Although we have just left the boundaries of Songjiang Prefecture and arrived in Jiading County, Suzhou Prefecture, we are still in the southern Zhili area and the people are prosperous. Nowadays, there is peace and prosperity, and there are no natural or man-made disasters. Such a drama of "selling oneself and losing one's father" is still rare, and many passers-by stopped to see it.
Watch.
As Shen Rui thought, Wu Xuan was very concerned when he saw the kneeling girl and kept looking at Wang Shouren.
Wang Shouren glanced at him, whispered to Zen Master Hong Shan, and the two of them moved forward. Wu Xuan took Shen Rui's arm and hurriedly followed.
But Wang Shouren did not lead everyone to watch, but turned into the tea house diagonally across the road. When everyone sat down by the window, through the open window, they could see the scene on the other side of the road clearly.
According to the common scenes in novels, this kind of "selling one's old father" scene, if the kneeling girl is a cardamom girl, she will definitely meet the old madam or the lustful rich man or the evil young man, and then a rich and handsome man full of justice will appear to punish the evildoers.
After rescuing the little beauty, there will be a story of "repaying a favor with one's own body", a sparrow flying on a branch; if the kneeling boy is covered with acne, he will definitely meet an old enemy or a big-headed dandy first, and be humiliated and abused.
The body, abuse the mind, and then meet a nobleman who has a keen eye to recognize heroes, or a young lady who goes out to burn incense. A bag of silver is handed over, and the price of pig's feet starts to increase. If the kneeling girl is a little girl, she is probably the heroine of the story. When she meets a heart-warming person,
A kind lady bought it, and then the master and servant grew up together. Then the two little girls in different circumstances fell in love and killed each other.
It's just that the little girl in front of me is really in a desperate situation. Is there another reason?
It's not that Shen Rui is cold-blooded, it's just that he is well-informed in later generations and has heard too many scams. When he sees something strange, he can't help but wonder if it is true.
Shen Rui first looked at the pair of feet exposed under the straw mat. They were wearing 50-minute-old cloth shoes and the trousers were made of faded coarse cloth. Then he looked at the little girl kneeling down, wearing a patched dress and a thumb-thick hat tied on her head.
White cloth strips. If she is a filial daughter, this outfit is obviously nondescript. According to the regulations, she should wear sackcloth and wear mourning. But for a little girl who is in trouble and needs to "sell herself", this scene seems more realistic. At such a young age, if she really cleans up
It must be done properly, but it will arouse people's suspicion. I don't know how long the little girl has been kneeling, her head is wet with sweat, she looks shaky, and she looks more and more lonely and pitiful.
After everyone in the teahouse had taken their seats, Wu Xuan called the waiter and asked for tea and two plates of snacks to go with the tea.
Seeing Shen Rui looking outside in a daze, Wu Xuan patted him: "It's all just a show, don't take it seriously, just watch it as a show, and gain insights."
Shen Rui turned around and looked at Wu Xuan's smiling face, a little surprised: "Is this fake?"
In fact, he also noticed that something was wrong. This little girl was thin and shabbily dressed, but her face was neatly groomed. Although her eyes were red and her face was stained with tears, she was still inquiring about the people around her.
Answer: Such a well-behaved and sensible little girl attracted pity from the onlookers. Even if a poor child has already become a master, this little girl behaves too sensible, which makes people wonder if she has been taught in advance.
Wu Zang raised his eyebrows and said: "It's a lie. If it were true, not to mention others, even the bosses of the surrounding shops would not see someone standing up a corpse here. They would have sent someone to clean it up."
Shen Rui suddenly realized that this was the case.
This is where Shen Rui felt something was wrong before. No matter whether the little girl lived in an inn before her father died, or lived on the streets, her place of refuge would never be on a street with people coming and going. This area is close to the city gate.
There are many inns, teahouses and hotels, including high-end inns where the rich and famous people stayed, and also large car shops where the poor stayed.
If this little girl's father died in a big car shop, the shopkeeper would have gone out to report the crime. Even if he died of illness, he would have to be examined by a widower and issued a certificate so that the shopkeeper could get away with it. Otherwise, he died in the shop for no apparent reason.
Guest, who dares to stay again? If the little girl's father was expelled when he was seriously ill, then the things around the father and daughter would be too clean. Where is the luggage? Where is the package? Even if these things are pawned clean, then it is
Where is the road guide when you go out? Without a road guide, how can you go far away? If you look closely, even if this little girl is not a local, she is from within a hundred miles.
The ancients were the most superstitious and feared things about ghosts and gods. If this little girl had come to Jiading with her father to seek refuge with her relatives, as she said, and her father died without anyone to rely on, someone would have come out with a sweet potato handle to drive her away. The reason why she was allowed to act,
Most of them know the details and are afraid.
