old grace

How much say does a weak three-year-old have in family affairs?Most of them don't know what's going on at home.

Xie Qinghe ran with this weak little body, afraid that if he ran too slowly, his mother would be taken away.

Fortunately, the layout of the houses in central Beijing is not very large. No matter how wide the ancestors were, the regulations were placed there, and the height and size of the houses were limited.In the small courtyard, there was only a small courtyard, the west wing and the inverted room were rented out, and the house of grandfather and parents stayed in the east wing.

When Xie Qinghe turned around, he could smell the strong smell of wine, there was a stove under the corridor, and a young woman in plain clothes was stewing vegetables.

"Mother." Xie Qinghe called out.

The young woman is the helper's mother-in-law, Mrs. Zhang. Knowing that her father-in-law insisted on selling herself to pay off the debts, and her foolish and filial husband was "powerless to resist", Mrs. Zhang had no choice but to cry silently.These days, the relatives want to sell their son and daughter-in-law, and the officials agree to it.In other words, it's legal.

In a woman's family, she obeys her father at home and her husband when married.Since the husband is the son of man, the daughter-in-law is of course also the private property of the husband's family.

So, knowing that she was going to be taken away by Ren Yazi in the afternoon, Mrs. Zhang was still cooking for her father-in-law and husband honestly.

Hearing the baby's voice, the worried Zhang raised her head, quickly put down the wooden shovel and took off the apron, stepped forward to hold her son in her arms, and covered her son's feet, which were only wearing thin tiger-toed shoes, with her callused palms. , Trying to rub his son to warm him up: "Gou Bao woke up? Are you hungry?" He made a "shh" motion.

Xie Qinghe saw that she didn't doubt her well-dressed trousers, so he honestly let her carry her to the stove.

Mrs. Zhang hugged him and sat down in front of the stove. The place with firewood was naturally warm. After all, she was her own mother. She quietly lifted the lid of the pot, fished a piece of pork that was both fat and thin, and stewed crystal clear, and blew it. , Feed it into Xie Qinghe's mouth.

Xie Qinghe was full after drinking fish soup and rice paste. After eating this piece of meat, he still felt that it was the best piece of meat in his life.

This unlucky child...how long has he been hungry?As for?

[Do you want more? ] Mrs. Zhang made a gesture to Xie Qinghe, but did not dare to speak loudly.

Behind him is the father's house. If it wasn't cold today, father-in-law closed the door to catch up on sleep in the room. He used to open the door when cooking and supervised himself--for fear that his daughter-in-law would steal his good food.Zhang's stealing is not greedy. When he had no son, he secretly left it to his husband. After having a son, he probably wanted to cling to him.It's a pity that the grandfather is merciless.The delicious food is all your own.

Xie Qinghe shook his head subconsciously.

Mrs. Zhang held Xie Qinghe in her arms, and kissed her tightly several times, with tears in her young and loving eyes.

Xie Qinghe is an orphan.He doesn't have any impression of his parents.Suddenly turning into a three-year-old child, being hugged so warmly by Mrs. Zhang, and saying goodbye and hug full of emotion, he had a very strange feeling.

I don't know if it is the blood connection between the original body and the Zhang family, but the ordinary looking Zhang family is very gentle and beautiful in Xie Qinghe's eyes, and he can smell a warm scent with a strange connection.This made him have a very strong liking for Zhang Shi, and he desperately wanted to protect Zhang Shi.

Just being hugged by Mrs. Zhang and eating the stew in the pot like this can't save Mrs. Zhang from being sold.

Xie Qinghe struggled to get off the ground, and creaked open the door behind Mrs. Zhang.

Mrs. Zhang seemed to be frightened by her son's actions, and wanted to hug her son back, but Xie Qinghe had already climbed over the threshold clumsily, and closed the door again with a creak.Mrs. Zhang was so anxious that she wanted to open the door again to take her son away, but she was also afraid of the sound from that door—what if the father-in-law was woken up?But if the door is not opened and the son is in the father's room, who knows what will happen?

Years of being cautious made Zhang Shi used to being timid, she stood at the door, the door was so close at hand, she really didn't dare to push it.

There was thunderous snoring in the house.

A fat old man was lying high on the kang.

There was also no kang, but a charcoal basin was placed in front of the bed.This chubby old man, who was raised in vain and plump, looked overly drunk, the charcoal burned in his house was much better than that in the ancestor's house, the smoke was not so choking, and the charcoal color was also delicate.

This is Bangxian's grandfather Li Shengze, the last generation of the rich young man of the Li family.

