Chapter 5 Bravery

This is not the first time for Zhang Xiaohua to visit the market in Lu Town, after all, it is the busiest time of the year, and it is also the busiest place in a radius of dozens of miles. He has been here every year since he can remember. But when I came here before, my memory was full of sugar figures, pasta and other food, without other content, so I never thought of crowding, or it used to be a kind of game to shuttle through the crowds, which made it fun for him when he was young . This time, when he was standing at the north entrance of the street, looking at the crowds, and the shops and stalls selling all kinds of goods, gadgets, food, Zhang Xiaohua could only wish to have a few more eyes. Feel.

Zhang Cai's family followed the flow of people from the north entrance of the street to the depths of the street slowly. Every time they passed by a shop, they squeezed in to have a look, whether it was selling silk or antiques, or even a pharmacy, they stopped for a while. The three brothers Zhang Xiaohua not only looked at the items for sale, but also the crowd around them. How often do you see so many people in the small mountain village? Especially the beautifully dressed girls, who are even more attractive to young people. . It's a pity that the three of them look ordinary and wear simple clothes. They look like people living in mountain villages. The girls' eyes just slip past them. They are far from staring at people like them. Occasionally, some girls feel their burning eyes and are naturally shy. Some of them walked away quickly, and some of them turned to look at them, which made the three of them blush unnaturally. What Zhang Xiaohua saw was more fresh than when they were young, what Zhang Xiaolong and Zhang Xiaohu saw was more about the future, maybe they wanted to meet a girl they liked and find their own happiness, but most of the girls didn’t pay much attention From the look in their eyes, it was impossible to know what the two little brothers were thinking.

There is a large facade in the middle of the street with a sign "Qianjia Cloth Art". Zhang Cai saw it, his eyes lit up, he greeted the three Zhang Xiaolong brothers, and walked in first. There was a waiter standing at the door of the shop. When he saw Zhang Cai coming in, he hurried up to greet him and said, "Guest officer, please come in. What do you want to see?" clothes.

After Zhang Cai walked into the fabric shop, he didn't go directly to the counter, but stood by the door, looking awkwardly at the many male and female customers and the running clerks in the store, not knowing what to do when he heard the clerk's greeting Only then did he come back to his senses, and said awkwardly: "Here, tear some clothes for the children, and buy a piece of cloth for the mother of the children." While talking, the three brothers Zhang Xiaolong also came in, after all, it is rare to enter like this It's a big store, just looking at it just now, but now I have to buy something by myself, but I don't know how to speak, and I'm a little timid. On the contrary, the guy didn't care about the strangeness, he still showed his smiling face, and said to them: "Then please come over here to see if there are suitable fabrics."

Saying that, take them to a corner of the counter and show them the fabrics on top. This corner of the counter was obviously less crowded. There were two groups of people who came first. One group was two young girls who were picking colors with their heads down. There are guys giving packages. Except for this corner, the rest of the counter is filled with colorful silks and satins and other high-quality fabrics, and there are many brightly-dressed people around who are commenting and picking. It seems that the shop assistants are also well-trained and know the needs of customers. Looking at the clothes of Zhang Cai's family, they know that what they need is durable, not gaudy appearance.

Although the buddies were very considerate and brought Zhang Cai and the others to the right place, Zhang Cai still had a look of embarrassment on his face, because in the past, when he came to this kind of cloth buying place, it was always up to his mother to decide what to buy and what to buy. Zhang Cai didn't need to worry about the color. This time, because of his grandmother who was with the children at home, Zhang Cai was asked to buy cloth. Zhang Cai didn't think too much about it. When he got to the store, he didn't know what to buy. Seeing the clerk's ugly face, Zhang Xiaolong was quick to come up with an idea, and hurried forward, and said to the clerk, "Let's have a look first, and you can greet the other guests first."

After the guy walks away,

Zhang Cai couldn't help but regret and said: "Look at my brain, I didn't ask your mother what kind of cloth she bought when I left. Now it's over, we old men are going back empty-handed. "

Coincidentally, one of the two girls who were choosing fabrics just now was a little taller, just walked up behind Zhang Xiaolong, picked up a piece of navy blue fabric on the counter, and walked back to the side of her companion after hearing what Zhang Cai said. , looked at Zhang Xiaolong again, seemed to discuss it, and then came over and said to Zhang Cai:

"Uncle, I want to discuss something with you."

Zhang Cai wondered, "What's the matter? Girl"

The tall girl said: "Uncle, I was just trying to pick out a dress for my brother, but he didn't come over. I think he is about the same size as this big brother. I wonder if I can ask him to try it out? I hear you, no There is no one to refer to the fabric, in return, how about my sister and I give you a reference as well?"

