The man who took us home was called Lai Shun, and strangely, he said he had no last name.
If you don't have a surname, you don't have a surname, because Ruxue said before entering the village, don't ask too much about the strangest things, let alone just having no surname.
Laishun's family is very poor, and his family is one of the poorest. They don't even have thatched houses, only bark houses.
There are only two rooms in this house, which are dark, one is a bedroom, and the other is a kitchen, living room, and bedroom.
"Since you paid the money, you can live in this room." Laishun said, pointing to the bedroom with three beds. That's good. After all, the room outside is a large bunkhouse, so Ruxue and I can't live there. Too convenient.
I am someone who has been hanging around outside for a long time. Although this room is filled with a sour and musty smell, I can make do with it. I just don’t know if Ling Ruxue, a clean and delicate girl, can make do with it. At once.
But surprisingly, Ling Ruxue was very calm and didn't have any expression of disgust. She just shook the dust off casually and sat down on the bed. She said to me: "Don't care about their character. In fact, they Very poor."
At this time, Laishun and his wife said they were looking for their children and had come back for dinner. There were only three of us in the room, so it was convenient for us to talk. When I heard this, I felt that Ling Ruxue was going to say something to me, so I said: "Where What kind of character? Lazy, love to take advantage, thick-skinned character? It doesn’t matter, this kind of character can’t be called a bad person, I don’t care. But why are they pitiful? "
Ling Ruxue looked at me, holding her chin in her hand, and was silent for a while before saying: "Chen Chengyi, you are a very emotional person, so the decisions you often make seem very annoying because you are too reckless. . However, you learned a lesson a few years ago. I think you may seem reckless this time, but you actually have a deeper idea, right?"
Ling Ruxue didn't answer my question, but asked a very unrelated question. I was stunned. It felt like she knew me very well and had learned a lesson a few years ago. Was it referring to Brother Sheng's matter? Thinking of this, my heart hurt a little, but there was no need for me to hide anything from Ling Ruxue, since she seemed to have guessed me.
Lighting a cigarette and holding it in my mouth, I casually leaned on the bed, and then said: "Indeed, I was not reckless this time, but did it out of necessity. I never planned to be a messenger of justice from the beginning. , destroyed the evil stronghold, I just went to that stronghold to exchange hostages. Aren’t they always watching me? Then I will send them to the door. As long as they catch me, Surou and Qinhuai will have no meaning to them. , they can return safely.”
Ling Ruxue nodded, as if she had already thought of such an answer. She said, "What about you? Have you ever thought about your own safety?"
"I, haha..." I exhaled a puff of smoke and said: "Some people value life more than any emotion, and some people value emotion more than life. I say I am the latter kind of person, I have never thought about myself, do you believe it? Do you think I am great?"
Ling Ruxue shook her head and said, "You must have thought about it, because you know they won't kill you, but you don't dare to bet that if you run away and ignore them, they will kill Surou and Qinhuai in anger. So, this is the reason why you have to go, right?”
I looked at Ling Ruxue in surprise. Everyone thought I was a reckless young man and immature. How could she know me so well? After being silent for a long time, I said: "Yes, I can't rely on Master for everything, Uncle Master. Besides, there is no news about my Master so far, and Uncle Master and the others seem to have very important things to do. I don't dare to take advantage of it." I'm gambling with Qinhuai's life, but I can delay the time by going by myself. At least I am the descendant of Shanzimai, so I can protect myself at the critical moment. Since you know my thoughts, I just hope that you can save the time. Take Qinhuai back safely."
Ling Ruxue still held her chin in her hand, but this time she seemed to be lost in thought and did not answer anything.
I couldn't help but ask: "Ling Ruxue, you seem to know a lot about me?"
"Huh?" Ling Ruxue tilted her head and hummed, obviously trying to deal with me. Just as I was waiting to ask again, Laishun's family had returned.
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Dinner was eaten in the 'multi-purpose' room in Laishun's house. I was surprised how could such a poor family in Laishun have so many children? I counted a total of 8 children, the oldest looked only 6 or 7 years old, and the youngest was still a baby.
Isn’t it family planning? How can one family be allowed to have so many children? This is really shocking. The faces of these children look consistent with their age, but they are shorter due to malnutrition.
However, if I saw their ages correctly, then the fact is puzzling, because some children look almost the same age, but their faces are very different. Could it be that Laishun has two children in one year? is it possible
Moreover, I don’t think these children look like Laishun and his wife.
Could it be their adopted child? This is even more illogical. Why do they have so many children
My eyes were full of doubts, but Ling Ruxue gave me a wink, I understand, don't ask more questions no matter how doubtful you are.
So, I ate in silence. There was nothing to choose from for the so-called dinner, which was just potatoes cooked over a fire. Because I paid the so-called meat fee, I also cooked a pot of meat and bone soup. There were several big bones in the soup. Not much meat was seen.
Hui Gen'er doesn't eat meat, but he ate the stewed potatoes with gusto. I gnawed the potatoes and drank the broth with only a little salt added, and found that the taste was actually pretty good.
Ling Ruxue was afraid that Hui Gen'er would swallow it, so she poured a bowl of water for Hui Gen'er next to her. However, looking at the other children, they were all wolfing down the potatoes, even if they were afraid of being swallowed. I saw a clear trace of unbearability in Ling Ruxue's eyes. .
Among this group of children, there was a little girl who was particularly cute. Although her little face was dirty, she could not hide her big bright eyes. She was chewing potatoes and staring hard at them. The broth in front of me, and then I said to my daughter-in-law who came to Laishun: "Mom, it's great to have guests at home. I usually only eat one potato per meal, but now you can eat potatoes as you like, and you can also eat while watching the broth. .”
Hearing this, the other children agreed one after another, but the woman who looked very old and couldn't tell her age just said impatiently: "Eat, just eat. There is so much nonsense. In short, they are all just like piglets, gaining fat and meat." That’s all, it doesn’t matter what feed you eat.”
"Why are you talking to the child?" I couldn't help it all of a sudden. Yes, it was hard for me to understand how this woman could do this! Because compared to my parents, she doesn't look like a mother at all. How can she say that her child is a piglet.
The woman was not happy for a moment. She threw the potatoes in her hand and pointed at me and scolded me: "You are an outsider. Of course it doesn't hurt to stand and talk. What else can they do besides eating? It's not a piglet, it's a pig." What? You said?"
I was so furious, but at this moment, Ling Ruyue took my arm and shook her head gently at me.
Looking at the naughty woman, I suppressed my anger, took out two hundred yuan from my pocket, threw it to Lai Shun, and said, "Go and cook some meat for every child to eat. Is 0 yuan enough?"
Laishun, who had been watching the show happily, suddenly saw the two hundred dollars and grabbed the money in his hand. Then he grabbed his mother-in-law and said, "No. You're being playful there, hurry up and cook some meat for every kid to eat."
When the woman saw the money, she stopped acting bad and went to cook the meat obediently. I saw her go to the backyard and probably hang the meat in the well like my mother did when she was a child. After a while, she came back. There was actually a small pot of meat in my hand, and my sharp eyes saw that it was venison.
Could it be that just because Laishun looks like this, he still hunts? I was a little confused and found that the village seemed to be shrouded in fog, but I didn't ask any more questions. I gently touched the little girl's head and poured my broth to her.
How did these children survive? Can you live by eating 3 potatoes a day
What kind of village is this village? I looked at the old Laishun and those dirty, poor children, and felt that I needed to ask Ling Ruxue for an answer.