Did Brother Sanshui call him? Who is Xiao Shitou and why was he sold? Selling people is illegal! No, it seems that people could be bought and sold in ancient times. Bah, what are you still thinking about now!
Jiang Miao pinched his hand, and in time extinguished the wild imagination that was growing due to his helplessness, and cheered himself up to greet the two people in front of him.
They came when Jiang Miao had just finished his duel with Xu Sheng. At that time, the onlookers were probably a little embarrassed, so they came to buy his buns crazily, and soon almost all the steamed buns were bought. He and Daniu were preparing to work when they suddenly found two people coming in front of them.
One was a woman in her thirties, not tall, dressed in cloth, carrying a basket filled with incense, candles and paper money. She looked like a pilgrim going to the Puling Temple to burn incense.
The other one was a little boy of about six or seven years old. He stared at Jiang Miao's face with a slightly puzzled expression. After Jiang Miao asked them how many buns they wanted, he suddenly said something like this.
"You call me Brother Sanshui? Who are you?" Jiang Miao had no memory of the two of them and could only pretend that he had a bad memory.
"I'm Xiaowu, Xiaoshi's good friend. He introduced me to you and said you were his brother and asked me to call you Brother Sanshui." After saying that, Xiaowu looked at his mother, as if to confirm whether he had said it wrong, because his mother pinched him when he spoke just now.
Jiang Miao guessed a message from this sentence. The two people in front of him didn't seem to be too familiar with the original owner. At most, they were from the same village. He breathed a sigh of relief, and then remembered the name he mentioned twice in his words, Xiao Shitou.
He is the original owner's brother? Who would have thought that the original owner's relatives would be found right away? Jiang Miao thought that he would have to wait until he made money and ask around to find his family. He was happy but also a little nervous. But the most important thing at the moment was what Xiao Wu said at the beginning.
"It's Xiaowu, I'm sorry, I can't remember clearly. By the way, what did you just say about Xiao Shitou being sold?" Could it be that something happened in the original owner's family and he wanted to sell the child for money
Just as Xiaowu was about to speak, the woman next to him interrupted: "Jiang Ge'er, don't listen to his nonsense. He is just a child and doesn't understand anything. He believes everything he hears. It's not true at all! If you have something to do, go ahead and do it. We'll leave first." She didn't want to say anything more to avoid causing trouble.
"Wait," Jiang Miao couldn't let them go, so he quickly walked out from behind the stall and stopped the two of them, "Auntie, you came all the way here, you haven't eaten yet, right? I still have a few buns left, you can eat them here if you don't mind. I haven't been home for many days, and I want to hear about Xiao Shitou."
The woman hesitated for a while, but eventually sat down with him under a tree behind the stall. Xiao Wu took the bun from Jiang Miao and said, "Thank you, Brother Sanshui," and then quickly added, "What I just said is true. Xiao Shitou told me himself!"
"What else did Xiao Shitou say to you?" Jiang Miao coaxed softly.
"Xiao Shitou said that he had to do a lot of things every day and was very tired, but he dared not stop. If he stopped, his mother would scold him and sometimes even beat him. He also said that he was not full every day and could only drink more water when he was hungry. Once he drank too much and wet the kang at night, so he was punished to kneel for the whole morning. He also said that he heard his father and mother say that they wanted to sell him, and asked me to help find my brother and ask if he could buy him back. He would work hard..." Xiaowu told Jiang Miao everything that Xiao Shitou had said to him. Sometimes he would stop to think for a while before continuing.
When Jiang Miao heard these words, he suddenly felt an inexplicable emotion in his heart, which made him feel very sad and his nose was also very sad. He needed to cover his chest tightly with his hands to prevent this emotion from venting. Were the original owner's parents such people? It seemed that he had no parental relationship in this life.
The woman was a little stunned when she heard this. Her son had never told her this. Although she knew that Jiang Lao San and his wife were not very kind to the child, she did not expect them to be so excessive.
Under Jiang Miao's silent gaze, she gave an awkward smile: "Actually... they're not selling him. I heard earlier that they wanted to find another family to adopt Little Stone out... Didn't Jiang Lao San's wife give birth last year? Life is getting tighter and tighter. They say... they can't afford to raise Little Stone anymore."
Jiang Miao was stunned. He originally thought that the original owner's family wanted to sell the little stone, but now it sounded like that was not the case.
"Find another family to adopt him out." Did this mean that Xiao Shitou had already been adopted? What about the original owner's family? From Xiaowu's hope that he could save Xiao Shitou, to the fact that the woman did not mention their parents, he probably guessed that the original owner's parents must have passed away.
"Uncle Jiang said he can't afford to support Little Stone anymore?" Jiang Miao's tone was low, and his head was lowered, looking so lonely that the woman felt uncomfortable. She originally thought that this was someone else's family affair and she shouldn't interfere, but after hearing what her son said just now, and thinking about Little Stone's pitiful appearance, she couldn't help but get angry.
