Chapter 69 hard work

The county seat of Wujiang County is also called Songling Town. From Suzhou to the south, it takes dozens of miles of water.That place is next to the Grand Canal, densely populated, prosperous in business, with many shops.After Dong Xiaowan was kidnapped by creditors, she was secretly sent here and imprisoned in a house.This house is big and deep, it is difficult for outsiders to find her, not to mention there are people around who are closely guarded.However, the creditors didn't make things difficult for Dong Xiaowan anymore, they untied her as soon as she arrived, and sent an old woman named Tian Po to wait on her, and provided her with food and drink every day as usual, but she was not allowed to go downstairs without authorization.

Dong Xiaowan naturally understood the purpose of the creditors doing this.So, from the day she was imprisoned, she has been eagerly waiting for the news from outside.She estimated that since Liu Luding had been entrusted by Maoxiang and his friends, he would not give up because of this, and should come again.However, three days have passed, five days have passed, today is the eighth day, and there is still no news from Liu Luding.Dong Xiaowan couldn't help becoming anxious. Although, she convinced herself again and again: even if Liu Luding came again, he couldn't come so soon.He may have to go back to Rugao to discuss with Maoxiang, raise money, and then rush back, it will take a month at the earliest.Now that I have fallen to this point, I can only wait patiently.However, anxiety and worry still tormented her more and more intensely.Especially thinking of the lottery she asked for at the Guandi Temple in Nanjing three months ago-"Yi Xilan's house was divided into half hairpins, but now she suddenly treats Xinyin well. I wish for a marriage, who knows what is wrong!" Dong Xiaowan felt even more frightened and restless.

She was driven back to Suzhou by Maoxiang after the results of the Nanjing provincial examination.Originally, on the day of the Mid-Autumn Festival on August 15th, in the Taoyehe room, Maoxiang had written a poem in public and formally promised to marry her.At that time, Dong Xiaowan thought that things would go smoothly from now on. "Oh, thank God, that stick didn't work!" She once thought so while she was overjoyed.Unexpectedly, after only two days, before she could be overjoyed, new blows came one after another.First of all, on August 17th, Mao Xiang suddenly left without saying goodbye, without leaving a word.Surprised and anxious, Dong Xiaowan hurriedly hired a boat and chased desperately, until Yizheng finally caught up.Although it was finally found out that it was Mao Qizong's father Mao Qizong who decided to abandon his official position and return to his hometown. He passed by here and sent someone to call his son to meet him.But Dong Xiaowan was almost scared out of his wits... In the next half a month, Dong Xiaowan didn't dare to leave Maoxiang again, and followed him to stay on the Luanjiang River waiting for the announcement.Thinking of Lu Maipo's enlightenment, she deliberately changed her previous overly quiet and dignified attitude, and released some cunning and frivolous methods to deal with Maoxiang.Especially at a banquet, she acted so aggressively and savagely, causing the guests in the seat to turn around;This trick really worked, she found that Mao Xiang's eyes widened in surprise, as if he had discovered something rare, and since then he has obviously become intimate with her...

Unexpectedly, the good times did not last long this time. On the seventh day of September, suddenly there was a thunderbolt on a sunny day—Nanjing Gongyuan released the list, and Mao Xiang's name fell to the sub-list.The sub-list is an additional quota in addition to the main list, which is consoling.Even if you are admitted, you can't be regarded as a juren, and you still have to take another exam after you have graduated.It is far from the top list.Dong Xiaowan still clearly remembers that that day, Mao Xiangzheng and Wang Ru were waiting for a group of friends to have a banquet at the Plum Blossom Pavilion at the mouth of the Luan River, while waiting for the announcement of the list.At that time, everyone said that Maoxiang was sure to win, and Maoxiang himself seemed very sure, talking and laughing happily.Even when the reporter ran up to the pavilion holding the poster and shouting "Congratulations to the senior high school", Maoxiang still smiled confidently.However, in an instant, his expression changed, and he stared at the poster in astonishment, as if he didn't understand the words on it.Then, his face turned red, and gradually turned pale again. His handsome face was distorted by the trembling of his muscles, and he became very ugly and frightening.In the end, he flicked his sleeves abruptly, turned around and walked out of the pavilion.He walked so fast, when Dong Xiaowan rushed to the river in a panic, Mao Xiang had already ordered the boat to sail.Seeing Dong Xiaowan, his livid face showed a look of disgust and coldness.It was only thanks to Mao Cheng who arrived later that he couldn't help but help her onto the boat at once, so Mao Xiang didn't have time to say anything.However, along the way since then, he kept a gloomy face and said nothing, and he stopped talking to Dong Xiaowan.Seeing this situation, Dong Xiaowan naturally didn't dare to make him angry anymore, she thought: "Anyway, he will let me follow him, that's enough!"

