Make a long-term worker as an old attack

Niu Geng recognized this broken thatched hut not far from the county seat.Sanyuan County is surrounded by mountains on both sides. There are many hunters in the mountains who live by hunting. They brought their prey to the city to sell. Because they couldn't afford an inn, they built a hut outside the city to have a place to rest.

It's just that in recent years, the conditions of the people in the county have become worse and worse, and fewer and fewer people can afford wild game, so the frequency of hunters entering the city has become less and less.

Speaking of which, for a person who has nowhere to go, this place is indeed a good choice.

Xue Zhaoqing tugged on Xiaobai's rope, signaling it to stop barking.Although Xiao Bai Deling stopped howling, he could not stop grunting to warn of danger from the depths of his throat.

Niu Geng protected Xue Zhaoqing and retreated, walking towards the thatched cottage alone.

This house has been abandoned for a long time, most of the windows are broken and no one has repaired them, and the mud and grass on the roof are thin, and no one would try to reinforce it. year old child crawls over.

Niu Geng walked to the door, raised his hand, and knocked lightly on the door a few times.

There was no one answering the door, and he put his ear to the door, but he didn't hear anything. Immediately afterwards, Niu Geng tiptoed to one side of the window and looked in with his head slightly.

There was no sign of people there, and there was thick dust everywhere in the house, but the view from the window was not good, only a corner of the kang head could be seen, and it was hard to see if anyone was lying on the broken kang.

Niu Geng looked back at Xue Zhaoqing, Xue Zhaoqing nodded slightly, and signaled Niu Geng to go in, Niu Geng no longer hesitated, and gently pushed the wooden door, the old wooden door made a heavy "squeak" sound, opened to both sides, who was in sight None, and no one stopped the door from opening, so is it true that there is no living thing in this room?

But Xiaobai's nose should not go wrong, it has been raised by old Chen for five or six years, and it is usually fine to go to the mountains to collect medicine, bite wolves and hunt rabbits, so how could it go wrong at this time?

Since Xiaobai brought them here, there must be someone in this room, but they just hid after hearing the dog barking.Niu Geng stood outside the house and thought for a while, the house is extremely narrow and there is basically no place to hide people, if you can't see people when you open the door, then basically this person can only hide in...

He looked down, and sure enough, he saw a dark shadow under the slightly intact one of the two door panels, which seemed to be shivering in the dark room.

Niu Geng was a little wary in his heart, and stepped forward into the hut, only to see that he had just taken two steps forward, when a wooden stake holding the door greeted his head.Niu Geng, who had expected it for a long time, quickly dodged to the side and easily dodged the wooden stake. Seeing that the person in front of him missed a hit, he raised his hands and raised the wooden stake to come over.Niu Geng grabbed the wooden stake that was about to reach the top of his head, pulled it slightly with one hand, and dodged the wooden stake and came down. The man was staggered by him, his center of gravity was unstable, and he fell to the ground.

Xue Zhaoqing just outside the door was shocked when he saw the person fell down, so he hurriedly led Xiaobai over, Xiaobai bared his teeth and growled at the person on the ground, the poor man who was in tatters raised his head and saw his face full of fangs. The ferocious dog with sharp teeth immediately backed away in fright, until it was pushed by Xiao Bai to the corner where there was no way to retreat, then it shrank into a ball, not daring to move.

"Grandpas, please forgive me, please forgive me." The man was stared at fiercely by Xiaobai, and he couldn't think of any other way except to beg for mercy.

After Xue Zhaoqing checked Niu Geng's body up and down, and confirmed again and again that he was not injured, he thought about interrogating the man.

He took Xiao Bai and sat on a small stool pulled by Niu Geng facing the man.

The man in front of him has a sallow complexion, skinny as a stick, the flesh on his cheeks is sunken, and the joints of his hands are extremely thick. It seems that he used to be a farmer who fled here.

