Da Suining

Chapter 122 Crying
South of the city.

A dilapidated arch bridge.

Go south after crossing this bridge, and you will be in Chuzhou.

Chuzhou is a state capital with outstanding individuals, there are no less than dozens of literati and talents, and there are countless mountains and rivers. It happens that there are many rich people in Qingcheng, and they often go to Chuzhou in a carriage.

Some vendors are clever enough to collect Chuzhou's special products and drive them to Qingcheng to sell them, and they can often sell none left.Qingcheng and Chuzhou are only a hundred miles away, and the people of Qingcheng often go to Chuzhou to meet relatives in their spare time.And the place that must pass is this arch bridge.

After all, this arch bridge has been around for a long time, countless wheels have run over it, the railings are gone, the blue bricks are incomplete, and the bridge deck is uneven. Whenever a carriage passes by, it can sway a level. earth.

When it was built at the beginning of the year, it was enough for two carriages to go side by side. Although it is dilapidated now, the glory of the past can still be seen from its skeleton.

Below the arch bridge is a meandering river. This season the river is not deep, but very turbid. The whole river is earthy yellow in color, and a bunch of bubbles pop out from time to time. There are probably no fish or shrimp in it.

Occasionally, a broken bamboo basket or a piece of old felt cloth floats on the water, rotten wood floats through the river, and sometimes it is a stump with roots. The cat's fur has rotted and fallen off, and its eyes have been hollowed out by something, leaving only two black holes.

Both sides of the river are lush green, full of wormwood, growing as tall as half a person, and the highest point can fully submerge the top of a grown man's head.In summer, the cicadas fly here and shed their shells, but now the cicadas fly to nowhere. Dozens of hundreds of cicadas hang on the wormwood and sway with the wind, occasionally rubbing against each other, making a "squeaky" sound.

Under this arch bridge, there is a deep bridge hole, at least two meters above the ground.

The coachman took the reins, and the carriage stopped steadily on the bank of the river.

Xiang Suining got out of the car and glanced at the bridge hole.

There were conversations in the bridge hole, and the sound of "snoring and snoring" when the water was boiling. When I looked closely, a trace of smoke came out of the bridge hole, like a deformed snake, passing through the green wormwood, directly As it rushed into the air, it became weaker and weaker, leaving only a smell of fireworks from burning wood.

Perhaps it was because of the neighing of horses on the shore, the voices in the bridge hole suddenly disappeared, even the sound of water boiling also disappeared, and the smoke also disappeared.

If I remember correctly, this is the bridge hole in the south of the city, and the woman who held her child and begged that day should live here.

"Girl, be careful where you step, there is a steep slope on this river bank, be careful of slippery." Mingzhu held Xiang Suining's arm with concern.

Steep slope, yes, there are clearly several earthen steps next to the arch bridge, and the steps lead to the bridge hole.

The bridge hole is indeed inhabited.

A small head poked out from the bridge hole, and soon, a big dusty hand grabbed him back.

After a while, a woman poked her head out slightly, and after just one glance, she pushed aside the wormwood and came out: "Don't be afraid, don't be afraid, our benefactor is here."

As soon as the words fell, several heads popped out of the bridge hole, like hungry birds waiting to be fed.

The woman looked better and her hair had been washed. She cautiously asked Xiang Suining to sit in the bridge hole: "Since the girl is here, I'm really disturbed if I don't invite the girl in. But the bridge hole is messy, and the girl is so immortal." The same person, it’s really wronged to go in.”

The woman rubbed the corner of her clothes with some inferiority.

"I'm also going to visit the bridge hole. I don't know if it's convenient for you."

"It's convenient, it's convenient. Today my fellow villagers and my man secretly went to the temple to receive alms. There are only a few women and three or four children in the bridge hole. They heard that a kind girl gave us money, and they wanted to Thank you girl face to face."

"Then I'll go in and sit down."

"Miss, be careful where you step. I will lead the way for you." The woman walked up the steps joyfully, turning her head from time to time, staring at Xiang Suining with concern.

Pearl was a little worried.

She came from a poor family, and she knows exactly what will happen in these dirty places.

But before he opened his mouth, Xiang Suining shook his head at her.

When we got down to the embankment, we found that the wormwood almost blocked the entrance of the cave.

Because of the wormwood, the light in the cave is not very bright during the day, and you can vaguely see seven or eight people sitting in line on the straw mat. The children are always unable to sit still, and crawl around the straw mat. All in the dirt.

On the other side of the bridge hole, weeds are also overgrown, the grass shades the hole entrance, and the wind blows in with the sound of "woo woo woo", like a child crying at night.

