"Boss, boss!" the "gambler" man stammered and pleaded, "I have the money. I'm afraid it will be robbed. I'll store it in the bank... One night's grace, and I'll send it over when the sun comes out tomorrow..." He Just finished speaking, the whistle chief smiled and said: "Success! You go back, they stay... Hehehe... bring money to redeem people tomorrow morning!" Then a group of people cheered in unison: "Guotouer Shengming Go back and get the money, the women will keep it!" "It doesn't matter if you can't deliver it tomorrow, it will be the day after tomorrow!" "It's fine the day after tomorrow!..."

So far, Yong Yan and the others have heard clearly that the defeated soldier used the name of gambling to not only extort money, but also rape women from good families, which is ten times worse than bandits.Yong Yan didn't expect the military discipline of the Shandong Green Camp to be so corrupt. Hearing the obscenity and taunting women next door, he was so angry that his head became dizzy and his hands and feet were cold.Just at a moment's notice, the businessman's woman cried loudly, and then the three women also cried out in mourning.The woman cried and complained to her husband: "You murderer... I said that my sister's family in the city is poor, and I will give you a few taels of silver to live in her house... Is it so bad that Wang Yan rebelled against the bandits and entered the city?" Even kidnapping by bandits... There is still a rule... You dead man, you have no virtue in eight lifetimes... On the contrary, I have long hair but short knowledge..." Yong Yan and the others listened, thinking that this man was a wimp.Just as he was thinking about it, the man spoke again, without his original pathetic cowardice. "Sir!" said the man, "it's not a good acquaintance, why bother to kill them all? I, Qiao Jiarui, are not unknown in Pingyi, and the deceased county magistrate Chen Ying is my cousin. My brother—I am not an official relative, I will not leave Pingyi City!—In this way, I said that you choose one of the two regulations. According to me, the two good ones are good, and we will be friends afterwards; if you don’t listen, you will kill my family tonight Five people, that's my life too. Just one word of advice, don't keep even one person if you kill them, lest you cause trouble in the future!"

His words were neither humble nor overbearing, neither fast nor slow, and he spoke with a sound of gold and stone, which seemed to calm down the group of soldiers.After a moment of silence, Guo's surname said with a smile: "Is there another way to knock the mountain and shake the tiger! I am not afraid of the poor who owe debts, but the heroes who collect debts. I don't force you, and there is no 'rule'—tell me! Qiao Jiarui said: "One, I'll write you fifty taels of IOU, and let my family go; two, I'll keep it as a pawn, let my family go, and bring up the money tomorrow morning, it's also fifty taels. Brothers, keep the law and order here. It's easy, if you want to play with women, you can send money to Huacui Pavilion. If you still don't like it, then I just said it, take it as you please!"

There was a rustle of clothes, and the soldiers seemed to exchange glances hesitantly. Touer Wu said: "Write a hundred taels, and you walk. I'm not afraid that you will fly into the sky——tell you, don't think about what the hell is going on." Supported by the town platform, something bad happened in Pingyi, he has already withdrawn! Laozi works hard here, without a penny of salary, don’t make ideas from you old money, let’s drink the northwest wind?” This is also a truth.The four people in the room were already stunned.I just heard the next door rubbing ink and writing brushes, Qiao Jiarui wrote papers and paintings, stamped his handprints, and left with his family in a chaotic footsteps, as if he could hear crying from afar.The four of them expected nothing to happen tonight, so they all breathed a sigh of relief. Just as they were about to go back to sleep, the boss Guo asked, "Have you collected everything? Old Wu, you ordered it. How much is it?"

"It's almost collected. Even Qiao Jiarui's count is more than four hundred taels." The shrill voice laughed.Only then did Yong Yan know that his surname was Wu.I heard him say: "Some people who only stay for one night, like this—" He paused, and seemed to poke his finger into the east room, "—they will be exempted. Your words will get a bad reputation—— —" He was interrupted before he finished speaking: "Ball! To do good deeds, go to the temple! I just checked at the accounting office, and there is no identity or introduction. There are more than one hundred taels of silver on the cabinet--he is a good person The villain might not be sure!"

The four people in this room suddenly felt tense, it's about us!They were all lying down with their clothes on, but they sat up at the same time, and their four pairs of eyes looked around secretly.Wang Erlie then ordered: "Xiao Renzi, light the fire and light the lamp!" He heard the surnamed Guo next door laugh strangely and said: "Hey! Are you trying to catch me with me? Before I even spoke, he said, "Xiao Ren Son, light up the lamp!'—Go and check!" There was a sound on the bed in that room, a stick and a knife were clinking, and then there was a sound of footsteps, and the door slammed shut, and the next door was only a few steps away.When the four of them got out of bed, they saw the straw curtains lifted with a "huh", and five or six soldiers in jackets rushed in. The wind brought in dimmed the small oil lamp that had just been lit, and it was only after a while that it came back again. bright.When Yong Yan looked at it, there were six people in the group, all of them were very strong, only the leader Guo Touer was a little thinner and shorter, and the other five were all carrying big knives, their faces were full of flesh, and they carried a stick and a rope. They are also looking at Yong Yan viciously.Yong Yan panicked, holding the fir edge on the bed tightly with both hands, trying to calm himself down.Wang Erlie saw that the tall man at the head looked like he was going to pounce on him at any moment, so he straightened himself up and stood in front of Yong Yan, asking, "What do you want?"

