Huang Huer carefully licked the ten fingers twice with her tongue until all the oil on them was licked, then drank a full pot of mountain spring water, supported her swollen belly, and slowly lay down on the sugar cane. In the haystack next to the seedlings, he smacked his lips with satisfaction and said, "Damn it, this is how people live." Li Ya'er beside him said, "I have to thank the Pili Army for surviving, and thank Mr. Ouyang and The compassionate heart of Island Master Yu, otherwise we would have died of cold and starvation and become bones eaten by wild dogs on the roadside."
The two came to Liuqiu Island by chance half a year ago to plant sugar cane. The rules of the sugarcane plantation are to eat clear soup porridge with wild vegetables in leisure time, rice with salty vegetables when working in the fields, and meat if the work is done well. Although the first two can also have a round belly and have enough nutrition - as evidenced by the fact that they have grown taller and stronger in the past six months, but where can a vegetarian have the flavor of meat? Therefore, the first thing the two of them did when they opened their eyes every day was to look forward to the sound of the bell ringing to work in the fields. As soon as the bell rang, they grabbed the farm tools and rushed to the sugar cane field, hoping to win the day's labor competition prize-the prize was a large Fatty piece of pork. It's just that they want to eat meat, and others also want to eat meat, and the competition between them is extremely fierce. Huang Hu'er has only eaten meat twice in the past six months. Although Li Ya'er has never won a prize, he has also eaten meat like Huang Hu'er.
Both of them were originally people under the rule of Li Fen in Shandong. After Shandong was occupied by the Jin Kingdom, the Han people continued to resist the brutal rule of the Jurchens. Li Fen's father, Li Quan, was the leader of one of the rebels, the Red Coat Army. During the war between Meng and Jin, Li Quan defected to the Mongolian army and later became the strongest Han army prince in Shandong, occupying the eastern part of Shandong. After Li Quan's death, Li Fen inherited his father's throne with the permission of the Mongols and married the Mongolian king. Although Li Fen and other Han military princes were Han Chinese, they treated the people under their rule with excessive taxes. The taxes they collected were only slightly better than the Mongols' robbery. Under this kind of crushing oppression, a large number of people went bankrupt and became homeless. They either sold themselves as slaves and became attached to the big landlords, or fled to the Southern Song Dynasty. However, the Southern Song Dynasty also suffered from serious land annexation, and the refugees who were lucky enough to escape to the Song Dynasty also had no food and clothing and became beggars on the streets.
Huang Hu'er and Li Ya'er are both homeless orphans who make a living by begging. Although they are both fourteen or fifteen years old, they look only about ten years old due to malnutrition. Huang Huer has yellow hair and blue eyes. His mother gave birth to him after being insulted by a Mongolian soldier. When he was seven years old, his mother died of illness. He wandered in the countryside and survived by relying on his tenacious vitality. Because of his appearance, he was called Huang Hu'er. Li Ya'er is a native of Jiaozhou. He is called Li Ya'er because he is dark and has a hoarse voice. When he was ten years old, his parents were all killed in the village massacre by the Mongolian army. He was lucky enough to escape with his life, so he wandered around begging for work, and later met Huang Huer, who shared the same fate.
One day in November last year, the two of them were nestling in a dilapidated temple and talking feebly. They had not eaten for three days, and the fire they were sitting around had begun to slowly burn out. However, they were hungry and cold and had no energy to go out to find firewood. At this moment, the cold wind outside the temple was carrying snowflakes. They were only wrapped in ragged linen cloth and could not walk a few steps before their whole bodies would freeze to death. At this moment, Huang Hu'er was thinking about her mother's appearance, but after many years, her mother's appearance in her mind had become blurry and indistinguishable. Li Ya'er softly begged his companions that after his death, he must not let wild dogs eat his body, otherwise his soul would not be able to return to his parents.
