The market has gradually subsided again.

Some lamented, some cursed, and some wept bitterly over broken eggs.

It may have been his old mother who had saved up for half a month, and sent him to exchange it for salt, or even a packet of life-sustaining herbs - he was reluctant to throw it away, and he was not too dirty, but he was eager to collect every bit of eggs that flowed, but it was impossible to exchange them for money.

The market soon came back to bustling again.

rubbing shoulders, shouting loudly, weighing catties and talking about two, and the baht must be compared.

Liu Heng finally raised his head slowly.

Zheng Jiulong and his men have already gone away.

Ten paces away, someone was crying over a broken egg.

He saw that his little sister had a look of pity on his face, and he was already a little eager to try, and the second brother Chen Le also seemed to be a little unintentional in selling fish, the smile just now had already been put away, and there was a spark-like suppressed anger in the depths of his eyes.

Liu Heng stood up and quickly attracted the attention of Chen Le and Sanya.

"Brother. ”

They called him.

On the wall behind the three of them, there was a large clay pot, and on the outside of the clay pot was a wicker basket specially woven according to its size, and the mouth of the pot was covered with a straw lid with a gap.

The clay pot was filled with a lot of water, and it was very heavy, but Liu Heng still picked it up steadily.

Chen Le took the handle, and Liu Heng carried it smoothly.

Then he turned and said, "In about an hour I will return." ”

said to Chen Le: "Be optimistic about the stall, don't quarrel with the mouth!"

Turning his head to look at Sanya, there was a touch of pampering in his eyes, and he was a little helpless, but he still said, "Don't give him too much." It doesn't matter how much you do good, you can help some, but you can do your best. ”

Both nodded obediently in agreement.

After saying these words, Liu Heng carried a big basket on his back and turned around and walked towards the door of the market.

After leaving Shimoichi, head north along the wide street, and after three street turns, turn east, and walk two more streets to enter the northern part of the town where the powerful families of Ono Castle live.

Liu Heng's figure is not tall, and he is also thin, but his steps are fast, and Rao is carrying a large jar of water on his back does not seem to affect his speed, but with a stick of incense, he has seen the lofty archway at the mouth of Zhoujia Alley from a distance.

There is no rare material, the cornerstone is the big bluestone that can be seen everywhere in the big weir mountain, the pillar is a tall and straight crown pine, the archway is painted with colorful clouds, and the painting is exquisite. In the middle are four upright and vigorous big characters - Xianjia Gate.

In the entire Ono Castle, there are only four families who are qualified to set up such a torii outside their own house.

When passing by the archway, Liu Heng subconsciously stopped again, looked up, and looked at the four big characters of "Xianjiamendi"!

The sun is a little harsh.

He pursed his lips, his eyebrows furrowed, and his eyes narrowed slightly.

It took a long time for him to withdraw his gaze and continue to walk quickly and silently.

In this street, there is only the Zhou family.

The gate of five rooms and five frames is majestic and majestic, the dismount stake and dismount stone on the left side of the gate are polished smooth and shiny, and a prancing horse stone carving on the right side roars and gallops, as if telling the heroic past of the master's family.

Looking at the gate of the Zhou family from afar, inadvertently, the past suddenly returned to his heart.

Looking back, nine years have passed since then.

But no matter how long it takes, for Liu Heng, it is still vivid.

I remember that winter was really cold, and his thin cloth robe was not only missing a sleeve, but could only be bare-chested, and the back hem was missing a piece at some point, and even half of his buttocks were exposed.

That year, it snowed for a day and a night, and his only remaining assets, apart from his clothes, which could no longer stop anything, were only an abandoned ownerless house in the corner of the city, which had collapsed most of its part, and only a few corners of the house to live in, and a bunch of hay in his arms.

However, after the heavy snowfall, two stronger beggars found out there, and with a burst of punches and kicks, Liu Heng, who wanted to defend his last bit of survival rights, was directly knocked unconscious and thrown out like a dead dog.

At last, with the last of his strength, he limped out of the place with great humiliation and sorrow at the foreknowledge that he might soon die, amid the shivering laughter of two strong beggars.

Indeed, he almost died on the street, becoming one of dozens of "road downs" in Ohno Castle that winter.

But fortunately, half-life and half-dead, he was so hungry that he could barely tell the direction, and inadvertently collided with the horse team of the eldest son of the Zhou family who was about to go out for snow hunting.

The son of the Zhou family was a little unhappy at first, but after seeing Liu Heng's miserable appearance, especially seeing that he looked like he might fall to the ground at any time, he was kind for a while, and ordered his subordinates to set up Liu Heng and send him to a steamed bun shop not far away, bought him four hot steamed buns, and asked the store to bring him a bowl of hot soup.

It was those four steamed buns and the bowl of hot soup that made Liu Heng survive the coldest winter.

The life of a person who is cheap is so hard.

If you have a glimmer of life, you will never die easily.

Since then, every year on the morning of the first day of the Lunar New Year, he will kowtow three times in front of Zhou's house.

Kowtow and shout, "Thank you for your life!"

