A two-room earth-tile house with thatched roofs, leaning against the foot of the mountain to the west, is Widow Wang's home.
It has not been repaired for many years, and the walls are peeling off and showing old yellow mud.
Widow Wang was sitting on the open space in front of the door washing clothes, rubbing them on the washboard. In the cold winter weather, her sleeves were rolled up to her elbows, and she was still sweating profusely.
The two-year-old child next to me was squatting on the ground and playing by himself. He picked up a short dead branch and poked something on the ground seriously.
"Guizhi, Guizhi, you haven't brought me a glass of water for most of the day. Where did you go? I want to die of thirst like an old woman." An old and weak cry came from the house, and at the end he started to cry. He said, "You young man, I just think this old lady is dragging you down and delaying your search for a new home..."
Widow Wang endured it, threw away the clothes in her hands and ran into the house. After a while, she came out with the old woman cursing her. Just as she took a breath, she heard the child crying loudly.
Widow Wang hurriedly ran over to help the child up. Seeing the blood flowing from the broken skin on the child's hands, her own eyes were red. She shed two lines of hot tears and cried sadly while holding the child.
Lu Anran and Yun Qi were standing outside the fence. It was not a good time to go in at this time.
The two of them saw the scene in their eyes, and Yun Qi said: "A woman has to support her family and take care of her family and outside the home. She has a paralyzed mother-in-law who doesn't know right from wrong, and a two-year-old baby who is waiting for food. Life is difficult."
At this time, Widow Wang had probably vented enough. She wiped her son's tears and nose, found an old wooden toy and threw it to him, and sat down to do the laundry again.
Yunqi pointed at Widow Wang with his hand holding the fan, "How old is she this year?"
Lu Anran said: "Not even twenty years old."
Yunqi turned on his feet and took half a step forward, "A woman like her, regardless of how it is in the royal capital, even a wealthy daughter of Mengdu's age is still young and careless. She doesn't know anything about food and rice, and only reads romance." .”
But Widow Wang has already shouldered the heavy responsibility of the entire family with her weak shoulders. Even if she breaks down and suffers occasionally, after wiping away her tears, life is still so difficult day after day.
Lu Anran lowered her eyes. She knew that the world was difficult, and being a woman was even more difficult. Her long eyelashes covered the emotions in her eyes, but what she said was: "Life is like this, there is no fairness."
After Widow Wang regained her composure, the two of them walked in as if nothing had happened. Widow Wang's face was full of surprise.
"It's... it's windy outside, so sit inside the house." Widow Wang stood up, wiped the water off her body, and said hurriedly: "My house is not comparable to the village chief's house. The house is simple and simple, so I don't want to neglect Mr. Yun and Miss Lu. "
Lu Anran's indifferent eyes fell on Widow Wang's face under her cover. The corners of her eyes were still slightly red, her voice was breathy, and she tried her best to hide her helplessness.
Lu Anran said in his usual tone: "Your mother-in-law is not feeling well at home, so we don't want to disturb her, so I just want to say a few words here."
Widow Wang then remembered that Mr. Yun, the outsider, was here and her mother-in-law was paralyzed and lying on the bed. It was indeed difficult to lead her into the house. She wrung her hands and smiled uncomfortably: "Yes, yes, we country people don't understand these rules. The girl needs to remind you."
Yun Qi smiled: "It doesn't matter, we are disturbing you."
Widow Wang found a chair made of rattan and moved it to a sheltered place under the eaves. She specially took a clean cloth and wiped the chair that was free of dust carefully, then grabbed the corner of her clothes and said awkwardly: "Master Yun, Lu Girl, sit here and talk."
Seeing that Widow Wang was about to find something in a hurry after her busy work, Yunqi reached out and blocked her path with a fan, "We just happened to come here, come in and have a look. If you are busy going back and forth, it seems that we shouldn't be here." ”
Only then did Widow Wang stop her chaos. She moved the small bench for washing clothes and sat across from them, with an embarrassed smile on her face: "I planned to thank the young master and the girl for what happened that night before. I have never found an opportunity, and when I come to my house and I can’t entertain them well, I always feel uneasy.”
Lu Anran asked unclearly: "Why do you want to thank us?"
"I heard about it." Widow Wang's face turned pale, "Susu ran out alone at night and fell off the cliff to be harmed by ghosts. If I hadn't met the two of them that night, maybe... maybe she was also killed by ghosts. .”
Now that he has mentioned this, it saves Yun Qi and Lu Anran from having to talk, so Yun Qi took advantage of the situation and said, "But how did I hear that it was the Jin family who turned into ghosts and harmed people, and the ones who died were all Village Chief Yin's family members? This is not the same as You have nothing to do with it."
The cold wind was like a dark wind, and a gust of wind came over. Widow Wang shivered, "Both the Jin family are good people. I don't believe that she harmed people, but it's not necessarily true that after becoming a ghost, she will be full of resentment and lose her true nature." .”
Lu Anran pinched her cold fingers and realized that the heater had already lost its temperature. At this moment, there was a chill in his bones and he shivered slightly.
Yun Qi caught a glimpse of it from the corner of his eye and whispered, "Jiaoqian." He took out something and stuffed it into her hand.
Lu Anran frowned. What's wrong with Prince Yun? He always likes to stuff people with things.
only……
Um?
What is this? It feels warm when I hold it.
Under Lu Anran's puzzled gaze, Yun Qi said angrily: "I don't know the goods, Kunlun soft jade."
Lu Anran had only seen in ancient books that Kunlun nephrite was produced in the Tianshan Mountains. Wearing a small piece of it can make it cool in summer and warm in winter, which is very rare.