Thinking of this, Shen Rui whispered to Wu Xuan: "Since it is fake, I deliberately chose a place away from the city gate to hide the outsiders? Then why did I choose such a little girl to act? If I chose an older girl,
Yes, wouldn’t the money earned from selling one’s body be higher?”
Wu Xuan said disdainfully: "This business is not the right way to make a living. It is mostly a scam by some market gangsters to cheat a few dollars. If a young lady really falls on her knees, which local master or young master will fall in love with her? Not to mention the hard-earned money.
You can't say that you have to deal with these scoundrels just because you feel bad. This means that evil people will be punished by evil people."
Shen Rui was silent for a while and said: "If someone is fooled, will they be deceived into selling themselves for money? Or will they be robbed?"
Wu Xuan said with a "haha": "Who would let a fat sheep go? Even if no one robs it openly, pickpockets will steal it secretly. Who knows that once such kindness is revealed, wealth will be revealed, and it will be strange if it does not attract thieves."
Although this statement seems to make sense, people in later generations often fabricate pitiable life experiences and take advantage of the kindness of others to defraud, but Shen Rui glanced at Wang Shouren next to him and felt that he would not stand by and watch indifferently.
Wang Shouren also looked across the road, noticed Shen Rui looking at him, and said with a smile: "Brother Rui thinks that good people should be rewarded. Is it unfair to lose property after doing good deeds?"
Shen Rui frowned, not knowing how to answer. He was not a real child, so he would not be naive enough to think about what was fair or unfair. He was just an ordinary person, with the selfish nature of future generations. When encountering such a matter that had nothing to do with him,
He just watched with cold eyes; what he wanted to know was how Wang Shouren would behave? He somehow felt that Wang Shouren had seen this drama and would always have a way to deal with it.
He couldn't wait to watch the show.
Seeing that he was silent, Wang Shouren raised his eyebrows and said, "Why don't you answer?"
Shen Rui thought for a while and asked: "There is no good outcome for doing good deeds. If you can only stand by and watch, who will dare to do good deeds in the future?"
Wang Shouren smiled and said: "If you think you have done good deeds, you are a good person. If there were not those stupid people who do not distinguish between truth and falsehood and think they are doing good deeds, this scam would not last for thousands of years. You must first know what kindness is.
Only when you do good deeds instead of just saying good things with your words can you be a truly good person."
He was just talking casually, but Shen Rui picked up some meaning. To sum up these few words, don't they mean "the unity of knowledge and action"? Although Wang Shouren's "Xinxue" has not yet been formed, his behavior has already developed in this direction. .
Shen Rui was still thinking about the meaning of Wang Shouren's words. Wang Shouren had already called the waiter over, ordered Wu Xuan to reward him with half a handful of copper coins, and asked him to call Guan Yapo.
When the waiter heard this, he glanced across the road, hesitated to speak, hesitated for a moment, took the copper coins, ran to greet the shopkeeper, and went out to look for someone.
This time it was Shen Rui's turn to be surprised, what did Xun Ya Po do? Did Wang Shouren really want to buy that little girl?
The dental shop is not far from the tea house, but within two cups of tea, the waiter led a woman over. The woman was in her forties, wearing a blue trousers, with a silver comb in her hair. Her hair was not messy at all, and her face showed a bit of shrewdness. Unlike ordinary women who walked tremblingly, this woman walked extremely steadily with a pair of natural feet.
There were two types of people buying and selling in the Ming Dynasty, one was a contract registered with the government, and the other was a private contract.
Moreover, because the imperial court prohibited "buying a good person to make a poor one", the original sources of slaves were those who were convicted of crimes. However, there were policies from above and countermeasures from below. They could not be bought or sold directly, so the term "dianren" or "adoption" was used to raise slaves. Although she has the status of son or adopted daughter, her actual role is that of a servant, and the ownership rights of her body belong to the parents.
Ya Po had the sharpest eyesight and did not respect people based on their clothes and hats alone. She was very polite in front of Wang Shouren.
Wang Shouren said: "The little lady opposite has been kneeling for a long time and looks pitiful. Please ask my mother to come and be a mediator to help with things. I have fulfilled her filial piety."
When Ya Po heard this, her face was not as obvious as that of the waiter, but she still looked hesitant. Her eyes turned around on the parcels and paper umbrellas beside Wu Xuan, and then glanced at Zen Master Hong Shan next to her, and said with a smile. "This gentleman is very kind-hearted, but he seems to be on his way, so he bought this little girl, which delays the journey, which is not good. If he feels pity for her, wouldn't it be easier to reward her with a few coins?"
