Enemies in the Red Chamber

That night, Brother Liu suffered from hunger and cold for the first time in his two lives.The dry food that Lin Ruhai prepared for them was only dry-baked flatbread and some salty pickles, and there was not even a mouthful of water. After one mouthful, he absolutely didn't want to take another mouthful.After the three of them left the city, they were so thirsty that they couldn't help it. It was Lin Butler who had said all the good things to the tea shop on the roadside before begging for two bowls of water to drink.At night, there was wind leaking everywhere in the ruined temple, and there was no quilt to cover, so I found a corner with two walls facing each other, Lin Butler and Ankang sat outside, and a triangle was built between the people and the wall for Brother Liu to sleep inside.

The three of them were not the only ones in the ruined temple, there were also a few dirty beggars and homeless people beside them who were chattering, seeing a few people with strange faces and gentle looks, they would burst out laughing deliberately from time to time Seeing Ankang looking at them vigilantly, he deliberately got up and took two steps towards where they were sitting, and then laughed again.If it wasn't for Steward Lin holding a stick as thick as an arm, I don't know what those people would do.

Brother Liu curled up in the corner in the middle of the night, facing the wall, listening to Ankang gnashing his teeth in the cold, his voice was exceptionally clear in the quiet night, and his whispered complaints, "Master, why is this, you are so unfeeling!" Butler Lin moved from time to time. Move to show that he is still awake, in order to frighten those around him.

Early the next morning, the three of them ate a few more mouthfuls of dry food. Steward Lin scratched the ground with a branch, talking about the route to Xihai Yanzi.Ankang was dumbfounded, "Are you really going to Xihaiyanzi?!" Just walking there without money or a car?Isn't it the master who scares people and will be able to go home in a few days?

Steward Lin took a look at Brother Liu, raised his hand and hit him on the head with a branch, "Master's words are always true. He said that every year must be a year, and every day must be missed. Xihaiyanzi is a must."

Brother Liu knew that he was speaking to him, so he sneered in his heart. He still didn't believe that he could really starve to death, but he wanted to see what Lin Ruhai was up to! "That being the case, Steward Lin will tell us how we should go."

Butler Lin has already received Lin Ruhai's instructions, how could he really take on the burden of being the master of the house, stood up and said respectfully: "Master is the master, so naturally he has the final say. Wherever you need me on the road, just order me, and I will make up your mind." The matter has to be the uncle's."

Brother Liu stood up and patted the dirt and said, "Didn't you say you have to go south first before turning to the official road, then let's go."

Lin Butler opened his mouth to remind something, but thought of Lin Ruhai's instructions but didn't say anything, and protected Brother Liu on the road.

So, when the three of them were exhausted after walking for a day, they found that they were in a place with nowhere in front of the village or behind the store, and had no other choice but to sleep in the wild.And there are no mountain delicacies on the side of the road that you can pick or catch. There are only a dozen tall trees standing there. The only luck is that there is a small stream flowing next to it, so you can't even wash your hands and face.Ankang looked at the birds bouncing on the branches and drool, but unfortunately there was no tool to catch them, so he could only watch them and imagine the deliciousness of roasted chicken, roasted duck and roasted pigeon.

In the end, Brother Liu grumbled in his stomach. He opened his eyes and looked at the stars in the sky. For the first time, he realized that the meaning of life to many people might not be as he thought. In this life, what they think in their hearts may be nothing more than food and clothing.

When the sun was over the top of the head on the second day, I finally saw people, and their dry food was almost empty. Even though it was a small village, it was enough to be healthy and excited.Ankang looked at Brother Liu expectantly, and when he saw Brother Liu nodded, he cheered and ran outside the gate of a house and smashed the door.

The person who opened the door was an old woman with gray hair. When she saw the three of them, she put her hands on the door and asked, "Who are you? What are you doing in our village?"

Butler Lin tried his best to look honest and honest, and said, "Sister-in-law, the three of us are very thirsty when we arrive in your place, so we beg for a sip of water."

The old woman took a few glances at the two little ones, then saw the empty bag in front of them, then looked at the not-so-tidy clothes, squinted her eyes and smiled strangely, and then opened the door to let them in.

"Hammer, Hammer, come out and have a look." The old woman shouted after closing the door again.A big man walked out of the short earthen building next to him. He was tall and strong, but one leg was a bit shorter than the other. He walked erratically and shouted in a rough voice: " What are you doing?" Seeing Ankang and Brother Liu, his eyes lit up, he rubbed his hands and smiled.

Ankang's neck was a little chilled by his laughter, and he secretly poked Brother Liu and hid behind Butler Lin.Brother Liu frowned, and looked around for the layout of the courtyard.

