In the twentieth year of the Yuan chapter of the Jokhang Kingdom, the border pass was wide in Kuanzhou, and the tenth day of the second month.

At that time, Wu Jin carried two folded cage drawers on his shoulders, held his right hand upward, bent down deeply, and held a wooden frame in his left hand, and walked to Yuhua Street step by step.

After finding a place where there were many people, setting up a wooden frame and stabilizing the cage drawer, he cleared his throat and shouted, "Cook cakes!" Oil cake! Sugar Cookies! ”

The young man's voice was crisp and loud, and through the window he entered the house, and was quickly drowned in the floating music.

The bright light, the swaying shadows in the cold wind, the swimming fish, the fleeting style of the prostitutes' eyebrows in the corners of their eyes, suddenly floated to Wu Jin's face, mixed with the aroma of food, and floated above the cage drawer.

The night is dark, the tourists are getting more, the night is sinking, the tourists are getting fewer, the hawkers are talking about the flower street in twos and threes, Wu Jin is freezing back and forth with his two feet, and he puts the cold two hands in his sleeves, looking at the flowery Yan Pavilion opposite.

Lifting a breath, he opened his throat and shouted again: "Sugar cake - fragrant and sweet - seven wen one!" ”

"Oil—"

The sudden sound of horses' hooves on the road drowned out his voice, and the whispering voices were all gone, except for the horses' hooves stepping in an orderly manner over the bluestone slabs.

More than a dozen yellow horses were led out by the servants, and four or five sedan chairs were carried up one after another, waiting in front of the gate, and at the same time, two subordinates pushed the door open from the inside, and the firelight, the smell of wine, the fat powder, and the sound of music were instantly spread out layer upon layer.

The first to come out of the door were six guards, neatly standing beside the horses, not smiling, not squinting, as if they were wax people.

A barrage of laughter followed.

A group of men wearing brocade robes of various colors came out with red faces, drunken lights in their eyes, and rolled to the sedan chair with a burst of wine, but did not say goodbye to the sedan chair, but continued to wait for the people inside to come out.

Wu Jin looked down at the remaining dozen or so cakes, and when she looked up again, she saw a person coming out of the door of the Yan Pavilion, wearing a crane and a little girl with a horned bun on her shoulder, and a cluster of light from the lantern under the porch shone on her.

The hair is dark green, there is no headdress and earrings, the phoenix eyes are long and big, the black eyes are slightly hidden, the face is soft and childish, and there is a pair of red gold "longevity and 100-year-old" collars hanging around the neck, which is yellow and dazzling under the lights.

Sensing Wu Jin's gaze, the little girl hung her head condescendingly, looked at Wu Jin, showing deep and long traces of double eyelids, and then stretched out her hand and pointed: "Cake." ”

The subordinate who followed closely ran over with a cigarette, and didn't ask the price, just asked Wu Jin to hurry up and wrap the cakes, and asked for them all.

Wu Jin hurriedly went to touch the oil paper and came out, wrapped it tightly one by one, bit the silver money handed over, and took out the copper coin to find the money.

The sound of horses' hooves resounded through the streets again, leaving only a cloud of smoke and dust for the vendors.

Just when everyone was envious of Wu Jin's good luck today, a man with a burden walked over from the corner of the street and said loudly to Wu Jin: "Brother Jin, your father fell in Xiongshi Gorge and just sent it back!" Go back quickly. ”

When Wu Jin heard this, his heart sank suddenly, and his face turned three points white in an instant.

His father chiseled the Buddha statue in the cave in the Xiongshan Temple, the two sides of the Xiongshi Gorge are precipitous, like a knife cutting, the bottom is turbulent, people stand on the edge of the cliff are dizzy and shaken, the feet tremble, let alone fall into the deep stream.

He thanked the messenger loudly, squatted down to pick up the cage on his shoulder, carried the wooden frame, held the bread cage with one hand, and ran quickly home.

It was nearly midnight, no matter how bright the moon was, Wu Jin ran all the way from the brightly lit street market to the remote and dark Shishi Street, the stone road under his feet became narrower and narrower, and finally stepped into the mud.

