The afterglow of the setting sun fell on the earth, and a dilapidated small courtyard in Mopan Hutong in the southwest corner of the capital was also coated with a layer of golden warm light.
There are only five low and dilapidated thatched houses in the small courtyard, and there is a gloomy atmosphere everywhere. There is only a red plum tree in the corner of the courtyard, which is extremely beautiful and full of vitality.
Today is the Lantern Festival, but there is almost no rice to cook at home!
Yong Ruo thought: If you can't get any more money tonight, you will have to pawn one of the iron pots, copper pots, copper basins and this pair of small carved wooden buckets tomorrow.
Yong Ruo was reluctant to part with these things, especially the pair of small carved wooden barrels, because the pair of wooden barrels were small, strong, and light, and she didn't have so much trouble carrying water with them.
The tank is out of water. Yong Ruo went out with a small wooden bucket to fetch water. Although she is a daughter's family, she is fourteen years old anyway. When her father died, her mother was seriously ill, and her two younger brothers were nine and six years old, she had to bear the burden of life by herself.
Before going out for two steps, she heard a voice saying: "Sister Yong's family, let me carry water for you!"
A tall, thick, dark-faced kid trotted over shyly from the side, wanting to take over the burden from Yong Ruo's shoulders.
"Stop!" Yong Ruo shouted loudly, and at the same time dodged to the side, avoiding it!
The kid's hand froze there, then waved again and again. "I... I don't mean anything else! I just want... I just want to help you!" The young man stammered.
"Thank you for your kindness! But, go and do your work! I can do it myself." Yong Ruo refused politely and unfamiliarly. This black boy is called Jin Sanbao, and he lives next door to the west of her house. If it was just ordinary neighbors helping each other, she wouldn't reject people thousands of miles away like this! But this kid is obviously interested in her, she doesn't want to give him any illusions, and she doesn't want to pretend to be stupid and flirtatiously take advantage of him.
"Sister Yong's family...you...why didn't you even give me a chance to help you?" Jin Sanbao looked disappointed.
"Because I don't want to owe you a favor!"
"But in this world, how can you old and weak women and children survive?!" Jin Sanbao blushed.
Yong Ruo smiled confidently: "There is no limit to the road. We will have a way out!" After speaking, he walked around him and walked towards the well.
The well is public, and it is not too close and not too far from the Yong family, about a thousand meters away. When he got to the well, Yong Ruo brought up a bucket of water with a potter's wheel, poured it into two small wooden buckets, and carried the water home.
Although the pair of small carved wooden barrels are small, they are still very heavy when filled with water. But Yong Ruo can bear it!
Jin Sanbao still stood there blankly, and Yong Ruo passed by him without turning his eyes, without saying a word.
After running back and forth three times, the water tank was half full, and the two large buckets in the main room were also full. Yong Ruo put down his pole and bucket, and was about to go to the main room, when the courtyard door was pushed open, and his nine-year-old second brother Yong Qiao came back.
"Sister, the medicine has been caught." Yongqiao said, "I still owe the medicine shop five cents."
Yong Ruo nodded, indicating that he understood. Said to him: "Let's go eat! Today is the Lantern Festival, and we also celebrate the festival. I cooked the rest of the rice." Brown rice with pickles is unpalatable enough, it is not enough to eat, it is simply inhumane! I have worked hard tonight, and I have to eat enough!
"Sister, it's all cooked, what shall we eat tomorrow?" Yongqiao said with a sense of worry.
"Don't worry! Sister, I will go out to sell flowers tonight, and I will definitely earn money back! If everything goes well, we won't have to go hungry for several days!"
Yong Qiao hesitated even more: "Sister, let me go out and sell flowers! I am a man after all!"
Yong Ruo sneered: "You'd better eat for a few more years and grow your hair straight before calling yourself a man! Now, you're just a boy."
