I Am Xianfan

　　 Su Chen, holding a small bamboo raft carrying a fishing basket full of fish and shrimps, went to an old fishing boat moored on the banks of Zhouzhuang Water Town, with a red face with excitement, ready to go back to the old fishing boat to see his father and mother.

　　 The river is foggy at dawn, and you can barely see a few fishermen’s lights, which is eye-catching. On the bank of a river in Zhouzhuang Water Town, the old fishing boat of Su Chen's family is moored.

　　The last generations of Su Jiazu used to fish in Zhouzhuang Water Village, and his family of five lived on this old fishing boat.

　　The roof of the old fishing boat is a simple shack made of bamboo strips and dried straw. The shack is covered with a layer of yellow mud to resist the cold wind. It has already dried up and has many cracks.

　　 The entrance of the shack was closed by a shabby curtain, and it broke and leaked when it was used for too long. The cold wind blew into the fishing cabin through the gaps in the curtains, and the chill was biting.

　　 A dim oil lamp hung on the darkened roof of the shed. The oil was shallow to the end, swaying with dim red light, and it was barely possible to see the situation in the shack.

In the shack, by the curtain, there is a small earthen stove, which is made of red clay. On it stands a crock pot and boils the porridge in a small pot. There are a few cabbage leaves floating on the porridge, and there is no bit of oil, water and water inside. Salt flower.

　　 There was a dry firewood burning under the stove, and there was a spark of sparks outside.

　　 In the shack under the cold winter, the heat in the stove barely maintained a little warmth.

　　 An old wooden barrel was placed by the stove, and inside it were a few small crucian carp with their mouths closed.

In the innermost part of the shack, there are old wooden beds and quilt with a mild musty smell. In the quilt sleeps two dirty three or four-year-old children, huddled in the quilt, occasionally choking a few times.

　　 Most fishermen in Zhouzhuang Water Village lived in such poverty. It's pretty good if it can be stained with a little bit of oil, salt and meat during the holidays.

　　 Daddy Su's dark face was full of wrinkles, he squatted on the side of the stove, holding a cold pipe, and smoking the cold smoke dullly.

　　 Old dry tobacco leaves of inferior quality are very dry, and occasionally cough a few times.

　　 Su Lao Niang was busy with her hands, stitching a worn fishing net beside the bed, her face sad.

"My child, father, my family didn’t save a lot of money this year, and I only saved four or two pieces of silver for the whole year. Seeing that the new year is about to pass, I have to pay a boat donation to the county government a year ago. The silver is gone all at once.

　　 We took the fish and transported them to sell in the county town. The weighing fee of the giant whale gang has not yet been paid. If this continues, I am afraid that this winter will not pass. "

　　 Su Lao Niang was mending old fishing nets, chattering and sighing.

　　 Gusu County’s boat donation is five taels of silver per year, which must be handed in before the Chinese New Year, otherwise the wicked group of county officials will go to the countryside to look for them and detain the fishing boats and not allow them to go into the water.

The Giant Whale Gang is one of the five major rivers and lakes gangs in the 13 counties of Wu County. It occupies the Taihu Lake and has been rampant in the huge Wu County for hundreds of years. It has monopolized thousands of miles of large and small lakes and river transportation. It imposes a weighing fee on Zhouzhuang fishermen every month. A tael of silver.

　　The fishermen have to pay it every month, otherwise the giant whale gang will not allow the fishermen to transport the fish to the county for sale, and no matter how many fish are caught, they will only be rotten on the fishing boats.

　　 The fishermen’s fish cannot be sold and their livelihoods are cut off. That is a dead end.

　　 For the honest fishermen in Zhouzhuang, the giant whale gang is a tiger and a wolf who cannibalize people without spitting out bones, bullying men and women, blackmailing and plundering them, and is more vicious than the yamen officials, and they dare not resist at all.

　　 "Oh~!"

　　Papa Su is an old fisherman, of course he knows these accounts in his heart.

　　 is still a full two taels of silver, which is two thousand copper coins, this winter is very difficult.

　　 Every new year is like a catastrophe.

　　 After going through this catastrophe, there will be more big fish in the big lake next spring, and the income will get a little better.

　　 There is no other way but to go down to the lake every day before dawn and try to catch more fish. He is an honest fisherman who has resisted coming here all his life.

