Chapter 6 Chapter 6 Blood Debt and Blood Payment

The night is getting darker, and the cold wind is like a knife. Even though the wounds all over her body were in pain, Chu Qiao forced herself to stand up, and ran around the small woodshed, occasionally stopping to rub her skin with her hands, so as not to freeze to death in this dilapidated woodshed inside. The third watch drum had just been beaten, when a slight sound suddenly sounded, the child was taken aback, then stopped, turned his head and looked vigilantly at the place where the sound came from. The window as tall as a person was slowly pushed open, and then, a small head was revealed. The person with bright eyes cautiously walked around the firewood room. When he saw Chu Qiao standing on the ground, he was overjoyed. In a flash, he quickly raised his fingers and made a gesture of silence, then turned over and jumped into the firewood room with his hands and feet.

The cold air outside suddenly approached, the boy ran forward quickly, stretched out his arms, and hugged Chu Qiao in his arms, his voice was choked with sobs, but he firmly comforted: "Yue'er is not afraid, Fifth Brother coming." The boy was very thin, and he was not very old, but he looked about eight or nine years old. He was wearing a dusty gray dress, which didn't fit him very well, making him look even smaller.His stature has not yet grown, only half a head taller than Chu Qiao, but the outline of his face reveals a trace of inexplicable tenacity.He held the child in his arms tightly, patted her on the back constantly, and comforted her over and over again: "Don't be afraid, Fifth Brother is here."

For some reason, Chu Qiao's eye sockets suddenly became wet, it seemed to be a spontaneous reaction of this body, big tears fell down uncontrollably, and wet the boy's rough clothes. The bright moonlight came in from the slightly open window and shone on the two little children.The world is icy cold, but there is only a slight warmth in the chest.The boy's small body was like a tough mountain. In this cold night, even though he would tremble slightly with fear, he still firmly hugged his sister and tightly tightened his arms. "Yue'er, are you hungry?" The boy let go of his hand, stretched out his dark fingers to carefully wipe away the tears on Chu Qiao's face, pulled out a nice smile, and said with a smile: "Look, what Brother Wu brought you?"

He took out a small cloth bag from behind, the child sat on the ground, and opened the cloth bag neatly, and the delicious smell of food wafted out immediately.He raised his head and saw that Chu Qiao was still standing, raised his eyebrows and said doubtfully, "Sit down." A large rough porcelain bowl, the blue and white flowers on the side have been worn and lost their color, and occasionally there are a few small gaps.A full bowl of polished round-grained rice, with some green vegetable leaves piled on top, not much oil, but the smell is so fragrant.The boy handed over a pair of chopsticks, stuffed them into Chu Qiao's hands, and urged, "Eat quickly."

Chu Qiao lowered her head and took a mouthful of rice. Her mouth was very salty and tasted like tears. Her throat was blocked. She chewed mechanically and then sobbed softly.The boy looked at her eagerly, every time Chu Qiao opened his mouth to take a bite, the boy opened his mouth gently, as if he was teaching her how to eat, and when she saw her swallowing, he would happily narrow his eyes. Fiddled with the chopsticks in the bowl, suddenly inserted something, picked it out, it turned out to be a piece of braised pork that was still steaming. A piece of meat the size of a thumb, slightly scorched, half fat and half thin, looked so alluring in such a dark and cold night.

A loud gurgle sounded suddenly, and Chu Qiao raised her head to look at the boy, only to see the boy rubbing his stomach in embarrassment, and deliberately said nonchalantly, "I just finished eating, and I'm not hungry at all." Handing over the chopsticks, Chu Qiao said, "Eat it." The boy shook his head immediately: "We had a very good meal tonight. The Fourth Young Master gave us additional dishes, such as braised carp, sweet and sour pork ribs, tenderloin in vinegar, white plate duck, there are so many dishes, I feel like vomiting, and now I can't eat anything. gone."

Chu Qiao stubbornly held up her chopsticks: "I don't like fatty meat." The boy was slightly stunned, glanced at Chu Qiao, then at the piece of braised pork, swallowed unconsciously, and after a long time, reached out to take Chu Qiao's chopsticks, and carefully opened his mouth to bite on the fat meat. After eating the meat, he handed back the remaining lean meat, smiled, showing a mouthful of white teeth, and said with a smile, "Yue'er, you can eat it now." Suddenly her nose became sore, Chu Qiao quickly lowered her head, tears rolled back and forth in her eyes, but she still held back and did not fall.

