Enter the Room

Song Jiyun stuffed a pair of pearl earrings into Sister-in-law Zhao's hands.

Yuan Yunzhong does not wear any jewelry; she is going to the kiln factory, so her attire will be simple and neat.

Between the two of them, this pair of pearl-eared earrings was the only one worth a lot of money.

Since we are staying here, we can’t just eat and drink for free.

Sister-in-law Zhao Qisha refused to take it.

Song Jiyun was polite to her for a long time before she accepted it.

But he treated them with obvious enthusiasm and said, "I'm going to get you a new bedding. I'm keeping it for getting married."

Song Jiyun didn't stop her and had to let her go.

But when she turned around, Yuan Yunzhong was standing under the eaves, turning to look at her.

Song Jiyun was about to ask what happened, but Yuan Yunzhong had turned his head and looked into the yard.

In the yard, Zhao Qi was dragging the big tree suitable for beams to the west wing.

He is not tall, but he is very muscular.

Especially the shoulders and arms, the muscles are very strong when dragging the tree.

Song Jiuyun was a little surprised.

Sister-in-law Zhao Qisha took the quilt out of her room, opened the door to the east wing, and said: "Miss Li, you sleep in the north wing today, and your brother sleeps in the south wing. The house is simple, and I have wronged you. "

Song Jiyun smiled and said a few polite words, and helped her put the quilt in.

But she didn't expect that the wing could be as simple as this - an empty room with a wooden bed placed against the wall. One of the legs was broken and was used as a cushion.

The room Yuan Yunzhong slept in was a little better than hers. In addition to a wooden bed, the four corners of the bed were sound, and there was an extra bedside table.

Song Jiyun asked Sister-in-law Zhao Qi who was making the bed: "How many children do you have at home? Why are they not at home?"

She said vaguely: "They have all gone out to work. Don't worry about them. They will be back tomorrow morning."

Song Jiyun asked curiously: "Is there any work around here?"

Sister-in-law Zhao Qi did not answer, but smiled and pulled the bed sheets and said: "It's getting late, you all should have a rest! You have to be on the road tomorrow!"

Song Jiyun smiled and agreed, and he and Yuan Yunzhong went back to their rooms.

But as soon as she returned to the room, she immediately bolted the door, held up the oil lamp, and began to touch the wall with her hands and look at the roof.

After a while, she sat solemnly beside the bed, blew out the lamp, and listened as Zhao Qi and his wife returned to the room. After waiting for a while, she quietly opened the door latch and walked out quietly.

The moon is dim tonight.

The eaves, roofs, and courtyards all melted into black shadows, distorted and projected onto the ground.

The whole village was quiet, without any light. Occasionally, a few barking dogs could be heard, which broke the tranquility of the village and made people feel frightened.

Song Jiyun stared at the east wing where Zhao Qi and his wife rested, and gently knocked on Yuan Yunzhong's window lattice.

There was no movement.

Song Jiyun was wondering whether he should kowtow again later.

The door quietly opened halfway.

Yuan Yunzhong stood there upright, his face shrouded in darkness and his expression unclear, but his black eyes were as deep and bright as black stone.

Song Jiyun was slightly stunned.

Yuan Yunzhong chuckled and whispered: "Miss Song, there is a door, why do you need to jump out of the window?"

Song Jiyun was speechless and said, "I have something to ask you. Should I talk to you in your room? Or go to my room?"

Yuan Yunzhong pondered: "Isn't it bad? Even if we are brothers and sisters, we are still over the age of sitting together."

Song Jiyun laughed angrily, pushed open the other half of the door, and said, "What do you think you are looking for?"

The door made no sound in Yuan Yunzhong's hand, but in her hand it made a loud "squeak" sound that spread far in the darkness.

Song Jiyun paused, and Yuan Yunzhong gave way.

She stepped over the threshold, clasped her hands behind her, and closed the door.

The room became darker.

"Yuan Yunzhong," Song Jiyun said quietly, "I suspect that we have just fallen into a trap and have arrived at the lair of the group of people chasing us."

The air in the room was stagnant.

"What did you find?" Yuan Yunzhong said, but his voice was unusually solemn.

Song Jiyun frowned and said, "You have never been in a kiln, so you may not know much about some things.

"The kilns in the kiln factory are all made of bricks. But when the kiln is opened, these bricks can no longer be used. Others don't know, but in the Song family's kiln factory, the used bricks will be sold at low prices to those who want to Poor families who build houses but cannot afford new bricks.

“This kind of brick is particularly easy to break, break and deform due to high temperature.

"Look at the wall of the Zhao family's wing.

"I just looked carefully. They are all that kind of bricks."

Yuan Yunzhong pushed open the east window lattice.

The moonlight came in and shone on Yuan Yunzhong's shoulders.

Song Jiyun began to pace back and forth: "And those firewood, they are all pine branches.

"Where do ordinary people need to use pine branches to make fire?

"Only in the kiln factory, the grease carried by the pine branches can heat the kiln to the required temperature."

As she spoke, some details that had just passed through her mind before were like beads, being strung together one by one.

“Do you remember, we said we wanted to rest in the village for a night, but Zhao Qi rejected us without even thinking about it.

“They clearly don’t want us to enter the village.

“What kind of village doesn’t want others to enter?

"And she wants to entertain us for dinner. Erhemian steamed buns. No one here eats this kind of steamed buns, unless they are kiln workers from the north."

Yuan Yunzhong's voice was very calm, and he said: "Even so, it only means that there is a wild kiln here, and it may not be the person who is chasing us."

Song Jiyun stood still in the middle of the house and said: "Only those kiln workers in the wild kilns, who have nothing but strength, will take risks and dare to do anything! On the contrary, there are idle gangs who rely on wealthy people to live, and they are not so big. courage."

Anyway, these are just guesses.

"You want to leave the village?" Yuan Yunzhong pondered, "Even if we leave the village quietly, we won't be able to return to the city before dawn. We might as well rest here for the night and leave again at dawn."

Song Jiyun knew this was the best way.

They had to cross mountains and ridges, and they would definitely get lost.

But she was still very uneasy and walked to the window lattice: "Even if those people chase us, they won't be able to find us right away, right?"

"That's not necessarily true." Yuan Yunzhong's tone seemed a little careless, "If there is really a wild kiln here, the whole village must have participated. They should be very wary. No one is a fool! We can detect others We are different, maybe others can also notice our differences."

As soon as he finished speaking, a ferocious barking sound suddenly came from outside.

Song Jiyun was startled, and his voice became tense: "Did someone enter the village?"

She listened intently and couldn't help but hold the window lattice tightly with her hands.

Under the moonlight, her snow-white fingertips were faintly green.

As the man yelled, the barking stopped.

Just passing by on my way home late.

Song Jiyun breathed a sigh of relief, with a thin layer of sweat on his temples.

Yuan Yunzhong was slightly stunned.

He had never realized as clearly as he did now that Song Jiyun was afraid.

He couldn't help but look at Song Jiyun.

Her posture is still upright, her expression is still calm, and even her eyes are still as bright and lively as before.

Yuan Yun's heart trembled, and as if by chance, he patted the bed board teasingly and said: "If you are afraid that they will come looking for you, you might as well not go back!"

Revised version…