"What's your name?" Xue Zhaoqing opened his mouth and asked.

Seeing Xue Zhaoqing holding the fierce black dog by the hand, the man breathed a sigh of relief. Of the two in front of him, the one who was sitting was dressed as a servant and looked frail, and the one standing behind was dressed in black and was unusually tall. It seems that it is not easy to mess with.He didn't dare to speak nonsense, and replied honestly: "Young one, the young one's name is Tian Dekang."

As soon as they heard the name, the two knew that this person was right, Xue Zhaoqing continued to ask: "Where do you come from?"

"My little hometown is in Tianjia Village, Lingshui County. Because the land was famined and there were bandits in that area, I really couldn't survive, so I came to Sanyuan County to find a job as a long-term laborer." Ling Ling Water, Xue Zhaoqing said silently in his heart, it is indeed true, both my aunt and Tian Degui's hometown are from that area

"Oh? How did you come to Sanyuan County? It should be closer from Lingshui to Xi'an Prefecture. There are more wealthy households there than in Sanyuan County. Why don't you go there to find work?"

"There is an old acquaintance here in Sanyuan County. Now the big landlord here is in charge of things, and the young one came here?"

"Manage things? Hmph." Xue Zhaoqing couldn't help sneering, when will it be Tian Degui's turn to manage things in the Xue family? !Even if his father falls ill, there is Xue Fu in the courtyard, and Xue Zhong is the long-term worker. He is a man with a foreign surname, why should he care about the affairs of Xue's family!

Xue Zhaoqing suppressed his anger a little, knowing that this was not the time to get angry with this person, he continued to ask: "You came here for refuge? Is it the one named Tian Degui?"

When Tian Dekang heard this, he raised his low head: "Why, this young master recognizes him... Could it be... Could it be... Young master, please spare me, please! Let me tell you about the past, I will leave now, I will leave now! I will not set foot on this Sanyuan County again." After finishing speaking, he burst into tears.

The two felt strange, why is it that hearing Tian Degui's name is more frightening than seeing a vicious dog, is it possible?

"Don't kowtow, we won't kill you, how can you be so scared?"

"You...you two, didn't you come to send me to heaven?"

"?" The two were taken aback for a moment, Xue Zhaoqing continued: "For no reason, why do we want your life?"

"My lord...wasn't Tian Degui sent here...to kill me?"

"Hmph." Xue Zhaoqing snorted softly from the throat: "The one surnamed Tian wants to order us, but I'm afraid he doesn't have the ability!"

Tian Dekang looked carefully. When Tian Degui was mentioned, the contempt and disdain on the faces of these two people did not appear to be feigned. If these two people were not part of Tian Degui's group, could it be possible that they also had a grudge against him?

"Young one... just ask me a little too much... the two masters are also looking for Tian Degui to settle accounts?"

Xue Zhaoqing heard something tricky: "Yeah? Why, there are so many people who want to settle accounts with him?"

"Indeed, in Lingshui County today, as long as Tian Degui's name is mentioned, many wealthy families will scold him, and it is not uncommon for him to be killed. Now Tian Degui dare not go back to Lingshui County at all, and he dare not let his hometown If someone knows where he is, otherwise he will be found, and there will be a lot of trouble if he is not beaten to death."

"Then how did you find him?"

"The ones he offended were all wealthy families in the county or the village. We, a group of fellow clansmen who played with him since we were young, have no grievances against him. He has made a fortune in Sanyuan County, and we only wanted to mess with him when we found him. Have a meal."

"According to what you said, there should be no enmity between the two of you, so why do you think we are here to kill you?" Xue Zhaoqing's words were right, and he immediately found the loophole in Tian Dekang's words.

"This..." Tian Dekang looked around randomly, hesitating.

Seeing this, Xue Zhaoqing loosened the dog's rope slightly. Xiaobai bared his teeth and stepped forward, only an arm's length away from Tian Dekang. The hot breath from the dog sprayed on his face. Tian Dekang trembled with fright and howled repeatedly: "I said, I said."

