The cold wind howled, and the snow on the ground melted a little and was refrozen into ice, and the surrounding area was covered with ice and snow.
On a winding road, a wooden mule cart was driving slowly on the road.
The coachman held the reins with one hand and swayed from side to side with the swing of the car. He held a small hand warmer in his other hand. From time to time, he put the heater close to his face to absorb the little heat inside.
The whole body of the cow belly was tightly wrapped, only a pair of eyes were exposed, and the body still felt cold.
From time to time, there was a burst of children's clear laughter and the sound of reading loudly in the carriage.
I heard that the big-bellied cow outside had an arched eyebrow, and she was in a good mood even though the cold wind was blowing.
"Drive! Drive!" The mule pulling the cart stopped suddenly, unwilling to take another step. The cow shouted several times to no avail.
"Dad, what's wrong?" The laughter in the car also stopped, and Niu Caohua stuck her head out and asked.
Niu Dadu shook his head and signaled them not to come down. He got out of the car and went to the front to check.
Soon, he came back in a hurry.
"What happened?"
"What's ahead?"
Niu Xiaodi couldn't help but poke his head around.
"There is a person lying in front of me. I don't know if he is dead or alive. I didn't dare to touch him." Niu Dadu said a long sentence in one breath. It was obvious that he was a little frightened.
Anyone who sees a person lying there on the road will be frightened.
"Is there someone lying down? Go and have a look. If he's dead, move him away." Niu Caohua tightened her clothes and jumped out of the car.
"Xiao Di, you and Aniang sit down in the car and don't move around." Turning around, he saw Niu Xiaodi also wanting to jump out, so he quickly stopped him.
If it was really a dead person, children would not have nightmares about it at night.
Niu Xiaodi: "Oh"
After walking a few steps forward with Niu Dadu, I saw a human-shaped bulge in the snow on the side of the road.
The whole body was buried in the snowdrift, only one arm was exposed, with coagulated blood and stains on it.
A person indeed.
The father and daughter worked together to push away the snow with wooden sticks, revealing the people inside who didn't know whether they were alive or dead.
Judging from his face, he was an uncle about fifty years old, with a beard and a black tattered cotton-padded jacket.
Niu Caohua put her hand under the man's nose, felt it carefully for a while, and found that he was still breathing weakly.
This is a living person!
This is not easy to handle.
If it's a dead person, just throw it into the woods and it's over, but a living person...
We are almost home here. There are mountains nearby and there are no homes. It would be inappropriate to send it anywhere, and it seems inappropriate to put it here.
"Dad, you're still angry." Niu Caohua looked at Niu Dadu.
Niu Dadu: "Then, what should we do?"
This is even more confusing.
"Forget it, take it back first." Saving a life is better than building a seven-level pagoda. Judging from this man's clothes, he doesn't look like he comes from a wealthy family, so he shouldn't cause any trouble.
"Okay." Niu Dadu was a little happy when he heard that he was going to take this person back.
Although he is not a kind person, he still feels uneasy when he sees a human life dying in front of his eyes.
"Daddy, put him in the car, lie flat on his back, and move the stove a little closer to him, being careful not to touch it."
Now that you have made the decision to save people, you must do it well.
He directed Niu Dadu to put the people into the carriage and place them there. Niu Caohua followed him in, and the car started to move slowly.
The mule cart arrived home soon. When the cart passed by the village, no one was seen. They must have been sleeping at home.
"We're home, dad, please carry this man down, and my mother and I will help him find a place to live." Thinking of this cow grass flower gave him a headache.
There are only two rooms in the house, so where to live for this extra person is another problem.
Forget it, just set up a temporary bed for him in the main room.
There is a stove in the main room, and the kitchen is next to it, so it won't freeze.
Lay out wooden boards, cover with straw, lay out a quilt, and then lay out a quilt.
Let Niu Dadu take off the person's clothes, and then put the person into the quilt.
Live together~
After all this trouble, no one has woken up, but his breathing has improved from being weak before to becoming calmer now.
"Caohua, look!" Xiao Cuier packed up the man's clothes, touched something inside, and ran over to show it to them.
A jade pendant as big as a palm.
The jade pendant is engraved with complicated patterns and the craftsmanship is exquisite. Even Niu Caohua, who doesn't know much about jade, knows that this jade pendant must be worth a lot of money.
This man looks like an ordinary citizen in his dress. Why does he have this thing?
For a moment, Niu Caohua regretted picking the person back up.
I always felt like I was in big trouble.
But now that I have picked it up, there is no point in regretting it.
Just take it one step at a time, I just hope you don’t become the next Mr. Dong Guo.
The next day, the man woke up. Due to his physical weakness and some external injuries, he could not even stand up.
After raising it for a few days, he felt better, could get out of bed and walk around a little, and his appetite gradually appeared. I actually eat more than a tripe of beef in one meal, and sometimes I even eat some snacks.
It was learned from his mouth that his name was Ye Qianli, and he was one of the people who escaped from Yizhou this time. He was assigned to a remote village, but he did not settle down in the village because his relatives were all fleeing. They got separated on the road and started looking for relatives everywhere.
Because of the heavy snowfall a few days ago, I didn't have any money, so I randomly found a place to spend the night under a tree. Unexpectedly, the snow kept falling, and I was so cold that I fainted until I was picked up by Niu Dadu's family.
Niu Caohua tentatively believed his words and returned the jade pendant to him.
Ye Qianli put away the jade pendant with great care, and expressed his gratitude to the Niu family. He said that this was an heirloom passed down from his ancestors, and if it were lost, he would be responsible for his death.
They couldn't hide the fact that they rescued a person on the road and came back. Niuri Zhengye came to understand the situation. Hearing Ye Qianli's words, he also felt some sympathy and asked him to rest here and wait until he recovers. Hit the road and continue looking for relatives.
People from the village came to the door from time to time, looking at the rescued Ye Qianli with gossip, until they saw an old man with unshaven beard, leaving full of regret.
Wang Jiaqiang also brought a few people to have a look, and after confirming that no one knew anyone, he left with regret.
Time flies by, and New Year's Eve has arrived, adding a bit of joy to this cold winter day. Every household is busy, cleaning and tidying up the house, and drying and washing clothes.
Niu Caohua and Niu Xiaodi used a rag to wipe away all the dust in every corner of the house, not even missing some spider webs.
Niu Dadu and Xiao Cuier were busy in the kitchen preparing the New Year's Eve dinner.
Because Ye Qianli was not fully recovered yet, he helped his siblings with some simple chores.
"In the new year, I wish everyone good health and all the best."
"I wish my mother-in-law will become more beautiful, I wish my father will become stronger and stronger, I wish my sister will be happy every day, and I wish Qianli's father-in-law will find his family soon."
At the New Year's Eve dinner table, everyone held chicken soup, said blessings, and then drank the chicken soup in the bowl.
