"Girl, wake up, girl, wake up, drink some water and go to sleep."
When she heard someone calling her and felt someone pushing her shoulder gently, Qingyan opened her eyes drowsily and saw a big wrinkled face hanging in front of her eyes. She was so frightened that she suddenly woke up. , and instantly looked at the other party with wide eyes.
"Who are you!? Why are you in my room?"
The wrinkled old face stepped back slightly. Only then did Qingyan see clearly that the other person was an old lady. Her sparse gray hair was styled in a small bun. The grooves on her face were deep enough to trap mosquitoes, and her face was expressionless. It's a bit sallow, which indicates malnutrition at first glance. It should be from a poor family whose life is not very good.
There was no malice in the other person's eyes, and the smile on his face was kind.
However, the other party was a stranger after all, so Qingyan did not dare to let down her guard. She sat up with her arms and stepped back. She quickly scanned the surroundings with her peripheral vision. It turned out to be a stone house!
what happened? Shouldn't she rest in the inn?
Subconsciously, she touched the inside of the quilt, but she didn't find the little leopard or Chou Chou. She quickly called it through voice transmission with her mind, but there was no response after calling several times.
Qingyan was a little panicked. This was the first time she couldn't contact Chou Chou. What was going on? Could it be that I was in a dream? As for why she didn't speculate that she was kidnapped, of course it was because Chou Chou could follow her through space, so there was no way she could not be contacted.
But I squeezed the rough quilt in my hand. If it was a dream, wouldn't it be too real?
Although the quilts in the inn are made of coarse cloth, they are made of wool. Wool is produced here, so it is relatively cheap.
This one is made of wool mixed with some linen, which is much harder and not so comfortable.
In addition, coarse cloth is also divided into different thicknesses. The coarse cloth used in inns is woven relatively smoothly, while this one is very rough and a little lumpy.
When the old lady saw Qingyan sitting up, she put the pottery bowl in her hand on the small table beside her and said, "Don't be afraid, girl, this is my home. You fainted on the road outside our village. My son saw you when he came back. , and carried you back.
I don’t know who the girl is, how could she faint on the roadside? "
Qingyan couldn't answer. She didn't know how she could faint on the roadside. She didn't even know how she got here.
Although she had some guesses that she was in a dream, the real scene made her a little uncertain, so she could only look at the other person in silence.
Seeing that she didn't answer, the old lady thought she had some unspeakable difficulties, so she didn't ask any more questions. Instead, she picked up the bowl on the table again, handed it to Qingyan and said, "Then girl, please drink some hot water. It's such a late night." If you faint on the mountainside, it is easy for the cold to enter your body. We don’t have a doctor here. If you get cold, you have to go to the town hospital."
Qingyan took the pottery bowl and said thank you. She lowered her eyes and looked into the bowl under the dim light of the oil lamp in the room. She couldn't see clearly whether there were impurities in it, so she could only smell it calmly to make sure there was nothing inside. There was a strange taste, so I sipped a little bit to make sure it was water, and then took a big sip.
After drinking the water, he returned the bowl to the other party and asked carefully: "Auntie, I wonder where this is? Is it far from Yunling County? My family is waiting for me in Yunling County."
The old lady smiled and said: "Not far, not far. We are in Qinian Village in Qingfeng Town. It is only twenty or thirty miles away from the county seat. It can be reached in half a day's walk.
It turns out that the girl is going to the county town. Her accent doesn't sound like people here. Is she here to visit relatives and friends? "
Qingyan was shocked when she heard the word "Qinian Village". This was actually the "Qinian Village". Could it be that she was thinking about it every day and dreaming about it at night? I just heard the legend here during the day and immediately had a dream about it?
But that’s not right. If you were dreaming, how could there be such vivid characters? She has never seen or heard of it, so she can't just imagine it, right?
Qingyan continued to talk calmly: "It's not to visit relatives, but to settle down. My family has just moved here from other places. It was in Youzhou before. I couldn't live there anymore, so I moved here. It can be regarded as a refuge with my family." relative."
The old lady nodded, "I see. It's really chaotic over there in Youzhou. I heard that wars often happen. It's not a good place. Although our place is close to the border, the enemies have been stopped outside the pass by General Yang. Since then, No one has entered the customs to harass the people, so it is still very safe.
