There is a small town called Xianghe Town near Heyang County, and recently there has been a major event that can be said to have not occurred in the town for decades, two young men are going to duel for a woman.

Just like the name of the town, although the town is not big, it also has a history of several decades, most of the hundreds of families are living here from the grandfather's generation, the so-called villagers, the three generations are not relatives, and the next three generations must also have baby relatives, half of the town is a scholar, for decades, don't talk about fighting, that is, even the bickering can not be heard a few times, at most whose mother-in-law has a few more broken mouths, but everyone is also a listener, no one has ever really been angry.

But it is such a gentle village but suddenly there is a duel because of a woman, it is even more terrifying than a thunderstorm on a sunny day, the old mayor has never dealt with such a tricky matter, good words and persuasion, the mouth has been worn out a few times, both of them are not firewood and rice, the Northern Wei Dynasty strictly prohibits private fights, if this is in the trouble of life, the whole village has to eat lawsuits, but if you really set up a life and death, go to court, in the future, it is not an enemy to meet, hindering the harmony of the town.

Early this morning, the big bronze bell in the town was struck, only to see a tall man rough pull the stake and hit the bronze bell, generally something important happened in the town, the mayor of the town gathered blind dates to hit the bell, so, the bell rang three times, unknown people pushed and shoved to the square.

"Donkey, don't sleep early in the morning, what bell do you ring. One of them said with a sleepy voice.

And the donkey in his mouth was originally named Liu Po, not a person from the town, more than ten years ago when the locust plague wandered to the town of orphans, was taken in, at the age of fifteen with a horse gang left the village, worked hard outside for a few years, this time back is to marry the daughter of the adoptive parents, the woman who grew up with his childhood sweetheart, who knows that during the time he left, the adoptive parents promised their daughter to a scholar in the same village, after he learned about it, he was naturally angry and even liver and lungs, filed and crushed the teeth in the mouth, and after crawling and rolling outside for so many years, he was dyed with a bad temper, and rushed directly into the scholar's house to beat the other party for a while, although the scholar was weak, the beaten nose was blue and his face was swollen, but he refused to say a soft word, and he decided to fight a duel as soon as he came and went.

To say that this scholar is really temperamental, but his parents are willing to do it, their son has been dealing with paper and pen since he was a child, and it is laborious to carry buckets of water without the power of chickens, and that Liu Po is already tall and big, and he has also practiced a good kung fu in the wind and rain with the horse gang over the years, which is really in the ring, and it is not only the life of people who are beaten to death, so they don't agree, so they simply lock the scholar at home.

"Folks, I Liu Po haven't read for a few years, but I also know a spit, a nail in a mouthful, everyone heard the duel between me and Chen Zhitong that day, since he agreed in person, he categorically has no reason to regret it, if he admits defeat, it is easy to do, and return Qing'er's sister to me. Liu Po stood on the high platform and shouted.

"Splashing the donkey, you are embarrassed to say, you beat my family into that appearance and forced him to go to the ring, you, you are careless of human life. "Chen Zhitong's mother is a well-known lady in the town, but at this time, where can she care about her dignified manners, she almost didn't scold.

Liu Po also knew that he was reckless that day, but he couldn't lose his momentum at the moment, and said cheekily: "Aunt Mu, since you have said this, I, Liu Po, will give you a face, you pick the day, I will never bargain." ”

"Pick a fart, what proof do you want to duel, open your mouth and say who won't! I'll tell you, I've already reported to the official, you beat our family for no reason, you just wait to squat in the class room!"

"Whatever you want, today I just let the villagers be a witness, I, Liu Po, am not a person who is afraid of things, if the government finds it, I will bear it alone, at most, it will be locked up for ten days and half a month, but everyone has heard this duel with their own ears, I don't want to embarrass everyone, I have made a lot of friends over the years, and I am in charge of a horse team of hundreds of people under my hands, and I am outside the town at the moment. ”

As soon as these words came out, the old man couldn't help it, and shouted: "Liu Po, are you threatening us? Don't forget that you almost starved to death at the beginning, who saved you, is this how you repay the favor?"

"Third master, I Liu Po never have this meaning, the villagers' nurturing grace to me I Liu Po will never forget, this horse gang is specially brought back for the town and neighboring towns to trade, but the matter is one yard to one yard, since you Chen Zhitong took over the duel, don't be a shrinking turtle for Lao Tzu, if I lose, I admit it, I am useless and unworthy of Qing'er's sister, but if you have to use this thing to blackmail me, it is impossible. Liu Bo jumped off the platform and walked in front of Chen Zhitong's mother, and this sturdy figure alone almost scared the woman to sit on the ground.

"Aunt Mu, I know what you mean by sending Qing'er's family to the county, but I tell you, no matter where you hide Qing'er, I can find her, as for the lawsuit you said, I admit it, how to sentence me There is no complaint, but if you want to take advantage of this time to play tricks on me, don't blame me for the hundreds of brothers outside the town to make your Chen family look good." With that, he pushed away the crowd and left, leaving only the frightened Aunt Mu chattering to herself in place.

"Okay, okay, let's all disperse!" The old mayor waved his hand to the crowd, only knowing what Liu Po said today, this duel is inevitable, their town is located in the middle of nowhere, and it is essential to trade with the neighboring towns and the horse gang, but the cost of one time is really overwhelming for them, if it is really as Liu Po said, he saves a sum of money for the town, I believe that the vast majority of people will stand on his side.

But if he were someone else, he wouldn't have to be so difficult, a horse gang could bring far more benefits to the town than a family that had not yet been married, but the Chen family's status in Xianghe Town could be said to be that even he, the mayor of the town, had to be carefully served.

