Fate pushed her into a quagmire, and she told herself that she would crawl out.
The dire situation gave her no opportunity for self-pity and painful worry. If she didn't pull herself together, she might not survive the night.
She stretched out her small black hand, picked up a small wooden stick, and began to write stroke by stroke on the ground.
Zhuge, Wei, Mu, Jue, and Che, she frowned slowly after writing this. It was already dark outside, and the sound of silk and bamboo from other courtyards could be heard from a distance, and there were occasional laughter of singing and dancing prostitutes. She thought about it silently for a long time, and finally wrote down the last word: Yan.
In the hall of Zhuge's mansion, where the cups and cups were intertwined, Yan Xun's right eye suddenly jumped. He frowned beautifully, turned his head slowly, and looked deeply into the dark night.
The night is dark, jackdaws fly high, this muddy and ugly dynasty has rotted from the inside.
The old is doomed to perish, and a new order rises from the ashes.
Even though the wounds all over her body were in pain, Chu Qiao forced herself to stand up, and ran back and forth around the small woodshed, occasionally stopping to rub her skin with her hands, so as not to freeze to death in this dilapidated woodshed inside.
The third watch drum had just knocked, and the window, which was as tall as a person, was slowly pushed open, and then, a small head was revealed. Chu Qiao was taken aback, and looked up, only to see the person with bright eyes, carefully looking around the firewood room, and seeing Chu Qiao, a look of joy flashed in his eyes. He raised his fingers to make a silent gesture, and then turned over and jumped into the firewood room with all his hands and feet.
The boy ran forward quickly, stretched out his arms, and hugged Chu Qiao in his arms, with a choked voice, but firmly comforted: "Yue'er is not afraid, Fifth Brother is here."
The boy was very thin, and he was not very old, but he looked about eight or nine years old. He was wearing a dusty gray dress, which didn't fit him very well, making him look even smaller. His stature has not yet grown, only half a head taller than Chu Qiao, but the outline of his face reveals a weather-beaten tenacity. He held the child in his arms tightly, patted her on the back constantly, and comforted her over and over again: "Don't be afraid, Fifth Brother is here."
For some reason, Chu Qiao's eyes suddenly became wet, and big tears fell down uncontrollably, wet the boy's rough clothes. I don't know if it's the spontaneous reaction of this body or her own true emotions. On such a strange and cold night, this weak but warm embrace is really too precious.
The bright moonlight came in from the slightly open window and shone on the two little children. It was icy all around, but there was only a tiny bit of warmth in his chest. The boy's small body was like a tough mountain. On this cold night, even though he was slightly trembling with fear, he still held his sister firmly and tightly tightened his arms.
"Yue'er, are you hungry?" The boy let go of his hand, stretched out his dark fingers to carefully wipe off the tears on Chu Qiao's face, pulled out a beautiful smile, and said with a smile, "Look at the fifth brother. What did you bring?"
The child took out a small cloth bag from behind, sat on the ground, opened the cloth bag neatly, and the delicious smell of food wafted out immediately. He raised his head and saw that Chu Qiao was still standing, raised his eyebrows and said doubtfully, "Sit down."
A large rough porcelain bowl, the blue and white on the side has been worn to lose its color, and there are a few small gaps on the edge. A full bowl of polished round-grained rice, with some green vegetable leaves piled on top, not much oil, but the smell is so fragrant. The boy handed over a pair of chopsticks, stuffed them into Chu Qiao's hands, and urged, "Eat quickly."
Chu Qiao lowered her head, took a mouthful of rice, her mouth was very salty, and there was a taste of tears, her throat was very blocked. She chewed mechanically, occasionally sobbing softly.
The boy looked at Chu Qiao eagerly, every time she opened her mouth to take a bite, the boy also opened his mouth gently, as if he was teaching her how to eat, and when she saw her swallowing, he would happily narrow his eyes.
Fiddled with the chopsticks in the bowl, suddenly inserted something, picked it out, it turned out to be a piece of braised pork that was still steaming.
A piece of meat the size of a thumb was charred, half fat and half thin. It was so alluring in such a dark and cold night.
A loud gurgling sound suddenly sounded, Chu Qiao raised her head and looked at the boy, only to see the boy rubbed his belly in embarrassment, and deliberately said nonchalantly, "I just finished eating, and I'm not hungry at all."
Chu Qiao handed over the chopsticks and said, "Eat it."
The boy shook his head immediately, "We had a very good meal tonight, the fourth young master gave us additional dishes, braised carp in braised sauce, sweet and sour pork ribs, tenderloin in vinegar, plain teal, there are so many dishes, I feel like vomiting, and now I can't eat anything gone."
Chu Qiao stubbornly held up her chopsticks, "I don't like fatty meat."
The boy froze for a moment, glanced at Chu Qiao, then at the piece of braised pork, swallowed unconsciously, and after a long time, reached out to take Chu Qiao's chopsticks, and carefully opened his mouth to bite on the fat meat. Then he handed back the remaining lean meat, he smiled, showing a mouthful of white teeth, and said with a smile: "Yue'er, you can eat it now."
The nose suddenly became sore, Chu Qiao quickly lowered her head, tears rolled back and forth in her eyes, but she still held back and did not fall.