Kowtow again and shout, "The villain kowtowed to you!"

Kowtow again and shout, "You have a good New Year, auspicious every year, and live a long life!"

Then without waiting for the Zhou family to reward, he got up and left.

Later, he grew up year by year, no matter how hard it was, it couldn't be difficult that winter, and then later, he gradually met a few little beggars who were similar to him back then, he was similar to them, they were all bullied by those big beggars, and at that time, although he couldn't beat them, he had begun to dare to fight them.

So, he became the eldest brother of several of the little beggars.

He took them to beg, he took them to pick up leftover leaves, he took them to deliver letters, he bought food for a few feet, he led them to fight, he beat their heads to the point of bleeding, just to fight for the right to continue begging, just to fight for the right to sleep next to the fallen god of some ruined temple.

Three years ago, he didn't know how old he was, maybe fourteen, maybe fifteen, maybe thirteen, and he decided not to be a beggar anymore.

Thirty-eight miles outside the city is Onozawa, where there are countless birds, beasts, fish and turtles in the waters for hundreds of miles, which can be eaten when they are caught and roasted, and can be eaten without baking.

People were afraid of the yokai in Ohnozawa, and no one dared to go fishing, but he was not afraid.

So, he took his three younger siblings with a harpoon, half a broken net, and a broken boat that had been abandoned next to Onozawa for many years, and only the boat gang remained, becoming the only fisherman around Onozawa.

Since then, every time he goes into the water to fish, no matter how much he catches, he will definitely choose the biggest and best fish, raise it alive, and carry it to Daye City for 38 miles and send it to Zhou's family.

Don't want money.

Give the fish, turn around and go.

Over and over.

............

After the gate of Zhou's house, go to the end of the alley and turn left, about one hundred and twenty steps, is the small gate of Zhou's house.

The doors are open, the hosts come in and out, and the guests come and go.

The small door was opened, and servants, servants, slaves, and chariots and horses entered and exited.

The old beard played chess with someone in the door again.

He was killing so much, regardless of it, Liu Heng was not in a hurry, he unloaded the basket himself, and squatted on the side to watch the two of them play chess. After half a cup of tea, the old beard lost again.

He looked at the chessboard reluctantly, muttered in his mouth, groped and took out two copper coins from his arms, and threw them to the person dressed as the Zhou family on the opposite side, and then turned his head to see Liu Heng.

His eyes narrowed, "Are you stupid to deliver fish again?"

Liu Heng smiled and didn't speak.

In that smile, there is the simplicity and shyness unique to poor people.

The old beard looked angry, "It's not good to get a few fish by yourself and exchange them for money to support your younger brothers and sisters? It's not good to add clothes to yourself? Do you have to fill in here? How big is the Zhou family, and how much money does it cost for each meal, and how rare is your fish? Do you know that the fish you have worked so hard to carry for dozens of miles will end up in the mouth of a cat or a dog?"

Liu Heng continued to laugh, and didn't seem to have the intention of opening his mouth to refute.

It wasn't until he was stared at by the old beard for a long time that he reluctantly spoke, and said with a smile: "I just want everyone to know that if you do good deeds and be a good person, you will always be rewarded for him." Even if it's just a fish. ”

The old bearded man sneered and said, "Fool!"

But he still arranged for someone to take Liu Heng to the kitchen to deliver fish, and told him: "When you come back, you must accompany me for the next plate!"

Liu Heng just shook his head and said with a smile: "I don't gamble if I gamble." ”

But after sending the fish back with the empty can, he was still pulled by the old beard, until the old beard promised that no matter whether he won or lost, he would not gamble, and he sat down opposite the old beard.

Lao Hu plays chess, his style is extremely sharp, he looks like a young man in his teens and twenties, but Liu Heng, a real young man who is less than twenty years old, plays chess and cowers, which makes Lao Hu Tou extremely disdainful.

He said, "You shouldn't call me Grandpa Hu, I should call you Grandpa Liu." ...... It's like an old man! They all said they don't gamble, they don't gamble!

Liu Heng only laughed when he heard this, and was not provoked by him.

The situation on the chessboard is the same as always, the old beard is majestic as soon as he comes up, and Liu Heng is from the beginning step by step and retreat step by step, making it extremely difficult for the old beard to eat.

However, in fact, it was only a cup of tea, and the old beard won.

So he was open-minded and commented in an old-fashioned manner: "Although you are stupid, you are playing chess well." ”

The few Zhou family members who were watching chess around did not care about the identity of the deputy head of Lao Hutou, but coaxed one after another, saying Grandpa Hu, you can't even let Liu Heng see it.

So the old beard was so angry that he scolded.

Liu Heng still just smiled stupidly, but took out two copper coins from his arms and said, "Grandpa Hu, it's not that I lost, this is what I invite you to drink!"

The old beard glanced at him disdainfully, took the money, and said, "What kind of wine are enough for two copper coins?"

At this time, Liu Heng picked up the basket and was about to leave, but the old beard suddenly stood up and ordered: "I think there are some things to do, you watch the door." Then walked out of the door side by side with Liu Heng.