"By the way, where did you say that?" Yun Qi interrupted Lu Anran's plan to return and looked at Widow Wang, "Yin Tianming is pitiful. First he lost his wife, and now he loses his mother and daughter at the same time. It's the worst misery in the world. Everything hit him."
Widow Wang had just seen what she saw as the "love of a man and his concubine" drama. She felt a bit disappointed and hurt for some reason. Then she looked back, with an unspeakable look on her face, and said for a moment: "He is It’s quite pitiful that such a good person has suffered so much.”
The jade in Lu Anran's hand was filled with pure warmth, spreading out along the lines on her palm, as if the coldness all over her body was instantly dispelled. She lowered her eyelids and said nothing, but seemed to accept this kindness from Yunqi by default. .
When she came back to her senses, Widow Wang was talking about Yin Tianming, "When Tie Qiu passed away, we, the orphans and the widows, took out our entire family and could barely make up a thin coffin. But the helper didn't mention compensation, even for the last month I also want to waste my wages.
I went to the county government to complain, but I was beaten up and thrown into the street. When I was desperate, I happened to meet Yin Tianming. He lent me some money and helped me find a lawyer to write a petition. After many twists and turns, I finally got the wages I deserved. . "
Lu Anran: "So you went to Yin Tianming privately, and then Sister-in-law Tian said those words."
Widow Wang smiled bitterly: "A woman whose husband died is like a eunuch who took off his pants after cutting off his descendants. No matter where he goes, he will cause controversy, let alone meeting other people's men alone."
She explained: "The so-called whispering after closing the door that day was just that I planned to pay back part of the money first and send some sweet potatoes to show my gratitude. I just said a few words and then left. I don't know who closed the door, so it became a misunderstanding." .”
After saying that, Widow Wang sighed: "With Yin Tianming's help, our family finally got through it, but unexpectedly it brought him trouble. If the Jin family listened to the rumors and misunderstood, I would be guilty of it."
Lu Anran and Yun Qi looked at each other. Widow Wang and Mrs. Wei each had their own explanations, but they were pointing at completely opposite ends. They said quietly: "Since you are innocent, there is no need to hold yourself accountable."
At this moment, Widow Wang's son ran over with his short legs. He tripped and almost fell at Yunqi's feet. Fortunately, he reacted quickly and grabbed the child's back collar with one hand. The child didn't even cry. He opened his mouth and smiled, not afraid of life at all.
"Hey, Hu baby, you accidentally bumped into the noble man." Widow Wang quickly pulled the child over and patted the snow water on the child.
The tiger boy matched his name, with a round head and a tiger-like head, and a nose that was red from the cold and dripping with snot. He sniffed and was having a good time with himself.
Lu Anran watched the snot flow out with an expressionless face. After inhaling it three times, he took out a piece of candy cake and gave it to Huwa.
Yun Qi covered his lips with a fan and chuckled: "I didn't realize that you are such a big man and you like to eat children's food."
Lu Anran finally didn't have to see Huwa eating snot, and he breathed a sigh of relief. He tilted his head and said seriously: "Before going out, the spring seedlings must be stuffed into me."
Yun Qi didn't expose the fact that she almost gutted someone else's plum blossom tree for a few pieces of plum blossom cake. He actually nodded and said, "Well, I've seen it earlier, Chun Miao is indeed a gluttonous girl."
Lu Anran's face tightened as he heard the inner meaning of Yunqi's words, revealing a bit of unknown shyness.
The tiger baby huddled in Widow Wang's arms and quietly ate candy cakes. Widow Wang said with a smile: "The relationship between the two is really good."
Lu Anran opened her mouth, and Yun Qi was a step faster than her, saying: "Speaking of which, I think Yin Tianxiang and the Wei family are really in love. In the past two days, the Wei family has been ill with longing for each other. He is so sick that he can’t get up or collapse, and he is very pitiful.”
Lu Anran glanced at Yunqi with disapproval. This person was making up nonsense when he opened his mouth. There was not a single truth in it, but she knew Yunqi's intention, so she didn't interrupt.
Sure enough, when Widow Wang heard about Yin Tianxiang and Wei, her eyebrows gathered together, her eyes full of disgust, "Some people are used to being a bit shy."
Yun Qi made a fake noise, as if he suddenly remembered that scene, "Sister-in-law Tian said that Mrs. Wei and you had an affair, I don't know whether it's true or not."
"Young Master, do you think I'm setting her up behind her back?" Widow Wang stopped stroking the tiger baby's head and said angrily: "Although I have no evidence, the house of Village Head Yin that day was not allowed to be closed secretly and deliberately wronged. It was the Wei family that Yin Tianming and I met, but she slapped me on the back and slapped me, and everyone knew about it."
"She has no reason to do this, right?"
"The Wei family and the Jin family don't get along. As long as it can cause trouble for the Jin family, the Wei family is very happy."
What one person says is completely different.
Lu Anran asked Mrs. Yin about the Buddha statue in her room again. Widow Wang said that she did know that the base of the Buddha statue was equipped with a mechanism. At that time, almost everyone in the village went to watch it.
"The night Susu had an accident, everyone went to look for her. Did you go with her?"
"I, I, you two also saw it, I can't live without people in my house." Widow Wang looked a little unnatural, and avoided looking at the two of them, "My mother-in-law is paralyzed in bed and needs to call people all the time, and the children can't live without her either. .”
After all the questions were asked, the two stood up and left.
The winter sun was high, but it was too warm to provide much warmth. A ray of light shone in the corner of the yard, reflecting a bright light that fell into Lu Anran's eyes.
The footsteps stopped suddenly, Lu Anran pointed back and asked Widow Wang: "What is that?"