"I want to investigate you!" A pair of hawk triangular eyes surnamed Guo glanced around and asked, "Where did you come from?" "Beijing!" Wang Erlie spoke Liaodong dialect and said without tolerance. "Where are you going? What are you doing?" "Go to Zaozhuang and provide coal to the Ministry of Internal Affairs!" "The Ministry of Internal Affairs? What does the Ministry of Internal Affairs do? I have never heard of this yamen, only heard of a Shuntian Mansion!" "The House of Internal Affairs is bigger than the Shuntian Mansion, and a little smaller than the Governor's Yamen. It is dedicated to the emperor. You haven't heard of it, but you are too small!"

The one surnamed Guo was choked up by Wang Erlie, he laughed, and said, "There are a lot of people pretending to be adults these days! The day before yesterday we found a little boy who said he was the servant of Fourth Master Fu. Just now the shopkeeper with the meat head said that he is a brother of our Liu Zhentai! Ask again, maybe there are even some pretending to be Emperor Qianlong!" He even teased and sarcasm, and the soldiers who came with him laughed.The man surnamed Guo suddenly changed his face, and asked again: "Why didn't you go to Weishan Lake when you came to Zaozhuang? I don't know that there is a war in Pingyi?"

"I don't know. Our hall official is in Pingyi, so we can't go to Weishan Lake." Guo Touer used his mouth to make a nuisance to the crowd, and then asked: "What are they doing?" "This is our young master, Mr. Shi Wu, the two of them are family members, and I am the accountant." Wang Erlie said, "Our goods are delayed. In Pingyi, the boss is rushing, and I have to rush to Pingyi tomorrow!" Guo Touer snorted, punched him, stepped on the broken wooden bench with his feet up, squinted his eyes and squinted to see that he was so distorted. The discolored Lu Huier, who was next to the man standing next to Yong Yan, giggled and said, "It's so hard to shave your head! Is it sharp? Where's your introduction? Even the Ministry of Internal Affairs can't There must be a certificate, right?"

"The introduction is inside the package, and there are some coils. I'm afraid that if I put it here, someone will steal it or steal it. I will store it in the store." Wang Erlie frowned and said, "I want to get the introduction. The shop assistant said that I will stay overnight." You don’t need to register for the matter of leaving—you’ll know when you call him.” “I don’t have time!” Mr. Guo put away his dark smile, stood up straight, raised his hand to designate Lu Hui’er, and said : "Qingping world is bright and clear, why are women disguised as men? Brothers, do you think this guy is suspicious?"

"suspicious!" The soldiers raised their voices and yelled in unison, and even the soldiers who didn't come from the next door yelled: "It's too f*cking suspicious!" Guo Touer said: "Take us to the room for interrogation! You are an iron rooster, I have steel pliers If you don’t believe me, I can’t pluck your hair!” Several soldiers shouted sharply: “Let’s go, let’s go!” "Slow down!" Yong Yan, who was sitting on the edge of the bed, waved his hands suddenly and said loudly, "Who are you? Do you have an introduction for investigation and cooperation? The collection of money and food is the business of the local officials, and the green battalion soldiers have this right? You are bold! You are more than a bandit Why not!" Guo Touer came over, smiled, stared at Yong Yan as if he was looking at something rare, his mouth was full of alcohol, and Yong Yan staggered: "Why, the master is a bandit? A bandit is a bandit, it's not right Who will eat and drink for the bandits? You ignorant little bastard, I—” He reached out and grabbed Yong Yan's collar.The human sperm couldn't bear it any longer, and didn't dare to violate Yong Yan's prohibition on killing people. He stretched out his left hand and pinched his chin. He quickly extended his right arm and inserted it into Guo Tou'er's arms. Mr. Guo didn't finish his sentence. He yelled "Damn", and "floated" backwards like a paper kite. With a "plop", his whole body hit the fence wall, smashing the fence to pieces, and he had already passed the next door. Suddenly, mud and grass knots flew in the room, and the splashed dust and mist rose into the air. Now even the next door was in chaos, with chants and gurgles interspersed with shouts, shouting "There are thieves!" Drilling here... The surname Guo touched his head somewhere, covered the top of his head with one hand and the other with a knife, swayed and came back, pointed at Yong Yan and shouted: "They are all thieves! Brothers, there are so many of us. Take them down and please reward them!" Suddenly, the big gong outside the store was sifted and the street was ringing: "Light the lanterns and put on the torches, the men of the evil tiger village took the thieves to sacrifice to the village god—" Immediately the street became lively, The young men from each household greeted and shouted "Protect the village", yelling and cursing and gradually approaching, it seemed that the village was full of