The bear child of the Red Chamber, Jia Cong

Early this morning, a few Taoist priests brought the rice that was ordered yesterday from various restaurants in the city, and the aroma of the rice filled the entire Taoist temple in a blink of an eye.Su Cheng only ate a little porridge in the morning, and his eyes almost turned red when he smelled the fragrance of rice.Naiqiang closed his eyes and read for a long time without knowing the words.Zhen Ming wondered: "Girl, what are you talking about?"

"Uncle Cong taught me the calming mantra when I was young." Su Cheng still closed his eyes, "He said he could calm his mind after reciting it."

Zhenming laughed and said, "He knows some meditation spells. What do you want to do in meditation."

"I'm hungry." Su Cheng said with a sullen face, "Yesterday someone reminded me not to eat too much before going to Bodhi Point. I made up my mind and thought it was a terrible situation, and I was afraid I would vomit."

Zhen Ming thought for a moment and said: "That's right, you are really afraid that you will vomit."

"Uncle Cong said, if someone reminds you of something that sounds a little outrageous, don't ignore it, because it is usually correct."

Zhenming nodded, heard her read again, and asked curiously: "What meditation mantra did he teach you? Does it work?"

"I don't know, I never used it before." Su Cheng recited aloud, "Be proud of loving the motherland, ashamed of harming the motherland, proud of serving the people, and ashamed of betraying the people..." Zhenming was puzzled.

Not long after, the big iron pot borrowed from Youmin Temple also came, and the big carriage hired from outside also came, and Zhen Ming ordered to leave.A dozen or so Taoist priests from Tianning Temple drove to Bodhi Point in a cart.

Su Cheng dressed as a Taoist priest in Taoist robes, and shared a carriage with Master Zhenming. On the way, Su Cheng suddenly asked, "Old man, it seems we haven't fetched water."

"There is a well in the Bodhi corner."

"Is the well there clean?"

Zhenming glanced at her: "If they weren't clean, these people would have died long ago."

"Too."

When we arrived at Bodhi Point, before we got off the car, we could smell a musty smell, mixed with stench.Su Cheng had been jolting in the carriage for a long time, and when he smelled this smell again, he immediately felt a little nauseous.Zhenming got off the car straight away, and said in his mouth, "If you vomit now, you won't be able to vomit if you want to vomit later." Su Cheng was so frightened that he forcibly suppressed his nausea.The old man smiled quietly for a while, and hurriedly stretched his face.

The clerk of Jia's horse shop is still following today, but he approached Zhenming and said in a low voice: "Master, is that really the lady from the prefect's family?"

Zhenming thought for a while: "You just treat her as the eldest son of the prefect of Su."

The clerk said: "It's okay, several young ladies of our Rongguo Mansion have become officials, and Miss Lin's family is also a military adviser, with great military achievements." Zhenming unknowingly frowned.The clerk sighed, "I'm afraid that the prefect Su is pedantic. Seeing that this lady is young and inexperienced, she is still a sensible person." He turned his head to look at Su Cheng, and said to himself, "I'm not squeamish either."

Bodhi Point is a slum, with a dozen or so houses scattered and all of them are badly damaged. Most of them are haphazardly built huts.The place where the porridge is given out is in a little open space outside Bodhi Point.A Taoist priest came to deliver a letter yesterday, so there were people waiting early.At a glance, no matter men, women or children, they are all pale and emaciated, which really correspond to the words "as thin as a stick".Su Cheng couldn't help shivering.

Then I heard a little Taoist say: "These people are still behaved, they didn't come up and bump into each other."

A middle-aged Taoist said: "I heard that some people overturned the porridge bucket when they came to give out porridge, and then they learned how to behave. Other places have already been filled with sheds, and only this place is vacant for porridge."

