It was late at night and the mattress got a little wet.
The two of them changed the mattress together, took off the dirty sheets and soaked them in water, threw in the towels they had used for wiping, and after struggling for a while, they fell asleep again.
Qingyan tasted the beauty of this for the first time. He never knew that he could get such happiness just through this method.
Now that he is happy, he also wants to repay others.
So Qingyan leaned close to the man's ear and asked in a low voice: "Aren't you... uncomfortable?"
The man turned to look at him and asked, "Do you mean what you say today?"
Qingyan immediately understood what the other party meant. Recalling the bad memory last time, she covered her face with the quilt. Although she felt guilty, she still said crisply: "It doesn't count!"
A man's deep laughter came from beside him, and the quilt that covered him moved. Qingyan emerged from the quilt. The man had already put away his smile. He stretched out his hand to touch the corner of the other person's lips and said, "It's always with me." Laugh when you can't see."
The man grabbed his hand, kissed the soft fingertips, and whispered: "It's getting late, go to sleep."
Qingyan lay back on the bed, found a comfortable position, and quickly fell asleep.
...
In the past few days, Qingyan went to Liu Fa's house from time to time to help out, and even took time to visit the county town.
The search for people went smoothly this time. There was only one caravan in the entire county that went south every year. This caravan had a certain scale and reputation in the local area. Qingyan easily found out the name and residence of the leader.
I thought it might not be that easy to meet someone, but I didn't expect that he expressed his intention to the concierge. The concierge went back and informed him and let him in.
The team leader was probably in his fifties. He was strong-looking, well-educated and good-tempered. After patiently listening to what Qing Yan wanted to ask him to do, he pondered for a while and said, "You mean, you I heard that the magistrate of Nanhui County is named Qin Liangchuan, and this person is said to be from this county, so based on this, I suspect that this person is Li Xizhen's deceased husband?"
Qingyan knew that his reason was not tenable, but he could not explain the real reason, so he could only try his best to make up for it: "I know that there is a high possibility that it is just the same name. It's just that Uncle Qin's body was not found when he died, and only one was found on the mountain. The blood-stained robes. There were often people cutting firewood and collecting herbs on that mountain. They had never seen any large beasts, and even if they encountered ferocious beasts, they wouldn't leave any bones or pieces of meat behind. "
When he saw that the leader was still frowning, he sighed and continued: "Because Uncle Qin originally wanted to stay at home for the New Year, but my aunt asked him to go out, but when he left, he was only left with a bloody suit. For so many years, my aunt has been unable to forgive herself and has always felt guilty. We dare not mention this matter on weekdays, otherwise she will cry bitterly."
Hearing this, the team leader's expression finally relaxed. As soon as Qingyan walked in, he could see that he was an upright and soft-hearted person. Otherwise, he would never have seen him, an unrelated person, let alone listen to him here.
Qingyan took a step forward, with tears in her eyes, "I know that this matter may be in vain in the end, but now that I know it and have doubts in my heart, I can't just let it go. My aunt is not young anymore, so I'm afraid If I drag on like this without doing anything, I'm afraid I'll just be confused and miss it for the rest of my life."
The leader paced back and forth in the room, and after a while, he gave him the result, "The caravan will set off in more than a month. According to the route plan, it will not pass through Nanhui County, but the closest point is about ten miles away from Nanhui. By then I will I will take advantage of the caravan's rest and ride a fast horse over to ask for an audience with the Nanhui County Magistrate. The truth will be revealed by then, and I will tell you in a letter."
Hearing this, Qingyan thanked him profusely and took out twenty taels of silver from his bag as a deposit, saying that he would give thirty taels to the other party after the matter was confirmed.
The team leader refused to accept it anyway, but Qingyan insisted on giving it. He understood the other party's concerns, so he just picked out one tael and put it in his palm, saying, "Since I promised, I will do my best to accept this tael from you. Quan should put your mind at ease."
After leaving this house, Qingyan finally had some clues and hopes for what she had been thinking about.
While he was in the county town, he went to various balsam shops to learn about the market, and then returned to Liuxi Village.
...
The Liu family's happy event is scheduled for the sixth day of April.
After dinner that morning, Qiu Henian and Qingyan went to Liu's house to help.
On this day, the door of the Liu family was not closed. People were coming and going, lights were decorated, and it was very lively.
Towards the end of the afternoon, the husband of the village chief's family acted as a matchmaker and led Liu Cai, who was riding a tall horse, followed by a sedan, to welcome the bride, playing and singing happily all the way.
As soon as the wedding team left, the house here became even busier. In less than half an hour, the bride and her family would be arriving.
Qiu Henian and several other young men are moving tables, chairs and benches to various houses. The banquet will be held at home. The Liu family's tables and chairs are definitely not enough. They are all borrowed from various families. They will be moved back after the work is done. He and Qingyan My own family was also moved here.
Qingyan was helping to pick vegetables in the kitchen. Aunt Li looked at the high-spirited groom who was gradually retreating outside, and said in a low voice: "It's all your fault for your cruel father and stepmother. I was prepared for what to do. At that time, you He Dalang can also be so beautiful."
After she finished speaking, she felt that her words were inappropriate. After all, those two people were Qingyan's relatives. No matter how bad it was, she shouldn't be the only outsider to talk about it, so she couldn't help but look apologetic.
Qingyan didn't look unhappy, and said with a smile: "Of course it's good to have these, but it's okay not to have them. Living a good life is the most real thing.
Aunt Li patted the back of his hand and breathed a sigh of relief.