people, rushing in. Seeing that he was about to suffer a big loss, the human sperm was so anxious that he was sweating all over his body.Seeing Wang Erlie frowning and thinking of his own ideas, Yong Yan still forced himself to be calm, and shouted with a pale face: "Call them, tell them all to come, dare to rebel?!" Huier was still busy kneeling on the kang, desperately dragging Pulling the luggage bag.The human sperm heard it clearly, the soldiers outside had already run to surround the house, he was really in a hurry, he jumped on the bed, took out the short gun that Qianlong gave Yongyan and the string of yellow snake-like gun belts from the luggage bag, and put them in a bag. The son held it to Yong Yan, and said hurriedly: "This place is no better than Huanghua Town. Thirty-six strategies-go! Master take this, the two of them will follow, and I will stop it-someone is blocking, let the mercy go, and rush to him The melon seeds in the head are on fire!" The head Guo was still standing at the hole in the fence, staring blankly at them, and then he came to his senses at this moment, stomping his feet and shouting loudly: "Block the door! I'm going to go as a dog!" "boom!" A crisp sound silenced Mr. Guo, and drowned out the voices of people inside and outside the house—it was Yong Yan who shot at Mr. Guo, and even he himself was startled: after he was seven years old, he and his elder brother The younger brother shoots every day, and hunts every autumn. He shoots wolves and leopards nine times out of ten.But it was the first time that it was aimed at someone, and the bullet hit the ground in front of Tou'er Guo's feet in a hurry, and jumped up again, hitting Tou'er Guo's palm, causing blood to flow out immediately.Mr. Guo was also in a daze: What kind of gun is this?There is only one child, how can you hurt someone by jumping up from the ground? ——No need to twist! At this moment, while everyone inside and outside was in a daze, the human sperm rushed to Mr. Guo's side, clamped him with one arm, held him between his neck with a dagger in one hand, dragged him away, and kicked down at the door. Straw curtains, I saw a dozen torches shining brightly in the courtyard, and more than forty soldiers still stared at the door, staring at the door in a daze—the armpit exerted a little force, and Guo Touer Zitou's face flushed It's also hard to breathe.The human sperm was menacing, with a murderous look on his face, he stood at the door and shouted: "Get out of the way, let us walk! Whoever dares to move, I will pinch him to death with a little force!" A big man seemed to be the deputy leader, He stammered and asked, "Hero! Where—what mountain? Dare to commit crimes in this village! Let's get out of the way...you put him down!" "Fart! Do you understand the rules? Get out of the way!" the human sperm yelled, "Let people out of the village!" The soldiers looked at me, at you, and at Mr. Guo, as if waiting for him to speak.But Guo Tou'er was really trapped by human sperm, he could only hold his breath for his life, his eyes were wide open, he couldn't speak a word, his hands and feet fluttered like crabs, and he couldn't move his body.When the stalemate passed, the officers and soldiers softened, and slowly seemed to be a little lazy, and walked out of a wide opening.Human sperm asked Wang Erlie and Huier to go ahead, Yong Yan followed with a gun, and he was at the back, dragging the half-dead Mr. Guo out of the store.The group of soldiers had knives, guns, and firecrackers, but they were just wary, and followed behind, like escorting or seeing off, following every step.At this time, there were three or four hundred people gathered outside the shop, illuminated by lanterns and handles, the situation was clearly visible, who would dare to show off? Go straight out of Ehu Village for about two miles, and you are already at the bank of Sishui River.There is no bridge here, and the official road is submerged in shallow water. Next to it is a step-by-step stone step for crossing the river. The dark river water is wrapped in broken ice and snow, and gurgles between the stone steps.When the officers and soldiers saw them stepping on stones to cross the river, someone shouted: "Hey! Hey man, you keep your word, let our people go!" They knew that once Mr. Guo was let go, the officers and soldiers would rush over like wasps. Reluctant to give up, he lost his face and said to Yong Yan: "Men, go first, I will push for a while-go into the mountain, once they enter the mountain, they will not dare to chase!" Yong Yan asked in a murmur: "Then... …And you?" "What! My son is still such a mother-in-law at this time! What am I?" The human sperm stomped, "Just go, I can escape and find you! I will leave in half an hour!" What else did Yong Yan want to say, but Wang Erlie pulled at his skirt and said, "Master Fifteen, this is his errand. Otherwise, I will stay!" Only then did Yong Yan say nothing, and took Hui'er's hand step by step. , disappeared into the darkness. This is a 100-mile canyon at the southern foot of Mengshan Mountain. The north mountain winds and goes straight