21-30

Chapter 21

Blue brick and tile houses are rare in any village. After a while, Lin Zhen saw Zhou Tao's house from a distance. It was indeed a newly built two blue brick and tile house. The beams sticking out of the main hall were still brand new.

In front of the house stood a group of familiar people - Gu Dadi and his mother's family from Datianzi Village, who were rolling up their sleeves and trousers, turning around and cursing Zhou Tao and Ma.

A young man carrying a hoe walked down from the upper floor. Lin Zhen hurriedly stopped him: "Big brother, I would like to ask, how long have these people come to Zhou Tao's house to curse? Why hasn't anyone from Zhou Tao's family come out?"

The young man was used to the Gu family members cursing. With his heart pounding, he looked at the extremely good-looking young man in front of him and said, "You with thin arms and legs, don't go over there."

"That family is very rogue. They come here at this time every day and don't go back until they curse until night. If someone takes a second look, they will surround them like crazy and say that this blue brick and tile house is theirs, and that they want Zhou Tao to return the house and the money."

"Then the Zhou Tao family will stay at home and not come out?" Old Mrs. Gu was no pushover. She cursed for a long time without repeating a word. Eight generations of Zhou Tao's ancestors had all been dragged out by her to be whipped.

The young man looked at the energetic old lady Gu, and lowered his voice to Lin Zhen: "In fact, Zhou Tao's family quietly left the village last night. I saw it with my own eyes." The

young man's house was next to the entrance of the village. Last night, he got up to urinate at night. As soon as he went out, he saw Zhou Tao, Ma, and the three children in the family hurried out of the village.

If it were before, he would definitely ask Zhou Tao where he was going and if something happened.

But since Zhou Tao's family had money and did so many infuriating things in the village, the young man looked down on them.

Lin Zhen frowned slightly: "Brother, do you know where they went?"

The young man shrugged: "I don't know, but his house has just been built, so they should be back soon."

Then, Lin Zhen learned from the young man that since the end of December last year, Zhou Tao's family had been eating and drinking much more lavishly. Not only did they eat meat every few days, but Ma also learned the style of the town, putting on makeup and wearing gold and silver.

The villagers naturally couldn't help asking them where they made their fortune. Ma immediately spread the word in the village, saying that there was a distant relative on her mother's side who had a lot of money but didn't have any children.

The couple went to arrange the funeral for the relative, and naturally they inherited the other's wealth.

As for the extra Gu Shuanzi, they said truthfully that he was the son of their dead sister, and that he came to live in their house after his father died. Most

of the people in the village were simple and honest. Seeing that Zhou Tao and Ma were very kind to Gu Shuanzi, who came to stay with them, and that he would go to the town's clinic when he had a headache or fever, and that they also took care of his food and drink, they couldn't help but give Zhou Tao and Ma a thumbs up and praised them for their kindness.

But gradually, the villagers found that Zhou Tao's family had changed.

Ma was either showing off the bracelets on her hands to this young wife all day long, or looking down on people.

The 11 or 12-year-old boy in her family was even more reckless. He actually provoked the girls and boys in the village, and forced the girl in the village to fall into the water and die.

But Ma was always putting on airs and going to the girl's house to gossip, saying that the girl had taken a fancy to her boy, and even said that the girl seduced her son. The girl's

mother was already sick and weak, and she was so angry that she died, leaving behind a child who was just four months old and a six-year-old girl and her husband.

But even so, Ma was still relentless, saying wherever she went that the girl deserved it, and that the girl's mother was not a good person, otherwise she would not have died of anger and shame because of what she said.

Zhou Tao and Ma's younger son and older daughter also learned Ma's style completely, and there was no one in Tianwan Village who didn't hate their family.

Lin Zhen listened coldly.

He really didn't expect that money could change the couple so thoroughly. When Gu Da died, the couple was still thinking about Gu Shuanzi wholeheartedly, and refused the four taels of silver for raising children.

In just over half a year, they were completely different.

He looked at the closed door of the blue brick house, and his lips were pressed into a straight line.

"Maybe Zhou Tao and his family went to their relatives' house. Do you know where his relatives' house is?"

The young man waved his hand and pointed at the old lady Gu who was cursing fiercely: "We have already looked for that family, but they can't find any trace of them. I advise you to give up this idea."

He looked at Lin Zhen curiously: "You sound very anxious. What's the matter with Zhou Tao?"

"He owes money," Lin Zhen took out the copper coins from his purse and handed them to the young man, "Brother, this is a hundred coins, my reward for you."

"As soon as his family comes back, you go to Lin Zhen's house in Liyu Village to let me know, and then I will give you another hundred coins."

The young man widened his eyes. A hundred coins, you may not be able to get so much even if you work for ten days!

He hurriedly took the copper coins in his hand and nodded repeatedly: "Of course, of course, I will definitely keep a close eye on you!" Unable

to find anyone, Lin Zhen didn't waste time here. He turned around and left without even a glance at the Gu family. It was getting dark when he returned to Liyu Village.

Father Lin, who was getting something into the house, saw him come back, and hurried forward to take the backpack for him. Seeing the things inside intact, he asked him, "Why did you bring things back again? Shuanzi's uncle and aunt don't allow you to see the child?"

Father Lin was soft-hearted. Although Gu Shuanzi was not Lin Zhen's biological son, he treated him as half his grandson because he called Lin Zhen "Father".

Lin Zhen told him what he saw and heard today when he went to Tianwan Village. The already worried Lin's father became even more anxious: "Just as I said, Shuanzi's uncle and aunt might use Shuanzi as a place to store money. What should we do?"

Lin Zhen held him back: "Dad, don't worry. Zhou Tao and Ma will not treat the child well, but they should not take his life. After all, I wrote down the money I saved at the beginning. The more than 400 taels of silver will not be taken out at once. He can only take out 10 taels at most in a year, and he must have Gu Shuanzi, the silver bills, and the household registration certificate to withdraw. For the sake of the silver, they will also keep Shuanzi."

It's just that Gu Shuanzi's temper... he

must have suffered.

Lin Zhen felt guilty for the first time after traveling here for so long.

He thought, if he had insisted a little more at that time, or avoided the person who had bad intentions towards the original body, causing Gu Shuanzi's trust to drop to the freezing point, would the child be fine now? In

the following days, the person Lin Zhen found in Tianwan Village never brought any news. He went there on purpose once, but did not bring back any useful news.

The Gu family, who went to beg for money and house every day, seemed to have given up and had not been there for a long time.

Lin Zhen could only ask the young man to keep watching and travel back and forth between Liyu Village and the town, trying to earn enough money to buy a shop in the town as soon as possible.

In a blink of an eye, autumn came.

No one in Liyu Village went to their own fields that day. They all gathered around the Lin family's fields, looking at the ears that almost broke the sorghum stalks and kept saying, "What good sorghum, I have never seen such good sorghum."

"Look at this ear, there are at least hundreds or thousands of seeds, this seed is too good!"

"It's not the seeds that are good, it's the fertilizer piled by the Lin family that played a big role. My family will also pile it this year, and all the fields will be piled!"

Father Lin stood in the field, looking at the mature sorghum that was growing pleasingly, full of strength.

He bent down and cut a handful of corn. The heavy ears of corn instantly pressed to the other side. He had to use all his strength to hold them.

"Great, great crops!" Father Lin's eyes sparkled, and he quickly cut the second and third handfuls.

The people standing by the field watching the excitement suddenly had an idea, and they all jumped down and said, "Uncle Lin, I'll help you cut the corn."

"Uncle, I'll cut yours first. You have a lot of corn. Don't let it get wet in the rain."

"Uncle, your corn is good. I have the strength to cut it."

Almost all the strong laborers in the village were here. The fields that were supposed to be cut in the morning were cut in a short time, and the crops were bundled and placed on the road, piled high and wide.

Just by looking, you can tell that the Lin family will definitely have a bumper harvest this year.

These strong laborers came to Father Lin one by one, and they almost regarded working as a way to grab credit. In just one day, the crops of more than ten acres of the Lin family's fields were cut and brought home.

Father Lin led the elder and second brothers Lin to spread sorghum and buckwheat on the ground in the yard to thresh the grains and put them into sacks.

Little Lin stood in the yard, counting the sacks in the corner and those already piled in the house, "Seventeen, eighteen, nineteen... twenty-three, twenty-four, twenty-five, twenty-six..."

The villagers who came in with Father Lin looked at the sacks with burning eyes and asked, "How many sacks have you made? It must be no less than twenty bags."

"I think there are about twenty-five bags."

"How can there be twenty bags? No matter how good it is, there are only a dozen acres of land, and sorghum stalks and buckwheat stalks are the bulk."

Father Lin simply called the little one who was counting over, "Little boy, tell your uncles how many there are."

Father Lin's hands on his knees clenched slightly. He knew that his family had a bumper harvest this year, but he didn't know how much there was, just like the old brothers behind him.

In previous years, these fields could produce seventeen or eighteen bags of grain, which was considered good. He estimated that this year, it would be very good to have about twenty-seven bags.

Lin Xiaoyao held up four fingers and said, "Father, there are forty-nine bags! We can eat as much as we want this year!"

"How much?!"

"More than forty!"

"Impossible, absolutely impossible!"

A large crowd of people ran to the pile of sacks and counted them one by one. In the end, they counted that there were indeed forty-nine bags, and each bag was filled to the brim without a single gap.

Everyone's eyes were blazing with anger, looking at Father Lin as if he were a gold nugget!

This is food, life-saving food!

Chapter 22:

People came to the Lin family to check the grain one after another. There were seven or eight pots of coarse tea on the stove. Everyone gathered around Lin's father to ask for advice. Lin's father never tired of telling them the composting method again and again.

Lin's father, Lin Xiaoyao, and the eldest and second sisters-in-law were also surrounded by people, all of whom were aunts and uncles in the village.

Everyone regretted it. If they had believed in the Lin family's method of using fertilizer earlier, their crops would definitely be much better than they are now.

As for Zhao Xiu's mother's family, because of Zhao Xiu's instructions when she went back, although they didn't use composted soil and manure, they made a few manure water and it was not bad, twice as much as in previous years. The Zhao family was so happy that they specially came to thank Lin's father and Lin's father, praised Lin Zhen to the sky, and patted Zhao Xiu's arm, telling him to listen to Lin Zhen, Lin Zhen is a promising person!

After the harvest, the sorghum roots and buckwheat roots in the field were dug out and dried in the field as in previous years. After drying, they shook off the soil and carried it back as firewood.

Time flies, and winter is here in a blink of an eye.

Lin Zhen, wearing a newly made cotton gown, cotton boots, and a rabbit fur hat, looked at the sparse snow outside the window with a frown.

Lin's father walked up to him and said, "Are you thinking about Shuanzi again?"

"The day after tomorrow is his father's memorial day. The boy has a deep relationship with his father and will definitely go to burn incense for his father." Half a year has passed, and Zhou Tao and Ma have disappeared from the face of the earth, never returning to Tianwan Village once.

These days, Lin Zhen's eyelids have been twitching. He reached out to catch the snowflakes in his hand, turned around and said to Lin's father, "Dad, I'll go to Datianzi Village tomorrow to have a look."

"Go." Lin's father was also worried about his grandson, a seven or eight-year-old child, who was taken to an unknown place by Zhou Tao and Ma. It was really frightening.

Early the next morning, Lin Zhen ate two boiled eggs and a bowl of hot soy milk and walked to Datianzi Village.

At first, the snowflakes were not dense, but halfway through the journey, you could hear the rustling sound, and the dead branches on both sides of the road were pressed and crackled.

Lin Zhen glanced at the road that was gradually blurring in the wind and snow, and felt that his luck was really bad. In such cold weather, it was more difficult for the wild animals in the forest to hunt. If they jumped out and made him their dinner, they would have nowhere to run.

"Gu Shuanzi, Gu Shuanzi, why didn't you send me a dream or tell me where you are?" Lin Zhen lowered the rabbit fur hat on his head and almost trotted forward.

Finally, after almost falling twice, he arrived at Datianzi Village two hours later.

It was snowing, and the weather was freezing. The villagers were burning fires in their houses to keep warm. White smoke was coming out of the roofs of every household, like a bunch of cotton candy, gradually diluting in the wind and snow.

As soon as Lin Zhen stepped into the village, the dog of the family next door was barking and biting there, and the tied cloth belt was pulled straight.

The host came out and was surprised to see Lin Zhen: "You from the Gu family, why are you here at this time?"

Lin Zhen is also a celebrity in Datianzi Village. He was famous for his appearance in the past, but now it is because he gave all his family property to Gu Shuanzi and left home with nothing and returned to his parents' home. Everyone thought he would never come back and was preparing to remarry for the third time in his parents' home.

Lin Zhen shook off the snowflakes on his umbrella and said, "The day after tomorrow is the anniversary of Shuanzi's father's death. I will come back to see him and burn some incense for him."

"By the way, auntie, have you seen Shuanzi come back these days?"

"No," said the woman in her fifties who was speaking. "He should come too. He is the only son of his father. It would be so lonely if he didn't come."

"Why don't you come to my house and sit by the fire?"

"No, I'm going to the village chief's house to get the key to the house."

"You're right. We still need to burn a fire to get rid of the moisture in the house. Shuanzi will come back anyway, so he can sleep more comfortably. I won't keep you here."

Lin Zhen nodded, "Thank you, auntie. Please go in."

Knowing that Gu Shuanzi hadn't come yet, Lin Zhen's eyelids twitched even more. He was thinking about things all the way to the village chief's wife to get the key and open the door of the Gu family's blue brick and tile house.

After a year of no one living in it, even the best house was covered with dust, leaving clear footprints when stepped on.

Lin Zhen looked at the furniture in the house, which was exactly the same as when he left. He first went to the neighbor's house to buy two bundles of firewood to make a fire and boil water, cleaned the tables and chairs, and then bought two liters of rice, lard, eggs, radish and cabbage, and made a simple meal.

At this time of year, no household can see green vegetables. Radish and cabbage are the only two vegetables that can be eaten during the winter, so they are afraid to mention them.

But Lin Zhen is a good cook and is willing to use oil, so the fragrance has spread outside.

Someone who came to the neighbor's house for something smelled the smell and asked, "Did Zhou Tao bring Gu Shuanzi back to visit Gu Da's grave?"

In the year when the deceased just passed away, the family would burn some wax on the new grave and clear the weeds on the grave, just like the living people cleaning the house, so that the relatives can live comfortably.

Gu Da has no one except Gu Shuanzi, and Gu Laotai's family can't be relied on, so this person subconsciously thought that Zhou Tao must have brought Gu Shuanzi back.

The neighbor of Gu Da's big brick and tile house opened the door and let the person in, whispering, "It's not Gu Shuanzi, it's the guy that Gu Da married."

"It's him?"

"I didn't expect him to be so loyal. Not only did he not take the money left by Gu Da, but he also came to clean Gu Da's grave."

