Huaxi Chronicle

Taohua Village is located in the northwest of Huaxi County, only more than 20 miles away from Huaxi County.The carriage left the county seat, and arrived at Taohua Ridge in less than half an hour.Go further north along the mountain path and enter the valley.The valley is deep, and the mountain roads are lined with lush green pines and green bamboos.

After walking for a while, at the end of the mountain road, the scenery suddenly opened up.Looking around, the land is flat and the houses are like houses.The canals are criss-cross, fertile fields, beautiful ponds, mulberry and bamboo can be seen everywhere, and the cottages are green and smoked, forming an interesting contrast.

The carriage entered the village and traveled west along the small river in the village. After walking for less than a mile, the carriage stopped.Noisy voices came from outside the car, Xun Feibai thought he had reached the place, and bent down to hug the sleeping Yan Yuanjin to get out of the car.

Yan Cong'an held her gently, and said, "Zhuangzi is at the westernmost side of the village. We have just entered the village, so we shouldn't be here so soon. Perhaps there is something ahead that blocks the road."

As soon as Yan Cong'an finished speaking, the voice of the treasure box came from outside the car: "Third lady, there is a family in front of me and I don't know what happened. A group of people gathered around the gate of the courtyard, blocking the way."

Hearing this, Yan Cong'an lifted the curtain on one side of the carriage, Xun Feibai was also a little curious, and looked sideways with her out of the window.

Diagonally in front of the carriage was an adobe farmhouse with a small yard surrounded by a fence.The fence was connected by wooden stakes of uneven height, and several wooden stakes had collapsed and been damaged, but no owner had repaired them.Through the dilapidated fence, one could just see the scene in the courtyard.

There was a man lying on the dirt in the courtyard. The man was in his twenties, bent over and hugged his lower abdomen, with a painful expression on his face, and kept crying out in pain: "Ouch, Ouch, it hurts me to death." !"

Kneeling next to the man was a woman who was about his age. The woman looked worried and anxiously supported the man's shoulders, calling: "Da Lang, Da Lang, are you alright?"

There were three men standing opposite the two, and in front of them were two big men in short brown clothes.Behind the big man stood a group of men in colorful robes. The two big men were tall, with thick arms and disdainful expressions on their faces.One of them shouted to the man on the ground: "Liu Da, don't pretend to be dead for me here! It's only right and proper to pay back the debt!"

That Liu Da seemed to be really in unbearable pain, as if he couldn't hear the big man's scolding, and didn't answer the words, he still lay on the ground with his lower abdomen hugged.

Seeing this, the woman at the side stretched out her hand, took Liu Da slightly behind her, and said to the big man in front of her, "You two elder brothers, please talk carefully if you have something to say! Don't hit my Da Lang again, I don't know Da Lang owes you money." How much money do you have, we will pay it back, let it be, don’t fight anymore!”

Hearing that she wanted to pay back the money, the big man calmed down, and said with a smile, "I wish I had done this earlier! Why bother to suffer that!" Then he took out a piece of paper from his pocket, and waved at the two people on the ground. , Loudly said: "Liu Da borrowed ten pennies from our boss on the second day of last month, and he promised to pay it back in five days, but now it has been more than a month, and today he has to pay back the principal with interest... ..." Dahan paused, counted with his fingers, and then said: "No more, no less, exactly 26 coins!"

The woman turned pale with shock when she heard the words, and hurriedly said: "What? 26 guans? Didn't you just say that he only borrowed 26 guans? Why do you have to pay back [-] guans now?"

The big man glanced at her and said dissatisfiedly: "The interest has been negotiated with him a long time ago. Liu Dayuan said that he would only borrow it for five days, and the interest was only 150 yuan, but he didn't pay it back for more than a month. If it is higher, it will cost you 26 pennies even today, and if you delay it for another day, you will have to pay back a penny more!"

As he spoke, he glanced at the two people on the ground, and seeing that they didn't answer, his expression changed, and he said viciously: "Why, do you still want to renege on your debt? Let me tell you, what I just said is written in black and white on the written receipt. It's useless even if you sue the government!"

After hearing what the big man said, the woman turned pale, turned her head to look at Liu Da, and said in a mournful voice, "Da, Da Lang, is what he said really true? Why, when did you borrow so much money, but you... ...."