Hunger and cold can put people in a state of exhaustion. Just when the two of them were in a daze, the only remaining wooden door of the ruined temple opened with a creak, and a gust of cold wind rushed in, making the two of them excited. Huang Hu'er and Li Ya'er also thought about taking down the wooden door to keep warm, but on the one hand, they had no tools and no strength. On the other hand, if the wooden door was taken down and the cold wind poured into the house, the two of them would die faster. After the cold wind, three strong men dressed as wandering monks walked into the ruined temple and walked straight to the fire. Seeing that the fire was about to go out, two of the monks turned back and went out, while the other one sat on the fire and looked at the two of them.
Huang Hu'er and Li Ya'er were so hungry that they were weak, but they managed to stand up and chat with the visitor. However, this monk spoke with a southern accent, which the two of them could not understand. Fortunately, not long after, the two monks who had gone out came back carrying firewood. They first lit up the fire and then took out the dry food in their bags to roast it. As the aroma of food overflowed, Huang Hu'er and Li Ya'er's stomachs began to growl. The leading monk saw the undisguised green light emerging from their eyes, showed an understanding smile, and handed over two hot wheat cakes.
The two of them snatched the wheat cake over at lightning speed and stuffed it directly into their mouths. Because Huang Hu'er ate too hastily, he choked on the dry wheat cake and rolled his eyes. When the monks saw this, they quickly took out the gourd they carried and drank some water for him before he could breathe again. The content in this gourd was actually not ordinary water, but light wine with a sweet taste, which made Huang Hu'er couldn't help but take a few sips. As the hot food was eaten, the two of them gradually became more alive, and the conversation started. One of the monks was from Haizhou, Shandong. He had no trouble talking with them, and they became familiar with each other.
When they learned that Huang Hu'er and Li Ya'er were both homeless homeless people, the monks told them that there was a large island called Liuqiu overseas, which was rich in products and free from harsh winters. It was also rich in grain and molasses. It can be called heaven on earth. The island owner sympathized with the Han people in the north who suffered both from the Mongols' swords and from the oppression of the Han army's nobles, so he was willing to accept hungry and cold people to settle there. Once there, as long as you are willing to work hard, you will have fields, clothing, and meat to eat if you work well. Huang Hu'er and Li Ya'er couldn't help but salivate when they heard that there was meat to eat. The last time they ate meat was during the Spring Festival three years ago. At that time, the two of them were so hungry that they sneaked into an official's house and stole a small piece of meat. The price was that Huang Huer almost died from the vicious dog that protected the family.
On the second day, the monks left the ruined temple and continued their journey inland. Before leaving, they gave the two of them a small wooden sign and told them that if they wanted to go to Liuqiu, they had to arrive at a remote port fifteen miles south of Haizhou City before dark tomorrow, where there were sea ships heading to Liuqiu. Huang Hu'er and Li Ya'er were well-informed as they wandered around. Seeing that these three monks were extraordinary and carried simple knives and spears, they knew that these three monks were by no means ordinary monks. It is not surprising that wandering monks carry swords and spears for self-defense. In these troubled times, not only are bandits rampant, but there are also many tigers and wolves wandering in the countryside looking for food, but monks who are strong and talkative are really rare.
The origins of these monks were strange, and the two of them were skeptical of what they said. After all, what they had seen and heard growing up was that the government officials oppressed and plundered the poor. They had never heard of such a kind-hearted gentleman who was willing to put himself land to others. Why do these monks defraud penniless homeless people? Could it be that he killed people to eat meat? The two of them shuddered at the thought, but then they laughed. Looking at each other, the two of them were so skinny that they were not even qualified to be two-legged sheep. After thinking about it, the two decided to go to the harbor the monk mentioned. Instead of lying in a ruined temple and dying of cold and hunger, why not go to the place called paradise on earth and give it a try? What if it is true?
The two hurriedly arrived at the designated harbor, and sure enough, several large ships docked. When he boarded the ship and looked back, Huang Huer found that there were still a steady stream of people arriving on the surrounding roads leading to the harbor. After entering the cabin, they found that hundreds of people were already packed in the cabin. The two of them finally found a seat in the corner to sit down. After asking around the people sitting around, I found out that they were all poor people who had listened to the words of wandering monks or traveling businessmen and were heading to the place known as paradise on earth.
