Salt Xiao Fulang

Different from the humidity and heat in the south, the summer in Yongseong in the northwest of Gyeongju is extremely hot.

The sun was high and the ground was white. There was a child squatting on the ground and counting ants.

"What are you doing here! Go away!" The passing man kicked Xiaowa aside casually. Xiaowa blinked and continued to look in another direction without saying a word.

Listen carefully, and you can still hear what he is muttering.

"230...230 one..."

The little baby is called Chang Mi. She is four and a half years old this year. Her other hobbies are very ordinary. She only loves to count.

When he is bored, he can count all the flying in the sky - the clouds, and the running on the ground - the bugs, and he will not move his nest if he counts them forever.

The adults in the family didn't want to see him at all, and when they thought about giving him a meal, they couldn't remember looking forward to how far he would go. After discovering his hobby, he was very comfortable for a while.

What a trouble-free hobby, I'm really like a fool, squatting there motionless for a long time.

Ants don’t move every day. Sometimes after counting the bugs, there are no clouds. They will run out with the migrating animals, and then they will find more animals and count them happily.He counted more than 500 bugs alone.

It made him very proud.

When he ran out of the house for the first time, he found that it was not difficult to go out. Gradually, the house could no longer trap him.He would run out into the street, where there was something more countable—the flow of people.

How many people are there in Yongcheng?Chang Mi has already counted more than 2000.He has a small wish, he hopes that he can count the number of people in Yongcheng, and then go to a bigger place to see.

In the daily life of running around like this, he gradually discovered some rules - the south of Yongcheng has the most people, the east and west are next, and the north is the least.

The stalls selling steamed buns in the four regions have different prices for the same steamed buns.There is one in the south, and three in other places.But even though the south side is more expensive, it still has the most buyers and is the busiest.

He has tasted all these steamed buns, and he doesn't think there is any difference... Yes, he often gathers around, like a little beggar. The kind stall owners see him as pitiful and cute, and from time to time reward him with half a bun. The dropped steamed buns.

Chang Mi's family lived in the south, and he went to the stalls in the south to rub steamed buns the most.The proprietress saw that he looked so cute despite being dumb, and couldn't bear to chase him away.Once the stall was too busy early in the morning, and a customer asked for a lot of steamed buns at one time, and gave them the whole money. The proprietress was very reflective for a while, but the little guy suddenly made a noise next to her.

"Find him 28 Wen."

The proprietress was startled, and after a careful calculation, it turned out that the penny was not bad, and she immediately gave the little guy a high look.The proprietress moved a bench for him and asked him to stand on the bench and stare at the number of steamed buns and money, and he did the calculations correctly every time.

Not only that, the copper coins passed through his hands, and sometimes he didn't even need to count them one by one, just glanced at them to know how many papers he had in his hands.

The proprietress kept asking him to help collect money and settle accounts, and gave him steamed buns when she was done.Sometimes it is seen that he has nothing to eat except steamed buns, and he will share some of his own meals with Chang Mi.

One day, the proprietress couldn't bear it anymore and asked him which family he was from and why the adults never ignored him.Xiao Changmi pointed to the only two-story building behind with a blank expression.

"Eh? You are from the Chang family..."

Chang Mi nodded.

The Chang family is very famous in Yongcheng. The owner of the family was once a lucky businessman. Later, he couldn't do business anymore, so he settled his family in Yongcheng. He bought a big yard and built a big house. Eight concubines.

This is well known locally.

But no one can tell how many children Patriarch Chang has. After all, there are so many concubines...you can have a whole house casually.

But that doesn't mean he can't afford to support his son...?Although Chang Mi is a twin, but he has beautiful features at a young age, and he must be a beauty when he grows up. Does such a son not even give him food?

The proprietress was very sympathetic, and couldn't help stuffing a big meat bun into his arms.

Chang Mi smiled sweetly at the proprietress, cleaned up the stall for her, and then ran away slowly.

He is a child who doesn't laugh easily, but when he laughs, it really makes people feel spring blossoms.The proprietress was so dizzy from his laughter, those eyes kept dangling in her mind...

No, why do you think the color of the eyeballs is a little light?

The next time Chang Mi came over, she specially moved closer to Xiaowa and observed it carefully.

"Hey, it's really green!"

Chang Mi hadn't looked in the mirror much, and the color of his eyes couldn't be reflected on the water, so he asked blankly, "Really?"

