I feed the worms with my body, I am the evil demon

It was completely dark, and you couldn't see your hand in front of you.

The courtyard door was pushed open with a "bang".

"Daddy and brother are back." Gu Cai ran out, and Shen Yulan quickly got up and came to the courtyard, slightly restrained and forced a smile: "Gu Lang is back."

There were two people entering the door, a middle-aged man in a green shirt, although he was over fifty years old, his face was still handsome.

The man's name was Gu An, and people in the town called him Gu Xiucai. Next to him was a young man with red lips and white teeth, wearing a white shirt and elegant manners, wearing a jade hairpin on his head and looking extraordinary handsome.

Gu Cai threw herself on the young man, raised her head and looked like she was about to cry, and any man would be moved when seeing her.

"Brother, Gu Xiu bullied me."

"Huh? How dare you, Gu Xiu, get out."

Before Gu Yao could speak, Gu An scolded him loudly.

"Okay, okay, don't get angry just after coming back, go back to the house." Shen Yulan was about to hold Gu An's hand, but was thrown away.

Gu An, who was drunk, pointed at Shen Yulan's nose and cursed: "Bitch, you are the bastard, get out of here."

Shen Yulan was so scared that she was at a loss, and she no longer had the momentum she had towards Gu Xiu just now.

Gu Yao smiled and walked forward, "Dad, stop talking, go to bed early."

Hearing this, Gu An immediately smiled, "Yao'er is still very hardworking. You don't know that Fu Yuanwai was very generous in Fu's mansion today. He not only promised that if Yao'er passed the college entrance examination, he would marry Miss Fu, but also offer the big house on Qingshi Street."

"Okay, okay, Yao'er is really hardworking."

"Brother is so awesome."

"Humph, more than that, with Yao'er's appearance, the college entrance examination is not a problem. When Yao'er gets the title of Juren, why should my Gu family need his Fu family's charity."

Gu An was very happy, and he had already imagined his son's success in the imperial examination.

The family of four laughed and went into the house.

Gu Xiu squatted in front of the stove and poked the sparks in the stove aimlessly.

The sky was dark and the night was cold.

But, Gu Xiu's heart was even colder.

…

The night was full of darkness.

The town was peaceful and quiet.

Gu Xiu couldn't sleep because it was too quiet and he heard voices he didn't want to hear.

From Gu Yao's room came the heavy breathing and the woman's gasps.

As for who it was, there was no need to say more.

Gu Xiu raised his head and sneered, "He read the books of sages, but he did inhuman things."

Speaking of which, he had discovered it last year, and even caught it, but what he got in return was a reversal of right and wrong, and a beating that was enough to kill him.

Of course, the two knew it, and knew it earlier than Gu Xiu, but they saw it and didn't say it for Gu Yao's reputation. It's true that people are not from the same family.

Hearing this, Gu Xiu simply went out and climbed the low courtyard wall.

There was no star or moon tonight, and the cold wind poured into his sleeves. Gu Xiu untied the gray cloth on his face, revealing a hideous face that was enough to scare away the night.

The insects crawled under his skin, bringing waves of pain deep into his bones.

But he didn't frown, he was used to it, he had been used to it for a long time.

He didn't know where the damn insects came from, torturing him day after day.

But Gu Xiu didn't hate them now, and he even began to enjoy this pain almost pervertedly.

No words were spoken all night.

…

The sky was slightly bright, and the fish belly was white.

Gu Xiu, who had been sitting cross-legged on the courtyard wall all night, stood up and stretched.

Today, I can go up the mountain later. The medicine I picked yesterday must be taken to the medicine shop, otherwise it will become ineffective.

After filling the water and cooking, Gu Xiu carried the backpack and went out. As for those few, they were still dreaming.

The town is not big but not small either. There are about four or five hundred households, divided into four areas: east, west, south and north.

Among them, the lanes in the east are called lanes, but they are actually wide bluestone streets with tall and imposing archways.

Several officials in the town who often do business outside live in the east lane. Fu, Li, and Wang are big surnames in the town.

And surnames like the Gu family, which can't be any smaller, live in several muddy and narrow alleys in the north.

