"Brother, dare to ask if there is a family surnamed Lu in this alley? There were two husband and wife, a son and a daughter, the husband and wife were about fifty years old, the son worked at the docks, and the daughter worked as a maid in a foreign home. Zhang Tian stopped a short, thin man passing by and asked him for directions.

The short and thin man looked at everyone with some suspicion, feeling a little strange in his heart, these people in front of him gave people the feeling that they came from some other person's house, but how could such a person run into the fishing boat alley?

But he didn't want to ask more, he shook his head at Zhang Tian, and said: "A few uncles, I am an outsider, I just moved here recently, if you want to ask for directions, you might as well go further, after two intersections, there is an eldest sister named Wang Erniang living in the house, I heard that she has lived here for more than ten years, she should be very familiar with this area." ”

Everyone asked a few passers-by along the way, but most of them were the same as the short and thin men in Fangcai, and it didn't take too long to move to Fishing Boat Alley, either that they didn't know, or they gave several different answers.

"It's also a shame that Sun San was able to find that family last time." Wu Neng sighed, "How do you feel that the people living in this alley are not natives of Wangcheng?" ”

Zhang Tian naturally knew more about the situation in the Western Desert Royal City than Wu Neng, and he hurriedly explained: "Wu Gongzi, you should also know that there are more and more people running into the Royal City during this time, and many of the businesses here in the Royal City are the kind that rely on the sea to eat and live on boats, so naturally there are a group of outsiders mixed in the residents here. ”

After hearing this, Shi Cheng suddenly asked, "Zhang Tian, I remember that you are not from Wangcheng either, right?" ”

"My lord is right, my hometown is in Yanzhou in the west."

"There's a question I've always wanted to ask, but I haven't been able to." Shi Cheng's gaze turned to Zhang Tian and asked, "I heard Lao Wu say that you and Dou Jin left their hometown and came to Wangcheng to make a living because their hometown suffered a disaster?" ”

"Exactly." Zhang Tian nodded, "This year may have upset Lord Rain, the land in the township has dried up, and the previous owner couldn't afford to support so many people, so he laid off a large number of hired workers, and we were kicked out." Later, on the way to escape the famine, I heard that there was a chance here in Wangcheng, so I calculated it with Brother Doujin and they came here to try their luck. ”

"What about your family? I haven't seen you mention them in front of me these days. ”

"Back to the master, our family members are still staying in our hometown Yanzhou, we don't have much entanglement on our bodies, and we can't bring more family members out, but we are also people who have done things in Zhuangzi before, even if we are driven out, we still have a little thin land in our hands, but we can use it to settle the old and young in the family. But if you want to feed your family's mouth, you still have to come out and work. ”

"I see." Shi Cheng nodded, "If you have time, I will also send a letter to my family, after coming out for so long, my family will always be worried, and I will pay for the letter." ”

"Master, this ...... That's a big deal! ”

"It doesn't matter." Shi Cheng smiled, "It's just that I gave you an extra salary, and you have worked hard during this time, which is also what you deserve." ”

Zhang Tian's eyes showed a strong color of gratitude, and he continued to thank Shi Cheng.

Shi Cheng waved his hand, and then asked, "I heard that the motive that drove the homeless people to Gyeonggi was a rumor, can you tell me more about what is going on?" ”

In these days of contact with all kinds of people, Shi Cheng actually learned more or less about some of the reasons why a large number of displaced people are pouring into the Western Desert King City, originally he didn't take this matter to heart, but since he met with Zhao Ping in the morning, Shi Cheng suddenly had some different thoughts in his heart.

"If there is the most troublesome thing for the court of the Western Desert Kingdom at the moment, is there anything more important than the influx of a large number of displaced people into Gyeonggi?" Shi Cheng thought to himself, "If you think about it carefully, the rumors that can encourage so many homeless people to come to Beijing to make a living are indeed not simple, but it is worth investigating the reasons behind them. ”

"That rumor," Zhang Tian thought for a moment, "...... is actually quite simple, that is, there are big Wei and wealthy businessmen in Wangcheng who want to build workshops and chambers of commerce in Wangcheng, and they are in urgent need of manpower." Anyway, we people are already bare, so we might as well come and try our luck. ”

"Is that all?" Shi Cheng asked.

Zhang Tian pondered for a while, shook his head and said, "I don't know about the rest." ”

"Do you know where this rumor comes from? Or what's so strange about it? ”

Zhang Tian still shook his head, "This rumor has spread widely in Yanzhou, so I really don't know where it came from, and I don't feel anything wrong." ”

One of Zhang Tian's fellow villagers responded on the side and said: "Yes, it's because the rumors spread too widely, and the government of our hometown also arrested people everywhere during that time, but because there were too many people who left their hometowns, they arrested all the Chita merchants in the state in a fit of anger, and I don't know what happened later." ”

Tie Mian snorted disdainfully, Shi Cheng also shook his head, and Wu Neng, Zhang Tian, and a few other retinues who were not so outspoken were embarrassed.

