Chapter 5: A Blessing in Disguise
Money in hand, people feel ambiguous, money is hard money, this is dozens of miles of mountain roads, in the cold and freezing in exchange for the harvest.
Fu Xiaowa began to think about the distribution of this money in his heart, he planned to keep some of himself and give it to Uncle Zhang in the village, Uncle Zhang's waist is not good, he has been unable to work for several days, and he has some difficulties in life.
Just as the little frog was thinking, he was patted on the shoulder at this time, and when he looked back, it was a dirty face, and he paid attention to it, it turned out to be the little beggar he met yesterday.
The little beggar, still in tatters, looked at the frog and smiled and showed two rows of teeth.
"Are you hungry, I can buy you a cake!" Fu Xiaowa thought that the little beggar was hungry again.
This faint sentence set off infinite waves in people's hearts, and the little beggar was moved in his heart, I don't know what kind of person this is, he only has five cents, and he has to help people buy cakes.
The little beggar shook his head and said: "No, I'm not hungry today, I'm full, you still have to keep the five cents for yourself, thank you for the cake yesterday, if it wasn't for that cake, maybe I would have died of cold and starvation last night, I will definitely promise you this great favor!"
Fu Xiaowa never thought of reciprocating for his help, he smiled faintly: "Oh, no need, it's just half a cake, I'll go back first if it's okay!"
Seeing that Fu Xiaowa was leaving, the little beggar hurriedly grabbed Fu Xiaowa's hand and said: "Don't go, although it's just half a cake, it's also half my life, I must repay this great kindness, in fact, I'll tell you frankly, I have a little way to make money, I can take you with me, it's a gratitude, you just need to do me a little favor, after the matter is done, share half of your benefits, I see that you are good and kind to me, I will take you, I will ignore others!"
Fu Xiaowa turned around and said, "You don't need to use the benefits, if you have anything to help, just say it!"
"Okay, let's get things done first, come with me!" beckoned the little beggar mysteriously.
Fu Xiaowa put away the money and followed behind the little beggar in a daze.
On the winter street, two thin figures walked one after the other, and under the leadership of the little beggar, the two came to an empty alley.
"Alright, here we are!" said the little beggar, turning his head.
Fu Xiaowa looked left and right, there was nothing everywhere and couldn't help but wonder, "What are you bringing me here for?"
The little beggar's eyes rolled and said: "That's the case, I have a piece of clothing, which was taken in by the dog of this family, you know that I have few clothes on this cold day, and I want to go in today to get the clothes back!"
"This ...... This isn't good!" Fu Xiaowa looked at the dog hole under the wall.
"Look I'm cold!" said the little beggar, pretending to shiver.
"This ...... This ......" Fu Xiaowa hesitated.
"Quick, quick-forward, find the dog and get the clothes and go, hurry!" the little beggar pushed.
Fu Xiaowa was pushed and reluctantly got into the dog hole, both of which were children, and it was quite reluctant to drill this dog hole.
Drilling into the yard, the little frog was suddenly shocked by the scenery in front of him, this is the backyard of a large family, rockery flowers and plants, small bridges and flowing water, there is a rich family's taste.
This was not the time for the two of them to enjoy the scenery, Fu Xiaowa looked around to see if there were any dogs and any clothes that had been dropped, and the little beggar quickly crossed the small bridge to the corner of a big house.
After looking around for a while, the little beggar beckoned to the little frog and lowered his voice: "This dog is over here, come here!"
"Huh?" The little frog who sneaked into someone else's house was also very nervous, and slipped across the small bridge to the corner.
"Squat!" The little beggar pressed the little frog, and the little frog didn't understand what was going on, so he was trampled on the shoulder by the little beggar, and there was a shoulder pad, and the little beggar climbed up to the windowsill quickly, jumped into the house from the windowsill, and immediately handed out a vase with one hand, only to hear the voice of the little beggar in the house: "Take it, hurry up!"
