Do you know: I’m Xu Jiazi

"Oh, mother! Mother! Let go!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Xu Zaijing's aunt grabbed the ear of the boy who spoke out.

"You are the only one who talks a lot!"

Several other aunts in the room looked at the two nephews sitting down.

Everyone showed concern, and grandma even asked with concern:

"Are you two hurt?"

"Grandma, no! Just a guard in the mansion accidentally got a stick!"

After hearing Zai Zhang's words, the two old men nodded.

The aunt on the side asked:

"Where did you two meet the thief?"

Xu Zaijing explained what happened.

Several other elders asked again, and the story of the matter was almost clear.

Xu Zaijing’s grandfather said with a worried look:

"The area was not peaceful before. There were many temples and Taoist temples. I heard that several temples took in a lot of homeless people with unknown origins in order to recruit disciples."

"But no one knows if there are any desperadoes among these people."

The aunt on the side looked at the two nephews and said:

"That's what my father said! I heard that a few days ago, when a woman came home from offering incense, her hairpin was snatched away in broad daylight. She reported it to the police but there was no news. Fortunately, she was okay, she was just scared. one time."

Xu Zaijing’s grandfather stroked his beard and continued:

"On weekdays, there are temples offering food and drink, of course there is no reason why!"

"But in today's weather, few temples can store rice for these days! When they are hungry, these jackals will naturally show their true colors."

After the old man finished speaking, Xu Zaijing's aunt said:

"These two kids brought a lot of things with them!"

The two old men looked at each other with a smile, and Xu Zaijing's grandma said: "Child, tell grandma, what did you bring?"

“Meat and vegetables”

After Xu Zaijing finished speaking, his second aunt on the side smiled and said:

"Father and mother, let's watch. Shi Niang's pain is not in vain. She is still thinking of us in such a day."

As soon as these words came out, there was a burst of laughter in the room.

Seeing the two Xu brothers looking confused, their aunt looked at them and said:

"Child, you little ones don't know, but our Sun family has always had a family motto."

After hearing what his eldest aunt said, the old master of the Sun family also had a look of approval on his face.

"Auntie, what's the family motto?"

"Even when winter comes, there must be three months of charcoal fire for food in the warehouse at home!"

Xu Zaijing nodded, but didn't ask why his mother let them come since the Sun family had this family motto. Even if the Sun family couldn't use it, it didn't mean that the Ni family couldn't use it.

Zai Zhang, on the other hand, sat on the chair and asked with some confusion:

"Grandpa, how come our family has such a family motto?"

Hearing Zai Zhang's words, other young people in the room also looked curious.

The old man wearing a brocade cotton-padded jacket looked at everyone and sighed:

"Of course it's because I've been hungry and cold!"

"I heard from my ancestors that one year it started to snow right after the beginning of winter, and it kept snowing for nearly a month and a half. If it hadn't been for the harvest from the village being shipped to my house at that time."

“In the house alone, three rooms were demolished and the wood was chopped for firewood!”

As he spoke, the old man shook his head sadly.

The audience in the room looked at each other. It had been snowing for seven or eight days. This was how it was in the city. It had been snowing for more than forty days, so what would it be like?

Counting the time, it was almost seventy or eighty years ago.

After finishing speaking, Xu Zaijing and his brother looked at each other, then stood up and said:

"Grandpa and grandma, since there's nothing going on at home, Zai Jing and I will go back while it's still early."

"Here! Why don't you have a meal first and then leave!"

After the aunt finished speaking, Grandpa Xu Zaijing waved his hand and said:

"It's difficult to walk on the road in such weather! The children are kind-hearted, so let's just let them go back! It might get dark when we get to Xu's house."

The two Zai Zhang brothers bowed to their elders and prepared to leave.

"You two wait a little longer!"

Xu Zaijing and his brother left immediately. The reason was naturally that they would stay overnight if they didn't leave.

Eight people, with three meals at noon and evening plus tomorrow morning, will not consume more food than what they brought, but it is still a lot of food.

It's better to rush back to Xu's house while the sky is still bright.

Their grandfather asked the two of them to wait for a while, then poured them four large gourds of hot sugar water, prepared ten meat buns, six torches, and two fire dumplings.

The gourds and meat buns were wrapped in a mattress and placed in the bamboo basket they brought for vegetables.