——When Li Shengze was young, the Li family was indeed rich.In the capital, there are three shops, one restaurant, and numerous other shareholdings.

I can't help but both of you are prodigal sons.The old ancestor is not good at management, he loves poetry, painting and wine bureau, and the family business depends on his daughter-in-law Yan's management.The Yan family is also the daughter of a merchant family, and the two families were well-matched when they got married.The Yan family has a hot-tempered personality, busy with the family business and neglected to give birth, the old couple did not have Li Shengze as the only child until they were 40 years old.

Therefore, when Li Shengze was young, he didn't talk about rich clothes and fine food, at least he was the young master of a small family who refused to eat fat meat.

The bad is after the death of the ancestor's wife Yan.

The ancestor is a good-for-nothing who only knows how to make love, and Li Shengze is also a good-for-nothing who only knows how to eat, drink and have fun. Neither of them knows how to run a business.

My father and I don't know how the Yan family manages the business, but how much business the Yan family has, the father and I still don't know!It should be noted that most of Yan's foreign investment is the business of relatives and friends of the family, and they are all oral contracts. Every year when the time comes, relatives and friends of the family will send someone to send dividends.After Yan's death, several kind-hearted close friends returned the shareholding money, and as for how many people have no news... The two of you don't know at all.

The money for the shareholding was gone, and several shops were not doing well. After more than ten years of persistence, the shops were all sold out.

Li Shengze is also a wonder.

No matter how the family situation is, you can't cut your own expenses.Ten years ago, this guy stopped eating bird's nest every day.

At this moment, there are old and young in the family, and Li Shengze is still the one who enjoys it the most.Enslave the son and daughter-in-law, and cut down the father's daily food and drink harshly, anyway, the whole family will support him alone.

Xie Qinghe looked at the soft and delicate silk clothes and the beautifully embroidered silk quilt on the fat old man, and had to applaud the dead old man.

The clothes on the ancestor's body are stinky, and Zhang's wears two layers of old single clothes in the winter. He, the little grandson of the nine generations, only has one pair of open crotch pants. Keep on wearing it, look at this old man, he is well dressed.A suit of silk clothes can be exchanged for a new set of clothes for the whole family!

There are four sets of decent clothes in his closet, silk, silk, quilted, cotton, shoes are made by Zhang, with a layered bottom and beautiful needlework.

His quilt is warm and soft new cotton, and the high soft pillow is also stuffed with cotton.

——Ms. Zhang didn't even have a cotton coat.

There were unfinished jugs in a mess on his table, and there were two pieces of braised pork left, completely cold and frozen with glistening fat.

If it is said that the daughter-in-law is filial piety to support the father, but the ancestor who lives in the main house burns choked charcoal and eats dry fish soup and rice paste, does not see this dead old man spending a few dollars or more? Are you distracted by filial piety?

Xie Qinghe climbed up the chair softly, and gently pulled back the window that was slightly opened for ventilation.

Charcoal can kill.

but.

Xie Qinghe was still worried that Li Xiong had dragged Mrs. Zhang to sell before Li Shengze died.

So, he went out and took Zhang's hand: "Mother, let's go."

Mrs. Zhang is still looking at the fire, and there are still vegetables stewing in the pot. I am afraid that this precious meat and vegetables will be burnt, so how dare she go?Besides, she is an honest person.The father-in-law said he wanted to sell her, and the husband had already gone to find someone else, so how could she leave?

Xie Qinghe didn't care so much, he didn't feel ashamed to say anything, what if Mrs. Zhang was a strict mother and beat him up in a hurry?His three-year-old body couldn't bear it.So she opened her eyes wide and tried to please her cuteness: "Let's go outside."

At this time in the past, there were shopkeepers passing by outside the door, selling things like small combs, as well as winter melon candies and mints that children love to eat.

Mrs. Zhang also saved money to buy sweet-scented osmanthus sweets for her son. Now she thought that her son wanted to eat sweets. She remembered that she was about to leave home and would never see her beloved son again. A piece of candy, no matter what, I have to buy it for my son.She picked up the big firewood in the stove, turned down the damper, and added a ladle of water to the stew, then went back to the house and took out a few coins from the closet, and led her son out.

I went out and looked around, but the salesman was not there.

Xie Qinghe looked at her pitifully again, trying to pull her out.

Mrs. Zhang thought that the shopkeeper walking around the streets would not be far away, so she dragged Xie Qinghe to look outside.She has a wish, before she is sold to the Li family, she must buy candy for her dog treasure.

Xie Qinghe didn't know what Zhang Shi was thinking at all, he just wanted to fool Zhang Shi away.