to Guimengding.The three of them got off the official road about five miles after crossing the river, hurried like a fish slipping through the net, hurried like a lost dog, walked when they saw the road, and burrowed into the mountain when they saw the road. After two hours, Yong Yan stopped, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and said in a lingering surprise: "It's probably okay, Hui'er has sprained her ankle, let's talk about it after a while." He chose a stone and sat down, but he was speechless for a while. Once the body sweats, the first thing is to feel extremely cold.At this time, pay attention, the three people knew that they had entered a mountain pass, the stars in the sky were covered by a layer of thin clouds, and it was chaotic. It can be seen that there are mountains on the east and west walls. The ground stands under the purple ocher sky, with a kind of suffocating appearance.The whole mountain is full of dark miscellaneous trees, and there are pine, cypress, oak, and poplar in various colors. The tidal pine waves are surging in the dark, and the old tree branches are shaking crazily above the head, making scary creaking sounds.Wang Erlie saw Yongyan sitting like a stone man, Huier hugged her chest and shivered, and the sound of her teeth chattering repeatedly.Thinking about her ideas, she asked Hui'er, "Have we lost our customs defense documents?" "No, I didn't lose it." Hui'er said, "I didn't have time to sew the shoe, it's in the lapel of my coat..." "Where's your seal?" "It's so cool—I'm wearing my undershirt..." "Do you have money?" After a while, Hui'er finally replied: "One thing...it's a hairpin that Lord Fifteen rewarded me in Huanghua Town. It can...can be exchanged for two hangings..." Yong Yan was thinking about his own thoughts, listening to Huier's words , I couldn't help sighing in my heart, and pursed my lips when I wanted to speak.Wang Erlie said: "Two hangings is not a small amount, but there is no pawn shop in this deep mountain and old forest to exchange money..." Seeing that Yong Yan had been sitting silently, he breathed and warmed his hands and asked again: "Master Fifteen, are you tired? Here It's getting cold, can you force yourself to go again?" "It's also tired and cold. But I'm wearing a fox fur vest, and I can still support it." Yong Yan's voice seemed a little melancholy in the night, "I miss Ama and Er Niang for a while, Jinan for a while, and now for a while. Frozen and hungry. It’s grotesque and unpredictable. It’s a bit like a show. If you don’t believe it’s real.” Wang Erlie laughed and said, “Caiyun Pavilion, it turns into nothingness with a flick of a finger. It’s really a miracle in the world to suffer such setbacks in your capacity... …I originally thought that after a shock in Huanghua Town, there would be no more such things, and I didn’t expect that there would be an evil tiger village! Don’t talk about the great principle of “Heaven sends great tasks to people” said by Mencius, my In the same year, Zheng Banqiao gave me a piece of calligraphy, which said 'A loss is a blessing', which is intriguing. I can't read it in books, but I learned it by myself. I am afraid that this knowledge will be more useful." Yong Yan nodded and said with a smile: " I have seen that picture, this is an interesting person. Huang Ama asked all the elder brothers to assign errands, and there is also a meaning of tempering in it—" He was going to continue, Huier suddenly exclaimed: " There are wolves!" All of a sudden, he threw himself into Yong Yan's arms, shivering under his armpit. Wang Erlie and Yong Yan seemed to have been flipped by someone, and jumped up "Huo".Yong Yan already had a gun in his hand, and looked in the direction of Huier's finger, but on the downhill road, there was a dark guy wriggling, about five feet away from the person, the size of a calf, it seemed that he was not very flexible in his movements.Because the mountain pass was against the wind, the animal didn't hear anyone talking on the slope. It staggered up a few more steps and stopped vigilantly. Its eyes, which were the size of wine glasses, were yellowish or green, shining slightly, and looked at it motionlessly. here.Huier's eyes were sharp, and she said in a low voice, "It's a leopard with something in its mouth. Is it a moose? Is it a sheep? I can't tell..." Wang Erlie also said in a low voice, "Master Fifteen, don't rush to open fire... Let's see how it moves before we talk..." The three of them were sweating, and confronted the leopard. With only one bag of cigarettes to spare, the animal grunted, flicked its black thread-like tail, and reluctantly turned sideways and jumped into the hazel bushes In the middle, there was a sound, and it went away.Wang Erlie raised his forehead with his hand and said, "It's so dangerous!" Hui'er also said, "God! This is the mountain god who protects our fifteenth master... Amitabha, Nanwu Guanyin Bodhisattva..." Although it was a false alarm, it is not suitable to stay here anymore.Seeing that the sky was getting darker, it was almost dawn, and even the big rocks on the