This is not the first time Zhang Xiaohua has come to the market in Lu Town, after all, it is the most lively time of the year, and it is also the most lively place within a radius of dozens of miles, and he has been here every year since he can remember. But when I came here before, my memory was all those sugar people, pastries and other food, and there was no other content, so I never thought of crowding, or that shuttling in the crowd was a game to make the young him fun. This time, when he stood at the north entrance of the street, looking at the crowded crowd, looking at the shops and stalls selling all kinds of goods, gadgets, and food on the street, Zhang Xiaohua only hated to have a few eyes.

Zhang Cai's family followed the flow of people, from the north entrance of the street, and slowly walked to the depths of the street. Every time they walked through a shop, they had to squeeze in to take a look, whether it was the silk they were selling, or the antiques they were selling, or even a pharmacy, they also stopped for a moment. The three Zhang Xiaohua brothers not only looked at the things they were selling, but also paid attention to the crowd around them, when they saw so many people in the small mountain village on weekdays, especially the girls who were dressed up beautifully and showed off their flowers, which attracted the attention of the teenagers even more. It's a pity that the three of them look ordinary, dressed simply, and look like people living in mountain villages, and the girls' eyes have slipped past them, far from staring at people like them. Zhang Xiaohua only sees more freshness than childhood, Zhang Xiaolong and Zhang Xiaohu brothers see more of the future days, maybe they want to meet the girls they like and find their own happiness, but seeing that most of the girls don't pay much attention to their eyes, they don't know what the little brothers think.

In the middle of the street there is a large façade with a sign "Qian Family Fabric". Zhang Cai saw it, his eyes lit up, he greeted the three Zhang Xiaolong brothers, and walked in first. There was a guy standing at the door of the shop, and when he saw Zhang Cai walking in, he hurriedly greeted him, and greeted: "Guest officer, please come in, what do you want to see?" and didn't seem to pay attention to Zhang Cai's crampedness and the clothes he was not new.

After Zhang Cai walked into the fabric shop, he did not go directly to the counter, but stood next to the door, looking crampedly at the many male and female customers in the store and the guys who were running, I didn't know what to do. While talking, the three Zhang Xiaolong brothers also came in, after all, it is rare to enter such a big store, just take a look at it just now, and now they are going to buy things by themselves, but they don't know how to speak, they are a little shrunken. The fellow was surprised, but he still gave them a smile, and said, "Then please come here and have a look to see if there is a suitable fabric." ”

So saying, he led them to a corner of the counter and showed them the fabric that was placed on it. There are obviously few people in this corner of the counter, and there are two groups of people who come first, one is two young girls, who are looking down and picking colors, and the other is a family of three, with young children, who have also picked out the fabric, and there are guys to wrap them. Except for this corner, the rest of the counter is lined with colorful and bright satin and other haode fabrics, and there are many brightly dressed people around to comment and pick. It seems that the guys in the store are also well-trained, know the needs of customers, and look at the clothes of Zhang Cai's family to know that what they need is durable and durable, not the surface of bells and whistles.

Although the guy is already very intimate, they came to the right place with Zhang Cai, but Zhang Cai is still embarrassed, because in the past, when he came to this kind of place to buy cloth, it has always been the child's mother's decision, what to buy, what color to buy does not need Zhang Cai to worry about, this time because of the grandmother who accompanied the child at home, this let Zhang Cai come to buy cloth, Zhang Cai didn't think so much, when he arrived at the store, he didn't know what to buy. Seeing the guy's somewhat ugly face, Zhang Xiaolong was in a hurry, hurriedly stepped forward, and said to the guy: "Let's take a look first, you can greet the other guests first." ”

After the guy walked away, Zhang Cai couldn't help but regret and said: "Look at my brain, I didn't ask your mother what kind of cloth to buy when I left, now it's okay, we are going back empty-handed." ”

Coincidentally, one of the two girls who was choosing the fabric just now was a little taller, and just walked behind Zhang Xiaolong, picked up a piece of navy blue fabric on the counter, and when he heard Zhang Cai's words, he walked back to his companion's side, looked at Zhang Xiaolong again, and seemed to have discussed, and then he came over and said to Zhang Cai:

"This uncle, I have something to discuss with you. ”

Zhang Cai wondered, "What's the matter?"

The tall girl said, "Uncle, I was trying to pick out a dress for my brother, but he didn't come, I think it's about the same size as this big brother, I wonder if I can ask him to help me try it?"