"Yes, although it's not obvious, it's really a bit green..." The proprietress hesitated and said, "Your mother...is a barbarian?"

Yongcheng is close to the frontier, and outside the pass is another world.When there is no war, the two sides do not prohibit trade. Once there is a fight, the blood feud can be easily forged.

Therefore, even in Yongcheng, intermarriage with foreigners is not common, and people often look down upon them.

The proprietress didn't know if there was a barbarian woman among the eighteen concubines of the head of Chang's house, and it was possible that eighteen was a general term, but Chang Mi's little child should indeed be mixed with the blood of foreigners.

That's right, he looks so Yuxue and cute, even if he walks outside every day, his face is still white, so tender that she can't help but pinch him -- and it's no wonder Patriarch Chang doesn't care about him, after all, he is a man of foreign blood. bastard.

Thinking of this, the proprietress felt even more compassionate, and desperately stuffed him with delicious food.

Little Chang Mi spent half a year with the proprietress like this, if he hadn't gone back to sleep, the Chang Mansion probably wouldn't remember that there was such a little person.

He still looks at the clouds and ants all day long, and when the servants in the mansion see him occasionally, they all think he is a stupid child.

On this day, the proprietress did not wait for Xiao Changmi.He didn't come every day, the proprietress didn't care, but she didn't know that the little boy was beaten today.

The person who beat him was his brother—he had so many brothers that he couldn't tell them apart, but he had met him before, and it was indeed his brother.

This elder brother didn't know which nerve was wrong today. Seeing him squatting in the grass watching bugs, he suddenly became interested and pinched his little face to take a closer look.

"You are the thirteenth brother, right?... Hey, you are so pretty, prettier than your mother, look at the curled eyelashes..."

Chang Mi didn't know what he was going to do, so she blinked subconsciously.

But the elder brother seemed to have been pressed some switch suddenly, his face changed, and he said angrily: "You bastard, you have learned to seduce people at such a young age!?"

After all, he kicked Chang Mi in the stomach.

Chang Mi was neglected since she was a child, but she had never been beaten like this before. She suffered pain and couldn't help but fell to the ground with her stomach in her arms, and got up.

That elder brother especially thought it wasn't enough, and wanted to mend a few more feet, but was stopped by the maid who heard the sound.

"Third young master, you can be careful! If you step on it again, this little bastard is going to dirty your feet!"

Chang Mi thought to himself, pull it down, I am much cleaner than him, didn't you see that the soles of his shoes are full of mud...

Coincidences are always one after another. During the dispute, Chang Mi's father, whom Chang Mi has only seen twice in his short life, unexpectedly appeared.

As an aside, the first time was three days after his birth, and the second time was Patriarch Chang's [-]th birthday.

It was purely a coincidence that the head of the Chang family appeared in the small garden, but he couldn't let it go when he saw the conflict - the third son actually kicked the little bastard born by that bitch, it must be the little bastard's fault, he was locked up and starved for a few days and made him Long memory!

Little Chang Mi was imprisoned in the abandoned garden of the Chang Mansion, which was the innermost part of the entire Chang Mansion, with only weeds and dilapidated roofs, not even a single piece of firewood.

Little Chang Mi was hungry, and her stomach hurt a little from being kicked, so she sighed and started counting the weeds in the yard.

It's just that the weeds grow taller than others, and it's really not easy to count. He counted and counted to the edge of the fence.

Looking up, the persimmon tree in the yard next door had grown to his side, and it was covered with young persimmons.

Chang Mi knew the persimmon tree thanks to the wild children on the side of the road. He had seen them beat the persimmon branches protruding from the wall in other people's yards with bamboo poles - the euphemistic name is that the ones that grow to the side of the road belong to everyone.

Those wild children beat down the persimmons and they ate deliciously. Chang Mi didn't dare to touch them, thinking that they must be very sweet.

Thanks to those people, even though Chang Mi had never eaten persimmons, he was still drooling at the green fruit of this tree.

He has visited the entire Yongcheng, and has a good sense of direction, knowing that the back of his house is also a yard.It's just that this yard occupies a very small area, maybe not even one-twentieth of his house, and most importantly - there is no one.

Although the courtyard has a good location, its size is too embarrassing.Those who can afford to buy or rent look down on a house that is too small, while those who can afford it cannot afford it.

That is, the tree is unowned.Chang Mi sighed, he suspected that he would starve to death if the fruit was not ripe enough to eat...

