In this cold winter, Youyu County, Shanxi Province is snowing heavily, but seeing the white expanse on the Loess Plateau, the lonely Cangtou River has long been frozen for three feet, and the beacon tower of the Great Wall in the distance is buried under the thick snow.

At this moment, there are several stoves burning in the meeting hall of Heitai Mountain, and the charcoal fire in the furnace is blazing, and many women in the village are sitting around the stove, chatting and doing needlework.

In the middle aisle, a little boy of about two or three years old was struggling to walk back and forth, and it turned out that he had ropes tied to his two little feet with a green brick, and he had to drag the two green bricks forward.

The little boy was handsome, but he was very thin, estimated to be less than thirty pounds, and the two green bricks he dragged on his feet were almost ten pounds, so he walked very hard, his little face was red, and his neck was slightly sweaty, but he still walked very stubbornly.

Those women seemed to be used to this, and occasionally someone smiled and said, "Brother Huo'er, work hard, there are still two hundred steps left, and there will be no lunch if you can't finish walking." ”

The little boy was probably worried that he really didn't have lunch, so he puffed up his cheeks and sped up, but he didn't control his balance well, and he fell down, and his little hand snapped on the ground.

"Ouch, the little master has fallen!" A young woman who was collecting the soles of her shoes hurriedly put down her needle and thread, and wanted to step forward to help the little boy up.

At this time, the door of the conference hall opened, and several people walked in with the wind and snow, and the first one was slim, took off the hat on his head, and suddenly revealed a cold and beautiful face, with a nose like gallbladder lips like grease, and a pair of light blue eyes, it was Xue Bingxin, a cold girl, and behind her were Lei Jun, the second master, and Zhao Hu, the third master.

"The big boss, the second boss, the third boss......" A group of women in the hall squeaked and greeted each other, and the little boy who fell down saw Xue Bingxin, and immediately got up happily and called crisply: "Mother!" ”

Xue Bingxin saw her son who was still in tears, and a trace of distress flashed in her eyes, but she asked with a pretty face: "Huo'er, is it five hundred walks away?" ”

The little boy lowered his little brain weakly and whispered, "There are still two hundred steps left." ”

"Then what are you still doing in a daze, keep walking, and eat when you're done!"

Lei Jun said with a smile: "Big boss, Huo'er is still young, and his body bones are weaker than ordinary children of the same age, and it is too much to walk five hundred steps, or forget it today." ”

Xue Bingxin frowned and said: "Brother Lei, you can't always get used to the fire, sooner or later you will get used to the fire, just because your body is weak, you have to work harder." ”

"Hehe, big boss, forget it once and a half, make up for it tomorrow, you see that the fire is sweating profusely, and it's not good to feel the wind chill later." Zhao Hu, the third master, also laughed and interceded.

"No, there will be a second time with the first time, Xuegui perseveres, you can't give up halfway in doing anything, Huo'er, continue to walk two hundred steps, otherwise there will be no food!" Xue Bingxin said sternly.

The little boy flattened his mouth aggrievedly, but continued to move his two calves with difficulty.

Xue Bingxin put down the hat, shook off the snow on the cloak, and walked straight next to the little boy, Lei Jun and Zhao Hu glanced at each other helplessly, the big boss is very gentle to the other children in the village, but he is very strict with Huo'er, alas, it is not easy to be both a loving mother and a strict father!

Thinking that Huo'er was two and a half years old, and the irresponsible man had not yet appeared, Lei Er couldn't help but be angry, and hated so much that he scolded the bastard in his heart, if he knew who Huo'er's biological father was, it was estimated that he would have the heart to kill people with a knife.

"Huo'er work harder, the man is not afraid of hardship or tiredness, what can he get in five hundred steps." Zhao Hu touched Xue Yang's little head as he passed by, and encouraged.

"Uncle Zhao, Huo'er is not tired, Huo'er has to stay up, grow up and practice martial arts to protect his mother and protect the cottage!" Xue Yang puffed up his small chest and said loudly.

"Huo'er has ambition, when you are older, Uncle Lei will teach you to ride a horse and shoot arrows." Lei Jun laughed.

Xue Bingxin listened to her son's milky words, her nose couldn't help but be slightly sour, and she quickly turned around and sat down on the top chair covered with animal skins.

At this time, Lei Jun and Zhao Hu also came over and sat down, and a woman brought a plate of boiled sweet potatoes and steamed buns and said, "Master, this is the lunch left for you." ”

Xue Bingxin nodded, glanced at her son, who was still walking hard, and then took a smaller sweet potato and chewed it slowly with the skin. The cold winter is still very long, and this year, the population of the cottage has increased again, almost reaching 400 people, and the food has to be saved to barely enough to eat, so every grain of food is precious.

Fortunately, last year, the imperial court promoted the planting of sweet potatoes in Shanxi, it is said that the man advocated the promotion, Xue Bingxin saw that the yield of this sweet potato seemed to be good, so in the spring of this year, he asked the nearby villagers for a batch of sweet potato vines, and planted a few acres of land under Heitai Mountain.

Therefore, Xue Bingxin plans to expand cultivation in the spring of next year, and build a dozen or twenty acres, so that the people in the cottage will no longer have to starve, of course, provided that the officers and soldiers and the Tartars do not come to make trouble.