Zhang Cai was overjoyed and said, "Very good, very good." ”

So Zhang Xiaolong used the clothes rack and helped the two girls try on several clothes, and then they bought something they were satisfied with. And Zhang Cai's wish is better satisfied, the fabrics and colors that the two girls helped them pick made Zhang Cai's family very satisfied, and even the guys in the store felt that the girl's vision was very good. The only thing that made Zhang Xiaolong dissatisfied was that by the time the guy helped them wrap the fabric and came out, the two girls had already gone away, and their names had not yet been found.

Zhang Xiaolong took the fabric depressedly, followed Zhang Cai forward, and was about to take a look at the farm tools in the roadside shop, when he suddenly heard the sound of gongs and drums, Zhang Xiaohua heard it, and said excitedly:

"Dad, quick, the big drama is about to start, let's go to the play first. ”

At the same time that Zhang Xiaohua shouted Zhang Cai, the crowd who rushed to the market also heard the sound of the gong, and everyone rushed over there, Zhang Cai also hurriedly greeted Xiaolong and Xiaohu, and walked over quickly with the flow of people.

There is a New Year's custom in Luzhen that a large stage will be set up in the corner of the market, and a troupe will perform on it every day until the end of the market. This is also a highlight of the New Year for farmers who have no entertainment. It's no wonder that Xiaohua is so happy.

When Zhang Cai's family arrived at the stage, the big drama on the stage had already begun, and there were already three layers of people inside and outside, but fortunately, the stage was high enough, and the people in front did not block their view. Although there were many people watching the play, they all held their breath and listened carefully, not like the hustle and bustle when they were in the store just now.

What was staged on the stage was a popular folk story, and everyone watched it with relish, and Zhang Xiaolong gradually forgot the regret just now.

Just when everyone was watching the excitement, on the other side of the stage, there was a sudden noisy sound, and it became louder and louder, but there were many people who couldn't hear it really. However, Zhang Xiaohua could hear that there was a girl who was talking with a very familiar voice, could it be someone she knew in her own village? There happened to be a tree not far away, Zhang Xiaohua climbed up numbly, and looked at it, ouch, I really know her, he said loudly to Zhang Xiaolong: "Big brother, it's the sister who picked out the clothes for us just now! She is in trouble." ”

When Zhang Xiaolong heard this, he didn't bother to tell Zhang Cai, so he quickly pushed away the people next to him, squeezed through the crowd hard, and walked to the other side of the stage

When Zhang Xiaolong squeezed through the crowd with great effort and came to the other side of the stage, everything in front of him couldn't help but make him angry.

The stage was built against a high wall, and under the high wall were two lonely little women, clinging to each other, their faces flushed, and beside them were two small parcels thrown around, from which some clothes were scattered, presumably the clothes they had just bought in the cloth shop. In front of them stood two short, chubby men with folding fans, brightly dressed, muttering at the two girls as they moved their hands and feet, forcing them to flash under the high wall. Around the two fat men, there stood seven or eight tall men dressed in coarse cloth clothes, separating the crowd of spectators. A few of these vicious-looking family members looked at their son-in-law's ugly behavior with a smile, and a few looked back at the crowd watching the play here, giving a threatening look from time to time to prevent anyone from breaking in. Although there were many people who wanted to help the two bullied village girls with grievances, they were all frightened by the formation of these evil servants, and they could only look over there with unwilling eyes.

After Zhang Xiaolong rushed over, when he saw these formations, he was about to think about how to deal with them, but he saw the tall village girl looking at him with pitiful eyes for help, although he didn't look at him, he couldn't help but rush forward desperately. At this time, Zhang Xiaolong was pulled by the people behind him, and when he looked back, it was his family who followed, and Zhang grabbed his arm. Zhang Xiaolong was anxious and said, "Daddy......."

Zhang Cai whispered: "Xiaolong, don't be impulsive, we can't beat them." ”

Zhang Xiaolong said: "However, if we don't help, those two girls will be bullied." ”

Zhang Xiaohua also said: "Yes, Dad, that sister helped us just now." ”

Zhang Cai said: "Of course you can help, but you can't help, but you can't trap yourself." Look at the man over there dressed in black with a big knife. ”

The three brothers of the Zhang family followed their father's gaze, and sure enough, on the side of the family, there was still a big man in a black suit, holding a big knife in his left hand, his hands crossed on his chest, leaning on the edge of a tree, squinting his eyes, as if he was asleep, it seemed that he should be the bodyguard of the two hooligans.

It seems that many people are afraid to step forward, and a large part of the reason is the knife in the hand of this bodyguard.

How good is this, Zhang Xiaolong is also a little anxious.

