Chapter 137 The Unlucky Master and Servant
Night gradually fell.
The entire Dahe Village was not quiet, and the sound of flails could be heard in every household.
I wasn't comfortable leaving so much rice in the yard, so I had to thresh it overnight and bring it inside. When the weather cleared up and the wind picked up, I would take the threshed rice out and let it thresh out to spread it out.
The moonlight was so bright that you could see clearly without a torch.
There was only one flail in the family. The four main laborers took turns threshing the rice, while the others used wooden basins as rice threshing beds. The family cooperated with each other, and the work efficiency was very high.
I was so busy that it was almost midnight, which was around twelve o'clock in the evening.
Cheng Wanwan was completely exhausted. When it was her turn to rest, she suddenly remembered that Shen Zheng and Afu hadn't returned yet at this hour.
I thought this kid ran away in anger and would come back when he was really hungry, but he really never came back.
To the east of Dahe Village are endless mountains, and the road to the town is between the mountains. If you get lost by mistake, you might get lost.
Cheng Wanwan's expression grew serious. "Dashan, Ergou, Sanniu, stop what you're doing. Let's go out and look for someone."
Zhao Ergou said, "He must have gone back to town. How could the county magistrate's son endure such hardship? He's lucky to have stayed for half a day."
Even so, we still need to confirm their whereabouts.
Cheng Wanwan clapped her hands and stood up.
I felt dizzy as soon as I stood up, my legs and arms felt weak, and my head was completely blank.
Zhao Dashan quickly supported her and said, "Mom, just rest at home. Let's go out and look for her."
As soon as he finished speaking, two people holding torches walked in from the gate of the yard. They were the two people in charge of patrolling today, followed by Shen Zheng and Ah Fu, the master and servant.
Shen Zheng's robe was now completely torn, exposing the flesh on his chest and back, and there were some bloodstains on his face. Afu looked similar.
It was obvious that the two men had rolled down the hillside.
The patrolman said, "Aunt Zhao, he said he was the county magistrate's son. We don't know if it's true or not, so we sent him back first. If Aunt Zhao doesn't recognize these two people, we'll tie them up and send them to the village head's house."
Shen Zheng and Ah Fu went back to the town, but ended up in the mountains. They wandered around for more than two hours, from daybreak to the dead of night.
After the night fell, there was no light in the mountains. They heard the howling of wolves and felt that the wolves were right behind them. The master and servant were so scared that they ran around and accidentally rolled down the mountain. They were dizzy and their clothes were all torn by the branches, and they had many scars on their bodies.
Although Magistrate Shen was only a minor official of the seventh rank, he was the top official in this area. As the top official's own son, Shen Zheng had never suffered any grievances since childhood. However, today, after arriving in Dahe Village, he had been constantly humiliated. Not only that, but he also rolled down the mountain, and his whole body was almost falling apart.
Fortunately, their bad luck did not last too long. They met people from Dahe Village who were patrolling the mountain. Before they could reveal their identities, they were escorted all the way back by the patrolmen.
He, the dignified young master Shen, was escorted back to the village like a prisoner.
He wanted to resist, to curse, but he had no strength. He was very tired, very hungry, his body was in pain, and... he wanted to cry.
"I know these two people. Thank you for your hard work."
After seeing off the patrolmen, Cheng Wanwan quietly watched Shen Zheng and Afu.
Shen Zheng's eyes were red as he stood in the yard without saying a word, in stark contrast to his arrogance during the day.
"Gurgle—"
Shen Zheng's stomach growled.
There was still some corn left in the pot, which originally belonged to the master and servant. Cheng Wanwan took it out and placed it on the table.
She said calmly, "Eat your fill before you talk."
Shen Zheng didn't want to eat this kind of food at all, but he was really hungry, almost fainting from hunger. He had no choice but to pick up his chopsticks and eat millet rice. After taking a bite, he found that it tasted pretty good, and before he knew it, he had eaten more than half a bowl.
Ah Fu next to him was staring at Su Mi and drooling. When the saliva flowed out, he sucked it back with a slurp.