"I used to think he was just a good-looking guy, but I didn't expect he's not bad."

The person who came to look for someone felt the same way as Gu Da's house, and smelled the smell coming from Gu's house. Lin Zhen's cooking skills are really good.

After dinner and taking a shower, Lin Zhen stayed in the quilt for a long time to warm up. When he woke up, he found that the snow outside was even bigger, a piece as big as a thumb, covering the sky and the earth, as if he wanted to bury the whole village in it.

He wrapped himself tightly in a cotton robe, looked at the mountain where Gu Da was buried, hesitated, tied two pieces of leather on his calves to the middle of his thighs, put on a leather hat and gloves that he specially asked his sister-in-law to make, and walked towards Gu Da's grave with one foot deep and one foot shallow, wrapped like a baby bear.

Fortunately, Gu Dacai was buried halfway up the mountain, and the slope was not steep, so Lin Zhen climbed up without much effort.

Just after climbing a small slope, about a hundred meters away from the grave, Lin Zhen, who had excellent eyesight, suddenly saw a group of things lying in front of the grave, which was already covered with snow and almost as big as the ridge next to it.

His heart skipped a beat, and he didn't even have time to open his umbrella, and ran over.

"Gu Shuanzi!"

"Gu Shuanzi!!!" A thin layer of snow fell on the figure, and Lin Zhen pulled Gu Shuanzi, who was wearing a patchwork of patches, so thin that it was almost the same as an autumn shirt, into his arms.

He realized that Gu Shuanzi had changed a lot compared to a year ago. His hair was messy, dry and yellow, and his handsome face, which was somewhat similar to Gu Da, had no flesh at all, and his two cheekbones were high. His body, which was originally like a wolf cub and could knock him away, was so thin that only bones could be felt.

There were also thick scabs on his wrists and bruises on his face that were almost black.

If it weren't for the warm air coming out of his nose, Lin Zhen almost thought he was...

Lin Zhen untied his cotton robe with trembling hands and pulled him to himself. He was about to hold Gu Shuanzi and stand up. Gu Shuanzi opened his eyes and looked at him. His hands were tightly grasping the tombstone, and his scabby wrists were bleeding.

Lin Zhen pressed him against his body: "Your father is always here. You see, he won't leave. I'll take you home."

Gu Shuanzi's eyes were like two knives dipped in ice, staring at him deeply. No matter how Lin Zhen tried, he couldn't pry his fingers apart.

Lin Zhen was almost pissed off by this kid. If he didn't go see a doctor right away, would he want to live?

He looked down at Gu Shuanzi, pointed at Gu Da's grave and said, "Your father is right here. Do you want him to watch his son die in front of him?"

"..."

Gu Shuanzi's fingers finally let go.

Lin Zhen breathed a sigh of relief and ran down the mountain with him in his arms.

His forehead was touched by the snow-white rabbit fur, and his pale face was flushed because he was holding Gu Shuanzi in his arms, and he exhaled hot air from his mouth.

Gu Shuanzi's hands and feet were all covered with frostbite, which was itchy and painful because of his body temperature.

He looked at Lin Zhen, whose nose was sweating in the cold weather, and slowly closed his eyes.

Lin Zhen ran directly to the village chief's house to borrow an ox cart, and then went home to get two thick quilts, wrapped Gu Shuanzi tightly and put him in the car, and drove straight to the town's clinic.

The apprentices of the clinic were quite surprised to see him: "Brother Lin, you come to buy medicine in such a heavy snow?"

Lin Zhen accidentally discovered that many so-called medicinal materials are modern spices, so he often comes here to "get medicine", and the apprentices are familiar with him.

Lin Zhen took Gu Shuanzi off the ox cart: "Where is Doctor Liu?"

"Yes, this is your son, what's wrong with you?"

"My son." Lin Zhen held Gu Shuanzi and went to another room where Doctor Liu was sitting without looking back.

The apprentice had a black line on his forehead: "..."

Who are you kidding? Brother Lin looks only 17 or 18 years old, how could he have such a big child? The apprentice with some small thoughts in his heart followed him relentlessly.

But Lin Zhen didn't notice this apprentice at all. He held Gu Shuanzi and found the doctor, untied the quilt wrapped around him: "Doctor Liu, come and see my son." Doctor

Liu is the doctor sitting in the clinic, and his medical skills are famous in the whole town. When he saw Gu Shuanzi, his eyebrows knitted tightly together, and when he felt his pulse, his face was so dark that it was unbearable to look at.

He looked at Lin Zhen: "Where did you pick up this child?"

"I didn't pick him up, he's my son."

"I didn't expect you to have such a heart to torment a child like this!" Doctors are kind-hearted. Doctor Liu is used to seeing life and death, and he can't stand some things.

The child is still so young, and the condition of his body and body is so bad that he can't hold back his anger.

Lin Zhen opened his mouth, unable to speak. He felt that he was also responsible for Gu Shuanzi's condition. It was he who made the child suffer and become like this.

Chapter 23

Doctor Liu reached out his hand, ready to hold Gu Shuanzi to his body and feel his bones carefully to see if there were any hidden injuries. As soon as he stretched out his hand, Gu Shuanzi slapped his hand away expressionlessly and struggled to crawl out of the quilt.

Lin Zhen didn't expect that he still had the strength at this time. He wanted to hug him, but suddenly, Gu Shuanzi bit his hand, and his sharp teeth dug into the flesh.

"Hiss--" Lin Zhen had been afraid of pain since he was a child, and he almost fell to the ground. He grabbed Gu Shuanzi who was staggering out and hugged his arm from behind, "Where do you want to go?"

Gu Shuanzi kicked his legs, choked his neck and said nothing.

Lin Zhen held him tightly and asked Doctor Liu, "Please give me some medicine."

Doctor Liu was quite satisfied that he didn't get angry after being bitten, and said, "He doesn't have any serious injuries, but he hasn't eaten enough for a long time. He needs to eat food that is easy to digest in the next two or three months, and eat small amounts and frequently."

"It's best to drink some ginseng soup from time to time to replenish the foundation, otherwise it will affect his life span."

"Thank you, doctor. Then please pack me a pack of ginseng slices that can be used for a month."

Doctor Liu looked at him in surprise. Ginseng is relatively expensive among medicinal materials. Most people would hesitate when they heard that they wanted to use ginseng.

He said to the apprentice who had been standing outside the door for a long time, "According to this prescription, take this brother to get medicine, and pack a pack of ginseng slices that can be used for a month. Remember, it must be fifty years old." The apprentice, who was

already dizzy with the fact that his sweetheart actually had a son, took the prescription and walked in front like an eggplant hit by frost. Just now

he was still full of energy, but now he was like this. Lin Zhen was a little confused.

He hugged Gu Shuanzi tightly and followed the apprentice. The apprentice picked two prescriptions according to the prescription and packed a bag of fifty-year-old ginseng slices: "Brother Lin, these two prescriptions should be boiled twice a day. Add three bowls of water each time. When there is only one bowl of water left, you can pour it out and use it."

"The ginseng slices should be used once every three days, and three bowls of water should be added to boil and taken."

"Thank you, how much is the total?"

"Five taels of silver for two prescriptions, and forty-five taels of silver for ginseng slices." Fifty-year-old ginseng slices are already hard to find, so the price is naturally high.

Lin Zhen paused, and he asked the apprentice: "I don't have that much silver on me, can I bring it to you tomorrow?"

Dozens of taels of silver are not light, and ordinary people would not carry so much silver on them. He didn't expect this to happen before he went to Datianzi Village, and only brought eight taels of silver on him.

The apprentice was a little embarrassed, and he said to Lin Zhen: "I'll go ask the shopkeeper."

After a while, he came out from the back with a happy look on his face: "The shopkeeper is a regular customer of your spicy hot pot, and he promised to give you credit first."

Unexpectedly, the shopkeeper of the clinic turned out to be a fan of his spicy hot pot. Lin Zhen sighed at his good luck in his heart. He signed his name on the IOU for credit, stamped it with a red handprint, and walked out of the clinic holding Gu Shuanzi in one hand and the medicine in the other.

"Let's go back to Datianzi Village first. I stayed at home for one night yesterday. I have to go back to pack up. I will go back to Liyu Village to get the money to come to town tomorrow."

The struggle just now seemed to have exhausted all the strength in Gu Shuanzi's body. He was wrapped in the quilt and swayed gently with the ox cart.

Suddenly, Lin Zhen saw a small shop on the side of the road that was not closed because of the windy and snowy weather. He carried Gu Shuanzi in with the quilt and asked the proprietress to scrape a bowl of fragrant and sticky porridge oil.

He put the hot porridge oil on the table, scooped a spoonful and blew it cool, and just handed it to Gu Shuanzi's mouth. Gu Shuanzi, who was covered with thorns and did not allow anyone to get close to him, grabbed his hand suddenly, and his lips with many cracks could not wait to hold the spoon. A lot of blood immediately flowed from his lips, staining the spoon red.

"..."

Lin Zhen was not a good person, but he couldn't stand a child like this in front of him.

He silently gathered Gu Shuanzi's messy hair behind his back and couldn't help but say, "What happened after you and Zhou Tao went back."

Gu Shuanzi paused with the spoon in his mouth.

He remembered that when he just went back with Zhou Tao and Ma, Ma vacated the most spacious room in the house for him to live alone. He ate either eggs or white rice, and had new clothes from time to time.

The three children of Zhou Tao's family were also good to him, following him all day.

At that time, Gu Shuanzi was actually relieved. If he hadn't seen what Lin Zhen did with that man with his own eyes, he wouldn't have followed him to his completely unfamiliar uncle's house.

He knew that he had a bad temper and was often accused of being naughty by the villagers, so he was afraid of bringing trouble to his uncle and aunt.

When did things slowly change?

Gu Shuanzi's lips became straight, looking at the steaming porridge oil.

He clearly remembered that it was the fourth month since he went to his uncle's house. Every household in Tianwan Village was busy with farming. His aunt suddenly called him into the house and asked him how much silver he had left. She had an urgent need and wanted to borrow it first.

Gu Shuanzi was not a fool. On the contrary, he was smart. He had seen the expenses of the Zhou family in the past few months. It was impossible for the four taels of silver that Lin Zhen gave to his uncle and aunt before he came to spend so quickly.

He asked his aunt what happened, but his aunt's eyes flickered and she said sternly: "You don't need to know so much about adults' affairs!"

Then she actually touched his body for silver. After finding that the silver was not on him, she turned the room he lived in into a mess, and then took all the remaining fourteen taels of silver.

Before leaving, she told him, "Auntie really needs some urgent silver, and I will return it to you later."

Later, Gu Shuanzi learned in the village that Ma bought a piece of good paddy field with the thirteen taels of silver...

Later, Ma wanted to take him to the silver shop in the town to get some silver, but when he refused, Ma would not let him eat, saying that he was not well behaved. He wanted to run back to Datianzi Village, but Ma caught him and tied his hands and feet, and said in the village that he was mentally ill and would beat people if he was not tied up.

He was like the dog that Zhou Tao and Ma raised. When he remembered, he could eat a bowl of rice in a day or two. If he didn't remember, he would be left hungry. When he was in a bad mood, he would kick him to vent his anger.

"Bang!" The bowl of porridge oil on the table was smashed to the ground by Gu Shuanzi like a madman. His eyes were almost popped out of their sockets, and his hands were scratching everywhere like claws.

Lin Zhen quickly took out some silver and put it on the table as compensation to the lady boss, and hugged him and said, "I won't ask any more questions, let's go back."

Gu Shuanzi's condition clearly showed that he hated Zhou Tao's family so much that he even had a shadow in his heart. Lin Zhen was afraid of irritating him, so he didn't say a word along the way, and just drove the ox cart silently.

When they arrived at Datianzi Village, Lin Zhen first sent Gu Shuanzi home, then went to return the ox cart, and bought a few eggs at the village chief's house. As

soon as he entered the house with the eggs in his pocket, he found that Gu Shuanzi, who had never closed his eyes for a moment along the way, had actually fallen asleep.

His pointed chin was pressed against the thick quilt, the bruises on his cheeks almost connected to his neck, and his cracked lips were covered with blood. Just looking at him, you could tell how painful it was.

Lin Zhen walked lightly, put the eggs in the basket next to him, stood by the bed and looked at him. Just as he was about to leave, Gu Shuanzi's hand grabbed his clothes and muttered in his throat: "Dad..."

"..."

Lin Zhen cursed in his heart.

Fortunately, Zhou Tao and Ma were not here, otherwise he would have made them suffer a lot!

Chapter 24

While Gu Shuanzi was still asleep, Lin Zhen lit a fire to cook. He first washed the rice, poured it into the boiling water and cooked it until you could feel the rice core with your fingers. Then he drained the water and poured it into the steamer to steam it again.

While the rice was steaming, he cracked five or six eggs he bought, added salt, water and two drops of oil to make steamed eggs, and then fried some pickled cabbage and stewed radish with cured pork ribs.

It gets dark early in winter, and the oil lamp as big as a soybean can only illuminate an area the size of a palm. You can't see any light or shadow from the window.

The radish and pork ribs on the stove were almost melted. Lin Zhen stood up and walked into the inner room, wanting to see if Gu Shuanzi had any signs of waking up. But as soon as he opened the door, he bumped into Gu Shuanzi, who had woken up for some reason but was holding an axe in his hand.

Damn it!!!

Lin Zhen was quick-witted and grabbed Gu Shuanzi's hand, pulled out the axe and threw it far away: "What are you doing, little bastard!"

Almost, just a little bit, the axe would have fallen on him!

He grabbed Gu Shuanzi's waist and slapped him on the buttocks twice, but as soon as his hand fell, he was scratched by the bones under the thin clothes, and he couldn't help but feel distressed.

But Lin Zhen understood that although he felt distressed, he couldn't just pick up the issue of principle and let it go.

He slapped Gu Shuanzi twice again, dragged him to the chair next to the stove, squatted down and looked at Gu Shuanzi, saying: "I know you must have suffered a lot of hardships and grievances in Zhou Tao's house, but Gu Shuanzi, you can't get yourself into trouble because of some bad people."

"Do you know what would happen if you really hit me with that knife just now?"

"You will violate the law and become a prisoner who intentionally hurts others. The government will arrest you, but may not let you receive a very serious punishment, because you are a child and you are not sensible yet."

"But the fact that you hurt people with a knife will spread in many places. Others will no longer remember you as Gu Shuanzi, but will only remember the bad things you did, and this mark will follow you for the rest of your life."

"And tell me yourself, what reason do you have to chop me with a knife? Are you venting your dissatisfaction and resentment as you please?"

Lin Zhen knew that Gu Shuanzi had grown a little crooked.

He not only resented Zhou Tao and Ma, but also everything around him, and was extremely aggressive. If he is not disciplined in time, he will most likely become a villain in novels and TV shows in the future.

Gu Shuanzi looked up at him from a low position, and a fierce look came at him.

To be honest, Lin Zhen's heart skipped a beat when he saw this.

