Chapter 38038 Send You On Your Way
The Yuan family's old house seemed to have been hit by a hurricane. Tables, chairs, cabinets, pots and pans, clothes and bedding were all destroyed. The whole village came to watch and laughed while watching the excitement.
Fang Honghai asked them to go back and rest. Seeing that the three girls were crying breathlessly, he was worried that something might happen to them, so he quickly asked his eldest son to invite Doctor Sun over.
Doctor Sun rushed over in a hurry and after taking the patient's pulse, he concluded that the patient was overthinking and had a heart attack due to anger. He decisively took out a silver needle and pricked each patient one by one.
In this way, half an hour passed before the three girls returned home.
The door was bolted, and Du Wuya knocked on the door from outside: "Tang Ge'er! Tang Ge'er!"
Du Qingtang opened the door and made sure they were safe. His eyes were red as a rabbit's as he stepped aside. "The kangs in the east and west rooms are already heated. There's hot water in the pot. Wash up and go to bed."
Du Liuya had just shown off her skills and was very happy. A bright smile spread across her face. "Thank you, Tang'er. I went to a dirty place and I had to clean it up."
Du Wuya glanced at the main hall. Du Qiya was still kneeling, her thin figure blending into the darkness, looking both pitiful and annoying.
She sighed and said, "Stop kneeling and go back to sleep."
Du Qiya hummed inaudibly. Because she had been kneeling for too long, her legs were numb and her knees were swollen and painful. She staggered when she stood up and only managed to avoid falling by holding onto the corner of the table.
Du Wu Ya almost screamed out in fright, but when she saw her stand firm and go into the west room without looking back, her scream got stuck in her throat. The pleasure of having chopped Zhu with a knife faded away, and her headache came back.
All this was due to her negligence. She was clearly with Qi Ya day and night, but she failed to notice her unusual thoughts at the first time, and almost caused a big mistake.
She has to have a good talk with Qi Ya tomorrow.
Du Wuya's thoughts turned, and she looked at Du Qingtang: "It's almost midnight, Tang'er, you should go to bed quickly. You have to go to the city early tomorrow morning."
Du Qingtang nodded in agreement, turned around and went back to the house, took off his clothes, shoes and socks, crawled into the bed with the few remaining warm quilts, closed his eyes and fell asleep.
The three girls simply washed themselves and soon rested.
Du Baya got on the kang, glanced at her seventh sister who was leaning against the wall with her back to her, moved her lips as if to say something, but finally closed her eyes in silence.
While half asleep and half awake, I heard rustling sounds in my ears and someone humming softly, sounding as if they were in great pain.
Du Baya opened her eyes and found Du Qiya rolling around on the kang. She leaned in closer to see her in the moonlight and saw an abnormal blush on her beautiful round face. She reached out and touched her -
“Ah, it’s so hot!”
"Fifth sister! Sixth sister! Seventh sister has a fever!"
Du Qiya was beaten and frightened. She knelt in the cold main room for more than half an hour. In the second half of the night, she suddenly developed a fever. Her whole body was burning red. She wrapped herself in the quilt and whimpered. Her eyelashes were wet from tears.
"Fifth sister, please stop hitting me. It hurts so much..."
Du Wuya wiped her body with a towel soaked in rice wine. The rice wine was brought back by Du Siya during the Chinese New Year. It was brewed by her fourth brother-in-law himself. Yuanshi sent it to the Yuan family, but Zhushi disliked it and refused to take it. No one in the Du family drank alcohol, so it was kept until now. Unexpectedly, it was of great use.
Du Wuya was at a loss and blamed herself: "If I had known it would be like this, I wouldn't have hit her."
I was so angry at the time that I just wanted to teach her a lesson, but I didn't expect that she would suffer so much.
"The medicine is here!" Du Baya came in carrying a bowl of black medicine.
There is a kind of grass in Taoyuan Mountain that is very effective in reducing fever. The villagers call it fever-reducing grass.
This soup is made from antipyretic herb.
The medicine tasted bitter and Du Qiya refused to drink it. It took a lot of effort for her to swallow the medicine.
After drinking the medicine, Du Qiya's condition quickly improved and she fell into a deep sleep with a red face.
"Baya, you and Liuya go to the east room to sleep. I'll stay here to watch over Qiya."
