Stretching on the edge of the mountains, Baiwen Village.
The name of Baiwen Village is not very particular. For example, it has produced a hundred literati, but it also has a history that has been passed down to this day.
Twenty years ago, after the war between Zi Su and San Ling, a group of men, women, and children with unknown origins and whereabouts gathered together by chance.
Everyone decided not to ask about their origins and not to pursue their future, and chose a place to settle down near the rolling mountains and green mountains and green waters.
Later, the Zisu National Bureau of Statistics assessed the situation of surrounding villages and towns after the war, and a group of young and old gathered together to choose a village chief. They would be able to legitimately live here in the future, which would be considered a real destination.
After some discussion, it was decided that the person who made the most money in one day would be the village chief.
Lao Zhang, by name, was tall and tall, but he was a complete lazy man. He was kicked out of the village by his wife, who was careful about running the house, and asked to go to the imperial city to earn a few taels of silver.
Not daring to object, Lao Zhang thought hard after entering the city to no avail, so he fell down under the old tree at the entrance of the alley with his tattered hat on, snoring loudly.
Until he felt the cold and stood up. There were some copper coins in the slipped hat. Lao Zhang picked it up and put it in his arms, just in time to go back to pay the errand.
The daughter-in-law saw Lao Zhang yawning and was about to kick her feet when she saw Lao Zhang hurriedly holding out a pile of copper coins.
My mind changed, and I counted, no more, no less, exactly a hundred coins. Then I looked at the time and called people from door to door to come to the tree in the village.
Most of the people who were woken up were impatient, not to mention who was the village chief, and it was the middle of the night. They lazily listened to the auntie's gossip, casually catered to them and went back to get warm under the covers.
The people who were left with relatives and friends who were vying to be the village chief asked nervously and learned that Lao Zhang only made a hundred coins.
Just as she was about to reason, her daughter-in-law shouted: "It's already the time of birth, so Lao Zhang has brought the money back to the village. Shouldn't Lao Zhang be the village chief?"
Seeing that the others were dissatisfied, his wife kicked him hard, and Lao Zhang stumbled to the center.
The people surrounding Lao Zhang's wife saw a burly man suddenly flash out from under the dim firelight, and were so frightened that they dared not say anything for a moment.
Seeing that the villagers were intimidated, the daughter-in-law quickly said that Lao Zhang had been a corps leader before, so the village chief naturally had no problem.
Those who are ready to bite the bullet and refute can only accept their fate and hope that nothing unexpected happens to those who have not returned yet.
The sun just showed up on the second day, and Lao Zhang's wife helped everyone decide on a name for the village.
After many discussions, no one agreed. The middle-aged man, who was called a sour scholar by the villagers, coughed lightly:
"Let's call it Hundred Wen Village. One household per day, one hundred Wen per day, isn't it a good thing to look forward to?"
Someone chuckled, and the woman was angry, but she couldn't refute what the down-and-out scholar said.
The rest of the people all praised him for being a man who had read books. The middle-aged man habitually wanted to take something out from his waist, but when it was empty, he bowed his hands to everyone and lowered his eyebrows.
The origin of Baiwen Village has been passed down for twenty years under the deliberate efforts of a few people. Every time a child passes by the village chief's door with burning candy, he will recite a limerick.
A household has one hundred cash per day, and a house in the village has one hundred cash per day.
There are hundreds of poems in Xu Shi's poems, but there are only a hundred poems in Baiwen Village.
The old man with gray hair and a hunched waist grinned widely and patted the children's heads lovingly.
Suddenly, a dull head poked out of the window. His face was sallow and thin, but his eyes were still bright. He frowned and struggled to recite the poem word by word.
Lao Zhangtou ignored his wife's anger and shook his head like a child listening to a lecture.
After the stupid head finished reciting the poem, he quickly took out some soup and rice and poured it into the earthen pot that the child struggled to lift.
He wanted to pour it all in, but he retracted his hand under the lustful look of the woman on the side.
The dull head disappeared from the window. Lao Zhangtou quickly turned to look at the door, sat up as straight as possible and smiled and nodded at the door.