I see that the girl is a little pale, and she must have had some cold in her body. Just have a good night's rest here and go back to the county town tomorrow. "
Qingyan nodded along with her words, and the old lady added: "I will go to the village tomorrow to ask if there is anyone who can go to the town to buy, and take the girl there by the way. Then the girl can work as a bullock cart in the town to go to the county town. There are often oxcarts going to the county town for errands, and you can take people there, just pay a few cents for the fare."
"Thank you very much, aunt. When I return to the county, I will definitely bring my family to thank my aunt and family for their kindness."
Qingyan thanked the other party again. No matter what, she still had good words to say.
"Girl, you don't need to be so polite. It's inevitable that you will have difficulties when you go out. I'll help you if you can. You have a good rest. I'll go out first."
After the old lady finished speaking, she took the bowl and left the house. There was no door in this house, and there was only a cloth curtain hanging at the door. After the old lady went out, there was the sound of opening and closing outside. There should be a door outside.
Qingyan tried calling Chou Chou a few more times, but there was still no reply, so she had to give up.
Frowning, he observed the house again. The walls were all made of stone, and the roof was a mixture of wood and grass. It looked like it was quite old.
In addition to the bed, there was a long wooden table against the wall. There was an oil lamp on the table, and there were no other furniture or ornaments.
There is a window opposite the bed. It is not big, only about two feet square.
Qingyan lifted the quilt and got out of bed, looked at the pair of embroidered shoes under the bed, and frowned again.
She was sure that after she took a shower at the inn yesterday, Chou Chou had already put her embroidered shoes in the room, and what she took out was a pair of black flip-flops.
Looking at the clothes I was wearing now, I saw that they were still the same three-layer unlined clothes I wore before taking a shower yesterday.
She couldn't help pinching herself, and the sharp pain came, indicating that she was not dreaming. This made her feel a little dazed for a moment. Could it be that the scene in the inn was a dream?
wrong! There are Chou Chou and Little Leopard in the inn, but there are none here, which only means that this place is abnormal!
She walked slowly to the window with her embroidered shoes, and gently opened a gap. It was dark outside, with only a gust of wind blowing in.
She closed the window, turned around, walked back to the bed, and sat on the bed again.
It would be great if I also had spiritual consciousness. I could detect the surrounding situation even in the dark.
Chou Chou and Little Leopard were gone, so she was left alone, and she was still a little timid.
The man heard a sound coming from the room next door. No, I should say, it was the next door next door. There should be a room in the middle. The sound was a bit far away and not very clear.
This is also due to her superhuman hearing, otherwise ordinary people would definitely not be able to hear it.
"Mom, is that little girl awake?" a voice said in a deliberately low voice.
This was the voice of a man. The voice was quite clear. He should be very young, without the vicissitudes of middle-aged or old people.
Then I heard the voice of the old lady just now, "When she woke up and drank some hot water, I let her rest. She said she moved from Youzhou and settled in the county. I said I would ask tomorrow. If If anyone comes to town, take her there.”
"It turns out he's from Youzhou, so I said he didn't look like the people here. I thought his family must be quite wealthy, otherwise he wouldn't be able to grow such fine skin and tender meat.
But, can we really send her away tomorrow? Tomorrow is the day. This little girl is pretty and her age is just right. The ancestors will definitely like her and will probably be kept. "The man said.
"Shhh, keep your voice down, be careful if the ancestor hears her. We can't make the decision on this. If the ancestor doesn't let her go, we have nothing to do. We can only look at her own luck.
Sigh... why did she faint at the entrance of the village? I don't know if you did a good thing or a bad thing by rescuing her. "
The old lady's voice became even lower, with a hint of regret in her tone.
"Mom, don't think so much. We have no choice but to leave it to fate. It's already very late. You should rest quickly. We'll talk about tomorrow's matters."
Hearing this, Qingyan's brows were already wrinkled. Ancestor, who is the ancestor? Isn't he an old prostitute?
Then he looked at his hands. Where was the disguise on his body? She painted her face and hands black before taking a shower yesterday. If yesterday's stay at the inn was a dream, then she should still be dark, but this was obviously what she looked like after washing up.