When they were leaving, the servants, guards and boys of the Sun family sent the eight members of the Xu family to the door with swords, guns, bows and arrows.

Ni Tengyue followed behind with his younger brother. After a few words in the main room, he also understood the Xu family's concern for them.

After everyone bowed to each other, Xu Zaijing and his group of eight people walked back.

When he arrived, the injured guard had already been covered with plaster, and he still had a few plasters in his arms.

Most of the Sun family, both themselves and their in-laws, are military attachés, and the most indispensable thing in the family is this kind of healing patch.

After leaving the alley where the Sun family is located,

Xu Zaijing and the others did not return to Xu's house in the east. Instead, they looked at the inner city wall and continued walking south.

This walk was a bit easy, because the north wind was blowing, and the eight people were walking with the wind, which gave them some help.

There are many fewer temples and Taoist temples on the road than near Xishuimen.

But I didn’t see a crowd of thieves like before.

After walking for half an hour,

There is no smoke of fireworks around,

After walking briskly for a few steps, blown by the wind, the blue cloud on Xu Zaijing's left hand side suddenly stopped.

Everyone also stopped,

One of the guards of the Hou Mansion also put his hand on the handle of the knife.

The flag on the bed was still being scraped loudly,

Xu Zaijing followed Qingyun's gaze and saw two half-grown children wrapped in tattered clothes huddled under a corner sheltered from the wind.

Xu Zaijing's voice came through the scarf: "Let's go and have a look."

As he said this, Xu Zaijing dragged Ling Bed towards the roadside.

But Qingyun grabbed his shoulder.

Looking at Xu Zaijing's confused eyes, Qingyun shouted in a hoarse voice:

"Master, there is no need to go there, they have already"

When Qingyun spoke, the rope holding the bed was still tied to his body.

Alan, who was following him, had already noticed Xu Zaijing's thoughts and walked towards the two children.

When he came to the wall, Alan took off the glove on his hand (a glove with one glove for four fingers and one glove for the thumb).

Looking at their frosty faces, Alan touched their bodies and felt the coldness and hardness.

He shook his head at the others behind him.

When Alan came back,

Xu Zaijing patted Qingyun on the shoulder,

"Let's go!"

Qingyun looked at the figure by the wall, sighed and continued walking forward.

After walking forward for two quarters of an hour,

Suddenly, mournful cries came from the roadside courtyard.

"Yanniang! Yanniang!"

"ah!!!"

When Xu Zaijing and his party approached,

The guards of the Hou Mansion climbed up the tree on the roadside and looked towards the yard where the noise was coming from, and then reported back:

In the courtyard, the house has been crushed by heavy snow.

A man was in the yard, struggling to lift a thigh-thick beam in the collapsed house.

But this beam was connected to a roof, and coupled with the snow on it, his strength couldn't shake it at all.

Despite his several shouts, no one showed up in the surrounding courtyard.

Xu Zaizhang glanced at his younger brother and said: "Xiaowu, let's"

With that said, Xu Zaijing took off the rope around his body and walked towards the yard.

The door was pushed up the wall into the courtyard by the guards of the Hou Mansion and opened from the inside.

In the yard, the man was still carrying the beam in vain. When he heard the sound behind him, he looked back and saw several men with knives trembling in fright.

Then he knelt down and said resignedly:

"Kill me to death, just in time for me and Yan Niang to get together. Wuwuwu"

He cried and closed his eyes.

Then he heard someone say: "Get up, help!"

The man was stunned, and then he saw someone carefully observing his collapsed house.

"There's no one under the rafters!"

Then, with the man's ecstatic expression, the thick beam was lifted up by one person.

The entire roof also rose by a distance less than one person's height.

The man didn't care about anything else and crawled inside on all fours while shouting 'Yanniang'.

"Yanniang!"

Soon, Qingyun and Alan dragged the man and a woman with blood on her forehead and a pregnant belly out from under the roof.

"Bedding, clothes and rice vats!"

Hearing Xu Zaijing's voice, the other people pulled out the mentioned things.

"call!"

"Clang! Crash!"

Xu Zaijing let go of the beam in his hand, and the house collapsed even more completely.

Qingyun helped the couple to the house in the yard, and when he went in, he found that it was a communal house.

