One hundred and twenty-six things entrusted by loyal people
When Wu Tongqian left the Wei family's house, he saw that Wei Changpan's parents had heard what the stranger said in their ears, and their expressions suddenly became lively. He had the same message as the stranger's message.
I know, yes, a stone has a hard life, how can it be so easy to die?
Wu Tongqian walked briskly and whistled as he walked toward his home. It was almost the New Year's Eve and there were still a lot of work waiting for him at home. He should not be wandering around outside right now.
When the Qishan County government official came to the town with the official document, it was like a bolt from the blue. The most knowledgeable old scholar in the town was invited to study the contents of the document in detail.
The old scholar, who was weak in both legs and feet, was helped to stand in front of the notice and read it carefully once, twice, and three times before shaking his head.
The stones and money were gone.
The old scholar closed his dim eyes, turned around and staggered away, his figure becoming more and more stooped.
The arrogant government official, with his nostrils turned to the sky, read out the contents of the document to the people of Qingshan Town who were summoned. The Zhang family of Qishan County has now become a bandit recognized by the Yao court. He then listed several crimes, including smuggling salt and iron.
Buying and selling people, forcing good girls into prostitution, killing people and buying goods, these are all shocking crimes, and the people in the town who were summoned looked at each other in shock.
What followed was even more shocking. Wei Changpan and Qian Cai from Qingshan Town, both important figures closely related to Zhang Wu, the bandit of the Zhang family in Qishan County, have been executed. The court thought that this year was a year of great disaster, so they were no longer implicated.
Otherwise, a few more heads will be lost.
With a heartbreaking cry, a woman among the people in Qingshan Town fainted, it was Wei Changpan's mother, and several other women who looked similar to the people around them, who were well-dressed and somewhat similar to those around them, came up whimpering and beat the yamen servant, because of their appearance,
These pretty widows who had been left behind by the gangsters were all taken back to the Qishan County government office for two days, and finally came out after spending some money.
Later, the old scholar went to Qishan County in person, and there was no reason to argue. Since then, the two families in the town have been alienated. The Qian family has nothing. After all, the family has a great business, even if it is closed all day long.
Life can be quite comfortable in the early days, but the old Wei family is in dire straits. Not only Wei Changpan's mother has fallen ill, but Wei Lao has no intention of tending to the crops in the fields. The family's livelihood is declining day by day.
Going down, that foreigner named Xu Xian came, it was just the right time.
Wu Tongqian has been working in the fields for several years. He is already taller and stronger than his peers. When he raises his hand, he can see a lot of lumps. During the days when the Wei family was in trouble, there were many
The idle men in the town came to Lao Wei's house to make trouble, but he sent them back with his fine fists. Normally, the town would not hesitate to give a man a smile when he saw his son doing well, but now everyone is pushing against the wall and they all want to step on him? No way.
On the way home, Wu Tongqian met the old man on crutches, with several farmers of his own tribe beside him. The old man said with a gloomy face: "Tongqian, I don't have to worry about the things ahead, but the stranger is here.
Why you are here is related to the safety of our town, and we can no longer hide it."
"Everyone is dead, so what does it matter?" Wu Tongqian looked at him coldly and left silently.
There was an impatient farmer among the farmers around the old man. He couldn't see that Wu Tongqian didn't take the old man seriously. He rolled up his sleeves and was about to teach this ignorant boy a lesson, but the old man stopped him. Although Wu Tongqian acted like this,
It makes people unhappy, but it is still expected. If he really looks happy, he will have to think more carefully about whether he should contact someone in the government.
"Should we arrest that person and torture him?
"Ask?" A person next to the old man showed a ruthless look, "When the time comes, we'll call in more men. If there are more than a dozen men, we won't be able to catch some bullshit warrior."
The old man sighed, waved his hands and took a few steps forward: "No, it's not necessarily a good thing to add superfluous things. After all, there are no family members in the two families now. We should compare our feelings with each other, and fellow villagers, please don't do anything that goes too far."
In front of Old Wei's house, Xu Xian glanced at the darkening sky and figured that he would not be able to walk to Qishan County before dark. In addition, Mr. Wei and his wife forced him to stay for the night, so Xu Xian had no choice but to
I have to stay one more night in the town and leave early tomorrow morning.
When he walked by the big locust tree at the entrance of the town, Mr. Xu had a floral homespun bag on him. Among it were pickled fish, bacon, and tea roasted with clay. Mr. Wei and his wife forced them into his arms. Mr. Xu
It was hard to refuse, so I had to carry this burden and walk on the thirty-six-mile mountain road back to Qishan County.
About a moment later, Wei Changpan's parents returned home and when they were clearing the bed where he slept last night, they could see the money bag he had brought from his father. Xu Xian thought about it and smiled proudly,
I waved goodbye to the kind couple.
Brother Wei, how can you live on with those two taels of silver? This little money is nothing compared to Mr. Xu’s life.
Even after a night's rest, Xu Xian's leg strength was not even as good as yesterday. It must have been a long walk on the mountain road, and he didn't recover. Within a few miles, his calves started to cramp, so he had no choice but to find a grass nest on the roadside to rest.
