My humble days in ancient times

On the morning of the first day of the Lunar New Year, Xu Ruyi and her friends were awakened by bursts of firecrackers while they were still asleep.

The four brothers and sisters, Li, and Xu Dafu hurriedly packed up and rushed out to the village ancestral hall.

As soon as the gate was opened, everyone was dumbfounded.

There were about twenty beggar-like people waiting to beg in front of the courtyard gate. When they saw the gate of Xu's house open, they immediately surrounded it like a tide.

Seeing this, Li couldn't help but ask loudly: "What's going on? Why are there so many people?"

Xu Ruyi glanced over and saw that the same people from last year were still there. He thought to himself, these people have become smarter this year, knowing that it's New Year's Day and coming to beg. As for the extra people, they were also quite good at following the trend.

Xu Ruyi turned to Guo Huai and said, "Twenty cents for each person, and two large steamed buns for each person."

Xu Qinghe looked at the beggars with tattered clothes and haggard faces and said, "Please line up later. Don't rush and don't be anxious."

Li leaned over and said to Xu Ruyi in a low voice, "Why do I seem to see two familiar faces? Look at those people at the back."

Xu Ruyi followed Li's signal and looked at the two people at the back. Oh, one of them was Wang Erdan, and the other was Aunt Tian.

Seeing Wang Erdan's unchanged expression, Xu Ruyi couldn't help but curl her lips, almost laughing out loud. She quickly said to Li, "Don't expose them. Just pretend you don't know. Let's just hope for good luck today."

Li nodded slightly.

After a while, Guo Huai quickly brought over silver and a basket of steamed buns.

Everyone lined up consciously.

Xu Ruyi distributed copper coins to them with a smile, and Xu Qinghe distributed steamed buns to them in an orderly manner.

When Wang Erdan came over, he lowered his head as if he wanted to hide in his clothes. He only timidly stretched out his two hands, but they were clean.

Xu Ruyi couldn't help but joked: "Oh, for someone who has been begging for years, his hands are well maintained."

"Yes, it's quite white!" Xu Qinghe looked at Wang Erdan's hand and joked.

Wang Erdan listened without blushing or getting nervous. After receiving the twenty cents and two large steamed buns, he immediately turned around and left happily.

When everyone arrived at the ancestral hall, Wang Erdan had already changed his clothes and was there.

Xu Ruyi thought to herself: It’s really fast, this movement is very quick.

After returning, Xu Ruyi said to Guo Huai, "Tomorrow it's still 20 wen for two big steamed buns. Starting from the third day, it's 15 wen for two big steamed buns, 40 wen for two big steamed buns, 50 wen for two big steamed buns, and from the sixth onwards it's 5 wen for two big steamed buns."

Guo Huai nodded solemnly and said, "I understand, Miss."

But what Xu Ruyi didn't expect was that this year they had to beg until the ninth day of the Lunar New Year.

Huang Guiyun, Widow Wang, Luo Daying, and Auntie Pang started begging in the county town on the second day of the Lunar New Year. Every day, after breakfast, while it was still dark, they would gather at Widow Wang's house and set out together.

When they arrived at the county town, they dispersed and went begging on their own.

When Widow Wang went out to beg, she met a little girl who followed her closely.

Widow Wang stopped and said, "Go back. Don't follow me. What if you run into another bad guy? What will you do?"

The little girl, who looked about seven or eight years old, cried, "I have no home. My sister-in-law chases me away every day. But I have nowhere to go."

Widow Wang saw the little girl's tearful eyes and suddenly became furious. She quickly walked over to the little girl and said, "You really are all kinds of people. Your sister-in-law treated you like this, and yet your brother and parents didn't defend you?"

The little girl looked up and said to Widow Wang in a trembling voice, "My parents passed away a long time ago, and my eldest brother is not at home during the day, so my sister-in-law often beats and scolds me."

Widow Wang hugged her in her arms and said, "Don't be afraid. You still have me."

Widow Wang remembered the little girl's words and gently rolled up her sleeves to take a look. She saw a series of shocking scars on her wrist.