Xu Zaijing casually took the heavy rice vat into the kitchen, looked at the woman who was slowly waking up, and the others raised their chins and said:

"With that, we take our leave."

After saying that, he walked out and Alan, who put down the quilt, nodded.

Zai Zhang looked at the pregnant woman and wondered what he thought of.

After taking out the fire stick from his arms and blowing it, he lit the candle in the kitchen, then took off a jade pendant from his body and placed it on the stove.

The woman who woke up leisurely looked at her officials, then looked at her surroundings, recalling the scene she saw before she fainted.

He already knew that his family had been saved.

"Official, official, have you ever asked someone their last name?"

The man who was hugging his wife tightly was stunned, and quickly leaned the woman gently against the pile of firewood and said:

"Yanniang, let me ask!"

Xu Zaijing and Qingyun put on the ropes again and were about to continue walking, when the man chased them out.

Shouting in the snow:

"Benefactor! Benefactor! Please tell Xiaosheng your name!"

As he said this, he didn't know whether it was because he lost his strength or his feet were slippery. The man fell to the ground.

Zai Zhang quickly helped him up.

That person also saw the flag of 'Yong Yi Hou Xu'.

"It turns out he is a nobleman from the Hou Mansion!"

Zai Zhang smiled and nodded: "Here, please take good care of your family. I'll leave first if I have something else to do."

"Okay! Okay! Then Xiaosheng won't delay the nobleman's business!"

"The kindness of the helping hand will be deeply appreciated by the villain!"

As he spoke, the man bowed deeply.

Zai Zhang let go of the man's hand and followed the others.

When he turned around again, he saw the man kneeling on the snow and kowtowing to the group of people.

The rescued man returned to the dilapidated yard, entered the kitchen, and spread a mattress under his wife.

After the two of them whispered for a while, he took the pot lid and walked out.

After shoveling the snow and throwing it into the iron pot, he said painfully: "Madam, the fire is gone. This"

"Fool, look at the candlestick!"

The man turned around and saw the lighted candle and the jade pendant under the candlestick.

After handing the jade pendant to Yan Niang, the man started to light a fire.

Xu Zaijing was walking on the road, and Alan Tong, who was looking for books, walked beside him.

Alan's voice came through the scarf:

"Sir, that man has been shouting for so long, why doesn't anyone come out to help?"

Qingyun on the other side of Xu Zaijing said: "Look at the snow at the door next to me, those families may not be able to get out."

The uninjured guards of the Hou Mansion in the team came over, took the rope from Alan Xunshu and the two men, put it on his shoulders and explained:

"In order to go out, the snow at the door should also be cleared! But the snow is so thick, alas!"

Alan and Xun Shu looked at each other and roughly understood that it was either they were hungry and cold and had no strength, or they were already exhausted.

The area they passed through was not a wealthy neighborhood.

There are also collapsed houses on the roadside from time to time, but there are no calls for help like before.

Smoke was still drifting from some chimneys.

As for the places where there is no smoke, I don’t know if there are no people there or the people are gone.

When Xu Zaijing and others arrived near Jiying Lane,

The previous heavy snowfall that collapsed the house has almost disappeared.

Although this place is not as rich and powerful as those in Xingguofang and Nanleitang Lane, it is still a wealthy household in Bianjing, so the houses are naturally large and stable, and there are people who clean the snow.

Most of the chimneys that can be seen are filled with smoke.

The same thing as before, there were very few people on the streets covered in silver.

Except for the doorsteps of each house, there are almost no human or animal footprints on the flat snow along the way.

When it came time to leave the Sheng family for seven or eight days,

The snow at the door was shoveled aside, exposing the steps.

Shouantang

The earth dragon is burning hot,

The kettle on the small tea stove by the window is steaming.

Snow reflection,

The room is very bright through the white window paper.

It showed a layer of condensed water droplets on the window lattice.

In a very warm room,

On the Arhat bed, the small table in the middle was removed.

Mrs. Sheng leaned on the large cotton-filled pillow and squinted her eyes.

The old lady was covered with a fine wolfskin mattress.

Mother Fang walked over gently and covered the old lady's legs with a thin cotton quilt.

In the back of the bed, on the same wolf-skin mattress, a baby over two years old was sleeping soundly.

After looking at the doll with a smile, Fang's mother gently came to the next room.