road were hard to distinguish, and the downhill road was extremely difficult.The three of them, Wang Erlie in front, and Yong Yan in the middle, took Huier, hand in hand, and groped down step by step. When they heard the rooster crowing ahead, they felt relieved—it was not far from the village.Before we knew it, it was already dawn, and the three of them came out covered in sweat, and they could see clearly in the twilight of the dawn. They were still in the mountains, and there was a small village in the hill nest down the steep road, with only eight or nine households. All the houses are chaifei huts, lined up along the mountain.There are layers of terraced fields behind the house, and a trail in front of the house winds and snakes down the mountain, hidden in the sea of ​​mist and clouds.Looking around, the three of them were standing on the frozen ice, bordering the field ridges like a checkerboard, and the rice stubble was slightly exposed in the ice—it turned out to be a rice field on the side of a high mountain—looking back at the road again and again, But seeing that the rocks are rugged, covered by thorns and hazels, it is a stone trail built along the mountain torrent, stretching straight to the peak like a ladder... I can't help but click my tongue secretly, how did I get here last night? ... It seems that only in a daze, the sky has already brightened.Wang Erlie felt that the light was coming quickly, and only after examining the situation did he realize that the terrain of this village is extremely high, with a wide mountain pass in the east and gentle mountain ridges between the north and south peaks in the west. changed to rice fields.Seeing big willows lined up in front of the gate of the earth wall, piles of straw and grass on the empty field, stone mills, wells and mortars are all available, lying quietly in the thin light, it is very peaceful and peaceful.Wang Erlie couldn't help thinking to himself: What a good place to study!Just about to speak, Yong Yan smiled and said: "There is another village where the willows are dark and the flowers are bright, a good place to go!" Huier looked at the two and described her. , every time he talked or moved, his body was covered in rags; Yong Yan also described it in general, with grass knots all over his braided hair, half-dangling bullets tied around his waist, and broken cheeks, with A thin bloodstain.Both of them were ashamed without realizing it.Just as Huier was about to laugh, she immediately thought of herself. When she looked down, there was a big hole in her trousers, and her cotton shoes were also torn.He wiped his own face, squatted down and patted the dust on Yong Yan's body, picked cocklebur and crochet grass in his hair, and said: "Master Wang should clean up anyway, there is love on this mountain! Why are you acting like the Stove Lord?" Saying that, he glanced at Yong Yan again, lowered his head and chuckled.Only then did Yong Yan and Wang Erlie pay attention to each other, and they both covered their mouths and smiled, but there was nothing to "clean up", they just wiped their faces with their sleeves, and slapped the dust with their sleeves.Hearing the movement in the village, Yong Yan smiled and said: "The most important thing now is to have a full meal, rest, and find out where we are before we can plan. I've been hungry for a while!" Wang Erlie said: "There are people over there Go out to fetch water, and there is food in the village if there is cooking smoke. Lord Fifteen, let’s go beg for food!" Huier pointed to a family at the intersection down the mountain and said, "I can see clearly that the smoke of that family is rising early. Go to his house and ask for food." If there is any danger, it will be more convenient to escape." He tucked the gun belt into the coat lapel for Yong Yan and tied it on the belt, and said: "Master put the gun in the robe. Go in like this, and when I see you, I will I'm so scared that I'm bluffing, but what can I do?" After tidying up for a while, Hui'er saw that it was still in a bad shape, but she had nothing to do. She just said: "When you enter someone's house, you can get a needle and a thread. Let's call the door while there are few people." Walking in the village, you can see the scorching red sun slowly rising, and the yolk of pickled egg is supported by the sea of ​​clouds, and the faint sunlight reflects over, already giving a slight warmth.The well in the village was near the west side of the rice field. Two people were slowly fetching water with buckets on poles. When they heard the dog barking, they just looked at them from a distance for a while, then lowered their heads to fetch water. No one came over.They walked carefully through the rice fields, walked ashore on the ice of the pond, and walked to the first house in Dongshou.The door was made of jingchai, and the courtyard wall was also made of jingchai. When he patted it lightly twice, even the wall shook for a while.Then I heard a geese cry in the yard: "Oh-oh-oh-!"An old lady asked through the door, "Who is it?" "I'm passing by." Hui'er glanced at Wang Erlie, and