Su Cheng frowned slightly.Looking at this group of old, weak, sick and disabled with cloudy eyes, they don't seem to be so wise. They must be taught by someone or have a leader.Looking at the broken bowls in their hands, it can be seen that most of them lived by begging in the city.The clerk seemed to guess what she was thinking, and said: "There are also odd jobs. If you can't find a job, those who can walk will beg for food, and those who can't can only wait for others to help and ask for two to deliver. There are two restaurants that deliver The leftovers of the guests' meals are organized and given to them."

Su Cheng asked, "Which two?"

"I don't know about that."

"Well, I'll check it myself." The man gave her a rare approval.Su Cheng immediately felt very at ease as if he had received a great compliment.

The Taoist priests pushed the big wooden buckets up to the well to fetch water, Su Cheng followed, and Zhen Ming and his buddies naturally followed.It's not far from the porridge clearing to the well, but it's full of sheds, so it's very difficult to walk.As he walked, Su Cheng suddenly said: "No! I was fooled by the priest in the morning. It's not that I haven't served porridge before. Which porridge is not boiled at home and pushed directly? I have never heard of bringing a few Che Tan boiled it fresh at the soup kitchen! You keep teasing me!"

Zhenming smiled and said: "I understand? The poor don't know why." He glanced at the waiter, "Yesterday, this little brother asked the poor to cook the porridge."

Su Cheng hurried to see the buddy.The clerk smiled and said, "Miss will know when she turns around." Su Cheng pursed his lips.

It took a long time to move to the side of the well, only to see a four-corner shed built on the well, and the roof was covered with oil paper.A bamboo fence half a foot high and two feet wide is surrounded by the well.A woman was sitting by the fence, and a boy was drawing water by the well inside.Both of them were dressed in rags, but they were more normal than others—the so-called normal, but not so thin.The woman looked less than forty; the boy was nine feet long.Not long after, the child came out with a bucket.I saw that he was about seventeen or eighteen years old; although he is thin now, because of his big frame, it can be seen that he must have been a strong boy in his early years.However, one look at his face was enough to tell that he was obviously a fool.A row of people lined up in front of the woman, each carrying a wooden bucket.The boy handed the wooden bucket in his hand to an old man, and took another empty bucket to fetch water.Su Cheng exclaimed: "No wonder there is no plague! The water source is clean." He immediately looked at the waiter, "Who came up with this idea? Are you coaxing us to see this well to recommend this person to the magistrate?"

The clerk laughed and said, "Miss is really a wonderful person. The villain doesn't want to recommend him, but just wants to turn a corner and plead for him."

Su Cheng frowned: "Isn't it okay to speak directly? What if I don't like the dirty and smelly place here?"

The man sighed: "That means his fate is not good."

"Bullshit life is bad..."

Before Su Cheng could finish speaking, Zhenming interrupted: "Girl! Girls are not gentle."

Su Cheng pursed his lips, pretending he didn't hear: "Why is he imprisoned? It's very easy to die in a cell. What if it's too late?"

"That's not true." The man said, "My lord sentenced him to exile, and he hasn't left yet."

Su Cheng understood: "A member of the Mei family?"

The clerk nodded: "Doctor Mei often comes here to treat the victims. Without him, there will be a plague in the old year."

Su Cheng was immediately reminded: "Oh, when was the flood last year?"

The man sighed: "June. Nanchang is always flooded in May and June."

Su Cheng looked around a few times.The days of spring in the south are the rainiest.The Bodhi Point is full of potholes and sewage flowing across the river. The stench and moldy smell fill the mouth and nose. Even if the water is not flooded, it is easy to cause plague.As she was watching, she saw a mouse running past, and someone shouted: "Mouse—" the crowd chased after it.Su Cheng couldn't help blurting out: "As expected, everyone shouted and beat the rats crossing the street."

The clerk said leisurely: "There are almost no mice in this area, they are all eaten."

