There is a bill signed by Wu Yi himself, which is 8,970 taels that cannot be ignored.
The Wu family was sitting at the table, and their four faces were mixed with the firelight, gradually blurring into a ball of smoke. No one could see clearly the expressions of others. They didn't know whether it was because there was water in their own eyes, or whether the other person's face was covered by the charcoal smoke. Not real.
When your feet step on the ground, it feels like you are stepping on clouds, so soft and unreal.
The only sound outside was like thunder. Firecrackers crackled and boomed, and the sound of fireworks continued. Debris and clods of earth hit the roof tiles and jingled again. It was extremely lively and joyful.
Wu Jin's hand holding the pen was almost stiff, his fingers were curled, and the joints felt raw when he stretched them out. Wu Jin's mother handed him the tea, and he took a sip and then said, "Auntie, how much money do you have at home?"
Wu's mother quickly got up and went to get the money box.
She pulled open a wooden board behind the bed, took out the money box from it, put it on the table, and opened it for Wu Jin to see.
There is a piece of Jiaozi inside, which is the silver reward after Wu Jinfa passed the test. Wu's mother kept it in the Jiaozi shop. There are also five large silver ingots of ten liang and one tael, five small silver coins of one tael and three ingots. Copper coins and a handful of broken copper coins.
This is all their family’s savings, not even a fraction.
Wu Jin closed the money box: "Father, mother, I will send this money to the Liu family tomorrow, write another IOU, and pay it back to him within a time limit. Next year, the second child and I will not go to school, and we will carry the burden of selling together." cake."
Wu's mother shook her head: "I don't want to read it anymore, you have to read it."
"Auntie, just listen to me," Wu Jin looked at Wu Yi, "Tomorrow you come with me to Liu's house, and you can pay back the money with your own hands."
"No!" Wu Yi suddenly snatched the money box over and held it in his arms, tears rolling down his face. "No! This belongs to our family! Brother, please, please open your mouth and beg for mercy. This matter Isn’t it just over? What does using a mule have to do with us? I will listen to you from now on and promise not to play with Liu Bowen again! Okay?”
The simple number was too huge for Wu Yi. He did feel like the world was spinning, but the grief was not real. It was like dark clouds in the sky. Even though he knew that there was a disaster, he still thought he could escape.
But now he was holding this heavy money box that contained all the money of the Wu family. He howled in despair. He couldn't control his body at all. He broke away from his parents' hands and stared hard at Wu Jin, hoping that Wu Jin would say something. .
A fire surged up in Wu Jin's heart, which made his teeth chatter. He didn't know how to treat his younger brother. His younger brother was sitting at the table, completely alone, but suddenly he turned into an empty figure. A skinned monster.
His taken-for-granted look, the way he didn't treat others as human beings, reminded him of Zhao Shiheng and Mo Qianlan, even more hateful than them - he had never suffered or suffered, yet he simply wanted to send others away. Go to hell.
This kind of evil is the most terrible.
His younger brother was coaxed by Liu Bowen into making a hole as big as the sky. He was angry, but when his younger brother said such remarks, he was no longer angry. He was just disappointed, so disappointed that he wanted to give up on this person. , leaving him to fend for himself.
Wu Yi noticed his anger and hurriedly changed his words: "No, it's not that the Liu family begged for mercy, but Miss Mo and Mr. Cheng. They are both powerful people and their families are very rich. With this little money , it’s nothing to them, is it?”
"It's not my intention to beg for mercy, so don't mention it again," Wu Jin looked at him coldly, "Moreover, do you dare to order flower cards, order prostitutes' wine, eat delicacies from the mountains and seas, drink fine wine, When you enjoy the scenery, you should do it yourself, so why should I be obedient to my friends?"
Wu Yi looked at him blankly: "You are my brother! If you don't go, how will we live in the future?"
Wu Jin categorically said: "How you lived before is how you will live in the future."
He continued: "We will live in the house here until the first month of the year, and then I will go find Uncle Zou, and we will go back to Shishi Street to rent a house."
Wu Yi was so desperate that he wanted to die.
I owe so much money, and every time I open my eyes, I feel a heavy debt weighing on me. My eyes are really full of darkness, with no light shining through.
We have to go back to Shishi Street.
He was so happy when he moved out of Shishi Street, but when he moved back, he looked as ugly as if he had been stripped naked.
He doesn't want to move back.
Brother, it's not good - he thought, it's obviously just a sentence, why can't he speak, and the whole family must suffer!
The sound of firecrackers rang out outside the house, covering the sky and the earth. Wu Yi let go of the money box and sat down slumped. He covered his ears and didn't want to hear the laughter outside, let alone the sound of firecrackers. But for some reason, the firecrackers made such a loud noise and kept coming towards people. He was scratching his ears, wanting to die, but being afraid to die.
Wu Jin sorted out the bills and prepared to go to Liu's house tomorrow. Wu Jin's mother saw that his eyes were black and blue from the sleep, so she didn't want him to stay up late and sent him to sleep.
He walked out of the house, feeling the wind filled with the smell of fireworks at the tip of his nose. He suddenly heard a sound that was different from firecrackers. Looking up, he saw a streak of fire cutting through the night sky, cold thunder spitting fire, and blooming like shooting stars.
After the sound, the sky returned to silence for a short time, and then it suddenly lit up, like thousands of firelights, thousands of starlights, like flowers falling from the sky, and the Yaoguang light that touched the eyes.
Wu Jin stretched out his hand, but his hands were empty.
He smiled, and heard the sound of thunder, laughter, and crying, but he paid no attention to it until the fireworks ended, returned to his room, spread out paper and ink, and wrote the last diary entry of the year.
"On the 30th day of the twelfth lunar month in the 22nd year of Yuan Zhang, the firecrackers roared. It was very good and the fireworks were beautiful.
It's really sad and ridiculous that I owe a huge debt of eight thousand nine hundred and seventy taels due to anger and confusion in one day's poverty, but my brothers are jealous of me.
"Book of Rites: The Conduct of Confucianism" says: "Confucianism has the same will and the same direction, and the same way and skills; when they stand together, they are happy, and they are never tired of each other; when they have not seen each other for a long time, they hear rumors and do not believe them; they act according to their own principles, advance when they are the same, and retreat when they are different." His friends are like this. '
If I go to ask for silver, even though Cheng Ting and Mo Lingfeng are tolerant, I feel that I want to ask for others. In my words, I will inevitably be inferior to others, and I will not be able to enjoy living side by side with them, and my best friend will be lost.
Furthermore, the sage is poor between Chen and Cai. He does not eat fire for seven days. He sticks to the shackles with his left hand and strikes the shackles with his right. He can also sing the style of the Yan family. Our generation has never been so poor, so what should we worry about? "
After writing, he put the pen down on Beacon Hill, got up and went out, took out a few "ground mice" from the fireworks bought by Wu Yi, called Wu's father and mother to set them off together, and the fireworks together immediately dispersed the gloomy atmosphere in the home. , finally has the flavor of the new year.
After letting him go, Wu Jin went back to the house and did not turn off the lights and go to sleep. Instead, he picked up a pen and wrote: "It is windy and snowy in the twelfth lunar month of winter, the green willows and red flowers are still far away, the fireworks cover the tiles, the firecrackers explode, and the pen is clogged with ink.
When will the traces of sixteen years of hard work finally find peace? Don't blame the north wind, don't blame the frost, there will be good times next year. "