replied, "I met a robbery at night and fled here. Madam, please do me a favor and let us have a meal..." The old lady inside did not answer, but A child's voice was extremely loud and high-pitched, and said: "Grandma! She is passing by and wants to eat at our house!" Only then did the three realize that the old lady was deaf.The old lady coughed and said: "Who carries the house and walks? Shitou, open the door for the guests!" The little Shitou promised to jump out, and opened the door after chasing the geese, but it was a trick of seven or eight years old. Wrapped in a big cotton-padded jacket, she looked up at the "pout" on her head, blinked her eyes at the two men and a woman in front of her, after a long while, she turned around and shouted: "They came from the mouth of Liangfeng, and they really met the Lord of the Mountain!" He opened the door openly and said, "Come in." The old lady was choosing a door at the door, she had stood up, looked at the three of them, and said, "Sit in the main room. The water has boiled, and the stones The masters are making tea. His father has gone to fetch water, and he will come back later to cook rice... Alas... It is not easy to go out... It is not a dead end, who wants to walk in the cool air at night? It is not easy..." chanting Then, three people sat down and still chose dried vegetables. These are three low thatched houses, all built with slabs and stones, sealed tightly with mud, because the sun is rising, and it is at the entrance of the village, it does not appear narrow and dark.Even the chicken cages, goose houses, and cow sheds in the large courtyard are made of stone.The walls are stacked high with firewood, sweeping so that no grass knots can be seen, the soft sunlight almost shoots into the house from the east, the stone table, the stone pier, the stone god case, the stone shrine, quietly basking there, once seated Then I feel at ease and peace in my heart.Yong Yan saw that Shitou was busy adding firewood and water to the east stove, so he asked, "What's your name, old man?" "What?" "What's your last name?" Hui'er said loudly. "Oh...my surname is Shi, Shi Wang's family. His grandfather's name is Shi Shuanzhu... I went to fetch water, and I'll be back in a while." "How old are you?" Huier asked loudly again. Now the old lady heard it clearly, sighed "ah", and said: "Ninety-nine! Damn it, the coffin boards are rotten, and the grave has been dug... old man, old man... ...The older you get, the less you will die, and the King of Hades will not accept it. Alas..." The three people looked at each other in amazement, no matter how you look at it, the Shi Wang family will not live past eighty, and they can't imagine such a long life!Xiao Shitou held a big tea bowl, each served a bowl of tea, and said with a smile: "Wild tea, made from yellow celery leaves in the mountains, drink it-don't listen to my grandma, she is 111 this year! If you ask next year, she will still be 'ninety-nine'!" The three couldn't help looking at each other in amazement, but none of them believed it.Wang Erlie calculated with his fingers, and asked loudly: "Wu Sangui, do you know?" "Wu Sangui? I know, I know." With her sunken cheeks, the old lady carefully pinched off a wild vegetable root, and murmured He murmured: "There is also Geng (loyal) prince Shang (gratifying) prince, what a rebellion! The whole world is full of soldiers, and one mu of land has to pay five dou of military rations... That year I was seventeen, just out of the cabinet... His great-grandfather I haven't been born yet... The world is bad, a catty of salt costs a bucket of rice, and tofu costs seven cents. I only ate a catty of tofu during confinement, and there was no brown sugar... What a crime! I lived ninety Nine years old, that year has never passed..." One by one, she was talking about the "San Francisco Rebellion" at the beginning of the founding of the People's Republic of China. This is indeed an old man in his 110s. He remembers all the incidents. Nineteen"—the folks also have some taboos.The three of them couldn't help smiling when they heard her talking about "early years".While she was talking, Hui Er asked for a needle and thread from a rock, and stood behind Yong Yan to mend clothes. After a while, Grandpa Stone also came back.He himself did not carry water, and behind him was a middle-aged man in his forties with a water load on his shoulders.The old man looked to be in his sixties, not tall, he looked simple and strong, and the stone slabs in the aisle were also rattling.Little Shitou hopped up to meet him and called "Uncle Seven", helped lift the cylinder lid, and shouted, "Master, here is a guest—he came here at night from the cold wind!" Humanity: "Shanzi, when you pass your fourth aunt's house, tell her there are guests, and ask her to bake some pancakes and bring them over. Tell the second brother Shitou that the old woman has guests here, and she wants to grind rice. Donkeys can't go down the mountain to carry salt. Let's go down the mountain again." The middle-aged man poured water into the tank, agreed in his mouth, smiled