She touched Yongqiao's disheveled head, and said softly: "You are good to watch over your mother tonight, take good care of your third brother, and wait for me at home! No matter how late it is, you are not allowed to go out to find me! lest we keep looking for you. Remember?" After speaking, his tone became a little harsh.
"Sister!" Yongqiao was not convinced.
"Be obedient! Don't make trouble for me!" Yong Ruo ordered sternly.
Yong Qiao lowered his head and stopped talking.
The third younger brother, Yong Miao, who heard the voice, had already run out from the main room, and said obediently: "Sister, second brother, mother is still asleep and not awake, nor is she thirsty for water."
"Okay! Be good!" Yong Ruo also touched Yong Miao's head, and smiled at him, "Go, let's eat. Tonight's holiday, I cooked thick porridge, you can eat more!"
A sincere smile appeared on Yong Miao's face. Their living standards are quite low, and it is already a rare thing to have a full meal.
The three siblings went to the main room.
In the main room, under the north wall is a bed that belongs to Yongruo's mother Zhou; under the east wall is another bed, which belongs to the three of them; under the west wall is a bed. A square table can be used for eating; at the bottom of the south wall near the courtyard, there is a small cottage fireplace made by Yong Ruo with stones, grass mud and bamboo tendons. There are two buckets of clean water by the fireplace, and there is a gourd in the bucket.
There is a chimney above the small fireplace in this cottage, and there is a simple stone and mud stove in the hearth, similar to a picnic stove. The stove can cook rice, boil water, decoct medicine, and stir-fry vegetables—of course, her family has no vegetables to fry. Today, this fireplace has replaced the function of Yong’s kitchen.
Such a layout can maximize the use of heat sources, so that the main room will not be too cold, which is conducive to Zhou's recuperation, and can also reduce the risk of frostbite for the three siblings—their clothes and quilts are not thick. It was the change that Yong Ruochuan made after he came here.
Mrs. Zhou was falling asleep. While eating, Yong Ruo decocted medicine for Mrs. Zhou.
She ate very quickly, and she finished eating before the water in the medicine jar boiled. But at this time night had fallen, and Yong Ruo told Yong Qiao to keep an eye on the stove and medicine, and pay attention to fire prevention. She was going out to sell flowers.
Back in his own room, Yongruo changed into clean, not so worn-out clothes, fastened a bag close to his body, and used mud and pot ash to make up his "makeup", and used a piece of furoshiki as a headscarf , wrapped his head and half of his face.
A wooden support was tied around the waist, and he picked up a huge bamboo basket full of broken branches and red plums, hung the two belts tied around the top of the bamboo basket on his shoulders, and placed the side close to his body on the wooden support, and lifted the large bamboo basket without much effort. The basket was picked up.
After instructing Yong Qiao and Yong Miao a few more words, Yong Ruo smiled at himself, turned around and went out, walked through Mopan Hutong, and walked towards the periphery of Taiye Pond.
During the Lantern Festival, from the thirteenth day of the first lunar month, the capital lights up for three days. Tonight is the first day and the last day. The most beautiful and most concentrated place of lanterns is the periphery of Taiye Pool. It is next to the imperial city, and the mansions of princes and princes, as well as the wealthy merchants, all set up lamps there to enjoy themselves with the people.
Mopan Hutong is a slum area, located in a remote area, very far from the southernmost tip of Taiye Pool.
Yong Ruo walked for more than an hour, was panting from exhaustion, had a sore back and neck pain, and finally reached the destination.
"Luo, can't you let me overdraw my points again and give me a little extra energy on credit?" She asked the system in her mind.
Lulu is the "sterilization drug collection system" she got when she traveled through time. She always speaks in her head with a very soft and cute girl's voice, and imagines that she has a pair of wet eyes. Yong Ruo calls her: "Luolu" roll".
"No! Only when your life is dying can you overdraw the system points. Your current point balance is -500 points, so I can't give you extra physical strength." Lulu said very ruthless words in a soft and cute voice, " You'd better get some sterilization pills as soon as possible! As long as you take more sterilization pills, or absorb more sterilization pills from other people, you can get system points. As long as you have points, you can let me control it according to your will Your body. Disease prevention, healing, beauty and beauty... I can take care of it all!"