Seeing this, Xue Zhaoqing brought Xiaobai back, and Tian Dekang huddled into a ball and continued, "When Tian Degui was young, his family's life was good. His father thought that his son was good at studying, so he invited the elders from the village to help him." Mr. Xiucai taught him calligraphy and painting hand in hand, but at that time Tian Degui was not interested in memorizing books for academic achievement, but liked to copy all kinds of copybooks. After a long time, he learned that the copybooks of famous masters were very similar. But the test A few times, but he didn’t pass the exam. Later his father died, Tian Degui learned to write when he was a child, and he knew nothing about farm work. In addition, during the years when he went to Xi’an Prefecture for the exam, he learned it from the sons and brothers in the city. He gambled, his family was ruined by him within a few years. So in order to make a living, he copied the copybooks of famous masters in the city, and brought them back to Lingshui County and our Tianjiazhuang to sell to those who have a little money. landowner or squire."

"What happened later? They found out? But it's just fake calligraphy and fake paintings. Even if you get cheated of money, it won't kill you."

"It's nothing more than that, but the bad thing is that he sold a pair of false characters to the family of a well-known and face-saving Li rich man in Lingshui. On the spot, after getting this word, I immediately invited people to observe it. Among the people who came to observe it, they knew it was fake. After dismantling it on the spot, the rich man Li was so pissed. That night, Rich man Li was so pissed off by this incident. Rich man Li's son is a well-known bully in Lingshui. Seeing that his father was pissed to death by a fake character, he swore that if he found Tian Degui's shadow, he would be crushed. The dead body must be in ten thousand pieces. Because of this, Tian Degui dared not go home, nor did he dare to reveal his whereabouts easily."

"Didn't you say that he is very good at copying calligraphy and paintings of famous artists? Why was he exposed again?"

"He's great, but I heard that the characters he copied are at most similar in shape. People who really know how to do it can tell them apart after a few more glances."

After finishing speaking, Xue Zhaoqing pondered carefully, if he did not miscalculate, Tian Degui probably used this method to use his family letter as a copybook, and wrote down the so-called letter of collaborating with Donglin party members.There's just one thing he doesn't understand. Dad has watched him read since he was a child. Even if Tian Degui looks like him, he should be able to tell the difference as long as he reads it several times carefully?

"Qing'er, is it possible that Master Xue fainted before he had time to take a closer look?" Niu Geng mentioned on the side.

"Well... Indeed, my aunt and the others also wanted to force him to fall ill after drinking such impetuous drugs beforehand. It must have happened at that time. How can I say that? In that case, Dad would definitely not take a closer look. If this letter has not been destroyed, as long as Uncle Fu reads it, he will be able to recognize that it is not my handwriting!"

Niu Geng nodded and replied, at this time the matter has become clear, Tian Dekang used this matter to threaten Tian Degui but was beaten instead, he must be looking for an opportunity to threaten him again in this shabby hut, although this person behaves vilely, he is still a good person Witness, Niu Geng looked at Xue Zhaoqing, and pouted at the place where Tian Dekang was curled up. Xue Zhaoqing understood, and opened his mouth to ask: "You have two ways to go now. First, you continue to threaten Tian Degui and see when he will Will you really find someone to deal with you? Second, after a few days, you will go with me and point out in front of everyone that he knows how to copy a copybook."

"Master...is there a third way?" Tian Dekang asked with a sad face.

"It's not impossible. The two of us will go out and let you stay in the same room with this black dog. If you can last for an hour, I will give you money and send you out of Sanyuan County. How about we not entangle you again?"

"Forget it, forget it, I'll choose the second way..."

The two looked at each other and smiled, and left some food money for Tian Dekang so that he would not starve to death in the past few days, and took Xiaobai back to the inn.