It's not dark yet, the sound of firecrackers is loud, and the wedding team is back.
All the guests have arrived, and the house and courtyard are full of people.
The bride gets off the sedan chair, enters the first door and sits on the saddle, sits on the empty tent at the second door, and then sits on the rich and honorable seat at the new house.
As soon as the auspicious time came, he started to pay homage to the bride's luggage. Liu Cai smiled so hard that he took the red silk and brought the bride to the front of the hall. When he was praying to heaven and earth, he saw that the clothes of the people around him were weighed down, so he hurriedly tidied them up carefully, and touched the fingertips of others. Suddenly, his hands shook slightly nervously, and the guests nearby covered their mouths and laughed.
After the newlyweds finished their worship and entered the bridal chamber, the banquet was opened inside and outside the room.
The bride's family members were sitting at the main table. Among them was a man in his thirties with a dark complexion. He looked back at Qingyan's table several times, but Qingyan was talking to Qiu Henian and didn't notice. I didn't hear the man saying to himself: "This is the family who set up a stall next to me during the Lantern Festival."
His eyes moved to Aunt Li's face sitting on Qingyan's side, and he muttered: "It still looks familiar. Where have I seen it before?"
He knocked his head, and just as he was about to think about it, someone at the same table called him and raised a wine bowl to bring wine. He turned around quickly, not caring to think about it anymore, and went to drink with that person.
...
The Liu family in the north of the village is lively and lively, but the Wang family in the south of the village seems even more deserted and depressed.
Neither Mrs. Wang nor Mr. Wang went to the Liu family's wedding banquet. One was because they had no money to prepare gifts, and the other was that Mrs. Wang had an unpleasant quarrel with Liu Fa's wife a few days ago and was too embarrassed to go to the meal.
There was not much oil left in the lamp holder, the flame was not strong, and the room was not illuminated, which made people feel even more depressed and panicked.
Wang Heyao was addicted to gambling, but he had no money in his pocket and walked around the house anxiously.
The wound on his foot bitten by the dog had not yet healed, and the pain in the silkworm made him even more irritated.
It was dark and there was nothing to do. Mrs. Wang had already gone to bed.
Wang Heyao thought for a moment, then tiptoed and limped into the old lady's room. Listening to her mother's snoring, he took the robe she had placed beside the bed and rummaged through it, and then rummaged through the cabinet. He looked up to the sky, but he didn't even touch a copper plate.
He came out of that room bitterly, returned to his own room, grabbed someone from the bed, and threw him to the ground. He heard a muffled thud as the person was thrown to the ground, and there was a dull sound in his throat. Groaning in pain, he lowered his voice and cursed: "Only his father knows how to sleep! Let me ask you, do you know where your mother puts her money?"
The people on the ground shrank and shook their heads.
Wang Heyao became angry and slapped him across the face, "What's the point of raising you, you loser!"
The person who was beaten didn't say a word, didn't even cry out in pain, and only gasped a few times, as if he had completely adapted to this level of beating.
Staring fiercely at the man on the ground, Wang Heyao still refused to give up. He grabbed the man's neck and pulled him up forcefully.
The weak light of the oil lamp illuminated Shen Wen's face. The bruises on his face were not completely healed, but now there was a new slap mark on his face.
But he didn't react at all, he just looked at the other party expressionlessly.
Wang Heyao was dragging him, dragging his feet on the ground. In fact, Wang Heyao was not very strong, but Shen Wen's body was too thin. He was all skin and bones and weighed almost as much as a child.
Wang Heyao asked impatiently: "Do you have any money on you?"
Shen Min looked at him with dull eyes and slowly shook his head.
Wang Heyao narrowed his eyes, "You know the consequences of lying to me."
Shen Wen still shook his head. Wang Heyao was furious. He held him up with one hand and made a fist with the other hand, hitting his most vulnerable temple. "I have been unlucky since I married you. I will beat you to death today and let me transport you." , you bitch!"
Shen Min neither hid nor evaded, with a look of relief on his face, and closed his eyes in front of his fist.
The fist didn't come down for a long time. Shen Wen slowly opened his eyes and saw Wang Heyao staring at his face not knowing what he was thinking.
His expression gradually became excited, his eyes shone with light, as if he had thought of something good, and his lips kept moving and mumbling something.
Because the voice was very low, Shen Wen barely heard him say: "Why didn't I think of it? Why didn't I think of it? Damn it, there is such a good way to make money, how could I just think of it..."
Wang Heyao actually opened Shen Wen's collar and let him stand on the ground properly. He also used both hands to help him pull his robe flat. He even tried to smooth Shen Wen's messed up hair with his hands, but Shen Wen was stopped by him. Wen turned his head and ducked away.
Wang Heyao's expression changed, and he raised his hand to hit someone again, but he quickly thought of something and forced himself to retract his hand.
The angry look turned into a sly smile. Wang Heyao rubbed his hands and said, "I just remembered that my friend asked me to go drinking at night. I have to go out, or I will be late."
He pushed Shen Min's shoulder with his hand, "Don't worry about me, go back to bed and sleep well, ah, sleep well."
Wang Heyao smoothed out his robe and limped out. When he got out of the back room, he grabbed the door panel with one hand and stretched his head in. He stared at Shen Wen who was standing there like a snake, with a grin on his face. Then he said again word by word: "Don't go anywhere, sleep well at home."
After saying that, he closed the door panel, and then there was a crisp click of the lock coming from outside the door panel.
A figure walked out of the outhouse door, swinging the key in his hand, and walked out of the yard with one foot deep and one foot shallow while humming a tune.