There were two green cloth oil trucks with donkeys yoked parked in front of Mrs. Qian's house. Behind the cars stood a strong man next to a black horse. He had a long knife stuck on his back and his face was so sinister that it looked really scary. .
Han Caiwei got into the next oil truck, sat down in it, and opened her bag. Inside were two sets of clothes she usually wears, a pair of new shoes, and six white flour cakes the size of an adult's hand. The millstone rang for a while in the house last night. Han Dalang grinded the new dough overnight. It is the end of summer, how can the white flour cake be kept for a long time? Han Caiwei broke it into half with her hands and kept it in the space. She poured a bamboo tube of water into the space and a bunch of large coins. She counted two hundred.
After waiting for almost two hours, a dozen little girls of seven or eight years old came up one after another and sat huddled next to each other in the car. Mrs. Qian shouted loudly: "Everyone, sit still! Let's go!"
The donkey was traveling slowly. The road in the countryside was not smooth, and there was a bump on the rocks. The girl sitting across from him did not sit firmly. They knocked their heads against each other and started to cry. The atmosphere is contagious. Girls are naturally away from their loved ones. I endured it, but I couldn't hold it in any longer at this moment, and sobs kept coming from the oil truck.
Han Caiwei raised her eyes and looked around. They were all little girls of seven or eight years old. All of them were covered with patches. In the year of the disaster, families who could not survive would sell more of their daughters and fewer of their sons. It felt like a donkey cart After stopping, she hurriedly said "Shhh", and if she continued to cry, Mrs. Qian would not ignore her.
A sheathed knife opened the door curtain, and the strong man shouted sternly: "You're crying, shut up!" He glanced around with sharp eyes, and all the little girls fell silent.
She felt that the girl next to her was shaking all over. Such a big child had just entered the first grade of elementary school in her previous life. "Hey!" After sighing, Han Caiwei took her hand and patted it, and the girl leaned on her shoulder. , crying silently.
The middle-aged man lowered the door curtain, and the green cloth oil truck continued to move forward. In the evening, it stopped in a small village. Mrs. Qian asked the girls to get off the car. After waiting for a day, they lined up to go to the hut, and each of them put a black bean noodle on it. Grain pancakes, a bowl of cold water, and people crowded together to sleep on a big bunk.
At noon on the next day, another green cloth oil truck drove up. Mrs. Qian smiled and lifted the curtain to check it out. She nodded with satisfaction, then asked everyone to get in the car and continued on her way.
A small hand came over, and the little girl beside her said in a thin voice, "Little sister, are you hungry?" Han Caiwei was startled for a moment, and then realized that her sister was referring to herself. She has been bedridden for several months and only eats liquid food every day. She is short and short, and she is the thinnest among the little girls. The girl next to her is only half a head taller than me, so she is not allowed to call her sister!
How could an old aunt in her thirties be willing to be a younger sister? "I'm eight years old, but I'm sick and look young." The little girl was waxy and a little embarrassed, "I called you the wrong one, I'm eight years old too." , Born in the twelfth lunar month, you must be older than me." He glanced at Han Caiwei a few more times. He was too thin to call her sister, so he had to say: "My name is Zhaodi, and my surname is Wu. I am from Shanggang Village. Your name is What?" Nowadays, boys are favored over girls. Girls in the village are called Zhaodi, and there are many younger brothers. There are families that give birth to six or seven girls in a row, and there are also those who are named Gaidi, just to give birth to a child. Here comes the man.
"My name is Caiwei, my surname is Han, and I come from Hanjia Village." With a "Gulu", I was handed out a pancake and a bowl of water at noon last night, but there was nothing this morning. Seven or eight years old is the time when you are old enough to eat. How could she not be hungry? Wu Zhaodi covered her stomach and rubbed it twice.
"Here!" Han Caiwei stretched out her hand, and there was half a black pancake on it. She ate Wang's white flour pancake last night, so it was saved! "Eat it!"
Wu Zhaodi smiled sheepishly, stretched out her hand to take it, and ate a little, "Caiwei, thank you, I am strong, I will help you with your work in the future and repay your favor." This cannot be taken seriously, Wu Zhaodi He has a soft voice and is as thin as a ponytail. It's not certain who will help whom!
Three days later, the oil truck arrived in the capital without any further stops. The door curtains were not opened, and only the noise of people and horses outside the car could be heard. After about an hour, the car stopped at the northwest corner gate of Zhongyong Bo's Mansion. Mrs. Qian said I jumped out of the car and knocked on the door. A woman opened the door, took the dime handed over, looked up and down, and said, "Wait!"
The little girls got off the car one by one and saw that the green courtyard wall of Zhongyongbo's mansion was very high. Caiwei's visual inspection was about ten meters. They said it was a wealthy family, and it was true. It seems that as Mrs. Qian said, the place where she will live is indeed a good place.
The corner door opened, and a middle-aged man and two boys came in a hurry. The man was wearing a bright blue satin gown, and a green jade pendant around his waist. The water was very good, and he looked very valuable.
Mrs. Qian smiled flatteringly and stepped forward to give her a blessing, "Mr. Jiang is well, I've brought you the twenty little girls you always wanted."
Manager Jiang glanced at the little girls and nodded, "Ma Song took Ya Po to the accounting office, and Ma Liang took them to Liu Rui's family." After that, he left quickly, leaving a faint scent of sandalwood lingering in his breath.
Ma Liang, who looked about seventeen or eighteen years old, was wearing a black shorts uniform, was short in stature, and had smiling eyes. He told him, "When you enter the yard, you must obey the rules. Don't make any noise. Don't look around. Just follow me."
Twenty little girls stood in two rows. Caiwei, the youngest, stood at the end of the queue. She made a blessing gift to Mrs. Qian as a farewell, and then followed the team into Uncle Zhongyong's mansion.
The courtyard was full of lush trees, pavilions and pavilions. It was so beautiful. After walking through three sections of the corridor, bypassing the plum blossom forest, turning left and right, we came to a courtyard. Ma Liang did not go in, but stood at the door, knocked on the door and shouted, "The new little girl from Liu Rui's family has been delivered."
A little girl opened the door, put her head in and said, "Brother, wait a moment, Mother Liu will be here."
After a while, three women came quickly. The first one, Liu Rui's family, was in her forties. She was tall and thin, with neatly combed hair, thin and droopy lips, and she looked like she had not smiled for a long time.
Seeing the corner of Ma Liang's mouth curved, he forced out a smile and said, "Thank you for your hard work, brother Ma Liang. I will train you strictly and make sure that Manager Jiang can rest assured." Ma Liang smiled, "There are many people in the Hefu. The maids you trained have the best rules, and no one is dissatisfied." She has the ability, but she is not very humane and worldly. She stayed in this courtyard for twenty years and couldn't get up, so she sighed and turned around to leave.
Twenty little girls lined up to enter the yard. Looking at Yi Shui's little carrot head, Liu Rui's family frowned, pointed at the girl in the first row and asked, "What's your name?" "Mom, my name is Xiangxiu. ." "It's a good name. The nine of you will all be called Xiang from now on! Xiang Ling, Xiang Chun, Xiang Liu..." Point to each name and say it.
The one at the head of Caiwei's row is called Caiqin, and the Liu Rui family named them randomly, Cailan, Caihe, and Cailian. They were afraid that she would be in trouble if she asked him to pick flowers. It would be a blessing to be busy when it was time for him, "Mom , my real name is Caiwei." Liu Rui's family nodded, "You don't need to change your name, just call it Caiwei!"