The old woman opened the water tank and scooped out two bowls of water with a gourd ladle and brought them to Brother Liu and Ankang, and then dragged Lin Butler into a small room with the hammer.Brother Liu winked and followed Ankang to eavesdrop.

"Big brother, you can't go on, you fled to us, you know, I've seen it several times. I don't think you're having a hard time. The two boys outside are just when half-children eat me to death. It's really tiring. You. You see, one is enough to pass on the family line. If you have money, you can buy a daughter-in-law who can not only have a son but also hug her to sleep. How wonderful. My hammer is short of a son, why don’t you sell us one , Big or small as you like, we have money, Yangzhou City is two days away, and you can settle down." The old woman lowered her voice and said to Butler Lin.It's a pity that no matter how low the loud voice was, it couldn't be lowered much. Brother Liu and Ankang outside heard it clearly.

Butler Lin couldn't laugh or cry, because he heard that people in the village who couldn't have a son would buy a half-grown son who escaped to raise him, but he didn't expect to meet him today. "Sister-in-law, you see, these two boys of mine are already so old, why would you buy them? There are quite a few people who escaped from the west coast, and some of them are young, so they are familiar with them after buying them, right?"

The old woman poohed and said: "Who knows if you can keep it or not, what will it look like when it grows up. In the past, people in the village bought small ones, so let's not talk about those who can't support them. When they grow up, stealing chickens and dogs is not filial. , it’s better to have nothing, it’s not good at all. Instead, I bought a big one, and I’ll know what it is when I buy it, and I can’t take the grinning ones. A bowl of rice to eat. Just tell me, how much will it cost?"

Butler Lin choked for a moment, waved his hands and said, "Sister-in-law, I'm just looking for a bowl of water to drink, not selling children."

Hammer stared and was about to shake his fist, "Blind, don't you sell it? You brought your child to the village! Begging for a bowl of water? There are streams everywhere outside, who needs to come to the village to beg. Don't think we don't know , if those of you fleeing with your children don’t want to sell them, you won’t let them into the village when you’re begging for food. You bring your children and knock on the door to sell them, tell me, which one do you want to sell?”

Butler Lin had a mouthful of old blood stuck in his throat, gasped and said, "I really don't want to sell the child, the child is thirsty, and the stream outside is not clean..."

Brother Liu, however, was no longer interested in listening, and his heart was heavy.When ordinary people actually regard selling children as the norm, it can already explain the problem.Now he can vaguely realize that the "family, country, and world" mentioned by Lin Ruhai is not a simple six words, nor is it just a trick that he has always believed to be promoted by the ruler for his own rule.The people of the world, the people of the country, and his family, he should really think about it, this trip may be just what he needs.

Brother Liu's hostility since he left the Lin family finally loosened up. He felt that as a ten-year-old who is not really a child, he should not oppose for the sake of opposition. Since it is inevitable, it is better to make good use of this time. Opportunity, take a good look at what they want you to see, maybe in case you are really wrong...

I don’t know how Steward Lin persuaded the mother and child, but after a while, the old woman came out, grabbed the gourd scoop from Ankang’s hand, and drove them out like chickens, “Go, go, bad luck! It’s so easy It looks good." With a click, he closed the door in front of them.

Lin Butler smiled wryly and said, "Let's go, I thought I could see what I could do in this village for a living."

Ankang squinted his eyes and got angry, "What is this man talking about? If he can't eat well, he will sell the child. Whose child is not raised by himself, and he is not a kidnapper."

He deserved it. When he came out of the village from the other end, he saw a skinny man whose clothes were all strips of cloth, messy hair, dark face, and two children, a man and a woman, who nodded and bowed and handed them to a villager. woman.After taking a purse of copper coins from the village woman, she led another older boy and left without looking back.The two little ones cried out for their brother with tears in their eyes, and were slapped on the face by the village woman.

Brother Liu and Butler Lin turned their heads to look at Ankang, but Ankang's voice instantly disappeared.

They deserved to be unlucky, they were fine during the day, but it started to rain as soon as it got dark, but luckily it wasn't too rainy.This time, the three of them were really at a loss. Seeing that there was no thunder, they hid under a short tree and stared.This time Brother Liu was also irritable, and he really realized what it means to have a leaky house when it rains all night.The father and son saw at the head of the village, they saw them yelling, "Run one mile forward is the Earth Temple", and then ran away.Brother Liu looked at Butler Lin, then at Ankang, both of them were waiting for him to make up his mind, gritted his teeth, and rushed out to follow. They couldn't really spend the night in the wild.Even including Butler Lin, the three experienced the "fun" of running wildly in the rain for the first time in their lives.