Early in the morning, Shunxin store.

A man in his early twenties opened the door and saw two "clay figures", one tall and one short, standing on the steps.

It's really a mud figure, covered in mud. If it weren't for the sparkling eyes, the man almost thought it was a prank by some neighbor, and at night there were two clay statues of imps on the steps of the shop.

With an exclamation, he saw clearly that it was two children, and couldn't help but scold: "Where did the wild children come from, early in the morning, what are you going to do?"

The two children looked dressed as if they were from the mountains. The big one was a girl, not as tall as his shoulders. The fur on his back was stained with at least three catties of mud, and with the sharp eyes he had practiced for many years, he could barely tell that it was sewn from hare skin. In addition, the girl had a broken clay pot hanging from a mountain vine on her chest. Well, there are two clay porcelain bowls in the jar. One hand was tightly clasped on one hand of the other child, who was noticeably smaller, presumably a male doll, with a piece of fur tied with vines on his back, which was also dirty.

The guy came back to his senses and said straightly: early in the morning, as soon as he opened the store, he met two little Hanako.

No, the big one suddenly grinned at him: "Brother Fulai." ”

You actually recognize me! Aren't you asking for food? The Fulai guy was stunned, looking the girl up and down, but he couldn't remember where he had seen him.

"Are you ......," he asked hesitantly, "where did you come from?"

These two are the Shen family sisters and brothers.

Shen Jiumei replied heartily: "Niutouao." ”

Fulai is an old buddy of Shunxin store, and when he heard this, he suddenly realized: "It turned out to be a girl from the Shen family." He knew that the old lady of the owner family was surnamed Shen, and she was married from Niutouao Village. Last year, the owner's cousin also came to the shop to deliver mountain goods. It was a tall, thin mountain man with a clever female doll by his side. Oh my God, is that the girl doll in front of you?

Hehe, look at this muddy body...... He sneered and said politely: "It's really a female college eighteen changes." I didn't recognize it for a moment. "Seriously climb up relatives, the girl in front of me is the cousin and niece of the owner.

Shen Jiumei generously introduced: "This is my younger brother. Let's visit my aunt. ”

Shen Qiubao was coming for the first time, and he was very restrained. He pursed his lips slightly, and did not expose the lies of his own sister - on the way here, Shen Jiumei pondered for a long time, and felt that the disaster of Niutouao could not be told to outsiders, so she repeatedly explained to him that she must see her aunt and grandmother herself in order to tell the truth.

"Oooh oh. Fulai couldn't help but look the two of them up and down again, and replied, "It's still early, and the owner hasn't come to the front shop yet." Please wait here for a while, and I'll go back and ask the host. "There is a way, the emperor still has three poor relatives. What's more, the owner is a filial son, and as far as he knows, the old lady has not looked down on the people of her mother's family. He's just a buddy, and these two babies don't eat him or wear him, so he's naturally happy to be a favor.

"Hmm. Shen Jiumei nodded vigorously, took Qiu Bao's hand, and stood on the steps as she said, without moving half a step forward.

"Don't wander around. The man looked at the two of them again and hurried into the shop. After a while, a young man in his twenties dressed in a green cloth robe led him out of the store quickly.

Shen Jiumei had a good memory, she recognized it at a glance, and hurriedly shouted outside the store: "Uncle Cousin!"

The young man walked over in disbelief: "Are you the ninth sister?" and pointed at Shen Qiubao again, "This is Qiubao?"

Without waiting for Shen Jiumei's prompt, Shen Qiubao also called people crisply: "Uncle Cousin, I'm Qiubao." ”

"You ...... Hehe, they've grown so big. The cousin man inhaled, turned around and instructed Fulai, "You go and tell them to boil two buckets of hot water." "Well, these two children have fallen into the mud puddle......

"Yes. Fu Lai answered, and went back in trouble.

"Don't stand outside, come inside first. The cousin suspiciously brought the two children into the store, "Where's your father?"