After a long time, she slowly raised her head, smiled at the boy, opened her mouth to eat the piece of meat, and grinned while chewing. "Yue'er, is it delicious?" The child's eyes were bright, like bright stars in the sky. Chu Qiao nodded vigorously, her throat was blocked and her voice choked up: "Fifth brother, it's delicious. The most delicious thing I've ever eaten in my life is this piece of meat." "Fool," the boy stretched out his hand to touch her head, with a slightly sad expression, and said, "You are only so old, so you can talk like this all your life. Don't talk about the future, just talk about how many delicacies we ate when we were young. I'm still young, maybe I can't remember. But don't worry, one day in the future, Fifth Brother will make you full and warm, and bring you all the good things in this world, not only braised pork, but also ginseng, Abalone, bird’s nest, shark’s fin, elephant puller, you can have everything you want. By then, no one will be able to bully us anymore, Yue’er, do you trust Fifth Brother?”

Chu Qiao nodded, lowered her head and tried hard to pull out all the rice into her mouth. It tasted bitter, but it was so warm. "Yue'er, don't be afraid." The boy took off his coat and put it on Chu Qiao's shoulders, and said in a childish but firm voice, "Fifth brother will protect you, I will be here with you ,Do not be afraid." The moonlight is bleak, the light and shadow move, shining through the cracks in the firewood shed, shining a large piece of white light, under the frosty moonlight, the small bodies of the two children are close to each other, so small, but so beautiful. so warm.

Bright lights in the distance, silk and bamboo playing, melodious smell of wine and meat, Zhenhuang City, which never sleeps at night, finally reached the climax of the grand dinner.Under the brilliant lights, no one remembered the girl who had survived in today's hunting grounds. The cold wind howled and flew the flaming flag of Daxia flying. When I woke up the next day, the boy had already left, and there was a row of beautiful small characters written on the ground: Brother Wu will come back at night, there are steamed buns under the firewood. Chu Qiao pushed aside the dead branches in the corner, and saw two yellowed steamed buns wrapped in oil paper. She held them with a calm face, but her eyes gradually softened.

