Chapter 38 Section VI

It's been a long time since midnight on the eleventh night of the first lunar month, the tourists on East Street have almost dispersed, and the lights are gradually going out.At this time, from Sansheng Street to Lianchi, there were two figures walking hurriedly.At the same time, another shift worker was passing by the East Street at the entrance of Sansheng Street, and he shouted verbally: "A girl was lost in the Gu family's doorway on Daqiang Back Street! ... Twelve years old! ... Her name is Zhaodi! ... No hair left!...Wearing a green cloth jacket!...Blue cotton trousers!...No foot binding!...Blue cloth Chaoyuan shoes!...Be kind and gentlemen, pick them up and return them!...Senders will be rewarded One tael! Five cents for the letter!"

The moonlight was dim, and it had already slanted to the west, and there were no eaves lamps on Sansheng Street, so the faces of the two people could not be seen clearly; but from their figures, one could tell that one was an old woman and the other was a little girl.And I could hear the little girl crying while walking, sometimes softly calling out: "Daddy!" The old woman must have said very softly: "It's almost here, don't cry, don't cry Call, your father will wait for you in the house!" At the same time, he held her little hand tightly, as if he was afraid that some disaster would come and harm her on the way.

When it rains in summer, Shanglianchi is indeed a big pond with some lotus flowers.But during the New Year, almost nine out of ten places are dry.On the south bank of the pool is a neat city wall, and on the north bank are haphazardly built thatched houses.Who are the people who live in thatched huts on the official wasteland within the provincial capital? When the old and the young came here, all the thatched houses were dark.Only in a half-tiled and half-grass room at the far west end, there is still a faint light leaking out.The old woman then walked straight to the place with the light, holding the little girl in front of her, and knocking on the door.

The door opened, and in the vegetable oil light of the tile lamp, a woman in her thirties with a sick face was revealed.Just as she was about to speak, she caught sight of the little girl, then stopped her mouth and stared blankly. The old woman led the little girl in, turned around and closed the door, and then said to the little girl, "This is my house. Your father will come, you wait here for him." The little girl looked around timidly, then looked at the young woman twice, cried again and said, "No!...I'm not here!...You lead me back!...I want Daddy!...Daddy !..."

The old woman hastily pulled a low bamboo stool and sat down, took her into her arms, patted her on the shoulder and whispered, "Don't cry!...my sweet baby!...there is a tiger here, and when you hear the baby crying, It’s about to come out!...Don’t cry!...If you cry, your father won’t come!...Oh! I think I’m hungry, princess, take a few pieces of Anwa’s rice cake candy with her.” The little girl was still sobbing when she ate the rice cracker candy, but she was about to sleep with her eyes closed before she finished eating.The old woman picked her up and put her on the bed, and only took off a pair of muddy shoes for her.He lifted the quilt and pushed her next to a boy who was about nine years old and had already fallen asleep.

The young woman with a sick face also fell on the bed and was about to be pulled to snuggle before asking the old woman: "Mom, where did you get it?" The old woman sat on the edge of the bed and said with a smile: "I picked it up. A girl who lost her way, she seems to be from the south." "Where did you pick it up?" "Just when I came back from Fatty's place in Dongmen Second Alley..." "Mom, did you find him?" The old woman's face immediately darkened: "I found it after looking for it..." The young woman stared at her cunning old face, as if she wanted to see the unfinished words in her mouth with broken teeth.But after looking for a long time, there is still no trace.Then she turned over, picked up the thin and pale fist, and beat it on the side of the bed, saying bitterly: "I know, that fat bastard who has no heart will definitely not come!  … Fat bastard, a thousand knives!...He has no conscience, and he talks sweetly on weekdays, how sweetly he speaks!...When he is sick, he doesn't even look at him....I know that you are afraid that my mother will not die! My old lady If I die, I will come to find you, fat and knifed!"

After the old woman asked her to scold her, she slowly said: "He said that this month's silver is always delivered around the Lantern Festival." "It's rare for him to pay six taels of silver. Didn't Niu Laosan pay eight taels of silver? The one who suffered the knife bought his heart to death, and he changed!... woo woo woo..." The old woman hurriedly leaned down and said: "I still want to cry, isn't this ruining myself? Princess,..." "Mom, I can't think of it!...It makes me sad to think about it!...How wonderful he was the year before last! He sleeps here for twenty nights a month...It has changed since October last year...I remember it clearly ,...October came to sleep for five nights, and came seven times during the day,...Dongyue only came to sleep for two nights, excused that she was busy,...the twelfth lunar month didn't even come during the day!...Why didn't I Sad?... After listening to his words, I just wanted to be with him wholeheartedly...For him, how many people have I offended and how many vengeances I have forged!...Don't you know the fat and knifed ones?...Old Niu San still hates me to this day!... woo woo woo!"