Du Qingtang was very sleepy, her eyelids felt heavy, as if they weighed a thousand pounds. But before leaving, she patted Du Wuya's shoulder and said, "Fifth sister, don't blame yourself. Seventh sister will understand and know your good intentions."
Du Qiya has a stubborn personality. To be frank, only by beating her and making her feel the pain can she learn her lesson and completely stop having those thoughts.
Du Wuya forced out a pale smile: "I know, you should go to sleep too."
Du Qingtang swallowed the words that were about to come out of his mouth, closed the door and left.
......
Because of Du Qiya, no one slept well that night. They only took a short nap before dawn.
At that time, Du Qingtang had already packed his luggage and was about to set off for the county town.
Before leaving the house, she went into the west room.
Du Wuya fell asleep leaning on the kang cabinet. The abnormal blush on Du Qiya's face had faded, and when she touched her forehead, it had returned to normal.
"Tang'er?"
Du Qingtang withdrew his hand: "Did I wake up Fifth Sister?"
Du Wuya rubbed her eyes and shook her head, saying, "It's none of your business. I'm just worried about your seventh sister, who sleeps lightly."
Du Qingtang got straight to the point: "Fifth sister, have you ever thought about doing a proper job?"
Du Wuya was confused: "What do you mean by legitimate business? Tang Ge'er, you mean..."
Du Qingtang: "This time they set their sights on Seventh Sister, there's no guarantee they won't target you next time. I'm worried about leaving you in the village, so why don't you come with me to the city?"
"Go into the city?" Du Wuya sat up straight, feeling a little confused and uneasy. "We don't have any relatives in the city. Where will we live after we move in? What can we do for a living?"
"There are plenty of houses for rent in the city. I will find a suitable place to live as soon as possible and come back to pick you up. As for making a living..." Du Qingtang paused, "I have a few snack recipes. Fifth sister, you have been cooking since you were young, so setting up a snack stall is no problem."
That day, Du Qingtang became a contracted painter for a printing house under Fu Wen's recommendation. He began thinking about letting the girls in his family have a decent and stable job to make a living.
After what happened to Du Qiya, she became even more determined in this idea.
Only by keeping them busy, so busy that they can't even keep their feet off the ground and fall asleep as soon as they touch the pillow, will they have no time to think about other things.
Du Qingtang does have a way to make a fortune, but the Du family has no power and influence, and she is currently a commoner, so she cannot maintain these livelihoods. After much thought, she decided to follow the example of the heroine in the farming novels and start making money by setting up a stall.
Food is the most important thing for people. In modern times, Du Qingtang also had dinner with his colleagues at night markets. He knew very well which snacks were popular and which were easy to prepare.
Du Wuya was a little tempted, and after a long pause she asked, "Will it cause you any trouble?"
Rather than doing embroidery and wood carving day and night, she certainly wanted a stable livelihood.
Tang'er studies very hard, and she and her sisters cannot provide any help to her. The only thing they can do is not let her worry.
Du Wuya glanced at Du Qiya, but unfortunately they couldn't even do this.
"No." Du Qingtang said.
Only when the Du family made money could she find an opportunity to take out 1,200 taels openly.
After a long ideological struggle, Du Wuya's eyes changed from hesitation to determination: "Then I want to give it a try."
Du Qingtang nodded. "I'll find a suitable place to stay as soon as possible and come back to pick you up. During this time, try not to go out as much as possible and bolt the door at home. Except for those close to you, do not open the door for anyone who knocks."
Du Wuya didn't know whether to laugh or cry. She reached out and gently stroked the top of the youngest's head: "Tang'er, I am your elder sister. You should trust me."
"Yeah, I know."
It was precisely because you were the elder sister that you resolutely married Du Liuya in her place when Yuanshi married her to a widower from the next village in exchange for a betrothal gift, and were eventually beaten to death by the sadistic widower.
Not long after, Du Liuya was drugged by Yuanshi and sent to the widower's house.
Just because the widower didn't want to be responsible for a death, he gave Yuanshi ten taels of silver and let Du Liuya replace her twin sister Du Wuya and become the widower's wife.
Du Liuya did not follow the same path as Du Wuya, but she believed that she had killed her fifth sister. She could not bear the blow and went crazy within a few days.
One night, she slit the widower's throat and jumped into the river to commit suicide.