"Okay, let's not talk about that, let's go ask for directions first." Shi Cheng waved his hand, but he had already made up his mind in his heart, and was ready to send a letter to Zhao Ping when he returned home.

After walking in the alley for a while, Zhang Tian, who was standing behind Shi Cheng, saw a middle-aged woman washing clothes by a well not far away. Zhang Tian said to Shi Cheng: "Master, the woman in front may be that Wang Erniang, you stay here for a while, I'll go up and ask for directions first." ”

Shi Cheng nodded, and Zhang Tian walked quickly behind the middle-aged woman and asked, "This eldest sister, dare to ask if there is a family surnamed Lu in this alley?" There are two husband and wife, a son and a daughter, the husband and wife are about fifty years old, the son works on the docks, and the daughter works as a maid in a home. ”

The woman who was washing the clothes did not react, but continued to wash the clothes in the basin without even raising her head.

Zhang Tian felt slightly strange in his heart and asked again, but the woman still didn't react at all.

"It can't be that the ears are not good, right?" Zhang Tian thought in his heart, he raised his voice and asked loudly, "Eldest sister, can you hear me?" ”

The middle-aged woman finally had some reaction, she raised her head, gently stretched her somewhat hunched back, and then turned around and asked, "Who?" What's the matter? ”

At this time, Shi Cheng and the others also followed, and they also saw the process of Zhang Tian's questioning, so Shi Cheng got closer and asked with a pleasant face: "This eldest sister, we are businessmen who do business, and we want to ask you about a person." ”

The woman turned around, but when she saw Shi Cheng's face up close, her whole body couldn't help but twitch, and the blood color rushed onto the woman's face.

The middle-aged woman's expression at this time was difficult to describe, and the anger on her face was mixed with sadness and madness. The woman didn't say a word, she directly bent down and picked up the clothes pestle at her feet, and then she picked up her arm, held the wooden stick in her hand and smashed it towards Shi Cheng, scolding while smashing: "Kill the West Dog with a thousand knives, die!" Die! ”

The group was stunned, Shi Cheng hurriedly blocked the woman's wooden stick with his hand, and defended himself: "Eldest sister, is there any misunderstanding?" ”

As if she hadn't heard it, the woman still waved her stick and beat herself, crying and scolding while beating, and many words mixed in it were still incomprehensible to Shi Cheng.

However, Zhang Tian and the others quickly reacted, and they hurriedly stepped forward and separated the woman from Shi Cheng, but the woman was still crying and scolding, and several of Shi Cheng's entourages soon had a few finger marks on their faces.

The pedestrians next to him all gathered, and finally persuaded the middle-aged woman to return to the house.

A young man looked at Shi Cheng with a vigilant gaze and asked, "Son, you don't seem to be from the Western Desert, right?" ”

"Uh, I'm really not from the Western Desert, I'm a businessman who came to your country to do business, I originally wanted to ask the eldest sister just now for the next step, but I don't know if she misunderstood something?"

"Are you from the Peninsula Continent?"

"No, I'm from the Union Khanate." Shi Cheng replied very honestly.

The young man's face turned cold, "Well, I don't know who you're going to look for?" ”

"It's a family with the surname Lu." Zhang Tian replied while touching his hot face, "The old couple is about fifty years old, with a son and a daughter, the son works at the dock, and the daughter works in a big family. ”

"You're talking about Lu Bo, come with me, it just so happens that my house is not far from his house."

"I'm tired." Shi Cheng and Wu Neng both thanked him, but Tie Mian still stood aside without saying a word, as if what had just happened had nothing to do with him, and the group followed the young man and left the thatched hut where the middle-aged woman lived in a slightly embarrassed manner.

While walking on the road, the young man suddenly said to Shi Cheng: "Don't blame Sister Wang, her hometown is actually not here, but in Lizhou, on the western borderland, and it was her cousin who took her here when he saw her pitiful, and helped her from time to time." ”

"But I shouldn't have offended her, right?"

The young man did not answer Shi Cheng's question, but continued to speak to himself, "During the four-year war, she and her husband were requisitioned and sent away as civil husbands, and when the official army reached the city of Dongdan Wangcheng, she was shot by your Chita people, and her man died on the spot, and her ears were ......" Speaking of this, the young man turned back to the thatched hut and snorted, "You have seen it too. ”

"I see." Wu Neng nodded, then sighed, looked at Shi Cheng with his eyes, and said, "No wonder she has such an attitude towards you." ”

Shi Cheng didn't say anything, and he couldn't see any expression on his face, but just said very flatly, "So that's the case." ”

The young man saw Shi Cheng's expression, and the anger in his heart was even stronger, but he didn't say anything more, just snorted coldly and stopped talking.