However, she could not help thinking too smoothly.When the boat arrived at Puchao on the outskirts of Rugao, Maoxiang's deportation order came down.In addition to the old problems of debt repayment and unemployment, the reason was that my father had just returned from a foreign country and had not reported it;All in all, Dong Xiaowan should still go back to Suzhou and wait.Dong Xiaowan took this step with great difficulty, and he was about to enter the city, how could he return so easily?What's more, she was worried that Maoxiang might change her mind if it dragged on, so she burst into tears and said that she would never leave.However, Maoxiang's will is unchangeable, and all tears and pleadings cannot move his heart.In the end, Dong Xiaowan still had no choice but to obey.

How sad she was then!When the boat pulled away from the pier, Mao Xiang was surrounded by a group of servants, stood on the shore, waved his hand at her purely out of perfunctory, then hurriedly turned his face away, Dong Xiaowan's heart felt like being stabbed by a knife, almost wanting to go Just jump into the water and die.It was only when she thought that Mao Xiang hadn't rejected her completely, there seemed to be a glimmer of hope; and Mao Cheng, who was in charge of escorting her, was trying to comfort her, so she barely suppressed her grief.Afterwards, she made up her mind: from this day on, she will not change a set of clothes on her body, if Mao Xiang still does not come to marry in winter, she would rather freeze to death!She asked Mao Cheng to tell Mao Xiang like this, and she really did.After returning to Bantang, she waited every day until the end of October. Seeing that one third of the winter had passed, there was still no news from Maoxiang.Dong Xiaowan was almost desperate.At this time, Liu Luding suddenly came to Bantang.He not only brought Mao Xiang's greetings, but also a large sum of money... Now Dong Xiaowan can't remember what she said and what she did in a flash.She only remembered that she seemed to faint, and then woke up again.For several days after that, she lived like a dream—she laughed, she cried, and she packed things.When she met everyone, she told Mao Xiang that someone had been sent to pick her up.Then, just...

"Ah, could it be, could it be that I'm really dreaming?" Dong Xiaowan thought, feeling anxious, she stood up abruptly, "No, no, no! Mr. Mao entrusted someone to pick me up, he They also brought silver and ginseng, which is absolutely true. No, this can’t be a dream!” She shouted in her heart.However, when she looked around, she gradually became confused again. "But, if it wasn't a dream, how could I have come here? Why is there no one around? Even Tian Po is gone? What kind of place is this? What kind of place is this!" She asked anxiously and loudly, panicking. He rushed to the window in a panic.However, what was waiting for her there was only a corner of the dark sky, a pale yellow moon, and an abandoned garden filled with smoke. The dark shadows of trees were looming in the light blue smoke.Night birds like owls uttered strange calls from time to time, which sounded like ghosts crying bitterly, or like demons laughing wildly, but there was still no one in sight.Dong Xiaowan panicked even more.She grew more and more concerned that this was really a dream.If it was really a dream, then after waking up, everything would be gone, there would be no Liu Luding, no letter from Mao Xiang, and nothing about repaying her debts.She still had to hold on to it as she had done in the past few months. "Oh, no, you can't!" she thought bewilderedly.Now, she feels that the most important thing is to find out as soon as possible: this is not a dream!She quickly rolled up her sleeves, put her arm on her mouth, and took a bite hard.Immediately, I felt a sharp stabbing pain, and two rows of deep tooth marks appeared at the place where I was bitten, and then dark red blood oozes out.Still not relieved, she took two bites in succession, both of which felt pain, and then became a little more sober. "Oh, it's not a dream, it's really not a dream!" She murmured, while gently stroking the bitten place, she sat down on the chair.

However, this calm did not last long.Gradually, she remembered that deadly lottery again.That’s right, even if it’s not a dream, even if everything is real, it’s true that Liu Lvding is real, and it’s true that he’s repaying his debts and being registered as a citizen, but why is the result still so unlucky... Could it be, is it really like what the lottery said, "In the end Who knows that things are not in harmony"?Thinking of this, Dong Xiaowan began to feel uneasy again.Yes, in the past, she always thought that the root of such difficulties lies in Mao Xiang's arrogance and fickleness.That's why she decided to use tenderness to influence and maintain him, use public opinion to urge him, and try to force him to submit.For more than half a year, she can be said to have exhausted her brains and exhausted her strength.Finally, Maoxiang finally agreed, even anyway, he really sent someone to handle the marriage.However, it still didn't work out in the end!This has to make Dong Xiaowan suspect: Did she think wrong?In the past, she suffered repeated setbacks, perhaps not because of Mao Xiang herself, but because she offended another mysterious force of fate.All kinds of indifference, cruelty, and inhumanity of Maoxiang in the past were actually arrangements made by this terrible force, in order to let her retreat in spite of difficulties.But she didn't realize it, and kept pursuing hard.Therefore, that mysterious power issued another warning at this last moment...