"You, you're not looking for clothes, it's you stealing, you're ......" The little frog was suddenly stunned and took the vase in a daze.
"Hurry up!" I saw the little beggar jump out of the window and run away with the little frog.
Woohoo!
There must be a dog in the dog hole, and suddenly a huge yellow dog rushed out and pounced on the two people like an arrow, and the two people were frightened and drilled out of the dog hole.
Somehow, the big yellow dog didn't bite Fu Xiaowa, but bit the little beggar's clothes and pulled it in one bite, which frightened the little beggar and screamed, and the vase in his hand fell to the ground with a clatter.
Fu Xiaowa in front of him didn't take the ground and drilled out of the dog hole, he was thin and small, and after several struggles, he also squeezed out of the wall, and his arms were scratched.
Coming to the outside of the fence, Fu Xiaowa gasped for breath, now it is safe, there are alleys on both sides, and he can run without a trace in only a few steps.
But he did not run with his legs outstretched, nor did he move his steps, for he heard the cries for help from the little beggar in the wall, and if he was caught, the little beggar would have been beaten half to death.
Without a hint of hesitation, he bent down and went back to the dog hole again, he wanted to save the little beggar, although the little beggar could be said to have never known him.
Fu Xiaowa desperately drilled in, thinking about saving the little beggar as soon as possible, but as soon as he entered the dog hole, what happened in front of him made him feel blank.
I saw that five or six strong men had already pressed the little beggar to the snow, the little beggar was crying and struggling on the ground, and the big yellow dog was also led away.
"There's one more, quick, catch him!"
Several strong men quickly dragged Fu Xiaowa out of the dog hole, but before the little frog could react, it was like being dragged out of the dog hole by a whoosh, and was pressed to the ground by several big strong men, and his arm was controlled by his back.
"Good boy, dare to steal from the Tai'an Martial Arts Hall, I'm impatient!" said a big man viciously, his hands almost pressing the heads of the two children into the mud.
"Kill these two rabbit cubs, dare to steal in our Tai'an Martial Arts Hall!" a strong man shouted, although the stolen things are not expensive, a vase is not worth a few dollars, but at least they will be beaten half to death, in fact, no one will pay attention to how many such beggars are killed.
The little beggar was suddenly afraid, he couldn't hold back the fear in his heart, yes, he was just a child, a child who had never been in the world, but now he was facing the situation of life and death, and his heart was already fearless, and he cried out loudly: "I know it's wrong, don't kill me, don't kill me!"
But no matter how pitiful the thief shouted, a few strong men still had to teach the two thieves a hard lesson, only to see that a few people had already rolled up their sleeves and were about to start.
"Wait a minute!"
The sudden voice stopped the movements of these strong men, this was an old man who looked like a butler, this old man paced in front of the two thieves, and staggered a few steps.
"Steward Huang, how to deal with these two thieves?" The family members waited for Steward Huang's decision, but they knew that Steward Huang was notoriously stern and ruthless, and even they were afraid on weekdays, and it was estimated that the fate of these two thieves would be even worse.
The yellow butler touched his beard, looked at the little thief who was pressed on the ground, and said in a low voice, "Which of you two is the leader?"
The little beggar was so frightened at the moment that he cried out: "It's not me, it's not me, don't beat me, don't beat me!"
Fu Xiaowa was silent, he raised his head, his eyes radiated a firm look: "It's me, I'm the head, hit me if you want to, let him go, he's still a child!"
"Is that you?" Steward Huang stroked his beard and said, "Didn't you drill out just now, why did you drill back again?"
"Let him go, I asked him to steal things, I need a helper, he doesn't know anything, if he wants to beat me, he will beat me!" Fu Xiaowa was relieved, anyway, one was beaten, and the two were also beaten, so it was better to let him suffer alone. ...,
In this cold winter, there is one person whose heart is hot, and that is the little beggar. The two lines of tears that flowed from the little beggar's eyes were not the tears that he cried out just now, but because of the qiē done by this brother who had never known each other.