Shen Jiumei shook her head honestly: "Father and mother...... It's all gone. Mother asked us to come to my aunt. ”

Uncle Cousin was stunned, and his eyelids jumped in shock. Something happened! He glanced quickly at the door of the store and said in a deep voice, "Let's go, go home." ”

Behind the shop is the second door. At the door, a fat old lady with a plain silver hairpin on her head and a blue cloth skirt was already standing at the door.

Seeing the three of them, she asked in a trembling voice, "Is it the ninth sister and Qiu Bao who came to the house?"

Shen Jiumei saw the familiar aunt and grandmother, and heard the concerned question, the sadness in her heart suddenly surged, she didn't care about unloading the things on her body, took three steps and made two steps, ran over, "fluttered", knelt down in front of the old lady, and cried: "Auntie, I am the ninth sister." Our village has suffered greatly...... Woowoo...... Grandma, Dad, and Mother are all gone. ”

Shen Qiubao followed closely behind, and also fell to his knees suddenly. He fell on the ground, but did not say a word.

"Ouch-", the old lady rolled her eyes, clutched her chest, and fell back in a daze.

"Old lady!" exclaimed the little girl.

"Mother!" Uncle Cousin stepped forward with an arrow and worked together with the little girl to hold the person.

The courtyard suddenly became chaotic. Two servants ran out of it, and they also shouted: "Old lady......"

"What's going on?"

When the old lady first heard the bad news, she couldn't stand it for a while, and fainted.

Uncle Cousin hurriedly picked her up, was embraced by the little girl and the servants, and while walking towards the East House, he quickly ordered: "You, take the Cousin and the young master to wash." ”

"Yes. A servant woman answered, walked out of the second door, stretched out her hand and beckoned, "Cousin, young master, come, follow me to wash." ”

Shen Qiubao looked at Shen Jiumei nervously - did they get into trouble just now?

The latter got up, helped him up, and nodded uneasily: "Oh. ”

In the bedroom of the East House.

With the help of the little girl and the servant, the cousin gently put the old lady on the bed.

"What the hell is going on?" said the old lady. As soon as her head touched the pillow, she grabbed her cousin's hand with tears in her eyes and asked.

Uncle Cousin sighed and motioned for the little girl and the servant to go out first. When the two of them were out of the bedroom door, he replied, "They just came to report the news." I haven't had time to ask yet. After a pause, he added, "It must be a big deal...... The matter has come out, mother, it's useless for us to be anxious now. The two children were covered in mud and had not eaten for several days. Poor, such a long way, I don't know how they got here. When they're done, I'll bring them here. Mother asked carefully. ”

"Yes. It's not a place to talk. The old lady closed her eyes in pain, two lines of cloudy tears slipped into her temples, and her mouth sobbed, "It's so decent, why is it all gone all of a sudden?"

Uncle Cousin didn't know how to answer, leaned over and pulled the thin quilt inside, gently covered her, and comforted her softly: "Mother, the matter has come to this, you must take care." The two children are still waiting for you to come up with an idea. "The adults of the old Shen family died all at once, and only two children remained. After all, he is a foreigner. The aftermath of his aunt and cousin and sister-in-law, as well as how to settle the two children, all depend on the mother's aunt and grandmother to make up their minds, and he can only help run errands, and it is inconvenient to intervene directly.

The old lady nodded with tears in her eyes: "Mother knows." You go to the shop first. When the two children are ready, bring them over. With a long sigh, she added, "Not a good thing." Tell me not to let the people below chew their tongues. Also, your daughter-in-law also has to explain there, telling her to take a good look at Zhu'er, eldest sister, and Sister Yu'er, and don't bring the children over today. Wait for the two children to settle down, and then let her come out to see her. ”

This means to temporarily block the news until the matter is clarified.

"Yes. Uncle Cousin tucked the corners of the quilt for her and got up to leave. The old lady has always been assertive, and she has seen wind and rain. It's the things in the shop in front of him, and he usually discusses them with the old lady. So, he wasn't worried that something would happen to the old lady. At the moment, what he is most worried about is what kind of catastrophe has happened to the other side of the Niutou Ao.