"It's freezing cold, old man, take this hot water with you to drink on the road." Xu Yue said with a smile.
The old man held the warm bamboo tube in his hand, looked at the little girl's sincere face, and said gratefully: "Thank you, thank you, thank you girl..."
Xu Yue waved her hand, indicating that he was welcome, and sent the old man to the door.
The old man put the bamboo tube on the cart, pulled up the cart and continued to sell. Because of this little warmth, the originally sad face had a faint smile, and his tone sounded much tougher.
Xu Yue stood by the door and watched him go away, then looked away.
Unexpectedly, she was about to close the door and enter the house. As soon as she turned around, she saw many people at the door of her house. She was startled.
There were seven or eight men, the older ones were in their thirties and forties, the younger ones were twelve or thirteen years old, and they looked about the same age as Xu Dalang.
They were wearing thin jackets, and the material on their cuffs and trouser legs was in tatters. They all looked like they had not washed their hair or face for several months, and their hair and face were unkempt, which made their black and white eyes shine particularly brightly.
They were holding chickens, ducks, geese and fish in their hands, standing in front of the door, staring at little girl Xu Yue.
The first time Xu Yue recovered, she shouted into the courtyard: "Brother!!!"
The girl's voice was shrill and harsh, and the seven or eight people all frowned, looking even more fierce.
Xu Dalang flashed over like a wind, just in time to catch a glimpse of the menacing looks of these people. He took the little Xu Yue at the door into his arms and roared fiercely at the group of people.
This was a threatening growl that was not like a human being, and the seven or eight people took a big step back in fright, and then looked at Xu Dalang in horror.
"Who are you? What are you doing gathering in front of my house?"
Xu Yue, who was hugged by her brother, had a protective umbrella and asked confidently.
Xu Erniang, who was in the room, was attracted by the movement. She didn't even put on her shoes. She was holding a small wooden stick in her hand. She rushed out and waved it at the group of people.
"Crack, crackle, crackle." After a crisp sound of bamboo sticks throwing meat, the door was full of chickens, ducks, and geese flying around, and there were wailing sounds of pain.
The scene suddenly fell into chaos, leaving Xu Yue stunned.
Who said the mage has no fighting ability? Her sister is obviously very tough!
Xu Erniang had one hand on her hips and a small wooden stick in the other, pointing at the men who were chasing chickens, ducks and geese while screaming in pain, and shouted in a conspiratorial tone:
"What do you people do? Do you want to bully my sister? I will curse you hard!"
This commotion drew all the neighbors out. Mrs. Tong, who was facing the door, only saw three brothers and sisters of the Xu family, but not Mrs. Wang and Xu Da. She felt bad and told her two children to stay at home.
, hurried over.
But before she could even walk out of her house, she saw the second wife of the Xu family waving a small wooden stick, shocking the entire audience, and her footsteps stopped involuntarily.
At this time, the men who had been beaten by Xu Erniang with a small wooden stick heard her words, and they all showed pitiful expressions of injustice.
They were holding the chickens, ducks and geese that they had finally caught, and while being shocked by the ferocity of the three Xu brothers and sisters, they explained:
"We are not bad people, we are here to learn from our teachers!"
"Apprentice to learn skills?" Xu Erniang showed a confused look.
Those people hurriedly nodded and explained. Only then did the three Xu Yue brothers and sisters realize that these guys didn't look like good people. The people who appeared sneakily at the door of the house actually came to learn from their father.
Moreover, they were neighbors who lived on the same street as them. It was just that the three siblings did not usually go out to socialize and had never seen these people.
"Really or not?" Xu Erniang looked at the neighbors watching the excitement and asked distrustfully.
As a result, the neighbors all nodded, indicating that they knew these eight men and were indeed neighbors on this street.
Look at those eight grown men, being timidly treated by a little girl. It's very funny.
I don’t know who laughed first. After a while, the whole street was filled with laughter.
The eight grown men just laughed so hard that they wanted to dig their heads into the cracks in the ground, feeling embarrassed and aggrieved.
Xu Erniang snorted, not feeling that she had done something wrong just because of their aggrieved expressions.
"When you come to visit me, you should look like you are coming to visit me. You appear in front of my sister so suddenly and look so fierce. Who knows whether you are a good person or a bad person?"
The eight people looked at each other, and the older man among them asked awkwardly: "So now do you know whether we are good guys or bad guys?"
Xu Erniang snorted, waved her hand to signal the Xu Yue brothers and sisters behind her to come in, and closed the door with a bang.
"My father is not at home, you can come back when he comes back!"
The sound of a girl's voice came from the courtyard, and Tong, who was standing far away at the door of her house, recognized that it was Xu Yue's voice.
Compared with Xu Erniang's fierce attitude, Xu Yue's speaking attitude was much gentler, giving the eight people outside the door a step down.
Tong saw that there was nothing he needed to help with, so he shook his head in amusement, coughed slightly, and turned around to go home.
There were no adults at home, just three children. In addition to the misunderstandings and small conflicts just now, the eight people outside the door looked at each other, with helplessness written all over their sinister-looking dark faces.
"Why don't you just wait at the door?" a barefoot young man in thin clothes asked tentatively.
He was holding two fishes in his hands. The fish were no longer moving, and the water droplets on their tails had already solidified into ice, giving them a chilly look.
Xu Yue, who was lying behind the door and observing through the crack in the door, looked at their thin attire and was really worried that they would wait outside their house in the cold wind and freeze to death.
Fortunately, a few older men were more sensible and waved their hands, indicating that everyone should disperse and go home first, and then come back when Xu Da comes back.
The barefoot boy sighed in disappointment and could only follow the adults and disperse.
"Fifth Uncle, do you think the Xu family will teach us the art of making a kang?" The young man looked at the two frozen fishes in his hands, then looked at the red marks on his wrists that Xu Erniang had pulled out, and murmured in a low voice:
"The second mother-in-law of the Xu family has such a bad temper. I guess Master Xu is not a good-tempered person either."
The middle-aged man whom the boy called Uncle Wu sighed. He didn't know if he could succeed, but he had to give it a try.
"Not everyone in the Xu family has a bad temper. I see that the young lady of the Xu family is a kind-hearted little girl who brings hot water to the old man who buys firewood. Didn't she just ask us to wait for Master Xu to come back? Then we will
Come back later." Uncle Wu sighed.
Thinking of the young man's hand, he asked with concern: "Does it hurt? Is it hurt anywhere?"
The young man shook his head, "It doesn't hurt..."
It just felt so embarrassing to be slapped with a stick by a girl younger than myself.
