The peasant boy of crossing

Fang Yu refused to give away the bamboo shoots he dug hard as a prize, "All of you, you are so greedy at such a young age, I dug it myself, and none of you can take it away."

Because Fang Yu was the oldest and the tallest, the friend who had a softer temper persuaded him: "They are all hard-earned bamboo shoots. The competition was just for fun. Let's fill in the holes and let's fly the kite. "

There are also some people who, because Fang Yu's grandfather is the head of the Fang family, will give him a hand consciously or unconsciously, so they don't argue with him, so they agreed: "Then let's fly the kite, over there The hillside is empty, let's go there, Zhou Wei, you come too."

Zhou Wei was not happy, so she accused Fang Zheng and said, "If my surname is Fang, I should file a complaint with the patriarch for an explanation. You are really boring."

Zhou Wei took the kite and found others to play with.Fangzheng looked at their chatting and laughing figures, and at the bamboo shoots in the basket, silently took the shovel, filled the hole left by digging the bamboo shoots in the bamboo garden, and dragged the shovel home.

"You filthy bastard, you don't do your job well, and you even steal from my old lady! I'll beat you to death!" A sharp scolding voice sounded, harsh and unpleasant, which caught Fang Zheng's attention.

He turned his head and looked, and saw a thin and small boy curled up on the ground, surrounded by three or four people watching, the woman who beat and scolded became more energetic, and felt that the broom could not calm her anger, so she found a broom. Thick firewood sticks will beat people.

"Miss Luo calm down, this child will die if you put this stick of firewood on him." A woman softened her heart and persuaded, "You can teach him a long memory by teaching him a few lessons. Trouble."

As soon as the woman made a sound, the rest of the onlookers were reluctant to speak, and persuaded one by one: "It's fine to hit it twice, this child looks very thin, I'm afraid he can't catch his breath, he should die tomorrow."

"Which family is this child?" Someone asked curiously, "Where are his parents?"

"It's Xia He, the son of Xia Changgui's family who died early." An insider said.

"Oh, isn't he the nephew of Mrs. Luo?" the man asked.

"Xia Changgui was born to his stepmother, and Mrs. Naluo is not the same mother. She has done her best to take Xiahe in." The insider said.

"Forget it, it's not easy to have a full bowl these days." The man said, ending the conversation.

Fangzheng was small and not tall, and no one noticed him when standing behind him, so he listened to the conversation around him verbatim.After returning home, he went to the main room to talk to his grandfather.

"Grandfather, grandson is back." Fangzheng saluted his grandfather.

Grandfather Fang was holding a big picture and looked closely at it. Hearing this, he glanced at Fangzheng and said, "Since you're back, let's read a book, don't delay."

"Grandfather." Fangzheng said, "grandson has always been reading and practicing alone, and it is inevitable that one person will be slack. After a while, grandson will be preparing for the exam, so I want to ask grandfather to hire a book boy for grandson , Supervise grandchildren's reading."

Grandfather Fang raised his head when he heard the words, he was a little surprised, and said: "Whose family's children brought a book boy when they were studying?"

Fang Zheng said, "It's Fang Yu."

When Grandfather Fang heard that it was Fang Yu, he was silent. After a while, he said, "I'll ask tomorrow to see which family's children are willing to be your book boy."

Fangzheng said: "Grandson already has a candidate."

Grandpa Fang said, "Oh?"

Fangzheng said: "When my grandson came back, I saw a child who was as old as my grandson. He was a bright boy named Xia He. It's just that he lost his parents when he was young, and now he is being fostered at the Luo family in the west of the village."

Grandfather Fang said: "Oh, the surname is Xia. Then let your father go to the Luo family to ask for someone tomorrow."

"Thank you grandfather." Fang Zheng said, "Grandson must study hard and live up to the expectations of grandfather and father."

Grandpa Fang waved his hand and said, "Go."

In the evening, Fang's mother heard that Fangzheng was going to bring a child back home, and she was instantly unhappy: "This is a real person, not a cat or dog. If you don't like it, you can send it away. Which of you can Washing and cooking, what do you do to support an outsider?"

Fang's father didn't agree with it in his heart, and his family was not rich, so he didn't want to have an extra mouth to eat.But Mother Fang's words hurt his self-esteem a bit, saying: "Father was also a man who was a Beijing official, among those people with status and status in the capital, which one is not surrounded by servants and maidservants, a book boy What kind of?"

Fang's mother opened her mouth and wanted to taunt back, but due to Grandpa Fang's face, she swallowed the words and said: "If you are really a child without father and mother, it would be a good thing to take over and accompany Brother Zheng to study. It's just I heard today that the child has unclean hands and feet, even if a tile is missing in the house, I will send him out."

