Not far from Songzipo, just three miles east of Ganlin Town.
Hua Bushi and Yang Jiangyi led the little girl along the road. Before they reached Songzi Slope, they met little Ningning's parents.
As soon as they left the town, a middle-aged couple hurried over, their faces full of anxiety. As soon as Xiao Ningning saw them, she shouted "Mom, Dad," and rushed towards them.
The woman stretched out her arms and hugged Ning Ning, yelling: "Where are you going! Just now, my mother heard someone say on the roadside that there are bad people in Ganlin Town who want to kill people, but this scared my mother! You
But you must be obedient and don’t run around again!”
Hua Bushi saw that the man in the couple was about forty years old, with a long black beard, slightly disheveled hair, and a very unkempt appearance. The woman was only thirty-six or seventeen years old, and her face was vaguely similar to that of Xiao Ningning.
They are similar. Although the clothes they wear are very shabby, their complexions are very fair, and there are no calluses on their palms. They are obviously not farmers who are accustomed to farm work.
The man stepped forward and cupped his hands and said: "Huang Boru, may I ask your surnames?"
Hua Bushi returned the courtesy and said: "Xiao Ke Shi Xiao, this is my sister Shi Xue. We were having dinner at a restaurant in Ganlin Town and happened to meet your wife, so we sent her back."
Huang Boru said: "Thank you Master Shi for this! Hey, this little girl is so disobedient and runs around all day long. We can't do anything about her. If Master Shi hadn't sent her back, we would have been anxious to death!"
Hua Bushi smiled and said: "It's just a small effort, Mr. Huang, there's no need to be polite."
But little Ningning leaned out from her mother's arms and said loudly: "Ningning didn't run around, Ningning went to make money!" As she spoke, she took out the five-ounce ingot from her arms.
Come.
When Huang Boyu saw the ingot of gold, his expression changed and he said, "How can you make money if you don't know anything? Where did you get this gold? To be honest, it was stolen?"
Xiao Ningning said: "I didn't steal it, it was Pangu's true body that he gave me." She pointed at Hua Bushi with her little finger.
Huang Boru said with a serious face: "Master Shi sent you back, and you still took other people's money. How can you be ridiculous! Give the money back quickly!"
Xiao Ningning pouted, but hid the silver ingot back in her arms and refused to return it.
Hua Bushi said: "Mr. Huang, please don't be offended. Your wife is singing in a restaurant. This ingot of silver was rewarded to her by this young master."
"Singing? How could this girl do that kind of thing?" Huang Boru frowned, and after a while he sighed and said: "Oh, it's all our parents' incompetence that allowed our children to end up like this.
!”
It turns out that little Ningning went to Linjiang Tower to sing, but her parents didn't know.
Hua Bushi felt pity and asked: "I wonder where Mr. Huang's hometown is and why he came here?"
Huang Boru sighed again and said: "It's a long story. We all came from Jiangling, and our ancestors have lived there for hundreds of years, but now we have to escape."
Hua Bushi and Huang Boyu talked for a while and then understood their family's situation.
Huang Boru's ancestral home was Yiling Town, Jingzhou Prefecture, which was originally a prosperous place in Hubei Province. His family ancestors were all scholars, and his father once won the imperial examination, but failed to pass the Beijing Examination, so he did not become an official.
In Yiling Town, the Huang family can be considered a prosperous family. There are many people in the family, and they also have dozens of acres of land and ancestral property that they hire people to cultivate. Their life is good. However, four consecutive years of natural disasters have caused the entire Yiling area to collapse.
All the farmers lost their livelihood and had to flee the famine. Yiling became an isolated town. Huang Boyu had no choice but to abandon his ancestral business and move northward with everyone in his family.
The Huang family still had some property, and they just hoped to find a place where they could live in peace and purchase property to settle down. However, heading north, the entire Hubei border was hit by drought and the fields were barren. Where could there be a place to settle?
The natural disaster also accompanied the movement, and they traveled to the official road in Yicheng. On the way, they were robbed by gangsters. All the money and property of the Huang family were robbed. Fortunately, the gang did not kill anyone and left behind
killed more than a hundred members of the Huang family.
The complaint was brought to the government, but the Yicheng County Yamen refused to accept it. This is simply because according to the laws of the Ming Dynasty, emigration is illegal. Moreover, bandits are everywhere nowadays, and even if the government wants to, the government cannot control such robbery. The government cannot.
Not only was the Yamen unable to recover the robbed silver coins for the Huang family, but they were also ordered to return to their place of origin and were not allowed to flee the country again.
If there was a way to survive by staying in Yiling, why would the Huang family need to come out? Going back now would be a dead end. There was no other way, so the Huang family had no choice but to continue traveling north. After walking for more than ten days, they reached the end of Ganlin Town.
, with no money on him and all his food rations eaten, he had no choice but to sleep on the pine nut slope with other refugees.
The situation of Huang Boyu's family is indeed tragic, but in today's troubled times, similar experiences are actually very common. Among the countless refugees and hungry people in various places, it is unknown how many of them have happened.