On the road again, Xu Xian began to blame himself. Not to mention that he had practiced martial arts a few years earlier than the Wei brothers, but he was still on the second floor. If he went up to another floor, how could he leave?
After resting for a long time, Xu Xian was about to pat his butt and hit the road when he suddenly heard someone shouting from behind him. He turned around and saw that it was Father Wei.
"I didn't even know I left my money bag on the bed. If I hadn't packed it carefully, I might have forgotten it in the town. Is it possible that I would have to walk all this way back to get it again?" Mr. Wei ran breathing heavily.
He stopped next to Xu Xian and said, "Take it carefully, don't forget it again! How much money can such a big person earn? If you throw this big spender away, how will you live in the future?"
Xu Xiancai wanted to argue that it was Wei Changpan who asked him to leave the silver, but Father Wei smiled as if he had seen through him and said: "How powerful is the stone? Do we still know? Those two taels of silver are his, and this one is dozens of taels larger."
Is money what he can do? Xiao Xu, don’t use your own money to honor your uncle and aunt, the family has enough food and clothing, and there is no need for you."
"Don't keep it any longer. If you leave it to your uncle, it won't be spent." The last words of Mr. Wei dispelled those thoughts in Xu Xian's mind.
He bowed his hands and said goodbye. Father Wei, who didn't understand these etiquettes, smiled and left.
When leaving the mountain, the package containing scattered clothes that had been hidden in the hidden bushes was also found by Xu Xian and brought with him.
....
At the gate of Qishan County, the guard sergeant opened the gate when he saw it was Xu Xian. He joked: "I came back on the 29th and went out again. On the 30th, I came back to celebrate the New Year. This is the first time I see him."
"Entrusted by others." After entering the city gate, Xu Xian took off the two burdens from his shoulders, collapsed on the ground and gasped, "It's a matter of loyalty."
"You don't understand these formalities." Seeing Xu Xian's embarrassed look, the sergeant smiled and said, "At least, after walking for dozens of miles, it won't look like this."
Xu Xian no longer had the energy to quarrel with the sergeant. It was a disaster year, and the streets of Qishan County on New Year's Eve were not as lively as in previous years. It was just a wealthy family.
Business people still have to put on lights and decorations more or less, so it's a lot different than usual.
"I'm talking about the eldest young master of the Xu family." The sergeant joked again, "Your father has come to visit us more than once or twice. He didn't even have time to burn a stick of incense when he went back. I guess he will come again soon."
As soon as he finished speaking, Xu Xian straightened up and said, "I'm back."
The Xu family's house in Qishan County is an ancestral land passed down from Grandpa Xu. It can be said that a skinny camel is bigger than a horse, but this piece of land is worth a small two thousand taels of silver. The Xu family was originally from the Zhang family.
In the son's house, the two families never looked up and looked down, and rarely interacted with each other. Nowadays, things have changed. Among the two houses, only the Xu family is still lively. In the other house, except for an old concierge hired by the county government to come and see the place, there is no one in the house.
There is no one around. The Xu family has been unlucky in the past two years, and their life is not as good as before.
A call of "The eldest young master is back" spread in the Xu family's courtyard. The head of Xu's family, dressed in brocade clothes of a rich man, ignored the furs of the maids around him and went out to greet him. He saw Xu Xian sitting down with two big bundles on his back.
Resting on the steps in front of the door, he yelled for his servants to bring back the two bundles. With a round belly, he stepped forward with difficulty and bent down to pat the dust off Mr. Xu's body. He said distressedly: "I'm not going to tell you about the message."
If you let the servants go, you have to go to the carriage and horse shop to get a horse. How can you walk on two legs on a mountain road of dozens of miles?"
Xu Xian was a little confused: "Don't you have a carriage at home?"
His father was at a loss for words, and after a while he whispered again: "The money at home is tight this year. Not a penny from last year's brew will be returned this year, and we have to pay some money back. I'm afraid it won't be much better next year. It's just
It's difficult to make money from these two restaurants... Let's not talk about it. If you are celebrating the New Year, if you say anything depressing, go in."
There is a table of home-cooked dishes in the dining room, but they are all made by the chefs of Fuxianju. Naturally, they are not comparable to what ordinary people would eat for New Year’s Eve dinner. There is a jar of five-year-old Xu Niang next to it, which was very expensive in Wuhang City in the past few years.
There are only a dozen jars left in Qishan County. When the lid is removed, the aroma of wine fills the room.
"Master, look how thin you have become." Xu Xianniang wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes and kept adding vegetables to his bowl, "Why don't you eat more when you get home? You can't listen to your father's nonsense this time.
"Isn't Wuhang City bigger and more prosperous than living in the mountains? Don't even think about leaving when you go home."
He raised his eyes and looked at the clothes worn by Mr. Xu's family. He vaguely remembered that they were bought for the New Year the year before last. The sleeves and elbows were worn badly, but his mother deftly mended two pieces of satin on them, and there were two new clothes.
Xu Toujia, who noticed Xu Xian's gaze, was scooping out wine and said with an embarrassed smile: "Dad is getting old and there is no need to wear new clothes every year. Sir, go to the inner room and take a look at the clothes your mother cut for you."