The wheel of time never stops because of anyone's departure.
Just like the snow disaster in Liaodong will never completely dissipate due to the people's pleading.
A roaring furnace in a rich man's house.
It was the last desire of many people in the bitter cold of Liaodong before they died.
In Liao Tunnel City, there is a dilapidated small courtyard with ruins and broken walls.
The six members of Wang Ergou's family lay curled up and motionless in the small wing of the courtyard.
Except for Wang Ergou and his family of six, the only thing left in the small space was the charcoal stove that had been out for an unknown period of time.
Quiet.
Quiet.
Deathly silence filled every corner of the small wing.
perhaps.
The only thing that can prove that Wang Ergou and his family are still alive is the sound of breathing that is so weak that it is inaudible.
I do not know how long it has been.
A sudden female voice suddenly sounded in the small side room that was deathly silent.
"Dad...Daddy...Third...Third brother...Third brother's body...has become...the same as...that of grandma. .....It's just as cold..."
The childish voice sounded feebly and abruptly in the small side room.
The words are over.
The small room became as quiet as before again.
"well."
I do not know how long it has been.
A numb sigh that made it difficult to hear the true feelings sounded in the small, deathly silent room.
Wang Ergou rubbed his eyes that could no longer shed a single tear.
With difficulty he got up from the bed in the wing.
It was said to be a quilt, but in fact it was just some old quilts spread on some weeds.
After Wang Ergou got up, he staggered towards the girl's side with a hunched body.
He slowly picked up the third son, who was already as stiff as ice, from the "bed".
"Dad, has the third brother gone to see grandma?"
The childish boy carefully moved towards his mother who was crying silently on the side.
Her father once told her that as long as she hides in bed and doesn't move, she won't be cold or hungry.
But now as the third brother was picked up by his father, gaps appeared in the originally tight quilt.
The cold wind instantly caused the young child to forget his father's instructions and move his body cautiously towards his mother unconsciously.
"Um."
Holding his third son in his arms, Wang Ergou nodded dully, his eyes red but without a single tear.
A complex and extremely nasal sound came out between his breaths.
"Then...when will the third brother come back...and grandma, why has grandma not come back after being gone for so long? I miss grandma."
Wang Xiaoguai asked in a sweet voice while holding his mother who was sobbing silently.
The tender child's voice was unconsciously filled with the sound of crying.
"Don't cry, little darling. When summer comes, your third brother and grandma will come back to see little darling."
Wang Ergou's eyes became increasingly red, and the Third Son in his arms was hugged a little tighter by him unknowingly.
If he were still alive, he would definitely scream in pain.
pity......
Wang Xiaoguai huddled under the quilt and carefully poked his head out.
"That's great...Grandma loves Little Darling the most. When Grandma comes back, Little Darling will eat a lot of candied haws."
"And third brother, third brother said a few days ago that he would take Xiaoguai to the school to play."
"By the way, daddy, when is summer?"
Wang Xiaoguai stuck out his little head, his face full of longing for summer.
"Soon, soon."
Wang Ergou leaned over slightly, stretched out his frostbitten palms with difficulty, and gently rubbed Wang Xiaoguai's messy and yellow hair.
The words are over.
Wang Ergou picked up the third son
, slowly stood up and walked towards the door of the wing.
As he walked, he warned, "My little darling, please cover yourself with quilt. Daddy will bring you pancakes to eat when he comes back."
Wang Xiaoguai nodded obediently when he heard this, then quickly covered his head and said with a milky voice: "Then daddy, come back soon, I'm so hungry, little darling."
Wang Ergou paused slightly, and his numb face became even more numb.
"Creak"
An unusually harsh sound came from the door of the wing.
Wang Ergou used all his strength to open the door of the wing room.
As the door of the wing slowly opened.
The biting cold wind instantly made Wang Ergou's already stooped back bend even more.
"Creak."
Wang Ergou held his third son, who was as hard as ice, with one hand, and tried his best to pull the door of the wing room full of traces of time with the other hand.
