Erhu's father felt that he had been tricked by the ancestral precept of reading, because he had been reading since he was a child, and now he knew nothing but reading.
At the same time, Erhu's grandmother finally understood that he had no hope of studying. Finally, the family decided to sell all the cabinets of books at home and exchange them for some land.
You know, these books are very valuable in this era.
Erhu's father took the whole cabinet of books to the pawn shop and sold them for nearly two hundred taels of silver. He was so happy that when he got home, he planned to pick up the cabinets containing the books and build a big wardrobe for Erhu's grandma.
Unexpectedly, at the bottom of the bookcase, I found several packages of books wrapped in oil paper.
Father Erhu was puzzled, thinking that this cabinet had not been touched for so many generations. No one had discovered that there were so many packages hidden underground, and these packages were even wrapped in oil paper so carefully and even made. Anti-insect treatment, which means these books should be worth some money!
Thinking of this, Erhu's father took out a half-worn and yellowed book from among the many books, and planned to go to the pawn shop to estimate the price first.
However, he did not expect that it would be these books that brought them trouble.
These books were all left by the high-ranking official of his ancestor. When the official resigned from the capital and left, apart from some rewards, he only took away a small box of books.
After the official returned to his hometown, he carefully wrapped these books in oil paper and placed them at the bottom of the bookshelf. He planned to tell the younger generations about these books when the time was right.
However, just after placing these books, the official fell ill, leaving only a metaphor: "You must read to have a son!" and passed away.
But this sentence has been misinterpreted. As the generations passed down, the descendants of the family were taught by their elders to study hard and live by books. They did not know how expensive tea, rice, oil and salt were in their lives. People discovered that there were books wrapped in oil paper under the cabinet.
When Father Erhu took the book to the pawnshop, the owner of the pawnshop happened to be there. He took the book and flipped through it, and was immediately shocked. This was an only copy from hundreds of years ago!
This book alone can change a street.
The shopkeeper respectfully returned the book to Erhu's father and told him that he still needed to hire someone to take charge of the book before he could price it.
Afterwards, the shopkeeper asked Erhu's father where he lived.
Father Erhu had already discovered something was wrong when the shopkeeper changed his attitude, so he specially reported a false address.
Then Erhu's father rolled the book tightly into his arms and left in a hurry.
However, he did not notice that behind him, there were two figures coming out of the back door of the pawn shop, following him furtively.
That night, several people from all walks of life rushed into Erhu's father's house and robbed him of all the remaining books and the money he had earned from selling books.
Erhu's father tried his best to resist, but was killed with a knife. Then these people in the world simply refused to do anything and killed Erhu's grandmother together.
When Erhu Niang saw a group of people rushing into the house with ferocious looks, she was very frightened. She ran and stumbled into the house, immediately stuffed Erhu into the kang hole under the wardrobe, and told him: "Huzi Play with your mother, she laughs, and the tiger makes no sound. Whoever makes a sound loses." This is a game that the two of them play every day.
Seeing Erhu nodding, Erhu Niang smiled and put the box of clothes back to its original place. Then she closed the door and lay on the bed pretending to sleep. From Erhu's angle, she could see through the gap in the kang mat. His mother’s smiling face.
Erhu only heard two screams outside, and was about to move when he saw his mother smiling even happier, as if he had a winning ticket.
When Erhu saw his mother smiling, he quickly stopped moving. He wasn't going to be fooled. He didn't want to lose.
Hearing the sound of things being rummaged and banging on the door outside, Erhu closed his eyes and fell asleep. He only vaguely heard someone shouting: "Brother, there is another person in this room!"
When he opened his eyes again, it was already dawn outside, and the oil lamp on the table had long been burned out. Erhu looked along the Kang mat, only to find that his mother was still lying on the Kang, smiling at him.
However, the mother's face turned blue and the corners of her mouth seemed to be red, which made Erhu a little scared.
Erhu rubbed his belly, wanting to admit defeat with his mother, it wasn't fun, he didn't want to play anymore, he was hungry and wanted to eat!
Two days later, Erhu was taken out of the kang hole.
His whole family was gone. His father and grandmother were both beheaded with a knife.
His mother was hit with two swords and four knives, and these wounds penetrated her body.
Those people drove her to the ground, but she actually struggled to crawl back onto the kang, leaving a long bloody trail on the ground.
Erhu Niang was afraid that Erhu wouldn't see her smile and would want to run out. She wanted to protect her child.
Erhu became an orphan overnight. He just sat in front of his house every day waiting for his family to come back. He looked even more stupid than before.
The villagers discussed it and decided to let Erhu donate his family's house to the clan, who would support him until his death.
Then they built two thatched houses for him on the hillside at the head of the village, and asked him to keep vigil in the village overnight and change some daily necessities.
In this way, Erhu stupidly lived to be thirteen.
Since Erhu had almost no money, he would go to different places every day and pick up things that others didn't want. People in the village knew about his problem, and sometimes they would take the initiative to give him things they didn't need at home.
After all, no one is rich these days, so this is their greatest kindness.
It wasn't until that day when Erhu came back carrying Axiang that he caused a stir among everyone.
It turns out that the reason why Erhu saved Axiang was that when he was rummaging through the garbage, Axiang next to him was in a trance, thinking that he had seen the soul attracter, and subconsciously smiled at Erhu.
Erhu was stunned by Axiang's smile for a while, because his mother smiled like this, so he carried Axiang back without saying a word.
Axiang was also lucky, but she managed to survive under Erhu's careless care.
But Axiang had to admit that the time she lived with Erhu was the easiest time in her life.
The two of them spent a year stumbling like this.
Although Axiang's face was ruined, her hands were really skillful. She usually made a knot and embroidered a sachet for Erhu to take out in exchange for money. Although the price was severely reduced, it still allowed the two of them to live without food and clothing. worry.
In her spare time, Axiang would sing a song and draw pictures for Erhu.
Whenever she was drawing, Erhu would imitate on the ground with a wooden stick.
When Axiang was in the building, she worked hard to become an oiran. Although she was always criticized by her instructors for not being smart, her eyesight was not lacking at all.
Gradually, Axiang discovered that Erhu was actually very talented in painting.
