Chapter 10, beauty disaster
Although Xi Xingchen studied under Ye Feiyang, the great master of the contemporary Mohist family, the people who were closest to him were the fearless rangers of Nanmo.
As the saying goes, "Those who are close to vermilion are red, and those who are close to ink are black." After spending a long time with people like Wen Gaoming, Xi Xingchen's behavior style inevitably has the shadow of Nan Mo. Therefore, compared to the tact and sophistication of the patriarch Yang Sansong, Xi Xingchen is more willing to associate with an upright man like Yang Liusheng.
Yang Liusheng's home is not far from the deceased Yang Xiaojin's home, less than a hundred steps away.
When Xi Xingchen found Yang Liusheng's home, the Yang family was having breakfast. Seeing Xi Xingchen's arrival, the hospitable Yang Liusheng immediately asked his mother-in-law to serve a bowl of porridge for Xi Xingchen.
After Yang Liusheng's mother-in-law helped Xi Xingchen fill a bowl of porridge, she took the rice bowl to the back hall.
This is a folk custom in Wan County. When male guests come to the home, the men entertain them, and women do not come to the front hall.
"I'm sorry, brother official. We have been hit by disasters in the past few years, and we can't provide anything to entertain guests at home. Please don't be offended by a bowl of thin porridge." Yang Liusheng said apologetically.
It's not Yang Liusheng's fault, this is indeed a bowl of thin porridge worthy of the name.
Except for a few clearly countable rice grains floating in the bowl, strictly speaking, it is a bowl of rice soup so thick that it can reflect the silhouette of a person.
Yang Liusheng only knew that this kind of rice soup was not enough to satisfy his hunger, so he put a few handfuls of wild vegetables in the rice soup.
In every disaster year, in order to save food, the common people only eat two meals a day. Those in better conditions have one meal and one meal, and those in worse conditions have both meals.
If Xi Xingchen's guess is correct, this pot of wild vegetable soup that can reflect people's figures is breakfast for Yang Liusheng's family of four, and it is also their lunch.
Xi Xingchen traveled all over the world for the Mo family, sleeping in the open air, eating well and going hungry.
Because of the experience of being hungry, Xi Xingchen also knew the significance of this bowl of thin porridge to Yang Liusheng's family.
At the same time, Xi Xingchen also knows how much friendship it takes to save a bowl of porridge from his own mouth in this year.
Xi Xingchen was a free and easy person, so he was not polite. He picked up the porridge bowl, drank the rice soup and wild vegetables in one breath, wiped his mouth, then took out half a liter of rice from the bag and put it on the table, saying: "Brother Yang, thank you for the breakfast, please be careful."
This half a liter of rice would not be a big deal in normal times, but for Yang Liusheng's family of four, if this half a liter of rice is boiled into wild vegetable soup, it would be three days of rations.
What does it mean to exchange a bowl of wild vegetable soup for three days of rations?
Yang Liusheng knew clearly.
If he followed his heart, Yang Liusheng would like to accept the half a liter of rice, because this half a liter of rice will most likely save the lives of his family. The Yang Xiaojin family who just starved to death is a living example.
But morally speaking, the simplicity in Yang Liusheng's heart that he could not take advantage of others told him that he could not accept the half liter of rice.
"Isn't this possible?"
Yang Liusheng took a deep breath and seemed to have used all his strength to push the rice bag back to Xi Xingchen.
Xi Xingchen held down Yang Liusheng's hand, looked at Yang Liusheng's two children, and said sincerely: "This is a meeting gift from my uncle, who I have never met, to the two young masters. You can't make the decision for the children."
Yang Liusheng glanced at his two sons. The two boys were licking their rice bowls, and their four black eyes were looking at him. Their eye circles could not help but turn red. He nodded and said in a choked voice: "Thank you!"
The mouth that eats people is short, and the hands that take people are short.
