Liang Chuan looked at the girl with a cold face. The girl was about fifteen or sixteen years old. Many people at this age are already mothers of children. She looked a little thin and looked like she was malnourished. Her cheeks were slightly white. , his eyes avoided Liang Chuan, like a frightened little rabbit facing a huge gray wolf.
The old man's eyes suddenly lit up after hearing Liang Chuan's words, and then dimmed again. His hands were shaking and his mouth was trembling as he said, "Sell! Sell! As long as you have enough to eat!"
Zheng Ruoying stood aside and couldn't help but feel as if sand had suddenly entered his eyes. He felt sour and did not dare to watch this scene again.
Liang Chuan glanced at Zheng Ruoying, without changing his tone at all, and said to the old man: "Old man, what does this girl have to do with you? Why did you betray him?"
The old man's eyes lit up because he saw that Liang Chuan and Zheng Ruoying were honest and did not look like bad people, and they were willing to buy someone. It must be because the family needed it. His granddaughter should have a way out, but he thought that he was his biological child. My granddaughter is about to be sold to others as a slave. Who will feel better?
"This is... my granddaughter. I'm afraid the old man will no longer be able to do anything. In the future... I won't be able to take care of this child, and the village is full of wolves. When I die, I will definitely be destitute. The child will either be sold to a prostitute village or abused by others. "..." The old man's eyes were full of pleading: "While the old man is still alive, I want to find a good family for her. The child is willing to endure hardships and work hard. If you buy her, it's okay to beat or scold her. Just don't harm her." It will take her life..."
The girl cried, her tears were like a river bursting its banks. She didn't know that her grandfather brought her to the market today, and it turned out that he was going to sell her. He held on to the old man's tattered sleeves and said, "Grandpa, don't you want Qiu'er? Grandpa, I beg you, don't sell Qiu'er, don't sell Qiu'er!"
Zheng Ruoying had thousands of people doting on the grown-up Keren'er. Seeing that this girl was only a few years younger than him, but her situation in life was so dark, she almost burst into tears as she felt so reclusive that she almost cried.
The old man thought to himself, he is a good family.
"Grandpa Qiu'er is dying soon. Don't hate grandpa. Brother, look, Qiu'er is a nice person. If you buy it back, you will be obedient."
Liang Chuan felt as if there was a stone in his heart. He suppressed the depression and asked again, "Where are the parents of this girl Qiu'er?"
The old man said desperately: "When there was a flood last year, we crossed the river and let the water take it away. The bodies of my poor son and daughter-in-law are still not found..."
Last year, there were countless casualties outside Xinghua City due to the flood. Many people on the north bank were probably affected by the disaster. I don’t know how many people in the world were destroyed or killed.
Liang Chuan lifted Qiu'er's chin and said to Qiu'er with a sullen face, "Open your mouth and let me take a look."
Qiu'er was so frightened that she opened her mouth as Liang Chuan said while crying, and all the tears flowed into her mouth. Liang Chuan looked at Qiu'er's teeth and tongue. The teeth were very neat and clean, the tongue was slightly pink, and there was no peculiar smell in her mouth. He knew that this girl was in good health.
"Old man, please give me a price."
The old man knelt down directly to Liang Chuan and said: "Old man, I don't want your money. As long as you don't harm my miserable granddaughter in the future, do a good job and take her away. The old man knows that you have a Bodhisattva heart."
Zheng Ruoying cried and helped the old man up.
Liang Chuan took out two hundred coins and handed it to the old man and said, go back and think about it at night. If you really think about it, buy some clothes, pack them up, have a good meal, come back tomorrow, and then you will have all the money you need. Quite a few of yours.
The old man wanted to refuse, but Liang Chuan still gave him two hundred coins. The old man pulled his granddaughter down and gave Liang Chuan and Zheng Ruoying a bite. The two of them supported each other and went back crying. .
Liang Chuan took out the half-eaten meat and vegetables and ate them calmly. Zheng Ruoying took two sips of wine and couldn't move the food.
"Eat it, you will buy more when you are hungry. My grandpa and grandson may not have had the meal you just had in months. If we can't stand it, we will go back. But I still want to say one more thing. The girl we bought may He really saved her. There are too many suffering people in the world, and I can save them one by one."
Zheng Ruoying sobbed and said, "But after buying Qiu'er, his grandfather will be alone."
Liang Chuan said earnestly: "There are two most helpless things in the world. One is the death of a loved one, and the other is that a person no longer likes you. There is nothing anyone can do about growth, illness, or death. Didn't you listen to him? , he himself also knows that his end is coming soon, leaving Qiu'er alone will only suffer the bullying of this ruthless world in the future."
Zheng Ruoying also knew about the buying and selling of slaves and servants. Many long-term workers and slaves in their family were bought in this way. It's just that the Zheng family is very generous to their servants. After those desperate families send their children to the Zheng family, they will only be more grateful to the Zheng family, and few people will say anything wrong about the Zheng family.
Lao Cai and other housekeepers usually handle the purchase of the hair. She rarely faces this kind of life scene. Today, she faced this kind of life and death scene with blood dripping. A huge stone pressed on her heart, and her chest felt like a thousand weights. It's a huge burden, and it's so complicated that even breathing is so uncomfortable.
