the woman's feet could not walk. When Xu Zong saw it, he hurriedly asked, "Sister, are you stumbling?" Those people just said it was your father, why did you run out in the middle of the night? If there is something that the family can explain clearly, I think they still remember you. Why don't I catch up and tell them that it's even more unsafe in the middle of the night, and where are you going to be a woman? Do you think it's okay? ”

When the woman heard Xu Zong say this, she didn't care about the pain in her feet, grabbed the leg of Xu Zong's trousers with one hand, and almost pleaded: "Brother, you do good deeds!" It's not what they say, you go back and tell them I'm dead! You cultivate the Yin Clan, please! Xu Zong didn't have an idea for a while, and when he looked closely, the woman's demeanor and words were not as crazy as the middle-aged woman said, so he said: "Sister, it's really as you said, now you can't walk, what is good!" When the woman heard this, she hurriedly said gratefully: "If you take the risk, even if you drag me away, I will escape from this cage!" I won't regret feeding the old worms and feeding the wolves. ”

Xu Zong listened, bent down to take a closer look at the woman's legs, and suddenly remembered that Master Liu would treat bruises, so he said to the woman: "Sister, we are going to Yiyang to sell goods, and we will rest in Yanyunwan in front tonight." One of us has Master Liu who can cure bruises, if you believe me, why don't you try to help you find a master to heal your feet, okay? ”

The woman looked Xu Zong up and down, and looked at the people who were still listening to the book in Yanyunwan not far away. After a moment of contemplation, he lowered his head and said, "I'm tired of my brother." When Xu Zong heard this, he wanted to reach out and help, but he felt that it was inconvenient for men and women to differ. The woman informed Xu Zong's scruples, pointed to the wooden stake on the side of the road, and said, "Please pull the wooden stake!" When Xu Zong heard this, he hurriedly pulled out the stake and handed it to the woman.

Fortunately, the road was not long, Xu Zong followed, and the girl jumped to the side of the river bend with a wooden stake. At this time, Xu Zong rushed to the row and shouted: "Master Liu, do me a favor, there is a girl here!" Master Liu heard that he hurriedly stopped talking about the book, and everyone left the platoon one by one and went ashore.

Master Liu looked at the girl's feet, then at Xu Zong, and asked, "What's going on?!" Xu Zong hurriedly said, "Master Liu, just now I felt bored and walked around, and I accidentally bumped into it without paying attention!" Master Liu stopped saying anything after hearing this, held the girl's calf with one hand, and moved her soles with the other hand, and said, "Sister, relax, I'll take a look first." The girl just replied, "Okay...", only to hear a click, and the girl screamed. At this time, Master Liu had already put down her feet and said, "Okay, it's a risk, just rest!" It's just that in the past two days, be careful not to be too tired and try not to walk. ”

The girl tried, and it was really fine. Master Liu was about to inquire carefully about the reason, but the girl suddenly knelt down and kowtowed to Qiusheng and the others, and shouted: "Uncles, brothers, you do good things to the end, take me to Uncle Yiyang's house, otherwise I will die!" Do good deeds, and the good will be rewarded. ”

Everyone was at a loss for a while, and they all looked at Xu Zong, and Xu Zong spoke about it one by one. Everyone was silent, and after a while, Master Liu pulled Qiusheng and said to Xuzong: "Two young bosses, take a step to speak!" He turned around and said to the girl: "Sister, I'll talk to the two bosses, and I'll talk to you later."

So Qiusheng Xuzong followed Master Liu to a no-man's land, and Master Liu looked around and said slowly: "Two bosses, it stands to reason that I shouldn't talk about this matter today, but Lord Yu has been friends with me for half a lifetime, and this morning he repeatedly told me that the first time you were in charge, I wanted to teach more and be more concerned - I didn't dare to give advice, but that girl wanted to take our platoon to Yiyang, and the situation was not clear." Recklessly taking people is really guilty of the taboo of not causing trouble when going out, what to do, I am personally resolutely opposed! In the end, it's up to you to make your own minds, and it's good if you don't blame me in the future! ”

The two of Qiusheng Xuzong were silent when they heard this, and finally Qiusheng said: "Master Liu listens to you, wait and talk to that girl to persuade me."

Master Liu and the others returned to the river bay one by one, and the girl was talking about something. Seeing them coming, Wang Jinyi walked up to Master Liu and muttered, "This girl does make tillers, do you want to take her all the way?" Master Liu turned his back to the woman, glared, and whispered, "Do you know what you know?!"

After finishing speaking, he turned around and whispered to the woman: "Sister, our two young bosses really can't take it." The most taboo thing for us people who go out is to make trouble, not that we are ruthless! Besides, if you see that the five of us are squeezed into a row to sleep, it is too inconvenient for you to be a woman. There is also this row of big boats that are not comparable to the rivers in the river, in case something happens, we will come to your house and do it! I think you'd better take advantage of the moon to come out in the second half of the night, why don't you find an acquaintance or relative to stay for one night and talk about it, okay? ”

When the girl heard this, she suddenly rushed down the riverbank, waded up the row, stood at the head of the row and shouted at Master Liu: "Master, it's not that I am deliberately embarrassing you today, if you don't agree, I will jump to the rapids and die!"

Everyone looked at each other, and Xu Zong couldn't care less when he saw this, and he also waded into the water and climbed up the row. At this time, the girl took two small steps back to the front of the line, and was suddenly so frightened that Xu Zong didn't dare to move again, and begged in a good voice: "Sister, depending on you, don't do stupid things!!" Fu turned back and rushed to the shore Qiusheng and said, "Brother Gui, I caused this disaster today, if there is any trouble, I will suffer alone!"

Qiusheng was also cautious at this time, he took Xu Zong's hand and said, "Look at what you said, if there is something to do, the two of us will bear it together!" Fu said to the girl again: "Sister, since we promised, you can rest assured, I will take you to Yiyang tomorrow morning, be careful not to fall into the river!" When the girl heard this, she sat down and sobbed quietly.

Seeing this situation, Master Liu had no choice, and the two of Qiusheng Xuzong were together, taking advantage of the moon rising in the second half of the night, he quickly packed up his things and dismantled the cover, and he didn't sleep and left first. I'm really afraid that when someone in the local area sees it at dawn, it will be a big deal to take a charge of abducting a woman.

So everyone was in a hurry, cleaned up and untied the cable tied to the willow tree, and ran down the river in the white moonlight. Because it was a row of rising water, Xu Zong didn't care about the difference between men and women, so he hugged the girl sitting at the head of the row and moved to the middle of the row, shouting: "You ancestor, don't harm me!"

The girl had already stopped sobbing, looked at the splash in the river behind her, and then turned around and said to Xu Zong: "Brother, I will remember your kindness for the rest of my life, and I can be a cow and a horse!"

"Be a cow and a horse, you hold on to the black seven or eight black, don't fall into the river and fix the yin!" After Xu Zong finished speaking, he got up to help Master Liu help support the platoon.

By dawn the next day, the platoon had gone down the river for more than one or two miles.

End of the fifteenth round