When Xi Xingchen saw that Yang Liusheng accepted his half-liter of rice, he knew that the matter was half over.
"Actually, I came here this time to ask you about the situation of Yang Xiaojin's family." Xi Xingchen explained his purpose straight to the point.
"Yang Laolai likes to take advantage, and I don't like to associate with him. Therefore, our two families live close to each other, but we don't have much contact, let alone a close friendship."
Seeing the disappointment in Xi Xingchen's eyes, Yang Liusheng quickly added: "But my mother-in-law is relatively close to Yang Laolai's mother-in-law, so I know the cause of this incident is because Yao Guoping's son fell in love with Yang Laolai. Lai’s daughter.”
"Yang Xiaojin also has a daughter?" Xi Xingchen was surprised when he heard this. It was the first time since he stepped into Yangjia Village that he heard that Yang Xiaojin had a daughter.
Yang Liusheng nodded: "In addition to his two sons, Yang Laolai also has a daughter named Yang Xuelian, who is just sixteen years old this year. The reason why Yang Laolai's family has fallen into this situation is because of his daughter."
"How do you say this?" Xi Xingchen was a little confused.
Yang Liusheng said: "Yang Laolai is not a very good person, but his daughter is like a golden phoenix flying out of a chicken coop. She is pretty and dewy, and is a famous beauty in eight villages ten miles away. Just last year, Yang Laolai The mother-in-law took her daughter to the town market and happened to be spotted by Yao Guoping's only son Yao Wenbin. Yao Wenbin immediately came to propose marriage and wanted to take Yang Xuelian as his concubine."
"It is a good thing that men should be married when they are older, and women should be married when they are older, but Yao Wenbin is a famous playboy in Zhuma Town. Before he proposed to the Yang family, he had already taken six concubines. Yang Laolai was very interested in this daughter. She loved her very much, so naturally she was unwilling to marry her daughter to Yao Wenbin as a concubine, so she refused on the spot."
"After Yao Wenbin was rejected, he didn't bother. But more than a month later, something happened to Yang Xiaojin."
"Did Yang Lizheng say yesterday that Yang Xiaojin's leg was broken?" Xi Xingchen asked.
Yang Liusheng nodded again: "I remember that day, it seemed to be the birthday of Yang Laolai's mother-in-law. Yang Laolai went to the town early in the morning to buy some daily necessities. Unexpectedly, there was no one there for half a day, until someone sent a message in the afternoon. , saying that Yang Laolai had a dispute with someone in the town and his legs were broken."
"After reporting it to the police, the government said that the attackers were a few unemployed homeless people in the town, and they had already escaped without a trace. If the murderer cannot be caught, Yang Laolai's family can only admit that they are unlucky."
"Yang Laolai is the backbone of the family. After his legs were broken, the family immediately fell into trouble. At this time, Yao Wenbin came to the door again."
"What is he doing here?" Xi Xingchen asked a little strangely.
"Propose marriage." Yang Liusheng said, "At this time, rumors have spread in the village that Yang Laolai's legs were broken by Yao Wenbin. In addition, Yang Laolai himself was also suspicious, so he still did not agree."
"This time Yao Wenbin said harsh words, pointing at Laolai Yang's face and saying: 'Young man, you are so shameless, don't regret it!'"
"I was also present at the time. I remember that Yang Laolai immediately became furious and kicked Yao Wenbin out. One night not long after that, a fire suddenly broke out in Yang Xiaojin's home."
"It was a severe drought at that time. The rivers dried up and the wells dried up. Although the whole village came to put out the fire, there was no water. Everyone could only watch as nearly a hundred stones of rice in Yang Laolai's house were burned to nothing."
"This matter had a great impact on Yangjiacun. Wan County Yamen also sent police officers to investigate, but in the end it was dropped."
"Until Yang Laolai's family hanged themselves, there was no explanation." Yang Liusheng snorted coldly and couldn't help but complain to Xi Xingchen.