It is said that in the past few years, Heitai Mountain has slaughtered a lot of Tartars who have gone to the territory of Daming to fight in the grass valley, which can be said to be a mortal enemy, and Tatar even sent a small force to attack Heitai Mountain several times, but each time they returned with a feather.

"Big boss, I heard that after the winter, there have been two white snows outside the gate, and the Tartars have frozen to death a lot of cattle and sheep. Lei Jun's expression was solemn.

Tartars will cross the Great Wall every year in the harvest season at the turn of summer and autumn, and go to the territory of Daming to loot grain for the winter, but if there is a heavy snowstorm in winter, cattle and sheep freeze to death seriously, and when the Tartars are short of food in spring, they will also run to the territory of Daming to loot, which has simply become an iron law.

Xue Bingxin frowned, she was preparing to expand the planting of sweet potatoes after the beginning of spring, if the Tartars kept coming to harass, it would inevitably affect production, but what could she do? The Great Wall can't stop the small group of Tartars who copy the path, and the border soldiers can't count on it if they are incompetent, so they can only rely on themselves!

While the three of them were eating lunch and chatting about dealing with the tartars, the little boy Xue Yang finally finished five hundred steps, and walked over with a sweat and said crisply: "Mother, the child is finished." ”

Xue Bingxin took out a handkerchief and wiped the sweat off her son's head distressedly, and when she saw the deep red marks on her son's feet and neck that were strangled by the rope, she was even more distressed, and after cleaning her son's hands, she stuffed the largest sweet potato into her son's hand, and said softly: "Eat it!" ”

"Thank you, mother!" Xue Yang sat obediently next to his mother and ate deliciously.

At that moment, the door to the council chamber opened again, and a young man entered, stamping his feet in the cold. Xue Yang, who was eating sweet potatoes, immediately stood up reflexively, and bent down respectfully and said, "I've seen Master Cai!" ”

"Hello Mr. Cai!"

"I've seen Master Cai!" All the women and children stood up to salute, and Xue Bingxin, Lei Jun and others were no exception.

The young man who came in was about twenty-five or sixteen years old, dressed as a scholar, wearing a square scarf, and his face was red and blue from the cold, and it was none other than Xu Jin's former classmate Cai Yue Cai Haoran.

It is said that more than two years ago, Cai Yue and Li Yingjun said goodbye to Xu Jin in the capital, and traveled west to pursue "poetry and distance", but they met the Tartar who hit the grass valley in Youyu County, Li Yingjun was taken away by the Tartar, and Cai Yue lived in the village near Heitai Mountain in order to find his friend, and married the village girl named Ye Zi last year.

And the village girl named Ye Zi insisted on going to Heitai Mountain to join Sanniangzi because her family died in the hands of Tatars, and later she really went to Heitai Mountain, but after marrying Cai Yue last year, she went down the mountain and moved back to the village to live.

Because of this, Cai Yue got in touch with Heitai Mountain and asked Xue Bingxin to help inquire about the whereabouts of his friend Li Yingjun, and in return, he often went up the mountain to teach Mengxue, the school-age children in the cottage, and at his level, he could only teach Mengxue.

"It's snowing heavily today, and I thought my master wouldn't go up the mountain." Xue Bingxin said unexpectedly.

Cai Yue arched his hand and said: "I am here to bid farewell to the big boss today, and after giving the last lesson to Huo'er today, I will not come in the future, and I will go south to Shangrao, Jiangxi Province when spring begins tomorrow." ”

"Ah, the master is leaving Shanxi?" Xue Bingxin lost her voice and said, Xue Yang's little guy was also reluctant, he liked Master Cai very much.

Cai Yue said sadly: "It's been almost three years, Brother Ziyu still has no news, recently received a letter from home, the old father is seriously ill, and the unfilial son has to rush home to see the old father for the last time, I can't teach Huo'er them anymore, I'm really sorry!" ”

"Oh, I see!" Xue Bingxin took out a piece of silver, about five taels, and said, "Thanks to the master's careful teaching to the child these days, I will give a little heart as the master's travel expenses back to his hometown, and I hope the master will not dislike it." ”

Cai Yue said unhappily: "I have already said before, the big boss will help find my friends, and I will teach the children in the village to learn from Meng, the big boss is now giving the silver, isn't it humiliating, by all means, the big boss quickly put away the silver." ”

Xue Bingxin said apologetically: "Master Cai misunderstood, but the kid didn't help much, and the whereabouts of the master's friend are still unknown......

Cai Yue waved his hand and said: "Do your best to obey the destiny of heaven, the big boss has already done his best, and if you can't find it, it's fate, no wonder the big boss." Huo'er, after eating, go to the last class with the teacher! ”

"Yes, Master!" Xue Yang's little adults shook their heads.

Cai Yue sighed and said, "Big boss, Huo'er is talented and smart, but it's a pity that he didn't meet a famous teacher!" ”

"Huo'er thinks that the master is a famous teacher!" The little guy said seriously.

Cai Yue laughed, his sadness and parting felt a little less, and he walked away with his hands behind his back.