Just when Zhang Xiaolong hesitated, the situation on the other side of the high wall became even worse, and the two short and fat sons had already dragged the two village girls away and were dragging them hard to the alley at the bend of the high wall. Zhang Xiaolong couldn't hold back any longer, he shook off Zhang Cai's hand and ran over quickly, and the group of evil servants also thought that the crowd next to them had been frightened by them, and when they saw that the "good show" was about to start, they all moved closer to the side of the alley, and they didn't expect someone to rush over at this time. Zhang Xiaolong rushed to the side of the two village girls, first reached out and grabbed the arms of the two girls, and pulled them to his side, how could the strength of the two short and fat boys be compared to him who worked in the fields all day, and he was pulled over at once, taking advantage of their stunned efforts, Zhang Xiaolong said loudly:

"What are you going to do?"

The two pudgy men looked very annoyed when they saw that their prey had been taken away, and they looked at each other, and one of them in orange said, "We don't do anything." Who are you, what are you going to do?"

Zhang Xiaolong paused for a moment, and then said, "I'm their cousin, why are you pulling them? Be careful that we go to sue the official." ”

Another person in black said: "Sue the official, okay, then let's go together, in Luzhen, your master and I are officials." Your cousin just stepped on my shoes, and I want her to pay for my shoes, but I want to see if the official is to you or me. ”

At this time, Zhang Cai and they also rushed over, Zhang Cai hurriedly saluted the two people, and said with a smile: "The two uncles extinguish the fire, my two Nizi are not sensible, you see that you stepped on your shoes, we will compensate, today is a good day to catch the market, you have a large number of adults, raise your hand, there will be good rewards this year." ”

The man in orange smiled and said, "Well, look at you old man, you are very interesting, my lord, I can do it, and I will pay for my shoes."

Zhang Cai was shocked, and said cautiously: "Then how many copper coins should the uncle accompany you?"

The man in orange held out a slap. Zhang Cai breathed a sigh of relief and said, "It turned out to be five dollars, I'll give it to you." ”

Zhang Cai took out five copper coins from his arms and handed them over, the man in orange clothes didn't look at the five copper coins stretched out in front of him, he slapped them on the ground, and said viciously: "You hillbilly, you think it's the straw sandals you are wearing, your uncle and my shoes are worth five copper coins, you heard clearly, five taels of silver!"

Zhang Cai thought badly, and immediately smiled and said: "Master, you are joking, my family's annual ration is only three taels of silver." Are your shoes worth that much?"

The man in black said, "You little old man, are you doubting our integrity?"

At this time, the village girl behind Zhang Xiaolong had already relieved herself, poked her head out from behind Zhang Xiaolong and said: "Uncle, they wronged us, we didn't step on them at all, we just came to see the play, and before we arrived, we were surrounded by them." ”

Zhang Xiaolong also said angrily: "Dad, they are obviously blackmailing us, let's take this girl to the government to sue them quickly." ”

The man in black hahadaxiao, raised his voice and said: "You group of mud-legged people, you have never seen anything in the world, and you don't even know your Uncle Zhao, what are you talking about suing the official." The little ones, come and tell them what an official is. ”

This old man Zhao waved his hand, and the family who was originally standing next to watch the excitement immediately surrounded him with his fists and palms, Zhang Cai saw that things were not good, and said to Zhang Xiaohua: "You and these two girls find a chance to run out, and we will protect you." After speaking, he took Zhang Xiaolong and Zhang Xiaohu to fight with the family members who came around, and Zhang Xiaohua also pulled the two girls to run to the crowd watching the play.

ZHANG Cai, Zhang Xiaolong and Zhang Xiaohu, although they are strong laborers in the countryside, have some strength, one-on-one is slightly better than those families, but the heroes can't stand the crowd, a few rounds down, they were overturned by a few evil servants, those family's fists and feet, raindrops down, seeing the three of them, the face was injured, Zhang Xiaohua and the two village girls, at the beginning of the clever and clever, dodged a few families, about to rush into the crowd, but unexpectedly was blocked by the bodyguard in the strong suit, several turns can not escape the bodyguard figure, the bodyguard did not move, just blocked from letting them move forward, waiting for a family to chase over, just dodged and stood aside, Seeing that Zhang Xiaohua and the two village girls were blocked back next to Zhang Cai and the others. Zhang Xiaohua saw that her father and brother were pressed to the ground and beaten, and she jumped up in a hurry to save people, but she was kicked in the chest and fell to the ground on her back, covered with mud, and was about to struggle to sit up, when two more family members came over, pressed them against the wall, crackled and slapped a few times, and blood flowed out along the corners of her mouth.

No matter how much Zhang Xiaohua struggled, she couldn't break free from the palms of the two strong men, watching her father and brothers shrink their bodies and be beaten under the fists and feet of the evil servants, and her heart was distressed, and tears flowed down instantly.