History of Cannon Fodder Struggle [Qing]

"Prajna Temple..."

An old man who was sitting in front of his house in an alley and stuffing shredded tobacco into the tobacco pot smacked his mouth as if recalling.

"Most of the people living in the outer city were driven out from the inner city back then. Few people know about this place."

An Minning understood, and took out eight or nine copper coins from his purse, stuffed them into the old man's empty hand, and said, "Master, I came all the way to the capital to join my uncle, but I lost my address, I just remember that his family lives in Banruo Near the temple, please think about it, the money will be used to buy shredded tobacco for you."

The old man held the copper coin, weighed it, stuffed it into the other sleeve, and then said solemnly, "Just ask me for directions. I was a shopkeeper when I was young. I haven't been through any of the alleys in the capital." The Prajna Temple you asked about is too small, most people really don’t know where it is.”

An Minning asked with a smile on his face, "Master, where is the Prajna Temple?"

The old man lit the shredded tobacco and took a deep breath. Along with the smoke he exhaled, he said, "That place is easy to remember. The place where live pigs are sold is the pig market entrance outside Yongding Gate. Go there and ask, the old neighbors there must know In which alley."

An Minning was very excited, thanked the old man, she wished she could look for it now, but unfortunately it was getting late, she quickly went back to the city gate and took the car in the village to go back to Xiaotangshan.

The surprise came so suddenly that An Minning himself was caught off guard.

The next day she asked Nanny Wu for leave again, because today was not the time for Zhuangzi to deliver goods to Beijing, so she had to find a car by herself.

Yongding Gate is the gate to enter the inner city. This place is more strictly guarded than the outer gate, and the people are not allowed to approach it.

An Minning went directly to Zhushikou.

Zhushikou is the place where live pigs are bought and sold in the city, and there is a strange smell before it gets close.

After getting out of the car and paying the fare, she looked around, there were many shops on both sides of the road, and there were many people coming and going, and it looked very lively.

The handlebar took the money, pulled the rein and asked her, "Do you want to come back to pick you up?"

After hearing this, An Minning shook his head at him, "No need, I don't know when I will go back."

Then he got into the cart and said, "Dele, then I'm leaving." After speaking, he flicked his whip, and the ox pulled the cart and walked away slowly.

An Minning watched the bullock cart go away, and glanced at the people watching others playing chess under the big tree next to her. She walked over and patted the bamboo hat on the back of one of them.

The owner of the bamboo hat turned around and saw that he was a tanned dark middle-aged man, not tall, with the top of his head shaved off and a thin bun on the back of his head.

The middle-aged man was having a good time watching it, but when someone disturbed him, his face was clearly unhappy.

An Minning said apologetically, "Excuse me, where is the Prajna Temple near here?"

The middle-aged man took a look at An Minning, then pointed to the south and said, "Go along this road, the second alley on the left is the Banruo Temple alley, turn in and the Banruo Temple you asked about will be there."

An Minning breathed a sigh of relief, and quickly thanked the middle-aged man, then walked in the direction he pointed.

Fortunately, the old man didn't lie to her yesterday, the Banruo Temple is really in this area.The closer An Minning got to Banruo Temple Hutong, the stronger his heart beat.

Maybe it's the timidity of being close to home. I was so excited last night that I couldn't sleep. I kept rehearsing what to say when I saw my relatives in my mind. I didn't expect that I was about to find a home, but I became timid.

Is home still here?

How can I prove my identity when I meet my relatives?

She has been lost for so long, will her relatives not want to recognize her?

All these worries ensued.

Fortunately, although An Minning's mood was complicated, her steps were firm. She approached the entrance of the alley step by step.

The entrance of the alley is the temple, and the environment here is very quiet. There are people coming and going on the street outside, but there is no one in the alley.

The gate of the temple is right in the alley, you can smell the incense when passing by outside, and you can also hear the sound of knocking wooden fish inside.

When An Minning passed by the gate, she glanced inside. The temple looked quite small, not as big as the Daxiong Hall in some temples when she traveled in modern times.

No wonder she is not well-known, she has been asking for a long time but no one has heard of it.

An Min continued to walk into the alley, the terrain became lower as she went west, like nine bends and eighteen bends.

Hutongs are also very strange. When they are wide, they are three or four meters long, and when they are narrow, they are only half a meter.Fortunately, there are not many fat people in this era, otherwise it would be difficult to find an alley.

When An Minning walked to the end, he suddenly realized that this alley is so short, it feels like it will end after a short walk.

The strange thing is that after walking around, I didn't meet a single person in the alley.

An Minning was lingering at the entrance of the alley, still thinking about going back and knocking on other people's doors, when the door of the house closest to her opened, and a young man in armor came out.

Seeing An Minning, the young man immediately showed surprise on his face, and then asked her, "Whose girl are you from, did you go the wrong way?"