He simply put his hand on the boy's head, rubbed it hard, and scooped a large spoonful of egg custard in front of him: "Eat, eat. I'll take you to Zhou Tao's house in two days. I want to ask them how they took you away from me and ended up like this."

His cooking skills are impeccable. The simple egg custard is also different from others. The tender yellow eggs, finely chopped green onions, and the unique aroma of eggs in the steaming hot air are irresistible.

Listening to his last words, Gu Shuanzi's hands full of chilblains slowly picked up the spoon and fed it into his mouth one spoonful after another... After

the meal, only a small part of the tung oil in the oil dish was left, and the wick was burned curled up, hunched over like an old man in the sunset.

Lin Zhen cut the wick and said to Gu Shuanzi, "Stay at home. I'll go to Aunt Lan in the village to ask if there are any extra children's clothes and get you one."

Looking at Gu Shuanzi sitting on the chair without saying anything, he thought for a moment and said, "I won't close the door when I go out."

When Gu Shuanzi heard the word "close the door", his whole body shuddered. The fingers on his knees nervously clicked his pants, almost pulling the flesh off.

In Zhou's house, he had seen the door close many times and the sound of it closing. To him, it was like being tied up in that room, with one meal a day, or one meal every three to five days, or nothing at all, but being slapped in the face and kicked on the body after opening the door...

"Squeak--" The door closed, but there was no sound of locking, no Ma's cursing, and no Zhou Tao's soft voice of comfort.

There was no harsh chattering of their three children.

Gu Shuanzi's hand slowly loosened.

Lin Zhen, who didn't know that Gu Shuanzi would even have a shadow when closing the door, went to Aunt Lan's house in the shadow of the snow. Seeing a little light coming through the window of Aunt Lan's house, she hurriedly went up to call for help: "Aunt Lan, are you home? I'm Lin Zhen from the Gu family. I'm here to see you for something."

Aunt Lan, who was about to blow out the lights and go to bed, thought she was hallucinating when she heard Lin Zhen's voice. After all, it had been a whole year since Lin Zhen left Datianzi Village.

She opened the door and looked at Lin Zhen outside the fence: "It's really Brother Zhen, come in quickly."

"Don't bother Aunt Lan, I just came to ask if you have any extra children's clothes. I want to buy two sets."

"Children's clothes?" Aunt Lan immediately remembered the rumors in the village that Gu Shuanzi had come back to visit his father's grave, but the Gu family had money, so it was impossible for them to lack these two sets of clothes, right?

Aunt Lan kept her words to herself and didn't say them out loud, "I have two sets, but they are too old."

"It's okay if they are old, old clothes are still soft." It was late at night, and when Lin Zhen came over, he found that most people were asleep. If Aunt Lan didn't have any, he would probably have to go back home and wait until tomorrow morning.

But tomorrow morning he still planned to take Gu Shuanzi to the town to buy some incense, candles, and paper money for Gu Da's grave. It would take a long time to go back and forth, and if he didn't pay attention, he would miss the trip.

Aunt Lan heard what he said, nodded and asked Lin Zhen to wait, and took out the clothes of her youngest son that had been put aside for several years and handed them to Lin Zhen: "I originally planned to tear them apart and make two sets of clothes for my grandson, but the child's in-laws love him very much, so they specially sent several sets over, and they have been left here until now."

"The cotton inside is all good, but the cloth is a little damaged, not very strong."

Farmers make clothes with almost coarse cloth, and the earthy yellow color looks very resistant to dirt and also looks old.

Lin Zhen held the clothes and said to Aunt Lan, "It's fine." He took out fifteen copper coins, stuffed them into Aunt Lan's hand, and walked out, saying, "Thank you, Aunt Lan, I'll go back first."

Aunt Lan was confused when she saw the copper coins in her hand, and hurriedly called Lin Zhen.

But Lin Zhen was like a rabbit, and had already jumped away.

With the copper coins, Aunt Lan had no choice but to go back to the house.

She couldn't help but think that Lin Zhen looked like a weird guy, not a serious person, but he actually had a sense of justice.

After taking the clothes back, Lin Zhen thought that the weak Gu Shuanzi should go to bed, but he was still sitting on the chair in front of the fire pit, and his posture was exactly the same as when he went out.

He put the clothes aside, looked at the water he mixed in the pot when he went out, and took a basin to scoop water to wash his face: "Those are the clothes I found for you at Aunt Lan's house. You change into them tomorrow and go to the town with me to buy incense, candles, and paper money."

Gu Shuanzi knew that these incense, candles, and paper money were indispensable for visiting graves.

He looked at Lin Zhen and said the first sentence after meeting Lin Zhen: "You don't have to worry about me. My father is dead. I am not your son."

"..."

The hot handkerchief was peeled off from his face. Lin Zhen blinked and looked back at him: "Your father and I are married. You are my stepson. This is a fact."

"Although I don't have to worry about you, I feel uncomfortable here," Lin Zhen pointed to his chest, "

"Tsk," Gu Shuanzi sneered coldly, "Why didn't I know you were a nice guy before?"

"No, I can't be called a nice guy. I just can't stand some things."

"Gu Shuanzi, I'm not your biological father, so I can't treat you like your biological father."

"When you can manage things and start a family, you should come back here and live on your own." He

definitely couldn't stay with Zhou Tao and Ma's family. Moreover, seeing Gu Shuanzi's embarrassed appearance, the banknotes and household registration for deposits must have been seized by them. Lin Zhen naturally had to take Gu Shuanzi to solve this matter.

As for where Gu Shuanzi should go after the matter was resolved, Lin Zhen had a vague idea in his mind.

He thought that he should send Gu Shuanzi to school to learn to read and write. He didn't want to become a great writer, but at least correct those extreme ideas in his mind.

He really didn't want to have a villain stepson in the future. Just thinking about it made his head hurt.

As for whether Gu Shuanzi would live with him, he had to ask Gu Shuanzi's opinion.

Anyway, children in ancient times matured early, and they could get married at the age of fifteen or sixteen, so it wouldn't delay them much.

The father and son slept in the left wing and the right wing, and they barely opened their eyes when the rooster crowed for the second time.

Just as they said last night, they packed up and went to the village chief's house to borrow an ox cart, then went to the town to buy incense, candles, and paper money. They also went to the clinic and told the shopkeeper that

they would have to wait for two days because of something at home. Even though the shopkeeper liked Lin Zhen's spicy hot pot, he didn't like his family's money being owed. It was only when Lin Zhen said that if he couldn't get the money in two days, he would give the shopkeeper the recipe for spicy hot pot that the shopkeeper agreed.

Rushing back from the town, Lin Zhen carried a sickle, incense, candles, and paper money, and half-carried and half-carried Gu Shuanzi to the hillside where Gu Da was buried.

Because he had only died a year ago, his grave was still very new, and the tombstone had no signs of being beaten by wind and rain, and there was little moss.

Lin Zhen put Gu Shuanzi on the ground, took the backpack with incense, candles and paper money to the tombstone, and said to Gu Shuanzi: "I'll go clear the weeds next to the grave, you burn paper for your father." "

Yes." Gu Shuanzi nodded, watching his back bending over to clear the weeds, and after a long time turned around and knelt in front of the tombstone.

First light the candle, then light a bunch of green incense, three sticks in a column, and slowly insert it from this end.

"Dad..."

This year, Gu Shuanzi only called Gu Da when he couldn't bear it anymore.

He missed Gu Da.

And he felt a little resentful of Gu Da.

Chapter 25

When Gu Da was around, he was the little bully in the village. If he got into trouble, Gu Da would cover it for him. He could get whatever he wanted with just a grunt.

But now the father who treated him very well was lying in the ground. When he was bullied by Zhou Tao and Ma, no one backed him up. He could only call him in his heart.

The incense was inserted from one end to the other, just in time to fill the area in front of the tombstone.

Gu Shuanzi picked up the paper money, tore it apart one by one and gathered it in the middle. The flames that quickly sprang up almost swallowed his fingers like a snake.

The sickle in Lin Zhen's hand was very sharp. The lush weeds fell down in a rush, and then he carried them to the side in a pile. After cleaning up the surroundings, he would also trim the ones on top of the tomb.

He kept his head down, as if he didn't see Gu Shuanzi's red eyes.

In the face of life and death, no matter how many words you say, they are pale. That is the most immeasurable thing in everyone's heart.

The incense was half burned, and the paper money turned into ashes. When the firecrackers sounded, this year's tomb-sweeping was completely over.

Lin Zhen looked at Gu Shuanzi and said, "After we go down the mountain, I will ask the village chief's wife to look after the house as before. You come back with me to Liyu Village to find Zhou Tao and Ma and get your household registration and the silver notes for your savings back."

"By the way, where did they move to these days? I went to Tianwan Village several times and couldn't find them."

Gu Shuanzi said, "A few months ago, old lady Gu took her family to make trouble, so Ma and Zhou Tao rented a house in the town."

"Town?" Lin Zhen didn't expect Zhou Tao and Ma to go to the town so easily, and he didn't expect that he hadn't met them in half a year of doing business there.

He asked Gu Shuanzi: "I gave them four taels of silver, and you only have thirteen taels on you. This amount of silver is not enough for them to stay in the town for a long time..."

"Did they take you to the Huiyin Money House to get the silver?"

Gu Shuanzi said coldly: "I didn't go."

Lin Zhen: "Then how do they live in the town?"

Gu Shuanzi said: "Ma sold all the land in the village and got more than thirty taels of silver in total. She rented a house in the town and did a small business."

Hearing this, Lin Zhen didn't know whether to say that Zhou Tao and Ma were courageous or blinded by something. In the town, whether it is food, clothing, housing and transportation, they have to spend money. If the money they earn can't cover the money they spend, how long can their thirty or forty taels of silver last?

By then, it will not be easy for them to return to the village to live. If they sell all the land they have, they can't even get enough to drink.

It is conceivable that if Gu Shuanzi hadn't run away from there, Ma and Zhou Tao, who were at the end of their rope, would treat him.

Lin Zhen put the backpack on the ridge and carried Gu Shuanzi in: "It's very difficult to carry it downhill, squat inside and don't move around."

Gu Shuanzi frowned, and just as he opened his mouth, Lin Zhen pressed his head down and squatted down: "If you still want your two feet, you will not be a cripple in the future, just listen to me."

His two feet were frozen so hard that they had layers of frostbite. The most serious one was the little toe, which was swollen several times larger. The flesh was bulging red and transparent, and it felt like it was going to fall off if it was touched lightly.

Gu Shuanzi: "..."

The backpack was not big, and it was a bit crowded to squat in it, but it was comfortable to lean on the back.

He looked at the back of Lin Zhen's head and stopped moving.

The snow in the sky was getting heavier and heavier, and the downhill road was covered with snow, which was slippery and sparse when stepped on.

Lin Zhen took every step carefully, holding the branches of the bushes on both sides of the path and slowly sliding down. A thin layer of sweat soon appeared on the back of his neck.

However, Gu Shuanzi was young and thin, so he finally got down safely.

After returning home, Lin Zhen packed up the things at home as he had said on the mountain, and then went to the village chief's house to return the ox cart. By the way, he asked the village chief's wife to continue to look after the house for him, and planned to return to Liyu Village while it was still early.

Liyu Village is far from Datianzi Village, and it was snowing, so it was more difficult to walk than usual.

But Lin Zhen didn't like to drag his feet. He went to Aunt Lan's house and bought two sets of old clothes, wrapped himself up thickly, and spread another piece of clothes in the backpack, and then tucked the edge of the clothes onto Gu Shuanzi.

"Thank you, Aunt Lan, I'm taking Shuanzi home." Lin Zhen carried the backpack with Gu Shuanzi on it and waved to Aunt Lan.

Aunt Lan felt pain in her shoulders when she saw Gu Shuanzi on his back. Such a child must weigh at least dozens of kilograms. It was okay for a short distance, but such a long mountain road would definitely be hard.

She couldn't help but say to Gu Shuanzi in the backpack: "Shuanzi, your father is a good person. Listen to him in the future."

Gu Shuanzi was curled up in the backpack without saying anything, just quietly looking at the back of Lin Zhen's head.

Lin Zhen smiled heartily: "Let's go. If we don't leave now, we won't be able to get there before dark."

He didn't take Aunt Lan's words to heart. He had never really raised a child and didn't know how to get along with a child.

Anyway, he would not lack food and drink for Gu Shuanzi, and other things would be dealt with later.

--

Dozens of miles of mountain road, from bright day to gradually dark.

It gets dark earlier on snowy days than in summer, and it is much brighter with the snow alone.

Since the landmarks on the road were almost buried in the snow, Lin Zhen didn't know where he was, and he just walked forward with a hum.

At the beginning, he was still strong, and he gritted his teeth with every step. When he finally saw the village of Liyu Village, his whole body seemed to have been fished out of the water, and his head was steaming.

Lin Zhen didn't even have the strength to speak. His legs were shaking like sieves, and he walked towards the Lin family with his neck choked. Just as he walked outside the fence, Lin Xiaoyao, who was holding a basin of hot water and was about to pour it, saw him. Seeing that he was pale but flushed, he quickly put down the basin and ran up.

"Brother!" Lin Xiaoyao stretched out his hand to take the backpack from his back.

Lin Zhen knew that he was strong, so he lowered his body to let him take it, and then sat down on the snow.

"The ground is very wet!" Lin Xiaoyao put the backpack on the ground and hurriedly called out to the people in the house, "Third brother is back!"

Lin's father, Lin Adie, Lin's two brothers, two aunts, and several children all ran out. Seeing Lin Zhen sitting on the ground with sweat dripping down, Lin Adie pushed the eldest daughter-in-law next to him: "Go and make a bowl of sugar water! What's wrong? Why are you so tired?"

Gu Shuanzi, who was covered tightly in the backpack, was trembling slightly, and his hands were tightly grasping the clothes covering his head.

Lin Zhen took the warm sugar water that Lin Dasao rushed to him, gulped it all down, and sighed deeply. He patted the backpack and said to the Lin family in the yard: "I found Shuanzi and carried him back."

He pulled his clothes and found that they were pulled tightly by Gu Shuanzi. He was stunned for a moment and put his face close to the backpack: "This is my home. In the yard are your grandma and grandpa, as well as your uncles and aunts. Do you want to come out and say hello to them?"

Lin's father and Lin's father had seen Gu Shuanzi at Gu Da's funeral. He looked like a little wolf cub. Why is he hiding in the backpack now?

Several people were a little confused.

Lin Zhen winked at them and made a hushing gesture with his fingers at his lips.

Lin's father and Lin's father did not ask any more questions in their hearts, but just stood there quietly.

After a long time, the clothes covering the backpack were slowly removed. Gu Shuanzi sat in the backpack with his head down. Lin Zhen had combed his dry hair into two small buns and tied them on his head, revealing his extremely thin face and the horrible bruises on it.

His eyes were drooping, and his eyelashes were trembling.