After a long time, she slowly raised her head, smiled at the boy, opened her mouth to eat the piece of meat, and grinned while chewing.
"Yue'er, is it delicious?" The child's eyes were bright, like bright stars in the sky.
Chu Qiao nodded vigorously, her throat was blocked and her voice was choked, "It's delicious, the most delicious thing I've ever eaten in my life is this piece of meat."
"Fool." The boy reached out and touched her head, with a slightly sad expression, and said, "You are only so old, so you can say things like this all your life. Don't talk about the future, just talk about how many delicacies we ate when we were young. I'm still young, maybe I can't remember. But don't worry, one day in the future, Fifth Brother will make you full and warm, and bring you all the good things in this world, not only braised pork, but also ginseng, Abalone, bird’s nest, shark’s fin, elephant puller, you can have everything you want. By then, no one will be able to bully us anymore, Yue’er, do you trust Fifth Brother?”
Chu Qiao nodded, lowered her head and tried to pull the rice into her mouth. It tasted bitter but warm.
"Yue'er, don't be afraid." The boy took off his coat and put it on Chu Qiao's shoulders, and said firmly in a childish voice, "Fifth brother will protect you, I will stay here with you ,Do not be afraid."
The moonlight is bleak, the light and shadow move, shining through the cracks in the woodshed, shining a large piece of white light, under the frosty moonlight, the small bodies of the two children are close to each other, so small, but so beautiful. so warm.
In the distance, the lights are blazing, silk and bamboo are playing, and the smell of wine and meat is overflowing. The nightless Zhenhuang City finally ushered in the climax of the grand dinner. Under the brilliant lights, no one remembered the girl who survived today's hunting grounds. The cold wind howled, and the flame flag of Daxia was blown up and down.
When I woke up the next day, the boy had already left, and there was a row of beautiful small characters written on the ground: Brother Wu will come back at night, there are steamed buns under the firewood.
Chu Qiao pushed aside the dead branches in the corner, and saw two yellowed steamed buns wrapped in oil paper. She held them, her face was calm, but her eyes gradually softened.
After three unattended days like this, the boy would bring food to accompany her every night, and then quietly leave the next day. On the third day, the door of the woodshed was opened with a bang, Zhu Shun condescendingly looked at Chu Qiao who was still alive after three days in the woodshed, his brows became tighter and tighter, and finally ordered his servants to let her out.
The moment she stepped out of the woodshed, Chu Qiao stood at the door, took a last look at the dilapidated house, pursed her lips, and turned her head resolutely.
The further you go, the more dilapidated the house looks, everywhere you can see large groups of children carefully hiding behind the corridors of branches, looking at her secretly. After walking to a small courtyard, as soon as the servants in charge left, a large group of children suddenly rushed up and immediately embraced her.
"Xiao Liu, you are back."
"Sixth sister, we thought you wouldn't come back."
"Sister Yue'er, ugh..."
The children yelled and cried unabashedly. Chu Qiao was taken aback, and could only stand there in a daze surrounded by them, enduring the tears and snot of these little radish heads. .
"Okay, don't cry."
A male voice suddenly sounded, and the children turned their heads and shouted happily: "Fifth brother!"
The boy ran in from the outside, holding a cloth bag, and just took two steps, and all of them fell on the ground with a clatter, which turned out to be a bagful of melon seeds. The children immediately cheered, Qi Qi let go of Chu Qiao, and ran forward.
"Don't grab it, everyone has it." The boy said with an adult look, "Yue'er just escaped from death and was seriously injured, please don't disturb her, everyone should help her with her work these days .”
The children nodded repeatedly, and a girl with two braids raised her fair face and said with a smile, "Fifth Brother, don't worry, we will help Sixth Sister."
The boy said: "Xiaoqi, is your injury healed? Why did you get out of bed?"
"Fifth brother, it's all good." The child looked up with a smile, stretched out his hand and rolled up his sleeves, only to see that there were welts all over it, and the flesh had been turned over in some places, and it hadn't fully healed. Xiao Qi smiled and said: "The medicine you brought is very useful, and it doesn't hurt when you put it on. Xiao Ba was kicked by the wind and hurt her back yesterday when she was feeding the horses. I have to help her."
"Linxi, come in, I have something to tell you." A little girl suddenly stepped forward and grabbed the boy's hand.
The boy looked back at Chu Qiao, and said, "Yue'er, it's windy outside, so you come in too."
In the dilapidated and small room, there was a large kang with more than a dozen sets of bedding neatly placed on it. The boy named Linxi said, "Sister Zhixiang, what's the matter?"
Zhixiang is not very old, she looked like ten years old, she squatted down, opened the dark kang hole, and took out a small box, "Five days later, it will be the anniversary of the death of parents and uncles, you want us to We have prepared the incense candles and paper money secretly prepared."
Lin Xi nodded, "Be careful, don't be discovered by the manager."
"Well, don't worry, no one will come to our side. But you, you have to be careful when serving the fourth young master. I heard Si Tao from the laundry room the day before yesterday say that the third young master beat and killed two companions in the room. Although the fourth young master is not like the third young master, he is eccentric and unpredictable. The master is not at home, and the young master Huai doesn't care about the affairs of the inner palace. , The Du family that was bought together with us is extinct, I am really worried that one day it will be our turn."