Before the woman finished speaking, Liu Da hurriedly explained: "The family ran out of food rations last month. I wanted to borrow some money from my elder sister's house, but when I just arrived at her house, before I could say anything, I was caught by my stingy girl." My brother-in-law scolded me, I blamed him, I blamed him for not lending me money, I had no other choice, so I went to the warehouse to borrow money."

The woman was puzzled and said: "That day you only said that you went to Sister's house to borrow money from Yiguan, how did it become Shiguan?"

Liu Da heard the words, his eyes dodged, and he hesitated: "I, I..."

Seeing his evasive words, the woman became even more anxious, and she couldn't help but shed tears in the corner of her eyes: "Why can't you say it?" She stretched out her hand and pushed Liu Da's shoulder: "What have you done?"

Liu Da didn't dare to look at the woman, lowered his head and continued: "I only borrowed the same money that day, but, but..." Seeing that he still looked like this, the woman grabbed hold of him tightly. Touching the corner of Liu Da's clothes, Liu Da closed his eyes: "I borrowed money at that time, and when I went out of the warehouse, I saw the gambling house on the opposite side. Thinking of going in to try my luck..."

The woman was startled for a moment, then turned her mind around, pushed Liu Da, and cried, "You, you went to the gambling house? Is that place you can go to?"

Liu Da hastily interrupted the woman's words: "I, I can't go, I won money that day, who knows that I will be unlucky later!"

Seeing this, Xun Feibai couldn't help feeling: "Gambling is harmful to people, this Liu Da is really confused."

Yan Cong'an patted her hand and said, "It's not because of gambling. The main reason is that Liu Da first wanted to get something for nothing, and then he was too greedy to extricate himself, so he got into deep trouble."

Xun Feibai agreed with what Yan Cong'an said, and didn't say anything more, turning his head and looking at the courtyard.

At this time, the woman in the courtyard had no blood on her face, and she knelt straight on the ground, muttering to herself.And that Liu Da had a remorseful expression on his face, and he lowered his head, unable to see the expression on his face clearly.

The big man standing at the side showed an expression of impatience, and said displeasedly: "What about you husband and wife, you can talk about it yourself after closing the door. Don't dawdle here for me, waste time, and pay back the money to me quickly. "As he said, he was going to kick that Liu Da again.

Liu Dameng dodged backwards, grabbed the woman, and hid behind her, begging for mercy: "Don't hit, don't hit, I will pay back the money."

The woman came back to her senses after being pulled by Liu Dayi, she held Liu Da behind her back, and hurriedly said: "Don't, don't hit me anymore, I'll go get you money right away." After speaking, she hurriedly turned around and entered room.Not long after, the lady came out with a pottery pot. Although she looked reluctant, she gritted her teeth and handed it to the two big men.

The big man was smiling at the earthen pot. She reached out and took out the copper coins in the earthen pot, counted them, then changed her face and said, "You only have less than five pennies here, not even a small change."

Seeing this, the woman explained: "Brothers, please allow some time, and we will be able to make up the rest for you."

The big man snorted, and said fiercely: "How many belongings do you have, we brothers don't know, how many days more grace? One more day of grace will increase the interest of the usual money. How can you pay it back?" He looked at the woman. Behind the person, Liu Da said viciously: "I must pay back the money to Lao Tzu today, and if I don't pay it, I will use the house deed and land deed at home to offset the debt."

When Liu Da heard the words, he hurriedly said: "No, no, if the house and land are worth it, how can we survive?"

The big man spat again and scolded: "I only want money, who cares if you son of a bitch can survive or not."

The big man wanted to step forward to beat someone up again, but he was stopped by the man in brocade robe who had been standing behind him.The man in brocade robe leaned over and whispered in his ear, the big man turned his head sideways, glanced at the woman on the ground, with a malicious smile on his face.

The big man took two steps forward, Liu Da on the ground flinched back, and the big man said with a smirk on his face: "Liu Da, it's not impossible for you not to use your house and land to pay off your debts."

Hearing this, Liu Da raised his shriveled head, with a hint of joy on his face, and hurriedly said, "What can I do?"

The big man first smiled at Liu Da, then turned to look at the woman in front of Liu Da, and said, "If you don't want to mortgage the property at home, then mortgage your wife to me."