Many people have seen this scene. The first one is an old man selling his grandson, followed by the second, third, fourth and fifth. The tragic situation of selling a son and a daughter is not the worst, only worse. Most of these people either had a fatal illness in their family, or their labor force died. Otherwise, if they were still alive, they would be able to return to their original situation after a year of hard work.
Liang Chuan didn't even think about whether they were pretending to be pitiful to defraud people for two hundred coins. Even if they were, they successfully deceived Liang Chuan. Liang Chuan didn't want to become an indifferent person because of two hundred coins. , never hope.
The two of them had their own concerns. Liang Chuan felt that it was too tiring to return to Qingyuan at night and then go to Fengzhou the next day. Zheng Ruoying felt uncomfortable doing anything now, so the two simply stayed in Fengzhou.
Fengshan is to Xinghua what Fengzhou is to Qingyuan. This four-place hub is the only place to go to Qingyuan and Longhai, and from various perspectives such as geographical location and commercial transactions, Fengzhou More important and more prosperous.
There is only one lower pavilion in Fengshan that welcomes travelers from all over the world. There are no particularly gorgeous restaurants and hotels in Fengzhou, but there are a lot of small inns. Most of them are for a temporary rest instead of eating and drinking.
Of course, there are also many cheap prostitutes here for people to vent their anger. She was wearing low-quality gouache on her head and forced a smile on her face. She stood on the street seductively with her flowers and attracted customers. When the lanterns first came on, it was hard to see her face, and it was hard to tell whether they were sad or sad.
If he were alone, Liang Chuan could make do with finding a stable for one night, but this young lady couldn't tolerate any mistakes. If she ran into some shady store or met an unkind person, she would break out in a cold sweat just thinking about it. A good inn is more appropriate.
The two of them walked into the largest inn on the street. There were two words 'Yongchang' written on the door. There were two bright red and huge lanterns hanging at the door of the inn, but it looked deserted. I guess the price was not cheap. And there are few people staying.
"The shopkeeper will give you two clean guest rooms." Liang Chuan said with a smile.
The shopkeeper was burying his head in clearing the accounts, but he didn't realize that Liang Chuan came in. With a standard smile, his beard trembled, and he said, "It's unfortunate, sir. There is only one guest room left in the shop."
"No." Liang Chuan looked around. If it were full now, the hall would also be full of people eating. There was no one in sight in the entire hall. "No one in your store saw you telling me that the room was full?"
Liang Chuan secretly screamed, is it rare to sleep in the same room with this girl at night?
The shopkeeper smiled and said: "It's a coincidence that the eldest gentleman of the team is here today. There are many family members and entourage. There is only one guest room in the inn. You two will have to squeeze in."
He mistook Zheng Ruoying, who was disguised as a man, as a man. It was not uncommon for people on this road to sleep in woodsheds and stables when they happened to happen to be on the road. It was not unusual at all.
Zheng Ruoying was so embarrassed that even the roots of her neck turned red, and it was hard to tell that she was actually a girl, so others would have even more wild thoughts.
Liang Chuan frowned and said to Zheng Ruoying: "I just took a look outside, and the rest is either too dirty, or there are too many miscellaneous people. If we live separately and you don't have a waiter or girl by your side, I won't either." Don’t worry, this isn’t good, how about we just squeeze it in for you to see?”
Zheng Ruoying struggled for a while, thinking that no one would recognize her now, otherwise she would really not have to get married in the future. She responded in a voice as low as a mosquito: "Just take a look."
The two of them followed the waiter's lead to a guest room on the second floor. Before leaving, the waiter asked, "Do you two need anything else?"
Zheng Ruoying said: "Second brother, please help me bring a pot of water and five bowls."
Liang Chuan's heart skipped a beat, could it be the legendary move?
Zheng Ruoying waited for the waiter to go downstairs to get the water bowl, and said to Liang Chuan: "Let's put a few bowls between us tonight. If the water in the bowl spills out or is knocked over, I will prick it with scissors." Kill you!"
Liang Chuan was so frightened that he held his hands and said, "I have a joke, do you want to hear it?"
Zheng Ruoying didn't expect that he would tell jokes and said, "Tell me about it?"
Liang Chuan cleared his throat and said seriously: "Once upon a time, there was a scholar and a girl who took shelter in a ruined temple when it rained. There was only a dry place to sleep in the temple. The girl drew a line in the center of the bed before going to bed, and then said to the scholar Said: If you dare to cross the thunder pool at night, you are a beast, and I will fight with you. But when she woke up the next morning, the girl found that the scholar was really sleeping on the other side of the line and did not cross the thunder pool at all. Guess what? drop?"
Zheng Ruoying said: "This is a gentleman!"
Liang Chuan laughed and said, "That girl slapped the scholar!"
Zheng Ruoying asked in surprise: "Didn't she cross the line at all? This girl is so unreasonable!"
Liang Chuan chuckled, pinched his nose and imitated the woman's voice and said, "You are worse than a beast!"