"Well, it's not that they can't afford to raise him. I guess they just don't want to. I heard that when Jiang Lao San wanted to adopt Xiao Shitou, his wife disagreed, saying that she wanted to take her nephew to raise. Jiang Lao San thought that you two were from the same clan, so he adopted Xiao Shitou in the end. He was not bad at first, but since his wife suddenly got pregnant the year before last, Xiao Shitou's life has not been easy. After he was born last year and found to be a big fat boy, Xiao Shitou's life has become even more difficult..."
She talked a lot about the Jiang family, some of which she saw with her own eyes and some of which she heard from other neighbors. Sometimes it was heartbreaking to see the little kid working so hard at such a young age.
"Thank you, Auntie and Xiaowu, for telling me these things. Since Uncle Jiang and his family already have their own children, I will take Xiao Shitou back to raise him. As long as I have something to eat, he won't starve." Jiang Miao said.
"But you are only seventeen years old. If you bring a child with you, it will be difficult to talk about marriage in the future." The woman sighed. Jiang Ge looked a little gloomy and silent on weekdays, but he was still very responsible when he encountered something. But his parents were both dead, his family had no property or land, and he had to raise a younger brother. Which girl would be willing to marry him and suffer
"It's still early for marriage. I will work hard to make money and live a good life sooner." Jiang Miao had never considered getting married and having children before, and now he would not think about it anymore. He did not expect the original owner to be so young. According to modern age, he would not reach adulthood until next year!
The woman thought for a while and made a suggestion: "Why not... leave Xiao Shitou at your second uncle's house first? Xiao Shitou is already grown up and doesn't need anyone to take care of him. He just needs to be fed and can help with some work. If you give him a little subsidy every month, your aunt will not object. When you get married, you can take Xiao Shitou over."
"No, my second uncle's family must be in trouble too. How can I be so selfish? It's okay if life is a little hard now. Little Shitou will grow up in a few years. Then I can consider his marriage."
Listening to the woman's tone, and thinking about the fact that Xiao Shitou was adopted away, he knew that his second uncle and second aunt would certainly not be willing to accept them. This was the only close relative the original owner had, so naturally he should be brought to live with them.
Jiang Miao is a lonely man in modern times. What he longed for most at that time was to have a relative so that no matter where he went, he would have someone to think about.
"In that case, that's good. From now on, you two brothers will support each other and your life will get better and better," said the woman.
"Yes. By the way, Auntie, when will you return to the village? I will go back with you then." Jiang Miao didn't know where his home was, and it was not easy to ask, so he could only rely on them to lead the way.
The woman said, "My mother's family is over here. I have to go over to visit her after I burn incense. I'm afraid she won't leave that quickly. If you can wait, come with us tomorrow afternoon. We'll be home by dark."
Jiang Miao told her to wait here at noon tomorrow. The woman nodded, then took the child to the mountain.
While they were talking, Da Niu went to the front to work while watching the stall. Now seeing that Jiang Miao looked very worried, which was completely different from just now, he couldn't help but feel worried.
Jiang Miao hadn't figured out the matter yet, so he couldn't say much at this moment. He just forced a smile and said it was nothing. Seeing that he didn't want to say more, Daniu didn't ask any more questions. He turned around and said that a customer had just booked a basket of buns and said he would come to pick it up in a while, and also gave twenty coins as a deposit.
Jiang Miao felt better after hearing the news. He felt that the most important thing at the moment was to make money. He would have a younger brother to support in the future. He just didn't know if he could successfully take Xiao Shitou out tomorrow.
"Brother Daniu, what kind of filling does the guest want for the buns?"
"The customer can choose any filling you want."
After getting the reply, Jiang Miao nodded, and then with an inexplicable feeling of uneasiness, he quickly rolled out the dough and stuffed the buns. In just a moment, the buns were ready. He put the steamer on the pot, added a few more firewood to the brazier, and then sat quietly in front. The red flames reflected on his face, and the crackling sound of the firewood came to his ears. At this moment, Jiang Miao's heart suddenly settled down. It's just a matter of fighting against the enemy and covering the water with earth. Everything will wait until tomorrow!
Soon, the fragrance of the buns emanated from the steamer. Jiang Miao opened the lid, pressed the bun skin with chopsticks, and found that they were steamed, so he took them out and put them aside.
There were eighty or ninety buns in a basket. Jiang Miao took out a few pieces of uncut oil paper from under the shoulder pole and wrapped them into four large bags before putting them in.
As soon as the buns were packed, a man came over, paid the remaining money, and took the buns away. The man took the buns and walked straight to a carriage, saying, "Master, I bought the buns."
"Put it there for now, and share it with others when we get there."
"Yes." The man replied, but he was a little confused. Why did the young master ask him to buy so many buns when he himself would not eat them? However, these buns smelled really good. I must eat a few more later!
(End of this chapter)