Maybe Mrs. Zhang subconsciously wanted to escape the fate of being sold, so she clung to the straw to buy sugar for her son, and took Xie Qinghe around the streets for a long time.Xie Qinghe was so tired that he panted like a dog, Zhang Shi just woke up like a dream, and hugged him in his arms: "Is it cold, Bao'er?"

Xie Qinghe's small body was throbbing with the cold, but he still shook his head.

Zhang's tears flowed down: "Baby, do you know? Do you understand the truth? Mother's treasure!"

Mrs. Zhang squatted on the side of the road with Xie Qinghe in her arms and cried loudly. After crying, she wiped away her tears. She still took Xie Qinghe to find the shopkeeper, bought a small piece of rough sugar for three Wen, and put it in Xie Qinghe's mouth: "Sweet." Isn't it sweet, baby?"

Xie Qinghe doesn't like sweets very much.The candy, however, was crude and tasteless, not very sweet.He still felt good after eating: "Sweet."

"It's good to be sweet." Mrs. Zhang walked back with her son in her arms.She is a woman, and her husband's family wants to sell her, what can she do?Can only accept fate.

Before the mother and son entered the house, they heard Li Xiong's loud cry: "Dad, dad! Dad, wake up!"

died.Xie Qinghe breathed a sigh of relief.

People in this age pay attention to Qi gathering when sleeping, and the bedroom is usually relatively small.The dead old man was a rich man when he was young, and he is also a fastidious person when he is old, so his bedroom is separated, and the small room for sleeping is only seven feet square, and a charcoal basin is placed to keep warm in winter.

This also caused accidents to happen soon where he slept once the charcoal gas gathered.

The west wing rented a house from Li’s house, where the servants of the Changzhi County Government lived temporarily. He was on his way home to cook noodles and eat. Hearing the sound of crying, he rushed to watch the excitement. He first asked Li Xiong to open the doors and windows, and found that the old man was dead. After that, he shook his head and said, "Oh, Shibo was drunk and lying on the bed, after the charcoal gas passed, why did he forget to open the window?"

Li Xiong, who was crying bitterly, was taken aback for a moment: "Impossible! I personally helped my father go to bed and rested, I personally burned the charcoal basin for my father, and I also opened the window for my father! It must have been opened!"

"This is really strange. Could it be that the wind has blown the windows shut?" The yamen servant surnamed Yang stepped forward to inspect the windows.

He opened the window, and saw a porcelain plate of ice flowers on the narrow window sill, with water and rice in it, and asked, "Brother Shi, do you have the habit of giving food to birds?"

Li Xiong nodded.

"That's it." Yang Cha stroked his beard pretending to be profound, "I think it's the birds fighting for food, and the window sash was covered between the flapping wings. Hey, Shibo I was merciful and gave food to the birds, but died of the birds Hand, how lamentable!"

Xie Qinghe couldn't help sneering in his heart.The son and daughter-in-law, who work all day long, use ground eggs, wild vegetables, and brown rice to satisfy their hunger every day. The old man has spare money to feed the birds on the windowsill, and what he feeds is full-grained japonica rice, which is really compassionate.

Li Xiong is also an honest person with no experience. Yang Cha said that his father was suffocated to death by the bird closing the window and passing the charcoal gas, so he accepted this statement, and Yang Cha instructed him to arrange the funeral for the old man.To arrange funeral affairs, one is to ask for people, and the other is to spend money. Li Xiong works as a buddy outside, and all the money he earns is handed over to his father. He has no private money. Yang Cha secretly instructed him to look for his father cabinet.

Li Xiong closed the door and rummaged alone for a long time, and found a gold bar and eight silver ingots of ten taels from the cabinet under the bed.

Immediately confused.

Dad was drunk and injured Qi Sou in the next street, and the other party asked him to pay two taels of silver.

It's only two taels of silver!

In this box... so much silver, a total of 80 taels!

But he refused to take out a mere two taels to compensate others, and insisted on forcing his son to sell his daughter-in-law!Is this my dear father?Is this still a person? !

Li Xiong hugged the box full of gold and silver, and sat on the ground blankly, looking at his own father who was covered in the quilt on the bed like sleeping, his face was full of tears.This is my dear father!I am sad that you died.You're dead... ok!

Ren Yazi, who was pulled by Li Xiong, saw the bad luck of the dead, so he left long ago.Later, Qisou's family came to make trouble and demand debts.

The Li family had already hung up white flags and pasted funeral posts in front of the door.