Wait until the wing door is closed again.
Wang Ergou was so tired that he almost collapsed.
"Huchi~huchi~"
Wang Ergou leaned against the closed door, breathing heavily.
The bone-chilling wind traveled down his throat and reached his lungs.
Just two or three breaths.
Wang Ergou couldn't help but shut his mouth and let his heart beat wildly.
After more than ten breaths.
The bone-chilling cold wind forced Wang Ergou to brace himself, holding his third son, who was as hard as ice, and walked staggeringly toward the main room of the small courtyard through the snow that was half a man high.
It took Wang Ergou half a quarter of an hour to cover the short distance of more than ten steps.
Half an hour later.
Wang Ergou carefully placed his third son in the corner of the main room.
It was the only "pure land" in the entire main house that was not covered by snow.
In the "Pure Land", in addition to the king, two dogs and three sons, there is also a "person".
She was an old lady wearing thin clothes, short and skinny.
"Mom...it's useless."
After Wang Ergou placed his third son next to the old lady, he slowly knelt down facing the old lady.
The words are over.
Wang Ergou didn't say much. He kowtowed three times and then climbed up from the ground with difficulty.
It's not that he doesn't want to say more.
But I really don’t know where to start.
And the howling cold wind did not allow him to say much.
Perhaps, the thousands of words in Wang Ergou's heart are all useless at that one word.
Wang Ergou stood up and staggered towards another corner completely covered by snow.
His frostbitten hands dug into the thick snow without hesitation.
Half an hour later.
With red hands, Wang Ergou dug out a coarse cloth package from the thick snow.
With trembling hands, he carefully opened the hard package.
When three hard pancakes and two taels of broken silver wrapped in coarse cloth gradually appeared in front of Wang Ergou.
A rare smile appeared on Wang Ergou's numb and stiff face.
But soon.
The smile on Wang Ergou's face disappeared without a trace.
Numbness took over Wang Ergou's face again.
Three loaves, five people.
How to survive this once-in-a-hundred-year winter?
As for the two taels of silver that the whole family had saved through frugality, they were going to give it to the third son to use for repairs in the coming year.
If it is on weekdays.
These two taels of silver are enough for a family to live happily for two or three months.
And now.
Let alone two or three months, I'm afraid it won't even be possible for two or three days.
Wang Ergou carefully put the three pancakes, which were harder than rocks, into his arms.
Then his eyes stared straight at the two taels of broken silver left in the package.
His already red eyes seemed to be stained with blood at this moment.
"Son, dad is useless."
Wang Ergou raised his hand and slapped his black and red face hard.
The words are over.
Wang Ergou picked up the only two taels of broken silver left in the package, slowly turned around and walked out of the courtyard.
The woman who had worked so hard to raise him as both mother and father was gone.
The third son, who had high hopes for him and was the only one in the family to study, also passed away.
Sometimes Wang Ergou really wants to plunge into the snow nest and never open his eyes to look at the rotten world again.
pity.
he can not.
He didn't dare either.
In the small wing with its back to him, there was his woman, his son, and his daughter waiting for him to return.
What would they do if he left?
Wang Ergou held the two taels of silver in his hand tightly, staggering towards the outside of the courtyard with red eyes.
Half an hour later.
Wang Ergou used all his strength to walk to a small courtyard that was also in ruins, but was much larger than his own in terms of size and area.
After looking around, Wang Ergou staggered towards the only well-preserved wing.
In this winter, smallness is sometimes far better than spaciousness.
Not to mention, the spacious main house allows for more firewood at critical moments.
"Dong dong dong."
Wang Ergou gently knocked on the door of the neighboring wing.
"His second aunt."
"I'm Ergou. Do you still have food at home?"
"I still have two taels of silver here. If you have any, can you sell me some?"
Wang Ergou curled up and squatted outside the door of the neighboring room, praying in a weak voice.
Dead silence.
Dead silence.
Still dead silence.