The child, who was thin and wearing a rag shirt with bright eyes, held a clay pot and bowed seriously to the two elderly people inside the door. He glanced at Grandma Li timidly and then hurried away.
Seeing that Cheng Yun was walking smoothly without falling, Lao Zhangtou finished the remaining rice and soup.
I comforted my wife with a few words, but when I got no response, I smacked my lips and looked through the window at the elementary school where the sour scholar was not far away.
The poetry is not good, but the person is not bad.
With a ring hanging around his neck, Cheng Yun hugged the earthen pot tightly with both hands and ran home as steadily as possible.
Since he was rescued by the old man and returned to the village, Cheng Yun and his younger brother found a small house to live in the village and lived a life of begging.
It is almost impossible for a family to raise two more children, but even if every household eats a little every day, they can still get enough food for two children for a day.
Cheng Yun placed the barrel on the table, stepped on the stool, and poured the rice and soup into two bowls.
Ever since my younger brother entered the elementary school where he was a scholar and learned the teachings of the sages, he has not allowed himself to eat less than him.
He had no choice but to rely on his younger brother, but Cheng Yun would use Aunt Liu, who was making burnt sugar, as a place to beg for food every day.
Although according to what the sour scholar said, except for the village chief who has a surplus of food, it is difficult to go to other families every day.
For example, go to the east side of the village from the first to the third day of the lunar month, and go to the north side from the fourth to the sixth day of the lunar month.
It happened that the village chief's house occupied the center of the village, so there was no delay on either side.
It is better to do something in this order in exchange for some food than to annoy people by visiting again and again.
After hearing this, Cheng Yun stopped holding the broken earthen jar and just stared at the person.
After three years of this, Cheng Yun finally no longer needed to be scolded everywhere, and the brows of most villagers also softened a little.
As for why Aunt Liu went to sell burnt sugar every day, we have to start with some trivial things Cheng Yun heard chatting with the aunts in the village.
Years ago, when there were wars, people who were about to starve would grind the bottoms of earthen pots deeper so that they could hold more rice when giving alms to wealthy people.
He held up two bowls that he didn't know who had lost them. The color was not much different from the caramel on the edge of the board when Aunt Liu tossed the candy.
Cheng used a wooden stick to lightly grind the bottom of the bowl, took out the caramel he had scraped, and pointed it at the bottom of the bowl. It was just right.
The caramel was embedded in the bottom of his brother's bowl. It was hard to see the difference in the dim room. Cheng Yun was satisfied and poured the soup and rice.
After Yinfeng returned home, his eyes were shining and he said that today's rice was a bit sweet, please eat more. Chengyun happily agreed and quickly put a few spoonfuls into his mouth.
There was a woman outside the window holding sawdust and tile powder beside the window in her hand.
Why did the child who was so sad just sneak around and ask for it from me? Why don't you shout Aunt Liu and give you two sweets?
I caught a glimpse of the two brothers eating, and heard the younger brother say that the soup and rice were very sweet. Then he looked at the wooden stick by the window, and quietly left even more sadly.
In the future, when the children were buying candies, they would always see Aunt Liu throwing the candies accurately and beautifully. Her hands were not as steady as before, and she would always tremble to the side.
Everyone is worried that Aunt Liu will lose money in the future if she doesn’t make this sweet and beautiful candy dumpling.
In the afternoon, Cheng Yun was a little reluctant to work in exchange for food.
But once I had begged for enough food and was too lazy to give away some things, so I was taught a lesson by the sour scholar.
You must try your best to finish what you promise, whether it is for others or yourself.
But the sour scholar also said that after all hardship comes happiness.
Feeling a little cold, holding the herbs he took from the old man in his hand, Cheng Yun knocked lightly on the door of Sun's house.
After waiting for a while, no sound was heard. Cheng Yun breathed a sigh of relief and was about to put down the herbs and leave. The door suddenly opened, startling Cheng Yun to stagger.
