Under the juniper tree, the figures of those who thought they had attained enlightenment gradually dispersed.

The warm wind blowing from the land of Qilu, accompanied by the creaking of the wooden axles of ox-and-horse-drawn carts, tunes up the scale of the bustling city.

The salt fish of the Qi Kingdom, the furs of the Yan Kingdom, and the goose feathers of the Chu Kingdom converge here, and the merchants with various accents crowd the streets.

It is still inferior to the most prosperous Taoyi in the Song Kingdom, but it still brings some vitality to this dilapidated dukedom, and finally wakes up from the siege of the Wei clan a few years ago.

Shi didn't know that this major event that happened in the Qi State that affected the pattern of the entire early years of the Warring States Period, and he didn't know that the ink scholars who he thought could send him to Qingyun with his strength had already left Shangqiu.

Carefully holding the bag of seeds hidden in his arms, he avoided the bustling crowd and the shouts of the people who slaughtered pigs and dogs, and came to the door of his house.

Standing in front of the door, looking at the simple wooden door of his house, he stretched out his hand and pushed and pulled it a few times.

The wood that had been dug out of the grooves rubbed against the doorposts, making a tooth-aching sound, but it was a pleasure.

Staring at the smooth groove that had been rubbed, Shi Hehe smirked: "This is the hub of the household?" ”

As soon as the words fell, a rather sharp woman's voice came from inside the door, obviously with a little anger.

"You're not a carpenter, so you don't care if you're a beetle or not? With this leisure, wouldn't it be good to help your brother make a few more pairs of shoes? Wandering all day long, do you think you are a noble son? ”

The old wooden door was pushed open, and the sister-in-law was greeted with cold eyebrows, a pair of apricot eyes squinted, and the corners of her mouth were full of disdain.

His parents were deceased, he had six siblings, two of whom died young, and two of whom died in the service and in the construction of the walls. There was only one brother left, who married a sister-in-law next door.

There is no cold eyebrows in the world for no reason, and I know what is going on.

This body of his own, there is indeed a reason for his sister-in-law to be cold.

The family is not wealthy, and only makes shoes for a living, but his body doesn't like to make shoes at all.

He learned wrestling with the butcher of the owner, and learned fencing with the corporal warriors outside the city, but he never made leather and shoes.

Originally, craftsmen only had to pay taxes, not taxes. Fu is for military purposes, taxes are for sacrifices and state expenses, and the rites are clearly divided before the collapse of happiness, and the craftsmen do not even have the opportunity to be soldiers.

But since the etiquette has been broken and the wars are frequent, no one has followed the rules in it, but Song Xianggong has obeyed it, but it has become a joke.

The estrangement of taxation has long been observed, and the taxes of private craftsmen have also increased, and the taxation has become one, from tithes to tithes, and the monarchs are still lamenting the inadequacy.

The world is difficult, the war is continuous, and it is just a small family that makes leather and shoes, and everyone will be disgruntled if they only wander but do not work.

The angry sister-in-law stood in the wooden doorway, holding a clay pot containing some corn under her left flank and a clay pot of water in her right hand.

Married into the family for three years, she is only nine years old now, but her hands have long lost the smoothness of a girl, rough like the skin of a snake, and many wounds will be cracked in winter.

Under the hardships of life, there is such a little uncle on the stall, and there is no resentment, he is a saint.

The apricot kernel-like eyes showed a pungent energy, looking at the uncle who was shaking back from the outside, seeing that he was carrying and clamping and didn't come to help, just standing there stupidly, and he was even more angry.

"If you don't make shoes, it's just that, this day is when the clams are ripe, so it's better to pick a few handfuls of clams and come back to eat. I have to go to soak hemp in the afternoon, this meal has not been cooked, there is no firewood and grass at home yesterday, you go outside the city, and when you come back, you don't know how to bring a handful of firewood? Every day you know that you are hanging out, and you are going to do something big at every turn, what have you done? ”

"Mr. Mo Zhai wants to love the world, you don't even love your brother and sister-in-law, and you still love a fart world? If I were Mr. Mo Zhai, I would never accept you as a disciple! ”

When it comes to urgency, I can't help but subconsciously want to pinch my waist with one hand and finger angrily with the other hand to have fun. It's a pity that he was holding a clay pot of corn under his coercion, and he couldn't scold himself so much that he had to snort, and he turned around and was about to go back to the house.

Shi lowered his head, and he didn't dare to speak, he had his own three views, and this matter was a loss after all, and he couldn't say anything like bullying the poor of the young man.

It's not easy to survive, my brother and sister-in-law have raised me for so many years, and I have to listen to ten more words.

Squeezing out a hint of embarrassment, he hurriedly stepped forward with a smile and reached out to take the crockpot in his sister-in-law's hand.

"I'll go out and get some firewood and grass, and I'll do the soaking of hemp tomorrow."

The sister-in-law, who was about to scold a few more words, looked at the appearance of the uncle's hippie smiling face, and felt that the crockpot in the crook of the arm in her hand suddenly lightened, and she was stunned there, and said in her heart, why did she change her sex today?

It is said that Zi Mozi is a saint-like figure, but now that he sees that it is true, his uncle just went to listen to some lectures and still knows how to do things?

Looking at the face that was a little childish and had two dimples of laughter, the remaining half-stone venting words turned away like a snowflake in June.

