It turns out that the distant shouts are gradually getting closer, the small black spots are getting bigger and bigger, and soon someone will come looking for me.
Liu Chengqi became anxious, his face turned red, his nostrils quivered sharply, and large beads of sweat appeared on his forehead - their evil could not be revealed in the sky, but could only overflow in the dark.
Especially the scholars in the academy, they were so stupid in reading - no matter how much money the Liu family donated in food, they still couldn't get it to work with them.
He was angry and anxious, biting his lips tightly, with deep snake lines on his sides, and his eyes flickered: "Yes, no need for a mule, I will go back and tell the master now."
He pointed to the little beggar on the horse and said, "I will send him back to where he came from, and I will never miss a word."
Mo Lingfeng's eyes were fixed on him, as if she could see through all his perfunctory words. Just when Liu Chengqi thought she would be persistent, she suddenly nodded: "If you use the mule again, I will make you into a
Mule."
Liu Chengqi nodded immediately and looked eagerly at the ivory in Yin Nan's hand.
Their trip was specifically for this roughly ground ivory.
If it comes out on the surface and is known to the shipping department, they will have to force a "buyer". Even if they find someone to intercede, they will still have to pay a very high rate. Only by using human mules can they conceal the truth and even the tax soldiers in the fort will not be able to figure it out.
.
"Girl, this tooth... I will treat you and Jiedushi well when I am young."
Mo Lingfeng looked at Yin Nan: "Give it to him."
Yin Nan threw the bloody ivory away, and Liu Chengqi rushed to catch it. He breathed a sigh of relief, held it tightly in his arms, freed up one hand, pulled down the little beggar, and ran away wildly dragging him with him.
go.
A gust of wind blew by, diluting the smell of blood. The river sand was moist and the blood stains were not visible. Yin Nan washed his hands by the river with an expressionless face, and rolled up the bloody sleeves into his sleeves. All traces seemed to be hidden.
Mo Lingfeng took out another large piece of candy, stuffed it into his mouth and chewed it, while vaguely waving to Wu Jin: "Let's go."
Wu Jin got on the horse absentmindedly, followed Mo Lingfeng, and met Cheng Ting and others who had been found.
Everything just now disappeared.
Wu Jin finished his studies in Caochang and returned to the city. He said goodbye to Cheng Ting and Mo Lingfeng. He ran all the way back to Shishi Street. After seeing his father, he took out the candy and gave it to his younger brother Wu Yi. Then he carried four baskets of cakes and went out to sell them until he was near the house.
Only then did I go home.
Wu's mother was still starching and washing clothes for others.
After the mother and son talked for a while, he returned to the house, lit the oil lamp, laid out paper and ink, and wrote with a pen: "On the ninth day of the third month of the twentieth year of Yuan Zhang, I saw a shipwreck merchant who was extremely vicious and used people as mules. I hate it very much."
, However, when I see this evil deed, I feel cowardly and want to avoid it, but it is not as good as the little boy in the corner, who is ashamed and disgusted in his heart and hopes to change it."
Just as he was writing, Wu Yi, who was asleep on the bed, said in a daze: "Brother."
Wu Jin's hand immediately shook, and the ink on the pen dropped into a large ball, spreading on the paper and staining a large area.
He quickly put down his pen and moved the oil lamp so as not to dazzle his brother's eyes: "It'll be over soon."
Wu Yi turned over: "Brother, that candy is so delicious. There is such a delicious thing in the world. Where did you come from?"
"Someone else gave it to me," Wu Jin replied, "How did you know it was yitang?"
Sugar is expensive, so I bought granulated sugar when making sugar cakes at home, and I didn’t want to eat it myself.
Wu Yi's voice gradually became clearer: "When I went out to sell cakes, I saw people eating them. They said they were extremely expensive. Only Shu could make such white frosting. The frankincense powder added to it was said to come from overseas.
The ones that come here are only available at the government offices and Yiwu, and you can’t buy them outside.”
"Um."
"Brother, do you think these rich people eat this every day? They also eat this when they take medicine? When they treat guests to dinner, do they also put a big plate on the table?"