The old woman patted her thigh and sighed: "Princess, you should think about it. There are foolish women who are heartbroken, there are dramas, and there are people in the world! Didn't I persuade you before, don't be too stupid, a man who keeps women outside , which one is dead set on the ground? Which one didn't turn around after a year or so?" The young woman gradually stopped crying and said: "Mom, you just say that, you don't know, people know good and bad; look at him, how kind he is to others on weekdays, with such tenderness and consideration, you don't make them crazy? I know it's all fake, and after a while, I went to find new ones!... The men who are being stabbed are not a fucking good thing! Only us women are the ones who suffer!"

The old woman said humanely: "I also blame you for being too capricious. You never listen to me. Haven't I said it many times? People are fighting for their fragrance! If you don't throw away Niu Laosan Wu Jinting and the others by their roots, leave them behind. By your side, find some tricks, let the three of them scramble to curry favor with you, to please you, you see, you are still like a flower in the eyes of the three of them, red and sweet, fragrant! If you are sick , the doctor came in the morning, and the three of them must be like filial sons, walking around the bed like a lantern, how could it cause me to light up a lantern and torch, and look for someone in a low voice?"

The two of them remained silent for a long time.The two children on the bed were sound asleep, and there were dogs barking outside the house at any time. The wick was short, and it couldn't hold the oil, so it gradually dimmed.The old woman got up, and in a drawer, she chose another piece of grass to add.Turning back to her daughter-in-law, she said, "Prince, you should also know that no one will be happy for a thousand days, and a flower will not be successful for a hundred days! In life, there are always good things. You don't really feel that you can't catch up with last year this year." After going through this illness again, you will definitely suffer a lot; why don't you take advantage of the time when there is no decline, so that you can play around and earn more money. After these few years, there will be no good life, I I won’t lie to you, princess, look at me, I’m a role model. So I want to advise you, still get Niu Laosan Wu Jinting here, don’t be too self-willed, and make yourself suffer, why bother!”

The young woman sighed and said: "Mom, you don't know, I was afraid that they would be jealous, and end up like Second Sister Zhang, pulling up the city wall and digging out her stomach, so it wouldn't be worth it!" The old woman said: "Can you be as stupid as Zhang Erjie? I don't want to talk about it. It's hard to know what happened! Now as long as you put the fat man away first and don't stick it to your heart, you can take medicine to recuperate. Waiting for you Well, let's start from the beginning again. Maybe, if you do what I say, the fat man will be jealous again..." "It makes him so jealous that he still pays attention to him! It's just, mom, all I take are expensive medicines, and he won't send any money. How will I get better?" The old woman stood up and said with a flat-mouthed smile, "Don't worry, why wait for the fat man's money? Isn't this the money I picked up tonight?" The young woman suddenly smiled and said, "Oh! That's right, Aunt Li entrusted you last year. But, aren't you afraid that someone will find you?" "Haven't you heard her mouth? It must be from the south, and her father must have brought it into the city to see if the lamp went off. The baby's mouth is stupid, and when interrogated, she will only say that her surname is Gu and Zhaodi. Lao Tzu What's the name, I don't know, I only know it's called San Gong Ye. There are a lot of San Gong Ye and Si Gong Ye in the township. As long as there is a Gong Ye in a family, the whole family is called Gong Ye. What does her father do? I don’t know, which street do I live in the city? I don’t know, where you can find a needle like this in the ocean!” The young woman nodded and said: "That's true, if you send it to the mansion, you will never go out of the gate, and there will be nowhere to look for it!" The old woman clapped her thighs with both hands, bowed her body and said, "I found it, another one? I'm not abducted, just like those times!...It's just that I need to be trained for a few days!" "It doesn't look very stupid, and it's easy to teach. It's about ten years old." "She said she was twelve years old. According to her body, she is more than a little. Tomorrow we will teach her to say that she is thirteen years old. One year older, it is easy to sell. Do you think five taels of silver is easy to pick up?" "I think it's okay. It's two or three. Aunt Li is going to do it for a few hundred miles!" "Three or two is fine, you've got the money for the medicine! I'm afraid it's going to be the third watch! Take off your clothes and go to sleep! I'm going to sleep!"