Although the town is remote, there are outsiders entering on weekdays, the only inn in the town is not luxurious, it is more like a guest room than the general house, yesterday the town came to four outsiders, living in this inn, this morning was woken up by the sound of the bell, the owner of the inn is a full businessman, hurriedly came to pay a loss, and sent a few plates of early morning food, one of the thin teenagers pointed to the bustling crowd outside the window and said curiously: "Shopkeeper, what is the lively thing, so many people gathered early in the morning." ”

The inn is quite deserted on weekdays, he is the only one in the store and the second and the shopkeeper, and even the chef in charge of the spoon is his nephew, and it is rare to meet a talkative guest, so he will say a few more words.

"What a lively thing! Don't be afraid of objective jokes when you say it, the one who hit the bell is called Liu Po, who is an orphan picked up by Wang Laohan in the town, and grew up with Wang Laohan's daughter when he was a child, but it's not the childhood sweetheart you said, and then this Liu Po went out with a passing horse gang, I thought there was no news, Wang Laohan gave his daughter to another family, who knew that Liu Po actually came back to this stall, and when he knew about it, he made a fuss. ”

"Well, I just heard him say that the woman hid the woman's family. This boy is really curious, and pushed the chair to signal the shopkeeper to sit down and speak slowly.

Originally, it was nothing to be idle, but for a few years, this inn was almost idle, so he simply sat down and said in a low voice: "If you want to talk about this, I have to tell you whose mother-in-law the woman is, this Chen family was not originally from our town, it is said that the ancestors used to stay here, so they only moved here a few years ago, that is our famous scholarly family, full of scholars, but his mother-in-law is a little tougher, yes, far away." ”

That Wang Laohan married his daughter to the Chen family, which means that he took a fancy to the Chen family and had some money, but the girl still remembered Liu Po all these years and had been waiting for others, so the woman asked someone to move Wang Laohan's family to the county, and she would wait for this stubble. ”

"Speaking of which, people are two little people who have no guess and have been beaten by people. The black-faced kid next to the boy snatched the words.

The shopkeeper was not angry, knocked on the table and said: "You can't say that, the order of your parents, the words of the matchmaker, this is also reasonable, then Liu Po has been out for so many years and has no news, and he can't delay the girl, and besides, the dowry of the Chen family is also steadily placed on the door, even if this matter goes to the yamen, it is Liu Po who ignores it, but the key is that Chen Zhitong is stupid in reading, and he is set up for a duel as soon as he is provoked, and he is caught by others, and he is ignored now. ”

The young man nodded suddenly in realization, "I see! ”

"It's okay, I was idle and idle, but I admired Liu Po a lot, he really mixed up his personal appearance after going out for a few years, more than that Chen Zhitong, he couldn't even get a show after reading books for several years, if it weren't for his mother and some relationship with the above, I'm afraid that people would have been pointed at and scolded. The shopkeeper smiled, said some gossip and left.

There was only one master and one servant left in the house, Su Wen leaned on the windowsill, but he didn't take this matter to heart, there are no wonders in the world, not to mention that this kind of stick beating mandarin ducks has long been crowded in the book, and most of them end in tragedy, but Qigui is particularly concerned, and he has to chase and ask: "Young master, do you think it's right over there!"

"What is right or wrong about this, on the one hand, the two are happy, on the other hand, the order of the parents, the words of the matchmaker, if it is just a comment on the truth, the latter must have the momentum, but after all, people can't rely on something written on a piece of paper to set a life, just look at it like this, you can't tell right from wrong, and it is difficult for the Qing official to break the housework, why should I go to reconcile. Su Wen pursed his lips, grabbed a handful of peanuts and threw them into his mouth.

"I didn't think you would have such leisure and elegance. The door was pushed open, Mo Xiuyuan walked over, and unceremoniously took the peanuts on the table and ate them.

"Don't you have it in your room? Su Wen said with a big grin.

Although Mo Xiuyuan's face did not change, he still grabbed two handfuls of his hands, and said leisurely: "I saved your life, is this how you talk to your life-saving benefactor?"

Su Wen smiled slightly, revealing a row of white teeth, it is absolutely false to say that there is no gratitude, but if you want him to be cheeky and thank the other party, you can definitely do it, but he knows that the other party does not need this, and it is hypocritical to say too much, "If you need it, I can thank you eight hundred times a day, as long as you don't feel annoyed." ”

"Excuse me, it's annoying enough to have a Qicai nagging every day in my ear, you might as well spare me!" Mo Xiuyuan hurriedly shook his head, the two had known each other for only a few days, but they had a life-and-death friendship, and the tone of their words didn't seem to be so blunt, and they could even joke, although at first both of them felt a little strange, why did they always have an indescribable familiarity when they saw each other, but after a long time, they didn't bother to think about it, just that there was really a long-standing relationship between gods in the world.

"By the way, now that you're well, are you still going to school?"

Su Wen blew on the peanut skin on his hands, licked the residue between his teeth, and muttered, "I can't say, I'll go if I'm happy." ”

"In that case, you should return the favor to me and accompany me to the university. Mo Xiuyuan looked at the other party calmly and said seriously.

"It's that simple? That's a lifesaver. Su asked Hang'er Lang Lang to say, but in fact, his heart was already tense, and he wanted to see something from the other party's face without showing a trace.

"Then how do you know it's not saving my life. ”

The voice landed, and the room became extremely quiet, so quiet that only the heartbeat and breathing of the three people were heard, and after a long time, a discordant voice finally broke the silence.

"You put down the peanuts for me first. ”