The so-called death is the most important thing, Qi Sou was not seriously injured, relying on the fact that there are many males in the family, he just bullied the Li family who has been passed down for nine generations.I want to say that Li Shengze is a jerk when he is young. He used to sell his wife for money, but now it is not uncommon to sell his daughter-in-law.Knock to a few is a few.

Seeing the Li family hang up the white flags now, the Qi family also felt apprehensive.Could it be that his daughter-in-law was so stubborn that she hanged herself?

The Qi family was also quite careful, leaving a few young people dressed in red and willow green outside the door, and sent a few young people who happened to be dressed plainly in to inquire about the situation.The Li family was already decorating the mourning hall, and the troublesome Yang Cha came to make peace again: "The old man is dead."

"Old man?" The Qi family quietly pointed to the main hall.The patriarch of the Li family was also a famous figure in the past, and he was famous in several streets.

Yang Cha shook his head like a rattle: "The one in the east room."

The Qi family was shocked.Yesterday, the fat old man was still waving a broom, and he beat three old men one by one. His fighting power was astonishing. Looking at this old scourge, it would not be a problem to live another ten or twenty years. Why did he die today?Could it be that he couldn't pay for it and vomited to death?

Li Xiong is an honest man, when he saw the Qi family coming, he was about to say that you have a few more days to spare, and I will pay your family the money after I have done it.

Unexpectedly, the Qi family was also embarrassed, and the leader stepped forward to say a word of condolences, and paid for the funeral ceremony, but did not mention the loss of money, and the group of people just left.

"Just... that's it?" Li Xiong stared blankly at the money that the Qi family stuffed into his hand, and the Qi family even sent a funeral ceremony? !

■

After finishing Li Shengze's funeral, the family still had a lot of money left over.

Li Xiong's stupid filial piety was born in his bones, his father was gone, and he didn't keep the money for himself, but confessed everything to his ancestor.

The old ancestor squandered half of his life to raise such a wretched bastard who abused his children and treated his father badly like Li Shengze.He himself is not good at doing business, but he has some skills in judging people. Knowing that his grandson and grandson-in-law can't do business, he asked Li Xiong to keep the gold and silver that Li Shengze left behind. The manual work of washing and sewing, without Li Shengze, the guy who keeps drinking and eating, the family can live on simple food and drink.

The ancestor was not a miser, so he reluctantly took his great-grandson to enlightenment and taught him to read and write. When the great-grandson was seven years old, the ancestor knew that his fate was not long, so he called his grandson Li Xiong and told him not to begrudge the money to find a private school for his great-grandson.If you can read it, keep reading. If you can’t read it, it doesn’t matter if you become a teacher in the future, or write letters and copy books for others, you won’t starve to death.

Li Xiong also has the habit of beating his wife in a rigid and brutal way, but how can a poor family live separately?Under the care of Mrs. Zhang, the child whose nickname is Li Goubao and whose name is Li Qian, eats and clothes with care, raises him smart and fat, and is proficient in poetry and books.

■

in the void.

"that's it?"

Li Qian stared blankly at Xie Qinghe, and couldn't believe that his life had gone out of his way since he was three years old.

"However, no one can be like you at the age of three..." Li Qian had a hard time opening his mouth, "It's a big treason, you...killed my grandfather..."

The way Xie Qinghe resolved his old grievances was not operational at all.

Because, Li Qian, who was three years old at the time, couldn't be as knowledgeable about the world as Xie Qinghe, and it was even more impossible for Li Qian to kill his grandfather like Xie Qinghe.For Li Qian, Xie Qinghe cleared the barrier easily and neatly, but his life is still a dead end.

"Do you have old grievances when you are three years old? Isn't it you who harbor resentment now?" Xie Qinghe asked back.

Li Qian's eyelids twitched.

"Whether mother is here or not, the ancestor lived to be over seven years old. Didn't he enlighten you? Teach you to read and write?" Xie Qinghe asked.

"He has taught me. However, I am very hungry every day, and I can't eat enough. He just taught me with empty teeth. You have books, pens and ink sticks from Lu Huzhai. What do I have? ? Is it written with clear water on the kang table that cannot be read clearly?" Li Qian immediately retorted.

"Also, even if I study hard, my ancestor died when I was seven years old. If you can go to a private school, can I go?"

"I am my grandfather's little attendant. He smokes, and I light the fire for him. He drinks, and I hold the jug for him. He has to go to the toilet in the middle of the night, and I have to get up to carry the chamber pot for him... I am so good at serving people, I Now he is helping out in the restaurant and serving the drinkers, isn't he the one who taught me!"