Except for the howling cold wind and the shivering sound of Wang Ergou being frozen.
There was no other sound inside or outside the neighboring wing.
"My second aunt is my second aunt."
"I really have two taels of silver here. If you don't believe it, just open the window sill and I will give you the silver first."
"Just watch and give me some food."
Wang Ergou curled up and shouted with a trembling voice.
Of course.
The words are over.
More than a hundred breaths have passed.
There was still silence inside and outside the wing.
Wang Ergou felt helpless, stood up tremblingly, and was about to walk towards home.
Maybe I've been squatting for too long.
Maybe Wang Ergou's body is too weak.
As soon as Wang Ergou Fang got up, he staggered towards the door of the wing room.
"Bang."
The dilapidated door opened instantly.
Wang Ergou also staggered towards the neighboring wing following the wide open door.
There was a soft "bang" sound.
Wang Ergou finally fell to the cold ground in the adjacent wing.
With this fall, Wang Ergou's whole body seemed to fall apart.
A full quarter of an hour passed.
Wang Ergou just regained his composure and climbed up from the ground with difficulty.
Of course.
As soon as he got up, he fell to the ground again.
"die......"
"died......"
"All... all dead..."
"Who... who killed..."
Wang Ergou, who was lying on the ground, looked at the naked and livid corpse in the wing room and the already dark blood on the ground, and murmured dully.
Although the neighbor often shows off to his neighbors.
But its nature is not bad.
Wang Ergou really couldn't figure out who was so heartbroken.
Even the infant child
Children are not spared either.
I do not know how long it has been.
Wang Ergou shivered and climbed up from the cold ground.
Tremblingly, he walked out of the adjacent wing.
this moment.
Wang Ergou no longer dared to knock on the neighbor's door.
God knows whether there are cold corpses inside that door, or the "people" sharpening their knives.
After walking out of the neighboring wing tremblingly.
Wang Ergou kept walking, stumbling step by step towards his small courtyard.
Sometimes, what is more terrible than natural disasters is man-made disasters.
If he hadn't been forced into a desperate situation, Wang Ergou would never have taken the initiative to expose the "yellow and white things".
Perhaps the original intention of hiding his last savings in the snow in the courtyard was to prevent "man-made disasters."
Time passes breath by breath.
Just when Wang Ergou, who was full of despair, staggered step by step to his small courtyard.
The slightly harsh sound of gongs suddenly came from the street behind him.
At the same time, the sound of the gong seemed to be mixed with the shouts of sellers hawking along the street.
Wang Ergou, who heard the sound behind him, couldn't help but stop his staggering steps.
Turn around and look up at the street.
I saw a huge flag slowly appearing at the corner of the street.
There is a big word on the flag, and there are some exquisite patterns embroidered around the flag.
Wang Ergou didn't know what the word was, but he recognized the pattern surrounding the flag.
The pattern turned out to be several dragons.
Don't wait for Wang Ergou's reaction.
The flag embroidered with the dragon pattern with fangs and claws all around was held by a burly soldier and slowly walked out of the street corner.
More than a dozen people holding gongs and beating the gong slowly followed the burly soldier out of the street corner.
After that.
Just one carriage after another loaded with goods.
Behind the carriage loaded with goods were people wearing heavy cotton coats and felt hats one after another.
At this time, the tightly wrapped people one after another were pushing the carriage while sweating profusely.
"His Royal Highness, King Yan, sympathizes with the suffering of the people of Liaodong."
"We have been specially ordered to bring heating supplies, half of which will be sold and half of which will be given to the people of Liaodong."
"To help the people of Liaodong survive this cold winter!"
"Everyone in Liaodong can purchase a coal stove worth three taels of silver with a household registration of two hundred cash."
"Everyone in Liaodong, with their household registration, can purchase briquettes worth fifteen cents for two cents."
"Just one of these briquettes can burn for three to six hours."
Hear this.
Wang Ergou subconsciously turned around and left.
Although he didn't know what the coal stove and briquettes were.