Yong Ruo smiled wryly, feeling that Lulu's words were like the lines in a TV sales promotion in her previous life.
The previous owner of her body died of illness. When she passed through, this body was completely unusable. It was Lulu who used her own strength to help her repair this body, and she also overdrawn 500 system points because of this.
After resting for a while, Yong Ruo cheered up and started selling flowers among the crowd.
It is not so easy to sell the flowers in the basket. You have to observe the face and clothing of the guests, guess their temperament and temper, and choose what they like to hear.
"Madam, let's buy a plum blossom! This kind of big plum blossom that can be taken home and placed in a vase costs 20 yuan a piece; this kind of small plum blossom that can be placed on the temples costs 10 yuan a piece... Today is the Lantern Festival, madam, how about you?" The extravagance is overwhelming, it must be born with wealth and honor, do you still care about the small money of 10 or 20 coins?" 30 coins in the bag.
"Girl, buy a plum blossom! You were born so beautiful, and if you don't wear a flower on your temples, wouldn't it be the icing on the cake? This plum blossom has a deep fragrance, a bright color, and is just right for a girl!" Put 10 coins into the bag .
"My lord, buy two flowers! You are so majestic, and this girl is so beautiful, if you buy a pair of plum blossoms and put them on your temples, wouldn't it make you look even more beautiful? Besides, the Lantern Festival will be brightly lit, It's very lively, if there is a plum fragrance to accompany it, wouldn't it be both refined and popular, and interesting?" 10 coins in the bag.
"Old lady, you are so energetic! Just like these plum blossoms, after countless trials and hardships, they have become more and more beautiful and handsome! If a little girl can have 10% or 50% of your demeanor when she is old , then you will have no regrets in this life!" The old lady smiled, and Yongruo put 50 coins in her bag.
"Two gentlemen, buy a plum blossom! Look at the appearance of the gentlemen, is it the master who is going to Beijing to take the exam?... The little girl is disrespectful! The new Jinshi usually needs hairpins. Today is the Lantern Festival, gentlemen Why don't you buy a plum blossom hairpin and put it on the hat, it's also considered a good fortune?" 20 coins in the bag.
…
Yong Ruo didn't care to look at the lights, he just walked through the crowd, his eyes rolled around, searching for potential customers who might buy flowers.
Although her legs were sore from walking and her mouth was dry when talking, she was still very happy. As she expected, the business went very smoothly tonight, and within an hour, there were only the last two plum blossoms left in the basket.
Four people came to meet them, and they were dressed as one master and three servants. The three servants were all in their twenties, one of them was dressed as a scholar, like a staff member of the Qing Dynasty; the other two had a bow on their back and a sword around their waist, like guards.
The host was a beautiful boy of seventeen or eighteen years old, dressed exquisitely and luxuriously, wearing a white jade crown of excellent color and luster on his head, a moon-white inlaid white jade mop on his forehead, and a silver fur inlaid on his body. The moon-white brocade cloak with cloud patterns on the side, and a set of sky-blue brocade jacket and straight body can be vaguely seen inside... In short: the words "Your Son" seem to be written all over the body.
Your son has a small V-shaped face, a pair of long eyebrows slanted into the temples, and a pair of eyes that are as clear as autumn water. Although the bridge of the nose is straight, it is very round; the lips are neither thick nor thin, and the color is very gorgeous.
The corners of his lips were slightly hooked, as if smiling. But he gave Yong Ruo the impression that he was hiding a kind of arrogance that went deep into the marrow, but this arrogance was slightly covered up by his gentle appearance.
"Do you want to go forward?" Yong Ruo was a little confused. If such a noble son makes him happy, the reward will be unprecedentedly generous. But this kind of noble young man is usually difficult to serve, if he accidentally offends him, the trouble will be bigger than ever!
Bet or not