Chapter 18 Chapter Eighteen

After getting Dani and starting a family, Cao Ershun was satisfied, he didn't complain anymore, and he didn't even think about gaining any benefits from Xiao Taiping's prosperity.Many brothers surnamed Cao who wanted to gain benefits murmured in front of Cao Ershun, groaning for Cao Ershun. Cao Ershun always said, Xiao Taiping is Xiao Taiping, I am me, everyone has his own ability, and everyone has his own destiny. At the end of the tenth year of Tongzhi, Cao Ershun had a second son, Qiuwang.Dani's third son, Dongwang, was pregnant again, and life gradually became tense.For the newly added mouth, Cao Ershun went to the kiln more and more days, and he could go to forty or fifty kilns every month.However, Cao Ershun was still young at that time, working hard without getting tired, and still full of energy to make a fortune.Dani gave birth to him non-stop every year, and Cao Ershun was not worried at all, but happy.I also told Dani, more children, more blessings, don't look at our difficulties now, we will be fine in the future, Chunwang, Qiuwang, Dongwang can go to the kiln to earn money for us when they grow up.

Xiao Taiping made a fortune and built an eye-catching Xiao family house in Qiaotou Town, but he gave birth to three daughters in a row and never had a son, which made Cao Ershun feel an unstoppable sense of pride.Cao Ershun believes that God is fair, let Xiao Taiping get rich, but let him have many children.Sometimes when I think about it, Cao Ershun felt great sympathy for Xiao Taiping. He felt that Xiao Taiping was too wronged. He set up a huge family business but had no son. There are no filial sons.He also thought that Xiao Taiping's wife was his younger sister after all, and he was afraid that his younger sister would be angry at Xiao's family, so he felt even more uncomfortable.For the sake of his sister, Cao Ershun discussed with Dani and wanted to adopt his second son, Qiuwang, to the Xiao family.The younger sister was afraid that the wealthy Xiao Taiping would take a concubine and have children, so she was naturally happy.But Xiao Taiping was not happy, and he misunderstood Cao Ershun's kindness, so he said to Cao Yue'e angrily, "If your brother can't afford it, don't have one!" up.

Cao Ershun was worried about his sister, and his sister was also worried about him.In private, my younger sister always helps him quietly, sometimes bringing some food and clothing, and sometimes giving money back.Cao Ershun wanted face and always pushed.Once, he got angry with his younger sister, saying that his younger sister looked down on him.Later, when Cao Yuee sent money and things again, she carried Cao Ershun behind her back. Cao Yue'e was also worried about Cao Ershun's lifeless work under the kiln. She was afraid that her brother would be exhausted, and she was also afraid that something would happen to her under the kiln and she would die.It is common for people to die under the kiln. They die every year, every month, and some are injured.Cao Yue'e asked Xiao Taiping to assign her brother a safe and easy job.Xiao Taiping said: "You still need to tell me? I asked him to be the foreman as soon as I became the shopkeeper, but he didn't want to do it himself. If he regrets it now, let him come to me." Cao Yuee asked Cao Ershun to find Xiao Taiping .Cao Ershun didn't look for it.If you say that you have contributed to your fate, you will accept your fate.He also said that Xiao Taiping is currently using the Xiao family in the upper and lower kilns, and if he asks for a bargain, the brother surnamed Cao will scold him.

At that time, the contradiction between Xiao and Cao's surnames was very deep, and a disturbance caused by Cao Bajin's "self-confession as a traitor" was brewing in private.Xiao Taiping wanted to find a chance to get rid of Cao Bajin.Cao Yu'er, the former chief of the Cao regiment, and his nephew Cao Fuli, the former master of Qianliang, were moving around among the brothers surnamed Cao, trying to make a big break against Xiao Taiping. Cao Ershun didn't want to get involved in this turmoil—neither did he want to harm Xiao Taiping with the Cao brothers, nor did he want to harm his brothers with the same surname and family with Xiao Taiping.When he later let Mr. Zhang go, it was definitely not because he sincerely wanted to fight against Xiao Taiping, but because he was too kind...