The Lin family frowned. They had many children in their family, and they never mistreat their children even when life was hard, let alone leave such marks on their children.

This child used to live with his uncle and aunt. The couple...

Lin Zhen seemed not to notice the pity and heartache of the Lin family for Gu Shuanzi. He took him out of the basket and said to Lin's father: "He has severe frostbite on his feet. He can't walk these days. Dad, look for someone in the family with feet similar to his. Put more cotton in his shoes." Lin's father nodded

repeatedly: "Okay," he glanced at Gu Shuanzi's feet and said, "Shuanzi has a big frame. I'm afraid he has to wear Fourth Brother's shoes."

Lin Xiaoyao immediately said: "I just made a pair of new shoes a few days ago and gave them to Shuanzi."

The Lin family is also tall in the village. The boys and boys in the family are not short.

But Gu Shuanzi is even more so. He is only eight years old, and his feet can tell that he will not be short in the future.

Lin Zhen said, "Okay, I'll buy you a new pair when Shuanzi gets better."

"Brother, what are you talking about? He's your... son, and he's also my nephew. What's the big deal about a pair of shoes?"

"You can't say that," Lin Zhen hugged Gu Shuanzi, "We are guests here, so we can't be so casual, lest we develop bad habits."

"Okay, okay, if you want to buy, just buy. I can't argue with you."

The Lin family only has two rooms, and because they have collected a lot of things from their business these days, the rooms are even more full. As

soon as Gu Shuanzi came in, he found that this place was different from his own home and Zhou Tao's Ma's home. It was too narrow, so narrow that it was difficult to squeeze him in.

He lowered his eyes and wondered aimlessly where he would be asked to sleep.

Lin Zhen put Gu Shuanzi on a chair next to the fire pit. Lin's father and Lin's eldest and second sisters-in-law hurriedly heated up the meal and dishes for tonight and brought them up.

Lin Zhen looked at the two bowls of sorghum rice mixed with white rice, raised his head and said: "Father, Shuanzi has a weak spleen and stomach, and he can't digest food well. Cook him a bowl of poached eggs."

Suddenly, he remembered the things in the backpack, asked Lin Xiaoyao to take the backpack, and took out the well-packed medicine and ginseng slices: "This is his medicine, boil it later, put three bowls of water for one packet of medicine, and boil it until only one bowl of water is left."

"And here are the ginseng slices, take another small pot later, boil it in the same way as the medicine, and drink it tonight."

Father Lin loved his grandson Gu Shuanzi, but he was afraid that it would be too light and too heavy, which would make Gu Shuanzi uncomfortable, so he simply said nothing. When

Lin Zhen said that Gu Shuanzi wanted to eat poached eggs and drink medicine, he handed the work in his hands to Lin Dasao and Lin Ersao without saying a word, and asked Lin's father to light the stove over there.

Chapter 26 (1)

After dinner, Lin Zhen asked Lin's father and Lin's father to go to bed, leaving Lin Xiaoyao to help him pack up. He pointed to the small wooden house next to the two rooms and said to Gu Shuanzi, "Our house is small. Your uncle Lin Da and your second uncle live with your aunt in that room. Your grandfather and grandmother Lin live in this room. Your fourth uncle and I live in the middle room with the boys and girls. The outside is here, so you may have to live there."

"That is the small wooden house that your uncle Lin Da and your second uncle built after I came here. There is nothing in it except some miscellaneous things."

The small wooden house was newly built this year, and the wood used was also new. It looks better than the old house that the Lin family has lived in for decades, but it is a bit small.

Gu Shuanzi looked at the small wooden house and nodded.

With his approval, Lin Zhen and Lin Xiaoyao went to clean up and sort out the sundries in the house, piling up what could be stacked and putting what couldn't be stacked in the dining area. Then they built a bed with the remaining wooden boards in the wooden house and covered it with the quilt and cotton wool that were newly made this year.

Lin Xiaoyao patted the soft bed and sat on it for a while: "It's so nice here, I want to live here..."

"Brother, I'm not saying that it's bad to sleep with you, it's just--"

"I know you're a big kid, and you want to have your own place," Lin Zhen put the buckwheat husk pillow with a pillowcase on it at the head of the bed, "After this year, let's see what father and dad think, whether to expand the house."

When talking about the possibility of having his own room in the future, Lin Xiaoyao's face was full of joy.

But soon, the joy on his face faded a lot. He looked at Gu Shuanzi who was sitting in the house over there and whispered, "Brother, that ginseng slice is not cheap, right? You originally planned to buy a shop in the town after the Chinese New Year, but now you definitely don't have enough money."

After following Lin Zhen to do business in the town for a year, Lin Xiaoyao had gained a lot of experience and knew that the price of that bag of ginseng slices must be not low.

And Lin Zhen had just told him a few days ago that the money in his hand was almost enough, just right to buy a small shop on Zhazi Street.

Lin Zhen even went to see the shop, just waiting to sign the contract with the owner after the Chinese New Year.

"I'll go to the town in a few days to ask the owner if he can wait a few months before selling it. Anyway, the shop is small, and I guess no one will ask except us." It was precisely because of the small area that they could get it for more than 90 taels of silver, which was what Lin Zhen had been optimistic about.

Lin Xiaoyao said, "That's the only way."

The two brothers were not short of strength, and they cleaned up the house in a short while.

Lin Zhen carried Gu Shuanzi to the bed in the cabin and said to him, "Go to sleep. When you wake up tomorrow, tell us and we'll go to town to find Zhou Tao and Ma."

Gu Shuanzi sat on the bed, his hands quietly grasping the soft quilt. He looked up at Lin Zhen, his mouth slightly open but unable to say anything.

He saw what Lin Zhen had done for him in the past few days. Even though he was on guard, he was somewhat soft, but he really couldn't call Lin Zhen "father".

After a while, he nodded gently.

Lin Zhen couldn't help but curl his lips, waited for Gu Shuanzi to lie down, and left with the oil lamp.

The next day, Lin Zhen slept in until almost noon, rubbing his sore arms and waist. When he went out, he saw the Lin family by the fire pit, and the atmosphere was a little weird.

He looked at Gu Shuanzi sitting next to Lin's father, and knew the source of the weird atmosphere. He washed his face and hands with water, and brushed his teeth with the tooth powder and toothbrush he had bought.

Mrs. Lin also has children, but Gu Shuanzi is different from them. She dare not talk to them or do anything else. When she saw Lin Zhen brushing his teeth, he stood up as if there was a nail on his butt and said, "Brother Zhen, do you want noodles or buns?"

Since helping Lin Zhen with his work, the family's meals have been getting better and better. In the morning, there are noodles, buns and steamed buns, and occasionally cat ears and boiled eggs.

After a year, the complexion of the family members has become rosy, and the originally thin Tiedan has become chubby. He is very popular when he is taken to the village to play.

After all, there is no family that does not lack food during the New Year. Both adults and children are a little sallow and thin. What does a fat child mean? It means that the family is living well and has no shortage of food!

Lin Zhen replied to Sister Lin: "Cook me a bowl of noodles and fry two eggs."

"Sister Lin, what did you eat in the morning?"

Sister Lin said nothing when she heard that he wanted noodles and fried eggs. She boiled water and took eggs: "We also eat noodles. It's very fragrant with oil residue."

"There are many eggs collected. Sister Lin, fry one for each of the little ones." Recently, Lin Zhen began to think about other food to sell. The first thing he thought of was the various small cakes in modern times. They are not only beautiful, but also good-looking. So he collected about 70 or 80 eggs in the village. If he hadn't gone to find Gu Shuanzi, he would have started to experiment.

He himself would not treat himself badly. He would eat the eggs wherever he wanted. He also told Lin Adie and the others not to be polite.

But the Lin family is not the kind of person who is greedy for petty gains. Unless Lin Zhen makes them and stares at them eating, they will never touch any of them.

Giving them to the little ones to eat was something that Lin Zhen had to talk to Lin Adie about several times before he could get.

Mrs. Lin nodded: "Okay, one for each of you."

After washing his face and brushing his teeth, Lin Zhen picked up a bowl that was almost as big as his face, blew on the freshly cooked noodles to cool them down a bit and put them into his mouth.

Because he didn't use salt and oil, this bowl of noodles was fragrant, with green cabbage vines and two fried yellow eggs, every mouthful was a pleasure.

Xing Xiang, Chun Xiang, and Huai Xiang, as well as Lin Zhuzi, were also holding bowls and eating fried eggs, each of them was like a little cat, with oil all over their faces.

Except for Gu Shuanzi, his spleen and stomach were seriously injured, and he couldn't eat too greasy food to prevent diarrhea.

Lin Zhen was eating happily in the house, and suddenly the fence was slapped with a rattling sound: "Is Brother Zhen at home?"

Lin Zhen was very agile, he stood up like the wind, took the bowl and went out the door, and saw that it was his neighbor Aunt Zhang and a young man behind him, and his heart moved.

Aunt Zhang saw Lin Zhen eating and said, "This young man came to our village to look for you, and happened to ask about me, so I brought him here."

Lin Zhen had already seen the young man, who was the spy he found in Tianwan Village. He smiled and said to Aunt Zhang, "Thank you, auntie. Come in and sit for a while and eat something. There are cooked noodles in the pot."

Aunt Zhang shook her hand, "No, no, there's rice steaming on the stove at the end of the house."

"It's Brother Zhen," Aunt Zhang said with a little flattery on her face, "When will your family make compost this year? I'll ask my family members to help you, and learn from you by the way, so that we can harvest more food next year."

Lin Zhen said, "We can make compost when the weather is better, otherwise the mud will have too much moisture and it will be troublesome to sift it."

He said to Aunt Zhang, "We are all from the same village, and we have agreed that no matter who comes to learn, we will teach the same way. There's no need to be so polite, auntie."

"I'm not being polite. Brother Zhen, you are a great benefactor of our village. If it weren't for the composting method you mentioned, we wouldn't have such high hopes. One acre of land can produce more than 300 kilograms of grain. No one would dare to believe it if they hadn't seen it with their own eyes."

The young man who came to report the news to Lin Zhen thought he must have heard it wrong. What composting? One acre of land can produce more than 300 kilograms of grain.

This is impossible, absolutely impossible!

The young man's head was full of stars. He didn't even know when Aunt Zhang, who brought him here, left. It was only after Lin Zhen called him several times that he came back to his senses. He couldn't wait to ask: "Brother Lin, what kind of magic is that composting? Can it really produce so much grain?!"

Lin Zhen, who had experienced the villagers' enthusiasm for composting, knew that he was anxious, and pointed to the house and said, "Come in and talk."

"..." The young man was anxious, scratching his head, but the solution was in Lin Zhen's hands, and it was useless to be anxious, so he could only follow Lin Zhen in obediently.

Lin Zhen finished the noodles in a few mouthfuls and wiped his mouth: "Any news about Zhou Tao and the Ma couple?"

Gu Shuanzi, who was sitting in silence on the chair, raised his head and stared at the young man.

The young man recognized him at once. Isn't this the nephew of Zhou Tao and the Ma couple? At that time, he was taken everywhere, wore the best cotton cloth, and ate sweet cakes that were only available in town. How did he come here, and he is still so thin.

The young man was frightened by Gu Shuanzi's eyes and trembled in his heart. He said to Lin Zhen: "I just found out this morning. I don't know when the family returned to the village last night. When I came, they were cleaning the house inside and out. I seemed to hear them saying that they were looking for something."

"I was busy looking for you, Brother Lin, and didn't hear it clearly."

As soon as he said that, Lin Zhen roughly understood that the couple knew that Gu Shuanzi was not there, so they returned to the village from the town to find Gu Shuanzi. If they couldn't find him, they would probably run to Datianzi Village.

Lin Zhen said to the young man: "Please bring me the news." He took out the promised 100 coins, "This is what I promised to give you. Keep it."

The distance from Tianwan Village to Liyu Village is not far, but the young man is willing to make ten more trips for 100 coins.

He took the money and looked at Lin Zhen hesitantly: "Brother Lin, I wonder how much money it will cost to learn the composting that the sister-in-law just mentioned..."

Lin Zhen knew that he would definitely ask, and said: "No money is needed. If anyone in your village wants to use this method, just come and learn it. But I have to say something in advance. Although this compost is good, it alone cannot compete with God for a living. If the harvest is bad due to weather, you can't blame me."

"Of course, of course, I definitely can't blame you!" Farmers will not joke about food. Seeing Aunt Zhang's look, the young man has already believed that this method must be feasible.

He said: "Then I will go back and tell the people in the village right away!"

"Wait," Lin Zhen stopped the impatient young man, "I want to go to your village too, let's go."

The longer the night, the more dreams there are. Since the couple is here, it's better to get things done as soon as possible.

Lin Zhen turned his head to look at Lin's father, Lin's father, and elder brother Lin and second brother: "Eldest brother and second brother, come with me to Tianwan Village. Shuanzi is my son and your nephew. We deserve to ask for an explanation for him."

Elder brother Lin and second brother Lin had already learned about 70% of Gu Shuanzi's situation from Lin's father, so they naturally agreed: "Let's go, I want to see if Zhou Tao's conscience has been eaten by a dog." As

soon as eldest brother Lin finished speaking, second brother Lin continued: "We are still worried about you and Shuanzi going alone. If Zhou Tao and Ma refuse to acknowledge them, we are afraid you will not win in a fight."

Lin Zhen looked at elder brother Lin and second brother Lin, who were tall and strong, half a head taller than ordinary people, and felt a strong sense of security.

He raised his eyebrows and said, "We are not going to fight, we are going to reason."

"Big brother, you carry Shuanzi on your back, and you and second brother will take turns on the way. Let's go now." Big

brother Lin immediately carried Gu Shuanzi into the backpack and carried him on his back, "Let's go."

Then he turned around and saw his younger brother, who said he was going to reason and not fight, picked up the axe in the corner and weighed it in his hand. Big

brother Lin was a little confused and asked Lin Zhen, "Zhen'er, what are you doing? Didn't you say..."

Lin Zhen put the axe on his lower back: "To shock the crowd."

Big brother Lin and second brother Lin looked at each other, thinking that it seemed that they could both not go.

——Several

grown men were on their way, and they arrived at Tianwan Village at about three o'clock in the afternoon.

There were only a few people in the village. When they saw the young man bringing a few outsiders in, they couldn't help but ask, "Xiaochang, are these your relatives?"

The young man Xiaochang said, "No, this is Brother Lin from Liyu Village. The two next to him are Brother Lin's brothers. They came to see Zhou Tao for something."

When the person asking the question heard that it was related to Zhou Tao's family, his smiling face suddenly turned cold, and he said with bulging eyes, "Who are they going to harm again?"

"Xiaochang, you can't learn from Zhou Tao's family. They are all good-for-nothings and they are not afraid of being struck by lightning."

"No, no, Auntie, they are here to settle accounts with Zhou Tao's family."