Zhang Cai was overjoyed and said, "Very good, very good."

So Zhang Xiaolong acted as a clothes rack and helped the two girls try on several clothes before he bought something he was satisfied with. And Zhang Cai's wish was even better satisfied. The fabrics and colors that the two girls helped them choose made Zhang Cai's family very satisfied. Even the store clerk thought the girl had a good eye. The only thing that made Zhang Xiaolong dissatisfied was that by the time the buddy wrapped the fabric for them and came out, the two girls had gone far away, and their names had not been found out yet.

Zhang Xiaolong held the fabric depressedly, followed Zhang Cai, and was about to look at the agricultural tools in the roadside shop when he suddenly heard the sound of gongs and drums. Zhang Xiaohua said excitedly when he heard it:

"Father, come on, the big show is about to start, let's go to the show first."

At the same time that Zhang Xiaohua called Zhang Cai, the crowd at the fair also heard the sound of the gong, and everyone rushed to the other side, and Zhang Cai hurriedly greeted Xiaolong and Xiaohu, and walked quickly with the flow of people.

There is a custom in Lu Town during the New Year. A large stage will be set up in a corner of the market, and a troupe will perform on it every day until the market is over. For farmers who have no entertainment, this is also a highlight of the New Year. No wonder Xiao Hua was so happy.

When Zhang Cai's family rushed to the stage, the big show on the stage had already started, and there were already three layers of people surrounded inside and outside. Fortunately, the stage was high enough that the people in front did not block their sight. Although there were a lot of people watching the play, they all listened carefully, holding their breath, not like the hustle and bustle in the shop just now.

What was staged on the stage was a popular folk story, everyone watched with relish, and Zhang Xiaolong gradually forgot the regret just now.

Just when everyone was watching lively, there was a loud noise suddenly on the other side of the stage, and it got louder, but it was hard to hear clearly because there were so many people separated. However, Zhang Xiaohua could tell that there was a girl speaking with a very familiar voice, could it be someone she knew in her own village? It happened that there was a tree not far away, Zhang Xiaohua climbed up it quickly, took a look, oh, I really know him, he said loudly to Zhang Xiaolong: "Brother, she is the sister who picked clothes for us just now! She is in trouble .”

When Zhang Xiaolong heard this, he didn't bother to tell Zhang Cai, he quickly pushed away the people next to him, squeezed the crowd away, and walked to the other side of the stage, Zhang Cai also quickly pulled Zhang Xiaohu, and came down from the tree shouting Zhang Xiaohua, follow behind

When Zhang Xiaolong squeezed through the crowd and came to the other side of the stage, everything in front of him couldn't help but make his blood surge.

The stage was built against a high wall. At this time, under the high wall were two lonely little girls, hugging each other, their faces flushed, and beside them were two small parcels. Some clothes corners scattered from inside, presumably the clothes I bought at the cloth store just now. Standing in front of them were two short, fat men holding folding fans, dressed in bright clothes, while muttering in their mouths, they moved their hands and feet at the two girls, forcing the two girls to dodge under the high wall flash away. Around the two fat men stood seven or eight tall servants in coarse clothes, separating the crowd of theatergoers. Some of these vicious-looking servants looked at their son's ugly behavior with a smile on their faces, and some of them turned their heads to stare at the crowd watching the theater here, giving menacing looks from time to time to prevent anyone from breaking in. Although there were quite a few people who wanted to fight against injustice and help the two bullied village girls, they were all frightened by the presence of these evil servants, and could only look at that side with unwilling eyes.

After Zhang Xiaolong rushed over, he saw the situation and was thinking about how to deal with it, but he saw that tall village girl looking at him with pitiful eyes. Although he didn't see him, he couldn't help but be desperate dash forward. At this time, Zhang Xiaolong was held back by the people behind him. When he looked back, it was his family members who followed, and Zhang grabbed his arm. Zhang Xiaolong became anxious and said, "Father...".

Zhang Cai said in a low voice: "Xiaolong, don't be impulsive, the few of us can't beat them."

Zhang Xiaolong said: "But if we don't help, those two girls will be bullied."

Zhang Xiaohua also said: "Yes, Dad, that sister helped us just now."

Zhang Cai said: "Of course you can help, but you can't help, and you will get yourself into it. Look at that man in black with a big knife over there."

The three brothers of the Zhang family followed their father's gaze, and sure enough, there was a big man in a black suit standing beside Jia Ding, holding a big knife in his left hand, crossing his hands in front of his chest, leaning against a tree, Squinting his eyes, as if falling asleep, it seems that it should be the bodyguards of the two hooligans.

It seems that many people dare not go forward, and a large part of the reason is the knife in the bodyguard's hand.