After leaving the house, Gu Xiu walked south on the muddy ground full of puddles with the medicine basket on his back.

Most of the poor families in Beixiang cannot afford medicine, and most of the herbal medicine shops in the town are gathered in Dongxiang Street and Nanxiang.

After walking for about a quarter of an hour, Gu Xiu carefully crossed several remote alleys and came to a wide street.

Early in the morning, someone was buying medicine in front of Caochun Hall in the distance. Gu Xiu slowed down his pace and waited until the person left before going forward.

"Why is it you, where is Xiaochunzi?"

A fifty-year-old woman in front of Caochun Hall looked at the medicine boy in front of her and asked.

"Oh, Madam Li, why did you come to get medicine in person? Xiaochunzi! Alas." The medicine boy lowered his voice, "Madam, you just came back, to be honest, Xiaochunzi... died."

"What! Dead, how did he die? I didn't live in the city for half a month, how could a young and strong man die?" Madam Li frowned, and although the wrinkles between her eyebrows were crisscrossed, it was not difficult to see that she was also a beauty when she was young.

"It's hard to say, Madam, you still have the same old problem. Does Master Zhang want to diagnose it in the hall?" The servant shook his head, as if he didn't want to talk about it anymore, so he changed the subject.

Madam Li sighed silently, with a look of disappointment between her brows, "Forget it, it's still the same old problem that gets worse after going to the city. Just follow the old prescription."

"Okay, wait a moment."

...

Gu Xiu walked forward slowly after seeing the lady taking the medicine away. When the servant saw him from a distance, he had already put away his smile, and his face was full of displeasure, but fortunately he didn't say anything sarcastic.

This was not the first transaction, Gu Xiu put the backpack on the ground with ease, and the servant in the medicine hall flipped the backpack with disdain.

"The quality is average, at most one hundred coins."

Gu Xiu went up the mountain to collect herbs all year round, so he naturally knew the price of medicinal materials. However, the only one in the town that was willing to accept his herbs was Caochuntang.

So even though he knew that he was being sold at a low price, he would not say anything.

After all, one hundred coins could buy dozens of big buns in the town, which was a good income.

After receiving the copper coins, Gu Xiu left Caochuntang. On weekdays, Gu Xiu had to go up the mountain to collect herbs and help in the blacksmith shop in the town. There was no other way, because the whole family depended on him alone.

Although everyone in the town hated Gu Xiu, he was capable and could keep the wages very low, so many people were willing to ask him to do hard work.

It was just that when paying wages, they would make a few sarcastic remarks to satisfy their desire to talk, and they did not give him the opportunity to learn secretly, and most of the hard work he did was to carry water.

Some people often joked that the family of Gu Xiu had a hardworking mule, and many children would laugh and shout "Gu Mule" when they saw Gu Xiu.

The quenching water needs to be fetched from Shaxi outside the town, which is not close. Even the apprentices in the blacksmith shop cannot do this thankless job. Only Gu Xiu goes back and forth tirelessly.

After filling the blacksmith shop's large pool, the sun is already at its zenith. Gu Xiu took the copper coins from the sullen blacksmith Wang and rushed back to Zhanshui Lane.

Back to the cold courtyard, Gu Xiu put the copper coins on the table and turned to go into the kitchen.

The romantic father may not have woken up from his drunkenness last night. Gu Yao sat in the courtyard with a book in his hand, looking handsome, and Gu Cai held her little face with both hands, her eyes full of stars.

Shen Yulan put the copper coins on the table into her sleeves and cursed in a low voice, but it was unclear what she cursed.

Gu An didn't get up from the bed until the meal was served. After they finished eating, Gu Xiu washed the dishes and put on his backpack and prepared to go up the mountain.

For him, the mountain is where he belongs.

However, before he even reached the door, Gu Xiu heard the sound of a large number of feet splashing in the puddles in the alley outside the door.

Gu Xiu quickly retreated to the corner, and sure enough, with a loud bang, the wooden door of the courtyard was kicked away.

The loud noise naturally alarmed the people in the house, and Gu An ran out quickly.