A child not much older than Cheng Yun quickly turned around and shouted: "Mom! The wild monkey is here again begging for food!"
Cheng Yun hurriedly put the herbs into Sun Si's hand and wanted to leave as soon as possible, but he was grabbed and pulled inside, laughing and shouting that he was a wild monkey.
A woman with protruding cheekbones took a wooden stick and lightly slapped Sun Si on Chengyun's hand. Then she hit Chengyun hard on the arm with the stick and said in a sharp voice:
"What are you doing with this wild monkey? You don't mind it being dirty. Wash the herbs well. The old man is so old and live on a dog? Are you giving him such precious herbs? Don't you know how to wrap them in cloth?"
After checking that the herbs were not damaged, he snorted coldly. If it was damaged at all, the wild monkey would have to pay with his life.
He kicked some fallen fruits from the trees and cursed to get out of here because he had to clean the yard again.
Cheng Yun covered his bruised arm, reluctantly picked up the fruit, and ran out of Sun's house. Seeing that Sun Si was about to catch up, he resisted the idea of hitting the fruit with the fruit and ran away quickly.
After choosing a relatively good fruit, Cheng Yun frowned, twisted his arm slightly, and endured the pain. This was the first time.
I was greeted with a smile and cursed when I walked in.
I was tired of throwing away the cold soup and rice, half of which went into the earthen pot and the other half on my body.
Have you ever told your own children, what will happen to the wild children that no one wants? Still not obedient?
...
After delivering the herbs, there was only a small amount of gold and stone left. Cheng Yun only felt pain, and his grievance had disappeared a year ago.
He and his younger brother were rescued by the old doctor and returned to the village. Since they agreed to help deliver herbs and get some food in exchange, they had to do their best to complete it.
Enduring the pain is also trying your best.
The last portion has to be given to the only blacksmith in the village. Every time, there is rice left for me, but unfortunately he is mute.
Chengyun once delivered farm tools to the blacksmith in exchange for food, but he was thin and his legs hurt even after running around.
I no longer felt cold when I walked in. I found a place a little further away from the stove and squatted down, watching the blacksmith, who looked more like a scholar than a sour scholar, with his bare upper body and white body, making a clanging sound with the hammer.
Cheng Yun doesn't feel harsh, but the rhythm is inexplicably pleasant.
Maybe this can be regarded as the end of all hardships.
The young Cheng Yun couldn't see that wisps of crimson energy would enter Cheng Yun's body with every blow of the blacksmith, warming Cheng Yun's thin body.
Once the body warmed up, most of the bruises miraculously healed, but Cheng Yun didn't feel it was strange, after all, it had been like this for the past three years.
He patted the blacksmith and signaled that the gold and stone had been delivered and that he had to go back.
The blacksmith pointed to the white rice on the table, which was still half full, and Cheng Yun was happy to wrap it up.
It is indeed a blessing after all the hardships.
The thin old man gave Cheng Yun the meal he had promised. As always, he sensed the strange power in Cheng Yun's body and glanced towards the west of the village. I wish you luck tomorrow, don't forget it.
Hearing that there would be food to eat tomorrow, Cheng Yun was naturally happy. He learned the etiquette of the Yin Feng Sect and bowed his hands as a disciple.
The old man was startled and looked at Cheng Yun jumping away with his eyes lonely and his mind far away.
Cheng Yun is happiest when he and Yin Feng learn Chinese characters together after eating, not because they are happy because they can read, but because Yin Feng can eat and study happily.
Lying in bed, I remembered what the sour scholar had said: Yin Feng was intelligent and talented, so he was definitely a good scholar.
Cheng Yun asked what the seed of reading was. The sour scholar thought about it and said that he could become a saint in the future. Cheng Yun asked if a saint could have enough to eat. The sour scholar assured him that he would definitely have enough to eat.
When his younger brother becomes a saint, he will go to his mother.
After all, how can a saint live without his mother?
So Yinfeng went to school to study, and Chengyun worked hard to feed his younger brother and study.
As for the money needed to study, Cheng Yun didn't know, and the sour scholar never mentioned it.