Shen Zheng finally put down his chopsticks and pushed the remaining half bowl over: "You are really embarrassing me, young master. Take it and eat it."
"Thank you, young master!"
Ah Fu was so happy that he held the bowl and squatted under the eaves to eat.
Cheng Wanwan glanced at Shen Zheng again. This child had a tiny bit more humanity than she had imagined, and there was still hope for him.
She said calmly, "Ergou, bring out a set of your clothes and give them to Young Master Chen to change into. Also, bring out a set of Sanniu's clothes for Afu."
Zhao Ergou originally had two sets of patched clothes that he could swap. Later, his sister-in-law made him one, and the county magistrate gave him another, so he had two new clothes. He himself was reluctant to wear the new clothes, so how could he give them away for free? Therefore, he took out the other patched clothes that had dried and handed them to Shen Zheng.
Shen Zheng really wanted to refuse.
But he noticed that Cheng Zhao was also wearing patched clothes.
Cheng Zhao only had two sets of blue and white school uniforms. Wearing such clothes in the village would be too conspicuous. Zhao Dashan gave one of his patched clothes to Cheng Zhao, and Cheng Zhao wore Zhao Dashan's clothes. The other set was an old set of clothes left by her father-in-law, Zhao Youjin, which Wu Huiniang altered, and gave it to Cheng Zhao to wear.
Shen Zheng, holding his clothes, said in a muffled voice, "I want to take a shower."
Cheng Wanwan pointed outside: "Go fetch water over there, come back and boil it before washing. After washing, spread the rice straw from the yard on the floor of the main room. The sheets are on the chairs. Once you've laid it all out, you can go to sleep."
Ah Fu had already finished his corn and immediately rushed over: "I'll do it, I'll do it."
He was also injured, and he swayed as he carried two wooden buckets to fetch water.
Everyone in the yard continued to be busy. Even the youngest, Zhao Sidan, was working hard to thresh the rice. A wolf was lying in the corner. Although its eyes were closed, its ears were erected high, and it was obviously paying attention to the surrounding environment.
Shen Zheng just wanted to lie down and sleep, but there were only two beds in the house, and they were the kind of beds made of wooden planks, which was not much different from sleeping on the floor. He decided not to complain or bother anyone.
So, the young master Shen personally went to collect the threshed rice stalks, neatly laid them out on the ground, and then put the bed sheet on top.
At this moment, Afu returned carrying two half-buckets of water. The master and servant began to study how to start a fire and boil water, but they couldn't figure it out after a long time.
Zhao Sidan couldn't bear to watch it anymore, so he took a tinder and walked over, using some dry grass to start a fire. The fire in the stove suddenly started.
Ah Fu's eyes were full of stars: "Master Zhao Si, you are amazing."
Although he was just a servant, he was Shen Zheng's playmate from birth and grew up to become a pageboy, so he had never done these kinds of rough work.
Zhao Sidan coughed and said, "I'm not some young master. You can just call me Sidan. After the hay is burning, add some dry firewood. Four or five pieces of firewood can almost heat a pot of water."
After he finished speaking, he went back to his work.
A pot of water boiled quickly. When taking a bath, Shen Zheng was too lazy to ask for a bath tub or bath powder; he was content as long as he could wash the mud off his body.
He quickly finished washing up, then Ah Fu washed up, and then he lay down to sleep.
The work was still going on outside, but Shen Zheng didn't think it had anything to do with him. He lay on the ground to sleep, while Afu lay on two stools, curled up in a ball.
Shen Zheng said irritably, "You're lying there, and the chair keeps moving around, it's so noisy."
Afu felt very wronged. It was clearly the sound of threshing rice outside that was noisier!
Shen Zheng moved aside, making room for him: "Lie down here and sleep."
Ah Fu hesitated for a long time. It was unrealistic to squat in the corner to sleep, sleeping on the stool would disturb the young master, and sleeping on the table would definitely cause Aunt Zhao to object... So, then he would sleep with the young master.
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