"If you insist on thinking this way, I have nothing to do." Xie Qinghe said.

Xie Qinghe is still full of dissatisfaction.

Who knew it would take so long to break this barrier?The three-year-old child grows up to the age of 30. He is going to study in a private school, write various articles, and take the exams with ordinary people.He still can't break the child's body.Li Xiong and Mrs. Zhang urged him to marry a wife again and again, saying that the ancestors said that reading is not important, if you can't read it, just write letters and copy books... Marry a wife and have children first!

A 30-year-old unmarried young man was almost caught as a son-in-law by various father-in-laws.

Xie Qinghe insisted on examining the officer first and then discussing the marriage. When the bride entered the door, he couldn't do it and forcibly ended the obsession.

27 full years!

His old man lived outside to be 28 years old.There is an extra period of life alive.

But what's the use?If it were him to spend Li Qian's life, no matter what age he was in Li Qian, as long as he didn't die immediately, he would be able to live his life well.There is no distinction between good and evil in his heart, and he will always move forward without any hindrance.

However, everything he can do does not mean that Li Qian can do it.

Li Qian's body is weak, and he can persist for 20 years, eating and resting unshakably, and exercising his body.

Li Qian's talent is not good, he can insist on reading day and night silently, studying and practicing calligraphy for a long time, but he can't be a sage, and he can hardly be a writer.

Li Qian's background is not good either, he will choose friends to make friends with, cultivate contacts, and always work hard in a good direction.

Li Qian can't do this.

How many people with old grievances are really desperate and painful, and how many are blaming the sky for injustice and others for being unkind?

"Have you figured it out?" Xie Qinghe asked.

Li Qian said with a wry smile: "I figured it out. I live too sadly. It's because I'm not as good as others, so I can't blame others."

Xie Qinghe was surprised: "Do you understand?"

Li Qian sighed sadly: "Understood. It's just that it's easier to blame others than to blame yourself. I often think that if my grandparents died a few years later, or if my grandfather was strictly disciplined when he was young, The best thing is... my grandfather is a business genius, and he has carried forward the ancestral business left by my grandmother and wife... If I am the only son of nine generations, if I was born in a wealthy family, how would I be pampered and happy?"

Xie Qinghe amused him, and said: "When I was young, I also imagined that I was the son of a fairy. I don't know if one day the priest and the fairy mother suddenly appeared, gave me a little finger between the eyebrows, and the orifice suddenly opened. The gods passed on the shocking world. I will directly ascend to heaven as my son." The gods are gone... think about it, it's okay, why don't you practice kung fu by yourself?"

Li Qian made a deep bow to Xie Qinghe, and was about to say goodbye.Suddenly he turned around again: "The little one knows that the fairy head has great wisdom, and it is also a small big opportunity. I don't know if there is no shortage of people around the fairy head who serve tea and water? The little one has been helping for many years, and he is still smart. "

Xie Qinghe became a demon for the first time. He has been Li Qian for 27 years, and he has not yet learned the method of stripping away his sense of identity.

Therefore, Li Qian bowed his head and begged, it was hard for him not to show more affection for "myself": "You go out first. After the matter is over, I will lead you into the mountain gate. It is always okay to be an outer disciple." As for following Running errands around...you don't even know how to drive a flying kite, can you keep up?

Li Qian Shili left, and instantly turned into a pure and innocent radiance, returning to his own skin.

Xie Qinghe also had a trace of inexplicable joy in his heart.

Only then did he realize that there was a trace of something different in the primordial energy circulating in the profound pond.

It's like the milky white rain, but it's not a substance, it's dense in the profound pond, it's not repelled by the true essence, and it's not mixed and absorbed by the true essence.

This is... Jianxuan? !

The real Jianxuan!

Everyone has a profound pond in their body. The so-called building a profound pond is to "build" the profound pond again with real energy, just like a levee reinforced with bricks and stones.

However, for so many years, no one has been able to say clearly where the "bricks" used in Jianxuan come from, what shape they are, and what they are.It is said that the old practitioners who often transcend ghosts and spirits have a very small chance of succeeding in Jianxuan.However, the chance of going crazy is much higher than that of Jianxuan, and the old masters call this the evil way.

The old resentment Mozun said, the devil is also grinding.

The old resentment Demon Venerable also said that the Immortal Demon is a good brother.

——Only by entering the demons and breaking the demons, and detached from the demons, can one successfully build the Mystery?

Xie Qinghe's eyes turned to the second skin possessed by the old resentful Demon Venerable.What is the truth, he can't wait to try it.