After three days of being unattended, the boy would bring food to accompany her every night, and then quietly leave the next day.On the third day, the gate of the chaimen was opened with a bang, Zhu Shun condescendingly looked at Chu Qiao who was still alive after three days in the chaifang, his brows became tighter and tighter, and finally, he ordered his servants to let her out. The moment she stepped out of the woodshed, Chu Qiao stood at the door, took a last look at the dilapidated house, pursed her lips, and then turned her head resolutely. Zhu Shun, Zhuge, Jing, Mu, Jue, Che, Yan... The child slowly closed her eyes, raised her face, and the sun shone on her forehead, creating a bright circle of light, shining golden, like a phoenix flying. The further you go, the more dilapidated the house looks, everywhere you can see large groups of children carefully hiding behind the corridors of branches, looking at her secretly.After walking to a small courtyard, as soon as the servants in charge left, a large group of children suddenly rushed up and immediately embraced her. "Xiao Liu, you are back." "Sixth sister, we thought you would never come back." "Sister Yue'er, woo..." The children yelled and cried unabashedly. Chu Qiao was taken aback, and could only stand there for a while surrounded by them, enduring the tears and snot of these little carrot heads. . "Okay, don't cry." A male voice suddenly sounded, and the children turned their heads and shouted happily: "Fifth brother!" The boy ran in from the outside, carrying a cloth bag, and just after two steps, all the seeds fell on the ground with a splash, which turned out to be a bagful of melon seeds.The children immediately cheered, Qi Qi let go of Chu Qiao, and ran forward. "Don't grab it, everyone has it." The boy said with an adult look, "Yue'er just escaped from death and was seriously injured. Don't bother her. Everyone should help her with her work these days." .” All the children nodded repeatedly, and a girl with two braids raised her fair face and said with a smile, "Fifth Brother, don't worry, we will help Sixth Sister." The boy said: "Xiaoqi, is your injury healed? Why did you get out of bed?" "Fifth brother, it's all good." The child looked up with a smile, stretched out his hands and rolled up his sleeves, only to see that there were welts all over it, and the skin and flesh had been turned over in some places, which had not fully healed.Xiao Qi smiled and said: "The medicine you brought is very useful, and it doesn't hurt when you put it on. Xiao Ba was kicked by the wind and hurt her back yesterday when she was feeding the horses. I have to help her." "Linxi, come in, I have something to tell you." A little girl suddenly stepped forward and grabbed the boy's hand. The boy looked back at Chu Qiao, and said, "Yue'er, it's windy outside, so you come in too." In the dilapidated and small room, there was a large kang, on which more than ten sets of quilts were neatly placed.The boy named Linxi said, "Sister Zhixiang, what's the matter?" Zhixiang is not very old, she looks like more than ten years old, she squatted down, opened the dark kang hole, and took out a small box: "Five days later, it will be the anniversary of the death of the Jing family, you want us to We have prepared the incense candles and paper money secretly prepared." Lin Xi nodded: "Be careful, don't be discovered by the manager." "Well, don't worry, no one will come to our side. But you, you have to be careful when you serve the Fourth Young Master. I heard Si Tao from the laundry room the day before yesterday that the Fourth Young Master beat and killed two companions, Xiao Si, in the room. , the master is not at home, and the young master Huai is not in the inner palace. They have no more scruples. The old master killed more than 20 little slave girls last month. The Du family that was bought with us has been extinct. I am really worried One day it will be our turn." Just as he was talking, there was a sudden sharp exclamation from outside, and a sharp voice shouted: "Okay, you lowly slaves, how dare you steal something, are you dying?" Lin Xi frowned, and was about to go out, Zhi Xiang grabbed him and said in a low voice, "Go from the back quickly, no one can see you here, the fourth young master will beat you to death." "I……" "Let's go!" There is actually a back door in such a humble house, pushing Lin Xi through the door, Zhi Xiang grabbed Chu Qiao's arm, said in a deep voice, "Don't come out if anything happens," and then ran out in a hurry. The screams and whips sounded immediately, and the fat woman shook her arms and shouted viciously: "Isn't this the daughters of the Jing family back then? How could they have fallen to where they are today, your sisters! If you are a bitch in Zhihuafang, you will be thieves here, what a bunch of low-brows!" "Ms. Song, we know we were wrong, and we dare not do it again." Jue Xiang stood in front of the other children, her face was whipped a few times, and her blood was covered with bloodstains. She knelt and grabbed the corner of the woman's skirt , begging for mercy loudly: "We don't dare again." "Know what's wrong? I think you don't have a long memory if you don't fight!" A series of whips fell on the children fiercely, and Xiao Qiben, who had two braids, was injured. After a few whips, his eyes turned white and he passed out.The children burst into tears immediately, but the woman became more energetic after beating, shouted, and raised the whip again. There was a sound of swishing, but there was no violent scream. Aunt Song looked down, and saw a little girl in ragged clothes standing in front of her. She was thin and thin, but her eyes were cold. Grabbing his own whip, he said in a gloomy voice, "You are enough." Aunt Song was furious: "Damn girl, are you looking for death?" "Yue'er, let go of Yue'er!" Zhi Xiang climbed up on her knees, desperately tugging on Chu Qiao's clothes, and cried loudly, "Apologize to Mrs. Song." Chu Qiao was unmoved, but looked at the woman coldly, and said in a cold voice: "You try to hit them again." Aunt Song raised her eyes and shouted, "I won't beat them, I'll beat you!" After saying that, she picked up the whip and whipped it hard.Chu Qiao sneered, grabbed the woman's belt, tripped, and the woman's fat body fell heavily to the ground with a bang! Immediately, the cry of killing a pig sounded, Chu Qiao walked slowly in front of the woman, bent over and said with a sneer, "Why don't you file a complaint?" Aunt Song jumped up and shouted: "You wait for me!" She turned around and rushed out of the yard. Zhi Xiang ran forward anxiously, tears were about to flow out: "Yue'er, you have caused a disaster, what should you do?" "Look at them." Chu Qiao confessed, turned around and followed the woman out. When she just came here, she had already memorized the road, and after turning two corridors, she saw the woman running hurriedly on the stone bridge.She was obese and gasped after running for such a distance.Chu Qiao squatted in the grass, looked around, and after confirming that it was safe, picked up a stone, half-closed her eyes, and threw it towards the woman's ankle quickly. With a bang, the stone hit Mrs. Song's ankle heavily. The woman exclaimed, her foot slipped, and she fell off the bridge immediately! It was already mid-winter, and a thick layer of ice had formed on the lake. After she fell, there was no broken ice. She just lay there sprawled and yelled. Chu Qiao stood up from the bushes, walked slowly up the stone bridge, looked down at her, and shouted: "Hey, do you want me to call someone for you?" The woman turned around and immediately said kindly: "My good boy, hurry up and help the aunt call someone, ouch, it hurts me to death." Chu Qiao smiled brightly. She bent down, picked up a huge stone, and lifted it above her head with great effort.When the woman saw her, her face turned pale with fright, and she shouted, "You, what are you doing?" Not allowing her to yell anymore, Chu Qiao let go of her hand lightly, and the stone hit the ice layer with a bang, and the ice surface shattered instantly. The woman exclaimed, and was completely covered by the cold lake water. After a few bubbles, it sank firmly. Chu Qiao stood on the stone bridge with a calm face and peaceful eyes, without any fluctuations. This is a man-eating world, if you want to survive, you have to be the first to swallow the man-eating beasts. No more nostalgia, turned around and walked back.As soon as they stepped into the yard, the children rushed up together, everyone was wounded and teary-eyed.Chu Qiao stretched out her arms to hug Xiao Qi who had just woken up in the front, took a deep breath, and said in a low voice, "Don't be afraid, it's fine." In the lowest slave yard of Zhuge Mansion, a group of little slave girls who lived like pigs and dogs couldn't help crying anymore.