Suddenly, Su Cheng felt the nausea that he had suppressed so easily come out again, and it took him half a day to suppress it.Quickly move your eyes to look up.Suddenly, I noticed that there were several penny poles on the roofs of some dilapidated houses in the distance, and strings of meat hung on the penny poles, like dried meat that I had seen in the countryside before.It felt weird—how could someone in this kind of place afford to buy meat and dry it in the sun?The man also noticed that she was staring at the jerky, and said in a low voice, "Miss, look elsewhere, don't look at that."

"Why?"

"You are really smart, you can guess the reason after thinking about it for a while, you have to spit it out. Don't think about that. The villain is really for the sake of the young lady."

"Could it be that if you tell me not to think about it, I can't help not thinking about it...Wow——" A thought flashed through Su Cheng's mind as he spoke, and he couldn't help it anymore, and immediately vomited it out.

Listening to the two of them talking, Zhenming noticed the dried meat with their eyes, and said in amazement: "Even if a butcher gives them some meat, it won't be their turn to dry it."

Su Cheng vomited four or five mouthfuls before he could force himself to shout, "Don't even think about it, Daoist...Wow-wow--" She simply knelt on the ground and vomited, staring at her eyes, as if she wanted to vomit all her internal organs. of.Zhenming frowned, raised his hand and pressed on her back a few times.After a while, Su Cheng gradually stopped vomiting, but was still dizzy and unable to get up.

The waiter looked at her with lowered eyebrows, and said leisurely, "A while ago, during the war in the southern suburbs, General Yang killed many bandits with artillery..."

Before he finished speaking, Zhenming said: "Stop talking." Su Cheng vomited again.After a long time, he stopped vomiting again, but he could not move while squatting.After a long time, I burst into tears.

At this moment, the Taoist priests have finished fetching water, are pushing the carts out, and are preparing to burn charcoal and cook porridge.Zhenming patted Su Cheng on the back: "Get up. Put your hands together to do things." Su Cheng stood up silently, staggered and fell, and finally stabilized his heels.Zhenming frowned, "The lower body is so weak. Tomorrow, take a step forward."

Su Cheng choked with sobs and said, "I'll do it today."

"Help boil the water first."

Su Cheng wiped his tears with his sleeve, nodded, pursed his lips, picked up his feet and left.The buddy followed behind her and Zhenming.After walking for a while, the clerk asked Zhenming softly, "Why does this young lady suffer so much?"

Zhenming said: "If she doesn't suffer these hardships, she can't leave the backyard. If she wants to leave the backyard, she has to suffer. You can't have both, you choose your own path."

When the three of them went outside, the Taoist priests had set up a large pot to boil water.Su Cheng was helping to burn the charcoal.She doesn't know this, but fortunately, she is smart and quick to learn, and she understands it after watching others burn it for a while, so she turns to a large pot nearby and starts it up.Zhenming twirled his beard and nodded repeatedly: "This girl is too smart. It would be a pity if she were locked in the backyard."

The man sighed: "I just wonder if Mrs. Su will listen to her."

Zhen Ming said with a smile: "Don't worry, that Dr. Mei will definitely be fine."

Not long after, the fire was ablaze under the cauldron, and the faces of all the fire-burning Taoist priests and Su Cheng were also covered with ashes.Su Cheng was sweating and felt a little more comfortable, so he walked over to Zhenming and his assistant, wiped the sweat off his forehead with his sleeve: "The most important thing right now is to move these people to other places, otherwise it will be bad if the water swells." It's done." After a pause, he smiled wryly, "It's not a bad thing if the rats are eaten up. Plague is not easy to spread."

Zhenming said, "So many people, where should they be placed?"

Su Cheng shrugged: "Xie Jing left so many properties, and now they are all confiscated. It is not a problem to resettle them for the time being."

The guy clapped his hands and said, "I've been thinking about this and I can't do anything."

Su Cheng said casually: "If you are not in his position, you will not seek his own government. You have no right to touch Xie Jing's property, so it is unexpected."