Du Qingtang pursed her lips: "I'm leaving."
Du Wuya stepped off the kang lightly: "I'll take you there."
Du Qingtang didn't let her see him off. He turned around and looked at Du Qiya lying on the kang. The young girl had her eyes closed and seemed to be sleeping very soundly. She didn't wake up even after they talked so much.
She said goodbye to her sixth and eighth sisters, put on her book box, and set out on the journey back to the city.
Du Wuya stood at the door of the west room, watching Du Qingtang's figure disappear outside the door, then turned back, intending to see if Qimei's fever had subsided, and then went to the kitchen to prepare breakfast.
When I turned around, I found that Du Qiya had woken up. She was staring at the beams, her pale little face curled up in the quilt, which made her look particularly adorable.
Du Wuya's heart softened, and she went forward to touch her forehead. It felt warm and cool, indicating that her fever had subsided.
Du Qiya subconsciously wanted to avoid it, but she didn't know what she was thinking. She stiffened her neck and didn't move, but her eyes wandered, not looking at her fifth sister.
"Just lie on the kang today and don't do anything. Just have a good rest." Du Wuya's anger had mostly subsided, but she still had something to say. "It was my fault. I shouldn't have hit you. You had a fever for most of the night, but I don't regret it. I can't just watch you jump into the fire."
Du Wuya left after she finished speaking. Du Qiya remained lying on her back for a long time, then slowly turned sideways and buried her face in the pillow.
In just a moment, a large area of the gray pillowcase was wet.
Du Qiya didn't say anything. In fact, she had already woken up when Tang Ge'er touched her forehead.
But she didn't know how to face Tang Ge'er, so she just pretended to be asleep.
She didn't even say that she had a dream last night.
In the dream, a fat man whose face could not be seen kicked her on the bulging belly.
She lost a lot of blood.
Then she died.
Until now, the suffocation and pain of death still tightly entangled her like vines.
Du Qiya shuddered and her tears flowed even harder.
......
Du Qingtang walked out of the house carrying a book box and was about to go west when he caught a glimpse of two sneaky figures in the distance.
Looking closely, there were two figures, one tall and one short, who were the wives of Du Laoer and Du Laosan.
When they noticed she was looking at them, Second Aunt Du and Third Aunt Du quickly hid behind the low wall, without even a hair showing.
Fifteen years ago, as soon as Old Man Du passed away, Old Mrs. Du started to arrange to divide the family property.
Old Du was not good at speaking and could not coax people. He also had several daughters in a row, so he was looked down upon by his own mother. When the family property was divided, he did not get anything good and only got three yellow mud houses and five acres of land.
Old Mrs. Du loved her youngest son the most and gave all the good things to Old Third Du, including the four brick houses built by Old Man Du during his lifetime.
Du Laoer is thick-skinned and relies on his own strength. Du Laosan is in poor health and cannot do heavy work, so he has to rely on him for the work in the fields. After the family split up, he refused to leave the brick house and has lived there until now.
After his rebirth, the second and third branches never showed up, and Du Qingtang almost forgot about these two troublesome relatives.
He showed up at this moment, most likely because he had set his eyes on the brick house she had snatched from the Yuan family.
Do they think that the grass on Boss Du's grave is three feet high, Yuan Shi has married to Dahe Town, and there are only a few weak girls left in the first house, so they can do whatever they want?
Du Qingtang's eyes turned slightly cold. Just as a pair of people left to die, another pair came.
However, the house deeds and land deeds are in her hands. Du Wuya is not someone to be trifled with. With Fang Honghai, the village chief, in charge, even if the second and third wives have ulterior motives, they will never succeed.
Once she found a house, she took the four girls to settle down in the county town, completely away from all these troubles.
......
Du Qingtang walked away, and Aunt Du Er and Aunt Du San came out from behind the low wall.
"Did she discover us?"
"So what if they find out? Her father is dead, and her mother ran away. We are the only two close relatives left. Can she still turn the tables?"
"This kid is a bit crazy. I'm afraid she'll pick up a knife and attack someone if she gets upset," Aunt Du muttered, then sighed. "It would be great if she were a girl. Then our family would have no descendants, and this beautiful brick house would belong to us."
Aunt Du rolled her eyes. What does the third wife’s things have to do with your second wife?