It's not that she is extrapolating the marriage fee she was given, but she really doesn't want to get involved in these things. Those market gangsters only focus on money, and don't care whether you are a master or a bald monk. They are "fishing" and waiting for others. If you take the bait, you will at least have to loot it.
If ordinary merchants and ordinary people are not able to suppress the powerful local snakes, they will consider themselves unlucky. But here there is a master of juren, and he can become the guest of the county magistrate with just one post. How can he be willing to suffer this disadvantage?
In addition, these people have a leisurely demeanor and don't have much luggage. They don't look like they are traveling far away. They may not be from surrounding counties and counties, coming to Jiading to visit relatives and friends. Who knows if there are any family friends from the same age in the city. If those are The gangsters have set up a trap. Those gangsters can take the money and run away. Where can those who keep their own homes go?
Therefore, Yapo was really unwilling to take this business, so she started to "give Wang Shouren some advice."
Wang Shouren glanced at Mrs. Ya and said, "I appreciate Mom's kindness. I asked Mom to come forward for no other reason than that she couldn't stand the little lady at her age and knelt down in pain. Mom just asked the little lady to sign the official letter. Just a document of commitment is enough. As for the one on the ground, if you have money, there will be 'enthusiastic people' who will come forward to help with the burial."
Ya Po whispered: "Master, please don't blame me for talking too much, being a gangster in the market, and using dirty tricks. You need to be careful and careful."
Wang Shouren said: "Thank you mother again, I'll remember it." After saying that, he didn't change his mind and signaled Wu Xuan to take the money.
Wu Xuan took out several silver cakes from the bag, two large ones and two small ones.
Wu Xuan first handed the pieces of cake to Yapo and said, "These ten taels of silver will be used as silver for the little lady, and the remaining one tael of silver will have tea with mother."
These silver cakes were as white as snow and looked very good at first sight. Although Yapo was worried, she said with a smile on her face: "This little lady can't do much work. She has to be educated for a few years before she can be used. No matter
How much is it worth? There is some money left."
Wu Xuan said with a smile: "Our eldest brother has always been generous. If there is any leftover, I can just treat my mother to a drink."
The smile on Ya Po's face became even brighter, she stopped talking, took the money and left the teahouse. She didn't go directly to the other side of the road, but called a young man and gave a few instructions in a low voice before walking slowly to the other side of the road.
Opposite of the road.
The little girl had been kneeling for such a long time that she could no longer straighten her knees. She was sitting on the ground, looking a little depressed. Next to her, there was a fat man in his thirties, dressed in rich clothes. He seemed to be quite interested in the little girl and pointed at her.
Yes, I don’t know what I was saying to the people next to me.
Not far away, there were many people watching the excitement standing in twos and threes.
I don’t know what Yapo said, but some of the people who were standing not far away came forward.
Yapo didn't pay attention to anyone else, and just pulled the kneeling girl up. First he held her hand, then lifted up the girl's skirt, and looked at her feet. It really looked like she was looking at the goods. There was a tall man next to her.
He stepped forward, as if he was dissatisfied with Ya Po, and almost started to fight.
Yapo smiled and talked without any conflict, and still talked to the little girl.
After a while, the half-year-old boy who had been talking to Ya Po came back, bringing two government servants with him. Ya Po greeted him with a smile and said something that made the two men nod repeatedly.
Ya Po then took out a foot-long cloth bag from his arms and opened it, revealing the pen and paper inside. The half-grown boy had turned his back to Ya Po and was squatting on the ground. Ya Po went directly to the north of the boy and spread out the deed.
, Tiantian wrote, then took the printing box and pulled the little girl to have her fingerprints pressed.
The little girl looked panicked and looked at the man who had just stepped forward. The man also wanted to step forward, but was scolded loudly by the two government officials.
The little girl trembled and pressed her fingerprints, and the officer kicked the feet of the "corpse" lying on the ground. The "corpse" screamed and jumped up. The people watching around burst into laughter.
The yamen servant laughed and cursed a few times. The man who got up was about thirty years old, with a sharp mouth and monkey cheeks, but he was flexible and flexible. He had a playful smile and bowed his body to beg for mercy to the yamen servant.
The yamen servant didn't know what he said, and everyone looked at Ya Po. Ya Po took a five-tael silver cake and handed it to the man with a sharp mouth and monkey cheeks. She smiled and thanked the two yamen servants, and handed over some things with her sleeves touching.
The two idle men from the market left reluctantly because the government officials were there, and the crowd watching the fun gradually dispersed. Yapo first saw off the two government officials, then took out a bunch of money and sent half a boy away before taking the money with him.