The three of them talked about it, and after walking dozens of feet, they turned to an alley on the west side. Li Qiufeng saw that there were very few lights in the houses in the village, and the streets were empty, so he felt a little strange in his heart, and said to Wang Xiaoyu: "Miss Wang, why do the people in the village rarely light up the lamps, and rarely see people on the street during the day and night?"

Wang Xiaoyu said: "We have more than 200 households in Zhuangzi, with a population of more than 1,000 people, and about 200 strong men. A few years ago, there were still some fields outside the Zhuangzi for the people in the village to cultivate, and everyone worked at sunrise and rested at sunset, which was not as deserted as it is now. Later, Lao Weng Mountain was not very peaceful, and the field was deserted. The people in the village have no land to plant, and most of them can only stay in the village to do some small work. These days, because they are busy building temples on the Motian Ridge, the Zhuang Ding in the village is divided into several groups, one group goes to other places to purchase wood and bricks, and the other group is busy with Uncle Wang on the top of the mountain. Everyone is tired and exhausted, because it is not dark, and they often fall asleep. The people are used to saving again, and they are not willing to use lamp oil and candles more. After dark, if there is no unavoidable thing, very few people will light the lamp and boil the oil. ”

As the three of them spoke, they had turned into the alley. The houses in Wangjiazhuang are almost identical, and although they have walked more than 100 steps, they seem to be spinning in place. Murong Danyan said with a smile: "Sister Xiaoyu, the houses in Guizhuang are all exactly the same, if outsiders enter the village at the first time, I am afraid that they will have to get lost." ”

Wang Xiaoyu said: "When my father built this Zhuangzi, he didn't have much silver in his hand. It is to save as much money as possible when building a house. If you build a house like this, you can save a lot of money by using bricks and tiles. Later, I realized that there was another advantage of building a house in this way, that is, it was almost exactly the same everywhere in the village. If there is a thief who doesn't know the details of the village to do bad things, he has to confuse himself. A few years ago, someone went to Zhuangzi with bad intentions, but after coming in, he got lost, tossed around for a night, but failed to get out of Zhuangzi, and when the next day was bright, he was caught by the patrolling Zhuang Ding. Since then, when my father and Uncle Wang built a new house, they also built it in the shape of the old house. ”

Wang Xiaoyu's voice did not fall, but he heard a commotion not far ahead. Wang Xiaoyu lowered his voice and said, "Did you hear it?" When they came to the village, they either wanted to eat and drink, or they were noisy, and they were throwing dice and gambling money. If it were the villagers of our Wangjiazhuang, they would have been driven out of Zhuangzi by Uncle Wang a long time ago. ”

The three of them walked forward a few dozen steps, and there was a house on the left with two lanterns hanging at the door, and the light also came out of the window, illuminating the front of the door. The noise came from this courtyard. I saw four Zhuang Ding from Wangjiazhuang standing at the door, who were talking quietly together. Seeing the three people coming over, one of them shouted: "What person, report your name!"

Wang Xiaoyu walked a few steps quickly, and when he arrived in front of the four of them, he lowered his voice and said, "It's me!"

By the light of the lantern, the four Zhuang Ding were surprised to see a handsome little servant coming over. The four of them thought that this little servant was very familiar, but they did not recognize who he was. just heard the maid speak, and immediately heard Wang Xiaoyu's voice. The four Zhuang Ding were shocked, looked carefully again, and then recognized that the little maid in front of them was played by the eldest lady. The four of them hurriedly bowed and saluted, and they were all a little shocked in their hearts.

Wang Xiaoyu frowned when he heard the noise coming from the courtyard, and said in a low voice, "These mud-legged people are not making trouble, right?"

A Zhuang Ding said with a smiling face: "Miss Haojiao knows that these bastards originally wanted to make trouble, but in the evening, Steward Wang came, first reprimanded these bastards, and promised to add a meat dish to them, so these mud legs are honest." After eating and drinking, although it was still very noisy, it didn't mess with us. Alas, it is not known when the construction of the temple will begin. After a few more days, these people still don't know what kind of demon moths they are going to make. ”

Zhuang Ding said this, paused slightly, and then asked cautiously: "Miss, you, why are you dressed like this......

Wang Xiaoyu raised his eyebrows, glanced at him, and said, "What, can't I dress like this?"