The furnishing in the cave is very simple, except for a few straw mats, there are blankets with no visible color, and a few washed clothes are propped up on bamboo poles, and they dare not hang them outside to dry, probably because they are afraid that passers-by will see them.

A cauldron was supported by three large stones, and on other smaller stones was a black teapot, which was half covered by a rag, and firewood was burned under the teapot, as if it had just been splashed with cold water.

Probably they noticed someone coming in the cave, and they were afraid of being discovered, so they poured out the firewood in a hurry.

In order to survive, they have dragged on to this point.

There is no dining table in the cave, and there are several large bowls of rough porcelain placed in the corners. Mosquitoes live on the pots, in the bowls, and on the children, densely packed.

Fortunately, in a willow basket, covered with a basket of steamed buns and pickles.Although there is no oil and water, it can still satisfy hunger.

Naturally, they came here as refugees with almost no clothes or jewelry. Most of the women here folded a branch and used it as a hairpin to stick behind their heads.

There is no corresponding box.When I was in a hurry to escape, I hired a carriage to pull things. Later, I couldn't hire a carriage. I relied on my feet, so I could only throw away some trivial things. Later, I was so hungry that I couldn't care less about my belongings.

The woman wanted to pour a bowl of water for Xiang Suining, but when she took a look at the bowl, there were blowflies on the bottom of the bowl.

The woman is a little embarrassed.

"I'm not thirsty, you don't have to be busy." Xiang Suining smiled.

The woman also smiled awkwardly.

Her baby cried and got up from the straw mat. The woman picked up the baby in her arms, patted him and nursed him.

Seeing that she is very strong, it seems that there is nothing wrong with her body.

To be cautious, Xiang Suining still asked her: "How are you doing recently?"

"Okay, okay, although this place is a bit dirty and messy, there is still some money left over from the money given by the young lady last time. We can often buy something to eat, and the children are not hungry anymore."

That's fine.

You can buy some food by yourself, and when the news is tight, don't go begging, and you won't be caught by the yamen servants.

"The children have something to eat, so they don't make trouble at night. They didn't have enough to eat before, and they always looked for milk in the middle of the night."

After saying a few words, I heard a rustling sound, which made my hair stand on end.

Then I saw a black thing with a long tail passing under my feet, the woman kicked it very skillfully, and the thing was kicked far away.

It's a mouse.

Looking at it at a glance, there are a few of them, seventy or eighty, burrowing around the bridge hole leisurely, and jumping into the rough porcelain bowl for a while, as if they are the masters of the hole.

The mouse's eyes are small and bright. When staring at people, it makes people feel creepy.

"The girl must be terrified. The poor conditions here make the girl laugh." After nursing the baby, the woman took out a stick to drive away the mice.

The mouse ran away, screaming "chi chi chi" and went to the other side of the wormwood.

"Girl came to see me, is there something wrong?" The woman raised her face and asked, her cheekbones were high, and her eyes were brighter than a few days ago.

"You have to take care of your own safety, don't be caught by the yamen servants."

"What the girl said is very true. It's all rich people's charity, so we send fellow villagers to get some, and don't dare to run around at other times. The girl doesn't know that the control of Qingcheng is getting stricter, no matter big or small, As long as they are refugees, they will be sent out of the city if they are caught, and they don’t care if they die of hunger or thirst. In just these two days, the old man who used to beg with us has disappeared, presumably he was arrested.” The woman sighed: "If this continues, there will be fewer and fewer refugees in Qingcheng."

I hope that Changzhou, Luocheng, and the nearby state capitals of Anzhou can get better soon, so that the people will not be displaced and have nothing to rely on.

"Are you all in good health recently? But is anyone uncomfortable?"

"No, we are people who roll in the mud every day. Their lives are low, but they are in good health. It's just that a fellow of mine fell a few days ago and broke his head. He bled, but after lying down for two days, his head died. I'm not dizzy anymore, no, I can't lie down today, and I went out."

"No one has a high fever and vomits blood?"

"No, no, no pariah like us, if we have a high fever or vomit blood, how can we survive?"

The woman is right.

They still lack food and clothing. If they get plague, they will naturally have no money to buy medicine, and they will probably die.

I was relieved to know they were fine.

The woman personally sent Xiang Suining out of the bridge opening, and then watched Xiang Suining get into the carriage.

"If I had a home, I would definitely invite the girl to come and sit here often, but we are not decent in this place, so it's hard to ask the girl to come again next time." The woman rubbed her hands again, bowing her head cautiously.

"What's your name?" Xiang Suining asked her through the curtain of the car.

I've met her twice, but I still don't know her name.

