I am drawing cards in Liaozhai

The autumn wind was bleak, and Wang Sheng was squatting in his small yard cooking porridge, sucking his nose.

Suddenly a gust of cold wind swept in front of him and rolled up the dead leaves all over the ground. Wang Sheng couldn't help shivering, and subconsciously wrapped his cotton robe tightly around his body.

He shyly stretched out two fingers, picked up the brown autumn leaves that fell on the small saucepan, and threw them at his feet.

It has been almost half a month since Wang Sheng came to this world, and he has changed from a small otaku who does not work hard to a poor scholar with the same name and surname.

Life forces people to grow up. Hunger and poverty allowed Wang Sheng to master a lot of survival skills in the fastest time. Wang Sheng thought sadly that if he wears it back now, he will publish a book called How to Use Five Dollars Money lives for three days.

The original Wang Sheng didn't know how to mess around. He was a young man, at most eighteen or nine years old, and he was still a scholar.How could it be that this poor family has no food to eat.

Wang Sheng remembered that when he first came here, there was only a thin layer of rice left in the rice jar, with a lot of rice bran mixed in it.Wang Sheng rummaged through the box, and finally found five copper coins from the crack of the bed.

At that time, he only felt that his eyes were dark. Even if he didn't know the average income of the ancient people at all, he could guess that it would take only a few days for five copper coins.Moreover, he was still weak all over, dizzy and dizzy, but he was sweating all over his body when he moved a little, which was clearly a symptom of a serious illness.

It is estimated that the original owner was so sick and hungry that he died. Thinking of this, Wang Sheng just wants to cry. Others are making contributions in time travel, no matter how bad they are, they can become a little rich and happy. How come when it is my turn, I come to experience starvation for myself What is it like.

Wang Sheng squatted on the ground, remembering bitterness and sweetness for a while, and felt that the porridge he had been drinking for half a month was not so unappetizing.

Knocking on his numb knee, Wang Sheng stood up from the ground, picked up the pot on the small stove, and poured half of the porridge into the broken porcelain bowl.

He carefully avoided the crack on the bowl, and perfunctorily blew two breaths into the boiling hot porridge, before filling the porridge all in one breath.The remaining half was carefully put away by Wang Sheng in the corner of the kitchen, ready to warm up and drink when he came back in the evening.

Now that the weather is getting colder and getting darker earlier, Wang Sheng plans to finish work early and come back early.Ignoring his numb tongue from the heat, Wang Sheng quickly packed his things from the house and carried them on his back, then hurried out.

He now sets up a small stall to write letters for others every day. This is the only job Wang Sheng thought of after he traveled.

Although the original owner lived a very poor life, it was purely because he didn't work all day long, holding on to the nobility of a literati, as if he could fill his stomach by drinking wind and dew.In fact, Dingxi Town is just a small place, and the proportion of scholars here is not high. It is actually quite rare to be able to read and write.

Fortunately, no matter what his life, Wang Sheng has nothing to do with Qing Gao. After he came here, he rested for only two days, and he was very eager to survive, before the rice in the tank was all eaten, and he packed up the house The pen, ink, paper and inkstone left in the house went to the town to write letters for others.

At first, when he was writing letters and setting up a stall, he ran into people who knew Wang Sheng before. They were very surprised to see that Wang Sheng, who was originally with his nostrils in the sky, actually went to the streets to make a living.There will even be those boring people who are bored. They have to come and tease him when they see him, but Wang Sheng ignores him. He doesn't know anyone anyway. There is no one to make fun of themselves.

Wang Sheng now set up a small stall in front of a bookstore to write letters to people. The owner of this bookstore is a fat old man, surnamed Li. He is the first good person Wang Sheng has met since he came here.

At that time, he had just arrived here, and he really couldn't think of what kind of work he could find with his skinny body. In the end, he had no choice but to run to the bookstore to try his luck, wondering if he could find a book copyer. manual labor.