　　 It’s just that it’s the twelfth lunar month of winter, and there are very few big fish in the lake. It's just over a month before the New Year. Even if you don't sleep at night, you can't make two taels of silver.

　　I had no choice but to go to the squire of Zhouzhuang to borrow some money from the squire of Zhou, and repay it in the coming year. But the money of the squire is so good that it is easy to borrow, but difficult to pay.

　　Papa Su just said nothing, and the cold pipe smoked harder.

"My child, father, let me send my eldest baby to a big family in the county town as a commander. The eldest baby is now twelve years old, sensible, and able to do some rough work. Let's find a kinder, big family for him, and he can also There is a way to survive."

　　 Mother Su thought for a long time before she looked sad and came up with an idea.

　　 Large households in Gusu County often take in poor men and women who are more than ten years old in the twelfth lunar month. They have raised servants and maids from an early age. They will give a settlement fee of twelve taels of silver, but they have to sign a life-long lease.

　　 After signing the deed, it is not civilian but untouchable, and the whole person belongs to the owner's family.

　　 If the host's family is not kind, and the slave is tortured to death, and he does not violate the king's law, he will pay a little more money at most.

　　 Therefore, as long as there is a little hope for the poor, they will not send their children to serve as slaves and maidservants for the big family, and put their lives in the hands of others.

　　 But this winter, the family really can’t make it through. If you don’t send your eldest baby to the house of a large family as a slave, what will be the way to stay at home?

　　 Although they are slaves to other families, the servants of the big families in the county are all dressed decently, and they eat better rice and noodles than fishermen. It is better than starvation or sickness.

　　 If there is another way out, Su Lao Niang doesn't want her baby to be a slave in someone else's house.

　　 But life is very difficult, so Lao Su has long understood one of the most simple principles, and the last word is to survive. This is their fate, and it is also Su Chen's fate.

　　 "Shut up! Can the baby be sold!"

　　Papa Su was furious, trembling with excitement, and pointed to Mrs. Su, as if she was angry that she actually said this.

　　 Asking him to sell his eldest baby, this is simply cutting his mind and digging his mind.

"My father, the eldest baby is the meat that fell from my mother's body. If there are other ways, I don't want to! Don't forget, my father, his illness is terrible! If this year he is his. I'm sick again, how can I live this way!"

　　 Su Lao Niang was crying, she was tearful, talking.

　　 The eldest baby was just born that year, and Mrs. Su did not have enough milk. The eldest baby was hungry and cried. She shed tears on the bed and formed two blue stones.

　　 After only a while, the eldest baby's complexion was blue and white and her lips turned purple.

　　 The two of them have never heard of the strange disease of "Tear Drop Fossils".

　　 took the big baby to the county town overnight to find a doctor. They searched dozens of pharmacies in the city. The doctors were shocked, saying that this was a rare and strange disease that was unheard of, and even not recorded in the pharmacy books.

　　 Some doctors even said that this was a premature death. Even if he was rescued this time, he would die if he didn't survive two or three years old, so forget it.

　　 But Father Su and Mother Su did not abandon their eldest baby. They heard from the people in the county who said that the Hanshan Taoist man in the Hanshan Taoist Temple has great powers and is omnipotent. They knelt for three days and three nights outside the Hanshan Taoist Temple at the west gate of the county seat, begging for the old master.

I finally asked the old master to come forward to see the eldest baby. He saw the dying eldest baby and said that the eldest baby’s illness was very strange. This disease should be the legendary'Heaven's hatred disease', and he was hated by God, no Let him live.

　　 The strange rock that fell was the ‘Heaven’s Hate Stone’, and the vitality leaked from the body. The method of replenishing vitality with ginseng medicine may temporarily extend life. But it can only be saved for a while, and the root cause of the disease cannot be cured.

　　 This method is also very simple, but the medicine is very expensive.

　　 They hurriedly spent half a year of savings and bought a ten-year-old wild ginseng from the drugstore. They really saved the eldest baby's life and slowly raised it until he was twelve years old.

　　 In these years, the Su family has specially left a couple of silver every year to buy ginseng for the eldest baby. If the eldest baby cries bluestone tears, he will immediately use ginseng medicine to renew his life.

"This year's fishing harvest is not good. Now even the county government’s boat donation and the giant whale gang’s weighing fee are not enough, and it’s a full two taels of silver. If he cries bluestone tears, there is no silver to buy ginseng medicine to save his life. , Definitely can't survive this winter!"