When Liu Da heard this, his face turned pale with shock, and he hurriedly said: "No way!" The woman beside him also showed a look of panic, and she stretched out her hand to hold Liu Da's clothes tightly.

Seeing this, the big man said again: "If you pay this little lady, the gambling debt of 26 coins will be written off." Then, the big man put the clay pot in his hand at Liu Da's feet.

Liu Da looked at the clay pot on the ground, and then at the woman beside him, showing hesitation.Seeing that he didn't move for a while, the big man winked at another man beside him, and the two rolled up their sleeves and walked towards Liu Da: "If you don't want to, then you can only use the land to pay off the debt, and then go on like this Crap, I'll break your leg before I talk!"

Hearing this, Liu Da hurriedly shouted: "Don't hit me!" He turned sideways and said to the woman, "Why don't you go with them first, my lady, and I will raise money in a few days, and then I will redeem you."

Hearing what he said, the woman lost all color on her face, and said in a trembling voice: "Da Lang, what do you mean by that?"

Liu Da lowered his head in shame, and said in a low voice, "I don't really have to give you to them. Give me a few days, and I'll raise money to redeem you."

The woman had already burst into tears: "Chi, raise money, where can you go to raise money? I am married to you, but it is not as good as the few acres of Susukida at home. Do you really want to give me to them?"

In the car, seeing this scene, Xun Feibai was surprised and said: "When the first emperor was here, I changed the law, no matter whether the head of the family is a man or a woman, no one has the right to sell the main wife/husband. I didn't expect that there would be people who ignored the law." Law."

Yan Cong'an said from the side: "No matter how strict the law is, there will still be people who ignore it. The world is so big, such things are not uncommon."

Xun Feibai couldn't bear it, and turned to look at Yan Cong'an with questioning eyes.

"If Fei Bai wants to help, I won't stop her, but you know, if you can help her today, tomorrow when you are not around, her husband may give her to someone else." Yan Cong'an saw her like this Just by looking at her appearance, she knew what was in her heart and said it out loud.

Xun Feibai thought for a while, then pondered: "Since we met today, Fei Bai can't just sit idly by. Later, I can persuade this girl to go back to her mother's house first, and then make peace with Liu Da. I don't think Liu Da can use him to pay off the debt anymore." .”

Hearing this, Yan Cong'an raised his eyebrows and said, "Since Fei Bai has made up his mind, let's do it."

Xun Feibai raised his eyebrows and smiled at her, then raised his hand to lift the curtain of the car, intending to go out.I only heard Yan Cong'an's voice from behind: "Baoxia, you go with Fei Bai and protect her well."

Xun Fei's heart warmed up, and before he got off the carriage, he saw the woman in the yard break away from the big man's hand, and bumped her head against the wall of the main house.

Seeing this, Liu Da hurriedly ran to the woman, crying and shouting: "Five Niang, Wu Niang!" But no matter how he called, the bloody woman in his arms had long since died.

Seeing this scene, the two big men and the brocade-robed man were a little flustered. The three of them looked at each other, and one of the big men picked up the earthen pot on the ground and spat at Liu Da: "It's really bad luck! Let's pay the money first." Take it, and I will give you another three days to pay back the remaining money! Otherwise, you will have good fruit to eat!"

Immediately, the three of them left Liu's house in a hurry.The crowd watching outside the courtyard was also in an uproar.

"It's a crime, it's really a crime."

"Why is Wang Wuniang so overwhelmed?"

"Then Liu Da is not a thing. The production capacity of the land is as important as his own wife? You have to pay your gambling debt with your wife."

"Bah, it's really not a thing."

"It's not a thing for Gou Erlang to rob people's girls by force."

"How can this Liu Da gamble, the gambling house..."

"Create a crime, make a crime."

Xun Feibai stood in front of the car in a daze for a moment, only feeling someone gently tugging on her sleeve, and then slowly regained consciousness.What caught her eyes was Yan Cong'an's worried expression, she turned around and held Yan Cong'an's hand, followed her back to the car and sat down.

The two were silent for a while, Xun Feibai sighed slightly: "Everyone has his own destiny."

Not long after, the crowd of onlookers dispersed, the road was clear, and the treasure box drove the carriage again, slowly heading towards the west end of the village.