Aunt Du kept chattering, "At the beginning of the month, Yuan Sheng's mother said Du Qingtang was a girl. I was secretly happy, but unfortunately, Doctor Sun said she was a boy."
"Can a girl have small bumps on her neck?" Aunt Du was speechless. "Don't think about those things. We should build a good relationship with Du Qingtang now. When the five girls get married and Du Qingtang goes to school in the city, we can use the excuse of helping her look after the house..."
Aunt Du looked at the brick house not far away and felt ecstatic.
When the time comes, she, her husband and three children will move in under the pretext of helping to look after the house.
It is easy to invite a god but difficult to send him away. After a long time, this brick house will become the second home!
-
"Qingtang!"
Du Qingtang spent two cents to take an ox cart into the city, and then walked for a while to reach Qingyuan Academy.
The holiday is over and the students are all back today. There is a lot of traffic in front of the academy and people in blue and white academy uniforms are everywhere.
Du Qingtang dodged a speeding carriage and was about to enter when someone called her name from behind.
Turning her head, she saw Fu Wen jogging towards her, carrying a book box half a person's height on his back.
On the way, he almost hit a carriage, and the driver was so scared that he cursed: "Are you blind?"
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry." Fu Wen bowed and apologized. He walked to Du Qingtang without stopping, with a smile in his eyes. "Qingtang, how have you been these past two days?"
Without waiting for Du Qingtang to respond, she began to chatter, counting on her fingers. "The day I got home, I severely punished those who had bullied me in the past. The village teacher made them copy books and spanked them dozens of times with a ruler. My palms were swollen higher than steamed buns. It was so satisfying! I also made... asked my mother to make some easy-to-keep cakes and steamed buns. If we don't want to go to the canteen, we can eat them with dried radish. They're sour, crunchy, and delicious, especially fragrant!"
Fu Wen was obviously in high spirits. He talked about what he had done from the day he returned home from the assessment until yesterday, and even what he had eaten for three meals a day.
"...Qingtang, what about you? What have you been doing at home these past two days?"
Given her good friend's diligence, she must be studying and doing exercises day and night.
Du Qingtang and Fu Wen walked side by side to the dormitory. They passed by a plum tree, on the branches of which wintersweets were in full bloom in the cold. They raised their hands and gently stroked it, their fingertips feeling wet.
"I showed Liu Tongsheng the test papers I took last month. I got dozens of new questions. I did twelve of them in the past two days. I also sent my mother off to get married."
Fu Wen: “???”
Is Qingtang speaking the official language of Daxia?
Why doesn't she understand something?
"Uh..." Fu Wen took a long while to find his voice. "So, was this the reason you were distracted the day before the test?"
No.
Du Qingtang was just filled with mixed emotions. He never expected that Yuan, who had been thinking about Boss Du until her death in her previous life, would suddenly get married, and in a ghost marriage.
Fu Wen was unaware of the situation, and at this moment his love for his friend reached its peak. He patted her shoulder carefully, as if he was treating a fragile item.
"Qingtang, don't be sad. Although your aunt has remarried, she must still be thinking about you. Besides, you have several sisters, and... and me." Fu Wen's face flushed a little, and he coughed uncomfortably, "I've always been here."
Du Qingtang didn't expect Fu Wen to have such a divergent mindset and regard her as a poor little thing.
In fact, Fu Wen was really overthinking it. She was not sad at all.
On the contrary, the moment Yuanshi got on the sedan chair, the invisible blood shackles were completely severed. She regained her freedom and felt relieved and relaxed.
"Let's not talk about this anymore. It's a done deal. Just be well." Du Qingtang changed the subject. "I don't have classes today. I'll go to the classroom to check the test results later. After that, can Ah Wen go out with me? My sister is planning to move to the city, and I want to try my luck at the real estate agency to see if there's any good, affordable housing."
Fu Wen readily agreed, and the two of them put the bookcases in the dormitory. Without taking time to tidy up, they hurried to the classroom.
There is a notice wall on the inside of the academy gate, and there are also notice walls outside the enlightenment class, the student class, the scholar class and the juren class, with one for each type of class. The enlightenment class is right next to the Ding class, and you can see it by turning left when you go out the door.
When Du Qingtang arrived, the notice wall was already full of people, and all he could see were the backs of black heads.