　　 "But in our family's situation, how can I have extra money to buy ginseng medicine?"

　　 "Send the big baby to be a slave in a big family in the county seat. At least he will not worry about food and clothing. Maybe he can save some money to marry a wife. But if he stays at home, if he is sick, how can there be money to save his life?"

　　 Su Lao Niang talked about the hardship of these years.

　　Papa Su fell silent, smoking cold cigarettes, his head lowered and heavier. He didn't know what Su Lao Niang said.

　　 The name "Dust", the big baby, was given by the real man Hanshan, saying that only dust is the cheapest in the world, and it is easy to survive without being hated by God.

　　 The eldest baby is sensible since he was a child, and rarely cries, and it is rare to cry once throughout the year.

　　 But after more than ten years of accumulation, Su Chen has cried more than a dozen times one after another, spending a lot of money to buy ginseng medicine.

　　 Father Su has spent one coin and one coin over the past few years. He has saved up the coin for buying ginseng medicine. How can he be unclear about these.

　　 The county government’s five taels of boat donations per year and the one taels of weighing fees per month for the Giant Whale Gang are a heavy burden on the family, and the whole family can’t breathe.

　　 The strange illness that Su Chen occasionally attacks every year is even worse, and a heavy stone is pressed on top of these heavy burdens.

　　 Father Su has been gritting his teeth all these years and holding on.

　　 The fishing harvest this winter was so bad, the money gap at home was too big, and there was no extra money at all.

　　 No one knows when the eldest baby will cry next time.

　　If the eldest child sheds tears again, and the family has no money to buy ginseng medicine to extend his life, I am afraid that he will really die.

　　 Thinking of this, Old Su was silent, frowning and smoking the old dry smoke fiercely.

　　 Maybe, the child's mother is right.

　　 Sending the eldest baby to the big family in the county town to be a slave will be very bitter. He is often beaten and scolded by the master, but at any rate he can get back a dozen silver and buy ginseng medicine in time to live his life.

　　 This difficult world, if you can survive, it is already God's favor, how can you expect anything else?

　　 If there is no money to buy ginseng medicine, the eldest child's life is gone, and nothing is left.

　　 Old fishing boat, smoke-filled, oil lamps dim and dim.

　　 In the shack, Mrs. Su sighed without a word.

　　 Father Su smoked cold smoke most of the time and was silent, thinking about waiting for the eldest baby to come back, and tell the eldest baby about this matter. My eldest child, maybe... agree.

　　...

　　 Outside the dilapidated Su family old fishing boat.

Su Chen stood alone on the small bamboo raft. The joy of returning from fishing had long since disappeared. His face was as pale as snow, and his eyes were full of despair. His thin and thin body trembled uncontrollably, and his little hand gripped the bamboo pole in his hand. .

　　 His lower lip with his teeth clenched, almost bleeding from the bite.

　　 Su Chen knew that he was born with a strange illness since he was a child. Whenever his tears turned into bluestone, he would suffer a serious injury, almost lost his life, and brought a catastrophe to this precarious home.

　　 His fragile life is like a swaying bamboo lamp fishing fire, which may be extinguished by a cold wind at any time.

　　 Every time, my parents would be sad, and spent most of their savings going to the drugstore in the county to buy a ginseng medicine, and boil it in the fish soup to replenish his vitality.

　　 Su Chen has always felt guilty about this.

　　Since he was five or six years old, he was sensible, and he began to help his parents with some chores. When he was more than ten years old, he could start playing small fish and shrimps to earn a little money independently, trying his best to help his parents lighten the burden. Save copper money to buy ginseng medicine, and try to survive as much as possible.

　　 However, when he heard that his parents wanted to sell him to a big family in the county town as a slave, Su Chen was still bitten by thunder and heartbroken.

　　 My parents don’t want him anymore, I’m going to sell him!

　　 Su Chen's mind was muddled, and there was only a void, and he forcibly resisted the sourness in his eyes.

　　 The bad news that he has not wanted to face all these years has finally come.

　　 He raised his head and closed his eyes. It was a long time before he was relieved from the bad news!

　　 did not dare to have the slightest resentment in his heart.

　　 Daddy goes fishing in the big lake every day before dawn, and only rests at sunset. My mother accompanies me to help cast the net during the day, repairs the net and knits clothes at home at night, and always stays up late at night.