Cao Ershun was very surprised when he saw Zhang Sanye at the Baijia old kiln the first day.He never imagined that the famous Zhang Sanye would be reduced to such a situation that he was inferior to a pig and a dog - he actually pulled up a drag basket naked under the kiln. Zhang Sanye looked really miserable, his naked body was covered with black ashes, his thigh was wounded, and around his neck was a cowhide holster for tying animals, and the end of the rope was clutched in the hands of kiln ding Taiquan Xiao.Xiao Taiquan beat Zhang Sanye with a whip from time to time as if he were dealing with a four-legged animal. Zhang Sanye was so whipped that he called Xiao Taiquan his father.

When passing by Cao Ershun, Zhang Sanye, who was dragging the basket, couldn't move anymore, raised his hands lying on the ground, knelt in the coal pit, and begged Xiao Taiquan, "Father, I...I want to shit. " Xiao Taiquan lashed his head with a whip: "Didn't I tell you that? I'm just in my dung pocket!" Cao Ershun saw that Zhang Sanye really had a dung bag for livestock hanging under his buttocks. Zhang Sanye said: "Father, I... I can't get out..." Xiao Taiquan didn't care, and gave another lash: "That's because you don't want to laugh, work quickly!"

Zhang Sanye had no choice but to put his hands on the ground like the front hooves of an animal again, and crawled forward with difficulty. Cao Ershun walked over and asked, "Taiquan, what...what's the matter? Why did Mr. Zhang also come to the kiln?" Xiao Taiquan pulled the noose and said as he walked: "This kid is looking for death. He gambled with my elder brother and lost five thousand taels of silver in one night, so he came to the kiln to pay the debt." Cao Ershun didn't know what to do, and really thought that Mr. Zhang went to the kiln to pay the debt for losing money, so he said: "Just go to the kiln to pay the debt, he...he is still a person, you...you can't treat him like this... "

Seeing that Cao Ershun had spoken for him, Mr. Zhang hurriedly dropped the basket and crawled over, kowtowed to Cao Ershun, and kissed his father one by one: "Dear, you...you help me! Dear, I dare not talk to you again!" Father Xiao made a mistake, father..." Cao Ershun said to Xiao Taiquan again: "If you ask him to work, he will work. Why is he chained like a dog, with a dung bag hanging on his butt..." Mrs. Xiao was not happy: "Hey, second brother, don't tell me this, it's my elder brother and your brother-in-law, our shopkeeper Xiao ordered us to take good care of him."

Cao Ershun said: "This... this is clearly intended to kill people!" Xiao Taiquan said: "Hey, you are right! My elder brother said that this dog can no longer be let out of the kiln alive. If he wants to die, we will help him die. If he doesn't want to die, he has to live like this. You ask Does he want to die, or do he want to live like this?" Seizing the time to speak, Zhang Sanye sucked out a pile of shit——into the dung pocket. Zhang Sanye hummed happily like a pig: "Return...to the words of the two relatives, the little one wants to live, wants... wants to live..."

However, the sudden stench annoyed Xiao Taiquan. Xiao Taiquan kicked the third master Zhang who wanted to live, beat him with a whip, and forced him to eat the feces he had put in his dung pocket. . Cao Ershun couldn't stand it anymore, he grabbed Xiao Taiquan's whip and said, "This... this is too much!" Seeing that Cao Ershun was serious, Xiao Taiquan thought that Cao Ershun was his elder brother's brother-in-law, so he resentfully said to Zhang Sanye: "Damn, for the sake of your own father, I will forgive you this time..." Zhang Sanye kowtowed to Cao Ershun again and called him his father, which made it not good for Cao Ershun to respond, and it was not good for him not to.

