A day later, Qin Zhongyu, who was wrapped and standing outside the fence gate, quietly looked at the stone in the yard, the lonely stone, on which a mother and son used to sit, looking at the fence door wordlessly, expecting a familiar figure to appear, but when it got dark, the figure did not appear, and it never appeared again...

The leaves of the old locust tree at the head of the village were suddenly rustled by the wind, and there was a figure under the tree at some point, unable to see the outline, unable to see the appearance, and straightened to look at the two small figures outside the village head gradually drifting away...

Xiuyang City is cloudy in the sky today, outside the city gate, two children with packages on their backs stood there for a long time, one with a smile, the other with a solemn face, looking at the tall city wall and city gate, watching the flow of people coming and going,

Seeing such a lively place for the first time, Qin Zhongyu seemed a little happy, and said to Li Gou:

"Wow, big brother, there are so many people, it's so lively! It seems like it's going to rain, let's go, let's go into the city, we don't have umbrellas." ”

"Well, of course the city is lively today, you forgot, today is the day of admission to Yucai Academy, and there are many people nearby, go, Yu'er, let's go in." ”

Li Gou held Qin Zhongyu with one hand, shook the burden with the other, and entered the city with a firm look.

After passing the city gate, you will see a stone brick avenue more than two zhang wide leading straight ahead, the avenue is lined with shops and restaurants, all kinds of carriages and crowds come and go with a lot of shouting.

"Sell rock sugar gourds, sweet and sour rock sugar gourds... ”

"Selling cloth ... Selling cloth. The best hydrangea cloth. Sell cloth... ”

。。。。。。

Li Gou took Qin Zhongyu to a restaurant, looked at the shopkeeper who was shouting and drinking, and after a while, seeing that he was not busy, he walked forward,

Feeling that someone was coming from behind, the little second thought that there was a guest, so he turned around and lowered his waist and opened his throat and shouted:

"Guest officer, please inside, our store has good wine. Where is it called Hanako, go and go... ”

Looking at Xiao Er like this, Li Gou didn't have anything, just smiled and said:

"This big brother, you misunderstood, we are not called Hanako, we just want to ask you how to get to Yucai Academy. ”

The little second looked at the two children seriously and said:

"Oh, that's it, Yucai Academy, it's easy to find, you look at the intersection in front, turn left and keep walking forward, and you see a statue of the master at the door. ”

"Thank you, big brother... After speaking, he left with Qin Zhongyu.

"Big brother, aren't we going to look for a job? Why are you asking about the academy? You don't need a guy there, besides, my admission voucher is gone, why are you looking for the academy?" Qin Zhongyu asked suspiciously.

Li Gou just smiled and said:

"Oh, I'm just asking around and familiarizing myself with the road, so let's go ahead first. ”

When I was about to walk to the crossroads, the sky was thundering and raining heavily, and there happened to be a three-story inn next to it, called Laiyuan Inn, with two floors of accommodation on the first floor, and four big pillars at the door lifted up the upper two floors to stretch out of the part, just to hide from the rain,

Several people in the same group also went there to hide from the rain, and the two hurried to the corner of the inn to hide from the rain, but the rain was endless, and it never stopped.

Li Gou said to Qin Zhongyu:

"Yu'er, I don't know when the rain will stop, you wait for me here, take care of the clothes inside, don't let them get wet. I'll see if there's a job to do, I'll come back and pick you up, and I'll give you a new pair of shoes, hehe, maybe there are other surprises, remember not to leave, wait for me to come back,,。 ”

After that, he had to leave in the rain with a patched garment.

Qin Zhongyu suddenly grabbed Li Gou and put the ring stone pendant he was wearing into Li Gou's hand:

"Big brother, take it, my mother said that this is a lucky ring, which will bring good luck to people. ”

Li Gou looked at Qin Zhongyu quietly, and there was a faint residual warmth of the lucky ring in his hand, and after a while, he nodded heavily and replied with a "um", and then followed the sentence behind him, "Big brother, be careful... The sound was drowned out in the rain.

Next to a statue of the Master holding a folding fan stood a child dressed in tatters, looking at the front gate with a crowd of people coming in and out, and a young man sitting opposite a table next to the door, with clear eyebrows and beautiful eyes, a seat in white, often taking the list handed out by the people who entered.

There were many carriages in front of the door, and there were people going up and down on the carriage from time to time, regardless of adults and children, all dressed richly, but they didn't know what kind of fabric those clothes were made of.

When he came to the young man in white, the young man looked at him with strange eyes and asked:

"Little brother, you're also here to enroll?"

"Well, I sent my brother to school, and this is the voucher. After speaking, he took out a voucher from his bosom and handed it to the young man.

The young man looked at it, made sure that it was correct, and said:

"Turn right when you enter the door and pay the fee over there. This is the voucher to go and pay the fee, take it, go in, next. ”

When you enter the door, you will see a large circular garden in front, many paths around the garden extend in many directions, a wooden building with several floors stands in front, and there are many people dressed in white on the road, some are old, and some are like the size of their younger brother, coming and going, laughing happily,

When many people saw their appearance, they all cast strange glances, some pointing, and some covering their mouths and whispering.

Turn right and follow the crowd to the place where the fee is paid, but a few feet ago in that place, he couldn't take a step, the sound of the "rustling" rain didn't seem to be as loud as the fluttering sound in his chest, twenty taels, he couldn't take it out, just to try his luck, to see if he could use his work in the academy to offset the tuition for his younger brother,

It's just that now, I don't know how to speak, and when it seems that no one is paying there, I muster up the courage to walk towards the payment office with the patched clothes.

"Hello uncle, I would like to ask if I can offset my tuition by working at the academy? I want to send my younger brother to school, this is the voucher. ”

Hearing the child's immature voice, the middle-aged people who were sorting out the vouchers and making calculations looked at the person who was talking in front of them, more than three feet tall, tattered, like a flower child, the whole body was basically drenched, and the clothes held in his left hand kept dripping with water droplets, ticking and ticking, just handed to the payment voucher on the table, and there was indeed not a single raindrop on it.

Looking at the tattered child in front of him, several of the principals who paid the bill unexpectedly no one laughed at him,

An eight- or nine-year-old child can have such a responsibility, and he is a person who deserves respect, not to laugh at him. But in the face of such a child who is brave for his younger brother, everyone didn't know how to speak, and a moment later a director said helplessly:

"I'm sorry, kid, there's no work in the academy for you to do, the key is that the academy just sent a notice, the staff is full, wait for the next college recruitment, but I don't know when it will be open to the public... ”

Before he finished speaking, the clothes in Li Gou's hands slipped off in an uproar, and a lonely look appeared on his resolute face, and then he turned around and walked out with an "oh", and even forgot to pick up the lonely, still dripping clothes lying on the ground.