At this moment, he suddenly heard some noises coming from the courtyard that was supposed to be empty.

***

Half a year ago, Xiaochun never thought that one day he would be able to come to such a far place.

A group of people took off their heavy outer shirts early and put on light single clothes.Finally arrived in Gyeongju, and after handing over the goods that the third brother gave, it was time to bid farewell to the bodyguard and coachman.

After getting along day and night for so long, the stranger also showed some genuine affection.After the song ended and the crowd dispersed, the few of them were depressed for a few days, and then embarked on the road to the further north.

Yongcheng is at the northernmost tip of Gyeongju, only a few counties away from the customs, and it is also the city with the most developed north-south trade.

There have been no wars in recent years, but in the early years, there were also fierce fights with foreigners. The word "Yongcheng" in the eyes of some people means that it is not peaceful.

Song Xu decided to stay in Yongcheng for a while, so Yuan Shan hurried to the destination yesterday and rented a small courtyard.At this moment, Song Xu drove the carriage slowly into the city.

The courtyard rented by Yuanshan is slightly out of the way, but the surrounding environment is very good.

There are three rooms in the yard, enough for several people to sleep.The main hall is not big, but the tables, chairs and stove are quite complete.The most important thing is that there is a well in the courtyard, and there is a persimmon tree beside the well.This tree is obviously some years old, and it is full of green fruits.

Jiang Tiantian was very greedy for persimmons, so he couldn't stop watching until Yuanshan called her.

"Tiantian—come here and wash your face!"

"Hey!" Jiang Tiantian blushed a little, and ran to the well.He took the towel twisted by Yuan Shan and stuck it on his face.

The cloth towel soaked in cold well water relieved the summer heat and the fatigue of the journey very well. Song Xu had just washed his face and was moving his luggage to the yard one after another.Yuan Shan and Xiao Chun also followed, and Jiang Tian Tian went into the house to make the bed.

"Brother Song—!"

Song Xu heard the shout outside and responded.

"This bed is eaten by moths—!"

When Xiaochun heard about it, Song Xu first stepped into the bedroom, only to see that the inconspicuous place on the edge of the bed really had traces of moths.

He reached out to press it, and heard an ominous creaking sound.

Song Xu and Yuan Shan also came in wiping sweat, Yuan Shan frowned, and said guiltily: "It's my fault, I didn't check clearly when I rented it out. I'm going to deal with that tooth..."

"Don't don't, let's make do with it today." Song Xu patted him on the shoulder: "It won't collapse for a while, you are too tired today, you can ask in two days."

Yuan Shan could only nod his head.

Who knows that procrastination is bad.Because the sun was too high outside, it was not easy to do any work, so they decided to take a nap first.

The tragedy happened, because Xiaochun was so cute (of course, in Song Xu's eyes, Xiaochun was cute every day), he moved things today and his fingers were a little swollen, he stretched out his fingertips while lying on the bed, squeezed, and blew again. one time.

This action aroused Song Xu's animalistic fury, and he pushed Xiaochun down on the bed, and was about to kiss him, when suddenly the bed board shook, and there was a bang——

Jiang Tiantian and Yuanshan sat up in shock as they were dying of illness, they rushed to Song Xu's room in disheveled clothes, opened the door, and a puff of smoke and dust came blowing in their faces!

"Cough, cough, cough..." Song Xu got up from the ground in embarrassment: "Damn... collapsed..."

Xiaochun was directly crushed, and Song Xu was so heavy that he almost rolled his eyes.

Jiang Tiantian was in a complicated mood: "Can't you wait for so long? I just said that the bed board was mothed. Brother Song, won't you be careful?"

Song Xu regretted, "You're right."

The matter of getting out of this bed should be resolved as soon as possible, after all, there are only three rooms in this yard.There are men, women, and twins in their line of work, and the distribution is not very good.

A few people had to go back to the room to change clothes, and Song Xu was going to go out with Yuan Shan to make a bed.They were walking outside, and when they were passing the big persimmon tree, they suddenly heard a thin cry.

"anyone there--!"

Song Xu was confused and looked towards the persimmon tree.The voice is still persistent: "Is there anyone..."

"Yes!" Song Xu walked to the wall and replied.

"Then, do you have steamed buns?"

"No."

"……Oh."

Then he waited for a long time, but didn't hear the following text, Song Xu and Yuan Shan looked at each other, feeling panicked.

I don't have steamed buns, but I have rice... Are there people or ghosts on the other side of the wall?