Unexpectedly, Boss Li, who looked indifferent and indifferent, not only gave him a pen and ink to copy books on credit, but also instructed him to set up a booth in front of the bookstore to write letters.

Wang Sheng remembered very clearly that at that time, all the food, rice and noodles at home were empty. If he couldn't find a way to make money, Wang Sheng really had to go home and eat tree bark.Panicked and aggrieved, he took advantage of the dim light of the cloudy day to sit on the wooden table and chair that Boss Li had temporarily lent him, copying books in a hurry.

He had been starving for several days, and the hand holding the pen was trembling when he was really hungry, but Wang Sheng still gritted his teeth and wanted to copy as much as possible.

Because the bookstore's rule is to copy one book and pay one book, if he can't finish copying this book today, he will have to wait until tomorrow to finish copying to get paid.Wang Sheng was not at all confident that his family's food storage would last another day. From this morning until now, his stomach was filled with only a large ladle of cold water that he forcibly poured in before going out.

The cold water sloshed back and forth in his empty stomach, and Wang Cheng felt in a trance that his whole body seemed to be submerged in the cold water. His eyes followed the water flow, as if he was about to be drowned.

He never knew that hunger was such a terrifying thing before, it seemed that there was a lump of ice in his stomach, and it seemed that he was roasting on the fire, which made him feel restless and almost nauseated.

Just when Wang Sheng's emotions were gradually breaking down, he suddenly heard a long sigh. At some time, Boss Li had already paced in front of him. He lowered his head and said in a flat tone: "It's almost dark, I have to go out of business here too, you can copy it tomorrow."

Wang Sheng's eyes were red, he pressed his flat stomach hard, and wanted to struggle again, but Boss Li didn't look at him: "My work here is all daily, and I will pay you as much as you copy. .”

He paused, glanced at Wang Sheng's open books, and said, "You have copied more than half of it, and I will write 25 essays for you today, and I will give you five essays tomorrow after you finish copying."

After all, without giving Wang Sheng a chance to speak, he directly put the copper coin in his hand in front of Wang Sheng, and then dragged away.

Halfway through the walk, as if thinking of something again, he turned his head and pointed at the table and said, "I'm getting old, and I can't melt too much glutinous rice. If you don't mind that half plate of cakes, take it back, and save me The old man is always wasting food and committing crimes."

On the table was a plate of sweet-scented osmanthus cake that only touched a piece or two. When Wang Sheng was copying the book just now, he didn't know how long he secretly glanced at it, and how long he secretly swallowed his saliva.

Wang Sheng stared at him with hunger, and took the sweet-scented osmanthus cake wrapped in oil paper in a daze, and thanked Boss Li incoherently.When he expressed his gratitude for the third time like a cart wheel, he was finally waved out by the owner of the bookstore who was in a hurry to close the door.

On the way back, Wang Sheng was still grinning stupidly. He stuffed the sweet-scented osmanthus cake into his mouth, the tip of his tongue was sweet for a long time, but tears fell down unexpectedly.

He didn't bother to pay attention to other people's eyes, so he walked back home crying and laughing all the way.

When he got home and sat down on a chair, thinking of the unbearable past few days, Wang Sheng cried while being wronged, while not forgetting to eat the sweet-scented osmanthus cake.

In this way, although life was difficult at the beginning, but with a profitable livelihood, he still survived after all.

He knew in his heart that it was the owner of the bookstore who pitied him for being single and poor. Wang Sheng had always been secretly grateful, but unfortunately he had no property and couldn't repay him for a while, so he could only keep this kindness in his heart.

Today, Wang Sheng arrived at the bookstore on time, and first handed the book he just finished copying to the bookstore owner.

Boss Li is dozing off behind an old elm table at this moment. He always looks lazy and can't cheer up anything. misery.

He looked up and caught sight of Wang Sheng, without saying a word, he silently took out forty copper coins and handed them to him.Wang Sheng was stunned, "Boss, you gave too much. Thirty copper coins for a book are enough."

