The wind outside the house was getting heavier and heavier, and the open windows in the hall were thumping. The waiter was busy closing the windows. Before the windows on all sides were closed, a thunder roared down from the sky. With a "sharp" sound, the dazzling white light made a big hole in the night, which was shocking.

The waiter was still busy closing the window, but the sky suddenly fell heavily, which was so fast that it caught people off guard. Seeing that the heavy rain had already floated into the door, the shopkeeper didn't care about going to settle the accounts anymore, so he called the waiter over, and the two quickly inlaid the wooden boards one by one in the grooves inside the threshold.

There was a storm outside, and there was also a piece of it inside. Mao Xiucai ate a bowl of noodles in a few mouthfuls, and finally he drank no drop of soup. Then he wiped his mouth with his sleeves with satisfaction, with his tone of emotion and helplessness.

"Oh... I haven't had a full meal for a long time." He said as if he wanted to express all his sadness. His eyes couldn't help but burst into tears and choked, "What kind of evil is this? God doesn't have eyes. We are already suffering, but we are still tormenting people."

Yao Zhengyu held Mao Xiucai's hand comfortably, but he was puzzled: "What happened? When our inner son and the child left, we could still live in the countryside. Why is the scholar looking like this now?"

Mao Xiucai spoke in a long tone and was about to speak, Yao Zhengyu suddenly remembered it, waved his hand to pause, and then went to tell the waiter to open another room. He expected that Mao Xiucai would have difficulty eating, let alone accommodation.

The waiter and the shopkeeper had just closed the doors and windows. At this time, there was no one else in the hall except Yao Zheng and Mao Xiucai. The shopkeeper looked at the booklet and smiled and said, "The scholar is lucky and has the last room."

After opening the guest room, Yao Zheng and Mao Xiucai went up the second floor. They entered Mao Xiucai's room, lit the lights, and then sat down and slowly talked about the cause and effect of the matter.

"Brother Yao, thanks to you this time, otherwise my old bone would be frozen to death and starved to death on the street. I will definitely pay you back the money for food and accommodation in the future."

Yao Zhengyu looked stern: "What do you say this? Don't say these things between you and me."

Mao Xiucai was moved again, and tears were filled with tears. He was already old and thought that he would be a private school teacher in the countryside and could support him even if he was not rich. But he didn't expect that he would suffer a tragic situation of almost freezing and starving to death after he was over fifty years old.

"After you left, the village has not been peaceful for long. This year it was a cold disaster. In addition, who has surplus food for the guy Dai Binglun?

The lake had thick ice and there were no fish, so everyone went up the mountain one after another.

If you are lucky enough to catch a pheasant, but that is very rare. You are digging the roots of the tree to eat it."

Speaking of this, Mao Xiucai covered his eyes with his hands: "A monster, I have lived for most of my life, but my life has become more and more popular. My family still has some savings, but I can't help everyone. I can only cook a pot of clear soup porridge every day, and it's only half a month."

When Yao Zheng left with his family, the situation in the village was very bad. He knew that Chu Meng sent thirty taels of silver a year ago. He also took ten taels for relief at that time. However, before he could cook a big pot of porridge with Mao Xiucai, he received news that something happened to Yao Si, so he left the silver to Mao Xiucai and took his family to Beijing with Wei Zha.

"What happened later?" Yao Zhengyu asked.

"After you just left for a few days, something happened in the village. A large group of refugees suddenly broke into our village. At first, they just asked us what we wanted to eat, but where did we have food, let alone those twenty or thirty people..."

When Yao Zhengyu heard this, he vaguely guessed it, but he still couldn't believe it: "How about you can't take out the food?"

Mao Xiucai clenched his fist and smashed it hard on the table, "We have killed these days. But they don't believe it. It's a group of tigers. They took our hoes and sticks, smashed things when they see people, and took food when they see food. They were simply a group of bandits."

Yao Zhengyu was disbelief and said angrily: "Where is the county magistrate? They will fight, won't you fight back?"

"How can we fight against those fierce people? They are crazy. We can't fight. Besides, before everyone can react, they rushed into the house and smashed things and robbed things.

All my money was stolen, and many people in the village were beaten and injured. After those people ransacked, they ran away. County Master? Hahaha..." Mao Xiucai smiled bitterly. It would be great if the county master did not exploit them.

Yao Zhengyu's face turned red with anger, "Is there any other kingly law?" But as soon as he finished speaking, he suddenly felt that he had said stupid things. Nowadays, what kind of kingly law is there, the world has long lost the kingly law.

The two of them looked at each other and smiled bitterly.

Mao Xiucai suddenly remembered and said helplessly: "Your family... was not spared. When those people saw that there was no one at home, they rushed in and flipped around. We couldn't stop..."

Yao Zhengyu also guessed that when he heard this, he was still sad except for a fire. He had lived in the house for more than ten years, and he didn't know what it was now.

"All of them were forced, otherwise who would have wanted to do so, those people would have fled from Yuzhou."

Mao Xiucai nodded: "I heard that accent, it should be that the snow disaster in Yuzhou is severe. Many people fled south, but they didn't expect to run to our village. Everyone has no home now, and many people have escaped. I left late, and there are no classes in the private school now. Fortunately, I still have half a tael of silver in the soles of my shoes. Thinking of you in Beijing, I think..."

When Yao Zhengyu left, he just told Mao Xiucai that he was going to Beijing to see Yao Si. Mao Xiucai didn't know about Yao Si's injury, and he didn't know that Yao Zheng and his family would come back so soon. Anyway, he couldn't stay in the village, so he thought about coming to Beijing to find a job as a private school teacher, and he could still be a companion with the Yao family.

Then he remembered something: "Brother Yao is here now, are you planning to go back?"

Yao Zhengyu smiled bitterly: "How could I know that something happened in the village? Yao Si is about to enter school. We stayed in Beijing, and food... it was inconvenient to live, so we went back. We walked on the road for five days, but we didn't expect to meet the scholar here."

Mao Xiucai waved his hands repeatedly: "Listen to me, don't reply, it's just a dirt house. I've visited your house, nothing left behind, the tables and chairs were smashed.

Besides, there are almost no one in the village, only a few old people can’t walk, haha, you have no way to live when you go back.”

Yao Zhenghe hesitated on his face. He had never thought of leaving the village, nor did he think about staying in Beijing. But if what Mao Xiucai said, is it correct to go back by himself?

Mao Xiucai shivered, but it was too cold. Yao Zhengyu woke up and hurriedly said, "Brother Xiucai, wait a moment, I'll bring you a jacket, and ask the waiter to carry some hot water. You can rest for a night tonight, and let everything be said tomorrow."
Chapter completed!