Thousands of Miles

It was evening, and in the narrow alley, the dim sunlight dragged the two figures, one old and one young, long.The obese figure of the old man was slender and slender by the sunlight, forming a sharp contrast with himself; while the thin figure of the young man was folded into two sections at the corner of the uneven earth wall, like a skinny lotus stalk in a lotus pond.

In the boy's raised hands, the clear and clear sound of copper plates colliding echoed.

"36, 37... 45, 46, 48..." The gray-haired old man in a brocade robe counted the coins one by one and put them in the young man's hand. He did not know whether he missed a coin intentionally or unintentionally.

The boy didn't say anything, and still maintained the previous posture of putting his hands together, as if he didn't hear his mistake, he took the money in his hand.

"49, fifty! Alright, fifty dollars!" The old man clapped his palms with relief, and smiled at the young man, "Our members have plenty of money, but unfortunately we lack a son. Our members see you as handsome, so we treat you very well." I like it. Anyway, your father is gone, and your mother has remarried, so living a good life in our house is much better than selling firewood for you? What do you think? Why don’t you move here today?”

"This..." A trace of embarrassment flashed across the boy's sweaty face, and he muttered embarrassedly, "This is not good... I should go back."

"Hey you..." The old man still wanted to hold back a few words to him, but the young man ran away with the money in his pocket, faster than a rabbit, and disappeared at the corner of the narrow alley in a blink of an eye.

The boy ran all the way in a panic, passing through one narrow alley after another like the wind.

"Ximeng! Lin Ximeng!" A middle-aged man shouted behind the running boy, "Run when you see me! Stop, boy!"

Hearing that voice, the boy stopped in his tracks, a trace of astonishment flashed in his bright eyes, and he became calm immediately.

"Hey, Ximeng, let's discuss something." The stubble-faced middle-aged man had a big hypocritical smile on his face, his eyes narrowed into slits, and he pulled Ximeng to the side. From a hidden corner, he said mysteriously, "Ximeng, you are already 12 years old, and you are an adult. You also know... that... Ever since I got married to your mother, I have been having bad luck. Recently, We are all so poor that we can’t afford to eat...Ximeng, do you have any money? Let’s borrow a few taels of silver from your parents first?"

Xi Meng glanced at the man and shook his head.

"Ximeng, please do me a favor... Your mother and I are really going to starve to death... Woooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo..." The middle-aged man cried as soon as he said that Tears flowed across his bearded and shaggy face instantly, with dirt and tears streaming down his face, and he held Ximeng tightly in his hand, "You can do it, okay you... have the heart to see me starve to death with your mother... If your mother and I starve to death, the whole village will call you an unfilial son, and you will never have a good life... woo woo woo..."

Xi Meng frowned, and gave the man the fifty cents he had just bought for chaide.

As soon as he saw the copper coin, the man's eyes lit up and he burst into tears into a smile. He hurriedly put the money into his arms, and then grabbed Ximeng's arm tightly and asked, "Good boy Ximeng, do you have any more?" ?"

"It's gone!" Xi Meng pushed the man's hand away in disgust, and frowned, "Don't do it again!"

"Hey hey hey, you give me more today, and I won't come again when I have enough." Although the man was short in stature, it was more than enough to block 12-year-old Ximeng in the corner, and stood in front of him without enough money. He refused to leave, "Xi Meng, I know you must still have money. I did the math. I was 21 when I came back last time, and today I am 150. You earn [-] Wen a day and [-] Wen in three days. You are a child. What do you want so much money for? Hurry up and give it to your parents!"

"You..." Ximeng never expected that this scoundrel would calculate every penny of his money so meticulously, a little sullen in his heart, and kept silent in the corner, ignoring his demands.

"Xi Meng, don't be ignorant!" the man said arrogantly, "Pay another hundred copper coins, if you lose one today, I'll go back and hang that bitch Wang Jiao and beat him to death!"

"..." Ximeng tugged at the corner of his worn-out clothes with his skinny fingers, feeling a little helpless.

Although it was 150 wen for three days, but he needed to eat every day, and sometimes the old housekeeper of Zhang Yuanwai’s house would give him one or two less. How could he hand over the full 150 wen to him?

"Ximeng, it's all right to hand over the money today, if not, you can try it!" The man took out a red handkerchief from his arms, spread it in his palm and whispered softly, "Come on, Ximeng Come on, put your money on this."

He used this trick very hard, Xi Meng stared at the red handkerchief in his hand, as if his mother's life was in his hands, panicked for a moment, and said softly: "The money is at home."

"If that's the case, let's get it quickly!" The man grabbed Ximeng and rushed to the door of his "home".

It was said that it was Ximeng's house, but it was actually just a broken thatched hut with four walls and no decent furniture in sight.Although Ximeng tidied up the dilapidated hut, it still inevitably looked a little dirty and gloomy.

The man threw Ximeng aside emotionally, strode into the small room, turned his small wooden table and bed into a mess, and finally found a bag of copper coins in a small burlap bag beside the bed, and put them on the bed. He weighed it in his hand, and then he smiled.

"Xi Meng, it's not bad." The man smiled and patted Xi Meng's shoulder, "I'll come again next time!"

Ximeng ignored him, and the man walked away happily humming a little tune with the copper coins in his hands.

Ximeng stared blankly at his house that had been turned upside down, walked slowly to a dark corner and squatted down, and dug out two half-rotten raw taro from among several old earthen jars.

Due to malnutrition, 12-year-old Ximeng has not yet grown up and his hands are still small. He looks like a child who needs to be loved and cared for, not like a young adult who can support himself or even support his parents.