"To settle accounts," the auntie looked at Lin Zhen, "Have you also been cheated by Zhou Tao's family?"

"His family owes me a lot of money, and I'm here to collect the debt."

The auntie was happy when she saw that Brother Lin and Brother Lin were tall and strong. She slammed the door and said to Lin Zhen, "I'll lead the way!"

"You must teach him a lesson! Especially that woman of his, who, relying on her wealth, doesn't care how bad her two boys are. Not only did she force the young lady to death, she also forced the young lady's mother to death. Turning around, she said that the young lady had evil intentions."

"Poor thing, everyone in our village knows that young lady. She was the most polite one, beautiful and filial. If she hadn't been forced to death by that short-lived son of hers, she might have married someone next year. What a sin."

As they spoke, they arrived next to Zhou Tao's house. Lin Zhen saw at a glance that in the yard in front of the blue brick and tile house there was a boy of about twelve or thirteen years old, who was shooting at a bird's nest on the tree with a slingshot in his hand. The originally tight bird's nest was filled with holes by the slingshot he had in it, and the baby birds, whose feathers had not yet grown, screamed in it, and the mother bird flapped its wings in fear and flew around the nest non-stop.

Ma, who had met Lin Zhen twice, was wearing a bright red jacket, a green skirt, and a thick layer of white powder on her face. She was putting something in her sleeves.

"Play, play, all you do is play. If you hadn't been unsightly, your father and I wouldn't have come here. Why don't you let me go in and change clothes!"

"Mom," the boy saw that he had finally shot down a bird, and heard the sound of the chick falling to the ground. He pulled Ma's sleeve coquettishly, "How can you blame me? I believed him because he said he would take us to get the silver. Besides, if you hadn't been busy grabbing the silver bills, he wouldn't have run so fast."

"You dead child, you've learned to talk back!" Gu Shuanzi ran away, and Ma was upset. She didn't have much patience for her son, whom she always doted on. She grabbed his shoulder and slapped him a few times.

But this son had been spoiled by her and had a temper like the eldest son of the world and the second son of mine. He was even more unconvinced when he was beaten. He actually shook her hand and roared with a fierce face.

Lin Zhen came out and greeted Ma: "Long time no see, aunt. I didn't expect you to have changed so much. If I hadn't asked the people in your village, they wouldn't have known it was you."

Ma's heart skipped a beat when she saw that it was Lin Zhen.

She looked at Lin Zhen and the elder and second brothers Lin, and forced a smile on her face: "It's Shuanzi's mother. Come in and sit down."

"Why did you think of coming to my place?"

Lin Zhen glanced at the backpack on the back of the second brother Lin, and realized that Ma didn't realize that Gu Shuanzi had come, so she didn't say anything, and played along with her: "I haven't seen Shuanzi for a year, so you came to see him specially?"

"Where's Shuanzi? Why can't I see him? Is he out somewhere to play?" Lin Zhen was not polite at all. He walked into the house and looked around, as if he was really calling Gu Shuanzi.

How could Ma, who had no idea where Gu Shuanzi had gone, really find Gu Shuanzi? She rolled her eyes and said, "Shuanzi's father, you don't know how difficult it is to manage Shuanzi. He is naughty and troublesome. I don't know where he got into the habit of stealing recently. He ran away after I said a few words to him and hasn't come back yet."

Just as Ma finished speaking, Zhou Tao, who had gone to the village, came back. When he saw Lin Zhen, his shoulders shrank and he stammered, unable to speak.

Ma quickly pulled him over and said, "Shuanzi's father came to see Shuanzi, but he didn't know where Shuanzi had gone."

"It's all my fault. If I had taken good care of Shuanzi and stopped him from stealing things in the village, he wouldn't have run away."

"How is it, did you find Shuanzi?"

As she spoke, Ma secretly pinched her husband Zhou Tao.

Zhou Tao's heart was beating fast, but she finally brought him back to his senses. He stammered, "No, I didn't find him. I asked several people and they all said they didn't see him. I don't know where he went..."

His voice became smaller and smaller, and he finally lowered his head.

Ma glared at him in the dark, and told him to go in and get a chair.

Zhou Tao wanted to be as far away from Lin Zhen as possible, so he went into the house with his head down.

He actually went to his parents' house just now, leaving the village for the town. Ma said that the rented house in the town was small and couldn't accommodate so many people, so she asked his parents to continue living in the village. As

soon as he left, the two old people asked how Gu Shuanzi was. Zhou Tao hated it most when others mentioned Gu Shuanzi. It was like holding a thorn and stabbing him, reminding him all the time what he had done and what Ma had done.

Whenever this happened, he couldn't help thinking that Gu Shuanzi was his sister's son and a member of the Zhou family. Just like Ma said, the silver he brought was naturally from the Zhou family.

If Gu Shuanzi hadn't wanted to monopolize the silver, Ma wouldn't have treated him like that.

Yes, it must be like this, that's right.

Zhou Tao thought about it over and over again, suppressing the thoughts that popped up below.

Lin Zhen stopped him, "Don't bother moving any chairs. I just came here to see Shuanzi. I didn't expect that he would come here and steal other people's things."

Ma wanted to send Lin Zhen away immediately and said, "Shuanzi's father, look, Shuanzi is not here either. Why don't you go back first? I'll bring him to see you when he comes back."

"No hurry," Lin Zhen glanced leisurely at the newly built blue brick and tile house, looking at Ma and Zhou Tao with a smile, "I came to look for you a few days ago. I heard from your villagers that your family went to the town. If I hadn't arrived today, I probably wouldn't have seen a single person."

"It seems that his uncle and aunt made a fortune in the town. They even built a blue brick and tile house."

"Oh, this..." Ma's heart skipped a beat. No one knew better than her how this tile house was built. Although the foundation was hers and it was just rebuilt on the basis of the old house, every tile on the roof was bought with the money she got from Gu Shuanzi.

Moreover, she had seen Lin Zhen many times in the town in secret these days. Fortunately, she was in the dark and Lin Zhen was in the light, so Lin Zhen didn't find her.

She felt that Lin Zhen was so annoying. Gu Shuanzi was obviously from her Zhou family, so why did he come here to see?

Ma curled her lips: "It looks good, but it's actually similar to the old house before. It can't compare with the big tiled house of Shuanzi's father."

"Shuanzi's father lives in it every day. It should be very comfortable. He is really blessed."

Suddenly, before Ma finished speaking, her youngest son rushed out, spit at Lin Zhen and the eldest and second brothers Lin, and jumped up and down and said: "That's not Shuanzi's house, that's my house! My mother said that we will move into the new house in a few days!" !

! !

Ma's heart was broken, and she slapped the bastard in the face: "What nonsense are you talking about? You kids have no right to interrupt when adults are talking. Get out of the way!"

She looked at Lin Zhen embarrassedly: "The child has a fever, his head is confused, and he is talking nonsense."

Lin Zhen's face, which was smiling just now, suddenly became indifferent, and he looked at Ma: "Nonsense?"

"Ma, do you think I don't know what you have done in this village? Suddenly you have become a rich person, wearing makeup, eating delicious food, and renovating your house."

"I'm right in front of me, and you still dare to say that Shuanzi ran away by stealing. Do you think that no one knows what you did because you are far away?"

"Shuanzi's father, how can you talk like that? I earned everything I eat and drink with my own hands. Who dares to say that I am not right?" Ma's chest heaved violently, as if she was really angry. "Everyone in Datianzi Village knows that Shuanzi is a troublemaker. How can you put the blame on me?"

Lin Zhen looked at her coldly and reached out to take Gu Shuanzi out of the backpack: "His aunt, take a good look. Is this the Gu Shuanzi who stole things and ran away as you said?"

"..."

Ma's eyes widened instantly and her fingers trembled: "You, you..."

"Ma, when his father passed away, you and Zhou Tao went to pay condolences. You repeatedly wanted to bring Shuanzi to your home, saying that you had children of the same age as him and they could play together. You also said that his grandparents were there and would love him very much."

"That's why I promised you to let Shuanzi come back with you, and promised to give you four taels of silver for a year of care, but now look at what this child is like!"

Zhou Tao's family had long been disliked by everyone in the village. When Lin Zhen and his friends came, many people were watching the excitement from a distance.

When they heard that Gu Shuanzi had to pay four taels of silver to live in Zhou Tao's house for a year, they were completely furious.

"Four taels of silver! My goodness, this is not a child, it's a piece of gold."

"No wonder they took him to the town when he had a headache or a fever. If he was taken care of for a year, he would get a year's worth of silver. If he was gone, the silver would be gone."

"But Zhou Tao's family didn't make a fortune with this little money. I heard that the couple took care of the funeral of that rich distant relative, and all the family property of that distant relative was given to them."

These people watched the excitement and talked loudly. Lin Zhen also heard those people say that Zhou Tao and Ma took care of the funeral of some relative and got the family property of that relative.

He had thought that Zhou Tao and Ma would be shameless, but he didn't expect them to be so shameless: "Did you say that to other people?"

"Ma, you know very well where the silver on you came from. Except for the four taels of silver given to you, you took away all the thirteen taels of silver that Shuanzi had left for himself. Touch your face and think about how thick it is."

Ma's face twitched, and she lowered her head and whispered: "Shuanzi's father, listen to me, it's not what you think. Shuanzi is my nephew, how could I treat him badly."

As she spoke, she wiped the corners of her eyes: "If you don't believe me, ask those people. Does Shuanzi eat and drink well in my house? Whenever he goes to town, I buy him this and that."

"Although I got the four taels of silver, most of it was spent on him."

"Later, he fell ill and smashed all the pots, pans, and bowls in the house. I spent nearly one tael just on buying new things, and I had no money left."

Ma was still a little weak at first, but her back straightened as she spoke.

But it's not like what she said. A lot of money was spent on Gu Shuanzi alone. How could she get any advantage?

Seeing that he would not cry until he saw the coffin, Lin Zhen handed Gu Shuanzi in his arms to the young man who informed him, drew the axe from his waist and rushed forward.

Ma and Zhou Tao screamed in fear, and the elder and second brothers Lin's hearts also jumped, and they hurried to pull the man.

Oh my God, when did their younger brother become so fierce, it was so scary.

"Bang--" Lin Zhen chopped the door with an axe, and a few hits made a gap, and a few more hits chopped the door into several large pieces.

Ma sat on the ground, crying and shouting: "Lin Zhen, do you still have no law? This is my house, it's my home!"

Lin Zhen curled his lips: "Didn't you say that Shuanzi was sick and smashed your pots and pans? A leopard raised by a tiger, my father must be sick too, come and treat him if you have the ability." As soon as the

voice fell, Lin Zhen entered the house, split the table in half with a few axes, and then the water tank, the cabinet...

Zhou Tao, who was huddled in the room, was already scared to death, and huddled in the corner and dared not speak.

Gu Shuanzi, who was held by a young man outside, looked at the stepfather who was swinging the axe back and forth, and his pale face was flushed because of the force, and he couldn't tell what he felt in his heart.

Suddenly, just when Lin Zhen had almost finished smashing and was about to call it a day, two old men squeezed in from outside the crowd, pointed at Ma on the ground and said with gritted teeth: "You, you, look at what you have done."

Then they looked at Gu Shuanzi, who turned away coldly, clearly not wanting to pay attention to them.

The two old men could only walk over tremblingly and shouted at Lin Zhen who was holding an axe: "Brother Lin, even if my son and daughter-in-law have done something wrong, you should put out your anger and let this matter go. We are relatives, and it will be bad if we do something too much."

Lin Zhen, who was sweating all over, was tired. He chopped the axe on the pillar with a snap and looked at them: "Who are you?"

"My Shuanzi's grandfather," the old man pointed to the old woman next to him, "this is his grandmother."

"I know Ma treated Shuanzi badly, but after all, they are blood relatives. We will meet each other every day in the future. There is no need to be like this."

"So it's Shuanzi's grandparents. I thought they were from the village. Otherwise, how could I think that Ma and Zhou Tao took the money from the Gu family, didn't give Shuanzi a meal for three or five days, and wore only a single layer of clothes when it was cold. It's not a small matter that they beat or kicked him." Maybe it was because he had seen Gu Shuanzi's previous appearance, Lin Zhen couldn't stand Gu Shuanzi's current appearance. Uncle, aunt, grandparents, they are just one who can do it and one who can look down on them. How can they tell good from bad?

If the two old people really loved Gu Shuanzi, even if they couldn't persuade Ma, they could still protect him. Why did Gu Shuanzi almost die in front of Gu Da's grave and his feet were almost frozen.

"You, you..." Zhou Tao's father didn't expect that Lin Zhen would not give him any face at all, and he almost couldn't breathe.

Lin Zhen said: "Since you two old people didn't care about Shuanzi in the beginning, you shouldn't care whether I seek justice for Shuanzi or not. It's not a happy life for you to continue to be an idle person."

Zhou Tao's father's face turned pale with anger, but he didn't dare to look back at his grandson Gu Shuanzi.

What Ma and Zhou Tao did could be hidden from other people in the village, but they couldn't be hidden from them who came to visit every now and then. At first, the two old people didn't agree with them treating Gu Shuanzi like that. After all, he was the only blood left by their daughter, and they should bring him up well so as not to disappoint

their daughter's spirit in heaven. But maybe it was because every time the two grandsons born by Ma said that Gu Shuanzi bullied them and robbed them of food, and said that Gu Shuanzi would rather keep the money in his hands than spend it on them, the two old people gradually lost their heart for Gu Shuanzi.

After all, they had seen these two grandsons grow up since they were young, and Gu Shuanzi hadn't seen him for two or three years because his mother died early, so they naturally became estranged.

Later, Gu Shuanzi became crazy. When he got sick, no one could stop him. The two old people put him last.

What can a madman do?

So be it.

After saying this, Lin Zhen kicked the stool next to him lightly. It was such a slender and delicate person. At this moment, he looked like he was riding on a majestic horse, and there seemed to be a raging fire behind him.

Zhou Tao's mother knew that she was in the wrong and didn't say anything. Although his father also understood that the Zhou family was wrong, in his opinion, Gu Shuanzi was still fine, so why couldn't they just let it go.

He knocked the ground with his cane and said to Lin Zhen, "Brother Lin, I know you were angry when you came here, and you must let it out."

"But it's too ostentatious for a boy from another village like you to come to our Tianwan Village with such fanfare. How will Shuanzi get along with his uncle and aunt in the future?" "How

about this? I'll let Ma and Zhou Tao admit their mistakes to you, and let this matter go."

Ma didn't know what was wrong with her. When she heard what he said, she immediately got up and shouted, "Dad, we are from Tianwan Village. Why should we let someone from another village ride on our heads? In the future, when people in our village talk about marrying their daughters, when they hear that she is so easy to manipulate, won't they look down on her--"

Suddenly a voice came from the crowd.

"The village chief is here!"

"The clan leaders and elders are here too!"

Lin Zhen straightened himself, walked out and saluted the village chief with his fists.