How can this be done, Zhang Xiaolong is also a little anxious.

Just when Zhang Xiaolong was hesitating, the situation on the other side of the high wall became even worse. The two pudgy young masters had dragged the two village girls away, and they were dragging them to the alley at the corner of the high wall. Zhang Xiaolong couldn't bear it anymore, he shook off Zhang Cai's hand vigorously, and ran over quickly, and the group of evil servants also thought that the crowd next to them had been frightened by them. Moving closer to the alley, I didn't expect someone to rush over at this time. Zhang Xiaolong rushed to the side of the two village girls, first stretched out his hand to grab the arms of the two girls, and pulled them towards him. How could the strength of the two short and fat boys compare to him who worked in the fields all day, and they were pulled by him all at once. When they came over, Zhang Xiaolong said loudly while they were in a daze:

"What are you going to do?"

The two pudgy boys saw their prey being snatched away, and their faces were very angry. They looked at each other, and one of them in orange said, "We don't do anything. Who are you? What are you going to do?" ?”

Zhang Xiaolong froze for a moment, and then said: "I am their cousin, why are you dragging them? Be careful, we will sue the officials."

Another man in black said, "Say officer, okay, then let's go together. In Lu Town, your master and I are officials. Your cousin stepped on my shoe just now, and I want her to pay for my shoe." , I want to see if the official is looking at you or me."

At this time, Zhang Cai and the others also rushed over, and Zhang Cai hurriedly bowed to the two of them, and said with a smile: "You two masters put out the fire, I two girls are not sensible, you see, we stepped on your shoes, we Sorry, today is a good day to go to the market, you have a large number of adults, raise your hand, this year there will be good rewards."

The man in the orange clothes said with a sly smile: "Well, it's interesting to see you as an old man, sir, I'll do it, and I'll pay for my shoes.

Zhang Cai was startled, and said cautiously: "Then how much copper coins should I accompany you?"

The man in orange extended a slap. Zhang Cai breathed a sigh of relief and said, "So it's five qian, so I'll give it to you."

Zhang Cai took out five copper coins from his pocket and handed them over. The man in orange didn't even look at the five copper coins stretched out in front of his eyes. The straw sandals you wear, your uncle and mine are worth five copper coins, you heard me clearly, five taels of silver!"

Zhang Cai lost his mind, and immediately apologized and said with a smile: "Master, you are joking, my family's annual ration is only three taels of silver. Are your shoes worth so much?"

The man in black said, "You little old man, are you doubting our integrity?"

At this time, the village girl behind Zhang Xiaolong had recovered, and poked her head out from behind Zhang Xiaolong and said, "Uncle, they wronged us, and we didn't step on them at all. Surrounded by them here."

Zhang Xiaolong also said angrily: "Father, they are obviously blackmailing us, we should hurry up and take this girl to the government to sue them."

The man in black laughed loudly, and said loudly, "You bastards, who have never seen the world, don't even know you, Mr. Zhao, so why are you talking about suing the officials? Little ones, come and tell them what an official is." .”

This Mr. Zhao waved his hand, and the servants who had been standing by to watch the fun immediately surrounded him eagerly. Zhang Cai saw that something was wrong, and said to Zhang Xiaohua: "You and these two girls find a chance to run away. Get out, let us protect you." After speaking, he took Zhang Xiaolong and Zhang Xiaohu to fight with the servants who came around, and Zhang Xiaohua also took the two girls and ran into the crowd watching the theater.

Zhang Cai, Zhang Xiaolong, and Zhang Xiaohu, although they are strong laborers in the countryside and have some strength, they are slightly better than those servants one-on-one. , the fists and feet of those servants came down like raindrops, seeing the faces of the three masters, their faces were injured, Zhang Xiaohua and the two village girls were clever at the beginning, they avoided a few servants, and then He wanted to rush into the crowd, but unexpectedly, he was blocked by the well-dressed bodyguard. He couldn't escape the figure of the bodyguard after several twists and turns. After chasing them, he stood aside and watched Zhang Xiaohua and the two village girls being pushed back to the side of Zhang Cai and the others. Seeing her father and elder brother being beaten on the ground, Zhang Xiaohua rushed up anxiously, trying to save them, but was kicked on her chest, and fell to the ground on her back, covered in mud, was about to struggle and sat up, Two more servants came over, pressed their hands against the wall, and slapped him several times, blood flowed out from the corners of their mouths, these two servants saw that Zhang Xiaohua was still young, so they stopped doing anything, just held him down body, not letting him move.

No matter how Zhang Xiaohua struggled, she couldn't break free from the palms of the two strong men. Seeing her father and brothers shrinking and being beaten under the fists and feet of the evil servants, her heart ached so badly that she shed tears instantly.