Holding two dirty rotten yams in his rough hands, he walked to the back of the house. The sun had completely set. Ximeng squatted by the well, washed the two yams in a small basin, and carefully dug out the rotten parts. , and washed it with water twice.

A little yellow dog ran up to Ximeng wagging its tail and rubbed against Ximeng's arms.

"Little Huang, I'm not hugging you now, I still have to cook." Ximeng didn't reach out to hug the puppy, but stood up with his two freshly washed taro, and said to the dog seriously, " I'll play with you after dinner."

"Ximeng? Ximeng..." An old woman staggered into Ximeng's small yard, saw him holding two taros, and asked, "Your stepfather has he come again? What a crime. "

Ximeng smiled slightly and nodded.

"This man is really a crime. He knows how to gamble all day long. He comes to ask you for money every day." The old woman spat on the ground and said angrily, "I didn't remember him when he came in the past. Just remember, today is the 21st day of this month, and he happened to be here for the seventh time! What a crime! He spends his days thinking about a child! Ximeng, grandma’s dinner is ready, you go to grandma’s for dinner Bar."

"Ah, no need..." Ximeng stroked the taro in his hand with his fingers, "I'll cook for myself."

"Haven't you cooked the meal yet? Grandma's house has already prepared it, and you can eat it in the past." The old lady took Ximeng's little hand and said, "Grandma also lives alone, so she specially cooked meals for the two of us. You If you don’t come to eat, you have to waste it.”

"Thank you..." Ximeng said, "However, these two taro will go bad tomorrow..."

"Bring it here and I'll cook it for you. When it's done, you can take it with you and eat it with your rice." The old lady went to Ximeng and took two taros and put them on the stove, and went to the stove to help light the fire.

With a small body, Ximeng lifted the wooden bucket filled with water, poured all the water left in the bucket into the pot, then put the taro into the water, and covered the pot.

"Ximeng, if you don't have anything to eat in the future, you can eat at Grandma's house." The old woman said, "Anyway, Grandma is alone, so I am very happy when you come to Grandma."

"Um……"

"You see, my little yellow likes to play with you." The old woman smiled and pulled the little yellow dog that was rubbing against Ximeng's calf with all four limbs, and scolded the puppy, "Stop rubbing, it's dirty. Ximeng's pants are also dirty!"

"It's okay, my pants are already dirty..."

"Ximeng, have you thought about leaving? Your evil stepfather comes to you every day to ask for money, and you can't live this life..."

"Um……"

Ximeng usually doesn't know how to speak, and he can't say what he thinks in his heart, so it's over after a "hmm", no one knows what he thinks.As long as it's not something he dislikes, even if he refuses, he will go if he is forced to, such as going to the old woman's house for dinner.

The old woman had dinner with him, and said a lot about his future, but he also agreed, not knowing how much he listened to.

But a 12-year-old child, no matter how sensible he is, is still a child, how much can he understand.Seeing that it was getting late, Ximeng helped the old woman clean up the dishes, then said goodbye and went out, returning to her room.

Seeing that it was getting late, Xi Meng was about to close the door, but unexpectedly, the smiling face of his stepfather appeared in front of him.After that, the father asked Ximeng happily, "Ximeng, your mother is very happy that you gave us so much money today, and specially made you a table of meals for you to eat."

"I've eaten." Ximeng held the door bolt tightly in his hand, and looked at his stepfather warily, "I don't have any money, so don't come."

"Ximeng, your mother misses you so much that she wants to cry. Let me take you home and she wants to see you." The stepfather leaned on the door frame and refused to let Ximeng close the door. "She said you can't go in. She cried till dawn tonight!"

Children will soften their hearts when they hear their mothers, and Ximeng is no exception.He glanced at his stepfather cautiously before putting the bolt in the corner.

"By the way, we're all one family. You look like we're going to hurt you." The stepfather pulled Ximeng out of the door, "Come on, don't dawdle! Follow me quickly!"

Ximeng pushed away his stepfather's hand, closed the door, and followed him to their home.

Since his mother remarried, Ximeng hardly saw her, and he never went to his stepfather's house.Ximeng didn't know the way, so he just followed him, and before he knew it, he came to the side door of a deep house.

The night was dark, the surroundings were pitch black, and there was no human figure, only a few tall ancient trees in the courtyard wall stretched out their black claws, as if they wanted to hook people into hell.

The stepfather knocked on the door, and the small side door opened in front of him silently, and a person poked his head out furtively.The stepfather smiled and exchanged glances with the sneaky doorman, and nodded.

The atmosphere seemed wrong, and there seemed to be a human aura hidden behind the door, Ximeng took a few steps back warily.

"Ximeng, what are you doing standing there? Come in." The stepfather turned around and waved to Ximeng with a smile, "Why are you so afraid? There are no tigers here."

"Where is my mother?" Ximeng asked cautiously, standing still and refusing to move forward.

"Your mother is inside, you can see it when you go in." The stepfather waved at Ximeng vigorously, "Hurry up! Come in!"

"Let my mother come out." Ximeng looked at his stepfather defensively and said, "Otherwise I won't go in."

"You child is too unreasonable. There is no reason to let your mother come to the door to meet you!" The stepfather was anxious, and wanted to come out, La Ximeng, "Go in quickly!"

"Since she won't come out, see you another day!" Xi Meng pushed away his stepfather's hand, turned and ran.

"Stop! Hurry up and catch him!" Ximeng's stepfather shouted behind him, and several young servants rushed out from behind the hidden side door, chasing him in the direction where the boy was running.

The author has something to say:

That’s right, Shou Shou him, 12 years old~ [Laughing and crying] Believe me, Gong is coming soon~~