Xiaoyu didn't bother to put on a pair of rain boots to go out, pulled up his trousers, and ran to Aunt Li's house.
Round hills are scattered in this small village in the south of the Yangtze River. Occasionally, there are one or two mountain forests where only some seedless pines and cypresses grow.
Some of the terraced fields surrounding the hills are already filled with rice seedlings, and some are still busy with farmers.
In the terraces flanking Aunt Li's house, Uncle Six and Aunt Li were busy.
"Uncle Six, the food and wine at home are sold out!!"
Xiaoyu came with his feet in the mud. There was a lot of mud on his pants, and he looked a little embarrassed.
Uncle Liu raised his body from planting rice, looked at the sweaty Xiao Yu, frowned and said:
"Little bastard, the business of the tavern is so good today!" Uncle Liu didn't see Xiao Yu's anxiety at all and said happily: "Is it really sold out?"
Xiaoyu said anxiously: "It's really sold out, but I don't have the money!"
The happy faces of Aunt Li and Uncle Six suddenly darkened, like eggplants beaten by frost.
Uncle Six hurriedly put down his work and rushed to the edge of the field. He looked at Xiao Yu and said, "Why don't you get any money? Who dares to eat for free on my land?"
Xiao Yu nodded fiercely. She wanted to tell Uncle Liu that the freeloader hadn't gone far yet and that he could chase after him. But on second thought, he felt that if Uncle Liu acted stupidly and chased after him to cause trouble for the Ba Dao Sect, he might be targeted by someone. Killed with one knife.
For the sake of Uncle Liu, Xiao Yu calmed down and said: "They are the people from Chunhua Valley Ba Daomen. They said that the money they spent on eating and drinking should be the living expenses given to them by the tavern. They all carry long knives and are so fierce. Come on, I ate wine and I won’t pay for it.”
Uncle Liu frowned when he heard that he was from Chunhua Valley Ba Dao Sect. He stood there blankly for a long time before sighing and muttering: "How much food and drinks did you eat?"
Xiao Yu handed over the five coins that had not yet been put into the drawer, frowned and said, "I ate seven or three coins and gave five coins."
Aunt Li also got up from the field at this time, scooped water and washed her hands at the edge of the field. After listening to the conversation between Xiao Yu and Uncle Six, she frowned and said:
"I've heard that the leader of the escort agency in Chunhua Valley changed the escort agency to martial arts and became the king and hegemon in Chunhua Valley. I didn't expect that he went to Yu'an Town to run wild."
Uncle Liu waved his hand and said, "That's all. We're going to meet the God of Plague. Let's save money to eliminate the disaster."
Aunt Li curled her lips on one side and asked Xiao Yu: "Are any of the belongings in the tavern damaged?"
Xiaoyu replied: "That's not true."
Aunt Li sighed, "It's not a bad thing. I heard from your sixth uncle that this gang of Jianghu people from Yangzhou are going to hold a demon-killing convention at Huatan Temple, making Yangzhou a mess. It's only been a day and nothing good has happened. It's really unlucky. Very tight."
After Aunt Li finished speaking, she stared at Uncle Six and ordered: "Sixth, why don't we close the tavern for a few days and wait until the gangs in Yangzhou have dispersed before opening again, so as not to have some unscrupulous people coming in to eat for free."
Uncle Six frowned, "That's all we have to do. Seven taels of silver is enough to buy food and wine for a month. Xiaoyu, do you still have wine and meat in stock at home?"
Xiaoyu shook his head, "The wine is gone, the meat you bought the day before yesterday has been cooked, and a few chickens have been killed. The fish that Uncle Liu caught yesterday were also killed, but the money has not been paid. I originally wanted those people to get married." I'll give it to Uncle Liu later if I get the money."
Uncle Six sighed: "That's all, I'll go back with you right now, and I'll close the shop for a few days, and wait until the excitement in Yangzhou is over before opening it again. I'll settle Uncle Liu's fish money with him later." "
Xiao Yu saw that both Uncle Liu and Aunt Li had sad looks on their faces, and said apologetically: "It's all my fault that I don't have the ability to get the money for the food and drinks."
Just as Uncle Liu was about to speak, Aunt Li glared at him and said, "Old man, don't scold this kid Xiaoyu. I've heard from Aunt Zhang from the neighboring village that the people from Chunhua Valley who dominate the Dao Sect are roaming the countryside. , is not a good thing. Although Xiaoyu is a smart kid, no matter how clever he is, he can't stand up to a fist. Today, I will treat it as bad luck. It doesn't matter if I lose my money when I meet the God of Plague, as long as everything is fine."
Aunt Li is a talkative person. Although she talks a lot on weekdays, she is a sensible person at critical times. He looked at Xiaoyu for a few times and said with concern: "Xiaoyu, you weren't beaten by them, were you?"
Xiaoyu replied: "Thank you, Auntie, for caring, no."
Uncle Six muttered: "Look what you said, I'm not that heartless beast, so naturally I won't blame Xiaoyu for this."