But he understands the value of heating items in Liao Tunnel City nowadays.
Not to mention two hundred yuan, even with the two taels of silver in his hand, it is difficult to buy something to keep warm nowadays.
As for the man holding the gong, two cents of money can burn for three to six hours.
He didn't even believe a single word.
If this thing is really so powerful, how can it be sold for only two cents?
Of course.
Just when Wang Ergou subconsciously turned around and left.
He suddenly forced himself to hold back his subconscious reaction.
Wang Ergou took a deep breath of the bitingly cold air.
Then he gritted his teeth and took out a piece of silver worth about three hundred coins from his hand.
Wang Ergou paused, and then took out a piece of silver worth about two hundred coins from his hand.
Then he threw the remaining pieces of silver heavily into the snow beside him.
Now Wang Ergou has no choice.
"I hope they can see me buying their stuff and sell me some food."
Wang Ergou showed a look of determination
He slowly moved his stiff legs and walked towards the dragon-embroidered flag.
"His Royal Highness, King Yan, sympathizes with the suffering of the people of Liaodong."
"We are specially ordered to bring heating supplies, half of which will be sold and half of which will be given to the people of Liaodong."
"To help the people of Liaodong survive this cold winter!"
"..."
The clerk from Song's Trading Company, who had been tirelessly shouting slogans, saw a figure not far away walking slowly towards him.
For a moment, I couldn't help shouting harder.
When Wang Ergou was only ten steps away from the caravan.
The waiters holding gongs could not help but pause in their repeated slogans.
He looked longingly at Wang Ergou who kept walking towards him.
They didn't want to move forward unless they were showing off.
But he didn't want to scare this hard-won "guest".
After entering Liao Tunnel City.
They have already met two "guests" like Wang Ergou.
But every time they took the initiative to approach the "guest", the guest would be so frightened that he would crawl to the ground and run away.
After two consecutive times.
Song Yuanfu had no choice but to personally issue an order not to allow the caravan crew to approach the "guests" on their own initiative.
"Buy a coal stove and briquettes for the little ones. Can some kind people sell them to the little ones for food?"
Wang Ergou walked up to the merchant's clerk with his hunched body and asked in a trembling voice.
"Can."
Without waiting for the waiters to reply, Song Yuanfu's voice came slowly from behind the waiters.
Hear this.
Wang Ergou, who was full of nervousness, couldn't help but breathed a sigh of relief.
"Thank you so much to the good people. Thank you so much to the good people. You are really a living Bodhisattva."
"This... this is all Xiao Xiao's belongings. A good person can just look at it and give him some food."
Wang Ergou knelt on his knees tremblingly, slowly opened his clenched palms, revealing two pieces of broken silver with white smoke rising from them.
Song Yuanfu, who was wearing a large sheepskin cloak, slowly passed the waiters and walked to Wang Ergou.
"Go and get a coal stove, twenty briquettes and twenty loaves."
Song Yuanfu stood in front of a group of waiters, casually glanced at the two broken pieces of silver in Wang Ergou's hands, and then gave instructions to the left and right.
"Good...good man...two...twenty cakes are too...too many..."
Wang Ergou felt happy at first when he heard this, and then felt deeply uneasy.
Nothing else.
Twenty pancakes are really too many.
Not to mention that these two broken pieces of silver are only equivalent to five hundred coins.
Nowadays, in Liaodong County, even with five taels of silver, it is impossible to buy twenty pancakes.
In fact, there has never been a shortage of food in Liaodong.
It was just because of the snow disaster that food flowed from the hands of the common people to the hands of "merchants" and "the powerful".
Wang Ergou finished speaking.
Song Yuanfu shook his head helplessly. As a human spirit, how could he not understand the worries in Wang Ergou's heart.
"Here you go, take it."
"Live well and don't let down His Highness King Yan's good intentions."
Song Yuanfu slowly stepped forward and took away the two pieces of silver from Wang Ergou's hand.
"His Royal Highness King Yan."
