After climbing over the fence and crossing the river, Xia Zhaoyi came down from the mountain carrying a large wooden frame two hours later.
Because it was about to rain, the fat fish jumped out of the water to breathe. She caught several in a row, cooked the biggest one herself, and brought the rest back to Qian Qianqian and Yu's mother.
The wooden frame was made from scratch and was very flimsy. Even though she tied a lot of long grass, it was still about to fall apart when we got to the backyard.
Mrs. Liang and the servant girl were kneeling in the middle of the courtyard, and there were already faint raindrops falling from the sky.
Xia Zhaoyi didn't know what happened during this period. She leaned on the tree trunk and looked at it curiously for a while, then walked around the pig pen and went to the vegetable garden behind.
Several servants were washing and chopping vegetables there. When they saw Xia Zhaoyi coming over, they thought they looked familiar, but they couldn't pronounce her name.
"What are you carrying on your back?" said a servant girl.
Xia Zhaoyi didn't stop and said as he walked: "Fish."
"Fish? Where did it come from?"
Xia Zhaoyi smiled: "It's from the river."
"Did you go to the river to catch it yourself?" another servant asked.
Xia Zhaoyi didn't answer, but still had a smile on her face. She walked briskly past them and went to the other side to find Qianqian.
"What do you think, she went to catch a child in the river?" said the first servant woman.
"That's right, what I thought," the servant girl shook her head, "We'd better work, since it's not our turn to eat anyway."
Qian Qianqian took a nap, but was still very sleepy.
She yawned, and she and another girl covered the outside of the water tank with an oilcloth, and then pressed it with stones.
In this area of the compound, there are more than thirty large water tanks lined up, with various things placed in them.
There is soy sauce, rice cakes, rice wine, tofu...
Not far behind her, a group of girls were carrying back the small jars they had moved out in the morning.
I took it out to dry in the sun thinking there would be good weather, but who thought it would rain.
"So sleepy?" Xia Zhaoyi walked over and said.
Qian Qianqian was startled and looked back at her, feeling dazzled.
Xia Zhaoyi smiled: "Come."
There were two more fruits in her hand.
"For satisfying cravings."
"Ah, Ah Li." Qian Qianqian said blankly.
He stretched out his hand to take the fruit, and the sweet fruity aroma went straight to his nose.
The girl next to Qian Qianqian looked at the fruits in their hands and pursed her lips lightly.
Xia Zhaoyi gave her two more: "Here you go."
"Ah," the girl reached out and took it, "Thank you."
"Where's Mama Yu?" Xia Zhaoyi asked.
"In the room over there," Qian Qianqian said, "she and Aunt Feng are both there. Their situation is a bit bad now."
"Aunt Feng is here too?" Xia Zhaoyi didn't have a good impression of Aunt Feng.
"yes."
Qian Qianqian glanced at the girl next to him, pulled Xia Zhaoyi aside, and briefly explained what happened from last night to early this morning.
Xia Zhaoyi took a bite of the fruit, swallowed it and said, "You mean, Aunt Feng protected me in front of Mrs. Bian?"
"I also heard what the mothers said. Mother Yu has been in the house and hasn't come out. I can't ask her about your situation, and I don't know the specifics."
Xia Zhaoyi muttered: "That's really..."
"Huh?" Qian Qianqian didn't hear clearly.
Xia Zhaoyi wanted to say that it was really unnecessary, but when she thought about the people she had offended in order to protect her, she stopped talking.
"It's okay," Xia Zhaoyi said, "It's just that Aunt Feng may have to work in vain."
"Why do you say that?"
"Because, I also beat Bian Yuanfeng."
"Ah!" Qian Qianqian screamed and covered his mouth with his hand.
Everyone around looked over.
Qian Qianqian glanced at them and pulled Xia Zhaoyi to a corner: "Ali, you mean, you, you beat Bian Yuanfeng?!"
Xia Zhaoyi couldn't help but pinch her cheek: "Why are you so scared? Just hit her. I was in front of her and threw a lot of stones."
"You are, this is too, too bold..."
"Is this bold?" Xia Zhaoyi said with a smile, "How scared will you be when I kick Bian Baye's head like a ball?"
I don’t even dare to think about it!
Xia Zhaoyi bit the fruit again and pointed to the other side: "I caught a lot of fish, enough for us to eat for many meals. If you are in a good mood, you can give it to anyone who likes it. I'm going to find Yu's mother.
."
Qian Qianqian followed her pointer, looked at the vegetable garden over there, and said, "Whoever I like will give it to whom?"
"Yes, you are the boss and you have the final say." Xia Zhaoyi smiled, turned and left.
Qian Qianqian was stunned and turned to look at Xia Zhaoyi's figure. He had never felt like this in his heart.
Not only in the mountains, she had no one to get close to and keep company with since she was a child.
She was born into a wealthy family and was immediately registered as a slave when she was born. From the time she could remember, she had been doing odd jobs in other people's backyards.
Later, someone offended the young mistress of a certain house in that family, and she and her mother were implicated. The mistress of the house called her Yabozi and sold her lightly. The family that bought her didn't want anyone older, so she and her
My mother was separated forever.
She still remembers the first night she was sold. She was lying on a hard, unfamiliar wooden bed. She was so scared that she couldn't sleep. She tossed and turned, and finally looked at the weeds over there and cried silently all night long.
But that was just the beginning. She was later resold several times, and finally fell into the hands of a gambler who accidentally made a fortune.
The gambler named her Qian Qianqian, and she was responsible for carrying water for the gambler to cook and cook for him every day. If the gambler won, he would buy her some candies when he came back happily. If the gambler lost, then she would suffer.
Already.
The gambler was in his thirties and was still unmarried. He was usually fine, but every once in a while, he would always stare at her with bright, stupid eyes.
Or when can I wait until she grows up?
Or just wait another two years.
Or maybe, why don't you take off your clothes and show me.
Qian Qianqian never took it off. Every time she turned around, she ran away and was beaten again.
Later, the war broke out, and she took advantage of the chaos to escape. She was caught on the road, put a sack on her head, and was carried away.
When she arrived in the ravine outside the city, she was released from the sack. Looking at the mighty team in front of her, she initially thought it was a wandering army.
It wasn't until she saw these horse thieves choosing which ones to keep and which ones not to keep in the crowd, and directly slashing innocent and weak people with their swords, that she realized that they were a gang of horse thieves.
Afterwards, her hands were tied with ropes and she was strung together with other women and children. They walked for three days until they reached this point.
There is nothing difficult to adapt to life in the mountains. She has always lived this kind of life, but she is more numb between life and death.
She was used to being humble and used to bowing her head and looking up, but now Ah Li said that she was the boss.
Yu's mother treats her well because she feels pity for her.
But Ah Li was so nice, Qian Qianqian felt that she regarded him as a friend and treated him as an equal.
Being treated as a friend is actually not a strange feeling, but why, when it comes to Ah Li, it feels a little weird.
Maybe it's because Ah Li has an aura of nobility that she can't express?
Nobility.
It seems like this, the Ah Li in front of me is completely different from the timid little slave boy before.
She smiles and frowns gracefully, confidently and calmly, and occasionally reveals a bit of cunning. It seems that nothing in this world can make her feel afraid.
This kind of nobility is not brought about by status, but by a kind of character and atmosphere that is made into flesh and blood.
Therefore, for such a noble person, he regarded himself as an equal friend, and Qian Qianqian felt passionate in his heart.