Inside, Mother Cui is concentrating on making pastries.

Fang's mother said softly: "Brother Mang, I look more and more like him."

Mother Cui on the side kept moving her hands, and also whispered:

"Yes, especially those eyes, and the fact that he is so kissing the old lady, even Miss Wei can't seduce her."

Mother Fang smiled and shook her head slightly, feeling happy from the bottom of her heart.

At this time, the little girl Dan Ju came over and said softly: "Mother Fang, there is a message from the front yard that the two brothers from the Xu family are here."

Upon hearing this, Mama Fang and Mama Cui looked at each other in surprise.

"How did these two brothers get here in this weather?"

"He said he came on foot!"

The two mothers looked at each other, and then the mother walked gently towards the old lady.

Arhat's bed,

The old lady frowned, wondering what she was dreaming about.

Waiting to hear the voice in my ears,

Feeling the slight push against her, the old lady opened her eyes and sighed.

Turning her head to the side, she saw Sheng Changzhu who was sleeping soundly. Thinking of how Wei Xiaoniang just crawled into her arms without even looking for her, the old lady smiled:

"Little monkey~"

Then he asked: "Suqin, what's wrong?"

"Old madam, the front yard said that two brothers from the Xu family are here."

"Such heavy snow, they..."

Before the old lady finished speaking, she smiled happily and then opened the quilt and said:

"Take him inside and ask Brother Bai and others at home to come over."

"Joan, bring me my cloak."

Sheng Hong led him,

When Xu Zaijing followed his brother into the backyard of Sheng's house,

I saw the old lady standing at the door of Shou'an Hall with a smile,

The plum blossom tree on the side has not bloomed yet, but has fallen a lot of snowflakes.

Fang's mother, who was beside the old lady, felt slightly uncomfortable after seeing the Xu brothers for some reason.

"Auntie, why are you out here!"

"You have traveled all the way to see me, an old woman, so I should come and pick you up."

Like the Sun family, the old lady also held the hands of the two brothers and entered the Shou'an Hall.

After taking off his cloak and cloak before entering the house, Xu Zaijing and his brother felt the warmth and comfort in the house together.

Jin'anzhai

The bedroom is very warm,

Minglan, who was sent by the old lady to accompany her,

Currently learning calligraphy from Tongwei Shuyi.

She raised her head,

Then I saw Xiaodie walking in from outside.

"Miss, please call all the brothers and sisters in the old lady's courtyard to come over."

Wei Shuyi looked at Minglan's words on the table and asked without raising his head, "What's wrong?"

"It's said that two brothers from the Xu family have arrived."

Wei Shuyi suddenly raised his head, his eyes full of surprise and said: "Xu family?"

"Um!"

Minglan on the side was about to call her "Aniang", but the burning sensation on her left hand stopped her in time.

"Mom, cousin, what are they doing here?"

Wei Shuyi looked into Minglan's eyes and said, "It's the Xu family and your eldest sister who don't trust us because they are afraid that our relatives will suffer from cold and starvation."

Ming Lai curled his lips and said, "Auntie, the Qi family in the courtyard sent so much charcoal that we can't even burn it all."

Wei Shuyi looked at Minglan and said, "Reach out your hand."

Xu Zaijing and his brother were talking about what they had experienced along the way in Shou'an Hall.

Wang Ruofu, who came in from behind and sat down, had a look of disbelief on his face.

The old lady said: "Hong'er, the charcoal in the yard can't be burned out in a year."

"It's cold when it snows, and it's even colder when it melts. Leave half of it and let the rest find an opportunity to disperse."

Sheng Hong bowed in response.

At this time, Changbai walked in from the door. There were a few ink spots on his clothes, as if he was reading or practicing calligraphy.

Changbai looked at the two brothers Xu Zaijing who were sitting on the chairs, and after handing the cloak to the female envoy,

After adjusting his clothes, he bowed to Xu Zaijing and Xu Zaijing with a solemn expression.

Soon, Chang Feng, Mo Lan and Ru Lan also came to Shou'an Hall,

After talking for a while, Minglan walked in with snow on her skirt.

Ru Lan smiled and said: "Sixth sister, did you go play in the snow?"

Minglan shook her head. She came here through snow.

I understand the hardships of my two cousins ​​on the road,

So she also bowed like Changbai.