It costs oil to light the lamp, and there are few people on Ten Stone Street, and the same is true at this time, he walked sideways in the dark, his elbows kept hitting the debris piled up on both sides, and the empty houses on both sides pressed against him urgently, pressing him out of breath.

His hands gripped the cage drawer and the wooden frame coldly, and he slowed down when he saw the little light shining through the darkness and the crowded people.

"Brother Jin is back!"

"Get in, hey, pathetic."

"Brother Jin is only fourteen this year, and the rest of the day will not be easy."

The crowd of onlookers moved out of the way, and Wu Jin lowered his head and walked through, his shoulder hitting several solid chests before entering the door.

There was a strong smell of medicine floating in the yard, and his younger brother Wu Yi was standing outside the door crying, and when he raised his eyes and saw Wu Jin, he hurriedly wiped his tears and stepped forward, taking over the wooden frame: "Big brother...... Daddy......"

Wu Jin stabilized himself, put the cake cage away, and said in a low voice, "I'll take a look." ”

He walked to the door of the main house, and there were two or three women standing in the room, comforting Wu's mother with gossips, and a doctor sat at the table of the eight immortals to prescribe a prescription, and Wu's mother's eyes were red, waiting to take the prescription and grab the medicine.

"Auntie, I'm back."

When the women heard the voice, they all turned their heads to look at the door, and saw Wu Jin standing by the door with his hands down, his expression was resolute and powerful, he could be half a family, and he was the only one in Shishi Street who was admitted to the state school, and his future was very good, but it was a pity.

A family lacks a strong laborer, where can you still read, and the state school should not be restrained, but the four treasures of the study are very expensive.

The doctor also opened the prescription and handed it to Wu's mother, Wu Jin recognized the doctor as the famous "Li Yijiao", one paste can live, and the consultation fee is two taels of silver, so he didn't care about Wu's father's situation, so he hurriedly opened the low cupboard, took out all the money he had saved at home, and made up the money he earned today, put together two pieces of money, and handed it to the doctor.

Wu's mother sent the neighbors and the doctor out, and Wu Jin hurried back to her house, and took out the 200 wen from under the pillow to keep the pen for her younger brother, and asked him to hurry up and grab the medicine.

When his younger brother also went out, he immediately went to see his father's injuries.

Wu's father's face was like gold paper, his eyes were closed, and the quilt rose and fell with his body, and then suddenly collapsed in the second half - his legs and knees down, and he was gone.

"Ah Niang," he said with a little tear in his eyes, and didn't look at Wu's mother who entered the door, "I, I won't study first." ”

Wu Muhuang's thin face suddenly sharpened: "No! You just have to read your books, you don't have to worry about these things, go out, go to bed, and have classes tomorrow! ”

"Auntie, it's the same if I wait for my dad to get better and then go to school, I'll make more cakes and earn the money for renting the house next month."

Mother Wu pushed him out with a rough palm: "I have a way, I don't have to worry about you, I will make cakes, Brother Yi'er will be enlightened later, didn't you also do three years of apprenticeship, sold cakes for a year, and only became enlightened at the age of twelve." ”

She pushed Wu Jin all the way back to the house, lit the oil lamp again, and then took the door out to light the fire and boil the medicine.

She tried her best to turn this door into a barrier, isolating the messy family affairs, and allowing the Wu family to produce a glorious lintel of reading seeds.

Wu Jin sat down at the table, listening to the movement outside in silence, until he heard the voice of his younger brother coming back, then he spread out the bamboo paper, sharpened the white inkstone, took the chicken quill, and dipped it in ink and wrote: "Yuan Zhang......"

As soon as the pen is dropped, the ink floats on the paper, scattering, and the words are difficult to form.

Paper, pen, and ink are not good, and the words are half an inch large, and they are difficult to write.

Wu Jin raised the pen, plucked off the miscellaneous hair, and put down the pen again: "On the tenth day of February in the twentieth year, it is fine, sell two cages of cakes, my father is seriously injured, and I hope it will be good." ”

After a pause, he smoothed the pen and put it down again: "God knows how much money our family has. ”