The man said: "The city will be flooded on the day when the water rises."

"Where there is waterlogging in a city, it can only be due to the insufficient drainage capacity of the city's infrastructure - what Aunt Jia said." Su Cheng looked back at the victims who were surrounded by the victims waiting to eat porridge, "Not all of them have strength. The man who was hired to dig the drainage canal. The labor force of Xiaoque’s brother was also hired. It should have been concocting the underground drainage pipe, but it is obviously too late now, let’s go through this level first.”

The man said: "The people in the prison are also very laborious. Usually, the rich often buy them with the jailers to work."

Su Cheng slapped his head: "There must be a lot of wrongdoers out there."

The man snorted, "Many?"

Su Cheng looked at the sky: "Every case has to be retried, my God—I must not be exhausted..." He sighed again, "So it's not right to leave everything to the magistrate! Which one doesn't matter? The trial is also important Yes, resettlement of the victims is also important, and digging drainage canals is also important."

Zhenming said: "Not only. A few days ago, that old man Yang Qianli told the poor Taoist that there is fear of floods this year, which will be bigger than last year."

Su Cheng was stunned.I couldn't help looking away at the victims who were waiting for the porridge, and said "wow" with my head in my arms: "Why didn't he say it earlier! It's already April, and there's nothing in time! What can I do!" After a pause, suddenly " Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

Zhenming suddenly showed some pity, and persuaded: "Drought and flood disasters have been difficult to deal with since ancient times. It is only April, and there is still time to prepare food for disaster relief."

As if being cramped, Su Cheng said weakly, "That's already an afterthought. Even if some victims are saved, more people will be drowned in the flood. The population...Jiangxi has become like this. Let the flood wash away With more population, I really don’t know when it will be prosperous.” Her eyes suddenly jumped up, her eyes rolled, her mind was thinking, and she muttered, “First of all, I have to ask the court for the skilled craftsman of the Ministry of Industry and Water Control. It may be too late to control the water, at least he can see where the embankment is likely to break, and move the people away first. At the same time, he went to Wuguo Lingnan and other places to buy a lot of grain for backup. Also, this season this year, he will immediately promote the cultivation of Western potatoes. This will be collected soon. . Planting rice is likely to be soaked in water before it can be harvested."

The buddy reminded: "It's too late. The spring seedlings have already been planted."

Su Cheng covered his face: "It would be great if Erbo Yang reminded you earlier."

"I can't blame him." Zhenming said, "He only guessed after seeing the rain in the past two months."

"I know, he's not stupid." Su Cheng muttered, "I can't think of a way for a while, let's shirk responsibility for now, anyway, he can't hear the old man. Treating him to a roast chicken will be compensation for me chewing on him." Zhen Ming raised his hand and tapped the back of her head.

The clerk suddenly called out "Miss", signaling to her that someone was coming ahead.Su Cheng looked intently, and saw a six or seven-year-old girl who was frighteningly thin, but had big eyes, and held a small yellow wild flower in her dark hand, standing in front of her and dared not come over.Su Cheng hurriedly beckoned.The little girl ran over a few steps and lifted Xiaoyehua to Su Cheng.Su Cheng quickly squatted down.The little girl whispered in a thin voice, "This is... over there... I picked it."

Su Cheng said softly: "Oh, it's so beautiful! You have a good eye."

The little girl laughed immediately, and stretched out her little hand closer to Su Cheng: "Here. I see you were crying just now. Don't cry."

Tears welled up in Su Cheng's eyes, and he held back again, carefully took the flowers and looked at her with a smile, "Thank you. It's so beautiful. I've never seen such beautiful flowers. I won't cry anymore. "The little girl giggled, she looked very cute, she turned and ran away.Two lines of tears rolled down Su Cheng's face immediately.

The Taoist priests have already started to yell: "The porridge is gone--I'm queuing up to get the porridge--"