"My name is Rainbow, and my maiden name is Qi. When my mother gave birth to me, she had a difficult labor and couldn't give birth. The weather was bad and it was raining. After the rain stopped, my mother gave birth to me. It took me a whole day and night. I suffered a great crime. It happened that there was a rainbow in the sky after the rain, and my parents hadn’t read any books, so they called me Rainbow if they thought about it. The rainbow is beautiful. It’s a pity that I have lived like this..."

"Rainbows will pass."

"Thank you girl for comforting me. Everything can be over, let me give you a good word. The girl is really a kind person." Rainbow smiled: "The girl cares about our safety, but do you care about him?"

"he's good."

"God has eyes."

The carriage moved slowly.

The road leading to the bridge hole in the south of the city is not easy to walk, the grass is deep and the road is narrow, and the bustling is confusing.

The carriage staggered for half a day, and it was very bumpy.

Mingzhu took out a round fan to fan Xiang Suining. The scenery outside the window was really nice, with luxuriant branches and leaves, red flowers and willows, and the lady in front of her also regained her former glory, with red lips and white teeth, long hair reaching her waist, and small pearl flowers dotted in her hair. All shining brightly.

"Who is he that Rainbow mentioned to the girl?" Mingzhu was puzzled.

"you guess."

"Could it be?"

"Yes."

"Then shall we go to the Blue Mansion now?"

"Don't go."

"Miss went to see the yamen servants and then Rainbow, why didn't she go to see Master Xiaolan? Isn't Miss afraid that Master Xiaolan will feel unwell?"

It's not that Xiang Suining never worried about Lan Fai's safety.

After all, Lan Tui is a member of the princess' mansion, if anything happens to him, the princess will be the first to be unable to sit still.

Most of the imperial physicians in the palace had to go to the princess' mansion to respond.

But I didn't hear anyone saying that the imperial physician was going to the princess mansion.

Moreover, Lu Yu is Lord Xiaolan's best friend.

If Lord Xiaolan is in trouble, he will be the first one to run ahead.

And Lu Yu healed himself, and didn't mention anything about Mrs. Xiaolan, so he seemed to be fine.

It's fine.

Hastily going to the princess' mansion, not to mention the princess, even at the gate, I can't open my mouth.

What to say?
Long time no see him, came to see him?

Let's see if he is sick?
Let's not go.

Go to the flyover.

The way to the bridge is a bit difficult.

The avenue is spacious, but there are many people.

They were shoulder to shoulder, sitting in the carriage and looking out, all the heads were black.

Inns, wineries, brothels, pawnshops, rivers, ships, horses, camels, houses and scenery recede gradually.

There were also three or four people who looked like refugees mixed in, or they were leaning on the railing beside the Yong'an River to bask in the sun.

Compared with the previous days, there seemed to be fewer refugees.

The sky bridge is always so prosperous.

The snake charmer of Fujiang Kingdom stepped on the drum, wrapped the snake around his neck, twisted his waist, and licked the snake's eyes lightly.

The dancer wearing yellow tulle stood on the strong man's shoulders, standing only on her toes, her arms were as soft as if they had no bones, and her hands painted with Kodan were so beautiful, so white and shining.The dancer's eyes have a light yellow halo, those eyes are really deep, one look, it's like falling into an abyss, if it's not easy to come out, they only need to hook their fingers, and there will be a man wanting to yell.

The fortune teller was still sitting and setting up a stall, and everyone was watching the show on tiptoe. There were few fortune tellers. He held a teapot and squinted his eyes, drinking tea while gently shaking his buttocks.

The fortune-teller was infected by the dancer, and he forgot his old profession, and he could twist himself up after drinking a sip of tea, and there was a spring on the bench, so he couldn't sit still.

The woman who sells pea cakes is waiting for someone to buy them with a knife.

The peddler who sells candied haws still took the trouble to ask a child: "Do you want to eat it? It's sour and sweet. It's appetizing." Before the child could answer, he took a bunch and put it in front of the child. : "Smell, smell, no money, see if it's sweet and sour."

The children were drooling because of him, and the adults said bitterly: "Go and shout, you are everywhere."

People under the flyover, rich or poor, can have fun.

When meeting a cross talk talk talker, a sling of money is enough to listen to five or six shows. The cross talk talk talker speaks so hard that people in the audience laugh out loud, and the snot bubbles from the laughter are squeezed out.

The bridge is stable.

The people are safe.

That is to say, there is no plague in Qingcheng today.

At least not in front of my eyes.

The sound of gongs and drums, the sound of suona, the sound of adults talking to children, and laughter, these sounds penetrate into people's ears like ants, making people's ears itchy. Only one sound came from the northwest corner, which seemed out of place.

It's crying.

(End of this chapter)