Li Wei held the reins tightly and walked all the way down the mountain. Luo Chong followed closely without knowing why.
The mountains here are not very high, nor are they steep. After walking for a while, riding on horseback, we could already see some ordinary houses at the foot of the mountain opposite.
Li Wei then rode towards the village opposite.
The autumn harvest has ended, but there are still many children running barefoot in the fields, holding baskets in their hands and picking up wheat ears. Those ancient nursery rhymes came from afar, but I couldn't understand a word of them.
The older children were about ten years old, and the younger ones were only two or three years old. They had just learned to walk, and they were still stumbling behind their brothers and sisters.
The weather was already very cold now, and Li Wei was already wearing cotton clothes. However, most of the children in the field were half-clothed, with patches piled on top of each other, which had long been starched and turned white.
In that era, these children would wear clean and warm clothes and sit in spacious and bright classrooms to learn knowledge.
She clearly saw the huge gap between the two eras. She was not helpless in facing the current poverty, but the current situation did not allow her to do anything.
Li Wei got off the horse, held the reins and walked towards the children.
The children were not only dressed in rags, but also had all kinds of strange hairstyles. Their faces were also sunburned and darkened, as if they had not been washed.
A stranger came to the village, and Li Wei became the center of attention for a moment. Some brave children gathered around him and asked with a smile: "Are you here to beg for alms?"
"I'm not asking for alms, but I'm here to see what you are doing?"
"We are gleaning ears of wheat, and there are grasshoppers, look." A boy took out a several-inch-long green insect from behind, and raised it fiercely in front of Li Wei, as if he wanted to scare Li Wei on purpose. micro.
But Li Wei bent down and reached out to catch the grasshopper and said, "Can you make a grasshopper cage?"
"I can't, my dad can, but dad..." The little boy hesitated mid-sentence. He hung his head and looked very depressed. Then he snatched the grasshopper from Li Wei's hand and ran away.
Li Wei was a little puzzled, and then a little girl on the side raised her face and said to Li Wei: "Sister, you don't know, Xiaohu's father went to fight last year. I heard that he was killed and will never come back. His mother ran away a few months ago, and he followed his grandma.”
"Ah?!" Li Wei looked surprised. She looked around for the little tiger that the little girl said. The little tiger didn't run far and was sitting on the field. There were no other children around her.
Li Wei saw Xiaohu and thought of Shujia and her young self. She walked towards Xiaohu and followed her on the field.
"I heard your name is Xiaohu?"
"Why should I tell you?" Xiaohu made the ugliest face at Li Wei, trying to scare Li Wei away. Not only did he make a face, but he also said: "Women are the most annoying."
This sentence made Li smile, but she did not blame Xiaohu.
"I know how to make a grasshopper cage. You can help me pick up some wheat straw." Li Wei ordered. She was sitting there pulling some grass stems and weaving something else, but she saw her fingers dancing, which made people dizzy. Not long after, there was an unusually exquisite and unique little flower basket in her palm, and she also picked two flowers. Decorated with small flowers. Xiaohu was dumbfounded by her skills.
Sure enough, Xiaohu went to pick some wheat straw and asked Li Wei to fill the grasshopper cage for him. Li Wei hadn't programmed this stuff for a few years, but once she figured it out, it wasn't difficult to get started. It took her a little effort.
Luo Chong sat down cross-legged under a big tree over there. He didn't understand why the Queen Mother came to the countryside to get together with the children. He didn't have any scruples among the children. He just watched from a distance and didn't dare to step forward to disturb them.
The grasshopper cage was finally woven, and it was as pointed as a pagoda.
"Here, I'll give it to you."
Xiaohu was stunned for a long time, and when he took over the grasshopper cage, he still didn't believe it.
"Do you really want to give it to me, Senior Sister?"
"I don't lie."
Xiaohu seemed a little flattered.
Li Wei added: "It may not be as good as your father's, but I hope you like it."
Xiaohu held the grasshopper cage tightly, tears welling up in his eyes. He was trying not to cry. Grandma said that men can't cry casually. He has no father or mother, and now he is a man.
Li Wei talked to the children in the countryside for a while. Among these children, the prime men of several families had been taken away to serve in the army. Some were uncertain whether they were alive or dead, and some had died in the war. There were no young laborers in the family, so the crops were cultivated. It is not convenient to get up, so there is a large wasteland under the mountain. The lives of the people will become increasingly poor.
A woman saw a stranger coming to the village, dressed like a Taoist nun, and secretly thought, could it be the Taoist nun from the Taoist temple on the mountain? She also came up to ask Li Wei to ask questions or greet her. Li Wei acquiesced in her identity as a Taoist nun and only asked about food, clothing, housing and transportation.
When she looked at the faces that looked malnourished due to hunger, she felt increasingly uncomfortable.
It was almost dusk that afternoon before she rode back to Guanli. Along the way, I was worried and worried.
The next morning she still practiced swordplay in the Taoist temple, and then went out on horseback in the afternoon. This time she went to a farther village. The situation here was even poorer than that of the village the day before. There are only some old, weak, sick and disabled people left in the village, and those children rarely have a happy family.
After visiting villages for several days, she went to towns and markets. Watch those people doing business and understand the market prices. When you are hungry, you can just walk into a restaurant and ask for soup and noodles.
After just a few bites, a drunk man suddenly stood next to the table. The drunk man looked like he was in his thirties and smelled bad.
"Which temple is the young master practicing in? What are you doing down the mountain today? You don't know the way, so I will lead the way..." The drunk man said and reached out to touch Li Wei's shoulder, but he couldn't. Before the drunk man's hand could reach Li Wei's clothes, he was stopped by Luo Chong who caught up.
"How dare you touch a hair of hers again!" Luo Chong's face showed a fierce look, which was quite bluffing.
When the drunk man saw that there was a man here, he didn't dare to tolerate Li Wei. He backed away a long way and drunkenly laughed: "My junior sister-in-law also has a man now. It seems that she is Sifan."
Just as Luo Chong was about to go over and teach the drunkard a lesson, Li Wei stopped him and said, "Forget it, why bother. Let him go."
Luo Chong was absolutely loyal to Li Wei and dared not disobey him.
Li Wei bought a bowl for Luo Chong to eat. After Luo Chong finished eating, she paid and then left the store. Continue walking through the bustling market and check out any new places.
(End of chapter)