Everyone had different expressions, some were nervous and anxious, while others were calm and relaxed.
"I don't know if I can make it into the top five. I'm planning on moving up to Class B."
"There are hundreds of students in a class, but only five spots available. It's really not easy."
"Who do you think will be the first this time?"
"I think it's Du Qingtang. Instructor Sun has praised her more than once, and the other instructors are also very affectionate towards her. Although I'm jealous, I have to admit that Du Qingtang is a wonderful person who is good at both literature and martial arts. She has a beautiful handwriting and can write beautiful articles. In short, she is the best."
“Great minds think alike.”
"Are you overestimating her? Du Qingtang has only been in school for two years. How can she compare to others who have been enlightened since childhood and studied hard for many years? Compared to her, I think Master Cao has a greater chance."
"Tsk, flatterer."
"Hey! How can you talk like that?"
"I didn't say you."
Just as a conflict was about to break out, Professor Zhu, who was in charge of the enlightenment class, appeared and posted red paper on the bulletin board.
From right to left on the red paper are the names of all the students in the four classes A, B, C, and D, with the first five names in each class in bold and large sizes.
As soon as Professor Zhu left, everyone rushed over.
Fu Wen was not willing to be outdone. He exerted all his strength to drag Du Qingtang into the charge and forced his way to the front.
When I looked up, the three words "Du Qingtang" came into view.
Fu Wen opened his eyes wide and couldn't help but cheer: "Qingtang, you are the first!"
Countless gazes came from all directions, some were admiring, some were jealous.
“It really is her.”
"She was just lucky. This was just a small test, not difficult. Her true colors will be revealed in the big test next month."
"But she is also very good at archery and never misses a shot."
"...Will I die if I don't destroy it?"
"If that person knew that Du Qingtang got first place and he only got second place, he would probably be furious again."
"If I'm not as skilled as the other person, I'll admit defeat."
Du Qingtang imagined Cao Xingcan's expression when he found out that he was surpassed by her again. Well, it felt a bit good.
"Congratulations, Awen, for coming in third."
Yes, Fu Wen's ranking this time moved up two places compared to the last recruitment exam and he got third place.
Fu Wen's eyes sparkled with joy as he whispered, "Congratulations! I was able to get third place not only because of the instructor's careful guidance, but also because of the test questions provided by Liu Tongsheng."
After saying this, she bowed solemnly and said, "Thank you, Qingtang."
Du Qingtang accepted Fu Wen's thanks and pulled her out of the crowd. "Now that you've seen the results, why don't you go to Professor Zhu and apply for a promotion so you can attend Class C tomorrow."
Fu Wen readily agreed and went to Professor Zhu's duty room with Du Qingtang to apply for promotion.
Professor Zhu confirmed the monthly rankings and approved their application on the spot: "You two are new to the academy, yet you have achieved such excellent results. I am deeply pleased as a teacher. I hope you will continue to work hard."
Du Qingtang and Fu Wen said in unison: "Yes, we will follow the professor's instructions."
After leaving the duty room, he ran into Cao Xingcan.
Cao Xingcan's face was not looking good, and when he saw Du Qingtang, he became even more gloomy: "Du Qingtang, you won first place."
He worked tirelessly to solve so many problems, but still couldn't beat Du Qingtang. It really pissed him off!
Du Qingtang couldn't help but hear the frustration in his words. He raised his eyebrows slightly and bowed leisurely: "I heard that classmate Cao got second place. Thank you for letting him win."
Cao Xingcan: “…”
What are you willing to give in to?
Should he reply with "I admire you"?
"Let's go, Awen. Today we're both promoted to a higher class, so we have to celebrate."
"I'm going out soon, why don't we eat outside? I heard there's a noodle shop near the academy that's really delicious."
"Can."
"Then let's go!"
Cao Xingcan looked at the backs of Du Qingtang and Fu Wen, and thought of the implicit sympathy and gloating eyes of those people, and his back teeth were almost broken: "The villain has succeeded!"
He also applied to Professor Zhu for promotion to a higher class, and after his application was approved, he went back to continue studying and doing exercises.
He just doesn't believe that he will lose to Du Qingtang next time!
-
But after the farce last night, Yuan Ping was ordered by Fang Honghai to move out of Taoyuan Village.