Wang Ergou murmured in a low voice with a dull expression.
As the people of Liaodong, their King of Liao, their parents and officials have never shown their faces since the snowstorm broke out, not even once.
Not to mention asking for help and helping people tide over difficulties.
But King Yan, who was thousands of miles away, ordered people to travel thousands of miles to help them overcome the difficulties.
For a moment, Wang Ergou's heart was filled with mixed emotions.
After a while.
Several merchants came slowly from behind the caravan.
"Master, we have brought the coal stove, briquettes and cakes."
A waiter passed his companions and walked to Song Yuanfu with his hands raised and salute.
Song Yuanfu glanced sideways at the cold coal stove, and then slowly said, "Get a coal briquette from my carriage."
"Yes." Upon hearing this, the merchant's clerk bowed again.
Then he quickly walked towards the carriage nearby.
After more than a hundred breaths.
The merchant's clerk was walking slowly with a pair of flaming red coal briquettes in his iron tongs.
From the moment the flaming red briquettes appeared, Wang Ergou's eyes were fixed on the flaming red briquettes.
He never took his eyes away for a breath.
Until the red briquettes were put into the coal stove by the shop clerk.
Wang Ergou just came back to his senses.
"This...is this the briquettes that good people call?"
Wang Ergou hesitated for a few moments, and finally plucked up the courage to ask.
"Exactly."
Song Yuanfu nodded slightly and replied.
The words are over.
Song Yuanfu paused for a moment, then slowly spoke again: "Put these two items away. If you run out of briquettes, you can buy them at Song's Coal Shop on East Street at any time."
"People in Liaodong have household registration and can purchase a briquette for only two cents."
"Live well and don't let down His Highness King Yan's good intentions."
Wang Ergou nodded with mixed feelings in his heart and murmured in a low voice: "It would be great if I could be born in Yandi."
He didn't know whether he was talking about himself or the third son who had already left him.
After a while.
A blazing coal stove, twenty black briquettes and twenty cold pancakes.
He was sent to the wing of Wang Ergou's home by a clerk from Song's Trading Company.
After the exhaust pipe is installed properly.
The clerk of Song's Trading Company registered Wang Ergou's household registration in accordance with the regulations.
After everything is finished.
Before leaving, the clerk from Song's Trading Company carefully informed Wang Ergou about how to use the coal stove and what he needed to pay attention to.
After the guys from Song's Trading Company walked out of the small courtyard.
The gong sounded again in the street.
"His Royal Highness, King Yan, sympathizes with the suffering of the people of Liaodong."
"We are specially ordered to bring heating supplies, half of which will be sold and half of which will be given to the people of Liaodong."
"To help the people of Liaodong survive this cold winter!"
"Everyone in Liaodong can purchase a coal stove worth three taels of silver with a household registration of two hundred cash."
"Everyone in Liaodong, with their household registration, can purchase briquettes worth fifteen cents for two cents."
"Just one of these briquettes can burn for three to six hours."
Wang Ergou curled up and squatted in front of the wing door, quietly watching Song's Trading Company disappear around the corner of the street.
Wait until there is no more Song's Trading Company on the street.
Wang Ergou slowly stood up and opened the door and walked into the small side room.
"Daddy, it's so warm. Is summer here?"
"Are third brother and grandma coming back soon?"
Wang Xiaoguai jumped around the coal stove and looked at Wang Ergou.
"Soon, soon."
Wang Ergou rubbed his sore eyes and answered slowly.
In a small wing room.
The remaining family of five gradually came out of the "bed".
He whispered something around the coal stove that was giving off a strong warmth.
A slightly worn clay pot sat quietly on top of the coal stove.
As time goes by slowly, the snow that has melted into water in the clay pot gradually begins to roll.
Wang Ergou took out a cake as hard as stone from his arms and slowly put it into the clay pot.
After a while.
The aroma of grains quickly overflowed from the clay pots and filled every corner of the small room.
It caused gurgling sounds everywhere in the small room.