"have no idea."
"When I have money, I will also buy it and eat it every day, even when dad takes medicine."
"good."
Wu Yi's voice slowly dropped again, and he was mumbling about his experience of selling cakes outside. He made a smacking sound in his mouth, trying to get some more sweetness from between his teeth.
The house became quiet again, and outside there was the sound of Wu's mother clearing the washboard, and the sound of Wu's father tossing and turning in pain - he always felt that the missing leg was still hurting on him.
The wind also picked up.
The wind blew the thatch, passed through the window lattice, passed over the bamboo paper, and touched Wu Jin's thin face, letting him smell the residual scent on his hands.
It was the smell of frankincense powder, but he smelled the smell of blood, which made him breathless.
He picked up the pen and wrote again: "She is not pitying the mule, nor is she defending the Mo family, she only cares for her brother."
The spring breeze got warmer and warmer day by day, but on March 15th, it suddenly became freezing again. The wind blew all night long, whining and blowing, making the surrounding walls feel cold and the quilt was as cold as iron.
The Wu brothers hugged each other to keep each other warm. Before the cock crow, Wu Jin got up and went to open the money box.
The copper coins were tightly tied together with thin linen ropes, one hundred coins in a string, and there was not even one of them - money to rent the house, money for Wu's father's medicine, firewood, rice, oil and salt, pen, ink, paper and inkstones. It was a waste of money all the time, and it was hard to have any money left.
He took out two bunches of money and took them with him, opened the door and went out. The wind was biting outside, and the roof and ground were covered with a thin layer of snow, making him shiver from the cold.
Wu's mother also opened the door, lit the fire on the stove, and asked Wu Jin in a low voice: "Boss, are you going to school so early today? Eat some porridge before leaving, so as not to get cold on the road."
The white mist exhaled from her mouth blurred her withered face.
"Mom," Wu Jin stopped, "I'm going to buy a scale of charcoal and bring it back. You can burn a charcoal pot in the house so that dad can stay warm."
Mother Wu was silent for a moment and nodded: "It's time to light a charcoal basin. Your father is not as active as us. It would be even worse if he catches a cold."
She added: "Your father said he wanted to find some work that he could do while sitting down. Do you think it would be possible to pick up beads?"
Wu Jin thought for a while: "It will take a hundred days to break my muscles and bones, so I'd better let dad take care of me for another two months."
After saying that, he left the house. As soon as he left Shishi Street, he saw a frozen corpse lying on the ground. People from Yizhuang were collecting the body.
Walking all the way to Beicheng, I walked quickly. When I arrived at the charcoal store, I saw that there were many people who came early to weigh the charcoal. The charcoal was small and expensive, and one scale already cost 400 yuan.
Wu Jin pinched the money he brought and felt that the noisy room had become extremely cold.
At this moment, someone suddenly tapped him on the shoulder from behind: "Brother, come and buy charcoal too."
Wu Jin looked back and remembered that this person was the one who sent him home on the day of Guanyin's birthday. He quickly raised his hands and saluted: "Just call me Wu Jin. What do you call me brother?"
"Yin Bei," Yin Bei smiled heartily and turned to the head of the charcoal shop beside him and said, "This is a friend of our girl. Please make an appointment with me for a weigh of crushed charcoal and let my brother take it back."
The head of the group immediately agreed and ordered his assistant to take Wu Jin to the scale. Wu Jin bowed deeply and said, "Thank you so much, Brother Yin, and thank you Miss Mo as well."
Yin Bei waved his hand and left.
To him, it was just a casual remark out of consideration for Mo Lingfeng's face, but to Wu Jin, it was a timely help.
Crushed charcoal is the residue left over from charcoal. It can be burned, but there is a lot of smoke and dust, but it is cheap. People in the charcoal shop usually keep it for themselves. Today, this scale only cost Wu Jin eighty cents.
Wu Jin carried the broken charcoal and walked away steaming. He sent the charcoal home, ate a bowl of wild vegetable paste, and hurried to the school.