The woman glanced at the merchant with the rattle, then at the little boy, and gritted her teeth.

He took out a thick handkerchief from his bosom, opened it, turned over layer after layer of rags, and took one out of two rubbed shiny copper plates.

Walking up to the merchant, he hesitated for a moment and bought the rattle.

After watching this scene, the man didn't say a word, picked up his burden again, and walked forward with his head down.

The little boy burst into tears, and it turned out that after the woman bought a rattle for the little girl, she didn't buy him a sugar gourd, but just covered her face and walked behind the man.

The little girl had a runny nose, a rattle in her hand, and a dull smile on her dirty face.

Then, she stretched out her hand holding the rattle to another bamboo basket, and shouted in a vague voice:

"Brother...... Brother. ”

However, her short thin hands couldn't touch the father in front of her, let alone the little boy with another bamboo basket.

Finally, the man carried the bamboo basket and led the woman to the back door of a wide house.

In front of the door, a white and fat old god in charge was sitting and drinking tea, and a few handymen were drinking beside a barefoot father with children like picking goods.

The dark and old men looked cramped and ashamed on their faces, some took the money, and the wrinkles had a hint of joy, and they glanced at the children who were taken away, and turned their heads with the sobbing women and walked away step by step.

Some of them were not picked, and the burden on their shoulders seemed to be heavier, and they turned around and went to another house, and even put straw sticks on them, and went to the street to sell.

Finally, the man and woman were approaching, however, the woman who had been following the man suddenly picked up the ...... in the bamboo basket Little boy.

Walked aside, hugged the child tightly in his arms, turned around, and did not look at the man.

The man looked at the woman who was close at hand, but in the end, he just made the first sound of the day.

"Ugh."

He sighed.

Then he picked up the empty bamboo basket and walked forward.

Fortunately, the little girl was picked, and the man carefully held a few taels of silver thrown by the handyman in both hands.

Looking at the little girl's somewhat dumbfounded expression, she walked to the woman's side with her burden, and then walked forward against the light together.

The woman never looked at the little girl again from the moment she had just taken the little boy.

Only the little boy in her arms, lying on the woman's shoulder, looked at the girl, looked at the rattle in her hand.

The little girl looked at her family as she walked away, as if she didn't know what was happening.

Seeing her brother looking at her hand, she smiled dumbly, stretched out the rattle towards her brother, and shook it gently.

Knock, knock, knock.

......

"Are you stupid and can't even speak?"

A fat, old woman yelled at a little girl in front of her who was wringing her hands behind her back.

"Speak!"

"Smack!"

A slap was slapped.

"How did a fool like you choose to join our royal family?"

Glancing at the dirty little girl who fell to the ground, crying silently, the woman yelled at the other children behind her:

"The old lady came here to teach you how to serve people, if you don't learn well, you will be sold to human traffickers in the future."

"If you learn well, you will be able to serve the young master for a lifetime like an old lady in the future, and when you are old, you won't have to worry about eating and drinking!"

Many children, whether they understood the old woman's meaning or not, nodded silently.

When the old woman finally left.

"Don't play with her, she's a fool."

"Stupid, she's going to sell to human traffickers in the future."

"Let's get away from her."

When the child had run away, the little girl propped herself up with her thin arms. He sat down on the ground, and from under his dirty clothes, he took out a new rattle wrapped in a clean red cloth.

She stared straight at the rattle with big eyes and shook it lightly.

Knock, knock, knock.

......

"Today, you guys, follow me to the vegetable market in the south to buy."

Several teenagers in their early teens in front of him should be in harmony.

The little girl stood in the crowd, she was also ten years old, but her face was still yellow and thin, and she stood out of place among her peers who were a head taller than her.

Over the years, everyone knows that she is mute, but fortunately she is not a fool. He looked skinny, but he was willing to help, so he was assigned to help the kitchen steward.

A short time later, the group walked out into the street.

In the distance, the sound was boiling, the gongs and drums were ringing in unison, and the crowd was crowded. Suddenly, with the sound of drums, the sound of gongs and drums quieted down, but the human wall was more and more crowded forward, as if they were all watching something lively.

"Uncle Li, what's going on in the city today?" There are bold children who are close to the leading steward.

"Humph! It's none of your business! It's the immortals who came to the academy to choose disciples! The middle-aged man who was called Uncle Li snorted coldly, "Don't think I don't know what you're thinking!" If you want to join in the fun, wait until you're done! ”

"Alas, what about the dumb? The dumb is gone! A teenage girl suddenly shouted.

"Well, I really don't see it, but what about people?"

"Uncle Li, there! She ran to see the excitement! A sharp-eyed child saw the little girl.

Uncle Li's face sank, this dumb man usually looks quite honest, but he didn't expect to be so bold today in order to watch the excitement.

Looking at the children behind him, Uncle Li's face sank like water:

"Watch me catch her, don't beat her half to death!!"

The children instantly became honest, and someone pointed to:

"Dumb there, there!"

In the crowd, a thin girl in a coarse cloth handyman costume was squeezing desperately in.

She was so thin that it seemed like a gust of wind could blow her down.

But she was so stubborn, her yellow hair was scattered, like a crooked little tree. Squeezed away the men and women who were much stronger than her, and struggled to grow in.

"You all follow me!" Uncle Li roared angrily and ran towards the little girl, shouting at the same time: "Dumb, stop!" ”

But there were too many people, and he squeezed through the yellow hair, squeezing for a long time, and finally caught the little and daring little mute.

Suddenly, however, the crowd fell silent.

He glanced around, and it turned out that he had squeezed into the innermost part, and in front of him was a white jade disc. The crowd looked at him, and he looked at the little mute in front of him.

The mute, or rather the little girl, was helplessly squeezed down on the white jade disc.

Silently weeping, she took out a clean, well-wrapped red cloth from under her dirty clothes, opened it, and took out a freshly polished rattle.

Then the mute suddenly burst into tears:

"Uncle Merchant, I saw you! Come out of here! ”

The tone was strange because she had not spoken for many years, mixed with a howl of unknown meaning, and the little girl shouted with all her strength:

"I don't want a rattle, I'll give you back the rattle, and you let my father and mother take me home."

The thin, short hand twitched involuntarily, and the rattle shook gently.

Knock, knock, knock.