Yuan Ping brought up his uncle, who was the oldest in the Yuan family, but Fang Honghai still couldn't take back his decision.
In the middle of the night, Zhu woke up slowly and found out that there was no place for her in Taoyuan Village anymore. She waved her hands to catch Yuan Ping.
"It's all your fault! If you hadn't gone gambling and gotten into so much debt, how could you have angered those crazy girls from the Du family and ended up like this?"
"Ah!" Yuan Ping wiped his face, his hands covered in blood, and he almost fainted from fright. "What do you mean it's all my fault? If you hadn't embezzled the Du family's money, I would still be living in this brick house, and Du Qingtang wouldn't have taken the 1,200 taels!"
The couple fought fiercely. Zhu was beaten all over by Yuan Ping, and Yuan Ping was scratched by Zhu so that his head and face were covered with blood marks.
After daybreak, Yuan Ping went to find several old uncles of the Yuan family, hoping that they would plead with Fang Honghai so that he could continue to stay in Taoyuan Village.
Who would have thought that the old uncle would stay indoors and not come out, and no matter how Ren Yuanping knocked on the door, he would pretend to be dead and not show up.
After being rejected several times in a row, Yuanping returned home disappointed.
As soon as they arrived home, Fang Honghai's two sons came and urged them to leave quickly.
Half an hour later, Yuan Ping, Zhu Shi and Yuan Xue left Taoyuan Village in a donkey cart.
"A bunch of idiots who look down on others! When Brother Sheng passes the imperial examination and becomes a high-ranking official, even if they kowtow to me three times and nine times, I will never go back!"
Returning to Dahe Town, Yuan Sheng learned the whole story and suppressed the urge to curse: "So from now on, even though my ancestral home is in Taoyuan Village, I can't go back?"
Yuan Ping sneered, "This is all your mother's fault. The crazy girl from the Du family found out beforehand and caused such a mess that we can't even go home. Brother Sheng, you have to help Dad. I don't want my hands chopped off!"
Yuan Sheng pondered for a moment and said, "There's a wealthy businessman named Chen in the county who wants to buy a concubine. Let Yuan Xue go."
In fact, Mr. Chen loves twin beauties the most. He originally wanted to find a good match for Du Wuya and Du Liuya, but now the situation has changed, so he can only choose his twin sister.
Outside the door, Yuan Xue happened to hear these words as she passed by, and she suddenly clutched the corner of her clothes.
She lowered her head to hide the resentment deep in her eyes and left quietly.
......
Yuan Sheng asked for leave from his private school teacher and took Yuan Xue to the county town to meet a wealthy businessman named Chen.
Yuan Xue never expected that the other party was over 70 years old, older than her grandfather.
Moreover, the rich businessman named Chen looked at her with lustful and sticky eyes, as if he was a reincarnated pervert. Yuan Sheng saw everything, but still accepted the betrothal gift.
As they left, Yuan Xue heard the Chen family's servant mutter, "I hope this one can live a few more days."
Yuan Xue felt like she was falling into an icy cave.
When he got home, Yuan Ping looked at the one hundred taels he had received, and his mouth grinned from ear to ear.
Zhu was also laughing. No one cared about Yuan Xue's life or death.
"Today is a good day, Yuanxue, go buy two pounds of meat."
"good."
Yuan Xue wiped away her tears, went out to buy meat, and after returning, she worked alone in the kitchen for a long time, cooking a large table of dishes.
During dinner, Yuan Sheng went out to fool around, and Yuan Ping and Zhu sat face to face in the main room, wolfing down their food with relish.
Yuan Xue, contrary to her usual behavior, did not go to the kitchen to eat after the dishes were served. Instead, she stood aside and asked, "Is it delicious?"
Yuan Ping nodded: "Delicious!"
Yuan Xue suddenly smiled: "If it tastes good, eat more. Only when you are full can you set off on your journey."
"What's on the road?"
Zhu glared at Yuan Xue and was about to scold her when she suddenly felt a pain in her chest and vomited blood on the spot.
Immediately afterwards, Yuanping also began to vomit blood.
"It means to send you on your way."
A soft voice brushed past her ears, and in a flash, Zhu understood something and looked suddenly at Yuan Xue.
Her daughter, who had always been timid and cowardly, had a crazy and happy smile on her face.
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