Fangzheng said: "Please rest assured, mother, I will definitely take care of him."

Xiahe often thinks, if his aunt doesn't want him anymore, where should he go alone.

When he was young, he accompanied his grandmother to the town to go to the market.That was the first time he saw a beggar.His grandmother told him that people who could not do work without their hands, or walk without their feet, would go begging.

He remembered what his grandmother said, those who are able-bodied must stand up to beg for a living, and must not kneel down and beg for alms from others.

Xia He thought, if he really couldn't survive, he thought it would be better to throw himself into the lake than starve to death, so that he could drink enough water before dying.

"Hello!" Someone called him, Xia He turned his head, and saw that it was his aunt's son, that is, his cousin, and said, "Someone is looking for you."

The cousin didn't even look at him after finishing speaking, and left.

Xia He was confused. At this time, if someone came to him, it probably wouldn't be a good thing.He was beaten with a stick by his aunt just now, and his body was still aching. After a while, he got up and walked towards the hall of the front room.

When he was about to go in, his cousin came over again, but still had an ugly look on his face, and told him, "Come with me."

Xia He didn't know why, but because he was dependent on others, he couldn't say no to him, and just obediently followed behind his cousin.

The cousin took a set of clothes he had worn out from the cabinet, "Hurry up and change, and then go to the well to wash your face and comb your hair. Be quick, don't make the guests wait."

"Are you going to sell me?" Xia He thought calmly, but kept moving. He changed his clothes and washed his face according to his cousin's request. A sad silence.

"What's so scary?" he thought, "It's okay to suffer and suffer. My aunt was still crying in the kitchen yesterday. Grandma said that as long as you are a human being, even if you can eat enough and wear warm clothes, you will have pain." Unsatisfactory place."

"Xiahe, come here quickly." Mrs. Luo showed a kind smile.

"This kid is just playful. Everyone is waiting for you. You just came here at this time." Mrs. Luo reprimanded, and then said to the middle-aged man beside her: "This kid looks thin, but he has a hard time working. Use your strength, he is diligent and capable. My younger brother left early, if not for this, he would not be so pitiful at such a young age. "

Mrs. Luo wiped her tears as she spoke.

The middle-aged man beside her didn't agree with her, Xia He had never seen him before, but he intuitively felt that the man in front of him looked much gentler.He has seen this kind of look many times over the years, they always take pity on him, give him a steamed bun, or give him a piece of unwanted clothes.

Xia He sometimes thinks that maybe he is really very pitiful. Without the help of these people, he would not be able to live now.But that didn't make him like the feeling of being pitied, even if it meant warmth and satiety.

He didn't know what they were discussing, but he heard the middle-aged man in front of him say: "Then, come with me."

Xia He followed behind him, full of confusion.What does he want him to do?He can't do anything, why ask his aunt for him?

He looked back at his aunt's house, but he was still very sad in his heart.Although my aunt has a bad temper, she is the only relative he has.

"You have to listen to the young master. Do whatever the young master asks you to do, and don't do any extra things. Do you understand?" The middle-aged man changed his previous gentleness and said harshly.

"I understand." Xia He said meekly.

Only then did Xia He know that this middle-aged man was the housekeeper of the Fang family.He is going to be a bookboy for the young master of the Fang family.

"Can I read and practice calligraphy?" Xia He thought, feeling vaguely hopeful in his heart, but laughed at himself for his wishful thinking.

The housekeeper first took Xia He to take a bath and change his clothes. Although his cousin's clothes didn't look very old, they were not the right size, especially the shoulders and creaking sockets, which were a bit painful.

"The young master usually works when he is in the middle of the night, and when he rests, you have to follow him and take care of his daily necessities. Can you do it?" the housekeeper asked.

Xia He nodded, "Yes."

It's not difficult to take care of Fangzheng's daily life, especially Fangzheng is a person who doesn't have too many demands. He just needs to follow the housekeeper's instructions, but that's all. He is still like a piece of wood in his daily life.

He looked down at the shoes that no longer showed his toes, and there was still a sense of unreality in his heart.

Having changed his way of life, Xia He didn't feel very happy, as if this kind of life was not much different from his usual life.

He remembered what his grandmother told him: "People are always greedy, when they don't have it, they think they have it, and sometimes they want it more."

In the two or three months before my grandmother died of illness, I had to talk to him a lot every day, one sentence after another, telling my grandson everything I had realized over the years.She couldn't take care of him by herself, so she hoped to use these words to accompany him, so that he would suffer less torture and less pain.

He still remembered that his grandmother was already too sick to see clearly, but still asked him to repeat the truths she said.

Xia He actually couldn't understand most of the words, but when he was hungry, tired, or wronged, he recalled those words of his grandmother in peace, as if his grandmother's generous hug was still there.