That Zhuang Ding heard Wang Xiaoyu's tone was not good, and his heart sank. He knew that Miss Wang had always said the same thing in Zhuangzi, and no one dared to mess with her. In the past two days, I don't know what means the eldest lady used to drive out the martial brothers and sisters who were originally flying in Zhuangzi out of Zhuangzi. And many people have legends behind their backs that after the Wu brothers and sisters were driven out of Zhuangzi, the eldest lady sent someone to ambush outside the village, killed the Wu brothers and sisters, and then buried their bodies in the wilderness. Although I don't know if this matter is true or not, I really didn't see the Wu brothers and sisters appear in the past two days. Everyone was even more afraid of Wang Xiaoyu, for fear that if she was unhappy, she would be in trouble. Seeing Wang Xiaoyu like this at this time, this Zhuang Ding was shocked and frightened, and couldn't help but tremble and said: "No, no, it's small, villain nonsense, eldest miss, eldest lady don't be angry......"

When Zhuang Ding said this, he only felt that his knees were weak, and he knelt on the ground with a "plop". Seeing him like this, Wang Xiaoyu was disdainful, pouted and said, "I won't do anything to you, but you are scared like this, you are really." Hurry up, don't be embarrassed in front of us. ”

Although Zhuang Ding was not polite when he heard Wang Xiaoyu's words, he did not mean to punish himself, so he put his heart back in his stomach and struggled to get up. The other three Zhuang Ding stood with their hands hanging on the side, and they didn't even dare to make a sound.

Wang Xiaoyu snorted and said, "Open the door, I'll go in and take a look." ”

The Zhuang Ding was startled, and said in a trembling voice: "These mud legs are all rough people, why should the eldest lady bother with them? ”

Wang Xiaoyu sneered: "I'll leave it to you? Have you done it? Without further ado, open the door quickly." ”

The four Zhuang Ding looked at each other, although they were worried that Wang Xiaoyu would have a conflict with Zhuang Ding of Majiazhuang after entering the hospital, but they did not dare to disobey her orders. Zhuang Ding, who was so frightened by Wang Xiaoyu that he knelt on the ground, thought to himself, the eldest lady has always said the same, we heroes don't suffer losses in front of us, open the door for him first. In the future, if the owner and Steward Wang are to blame, as long as it is the eldest lady who forced us to open the door, the owner and Steward Wang will not punish us.

Thinking of this, the Zhuang Ding hurriedly turned around and pulled out the latch on the door, bowed down and said, "Miss, please come in." ”

Wang Xiaoyu walked to the door, turned his head to Li Qiufeng and Murong Danyan and said, "Come in with me." After she finished speaking, she looked at the four Zhuang Ding again, and said, "The four of you will stay outside the door, and you don't have to enter the hospital." ”

The four Zhuang Ding agreed, took two steps back, and stood on the left and right sides of the gate, making a look of not squinting. Wang Xiaoyu crossed the threshold and walked into the courtyard, and Li Qiufeng and Murong Danyan followed her and walked in. This courtyard is not big, it is a triple courtyard. At this time, the papier-mâché windows of the three rooms were full of figures, mixed with the clanging sound of the dice hitting the bowls.

Wang Xiaoyu lowered his voice and said to Li Qiufeng: "That kid lives in the wing room on the left. When I came here in the morning to make rounds, everyone else was gambling and making noise, but he sat silently in the corner and pretended to sleep. ”

Murong Danyan saw Wang Xiaoyu mention the young man, his voice was a little surprised, and he wanted to take the opportunity to squeeze Wang Xiaoyu a few words. Just after thinking about it, Wang Xiaoyu was at the beginning of his love, and it was not unusual for him to have a good impression of the young man. If he made fun of her about this, he was afraid that Wang Xiaoyu would be thin-skinned and would no longer dare to talk to the young man, maybe he would ruin a marriage. Only then did he endure not to speak, but there was a faint smile in his eyes.

Li Qiufeng nodded, quietly walked to the window of the left wing, put his right index finger in his mouth and dipped it, and then gently pressed it on the window paper. A moment later, a small hole appeared in the window paper. Li Qiufeng put his eyes to the small hole and carefully observed the situation in the house.

I saw a few candles lit in the house. By candlelight, twenty or thirty people could be seen sitting or standing in the room. These people are divided into several groups, and they are rolling dice to gamble money, and from time to time they let out bursts of laughter and scolding. Several people were lying in straw on the ground, seemingly sleeping. But in the corner on the left side of the room, the boy was sitting with his back to the wall, hugging his knees. I saw that his eyes seemed to be open, and he didn't seem to care about the situation around him.