Although Uncle Liu and Aunt Li are usually very stingy and stingy on weekdays, Xiao Yu is trying his best and working quickly in the tavern these days. Neither of them has children. Finally, there is a young man passing by who is willing to help in the tavern. , the two of them naturally regarded Xiaoyu as their own child.
Uncle Six packed up the coir raincoat and bamboo hat that had been placed on the edge of the field and said to Aunt Li: "You can keep busy here. The rain has stopped and the sky has become cloudy. I think it will rain again. I will leave the coir raincoat and bamboo hat for you. Let's go back with Xiao Yuxiao, and we'll come over to help in the afternoon. I'll go back and close the tavern, so as to avoid those charlatans from running wild again."
Aunt Li nodded, "Go, hurry up. Go to the Town God's Temple in Yu'an Town tomorrow to burn some incense and ask the Town God to bless you and get rid of any bad luck."
Uncle Liu nodded and followed the path back to the tavern with Xiao Yu.
The door to the tavern courtyard was ajar, Uncle Liu and Xiao Yu pushed it open and went in.
A large vat of wine, even if the business is slow, can be enough for the tavern to sell for a month.
A month's worth of wine money was lost in vain. Uncle Six stared at the empty wine vat worriedly, sighed a few times, and then ordered Xiao Yu to clear the tableware.
The two cleaned up the tavern, covered the seats on the table, and closed the door for business.
Uncle Liu gave two keys to the door of the big courtyard to Xiao Yu, saying that he would give one to Uncle Liu later and let Xiao Yu keep the other for himself. He closed the door for more than ten days and stopped doing business, so as not to Causing trouble.
Uncle Six took the pen and ink for accounting, found a wooden board, and wrote the words "Closed for half a month" crookedly, and asked Xiaoyu to take it and lean it against the trunk of the old locust tree in front of the courtyard, and tied it with a rope to make it eye-catching. to remind passers-by.
There are two old locust trees in the yard, a big one at the entrance of the yard, three in total, and there are several other small ones around the tavern.
Aunt Li often said that this yard is thanks to the locust trees. It is warm in winter and cool in summer, and they block the wind and rain.
After cleaning up the tavern, Uncle Liu took Xiaoyu to Aunt Li's field to plant rice and farm with Aunt Li.
After returning to the tavern in the evening, Uncle Liu came back. Xiao Yu handed Uncle Liu a key to the courtyard. Uncle Liu and Uncle Liu drank tea for a while and talked about today's events.
When Uncle Liu heard about the people from Ba Daomen coming to make trouble today, he did not accept the fish money given by Uncle Liu, saying that those crucian carp were not worth much money at all and they were just given to Uncle Liu.
Uncle Liu told Uncle Liu that he had some skills and was a man walking in the world. If there were still people from the world who came to cause trouble, he could help him so that Uncle Liu could continue to open his business.
Uncle Liu looked at Uncle Liu's body. Although he had some muscles and bones, he was still in his twilight years. He waved his hand doubtfully and said:
"Forget it, we ordinary people are not those who run into the gangs and lakes. We can't afford to offend them, but we can avoid it. We still close the business for half a month. We will wait for the gangsters in Yangzhou City to disperse before opening again. If we are short of half a month's money, we will not be able to survive. "
Uncle Liu saw that Uncle Six doubted him and did not argue. However, since the tavern was closed, it was difficult for him to inquire about the whereabouts of people traveling in the rivers and lakes. Fortunately, he was fishing in Xiyun Lake and could still know the wind and rain trends in Jiangnan, so it would not hinder him. It was such a big deal, so he laughed and replied: "That's fine."
Liu Bojiang took out a few more taels of silver from his arms, handed it to Uncle Six, and warned: "It's better to ask Xiaoyu to buy a jar of wine to keep. If I run out of fishing these days, I can have wine to drink when I go back to the tavern."
After hearing this, Uncle Liu accepted the money and agreed.
The next day, March 12, the sky was cloudy and clear, with no sun and no rain.
Uncle Liu went to the town to buy a few sticks of incense and burned them at the Chenghuang Temple in Yu'an Town. He just went to help Aunt Li in the field.
Xiao Yu carried the wine barrel and went to Yangzhou City with Uncle Liu. Xiao Yu went to buy wine, and Uncle Liu went to Xiyun Lake to fish.
Uncle Liu told Xiao Yu to buy wine and put it away in the tavern, then go to Aunt Li's field to help farm with him and not hang out in the city. Xiao Yu agreed.
In the next few days, Uncle Liu continued to catch his fish, and Xiao Yu went to the fields with Uncle Liu to help every day.
Farm work such as planting rice and transplanting rice is not a problem.
But a few days later, it was March 16th, the sky cleared up and the sun was just right.
Aunt Li's farm work has been finished, and everyone is free.
Uncle Liu no longer cared about Xiaoyu's freedom, and only said that on the days when the tavern was closed, Xiaoyu would eat. When paying monthly wages, only the days doing farm work would be counted as wage days, and the rest time later would not be counted.
Xiaoyu agreed with a smile.
It's best to be free, someone will take care of the food, and you can still have time to deal with the tasks at hand in an upright manner.
