Eat in Song Dynasty

Chapter 80 The Book of Merit

Hearing this, Lu Xingwan turned his head to look, and saw Wen Shu picking up a dusty booklet from the incense table in the center. The cover of the booklet was very ordinary, and it could even be said to be rough.

"What is this?" She asked, turning around and walking towards the main hall.

On the other side, after seeing the words on the brochure and the contents inside, Wen Shu froze in place.

Because on the cover of the booklet there are three large characters "Book of Merit and Virtue" and then look at the inside, page after page, it is all about the year, month and month, where did you meet someone, what did the other party say to him, and what did you say to him? Something, and a small portrait of the other party was drawn next to it.

These small portraits include old people over sixty, teenagers, and some young women and women in their thirties and forties. The latest page of the booklet records the events of the morning, and there is a pair of Lu A small portrait of a big girl.

Although the picture is simple and uncolored, but its charm is seven or eight points like that of Miss Lu!
And just as she was stunned, Lu Xingwan came over and took the booklet out of her hand. After reading it, her mind was in a daze for a moment, and then her heart beat wildly.

After trying to calm down for a long time, Lu Xingwan calmed down the excitement in his heart. Lu Xingwan carefully put the booklet back on the table, then looked up at the dusty mountain god statue above him, bowed respectfully three times, and then stared at the door Mother Chen and the others said, "Let's go."
Wen Shu recovered from his astonishment, followed suit three times, and then looked up at the statue of the mountain god above. For some reason, he could see the shadow of the boy from the statue.

In a folk house not far from the mountain temple, the old woman who was still dazed at noon, looked sober at this moment, looking nervously at her son standing in the courtyard.

"I heard that there are a lot of people here, they won't check this!"

"Won't."
Liu Xiu was holding a booklet in his hand. Hearing this, he was not nervous, but stroked the booklet in his hand, and opened it slowly.

The content in the booklet is the same as that on the altar table of the Shanshen Temple, but the three large characters on the cover are not "Book of Merits and Deeds" but "Book of Kindness."

"Xiu'er, it's your mother who got you down!" The old woman burst into tears suddenly, "If it weren't for my illness, you would have been able to go to school normally, study and test your grades, but now you are dragged down by me, but you have to do this kind of thing against your will. Things."

Liu Xiu had heard this sentence countless times since she was a child, feeling helpless and powerless.

"Mother, those kind-hearted people gave us things voluntarily, and my son didn't lie." He smiled and comforted, while raising the booklet in his hand, "And my son remembers all these kindnesses. Returned one by one."

Speaking of this old woman's tears couldn't be stopped: "It's all useless for me as a mother, your father left early, your second sister was photographed by Pai Huazi, and your eldest brother who didn't live up to expectations was also thrown away." Now, our mother and I have run away, and we haven't seen each other for so many years, and we can go home to have a look, if they are still here, you wouldn't be in such a difficult situation!"

"Mother." Liu Xiu was full of helplessness, "These are all things in the past, you have to look forward and get better soon, that will really lighten my burden."

He wasn't lying, his mother was really hysterical.

When I was four years old, my father went to the mountain to collect medicine, but he accidentally fell off the cliff and died.

When the family lost its roof, the clan members took advantage of the situation to bully each other, wanting to take back their house and fields, and let the four of them, mother and son, live in the clan.

Life under the fence was naturally difficult, and what was even more sad was that in July of the same year, the second sister disappeared for no reason, and the eldest brother also ran away from home the following year.

The mother couldn't bear the blows one after another, and fell ill in bed. Since then, she has suffered from hysteria, and she is in a trance for most of the day. A lot has happened.

Seeing this, the clansman drove the two of them out on the grounds of causing trouble. He was only six or seven years old at the time, and had nowhere to go, so he could only take his mother to live in a ruined temple, and beg for food with the beggars.

Until I came to Gulou County two years ago, once in a while, my mother ran out again while he was not paying attention. When he found out and chased him out, she was standing in the middle of the road in a daze, pulling a little lady and calling the second sister's name. name.

The little lady panicked at first and kept shaking off her mother's hand, but when he ran out to apologize and explained that her mother was suffering from hysteria, the girl didn't blame her, instead she took two trowels from the basket head to him.

That was the first time he felt warmth, which gave him an idea.

Instead of standing pitifully on the side of the road begging for food and still not getting it, it is better to simply show his pity in front of the right person at the right time.

Gulou County is not far from Bianliang, the capital of the capital, and there are often dignitaries or wealthy businessmen passing by. He immediately summoned the beggars in the city and asked them to guard the city gates. Once a horse-drawn carriage or motorcade enters the city, he will follow them and make sure they are After the residence, report to him again.

Once these wealthy businessmen or nobles settle down, they will definitely come out for a walk, and then he will let the beggars rush out to ask for money at the right place.

As for his mother, she would cooperate with him in acting when she was sober, and when she was confused, she would rush out as long as he yelled 'Second Sister' or 'Big Brother' to people in the distance.

But noble people are not so easy to meet, and not all noble people have kind hearts, some noble people not only have no sympathy, but when they see them beggars, they will get annoyed and ask the servants around them to whip them.

After suffering several losses, he summed up a few experiences.

First, women and the elderly are the first choice. Whether a woman is an old lady or a young lady who has not left the cabinet, she always wants face. Even if she does not give money, she will not order her servants to beat someone.

Most of the old people are soft-hearted, and when they look at her mother's appearance, they can be more or less associated with themselves, and they are not short of money, so they will basically give some rewards.

Of course, he is also very smart to only find outsiders, because such things cannot be hidden from the locals.

However, he often walks by the river, so there is no way his shoes will not get wet. In order to prevent some merchants from staying too long and hearing some rumors and troubles for them, he specially found a mountain temple. That event, and then made a merit book and put it in front of the case, which recorded in detail those who gave him money or help, from appearance, identity to age.

Then compare the appearance of the mountain god statue and dress up yourself, so that once someone finds this place, as long as they see the merit book before the case, they will basically not pursue it.

Coupled with his deliberate arrangements, most people will connect this matter with ghosts and gods. Even if they don't believe it, they won't find him on the spot, and they won't arrest him all over the city just for the few taels of silver rewarded.

He relied on these "cheats" to collect beggars in the city, and gave his mother medicine to keep her condition from getting worse, and barely survived.

(End of this chapter)