I was speechless for a while, so I could only say without words: "Be careful, don't break the crockpot." ”

But how could the crockpot fall and shatter when it was firmly held by a strong arm?

To say this, it is nothing more than some words that do not know what to say.

The sister-in-law shook her head in the back and followed her into the house.

In the dark room, he carefully put down the jar and corn, and asked casually, "Where is my brother?" ”

"I'm going to measure the size of the scholar's shoes outside the city, and I'll be back in a while."

Shi glanced at his house and shook his head secretly.

There was nothing in the house, iron smelting had not yet become popular, copper was even more valuable, and the kitchen relied on a clay pot to cook rice, and the house was blackened by the smoke of firewood and grass, and the walls were greasy and greasy for I don't know how long.

In the corner of the wall, there is a cute three-legged clay pot, like a lame beast, that is, its own "stove". The three-legged support can be used to make a fire below to cook porridge and rice.

Stone grinding was not yet widespread, and both wheat and rhubarb millet could only be boiled and eaten in clay pots with bran.

Copper cooking utensils, which were only used by the aristocracy. Even if the etiquette system collapses, money can be usurped, but today's price is about two grams of copper for one pound of corn, and one pound of copper is two hundred and fifty pounds of corn, and ordinary people must not be able to afford it.

The big house next to it is where my brother usually makes shoes, and there is a strong smell of nitrate skin, which is very smelly.

The clothes on the body and the food in the mouth are all squeezed out of these stinky skins, and even the name of my brother is inseparable from the skin, and the single name is a muntjac.

The name of a beast, common skin, and also the name of a shoemaker's house.

The two cottages are bedrooms with small windows and black holes. There was no bedding on the couch made of wood, and wheat straw was laid out in a mess.

After sleeping for a long time, the stiff and prickly wheat straw has become soft as flocculent.

The four walls of the family are the status quo, and it is also the status quo of the vast majority of people at this time.

Understand that if you can't do something, you have to live like this for the rest of your life. This life can be seen from twenty to sixty, if he can live to be sixty. The only variable is being drafted into battle and dying, or dying of a serious illness.

This kind of life where you can see the edge at a glance is the most terrifying.

He found his hut, found a clay pot, and carefully hid the bag of seeds that carried his dreams and ambitions, and sealed them carefully, lest any rats burrow into them and eat them.

After carefully hiding this thing, he took out the hemp rope from the pile of firewood and grass and went to collect firewood and grass.

There are no axes or saws, so you can only pick them up with your hands.

Although it was noon at this time, the civilians had two meals a day, far from the time to eat.

Firewood and grass are outside the city, and one afternoon is just enough.

When she was about to go out, her sister-in-law pulled her from behind and took out two balls of burlap wrapped in grass ash, and she didn't know what they were doing.

Wrapping the two small sackcloths on the shoulders of Shi, he still said with a cold face: "I haven't even carried firewood and grass a few times all day long, I will definitely wear blood, and I have to wash my dirty clothes, and it is easy to break if I wash too much!" Put this on your shoulders. ”

"It's still my sister-in-law who feels sorry for me."

replied with a salivating face, but her sister-in-law snorted coldly: "Bullshit! I feel sorry for this garment! Do you think this garment fell from heaven? Didn't I sew it by hand? ”

Shi didn't say anything, and he didn't think about what those two burlap bags with plant ash were.

Smiled and took it with both hands, turned around and was about to leave.

looked like a little uncle who seemed to have changed in a day, but the sister-in-law was a little at a loss, and he was stunned and forgot to wash the corn next.

Seeing that the figure of the uncle was about to disappear from the chaimen, he thought of something with a sigh, and chased out the door to admonish: "The one on the east side of the mountain is from the office, the reeds by the river to the west are from the Sicheng family, the Berlin under the east mountain is royal, and the Yang Lin at the south is from the Ling family, don't go there, if you are caught, you will be killed." If you can't carry too much, just carry less, don't carry too much today and can't get up tomorrow when you are tired, and it is better not to go to soak hemp tomorrow! ”

When the words that seemed to be reprimanded but were actually worried were shouted, the figure had already turned the corner of the street, and it seemed to be waving his hand behind her back, probably hearing it.

The sister-in-law leaned in front of her door, couldn't help but shake her head, went back to wash the corn in a daze, thought for a long time, picked up the bamboo pole in the house, took a small piece of salted dried fish from the beam of the house, and cut a small section.

……

Carrying a hemp rope on his back, in addition to the city gate, he found a small stream, not thirsty, this water is very clean, and can be used as a mirror.

In the floating reflection, there is a young face, tied with a simple turban, the face is a little thin and angular, a pair of eyebrows like two knives across the eyes, the corners of the eyes are slightly upturned.

Bah's life spat out, the ripples crushed those waves, and occasionally a few rays of blazing light reflected from the crest of the wave into the eyes, a little stinging.

"It's a good skin. I borrowed your body to survive, and I will pay the debt you owe. Ordinary people, it's not easy to study, I hope you weren't a bastard who took it for granted that your brother and sister-in-law treated you like this, or said something bastard, otherwise I can't afford to pay it back. ”

He said a few words to the broken reflection, and his eyebrows, which were as beautiful as knives, were wrinkled together, and he had long lost his impassioned appearance under the juniper tree.

The things under the juniper tree are too far away, and the things on the shoulders are very close.

Ambition to ambition, conscience to conscience, as it should be, as it should be, as it should be.