at the three of them, and went.Only then did Old Shuanzhu say: "The bucket accidentally came off the hook, and there was ice all over the side of the well, so I asked Uncle Qi to help fish it out. Sigh... I'm about to be useless too!" While talking, the old man brought out the rice, which was boiled sticky corn porridge with soybeans, red pepper sauerkraut, salted soybeans, salted red and white radishes, fried dried beans, all served in a surprisingly large old rough porcelain bowl. Get the tip of the post.The distilled millet stick noodles are golden in color, and the small ones are as big as a punch.There are also a handful of washed green onions and a plate of bean paste.Although it is coarse rice from mountain farmers, it is also delicious and steaming.The three of them had been frightened and frightened for a whole night. They were already starving, but when they saw this table of food, their eyes burst into flames.Suddenly, a middle-aged woman came over with a stack of pancakes, the browned and fragrant ones were even more tempting.But they all reserved their identity as guests.Old Shuanzhu was not used to entertaining guests, and when he saw that the woman was about to leave, he said in a low voice, "His fourth aunt, you come to sit too. I, I have eaten and hurried up the mountain, the mountain is going up and down!" The woman was not polite. , every family often sat down, and said with a smile: "Third brother is like this, he sweats when he sees strangers. Come on! It's the same as my own family. It's my own fault if you don't have enough to eat--old ancestor, are you still blind to radishes? I baked them. Pancakes with chopped green onions, delicious! How about a piece?" He said and handed the pancakes.But the old lady pushed it away and said, "Leave me alone!" Yong Yan took the cake, rolled the green onion, spread the sauce on it like Huier, took a bite, and praised: "It's delicious! It's really good!" The fourth aunt said with a smile: "Sure enough—it turns out that this cake is called 'Guan Guo' in your piece—this name is really pompous!" Everyone laughed when they heard this. So everyone chatted and laughed while eating.Thanks to the fourth aunt, she is capable and quick, and she is easy to speak. With the addition of small stones, the table is full of excitement.After asking around in gossip, I found out that this village is called Liangfengkou, and the nine families all have the surname Shi, Shi Wang is the ancestor of this village, each family provides meals for the moon, and the clothes and utensils are provided by the ancestral hall.Going down the ten-mile mountain road from Liangfengkou, there are two villages along the way, all descendants of the Shi family, who have fresh food and prey, and they must honor this old lady.Because the mountain is too high, the government only collected taxes from the first two Shijia villages, and Liangfengkou did not collect taxes.The fourth aunt said: "I just got married, and I cried all the time, saying that this place is not connected to the world, and it is considered a bad luck for eight lifetimes. After looking at it, there is no village chief or armor chief, and there is no knocking on the door in the middle of the night." Those who go to the households to urge grain to rent, those who dig houses and uncover tiles to pay bills, grow vegetables to eat vegetables, and grow grain to eat grain. There is a mill for rice, and a stone mill for oil. Apart from carrying salt down the mountain, I don’t lack anything! Brother came up to have a look, and asked where to find such a good place? I took the antlers and tiger bones and went down the mountain. I watched him go, cried and remembered what he said, and laughed again!" She sighed again: "Ah... I just miss my father and mother, and I also want to go to the market to see a play or something..." Shi Shuanzhu listened to her chatter, picked up the rice from the bottom of the bowl and said forcefully: "Be content!" Yong Yan just He listened with a smile, reserved but without hesitation, drank porridge, ate pancakes and steamed buns, had beans and radishes, and thought everything was good.Wang Erlie asked about the situation in the cottage here, and how far it was from the county seat. "Look—" the fourth aunt greeted the door with hazelwood chopsticks and pointed to the distance, "That's Guimengdinger, below is the mountain temple, and further south is Pingyi City. The salesman who heard it said, Gongzhai The Lord took the wrong medicine and rebelled; there was also a man named Wang, who was a military adviser, and took over the city of Pingyi." Yong Yan asked, "How far is Pingyi?" "Ten miles down the mountain, ten miles up the mountain, twenty miles up." The fourth aunt said, "There is also a village above Liangfengkou, and there is also a village at the other end of Shengshuiyu. There are only one hundred and ten people in each of them, and they often beat us to pass by. I heard that all the villages have closed the villages and mountains. I am afraid of recruiting at this time." Officers and soldiers come to fight, and you don’t want