The old man Li glanced at him again, "The weather is cold, and fewer people come to copy books, so the price will naturally go up." After that, he took out another book and handed it to Wang Sheng. I will give you forty Wen as usual."

Wang Sheng hurriedly reached out to take it, thanked him solemnly, then turned around and left with the book in his arms.

Wang Sheng returned to his small stall and thought silently that although he had no memory of the original owner and his eyes were darkened when he first came here, fortunately he inherited the calligraphy of the original owner somehow, so he was considered lucky, otherwise he would be really lucky this time. Gotta starve to death on the streets.

Thinking of this, Wang Sheng rubbed his hands vigorously to warm them up, then opened the book given by the bookstore owner, and carefully copied it on the paper.This copying took two hours, during which Wang Sheng also took on a lot of letter writing tasks, but now most of the letters are not long-winded, just to pass news to family and friends or to report that they are safe, so a letter is basically as long as a few words.

After a lot of busy work, the flow of people gradually thinned out. Wang Sheng looked up at the sky and was about to pack up the pens and papers. Because of the small number of words, he didn't earn much. He only made a mere ten dollars after working all afternoon. A few copper plates.

But it may be that he was too poor before, and after experiencing the feeling of being so hungry that his chest is pressed against his back, Wang Sheng looked at those copper coins and felt that each one was his own little treasure.He treasured it carefully and carefully put away the copper plate, wrapped it in the cloth, and then carefully put it into his arms.

It was getting dark, and Wang Sheng had no spare money to buy lanterns. He was worried that he would not be able to see the road clearly at night, so he hurried home.

On the way home, he happened to meet his neighbor. Wang Sheng didn't know his neighbor's name before, but because he was the second, everyone called him Zhao Erlang.

Zhao Erlang was born tall and strong, but he was a bit unfamiliar with Wang Sheng at first, probably because he didn't move around frequently before.However, he was simple and simple, and under Wang Sheng's enthusiastic offensive, he gradually became familiar with Wang Sheng. After that, he would often chop firewood for him, a little rookie who couldn't carry it with his hands, and carry water, etc., to solve Wang Sheng's problems. It is a big problem for Sheng to survive.

Wang Sheng couldn't help sighing from time to time, if it is true that distant relatives are not as good as close neighbors, the ancients never deceived me.

"Second Brother Zhao! Why are you going out so late? Have you brought a lantern? It will be dark later." Wang Sheng said hello first.

Zhao Erlang looked up to see Wang Sheng, and couldn't help showing a smile. He actually liked this neighbor very much in his heart, and thought that Wang Sheng was fair and handsome, and he had the character of a scholar. Let alone his recovery from illness, his descendants would be kind. Not a lot.Zhao Erlang is usually a helpful person, seeing Wang Sheng living alone is having a hard time, he often can't help but go up to help.

"It's Xiaojuan. She has been going to the embroidery workshop to help with things these few days. I don't worry about it, so I will pick her up." Zhao Erlang patted his head honestly.

Wang Sheng understood that the Xiaojuan that Zhao Erlang was talking about was his childhood sweetheart, and the two had made an appointment at the beginning of the year, and they will have a wedding in the spring of next year, "Then you go, come back early so that you don't bump into each other." curfew."

"Hey!" Zhao Erlang nodded repeatedly, passed Wang Sheng in a hurry, and when he was almost at the entrance of the alley, he suddenly remembered something, slapped his head suddenly and turned around.

"Looking at my memory, I almost forgot to tell you that someone seems to be visiting your house. When I came out, I saw the lights were on inside. I don't know if it's a relative from your hometown who came to see you." Zhao Erlang knew he was there. There are no relatives in Dingxi Town, and they have always lived alone.

Wang Sheng was taken aback when he heard the words, and nodded with a blank face. He didn't care about continuing to greet Zhao Erlang, turned around, and hurriedly ran to his home.

Looking at his hurried back, Zhao Erlang stood there and thought with blank eyes, so they are really relatives.

It's just that if it's a relative, why didn't Wang Sheng come when he was seriously ill.