... It was only later that I found out that everyone under Mr. Zhang's kiln was called "Qin Dae", which made those brothers who were usually kind-hearted all become vicious and completely devoid of humanity.They all used the mighty Mr. Zhang as a monkey, and when they saw Mr. Zhang, they openly asked: "Son, who is your mother?" Third Master Zhang said again and again: "Father, you love my mother, you love my mother." "where are they?" "They are also my own father, and they are my mother." "So many people date your mother, how did they treat your mother?" "The sun... the sun is rotten, the sun... the sun is stinking..." Falling into this situation, the unyielding Zhang Sanye still wanted to live—Cao Ershun didn't know that Zhang Sanye had seen his hope of living from him since he saw him.Zhang Sanye also thought at that time that if Cao Ershun could really rescue him from the desperate situation of his life and let him escape, he would repay his kindness. It's just that it's hard to escape. The Baijia Kiln operates a two-shift system, and there are constant people working under the kiln during the day and in the dark.The kiln guards changed shifts back and forth, and they watched him so closely for the first two days that Mr. Zhang could hardly find a chance to talk to Cao Ershun alone.At that time, Cao Ershun never thought of saving Mr. Zhang. Although Cao Ershun couldn't bear to see his brothers mistreat Zhang Sanye like this, he was very convinced by Xiao Taiping in his heart.Cao Ershun felt proud of Xiao Taiping when he thought of the disdain shown on his and Xiao Taiping's faces when Mr. Zhang threw two coal baskets to him and Xiao Taiping when he went to the kiln for the first time in the seventh year of Tongzhi.I feel that my brother-in-law is really amazing. In just three years, I changed positions with Zhang Sanye based on my ability. It was really three years in Hedong and three years in Hexi.However, Cao Ershun felt that Xiao Taiping had gone too far after seeing Mr. Zhang crawling around like a dog calling his father every day for five or six days.He thought in his heart, Zhang Sanye suffered today's retribution for his inhumanity back then, if Xiao Taiping was inhumane, he might suffer retribution in the future.For the sake of Xiao Taiping, Cao Ershun asked his sister to persuade Xiao Taiping, let Xiao Taiping let Mr. Zhang live.Xiao Taiping was unmoved, and the word came that, apart from dying and being carried up from the old kiln, Third Master Zhang had no reason to return to the ground alive, and Cao Ershun was asked to mind his own business. Until this time, Xiao Taiping did not tell the brothers about Mr. Zhang.Xiao Taiping didn't touch Cao Bajin who caused trouble for the time being, and only let a few brothers from Xiao's family watch him in private, and he didn't seem to make a big move yet.Mr. Zhang, who was in a desperate situation, did not dare to tell the details here, fearing that he would not be able to live for a day if he told the details. He could only recognize the unwarranted gambling and wait for the chance to escape. The opportunity finally made Zhang Sanye wait. Because Cao Ershun didn't know the basics, he was confused.At first, he felt sympathy for Zhang Sanye, and then he saw his shadow in Zhang Sanye.Thinking that Xiao Taiping could deal with Third Master Zhang so viciously and cruelly today, and feared that he would treat him and other brothers in the same way in the future, he came up with the idea of ​​letting Third Master Zhang go. After finishing the white kiln that day, Cao Ershun worked another night kiln.When the brothers from Baiyao went to the kiln and the brothers from Yeyao hadn't left the kiln, Cao Ershun moved to the half-dead Zhang Sanye who was tied to a wooden pillar, and called softly: "Zhang... Zhang Sanye! " Mr. Zhang was very unfamiliar with this address, and he was stunned for a long time before he said, "Father, you... who are you calling?" Cao Ershun said, "I...I'm calling you." Mr. Zhang San hurriedly said: "Small... I am not a master, I... I dare not call you a master anymore, you...you call me son!" Cao Ershun sighed and said, "Third Master, you shouldn't be so crazy back then, and you shouldn't be so cheap today." The third master Zhang cried: "Father, you are so right, I... I did it on my own." Cao