Like the village chiefs of these villages, most of them are jointly elected by the village. They are not required to be literate or have any official position. Anyway, there are village heads, town heads and county magistrates above them.

Their role is just to convey some local government orders and give the villagers a place to go.

The village chief glanced at Lin Zhen, then looked at the messy Zhou Tao's house, and said to Lin Zhen: "I already knew about your relationship with the Zhou family on the way here. It is true that the Zhou family treated their nephew badly, and it is not wrong for you to come and seek justice."

"But young man, what Zhou Laosan said just now is right. People should recognize the etiquette of the place where they go. I am the village chief of Tianwan Village, so I can't let Tianwan Village suffer. Otherwise, I will do as he said and admit my mistakes and let it go."

People in different positions want different things. Lin Zhen can understand what the village chief said.

In this place where the reputation of a group can sometimes be more important than human life, not to mention Lin Zhen, even ten or a hundred Lin Zhens may have to bow their heads.

If he hadn't come so suddenly, the people in the village would have been fed up with Zhou Tao's family, and he couldn't even smash Zhou Tao's house.

Lin Zhen smiled: "Village chief, they don't need to apologize to me. They are not related to me. If it weren't for Shuanzi, we might have had no intersection in this life."

"As for apologizing to Shuanzi," Lin Zhen called Gu Shuanzi, who was held by the young man, "They apologize to you, do you want to?"

Gu Shuanzi pursed his lips, and the disgust on his face was obvious. If it weren't for his inconvenient feet, he might have joined the ranks of smashing things.

Lin Zhen said to the village chief: "You see, the child doesn't want to."

"Actually, this is easy to understand. If I beat Zhou Tao and his wife half to death and then say sorry to him, it will look funny, right?"

The village chief squinted at Lin Zhen: "Sharp-tongued."

Lin Zhen's eyes curved: "There's nothing I can do, I'm right."

The two of them went back and forth, and they were about to argue.

The elders who came with the village chiefs couldn't stand Lin Zhen's ostentation, and the dislike in their eyes almost turned into reality.

Xiaochang, who was holding Gu Shuanzi, was extremely anxious. Others didn't know, but he knew that Lin Zhen had a way to achieve a good harvest. What if Lin Zhen refused to teach the people in their village because of Zhou Tao's family's affairs!

He gritted his teeth, carried Gu Shuanzi up, and said to the village chief: "Village chief, this brother of the Lin family is amazing. Last year, he taught his family to use a composting method, and one mu of land produced 300 kilograms of grain!"

"I, I also want him to teach the people in our village."

So you must not offend him to death.

"What! Three hundred kilograms per mu of land!" The village chief's beard stood up, his eyes shining as he looked at Lin Zhen, grabbing Xiaochang's shoulders, "You must be dreaming, how can one mu of land produce 300 kilograms of grain?"

"It's true, I went to Liyu Village and asked many people, they all said that they saw with their own eyes that the Lin family harvested more than 40 sacks of grain from 11 mu of land, and they said that each bag was full of grain, without any adulteration." If Xiaochang hadn't heard so many people talking about this, he wouldn't have been so excited.

More than 40 bags of grain from 11 mu of land, that's really a great harvest.

The village chief didn't have the heart to care about Zhou Tao's family's mess at the moment. He only wanted to find a way to fertilize the fields to produce 300 kilograms per mu. He asked Lin Zhen in a hurry: "Brother Lin, this method is really so magical. Tell me now how to teach our people in the village."

Everything was within Lin Zhen's calculation. He said: "The method of fertilizing the fields is indeed true, and the yield of 300 kilograms per mu is also true, but village chief, you see, the matter between me and Zhou Tao's family is not over yet, so how can I teach others."

When the village chief of Tianwan Village heard him, he knew that Lin Zhen was exchanging with him.

He was anxious. It was not far from the end of the year. He didn't know what the composting method would use and how much time it would take. If it was delayed and couldn't compost, how much grain his village would lose.

Thinking of this, he looked at Zhou Tao's family with a bad look, thinking that they were really in the way.

He said to Lin Zhen, "Do whatever you want to do with it. If you make a mistake, you must admit it. The only thing is, don't let anyone die, otherwise it will end badly."

Lin Zhen was satisfied, "Don't worry, village chief, I know. My family will have compost in seven or eight days. Anyone in Tianwan Village who wants to learn can come then."

"Okay."

The village chief and the elders were very happy with the result. They were all immersed in the joy of the yield of 300 kilograms per mu next year. They left one after another, leaving the villagers who were watching the fun.

Chapter 26 (2)

and Zhou Tao's house.

Lin Zhen turned around and looked at Ma, who thought she had found a backer but had not had time to be happy: "Ma, I am here just to get back Shuanzi's money. Whether you ate the money or used it, I will not pursue it. But I am afraid you can't live in this blue brick and tile house anymore."

"Big brother, go to the side and cut two pillars for me."

Big brother Lin and second brother Lin knew that their younger brother was tough, so they went to the bamboo forest next to them and cut two bamboos. Lin Zhen quickly used the bamboo pole to poke the tiles on the roof.

The tiles fell down and shattered.

Ma and Zhou Tao were heartbroken. That was the blue brick and tile house they had dreamed of for decades. They originally planned to move back to the village. In the town, drinking water and eating vegetables required money, and they really couldn't stand it.

But now there is nothing left.

chapter 27The old Han family, who had previously arrived in Tian Wan Village, were also looking at the bustling man, and saw Marche sitting on the ground and crying, his wife wiping his eyes and patting his younger son's hand: "Finally she saw retribution in her house, and Xiao Wan could close her eyes in heaven."

The comforted young man was bitten to death, and if not for Marche and his son, he intended to go to his wife next year.

No one next to him at the time of his hateful death, let Marche's son pour dirty water on his body upside down in black and white.

Even if he did not pay attention to his son and beat him a few times, Xiao Wan would not survive, the girl who would be shy and quietly laugh at him could not see again.

The neatly laid tiles were plundered cleanly by Lin Zhen and his elder and second brothers. After learning that the banknotes used to deposit the silver were thrown into the brazier by Gu Shuanzi during the chaos, Lin Zhen only searched his household registration and the clothes and shoes he had brought with him and took them away.

The people in Tianwan Village were relieved and applauded.

"Which village is this boy from? He has such a bad temper!"

"Didn't I just say that he seems to be from Liyu Village?"

"Liyu Village?" Some people who often go to the town to work suddenly remembered, "Is it the Lin family boy who made a lot of money selling spicy hot pot? I heard that his family sells dried bamboo shoots, black fungus and dried mushrooms, and the price is generous. Some people who are quick to get information have gone to sell them."

"He is really capable."

"Having a boy like this is more useful than having several boys."

"By the way, did you hear what Xiaochang said just now, what methods can fertilize the fields and increase production..."

"I didn't hear it clearly, we are so far away."

Lin Zhen only heard most of these words, and put Gu Shuanzi into the backpack that the eldest and second brothers Lin took turns carrying, just like when they came, and set off on the road back to Liyu Village.

When they came, they thought about walking at night, and specially prepared several torches.

As soon as they walked out of the entrance of Tianwan Village, they heard the sound of rapid and loud drums. Usually, only when something big happened in the village would such drums be beaten to gather people together.

It seems that the head of Tianwan Village is also impatient and can't wait to tell the villagers about the composting.

——The

matter between Gu Shuanzi and Zhou Tao's family was settled. Lin Zhen only mentioned a few words to his family members, asking them not to treat Gu Shuanzi like glass or porcelain, and to do what they should do, otherwise it would make both parties feel constrained. Then

he took the silver to the town clinic to pay for the medicine and bought another bag of ginseng slices.

The original more than 90 taels of silver were only left with more than 10 taels, which was like returning to the eve of liberation overnight.

But it must be said that the high price has its reasons. After only four or five days, Gu Shuanzi's complexion has improved a lot, and his face is flushed when he wakes up in the morning.

Especially when he has an expressionless but ruddy face, Lin Zhen feels a little bit of the joy of being a father?

"What are you thinking about? You don't even blink?" The snow stopped in the past two days. Snow dripped everywhere. It was too difficult to push the cart to the town in such weather. Lin Zhen did not do business and rested at home. Gu Shuanzi, who

was wearing a green cotton jacket and two feet wrapped in cotton shoes with medicine on them, looked up at him and said for a while: "The silver my father left me is gone."

"I can't pay you back now."

As Ma wanted Zhou Tao to move to the town, the living space was reduced by more than half. He had to stay in the same room with Ma's second son, who was originally locked up alone, and was beaten more.

The wounds on his face and body were caused by those days.

But this also gave him a chance to escape. On the day before Gu's death, he finally took advantage of Ma and Zhou Tao going out to do business and lied to Zhou Wen that he could take him to the bank to get silver, and he would keep it a secret from Ma and Zhou Tao.

Zhou Wen had been spoiled by Ma for a long time. After arriving in the town, he became even worse. He didn't know where he got addicted to gambling. He had already stolen money twice to gamble when Ma wasn't paying attention.

Ma, Zhou Tao and others didn't know about it. Only Gu Shuanzi, who lived in the same room with him, found some clues.

Zhou Wen, who was itching to get his hands on money but had no money, immediately pulled people to go out when he heard that Ma was taking him to get the silver. He had learned from Ma that Gu Shuanzi's stepfather had deposited more than 400 taels of silver for him in the bank. To get the silver, the silver note, Gu Shuanzi, and the household registration must be present.

Then Gu Shuanzi said embarrassedly that his hands and feet were tied, and going out would arouse suspicion among people on the street. He was afraid that he would be taken to the government for questioning on the way to get the silver. He tricked Zhou Wen into untying the rope on him. Gu Shuanzi knew that the reason why Zhou Wen untied the rope on him so easily was because he had not eaten for three days, and he had just been beaten up by Zhou Wen last night because he was angry about losing money, so he definitely did not have the strength to escape.

Therefore, he could only use the things that Zhou Wen cared about the most to attract his attention and buy himself time to escape. He threw the silver note into the brazier, and ran out of Zhou's house when Zhou Wen went to grab the silver note. That day, when Lin Zhen took his household registration back, he also brought back the silver note. Most of it was cut by the fire, and only the size of a palm was left. Naturally, the bank would not recognize it, which was equivalent to his 480 taels of silver being gone. Lin Zhen did not expect that the little guy had a big head and was thinking about these things all day.

"Do you think you can pay me back in the future?" Lin Zhen asked him.

Gu Shuanzi thought about it seriously and said, "Yes." Lin Zhen stretched his body and said, "That's fine."

"Your feet hurt these days. When you can walk, I will definitely not bring you food like I did these days. You should do some capable work like Zhuzi, Xingxiang and others at home." Lin Zhen felt that this child was too silent.

It would be best for him to develop his nature with children of the same age. The two were talking casually when Lin's father, who had been outside, came back with a hoe on his shoulder. "The mud in the field is drier than the previous two days. It's hard to sift out fine soil, but it takes more effort."

The mud on the edge of the field cannot be used. It is not only wet by the melted snow, but also soaked by the river water next to it. It is a bunch of clumps that cannot be rubbed apart. Only the mud in the wasteland on the slope is relatively dry. Lin Zhen took his hoe and said, "The weather this year is not as good as last year. Even if there is sunshine, it won't be sunny for long. We should pile it up as soon as possible, otherwise the seedlings will be burned if there is not enough time."

"Yeah, I thought so too. I told the village chief on the way home." Then, every household in the whole Liyu Village got busy. They first crowded in the Lin family's field to see how Lin's father did it, from sifting the soil to pouring manure water to mixing and piling it together. They only regretted that their eyes were not enough and they could not record every action of Lin's father. When it came to their own compost, they wanted to worship Lin's father at home.

"Uncle Lin, how is the soil sifted? Is it a little coarse?" "Uncle Lin, is the manure water enough? Do you want to add some more?" "Uncle Lin, is it okay to pile it this high?" "Uncle Lin..." "Uncle Lin..." The people of the Lin family have become a beautiful landscape in the village. The little ones like Xingxiang, Chunxiang and Huaixiang can go out and have their hands full of things.

Two days later, people from Tianwan Village also came. They were all strong laborers from their families. Everyone had something in their hands. They either brought eggs or one or two pounds of pork. Those from poorer families also brought a lot of dried bamboo shoots and mushrooms when they heard that Lin Zhen wanted to

sell dried bamboo shoots and mushrooms. What surprised Lin Zhen was that the young woman who had come to sell dried bamboo shoots and mushrooms before also came, and the man he had seen several times was by her side.

The couple lived in Wayao Village. There were only a dozen families in the village. One family lived a few hundred meters away from another family. There was not much else, but a lot of barren mountains. They lived on sorghum and buckwheat planted in the wasteland.

Before, Lin Zhen felt sorry for the woman and asked her to send him bamboo tubes. After a few months, the couple should have saved some money in their pockets, and their faces looked much better than before.

"Brother Lin, I'll do it. You go sit over there." The young woman took the basket of soil from Lin Zhen's hand and rushed to work.

Lin Zhen knew her personality and was very good at coaxing her. If he could persuade her to do something, he would let her do it. He would just let her go: "Why don't you bring Xiaofeng? He has no one to play with at home."

"Yesterday, his father and I dug a lot of bamboo shoots. He rushed to cut and dry the bamboo shoots at home. He also asked me to tell you that he would dry the bamboo shoots well and sell them to you."

"Is the sun shining over there?" Lin Zhen hated rainy days, especially the kind of rain that was not much but annoying. It was very sticky when you stepped on it, and the soles of your feet would make a sound.

The young woman said: "The sun is shining well. It will only rain for one or two hours. It is the time for bamboo shoots to sprout."

"I have already discussed with the head of the family that I will come to learn composting from you, Brother Lin, and open up a few more acres of wasteland next year to have a good New Year." The woman knew what was going on.

If it weren't for Lin Zhen's kindness to accept her family's bamboo tube, she wouldn't know where to find the money for her husband's medicine, and it would be impossible for him to get better now. So she was completely convinced of Lin Zhen. She thought everything Lin Zhen did was good. If there was any game at home, she would ask her husband to bring it to her while it was fresh.

When the young woman was talking to Lin Zhen, her husband followed her silently and worked beside her, not sparing any effort. For a whole half month, an indescribable smell was floating over Liyu Village. When another snow fell, the smell was gone, leaving only white dung piles, emitting heat. It was the twenty-ninth day of the lunar year, and every household had bought New Year's goods.

The women and husbands were busy frying all kinds of meatballs to prepare food for New Year's Eve. Lin Zhen also went to the town. He put down his backpack and waved to Gu Shuanzi, Chunxiang, Xingxiang, Huaixiang, and Fatiedan, who could walk: "Come here, I bought you a little toy." Gu Shuanzi's foot was already healed, and he was a little shorter than Zhuzi. When he saw Lin Zhen waving, he followed Lin Zhuzi and the others.

