Chapter 37 We will come up with a good solution
Shen Liuzhen looked at Guan Yifei again and asked, "Aren't you going to line up?"
Guan Yifei held his painful stomach and said awkwardly with the boy's remaining dignity: "Xie Yuan just gave me the money, and I have already bought a lot, which is enough to eat."
After saying that, he turned around and told a few children who were slightly younger than him: "You guys eat something, go find some branches and grass, and come back. Let's plug the holes in the house first."
"Okay..." Several people responded and walked away.
Guan Yifei took the opportunity to sit on the open space in front of him, like an injured stray dog ​​who needed to breathe, suffering, hoping that time would take away his pain little by little.
The youngest children are not aware of so much.
They were immersed in the happiness of having something to eat. They instinctively sat down next to their most trusted elder brother and gathered in a small group. They held buns or pancakes in their hands and ate in small bites, as if they were tasting. It looked like something delicious, and he narrowed his eyes with satisfaction.
Xie Yuan and Shen Liuzhen couldn't help but fell silent when they saw this scene.
Although they are both children and live in the same county, their living situations are completely different. They have never thought of living like this...
Shen Liuzhen walked over, lifted up his clothes, and sat down in the open space next to him. He looked at the children surrounding him and said:
"I'll take you to get your injuries treated."
Guan Yifei covered his ribs and gasped, "It's just a life, no need for treatment, just get through it. If you are really kind, why not keep the money and exchange it for food later."
He is really thick-skinned, but it is hard for anyone to feel any real dislike for him.
Xie Yuan loosened the reins and sat down next to Shen Liuzhen. He looked at the sky in the distance and said nothing.
The sky here is no different from the sky at home, with clear blue sky and white clouds, but the people on the ground live differently.
They sat in silence for a long time. Then there was a commotion and fighting in the distance. It sounded like a dispute over queuing. The Yamen servants also came, shouting and cursing to maintain order.
Xie Yuan remembered the question in his mind just now and asked Shen Liuzhen: "Did you see me when you came here just now, in the alley of Qian Street?"
Shen Liuzhen sneered disdainfully:
"I'm not a fool. Your horse is tied outside, and there's that man..." He poked Guan Yifei's direction with his chin, "He stood alone in the alley, staring at me with eyes like a donkey's. Look, there’s obviously someone hiding behind it.”
"Then why did you leave directly? Did you accept an errand from my father?...Did my father ask you to come here to make soup cakes?"
"I'm here to find you. The teacher probably doesn't know that there are so many refugees here suddenly," Shen Liuzhen said.
"Are you looking for me? Then you pretended not to see it and passed by... Do you think I will believe you?" Xie Yuan asked with a frown.
"What's wrong? I haven't come out to play for a long time. I've been studying hard all day long. If I don't like it, I'll go shopping for a few times and then come back to you. Do you think I can be as free as you are every day?"
This sentence hit Xie Yuan's pain point directly. Who the hell cares about this kind of freedom?
Especially when Shen Liuzhen said this, he looked so mean and wanted to be beaten. Xie Yuan was so angry that he clenched his fist and tried to hit him on the head and face.
Shen Liuzhen quickly raised his arms to cover his face, and then began to behave obediently: "Ah Yuan, Ah Yuan, please calm down, what did I say wrong?"
"What's wrong? I think you knew it all on purpose!" Xie Yuan raised his fist and gritted his teeth, "If you really think my freedom is so good, why are you working so hard from dawn to dusk? How can you show off your ability to resist beatings? Take it out and don’t go!”
Shen Liuzhen's eyes were exposed from the back of his sleeves, and he carefully peered at Xie Yuan's expression. There was an innocent light in his eyes, and he called out pitifully:
"A Yuan..."
There was nothing else to say.
Xie Yuan looked at his big rabbit-like eyes and couldn't swing his fist, so he could only grit his teeth and lower it, and began to look at the sky and sulk.
Shen Liuzhen put down his arm with lingering fear, suddenly thought of something, took out a small paper bag from his arms, opened it bit by bit, and obediently stretched it out in front of Xie Yuan's eyes.
Xie Yuan didn't want to pay attention to him, but the thing he held in front of her eyes was too close, and the sweet smell wafted up again. She lowered her eyes and saw that it was dried persimmon corners that had been sunburned...
Xie Yuan subconsciously pursed his lower lip, angrily pulled out his eyes, pretending not to see.
Shen Liuzhen raised his hand and said: "This season... it's not easy to find this. It was an old man on the roadside who ran out of food at home, so he took it out to replace it."
Xie Yuan was in a stalemate for a while, and finally couldn't resist the temptation. He gave Shen Liuzhen face, reached for one and put it in his mouth to chew.
When Shen Liuzhen saw this, he smiled triumphantly. The two small dimples on his cheeks were deep and sweet.
Xie Yuan rolled his eyes at him with disgust, reached out and grabbed the paper bag, stuffed two more into his mouth, and handed them to the child next to him.
When Shen Liuzhen saw that the thing he was carrying like a treasure was casually given away by Xie Yuan, the expression on his face immediately changed. He leaned into her ear and whispered:
"Do you know how much grain I spent in exchange for that? Food is getting more and more expensive now... You can keep it for yourself, but you won't be able to eat it again if you want."
Xie Yuan didn't even look back. When he saw the children being passed around one by one, he couldn't help but feel sad and said: "I don't want any more, it's just some snacks. When autumn comes, there will be more. You have so much food for them to eat." How nice.”
Shen Liuzhen leaned into her ear and said, "...the old man who sells persimmons doesn't have anything to eat either."
The breath he exhaled made her ears and eyes itch, so she raised her hand to take it out in disgust and asked Guan Yifei:
"What do you usually rely on for food?"
"They are all orphans without parents. What else can they rely on? Begging and stealing. When they really have no food, they go robbing." He said these words matter-of-factly, without a trace of shame. Suddenly he remembered something, He raised his eyes and asked:
"Will the people captured come back?"
"No." Shen Liuzhen stretched his head and looked at him.
Guan Yifei's expression was very suspicious, but seeing Shen Liuzhen's serious face, he finally said: "Every time we get back a large amount of money from begging, we have to hand over a large part of it. In exchange, they protect us from living here and avoid the house." He was taken away by others. I am very happy that he was taken away, but can you help us keep such a sheltered place? There used to be few people here, but now there are so many refugees. We are just a few children... we can't beat it. So many adults.”
Xie Yuan and Shen Liuzhen looked at each other, and both saw the absurdity in each other's eyes: such a poor place still needs to be snatched and preserved, which makes people feel an indescribable sadness.
"We will come up with a good idea." Shen Liuzhen stretched his neck, walked around Xie Yuan in the middle, looked at Guan Yifei and said seriously.
Chapter completed!