Their alley was almost empty during the day, and the sudden appearance of a little girl had to make the young man feel weird. His first thought was that someone's daughter was lost.

An Minning touched her face, she knew that her face looked very young, and coupled with her short stature, she would inevitably be mistaken for a child.

In order to show that he did not go the wrong way, An Minning asked, "Where is Minxing's home?"

When the young man heard this, he immediately had an expression of enlightenment, "So you are looking for Minxing, are you a relative of his family?"

An Minning nodded, "That's right." Then he said, "Please tell me where his house is. There are too many bends in this alley."

The young man found it funny seeing Annie's distressed look, and said, "I'll take you there, you are not allergic today, and Uncle An hasn't come back, only Minyi is at home."

An Minning did not speak, but followed behind the young man.

She's not sure who Min Yi is, and it's best not to speak at this time.

The young man took An Minning to the door of a courtyard in the middle of the alley, knocked on the door, and soon there were hurried footsteps inside.

Footsteps stopped in front of the door, and then a child's voice came from inside the door, "Who is outside?"

The young man replied, "Minyi, it's me."

"Brother Wang!" The child cheered, and then An Mingning saw the door shake a few times, the door was opened by someone inside, and a five or six-year-old child emerged from behind the door.

"Brother Wang!"

The young man smiled gently, patted the child's head, then pointed to An Minning and said, "This little girl is here to find your elder brother, I'll bring her here."

The child's round head followed the young man's hand and looked at An Minning with curiosity. "Come to see brother?"

An Minning nodded, "Yes, I'm here to find your brother." The child in front of him is obviously much younger than her, and should have been born after she was abducted.

The young man said, "Minyi, invite this girl in. Uncle An will be back later. You two should close the door at home. If someone knocks on the door, just do the same as you did just now. If you don't know me, don't open it." .”

The child nodded wildly with two "hmm".

The young man said to An Minning again, "Little girl, you go first and wait in the room. Minxing will definitely come back in the afternoon." As for what the little girl wanted to do with Minxing, he didn't ask.

An Minning thanked him, and followed Minyi into the yard.

The yard is very empty, there is a vine in the corner, which looks like it is malnourished, and it hangs on the wall. There is a dilapidated large tank at the door of the kitchen, and the mouth of the tank is covered with a wooden board.

There was a humming sound behind him, An Minning turned around, and saw the child named Minyi struggling to push the door latch on the stool.

An Minning saw it and went directly to help.

After the door was closed, Minyi jumped off the bench and said to An Minning happily, "Sister, let's play hide-and-seek."

Minyi seldom plays with children of the same age, and rarely sees one and can't wait to pull someone to play with.

Seeing his happy face, An Minning found it hard to refuse him.

After seeing her nodding, Minyi cheered and ran around the yard, and then said to her, "Then sister, close your eyes and don't look, I'll hide first."

After hearing this, An Minning turned her back to the door, and then a rustling sound came to her ears.

Just when Minyi was hiding, there was a knock on the door suddenly, and someone outside shouted, "Minyi, open the door, Ama is back!"

An Minning's heart skipped a beat. She lowered her head and touched her chest with her hands, feeling her heart was about to jump out of her throat. Minyi's small figure passed by her, and he replied loudly, "Ama, I'm coming!" He said and jumped to the door On the stool behind him, he pulled the latch hard.

After the door latch was pulled, Min Yi jumped down and pulled the stool aside to open the door.

Then An Minning saw a tired-looking middle-aged man walk in, a burst of grievance suddenly came to her heart, she couldn't control her emotions, tears flowed down naturally.

"This sister is here to find brother..." Min Yi took Ama's big hand and chattered, and when she saw An Minning she cried out in surprise, "Sister, why are you crying?"

An Minning just looked at Father An with teary eyes, she bit her lip, unable to say a word.

Father An was originally echoing his younger son's words, but when he saw An Minning, he showed a polite smile.

Seeing her crying suddenly, he was puzzled at first, then his expression changed immediately as if he thought of something, his eyes became sharp, he looked at An Minning's appearance, and then lost his voice as if he had encountered a major shock, "Minning, You are Minning, right?"

An Minning was out of breath from crying.

Father An let go of his younger son's hand, quickly stepped forward and held An Minning's shoulder, examined her face carefully, and whispered, "It's Amma's Minning, it's exactly like what Amma imagined. "

At this moment, An Minning couldn't take it anymore, hugged Father An's neck, and cried loudly, "Ama, I finally found you. I have been waiting for you for a long time. Why haven't you come to me?"

Father An also shed tears, and kept saying, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, it's Ama's fault, it's all Ama's fault, I haven't been able to find you!"

Minyi looked at Ama and then at the young lady who just arrived, feeling very strange, why both Ama and the young lady were crying so sadly?