Steward Huang touched his beard and said, "Okay, very good, it's okay to pick it up alone, okay, your brother can go, but you need to stay and accept a punishment!"
"Then please let him go, what punishment is there, I will bear it!" Fu Xiaowa's eyes radiated a determined light.
"Let go of that little thief!" Manager Huang raised his eyebrows and motioned for a few strong men to release the little beggar.
"Yes, Lord Steward!"
Several strong men let go of their hands, and the little beggar got up from the ground and kowtowed on the ground like a shallot on the ground.
The yellow housekeeper swept his eyes at Fu Xiaowa, and said sternly: "Do you know how much this vase is, two taels of silver, do you have the money to compensate?"
Fu Xiaowa's scalp was numb, and he stammered: "Two, two taels of silver, I'll ...... I don't, I can promise it will pay!"
"What are you going to pay for, how can I trust you?" Steward Huang sneered contemptuously.
"Please believe me, if you don't eat or drink, I will also make money to compensate you!" Fu Xiaowa's head hung lower, if he let him go, he would definitely make enough money to come back and compensate for the vase, but he didn't allow others to believe it, who would believe that a thief would come back again to compensate for this damn vase if he left.
Steward Huang habitually touched his chin and said: "That's it, I won't beat you, but you must pay for this vase, I thought about it, you can't take out the money now, in this way, you are a handyman in the martial arts hall, and you are paid three taels of silver a month, and you can leave if you lose the vase, or you can continue to stay and do it, how about it?"
"Yes!" Fu Xiaowa raised his head, and only after he finished answering did he start to calculate, if he chops firewood for only one hundred and fifty yuan a month, that is, one or two halves of silver, and it will take two months if he doesn't eat or drink, if he is here for less than a month, he can pay it back, and continue to do it here in the future, but he earns three taels of silver a month, which is much better than chopping wood.
This one...... The punishment seems to be ...... Seem...... Not bad......
At this time, the family next to him said puzzledly: "Huang ...... Steward Huang, this ...... People outside who want to enter the Tai'an Martial Arts Hall to do things, they are about to step on the threshold, and now there are a lot of applicants outside, and there are many strong ones, you, do you want him to enter the martial arts hall to do things?"
"Yes, yes, if you let my cousin come in to do something, don't say two taels of silver, it won't be a problem to pay you ten taels of silver in private!" another strong man said in a low voice.
Steward Huang shook his hand and said, "Okay, that's it, this is my decision, let them go!"
A few strong men sighed and let go of the little frog, they don't have to worry about the two children running away now, because I don't know how many people have sharpened their heads and want to enter the Tai'an Martial Arts Hall to do things, working in the Tai'an Martial Arts Hall is not only highly paid, but also has things to distribute during the New Year's Festival, how many people want to come in with a relationship, but they can't get in.
When Fu Xiaowa was still wondering, he saw this housekeeper clearly, and then he remembered that this was the housekeeper who bought firewood last night.
"You are, this is ......," Fu Xiaowa stammered.
"Okay, I know you're not the leader, and you won't steal anything, so you'll live in a firewood house in the future, and be responsible for carrying water and chopping firewood every day, but is there a problem?" Huang Sande stroked his beard and said.
"No, no problem, that, can my brother also stay......" Fu Xiaowa asked cautiously.
"He?" Huang Sande glanced at it and said casually: "Stay, stay, as long as you can take a good look at him!"
"Thank you, Mr. Huang, thank you, thank you!" Fu Xiaowa kowtowed several times on the ground.
"Then let's do it first!" Huang Sande habitually straightened the cotton hat on his head and turned away.
Huang Sande left, leaving behind some unwilling strong men on the snow, as well as two boys who were blessed by misfortune. '''''''