"What a cruel heart you have." Widow Wang said angrily, frowning tightly.

Widow Wang felt very distressed when she saw the little girl like this. She asked the little girl softly, "What's your name? Are you hungry?"

The little girl said with her big eyes shining, "My name is Ye Xiaomei, I'm nine years old. I'm very hungry now. I..."

When Widow Wang heard her say this and saw that her shoes were worn out, she said, "How about I take you to eat something delicious?"

Ye Xiaomei nodded vigorously.

Widow Wang brought Ye Xiaomei to the wonton shop and ordered two bowls of steaming wontons.

Ye Xiaomei's eyes lit up and she ate voraciously, enjoying the food very much.

After eating, Widow Wang took her to buy new shoes.

Ye Xiaomei was wearing new shoes, feeling very happy. She said happily, "These shoes are really nice. I have new shoes now."

Widow Wang took Ye Xiaomei for a joyful stroll around the county town, buying her bright red candied haws and other sweet and delicious cakes. Ye Xiaomei felt happy, like a happy little bird, and she no longer walked in a timid manner as before, with her head held high and a happy smile on her face.

After playing for most of the day, Widow Wang took Ye Xiaomei back home.

When Ye Xiaomei returned to her home, her elder brother and sister-in-law were there. When they saw Widow Wang and Ye Xiaomei together, they were surprised and their eyes were full of doubts.

Ye Xiaomei's eldest brother frowned and said, "Xiaomei, come here. Don't run around every day and be with strangers."

Ye Xiaomei tried to walk over timidly, but was held tightly by Widow Wang.

Widow Wang stared and asked, "You two were the ones who caused the injuries on Ye Xiaomei, weren't you? You're so cruel!"

Ye Xiaomei's sister-in-law suddenly exploded like a lit firecracker, cursing: "Who are you? You're meddling in our family affairs. Who do you think you are? Come here, Xiaomei."

Ye Xiaomei was frightened by her sister-in-law's aura for a moment. She couldn't help but tremble. She didn't dare to go over, fearing that she would be beaten again afterwards.

Widow Wang said fearlessly, "Either treat her well, or I'll take her away today. Why do you abuse her every day?"

"If you want to take it away, just take it away. Who are you? If you want to take it away, give me twenty taels of silver. Not a penny less." The sister-in-law put her hands on her hips and looked arrogant.

"Okay. Come back with me now and I'll give it to you." Widow Wang responded without hesitation.

Ye Xiaomei's elder brother and sister-in-law were stunned. They never thought that someone would actually be willing to pay for raising Ye Xiaomei.

Ye Xiaomei's eldest brother hesitated for a moment and said, "Okay, I'll follow you now."

Widow Wang said to Ye Xiaomei, "Let's go inside and pack our things."

So a few people hired a spacious carriage, and with the clatter of horses' hooves, they soon returned to Xujia Village.

When Ye Xiaomei's elder brother saw the brand new house of Widow Wang, his eyes lit up and he thought it was pretty good.

Widow Wang went into the house and took out twenty taels of silver, and asked the enthusiastic neighbor next door to help call the head of the village over.

The village head came over quickly.

Widow Wang said to the village head, "Today I am adopting a daughter. Please be my witness."

The village head quickly wrote a child support agreement. The gist of it was that Widow Wang would adopt Ye Xiaomei as her daughter and give Ye Xiaomei's older brother and sister-in-law twenty taels of silver. Ye Xiaomei's older brother and sister-in-law would have visitation rights, among other things.

Both parties quickly and neatly pressed their fingerprints.

Ye Xiaomei was so happy that she immediately hugged Widow Wang and called out sweetly, "Mom."

Widow Wang was so happy that her eyes were beaming with joy: "Okay, my dear daughter."

Before leaving, Ye Xiaomei's eldest brother pulled her aside and said with a guilty look, "Xiaomei, it's all your fault. Just stay here and I'll come to see you often. I'll keep these twenty pieces for you first and give them to you when you get married."