Ma knocked on the door of Zhang Hulan's house, and Wang asked from inside, "Who is it?"
"It's me, Big Foot."
Wang opened the gate and saw Ma and a stranger standing outside. She asked, "Big Foot, what's up?"
Ma smiled and said, "Aunt, there is a peddler in the village. The things he sells are cheaper than other places, so bring him here to see if you have anything you need to sell."
The peddler quickly said, "Hello, auntie. I sell salt, soy sauce, and sugar. The prices are much cheaper than what you can buy in the city. What would you like to buy?"
Wang asked, "How much cheaper can it be?"
The peddler replied, "Salt is three cents cheaper per pound, and soy sauce is five cents cheaper per pound. Sugar is one cent a piece outside, but I sell it for two cents and three pieces here."
"What kind of candy is this?"
"maltose."
The peddler took out a piece of maltose from the basket and handed it to Wang. "Aunt, you can try it. It's very sweet."
Zhang Xiaobing and Zhang Xinyao all ran out, and Wang asked Zhang Xinyao and the others, "Do you want some candy?"
What child doesn’t like to eat candy? The three sisters and Zhang Xiaobing all nodded.
Wang said, "Give me five cents' worth of sugar, and a pound of salt."
Ma said, "Aunt, his salt is several cents cheaper. Why don't you buy more? Hulan uses a lot of salt every day anyway. Any savings is better."
Wang thought for a moment and said, "Then let's have two kilograms."
"Okay." The peddler immediately counted out fifteen pieces of maltose for Wang and then weighed the salt.
Wang paid the money and the peddler followed Ma to her home.
Ma said, "Is it time to weigh the salt for me now?"
The peddler smiled and nodded, "I'll weigh it for you right away."
When the peddler was weighing salt for Ma, he casually asked, "How is the braised meat business?"
Ma said, "Business seems to be good. We buy several pieces of pork every day."
"Then their family is quite capable." The peddler then asked Ma indirectly about the situation of Zhang Hulan's family and found out exactly how many people there were in the family.
The peddler weighed Ma's salt, collected the money, and left the village with his load on his shoulder.
After Zhang Hulan returned home at noon, Zhang Xinyue stuffed a piece of candy into her mouth.
Zhang Hulan asked in surprise: "Where did you get the candy?"
Zhang Xinyue smiled and said, "My grandma bought it."
Wang said, "A peddler came to the village this morning. The goods were cheaper than in the city, so I bought a pound of salt and a few pieces of candy for the children."
Zhang Hulan didn't care, as there were indeed peddlers coming to the village occasionally to sell things.
at night.
Everyone in the village has fallen asleep and the village is quiet.
Zhang Hulan also lay on the bed.
Zhang Xinyue ran to Zhang Hulan's room again, holding the little pillow, "Mom, I want to sleep with you."
Before Zhang Hulan could say anything, Zhang Xinyue had already climbed onto the bed.
Now each of the three sisters has her own room, but Zhang Xinyue still likes to sleep with Zhang Hulan.
Zhang Hulan wanted to foster her children's independence and let them sleep alone, but Zhang Xinyue often came to her in the middle of the night.
Sometimes he would simply not go back to his room and would just stay with Zhang Hulan.
Zhang Hulan really liked the feeling of being depended on by her child. She hugged Zhang Xinyue in her arms and patted her back gently. The mother and daughter slowly fell asleep.
At midnight, a figure sneaked into the village.
The figure stopped at the door of Zhang Hulan's house and stood quietly for a moment, as if listening to the movements in the house.
After making sure that there was no one around, he gently pushed the gate, but it was closed.
The man pulled out a dagger from his bosom and began to carefully pry the bolt of the gate.
With a slight "click", the bolt was pried open, and a figure gently pushed the door open and tiptoed into the yard.
The yard was pitch black, with only the faint moonlight shining through, allowing one to barely make out the surrounding outlines.
The figure quietly approached the house, put his ear to the door, and double-checked whether the person inside was still asleep.
The man was very cautious and didn't make any noise.
But in the darkness, there was a pair of eyes watching the figure's every move.
Just as the man was about to use the dagger to push the bolt of the door again, a black shadow suddenly flew down from under the eaves and grabbed the man's face with a claw.
"ah……"
A scream broke the silence.
Zhang Hulan suddenly opened her eyes and sat up from the bed.
Zhang Xinyao, Zhang Xinyue and Shanzi were all awakened, only Zhang Xinyue was still sleeping soundly.
Zhang Hulan didn't dare to turn on the light. She got out of bed in the dark and walked to the door with a chair in her hand.
Outside the house, a figure covered his face with one hand and waved a dagger in front of him with the other hand.
He didn't see anyone just now, he just saw a dark shadow flying past him.
"ah……"
Suddenly there was another scream, and the darkness flew over the man's head, and the man's head was grabbed again.
"mother……"
Zhang Xinyao and Zhang Xinyi ran to Zhang Hulan's room, and Shanzi also came over. All the children were a little scared.
Zhang Hulan pushed the children to the bedside and asked them to stay there and not move, then she carried a chair and walked into the main room.
She lay on the door of the main room and looked out through the crack.
She vaguely saw a figure running out in panic, with one hand waving wildly.
Zhang Hulan also vaguely saw a bird flying above the man's head.
Zhang Hulan opened the door and rushed out.
The man didn't even bother to look back, he just kept running out.
Zhang Hulan threw the chair towards the man's legs.
The chair hit the man's legs and he staggered and fell to the ground.
Zhang Hulan picked up a piece of firewood from under the eaves and walked forward quickly. Before the man could get up from the ground, she grabbed his legs and smashed them down hard.
Another scream.
Zhang Hulan did not stop, and tried to kill him while he was sick. It was impossible to kill him, but she must make sure that the man could not stand up.
Zhang Hulan hit the man's legs several more times with the firewood stick until he begged for mercy.
“Stop hitting me, stop hitting me…” The man kept wailing on the ground.
There was a lot of noise here, and Liu Yonggui and Ma next door were woken up.
Liu Yonggui put on his clothes and ran out, asking loudly outside the yard: "Zhang's sister, what's going on?"
Zhang Hulan had already retreated to the side at this time, not daring to approach the man, fearing that he would cheat.
"Brother Yonggui, there's a thief in my house."
Liu Yonggui rushed into the yard and in the moonlight he saw a person lying on the ground, curled up and wailing.
Zhang Hulan handed the firewood stick in her hand to Liu Yonggui, "Brother Yonggui, take this. If he dares to move, just beat him. I'll go light the lamp."
Liu Yonggui took the stick and stared at the person on the ground vigilantly.
Zhang Hulan ran into the house and came out with the oil lamp lit. She wanted to see who was trying to break into her house and steal things.
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