Qingyan's heart was in a mess, and she was slightly uneasy. She pinched herself hard, trying to wake herself up quickly, always feeling that something would happen if she continued to stay here.
But apart from the pain from being pinched, the scene didn't change at all.
If you were not in a dream, it would be dangerous to run out into the darkness now. If you were in a dream, you probably wouldn't be able to run out of the village.
Concerned, I took off my shoes and returned to the bed. The wind outside gradually became louder, and the whining sound penetrated people like a wolf howling.
But the strange thing is that there is only a thin layer of window paper on the window. There is such a strong wind outside, but the window paper does not even move.
You must know that when we were in the inn, the window paper was much finer and thicker than this, and it made a loud rattling sound. However, here we only heard the sound of the wind outside, as if the inside of the house was isolated from the outside.
Perhaps it was a psychological effect, but Qingyan felt that the room was eerie and had goosebumps on her skin, and she couldn't help but shudder.
He opened the quilt and got in, covering himself completely in the quilt, only to feel a little safer.
She didn't dare to sleep at all. She stared in the direction of the curtain with her eyes wide open. There wasn't even a door. She felt like someone might come in at any time, which made her afraid to relax at all.
Moreover, there was nothing in the house that could be used as a weapon, not even the stick for the window, she couldn't find it in the house. It felt like it was guarding her.
She kept her eyes open like this, and after a while they became so sour. She blinked hard, rubbed them with her hands, and continued to stare there.
I don’t know how much time passed, but I fell asleep without knowing it.
When I woke up again, there was light outside the window, but I didn't hear any dogs barking or chickens crowing. This was even more unreasonable.
Even if there are no dogs in the village, chickens should be raised. Whether they lay eggs or eat meat, this is standard equipment for villagers.
Eggs can be exchanged for money and can also supplement the nutrition of people at home, so it is unreasonable to not have chickens.
There was movement outside slowly. It was the sound of people greeting each other, and the squeaking sound of buckets being carried on poles. They must have been carrying water.
This family should be relatively close to the well. Many people pass by and say hello, "Are you up? Are you going to go diving?"
Basically, they are the same two sentences, but the sounds are different.
Two people from this family also got up. She heard the sound of moving in the house and the sound of the door opening, but they did not disturb her or speak.
The old lady's walking voice was a bit shuffling, with the sense of powerlessness of the elderly, while the young man walked very powerfully.
After a while, I heard the man's footsteps getting farther and farther. He must have left the yard. He came back not long after. The footsteps were heavier than when he went out before. Soon I heard the sound of pouring water into the water tank. Look. I came here to carry water.
Just listen to the old lady saying: "Pour the other bucket into the pot, I want to boil water for cooking."
"Hey, okay." The man agreed, and then there was another sound of pouring water.
If we hadn't known that there were some problems, this would have been a normal life scene for rural people getting up early. It was very common and there was nothing strange about it.
Qingyan no longer hid in the house. Through the window, she could see that it was getting bright outside. She first arranged her clothes, spread her hair, combed it with her hands, and then braided it into a braid. Tie the headband.
She doesn't know how to do any complicated hairstyle. Anyway, braids are definitely fine, not too eye-catching or ugly.
He put on his embroidered shoes, folded the quilt on the bed, then lifted the door curtain and walked out.
After leaving the bedroom, there was indeed a main room outside. There was only an Eight Immortals table and two benches, and a dusty cabinet with a pottery pot and a very shallow pottery bowl on it. The rest was nothing.
There is a door in the main room. The wooden door looks to be old at first glance. The lines on it are very deep and there are no edges at all on the four sides. They have all been smoothed.
Qingyan looked at the closed door a little strangely. She seemed to have only heard the sound of the door opening, but not the sound of closing the door. How could this door be closed so well?
I looked to the side and didn't see another door. The main room and the bedroom were actually separate!
She opened the door, crossed the threshold and went outside. She looked to the side. Sure enough, there were two rooms next to the main room, and the one next to it also had a door.
The main house has four rooms in total. This layout is very similar to that where two brothers of a family live in separate houses, or the old couple lives in two rooms and the young couple lives in two rooms. Each one goes to his own door and lives again. Together, without disturbing each other.