Chapter 28

Lin Zhen rubbed a row of heads, took out a red bracelet with silver melon seeds from the bag in his sleeve, and asked Tiedan, the youngest child of the eldest brother Lin, to stretch out his hand in order from youngest to oldest.

"Du Da," Tiedan pouted his lips and spoke. In order to speak more clearly, saliva bubbles appeared. His face was chubby, with thick eyebrows and big eyes, and he looked very cute.

Lin Zhen pinched his little fat face and tied the red string to his hand: "Everything goes well and everything goes well."

"Wash, Du Da~" Tiedan likes his uncle very much. His uncle will make a lot of delicious food and make small toys for them. Moreover, everyone in the family listens to his uncle. His uncle is the most powerful person.

Next came the youngest son of the second brother Lin, Huaixiang, Xingxiang, Chunxiang, and the brothers Lin Zhuzi.

Lin Zhen tightened the red string around Gu Shuanzi's wrist and fiddled with the silver melon seeds on it: "The new year should have a new look, smooth and safe."

"Smooth and safe." Gu Shuanzi looked at the red string on his wrist and said in a low voice.

This year, the Lin family had a bumper harvest. In addition to the tax, there was still a lot of grain left.

In addition to the money earned from doing business with Lin Zhen, this year's New Year's Eve dinner table not only had chickens and ducks, but also a rare fish in the surrounding area. It was bought by Lin's father specially, and it must be a good omen to have fish every year.

After the Chinese New Year, it was only the second day of the first lunar month, and Lin Zhen took Lin Xiaoyao to continue the malatang business.

He got up early that day, braided his hair into a ball, and then pinned it up with a wooden hairpin, yawning and leaving the room.

Outside, Lin Xiaoyao, Lin Dasao, Lin Ersao, Lin Dage and Lin Erge were already busy, putting things on the cart, the pottery pot for the soup base, the wooden barrel for the skewers, and the wooden box for the copper coins.

Seeing Lin Zhen, Lin Xiaoyao said, "The road must be a bit slippery. Big brother and second brother discussed that both of them should go, so as to avoid any mistakes on the road."

There are no cement roads now, only mud roads. When it rains, the road is like a paddy field, deep and shallow, and it all depends on luck.

Lin Zhen knew the danger inside and nodded, "Okay, by the way, bring more bamboo tubes and skewers today, and bring more skewers. After not going for so long, business will definitely be better."

Lin Xiaoyao also felt that his spicy hot pot had sold so well before, and those old customers must miss it very much after not eating it for a long time, so he walked briskly to the house to get something.

After Lin Zhen packed up and ate a bowl of noodles, he was about to leave when Gu Shuanzi, who was sleeping in the cabin, suddenly opened the door and came out. His clothes were neatly dressed and he looked like he had been awake for a long time.

He said, "I want to go with you."

He said it while looking at Lin Zhen.

Although he can speak some words now, most of the time he only talks to Lin Zhen and is very cold to others.

Lin Zhen was eager for him to go, at least not to stay at home like a mud Buddha: "If you want to go, go, but you have to work with me when the time comes."

"Okay." Gu Shuanzi nodded, turned around and went back to the house to change into a thicker cotton robe.

Lin Zhen held the cart to one side and said to him: "Let's go."

They were all familiar with the road, and with two grown men, Brother Lin and Brother Lin, to support them, Lin Zhen and Lin Xiaoyao were not afraid, but they had to pay attention to the things on the cart at all times, for fear that they would fall and hit the ground.

After arriving in the town, several people first found a place to wipe the mud and water on their shoes, and then pushed the cart to Zhazi Street.

Just as the cart was set up, the shopkeeper of the shop next door came up jogging: "Amitabha, you are finally here to do business, I missed you so much."

"Give me ten skewers of chicken, ten skewers of pork, five skewers of mushrooms, five skewers of bamboo shoots, and five skewers of radish, and give me more soup, I will take it back to mix with noodles."

The shopkeeper was an old customer, and it was he who opened Lin Zhen's first business.

He put on a clean apron, put the things the shopkeeper wanted into the spicy soup base, boiled them in time, scooped them out, put them into a big bamboo tube, and added two spoonfuls of hot soup: "Uncle, take it, come back after you finish eating, because you are the first customer to come in the new year, I specially give you an extra string."

"Oh, that's great." The shopkeeper didn't lack the money for these strings, but he was very happy.

He was just about to pick up a string to satisfy his craving, and the fat body of his old rival appeared at the corner of the street. He was so scared that he covered the bamboo tube with one hand and ran back to the shop like flying.

The fat shopkeeper looked at his back and snorted, and asked Lin Zhen: "What did he want? Give me one too."

Lin Zhen laughed every time he saw these two enemies, and said: "Ten strings of chicken, ten strings of pork, five strings of mushrooms, five strings of bamboo shoots, and five strings of radish."

"Did he ask for more soup? Take it back and mix it with noodles." The fat shopkeeper was like the roundworm in the shopkeeper's heart, and he was right when he said it.

Lin Zhen smiled and said, "Yes, the shopkeeper wants to take it back to mix with noodles."

"Then give me some more soup." The weather was cold, and the fat shopkeeper was wearing more clothes, which made him look more round. From a distance, he looked like a ball, which was the most blessed appearance that people liked nowadays.

Lin Zhen permed a portion of the same spicy hot pot as the shopkeeper who just left, and also gave him an extra string of each.

The fat shopkeeper took the spicy hot pot and knocked on the door of the shop next door: "Open the door, open the door, don't stay in there without talking, cook me a bowl of noodles."

His body was round, and his hands stretched out like a round ball with human hands, which made people laugh.

After serving the two old customers, the front of the cart was quickly surrounded by other diners who also liked this dish. Those with more money wanted seven or eight boats and ten strings, and those with less money wanted five or six strings.

There were also some children who had just received New Year's money, and they also bought one or two strings.

However, Lin Zhen told them that he would not give bamboo tubes to those who bought one or two strings.

Several people were busy, and Gu Shuanzi was also handing out bamboo tubes.

Business went smoothly on the first day of the new year. All the things he brought were sold out before four o'clock in the afternoon. Because the soup bases sold today were made from the spices left over from the New Year, Lin Zhen said goodbye to his elder and second brothers Lin, and took Lin Xiaoyao and Gu Shuanzi to the pharmacy to buy spices.

The town has been very lively these days, with stalls set up by vendors everywhere and the sounds of hawking.

Especially those things that can attract children, it is simply dazzling.

Gu Shuanzi, the only child among the three, has no interest in these things at all. He just silently follows behind Lin Zhen and helps him with the things he buys from time to time.

Suddenly, when passing by a bookstore, Lin Zhen patted his forehead. He had a bad memory. He had said before that he wanted Gu Shuanzi to go to school, but he forgot everything when he was busy.

He turned and looked at Gu Shuanzi, and said, "I've thought about it for some time, and I think I should send you to school to study for two years. First, you can learn a few words, which will make it easier for you to make a living in the future. Second, as you can see, I will be busy with business after the New Year, and I won't have much time to accompany you at home. You can at least make a lot of friends in school. What do you think?"

The bruises on Gu Shuanzi's face were completely gone, and his hair was tied into two buns, revealing a complete face

. His face shape is neither feminine nor feminine, his eyebrows are dark and profound, his nose is high and straight, and his lips are slightly thin. It makes people know at a glance that he has a handsome appearance.

It is also Lin Zhen's favorite appearance. He always felt that his face was not decent and a little too demonic.

Gu Shuanzi looked at him: "Do you want me to go to school?"

"People will encounter many things and many people in their lives. Different things and different people need different methods to deal with. If you want to go further and live a more relaxed life in the future, it is very necessary to go to school now to learn more about things in books."

"Okay, I'll go." Gu Shuanzi said, and he quickly added, "I'll pay you back later."

"Then buy some things for studying today." The bookstore was right next to them, and Lin Zhen took Lin Xiaoyao and Gu Shuanzi in. After entering, they smelled a smell that was neither good nor bad. Several tall and long shelves were filled with books, and on the other side were pens, inkstones, and other items.

A young scholar in ordinary clothes was putting two copied books on the counter. The shopkeeper took a look and said, "The handwriting is not particularly neat. The two books cost a total of 40 coins."

"Thank you, shopkeeper." The young scholar took the money and left, taking away two blank books and two books before leaving.

The shopkeeper then looked at Lin Zhen and the other two who were carrying baskets and had nothing to do with books: "What do you want to buy?"

Lin Zhen said: "I plan to send my child to school for enlightenment. What should I buy?"

"For enlightenment, the Thousand Character Classic is enough. I also need to buy two pieces of paper, a pen, an inkstone and a stick of ink."

The shopkeeper said as he moved the abacus on the counter, looked up and said to Lin Zhen: "A total of five taels and three cents of silver."

Hiss~

Even though he was prepared to spend a lot of money on a scholar in ancient times, Lin Zhen couldn't help but feel in his heart that it was really difficult for a poor

family to produce a noble son. But these entry-level things can stump 90% of the farmers.

And the pen, ink, paper and inkstone are consumables, and they will have to be bought again soon.

But he quickly took out the silver: "Please pack it up, shopkeeper."

The shopkeeper raised his eyebrows. He has run this shop for many years. Looking at the clothes of Lin Zhen and the other two, he knew that their family was not rich. He didn't expect that five taels of silver would be spent so easily.

He couldn't help but look at the child who was going to study, thinking to himself, I don't know how long this family can support this kid to study.

And this child looks quite old, which is not much of an advantage compared to those children who started to learn at the age of four or five and are now familiar with the Thousand Character Classic and the Three Character Classic.

If he is lucky enough to pass the examination to become a Tongsheng or a Xiucai, I'm afraid his ancestors will be very proud.

He wrapped the books, pens, ink, paper and inkstone and handed them to Lin Zhen: "We have all kinds of classic books in our store. If you need them in the future, just come and see."

"Yes, I will patronize you often in the future." This amount of paper will be enough for a long time, but you have to come often.

Lin Zhen handed the things wrapped in oil paper to Gu Shuanzi and asked him to put them in the backpack and keep them a little distance from the spices to avoid being contaminated by the smell.

Chapter 29

After returning home, Lin Zhen told his father and father about his plan to send Gu Shuanzi to school. At that time, everyone in the room was having dinner and looked at him and Gu Shuanzi in surprise.

Lin Zhen said: "In the past year of the Malatang business, my father and father have seen that except for me, the only one who can do the accounts is Xiaoyao."

"But Xiaoyao can't do the accounts when he is busy. He has to figure it out slowly. It can be seen that there are many people who can do physical work, but few who can do mental work."

"Not to mention the accountants in the restaurants and shops in the town. They can make two taels of clean money just by using an abacus and fiddling with the beads in a month."

Lin Zhen told his plan: "I am not sending Shuanzi to school to take the exam for a student or scholar. As long as he can read the documents and know some simple principles, it will be fine."

The eldest and second brothers Lin knew on the way that he had even bought pens, ink, paper and inkstone for Gu Shuanzi, so naturally they would not say anything to spoil his fun.

Besides, Gu Shuanzi is Lin Zhen's stepson, so they have nothing to say about Lin Zhen making plans for Gu Shuanzi.

But Lin's father opened his mouth and said, "Zhen'er, I have to say this in front of Shuanzi. Do you know how much money and effort it takes to support a scholar?"

"You are young, and you don't know that there was a family in our village before. The man was a carpenter, and he was very good at it. He often went to the town and the prefecture to make furniture for wealthy families. After returning, he sent his only son to study with a teacher."

"This study lasted for seven or eight years. He was sent to take the examination for Tongsheng, and hired a good teacher. But the child didn't get anything in his twenties. He got married and stayed at home all day, with food and clothes provided for him." "

Finally, his father died of an illness, and the family had no income. First, they sold land and fields, then sold houses and houses, and finally even pawned their young children and wife, but they were still dreaming of passing the examination for Tongsheng."

"Zhen'er, you have to think about it. You are young now and can still make money, but you can't make money all your life. What will you do then?"

Whether you say that Lin Adie is selfish or that he only cares about his son, all he has wanted from the beginning to now is for Lin Zhen to live a good and stable life in the second half of his life.

Besides, there are no children in the village who can go to school, but those children have grown up well.

Lin Zhen knows Lin Adie very well. From what he says, he knows what he thinks. This is not just Lin Adie's problem, but a common problem for people who can only struggle to survive.

Including the other people in the room, they must have similar ideas. They don't think that Gu Shuanzi's reading this book will change anything, nor do they think there is anything wrong with not studying.

Anyway, everyone lives like this, right?

Thinking of this, Lin Zhen first gave up the idea of ​​persuading his elder brother to ask Zhuzi to learn a few words. He held Lin's father's hand and said, "I know that father is doing this for the good of Shuanzi and me, but the things have been bought, it would be a waste to keep them at home, so let Shuanzi go to school first."

"Not everyone is a stupid scholar who only knows how to study and has no masculinity. Maybe Shuanzi will be lucky and find a leisurely job in the town after graduation?"

"Then I will wait for him to support me."

"You," After so long, Lin's father knew that his words just now were in vain. He didn't know who his son took after. He was very opinionated and no one could say anything about the decision. He said, "Then where do you plan to send Shuanzi to study?"

Uh...

this question stumped Lin Zhen. He was not the original owner. He had been doing business here for more than a year. He didn't know where there were teachers and which teacher taught well.

He scratched his head and leaned over to ask Lin's father: "I haven't heard any news here before. Tell me about it, father."

Lin's father rolled his eyes at him and couldn't help but chuckled: "Finally, there's something you can't make up your mind about."

"There are so many things I can't make up my mind about, so I have to ask you, father."

"You sly guy," Lin's father patted his hands and said, "If you want to be close, there is a teacher in Liushu Village, which is the closest to our village. However, the teacher is a little old, and he has accepted fewer and fewer students in recent years. Moreover, he is from Liushu Village, and he is not very dedicated to students other than those in Liushu Village, and the tuition fee is a few% higher."

Liushu Village is the village where Lin's second sister-in-law Zhao Xiu's parents live. Because of the real example of Zhao Xiu's family's good harvest, many people came to learn composting this year.

Lin Zhen became interested when he heard that it was close to Liyu Village. He was not afraid of being older, so he turned around and asked Lin Ersao: "Second sister-in-law, do you know that old gentleman? How knowledgeable is he, and how does he teach?"

The old gentleman had been in the village for many years, and Zhao Xiu had naturally seen him. He said: "The old gentleman has a bad temper, and most of the students who went to study there returned home one after another."

As for knowledge, Zhao Xiu was illiterate and had never been to school, so he didn't know what good knowledge and bad knowledge meant.

And Lin Zhen had given up the idea of ​​sending Gu Shuanzi to Liushu Village to study after these two sentences. Because of his bad temper, all the students who went there returned home one after another.

This shows that the teacher has no patience with children, and can't make students interested in what he teaches, so none of them stayed.

Since he spent money, he naturally couldn't send Gu Shuanzi to waste his time.