After listening to Huang Boru's story, Hua Bushi asked, "I wonder what Mr. Huang's plans are now?"
Huang Boru said: "Well, what else can I do at this point? I heard that Yujing was not affected by the disaster. Our family originally wanted to go there and find a place to live in peace, but now we have lost our money.
There is no other way but to take one step at a time!"
Hua Bushi nodded, took out a silver note from his arms, and said, "Your love is Bingxue, and we are quite destined to meet her in a restaurant. This hundred taels of silver note, Mr. Huang, can
Take it, it will probably be enough for your family to travel to Yujing."
Huang Boyu hurriedly waved his hand and said: "We met by chance. It's the first time we met. How could Huang Boyu take Mr. Shi's many silver coins? This is absolutely impossible!"
One hundred taels of silver is not worth mentioning to the dominant Jianghu sect, but for ordinary people, it is a huge amount of wealth. After all, Mr. Huang is a scholar, and he has settled down to this point but still remains
Keep some integrity and refuse to accept money from others in vain.
Hua Bushi said: "To be honest, I have lived in Wuyang City in Hunan Province for a long time. My family has done some business and has a lot of money. Let's see, this hundred taels of silver is temporarily lent by Shi Xiao to Mr. Huang, and it will be used by your family.
How about you find a suitable place to settle down in Yujing and return it to me if you make money in the future?"
"Borrowing money" and "giving money" are just different terms. Hua Bushi lent the money without any real intention to return it, but it gave Huang Boyu an acceptable reason and he was very angry with the young master Shi Xiao.
I had a good impression. After asking Mr. Shi's address so that he could return it in the future, Huang Boru reached out and took the bank note.
In fact, the Huang family's current situation leaves him with no more choices.
The dusty official road was not a suitable place for conversation. After giving away the banknote, Hua Bushi handed it over and left.
However, just as he was about to turn around, Mrs. Huang suddenly said: "Master Shi, please go slowly!"
Hua Bushi looked at her. Mrs. Huang showed some hesitation on her face, but she still said: "Master Shi, I have an unkind request. I wonder if you can agree to it?"
Hua Bushi said: "Madam, it doesn't matter if you say so."
Mrs. Huang said: "My little girl Ning Ning is nine years old this year. Although she is usually a little naughty, she is still well-behaved. I want her to stay with Mr. Shi, either as a book boy or as a maid, but I don't know if the master is willing to take her in." ?”
As soon as these words came out, Huang Boru's expression changed. He grabbed his wife and scolded: "What nonsense are you talking about! No matter how poor we are, we can't give Ningning to others!"
Mrs. Huang had already shed tears and choked up: "I heard that there are many bandits on the official road in front of me, who specialize in robbing people fleeing to the north. Even if we are entangled, we probably won't be able to reach Yujing... I My body is fine. Ning Ning has already suffered a lot. She even went to a restaurant to sing and sing in order to make money. How can I bear to put her in danger again? This Mr. Shi is a kind-hearted person. Let Ning Ning follow him, it will definitely be better than following him. Let’s be stronger…”
There is no parent in the world who is willing to be separated from their own flesh and blood. If it was not forced, Mrs. Huang would not want to give such a lovely little daughter to others. Huang Boru knew that his wife's words were true. For a moment, his heart was full of bitterness and his body was slightly Trembling, unable to speak.
"No! I don't want to be a maid!"
The delicate voice sounded, but it was Xiao Ningning, who was leaning in Mrs. Huang's arms, who protested loudly. Her little face turned red, her eyes were already red, and tears were about to fall.
Hua Bushi coughed lightly and said, "Mrs. Huang, I have no shortage of bookboys and maids. I really cannot accept Ning Ning. Please forgive me!"
He pondered for a moment and then said: "My master's cargo escort team is currently in Ganlin Town, and will set off north to Henan Province in two days. If you are willing, you can go with us all the way."
After hearing Hua Bushi say that little Ningning could not be taken in, Mrs. Huang's face showed a look of disappointment, but when she heard the last words he said, her worries suddenly turned into joy.
In troubled times, bandits are rampant. The Huang family has been robbed by the underworld since they came out of their hometown in Yiling, and they are now in such poverty and poverty. Mrs. Huang has long been frightened, but now she heard that there is an escort team that can Traveling together is much safer.
When Mrs. Huang thought about it, as long as she could reach Yujing safely, the whole family could start a new life and there would be no need to separate from her little daughter. How could she not be overjoyed?
Although the Huangs were happy, Hua Bushi was somewhat hesitant in making this decision. This was because he had heard from Huang Boyu before that the entire Huang family had escaped from Yiling, and there were about a hundred people in total, including many who were infirm. The old, weak, women and children, it is really a big burden to carry them all the way to Yujing. This is much more troublesome than giving away a hundred taels of silver.
However, seeing the cute and pitiful appearance of little Ningning and the lonely situation of Huang Boyu and his wife, the young master finally felt compassion and accepted it even though there was some trouble.