　　His father and mother have worked hard to raise him for twelve years.

　　 They have tried their best.

　　 just~..., just~, Su Chen was really uncomfortable when he heard his father and mother discussing to sell him to a big family in the county as a servant, and he wanted to cry out uncomfortably.

　　 But when he cries, he will get a serious illness. He has no money to buy expensive ginseng medicine.

　　 If you don’t take medicine, you will die.

　　 He doesn't want to die!

　　 Su Chen did not dare to cry, biting his lip, feeling sorrow in his heart, and forbearing the sourness in his eyes.

　　 Wandering outside the old fishing boat for a long time.

　　 He is more mature and sensible than his peers, but after all, he is only a twelve-year-old ignorant boy. He was helpless and hesitated about the drastic changes in his own destiny.

　　 It seems that my disease cannot be cured for the rest of my life, and I can no longer drag my family down. Without the burden of this strange disease of myself, the pressure at home can be reduced a lot.

　　 It's time to go to Gusu County to find a job to support yourself. Maybe you can earn more copper and send it home to help your parents reduce the burden.

　　 If you get sick...just fend for yourself outside!

　　 Su Chen showed an absolute color.

　　 He felt cold and almost stiff, rubbing his hands and feet vigorously, and gently placed a fishing basket full of fish and shrimp on the bamboo raft in front of the old fishing boat.

　　 After thinking for a while, he untied a small linen purse around his waist, which contained more than 40 or 50 copper coins.

　　 Every time Su Chen caught a big fish in the night and followed Zhouzhuang fishermen to sell in the county, he would secretly leave a penny of copper, just in case he shed bluestone tears, he might buy ginseng medicine to extend his life.

　　 The small bags of copper that I saved are not much, and I can't buy a ginseng medicine. The New Year is coming soon, and this little copper is left for the younger brothers and sisters to buy two new clothes, so that parents and mothers will be less worried.

　　 Su Chen also put this small purse in front of the fishing boat.

　　 There is only a small cloth pocket with more than ten blue tearstones left in his arms, and half an icy wowotou that has not been eaten when fishing at dawn. Apart from these, there is no other valuables.

　　 Su Chen knelt on his knees on the bamboo raft that was soaked in the cold water, and kowed three heads at the old fishing boat.

　　 I'm gone!

　　Daddy and mother take care, forgive me for not being filial to my knees!

　　 Second brother, third sister, UU reading www.uukanshu.com, don’t pass this, my brother can’t take care of you every day! Be sure to grow up well and do your filial piety to your parents for your brother.

　　 Su Chen's childish little face couldn't hide his sorrow. After worshipping, he got up, his little red hands held up the cold bamboo pole with difficulty, and slowly slid towards the distant river.

　　...

　　 "Wow!"

　　 Father Su seemed to vaguely hear the sound of water outside the old fishing boat shack. He didn't care at first, thinking it was other fishermen who got up early to go fishing in the big lake, passing by the old fishing boat and splashing water.

　　 Suddenly, he thought of his big baby getting up at night to go fishing in the creek, and he would usually be back at this time. Isn’t it the sound of the big baby’s bamboo raft? !

　　 Old Su's expression changed, and he quickly opened the broken curtain of the fishing boat and rushed out of the shack.

　　 I saw that on the bow of the old fishing boat, a fishing basket full of fish and shrimps was placed upright, and there was a small cloth purse of the big baby on it. It was placed neatly and without any wrinkles.

　　 Father Su's wrinkled old face was all shocked.

　　 This is something of a big baby, but the person is gone.

　　 Did the eldest child hear the words his mother said just now?

　　Don't look at the eldest baby since he was young, calm, sensible and not impulsive. But in his bones, he was very stubborn, he would only be **** when he knocked his teeth off, and he swallowed the kind of stubborn boy in his stomach without a word.

　　 If the eldest baby heard that he was going to be sold, she would definitely not be able to bear such a stimulus, and she would not know what stupid things he would do.

　　 "Big baby~~, come back!"

　　Papa Su couldn't help being anxious.

　　 "My baby! Mother is wrong, come back!"

　　 Su Lao Niang also panicked, staggered out of the cabin, heart-piercing crying, and hovered on the river.

　　 But, in the dark night of the river, there is a hazy gray mist between the sky and the earth, where is the shadow of Su Chen's lonely little bamboo raft.