Lin Zhen could only ask Lin Adi again: "Are there any other teachers in other places?"

"Of course there are. There is one in the town. I heard that he passed the examination for a scholar and has good knowledge. He was grateful to his parents and wife for supporting him to study, so he did not continue to take the exam and returned to the town to teach students."

"But this teacher does not accept all children. He requires that they can know something... something..."

Lin Zhen remembered the enlightenment book Thousand Characters mentioned by the bookstore owner, and asked Lin Adi: "Is it the Thousand Characters?"

"Yes," Lin Adi slapped his thigh, "It's the Thousand Characters. Only students who can know the Thousand Characters can be accepted, and they can't be too old."

Lin Zhen's eyes lit up. It's good to have requirements. Having requirements means that this teacher has ideas and is not the kind of person who recruits students for tuition and leaves them there to collect dust.

It was just these two requirements that Gu Shuanzi lacked.

Thousand Characters, he can't.

He is already eight years old this year.

He called Gu Shuanzi to him, "I plan to send you to the teacher in town, what do you think?"

"I have never been to school, and I don't know the Thousand Character Classic." Gu Shuanzi said very practically, let alone knowing those characters, now those characters are just like ghost paintings in his eyes.

Lin Zhen naturally knew that Gu Shuanzi could not read, he touched his nose and said: "I know, starting from tomorrow I will teach you a little bit every day until you can recite it."

Lin's father was full of doubts, "When did you learn to read?"

The other people in the Lin family were also confused. No one in their family had ever been to school for a day, and they didn't even have enough food to eat, so they never thought about these things.

Lin Zhen said excitedly, but his heart was not beating: "Before, when I was at the Qian family, Master Qian taught me when he was free all day. He didn't like reading, so he put the pen, ink, paper and inkstone there for me to use, so I knew a little."

"But I can only deal with children's enlightenment books like Thousand Characters, and I can't do anything deeper."

The Qian family is a well-known wealthy family in the town. Master Qian also went to the capital to study, but after studying for many years, he didn't even pass the exam. So he honestly responded to the call of Master Qian and Mrs. Qian and came back to marry and have children.

Who would have thought that Lin Zhen, a vixen, would run out halfway, take the lead and hook Master Qian's soul, and enter the Qian family.

So when Lin Zhen said that the characters he knew were taught by Master Qian, the Lin family didn't suspect it. The only chance for Lin Zhen to get in touch with scholars was Master Qian.

He said to Gu Shuanzi, "I will teach you after I finish my business every day. When you can memorize the Thousand Characters, we will go to the teacher to pay the tuition."

For some reason, Gu Shuanzi felt inexplicably irritated when he heard that Lin Zhen's words were taught by her previous husband.

He even thought about not reciting the Thousand Characters. That was something that Young Master Qian knew, and he didn't want to learn it.

But looking at Lin Zhen's eyes, he didn't say these words. He just lowered his eyes to block the emotions inside and nodded, "Yes."

Lin Zhen was in a good mood to do what he said. As soon as he was sure to teach Gu Shuanzi the Thousand Characters, he went to the cabin that night, turned the oil lamp brighter, sat on the bed and opened the thin thread-bound Thousand Characters.

"Let's learn first today..." He gestured, his finger fell on "clouds rise to rain, dew condenses into frost", "learn here."

The cabin was narrow, and the light of the oil lamp was brighter than in the dining room, splashing on him.

Gu Shuanzi sat beside him, looking at his white but not very delicate fingers: "Okay."

Lin Zhen said with interest: "Then I will read it one by one, and I will explain to you what these words mean when you can follow along."

"The sky and the earth are dark yellow, the universe is vast and boundless.

The sun and the moon wax and wane, and the stars are lined up.

Winter comes and summer goes, autumn harvests and winter stores. The

leap year is made up, and the rhythm adjusts the sun. Clouds rise and

rain falls, and dew turns into frost." Notes ①

After all, Lin Zhen has received many years of education and is accustomed to the modern Mandarin accent. His pronunciation is softer and more rhythmic than the local accent. Each tone exudes a feeling that Gu Shuanzi does not understand, but feels inexplicably comfortable.

He tried hard to remember these tones and concentrated.

But after Lin Zhen read it, he only remembered a few sporadic pronunciations, not to mention coherent, and it didn't sound very good when he read it.

Gu Shuanzi couldn't help but grit his teeth.

Lin Zhen noticed that his cheeks were tightening and knew that the child must be thinking about something again, so he quickly said, "I read that to you just now. Now I'll read a sentence and you follow me."

"Come on, the sky and the earth are dark yellow, the universe is vast and desolate."

Gu Shuanzi looked at him and opened his mouth tentatively, "The sky and the earth are dark yellow, the universe is vast and desolate."

"Yes, that's how it's pronounced." In order to cooperate with him and strengthen his memory, Lin Zhen spread the open book in front of him and pointed to the eight words he had just read, "This is the word sky. Don't we often say that the weather is good or bad? This is how the word sky is written."

"And the word earth. The word earth is a little more complicated than heaven and earth. The small one in front is earth, which is the earth of mud."

"Think about it, there is earth on the ground, so the word earth must be accompanied by earth..."

Chapter 30

Five Elements Characters. Lin Zhen taught for almost half an hour, explaining some not-so-abstract characters with gestures. After teaching, he exhaled and asked Gu Shuanzi: "How is it? Do you need me to explain any characters again?" Having

never taught anyone before, Lin Zhen did not expect it to be so tiring. Those characters that he usually thought were simple and could be easily said became not easy at all.

Gu Shuanzi nodded and read it in front of Lin Zhen: "The sky and the earth are dark yellow, the universe is vast and boundless. The sun and the moon wax and wane, and the stars are in a line. The cold comes and the summer goes, and the autumn harvests and the winter stores. The leap year becomes a year, and the rhythm adjusts the sun. The clouds rise and the rain falls, and the dew turns into frost."

His voice was still as clear as a child's, but it was different from the rather innocent tone of Zhuzi Huaixiang and the others. It inexplicably sank, giving people a very strange feeling.

Lin Zhen did not expect that this kid learned so quickly. He could read so smoothly after only teaching for such a short time.

He couldn't help but touch Gu Shuanzi's head: "Our Shuanzi is quite smart. Judging from this, it won't be long before he can memorize the Thousand Character Classic."

Gu Shuanzi pursed his lips: "You taught me." "

Of course not," Lin Zhen, who had been a teacher for a while, straightened his chest, "Let's stop here today. You can lie on the bed and think about it silently to deepen your impression. I'm going to go back to sleep first."

As he spoke, Lin Zhen yawned. He got up early this morning to sell spicy hot pot in the town, and came back to discuss Gu Shuanzi's enrollment in the school with Lin Adie. Just now, he taught Gu Shuanzi to read. Even if Lin Zhen was made of iron, he couldn't help it.

He patted his yawn and suddenly remembered something. He blew out the lit oil lamp: "Don't hide and read at night. It will ruin your eyes."

Gu Shuanzi, who originally planned to wait until he left before taking out the Thousand Character Classic to read, didn't expect that he would even think of this. He could only lift the quilt and lie in it, closing his eyes obediently.

Lin Zhen was satisfied with all this. He opened the door and walked out. As soon as he took a step, he was startled by the back of a person squatting next to the cabin. Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be Lin Xiaoyao.

He pulled Lin Xiaoyao over and asked, "What are you doing here? Why aren't you sleeping?"

The sudden presence of a person in the dark was quite frightening. Lin Zhen's chest was pounding and he could even hear his own heartbeat in his ears.

Lin Xiaoyao's expression was a little gloomy. He looked at Lin Zhen and said, "Brother, can you walk with me in front?"

The entrance of the Lin family's house was a small path connecting to the village. Because there were many neighbors here, it didn't look deserted or scary.

Lin Zhen nodded, "Sure, let's go."

"Yeah."

The two brothers gently pushed open the gate and walked out, groping their way slowly in the little light.

Suddenly, Lin Xiaoyao, who was walking beside Lin Zhen, said, "Brother, I was outside when you were explaining the book to Shuanzi just now. What you said was really interesting. I seem to understand some of it, but I haven't seen the book, so I don't know what the words look like."

"..." Lin Zhen looked at the vague outline of Lin Xiaoyao and said, "If you want to listen, go in openly tomorrow. Anyway, the room can accommodate it."

After Lin Zhen came to the Lin family, the person he had the most contact with was Lin Xiaoyao. They slept together at night and did business together during the day. To put it bluntly, Lin Xiaoyao could even guess when Lin Zhen urinated or went to the toilet.

So Lin Xiaoyao was the person who was most influenced by Lin Zhen. Lin Zhen had discovered it before, but he had never made it clear.

He was actually conflicted about whether it was good or bad to let Lin Xiaoyao accept some of his ideas. After all, Lin Xiaoyao was a native of this era. He would be bound by some ideas that were difficult to change in his heart, and he would feel uncomfortable and entangled about it.

As for him, he never regarded himself as a brother.

What's wrong with a light pregnancy mole?

He didn't plan to get married, nor did he think about having children for anyone.

He could support himself with his own hands, live freely and comfortably.

This was also the reason why he would settle everything with the Lin family. He knew that the Lin family was good, but he would not change his original intention because of the Lin family, and would not follow what Lin's father wanted, to form a family with a man and torment himself for a child.

But Lin Xiaoyao couldn't do that. He grew up in the Lin family and was deeply taken care of by Lin's father. He would blush shyly when Lin's father occasionally nagged him to dress up so that he could marry a good family.

Lin Xiaoyao's soft voice came in the wind: "Brother, you have changed a lot. Sometimes I can't believe you are my brother."

Lin Zhen's heart beat: "Really? Do you like me now or before?"

"It must be you now," Lin Xiaoyao didn't bother about it at all. "You are very capable, you can take it or leave it, and you are very nice to everyone."

"Brother, in fact, sometimes I envy you and fear you. I feel like there seems to be something hidden in your body that we don't know about, and it feels like it will leave us at any time."

"Especially when you were teaching Shuanzi to read today, this feeling was even stronger."

It must be said that Lin Xiaoyao's intuition is amazingly accurate. When he came into contact with a side of Lin Zhen that was completely different from his original self, he felt it.

Before Lin Zhen could think of what to say, Lin Xiaoyao continued: "Dad just whispered to me, saying that Aunt Li from our village came to ask him if I had given it to others."

Aunt Li?

Lin Zhen thought about it for a while and remembered this person. She was a small wealthy family in Liyu Village. When other families were not able to eat enough, her family could still have surplus food. The land added up to more than 20 mu, and there was also the only mule in Liyu Village.

Lin Zhen: "Didn't she always say in the village that she wanted to marry her son to a beautiful and fertile woman? Why did she set her sights on you?"

"Yes, I didn't see her mention this when I went around the village before, but now she has been there several times." "She

also told our father that if I married into the family, she would separate the family property between me and her son, and would not touch the money we earned, as long as we lived well."

At this point, Lin Zhen would be stupid if he couldn't get over it.

It was true that Aunt Li wanted to marry her son, but it was even more true that she wanted the spicy hot pot skills of Lin Xiaoyao.

Thinking more deeply, Aunt Li might have thought that the Lin family had something as good as spicy hot pot compost, and wanted to rely on her in-laws to get the upper hand.

Lin Zhen knew that Lin Xiaoyao told him this because she had no intention of marrying Aunt Li's son.

He asked, "Did you make it clear to me, Dad?"

"Yes," Lin Xiaoyao said, "I said I want to learn the craft from you, make some money, and start my own business in the future."

"Brother, I want to listen to your lectures. I want to know the meaning of what you said, and I want to understand and write those words." Lin Xiaoyao spoke faster and faster, and finally he was a little hoarse.

Lin Zhen held his hand: "Okay, I got it."

"I will talk to Dad about this tomorrow. Not only you, if Chunxiang, Xingxiang, Huaixiang, and Zhuzi want to learn, I will teach them too." This was something Lin Zhen had missed before. Maybe not only Lin Xiaoyao, but Chunxiang, Xingxiang, Huaixiang, and Zhuzi also had this idea. Teaching one

is teaching, and teaching four or five is teaching, just like herding sheep, let's herd them together.

After saying what was in his heart, Lin Xiaoyao relaxed a lot. He suddenly picked up Lin Zhen and threw him up.

Lin Zhen was so scared that he hugged his neck in panic: "What are you doing? You are my brother and I am your brother!"

Oh my god, Lin Zhen felt that his reputation was ruined.

He actually let his brother carry him like a princess!

What's the matter, does he look down on his body?

Is he showing off his muscles!

(ノ=Д=)ノ┻━┻

"Hahahahaha," Lin Xiaoyao laughed very proudly, "I have wanted to do this for a long time, brother, you are really soft, fragrant and small."

"!!!!!!"

So soft.

So fragrant.

So small.

These words were no less than a bolt of lightning hitting Lin Zhen's forehead. He pointed at Lin Xiaoyao with trembling fingers: "Shut up."

Lin Xiaoyao nodded, thinking in his heart that the third brother was really the best-looking person in the family.

No matter the nose, eyes or mouth, everything was good-looking.

The conversation ended with Lin Zhen and Lin Xiaoyao standing in front and behind, as if there was a Grand Canyon between them.

At Aunt Li's house, Aunt Li's son Li Jiu was sulking at Aunt Li. He said unhappily, "Mom, I don't want to marry Lin Xiaoyao. Can you please stop mentioning this in front of me?"

Aunt Li was making insoles in her hands. When she saw that the thread was a little frayed, she tightened it with yellow wax, "What's wrong with Lin Xiaoyao? He's a good worker and not ugly. I've almost talked to his father about it and we're almost set on him."

"What's so good about him? He's a boy. His pregnancy mole is so light that it can't be seen. He's so black that you can't even find it if you throw him into a pile of charcoal." Li Jiu was furious, "Anyway, I won't marry you. If you want to marry, go ahead and marry yourself."

"Hey, kid."

Aunt Li glanced at him sideways: "Don't think I don't know your little tricks. Every time I pass by the Lin family's door, my eyes almost fall into it, thinking about that Lin Zhen."

Li Jiu didn't expect that his mother could actually see that he liked Lin Zhen. There was a little embarrassment on his face as if his secret was exposed, but then came excitement. He moved the stool in front of Aunt Li and said: "Mom, since you are going to marry a young man from the Lin family, why can't you marry Lin Zhen? Didn't you hear what the villagers said? The composting method and the Malatang business were all Lin Zhen's ideas. If you want to take over the Malatang business, wouldn't it be better to marry Lin Zhen?"

Aunt Li stopped the work in her hands: "Don't even think about it!"

"Who is Lin Zhen?"

"First she married Master Qian, and then she married Gu Da from Datianzi Village. She has an eight-year-old burden with her. Don't you think it's dirty?"

"I don't think so..."

Aunt Li was so disappointed that she pulled his ear hard: "Anyway, you can only marry Lin Xiaoya, don't even think about that vixen Lin Zhen."