Ershun asked: "Did you really bet with Xiao Taiping?" Mr. Zhang could only nod his head. Cao Ershun sighed again. Mr. Zhang said: "Father, I... I lost money, but... I didn't lose a life! My father wants... If you can save my life, I... I thank you for a hundred dollars." Two silver coins..." Cao Ershun said: "Don't mention the silver—if you want to mention the silver, I can't save you." Zhang Sanye said: "Okay, okay, I don't mention money, I just ask my father to save me..." Cao Ershun untied Zhang Sanye, and asked Zhang Sanye to escape when the changing kiln servants did not come down. Mr. Zhang couldn't leave, he could only crawl on the ground trembling.After climbing a few steps, Mr. Zhang became frightened and said to Cao Ershun, "Father, this... this can't be done, little... small me... I will be caught by them if I can't climb the kiln entrance, then... ...then you won't be able to live..." Cao Ershun asked, "Then... what should we do?" Zhang Sanye thought for a while: "Father, I... I have an idea, but it will tire you..." Cao Ershun said: "Say it!" Mr. Zhang said: "Father, you put me in the coal basket, then put coal on it, and carry me on...up..." Although Cao Ershun wanted to let Mr. Zhang out of his life, he didn't want to suffer such a burden and take a night job, so he hesitated and kept silent. The third master Zhang was in a hurry. He knelt down in front of Cao Ershun and called his father with tears on his face, which made Cao Ershun lose his mind. Only then did Cao Ershun say: "I... I will carry you to the kiln, and the five-liter sorghum that works at night will be blind." Mr. Zhang said hurriedly, "I'll give you the five liters of sorghum." Cao Ershun had no choice but to agree. He found a big basket carrying coal to the kiln, and asked Mr. Zhang to squat in, and covered Mr. Zhang's head with a piece of wood, and hurriedly filled the basket with a layer of coal. crushed coal.As soon as it was installed, the brothers from Xiaye Kiln went into the coal nest just by carrying the coal basket on their backs for a try. At the beginning, no one noticed that Mr. Zhang was missing, so they all put off their airs and worked. Cao Ershun wanted to carry the coal basket on his back, but he didn't dare, so he leaned on the coal basket and pretended to take a nap. It wasn't until the brothers carrying the coal had already carried the loaded coal and left that Cao Ershun carried the coal basket containing Mr. Zhang to go. Walk up the kiln. Walking to the middle of the inclined kiln, I saw Xiao Shishi, the kiln Ding, coming down swayingly. Xiao Shishi walked up to Cao Ershun and greeted him, "Second Uncle, are you in the kiln again?" Cao Ershun panicked, said "um", slipped on his feet and almost fell down. Xiao Shishi stepped forward to support Cao Ershun, and said, "Second Uncle, you can't do it all the time, you will have to get tired sooner or later." Cao Ershun lowered his head and said nothing, went to the upper entrance of the kiln, saw no one was around, hurriedly put down the coal basket, and asked Zhang Sanye to leave quickly. Mr. Zhang was wounded all over and still couldn't walk. He said sadly, "Second Master Cao, I...I'll give you ten buckets of sorghum, please send...take me to Qiaotou Town." Cao Ershun was terrified, and shook his head again and again, saying, "I...I don't want your five-grade sorghum anymore, you...you go by yourself." Seeing that things were hopeless, Mr. Zhang saw someone approaching from the coal pile, so he rolled over and hid himself in a piece of dry grass next to the kiln entrance... Cao Ershun returned to the kiln with an empty basket on his back, and before he reached the coal nest, he heard Xiao Shishi crying in a crying voice: "This...what's wrong with this? If I don't see this dog, Uncle Xiao will definitely kill me ..." Cao Ershun's heart tightened again: He saved Zhang Sanye's life, if Xiao Shishi took another life, it would be ruined - Xiao Shishi is not Xiao Taizhong or Xiao Taiquan, he is a very kind child, and he treats him well on weekdays .I couldn't help feeling a little regretful, and unexpectedly said: "Then...then go to the kiln and look for it!" Xiao Shishi glanced at Cao Ershun hesitantly, and suddenly seemed to realize something, hurried out of the coal pit, and climbed up the kiln entrance step by step...