Dong Xiaowan was stunned by this new and terrifying discovery.Although, in the past, she had thought about this question vaguely, but it was never as clear and in-depth as now.For a split second, her heart turned cold, "Ah, if it's really destined, what's the use of Mr. Liu coming back? Besides, maybe he won't come back at all!" She thought desperately, struggled a bit, Trying to stand up, but unexpectedly feeling so tired and weak.Finally, she slumped back on the chair and covered her face with her hands... Now, she felt that there was darkness in front of her eyes, as if she had returned to the dream half a year ago: the beautiful boy who promised to take her home, that is, Mao Xiang, was flying towards the sky, and she only caught one of his arms A clothes belt, the clothes belt was dropped long and thin, and became a filament.Finally, the filament snapped and she plummeted downward.Below is a bottomless abyss, where a group of monsters that look like humans but not humans are waiting there, and they are about to pounce on her, strip her naked, tear her apart, and eat her...

"Ah, what's the matter? Why are you crying?" A shrill female voice asked fussily.It turned out that Granny Tian was back.This old woman was dry and thin, with a pair of small eyes called "mung bean eyes" and a beak-like mouth pecked forward.She was originally a woman, but because she often came to this house, she was temporarily assigned to serve and monitor Dong Xiaowan.She was obviously very happy with this job, and controlled Dong Xiaowan tightly, not only forbidding her to go downstairs, she would even interfere with Dong Xiaowan standing in front of the window to watch for a while.As for the usual posturing, let alone sarcastic remarks.He said that she was asked to serve Dong Xiaowan, but he almost didn't ask Xiaowan to serve her instead.Just now, she didn't know where to go and drank, but now she came upstairs with a blushing face, but she showed a rare look of excitement.

"Don't cry, don't cry, I say sister, your fortune has arrived! Quick, go change into clothes, dress up, and follow me!" Tian Po said, stretching out her hand to push Dong Xiaowan. Dong Xiaowan just wept silently, didn't hear clearly, and didn't respond.It wasn't until the words "Follow me" entered her ears that she was startled and raised her head. "Go comb your hair and change your clothes, follow me!" Tian Po urged again. "Ah, where are you going?" "Don't ask, you'll know when you go!" "No, I won't go!" Dong Xiaowan suddenly became frightened. "Hey, that's strange! If you were not asked to go out, you clamored to go out every day, but now you are not allowed to go out?" "No, I'm not going, I'm not going!" Dong Xiaowan stood up, took a step back, leaned against the table, her eyes widened in horror, as if she was afraid that Granny Tian would force her out. Tian Po looked at her suspiciously, then Mung Dou rolled her eyes and understood a little.She said: "Hmph, I dare you to let you go out because I'm afraid that the other side will dump you, and it's useless to keep you here? Let me tell you, no, there are guests!" "Ah, could it be, could it be Maolang..." Tian Po curled her lips: "Well, there are quite a few guests. I don't know if there are any with the surname Mao." Dong Xiaowan stared blankly at Tian Po, her expression gradually changed, a kind of excited and ecstatic light flashed from her eyes. "Yes, yes, it must be him!" she screamed, leaving the table abruptly, "Here comes Maolang, Maolang picks me up! Oh, this is so good—it doesn't work! That one It won't work!" She yelled and ran towards the stairs in a panic, but was grabbed back by Granny Tian. "What are you doing? Let me go, I want to see Maolang!" Dong Xiaowan said angrily. Tian Po said coldly: "Look at your outfit, can you go to see guests?" Dong Xiaowan was taken aback for a moment, and looked down at herself, although after Liu Luding came to Bantang, after persuasion, she had already started changing clothes again.But in the past few days, due to the growing sadness and despair, she has been careless about dressing up, and it is really out of shape at the moment, making it hard to see people. "Ah, yes, Maolang can't let Maolang see me like this!" she thought.So, he quickly turned around and quickly walked towards the dowry box...

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