Liu Erniu went to open the door and looked at the man outside. She was stunned for a moment.
"Do you want more noodles? My sister said she has something to do today so she won't be doing business."
The man smiled modestly: "I am not here to eat noodles today, I am here to look for someone. Excuse me, is there anyone here named Liu Qiaoer?"
Liu Erniu was surprised: "You are not coming to propose to my sister today, are you?"
"Oh?" The man walked in with his long legs, "It seems that your place is very lively today."
"Yes, my grandmother came to make trouble and insisted that my sister go back to her hometown and give her the bun shop. My sister disagreed. Aunt Niu said that my sister should marry Brother Dahu, but Madam Lu in the prison pointed my sister to the second young master. I don't know when the second young master and his family will be released. My sister is worried about that."
Although Liu Erniu was young, she was not stupid and she told the man what had just happened.
The man strode through the hall and came to the yard, where he saw Liu Qiaoer.
"Brother Mu Bai, why are you here?"
Liu Erniu didn't know the man in front of her, but Liu Qiaoer and Lu Yunxi knew him.
The man's name was Gu Mubai. He was a classmate and good friend of Lu Yunzheng. However, his family was poor and could not afford to support his studies, so he was unable to go to Beijing to take the exam this time.
After Lu Yunzheng came back, he also advised Lu Yunzheng to pass the imperial examination and then resign, appearing both arrogant and disdainful.
The two also agreed to go to Beijing together to take the exam the following year.
However, he didn't expect that something bad would happen to the Lu family and Lu Yunzheng would pass away, leaving him no chance to go to Beijing to take the exam.
"It's Mr. Gu, is there anything I can do for you?"
Not many people know that Lu Yunzheng is still alive, except for the Lu family. Lu Yunzheng will tell whoever he wants to know.
Liu Qiaoer only told Liu Erniu.
Liu Qiaoer didn't know why Gu Mubai came here, so she had to pretend that she knew nothing.
Gu Mubai bowed politely to Liu Qiaoer and chanted a doggerel: "Clouds come and fogs go, the turbulent years are peaceful, but what matters is not the wine, but the mountains and rivers."
Liu Qiao'er's clear eyes silently sized up Gu Mubai for a moment, then she lowered her body and bowed, "Sir, please wait a moment."
This is an acrostic poem: "Is Yun Zheng here?"
Since Gu Mubai came to find Lu Yunzheng, Liu Qiaoer found an excuse to let Niu Dahu and Liu Erniu go back first.
In the room, Lu Yunzheng had been sitting quietly in a wheelchair, holding a book in his hand.
The yard was not very soundproof and it was noisy, so he heard everything.
However, he did not do anything, because he knew that he was already a dead man and could not do anything.
Until Gu Mubai came.
Hearing his voice, Lu Yunzheng seemed to come alive.
As expected, he came.
Liu Qiaoer sent Niu Dahu and Liu Erniu away, and asked Lu Yunxi to take Gu Mubai into Lu Yunzheng's room.
The moment the door closed, Liu Qiaoer saw Lu Yunzheng sitting there. Although they were only a few steps away, it seemed like a century had passed between them.
This is the distance between them.
"Zi Yan, you are still alive. I thought you were really dead and I was sad for several days. But when I saw A Ze, I knew you wouldn't die so easily."
Zhan Mubai excitedly pulled Lu Yunzheng up and down to look him up.
Rumor has it that Lu Yunzheng's bones were broken and his skin was torn. Now seeing that he was the same as before, her eyes were red with relief.
Zi Yan is Lu Yunzheng's courtesy name, and friends call each other by his courtesy name as a sign of affection.
Lu Yunzheng was also very happy to see his old friend: "I'm fine, everything is fine, but my leg is broken. I will be able to move after more than half a month of rest."
"That's great, Ziyan..."
The voices of the two people in the room gradually became lower. Liu Qiaoer didn't want to find out anything about Lu Yunzheng anymore, so she waved at the two children.
"Are you hungry? What do you want to eat? I'll make it for you."
The noodle shop was closed today, so Liu Qiaoer cleaned up the kitchen and yard and planned to make some delicious food for them.
Lu Yunyang pointed at the Three Character Classic in his hand and said with a bitter face: "I still have to recite the book. If I can't recite this part, my brother will punish me again."
Lu Yunxi said obediently: "Sister Qiaoer, you stewed big bones today. If you can't sell them, they will go bad tomorrow. Why don't we just eat noodles instead?"
Liu Qiaoer touched Lu Yunxi's face distressedly: "I'll buy another chicken and make your favorite beggar's chicken today."
Now it was less than two months away from the Chinese New Year. Liu Qiaoer went to buy a chicken and also bought some cloth for her two children. Although she could not afford the best things with her money, she could still afford some ordinary nice-looking cloth.
Passing by a snack shop, Liu Qiaoer stopped and thought of Lu Yunxi's favorite milk cake. Although one tael of silver per pound was not cheap, she still bought half a pound.
Who knew that just after paying the silver, his purse loosened and was snatched away by a little kid.
This made Liu Qiaoer very angry.
He took off his shoes and threw them at the child's back.
The thief ran away after missing the target.
Liu Qiaoer hurriedly chased after the thief and finally caught him in an alley.
Liu Qiaoer took out a bamboo pole from the space and said with a half-smile: "Little kid, you are not a good boy. You only learn to steal and cheat. Today, I will teach you a lesson on behalf of your parents."
After saying that, Liu Qiaoer swung the bamboo pole and hit the thief's calves and buttocks, making him scream like a ghost.
"I don't dare to do it anymore. I don't dare to do it anymore. Please stop hitting me."
The thief returned the purse to Liu Qiaoer. Liu Qiaoer sighed as she saw that the child was only about twelve or thirteen years old and was too young to wear clothes that covered his body.
"How could your family allow you to come out and steal things?"
The child pouted and glared at Liu Qiao'er stubbornly: "I've already beaten you and paid you back, why do you care so much?"
The child limped away, holding his butt. Liu Qiaoer wanted to give him some money, but then she thought, there were so many poor people in the world, and she couldn't help them all.
Just as she was about to leave, she suddenly heard the familiar voice begging for mercy.
"Stop hitting me, stop hitting me, I won't dare to do it again, I won't dare to do it again."
The voice was very familiar. Liu Qiaoer looked around and realized that this alley was empty. It was probably the back alley of some wealthy family.
After taking two steps, I saw a back door.
The back door was ajar but not closed, so she leaned forward to look through the crack out of curiosity.
"I really don't dare, please forgive me, woo woo woo."
"Study hard and don't think of yourself as a young lady. When you first come to our courtyard, everyone is a virtuous woman, but in the end, they can't escape the whip of this old lady."
After saying that, she whipped the woman lying on the ground twice.
"Today I will punish you to wash all the urine buckets and practice dancing for four hours. If you fail to do so, you will not be given food or sleep."
The woman was thinly dressed, and her whole body was covered in wounds. There were blue and red bloodstains on her body, and she had no time to apply medicine before she had to get up from the ground and work.
Liu Qiaoer looked carefully and found that she recognized this woman.
Feeling the space for the silver note she had taken from Pei Yuanshan, she searched along the wall and found the front door of the house.
"Hello, mom. I'm Xia Ying's distant sister. I want to redeem her."
Xia Ying, the head maidservant beside Lu Yunzheng, was a family-born child. Her father, Lu Fugui, was an official, and her mother, Zhang, was a kitchen nanny.
The Lu family was ransacked and their family was sold off, but Liu Qiaoer didn't expect that Xia Ying was there.