The three brothers and sisters walked for most of the day from Erfang Town to Lijiazhuang, Qinghe Town. They finally arrived at their destination when it was almost dark.
Xu Ling went to Mrs. Li's home. Within a few days, Mrs. Li seemed to be older.
She was very excited when she saw Xu Ling.
He quickly invited the three people into the house to drink water.
The yard was still neat and tidy, and Hu Tou was sitting on a wooden post having a great time playing. He seemed to have gotten over the pain of losing his mother.
Mrs. Li served hot tea and thanked Xu Ling again for the money he left last time. She then looked at Xu Ping and Xu An and saw that they looked similar to Xu Ling, so she asked, "Are these your two brothers? They are actually twin brothers, your mother is really lucky."
Xu An's eyes widened. She was just dressed a little ugly. She didn't look like a boy anyway, right?
Xu Ling suppressed his laughter and did not explain anything. After all, many people nowadays have old ideas. It is okay to take his younger brother on a long trip. If he said that he would take his younger sister to do business together, I am afraid it would lead to different ideas.
"Old Mrs. Li, you don't have to thank me. If it weren't for your pears, I wouldn't be able to do the business I am doing now. I still have some things to ask you to help me with. After that..."
Xu Ling stayed at Mrs. Li's house until dark before she explained the matter clearly.
It was too dark to travel, so Mrs. Li invited them to stay overnight and sleep in a side room before leaving. For dinner, Mrs. Li rolled out the noodles herself, including leeks picked from her garden, eggs from the chicken coop, and a large pot of noodles. It's delicious and your body feels warm after eating it.
While Xu Ling was doing things, Xu Ping and Xu An knew the rules, listening and playing with Hu Tou.
What Xu Ling asked Old Mrs. Li to do was very simple. Old Mrs. Li had lived in Lijiazhuang for so long and was familiar with every household. She asked her to help check who wanted to sell pears and whose pears were of good quality.
In the end, this favor was unnecessary, but Xu Ling wanted to find a place to stay in Qinghe Town, and felt that Mrs. Li's family was in pity, so she thought of ways to help her.
Mrs. Li also understood Xu Ling's good intentions and readily agreed.
Each time Xu Ling bought thirty kilograms of pears, Xu Ling gave her ten cents.
Not much, but nothing less.
After a dreamless night, early the next morning, Mrs. Li cooked a meal and went to the village to find someone to help Xu Ling buy pears.
In fact, there were still pears in Xu Ling's space, but he just brought two troublesome brats with him. He didn't want them to notice the clues, so it was unnecessary.
I bought more than 200 kilograms of pears in the morning, and the carts were piled full of them. Xu Ping and Xu An also helped pick pears, and their hands and feet were quite nimble.
After eating again at noon, Xu Ling left two hundred coins for Mrs. Li to pay for accommodation and hard work, and the three of them left Lijiazhuang and went straight to the dock of Qinghe Town.
When taking the boat, Xu Ling had to pay an extra 20 cents because he was bringing a cart of things. Adding Xu Ping and Xu An, the boat trip alone cost 80 cents.
Xu Ping muttered in surprise: "Why do you need money for everything outside?"
Xu Ling gave him a chestnut and said, "You brat, if I hadn't brought you two with me, I would have lived in the cargo hold for just a few cents."
Xu An said: "Brother, let Xu Ping and I live in the cargo hold. We are not afraid of hardship!"
Xu Ling rubbed his sister's head. He was not stingy to this extent yet.
Xu Ling got on the boat early this time and had to wait for more than an hour before setting sail. The three brothers and sisters set up the cart, parked it on the deck, and fixed it with ropes to prevent the cart from overturning after departure.
After so much work, Xu Ling once again regretted bringing the two of them with him, otherwise it would have been much easier to use the space.
Neither Xu Ping nor Xu An had ever been on such a big ship, running around on the deck.
"Brother! Jiang Shui is running behind!"
After setting off the boat, the scenery on both sides of the river continued to recede. Xu Ping and Xu An stared at the water for a while, feeling dizzy and unable to stand still.
Xu Ling carried the two skinned monkeys to the cabin, took out the dry food and asked the boatman for some hot water to barely fill his stomach.
They were seasick and couldn't eat anything, so they finally calmed down while lying on the bed. Xu Ling finished eating by himself and fell asleep at the foot of the bed.
We still arrived at Lingbao Town in the middle of the night.
Xu Ling woke up his younger brothers and sisters, "We've arrived at Lingbao Town. It's time to get off the boat."
Xu Ping and Xu An quickly ran out to take a look. There were rows of flower boats on the river in the distance. The bright colors were reflected in the river, making the water surface sparkling. The wooden shelves on the shore were covered with red lanterns, one after another. , even though it was late at night, the dock in Lingbao Town was still bustling with activity.
The two children had never seen much of the world and kept yelling.
The three of them pushed a cart of pears and lined up to get off the boat. With their feet on the solid bluestone, Xu Ping and Xu An had a real sense of traveling far away.
When they arrived at the big place, they became timid and helped Xu Ling push the cart, not daring to go far even half a step.
Xu Ling was afraid that the two of them would run around, so he described Lingbao Town as a devil's cave. They specialized in catching children, and after stealing the children, they would remove their arms and legs and let them go begging on the streets.
All in all, the two children were quite well-behaved and did not cause Xu Ling any trouble.
He took his younger siblings to a familiar wonton stall and found the Zhao couple in their usual place.
The cold nights of late autumn make the wonton business easy to do. Even late at night, the street vendors who are busy doing night business still need to eat. There are also those patrolling watchmen who tuck their hands into their sleeves and sit with their necks hunched on the wall to avoid the wind. Behind them, they chatted quietly about each other's lives.
Xu Ling pulled the cart, and the wheels made a rolling sound on the bluestone. When he got closer, everyone looked over.
Then he saw a tall and thin man, wearing a clean green cloth, his cheeks were a little red from the cold, and his eyes were as bright as stars; behind him were two children, not very old, who looked somewhat similar to him, they were said to be father and son, as if The father is too young, it should be three brothers.
The woman who was busy kneading wontons greeted: "Guest, do you want wontons or noodles?"
As soon as he raised his eyes, he saw Xu Ling's familiar face. He immediately smiled and warmly greeted him to sit down.
"Brother Xu, did you just come back?"
Seeing the two young men behind him, her husband quickly collected the dishes and chopsticks left by the previous guest and wiped the table quickly, "Sit down, sit down, you've been on the boat all night, are you starving?"
Xu Ling stopped the trolley in sight, asked the two children to sit first, and asked them what they wanted to eat. Xu Ping ate noodles, Xu An wanted wontons, and Xu Ling ordered a portion of two-dozen noodles. He went to the front stall and paid four Ten cents.
When Xu Ling first came to Lingbao Town, he was poor and hungry. The Zhao couple were kind-hearted and warmed his heart with a bowl of wontons, which enabled him to endure these hard days.
Therefore, every time Xu Ling took a boat at the Lingbao Town Pier, he would always come to the stall to eat a bowl of hot wontons.
Although they were casual acquaintances, they could chat about the current situation. When they learned that Xu Ling had brought his younger brothers and sisters out to make a living, the couple thought that his family must be in trouble. When the wontons were being cooked, they took advantage of others not paying attention and gave them more. .
After a bowl of hot noodle soup, the three Xu Ling siblings finally came to life. They said goodbye to the stall owner and rushed to their residence on Matou Street.