to rob them, how did you meet them?” Yong Yan smiled without answering, and asked, “You are so close to the mountain stronghold, don’t the kings come to rob you?” Stone said loudly: “ They don't rob us, but give me jelly beans!" Old Shuanzhu said: "People are particular about rabbits not eating the grass by the side of their nests. Those are poor people who resist rent at the bottom of the mountain, or steal people and rob people. The government arrests people, and they can't stay up the mountain..." "Yes." The fourth aunt said, "It's the rule on this road to steal money and not kill people. Only the old people at the bottom of the mountain are afraid of them. If they kidnap people and go up the mountain, they would rather die without a penny. Even the tigers and leopards on this mountain can eat something, and they don’t hurt people easily. I’ve seen it a few times, with a rabbit in its mouth, and they look at you a few times. It ran away like a cat with a mouse in it—we are going to let a sheep go out at night in this village, and when a big animal comes, try to catch it and take it away, and it will not hurt anyone!" Yong Yan was already full, put down the bowl and sighed: "This village is interesting. The tyranny is fiercer than the tiger - the aunt has written a footnote to the "Book of Rites." Wang Erlie wiped his mouth and smiled: "It's good, it's all like this The imperial court will not be able to collect money and food. Although a good garden is beautiful, it is not a place to stay for a long time. When we are full, let's go down the mountain!" Huier pulled off the hairpin on her head and held it to Shi Wang, and said loudly with a smile: "Old birthday boy! This I respect you for being old!" Shi Wang took it, looked at it with squinted eyes, and gave it back to Hui'er, saying: "You don't need money for food!" Shuan Zhu also said: "No money." He got up and took off the hanging hanging on the wall. The short spear said: "I went up the mountain." The fourth aunt said: "You are the victims. After receiving the money, who are we? Buying goods, we are all customers." Wang Erlie saw the stone dripping and looked at the silver hairpin, and said with a smile: "You don't accept it, but the stone is accepted! If you are not happy, bring us some food down the mountain, it is your kindness It's gone." He took the hairpin and stuffed it into the hand of the stone.Shi Shi held it with his rare hands and looked at it for a long time, put it on the stone table, and said loudly: "My father took me to the show in Qiuli, and saw this thing in Eguan Village. My father said, wait until I get a wife." Buy it for me!" Everyone laughed.Shi Shi jumped up and jumped out, shouting, "I'm going to prepare the donkey, and I'll go to the mill to grind the rice!" Now the fourth aunt and Huier are cleaning the dishes, Yong Yan and Wang Erlie are discussing in low voices, Liangfeng Village is only five miles away from Liangfengding bandit village, so it is not a safe place anyway.It seems that Fukang'an has already approached Guimengding, and the human sperm was separated for a while, and it was difficult to contact Fukang'an.Here the bandits closed the mountain, just to wait and see.If the battle of Fukang'an fails to take down Guimengding, the bandits will all coax rebellion.That would be very dangerous.I chatted with my fourth aunt again, knowing that the officers and soldiers on the edge of the city were only retreating, and did not dare to abandon the camp to escape, and there was a small post station at Jieguan Pavilion ten miles down the mountain, so I made up my mind to go down the mountain to contact Fukang'an, which is near the county seat Stop in concealment, mediate and dispatch.正说着，小石头跑跳着回来说：“四爷爷也上山了，说是掌子窝里夹住了个野猪，只夹了一条腿，怕它发威挣脱了，大人们都上去了。”四婶隔门道：“碾房里现成的稻子，你过去把驴套上，我立马就过去。”王尔烈二人觉得这里说话不方便，也就起身。颙琰道：“我们也闲着，和石头一道去就是了。” 碾房就在石王氏宅后，依山势砌的，也是石墙草顶儿。王尔烈和颙琰一路低声商量事情，跟着石头进来，驴已经拴在门口。那小石头却是麻利，也不待王、颗二人动手，牵着驴就套上了碾杆。二人帮着摊了稻子，只一霎儿时辰便就停当。可煞作怪的，任凭小石头扬鞭抽肚子打腿，二人在旁吆喝叱呼，那畜牲拧脖子踢腿，挣着趔身子，死活就是不肯转圈子。三个人累得呼呼喘粗气，瞪眼无计可施。恰好四婶和慧儿一个端簸箕一个提口袋赶来，四婶笑道：“怎么不把眼蒙起来？把眼蒙了它就走了。”颙琰和王尔烈不禁诧异：这是什么道道？见石头小手蒙了眼，迟疑着也用双手蒙了眼。 但是听不到驴推碾的声音，只听两个女子格格格嘿嘿嘿……仿佛笑得站不住。颙琰二人放下手，只见四婶提着簸箕弯着腰，笑得没了眼睛；慧儿手里握着布袋蹲在地下笑软了，都连气也透不过来。好半日慧儿才换了一口气，指着驴道：“四婶说的是驴……把驴眼蒙起它才转碾子呢！”二人方才大悟，不禁放声大笑。 堪堪地碾好米，布袋收口，回到石王氏宅里，四婶给他们装裹物件。山里人厚道，除了一小袋子米，另外还有个布袋，风干羊肉、核桃、山枣，还有党参、黄芪，也塞了一大包；小石头又从四婶家搬来一架鹿角，还有一小包鹿香，也用獾皮袋子塞了个鼓鼓囊囊。石老太太念念叨叨还在说：“你们没了盘缠，这够做什么的……”三个人推辞着，见山间小道上爬得满身是汗一个人上来，脖子后头斜插了一面米黄小旗，腰里挂着一面锣，一头走一头敲锣，口里喊：“黄家一一镖信过山！拜上绿林——好汉，龚三瞎子——造反，天兵征讨——匪叛。从匪一一祸灭满门，归顺——就此招安。敬告——列位兄弟，莫失——千载机缘……”脚步跟着锣点喊着口号，从门口匆匆过去，也不和人搭话，渐渐又远去了。 “这是有名的黄天霸家镖头，给山寨子上的人送信的。”四婶见他们三人发愣，笑道，“前年王伦造反，也这么喊过山。他这样儿上山，山主爷们不坏他性命……”颙琰听了心里暗喜。 于是三人辞了石家。王尔烈背了那袋米，慧儿扛了核桃、枣，颙琰也说不上主子架子，把个獾皮袋子绳儿吊了背后肩上，一步一步趋着下山。又过五七里光景，山道上都无人来往，转过一道漫下坡，面东北山坡地比邻两个村子横在眼前，中间只隔一个水塘。村里有青堂瓦舍，也有猪圈般的低暗土垣茅棚，已是贫富一目了然。问了问人，果然也都是那凉风口老祖宗的子孙。找人家讨口水喝，男女们一双双乌溜溜的眼不错珠子盯着，生怕人顺手牵羊，偷了灶屋的剩饽饽似的。再转弯子又向东南，一路都是缓坡梯田，路上场上牛粪驴粪杂着泥水，地里猪拱羊叫，已显得嘈杂脏污了。因从凉风口下来都是下坡路，出了石家村，三个人都觉得腿软脚脖子酸。看看太阳还不到午时，前头到接官亭还有五里路。又走一程问人，仍说“五里”。颙琰带的东西最少，也耐不得了，一屁股坐了道边土埂子上，悻悻说道：“五里，五里！再往前头问，准还是'五里'！”王尔烈知道这位发了阿哥脾气，刚说了句“歇歇也好”，慧儿指着前头道：“那是谁？”

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