Zheng Yu missed and ran back to the main room in a hurry.
When Zheng Xiu heard that the man was missing, she followed him in to take a look. As expected, the bed was empty, and the animal skin jacket and a pair of small shoes placed on the bedside were gone.
Zheng Yu grumbled reluctantly: "He is still wearing my clothes!"
Zheng Xiu rolled her eyes at him, "You useless thing, it's just an old jacket. I'll make you a new one later!"
Zheng Yu stopped complaining. But it's not that he is stingy. Since his sister had a serious illness a few years ago, she has been reluctant to do needlework. She buys ready-made ones. The old jacket that the wild child wore away was made by his sister for him on his birthday last year.
Zheng Xiu originally wanted to keep the child for dinner before leaving, but the child left quietly.
The staple food for dinner that day was steamed buns, plus a pot of bone soup with cabbage and tofu, and a dish of fried bacon. It was already a rich meal in winter.
When Zheng Xiu fed the leftovers to the dog, she put two steamed buns in a clean bowl, covered it with another bowl, and placed it next to the black dog.
The next day, Zheng Xiu opened the covered bowl and saw that it was empty.
Zheng Xiu finally breathed a sigh of relief.
But it was not a good thing for such a half-grown child to eat in such a sporadic manner. Thinking of this, Zheng Xiu went to Li Zheng's house that morning.
Li Zheng was over 40 years old and had only one son who was also studying in the town and became Zheng Ren's disciple. Therefore, the two families had frequent exchanges.
Li Zheng's wife was a very amiable middle-aged woman with a round face. When she saw Zheng Xiu, she stood up from feeding chickens in the yard, wiped her hands, and greeted her attentively, "Miss, how come you have time to come here today? Come in and sit down."
Zheng Xiu walked into the house with her, "Is Uncle Li Zheng at home today?"
Li Zheng's wife said, "The mountains were blocked by heavy snow a few days ago. It has finally warmed up these days. My husband organized people to go to the mountains to check, and it is estimated that he will not be back for a while. Miss, do you have something to do with him?"
"It's not a big deal." Zheng Xiu simply told the story of picking up a dog from her home and meeting the child who wanted the dog. "It was so cold, and the child looked so pitiful and unfamiliar. I wanted to ask Uncle Li Zheng, whose family this child belongs to."
Li Zheng's wife said, "Is his surname Xue? I seem to have some impression." Then she recalled carefully and said, "It's a hunter's family that moved in last month. It's not easy for a grown man to bring a child. They live in an abandoned house at the west end of our village, close to the mountain." But she only knew this. As for why the child was running around alone in such a cold weather, she had no idea. So she promised Zheng Xiu to wait for Li Zheng to come back, ask carefully, and then tell her.
Zheng Xiu talked with Li Zheng's wife for a while and then went home.
When she arrived at the door of her house, she saw a woman standing at the door from a distance, looking out from the fence.
When she got closer, she saw that it was her second aunt Zhu.
Zhu was carrying a basket. When she saw him, she stepped forward and said with a smile: "Xiu girl, you are back? Why are you not seen so early in the morning?"
Zheng Xiu didn't want to say more to Zhu, so she just said: "I went to Li Zheng's house for something." Then she went to open the door.
Most people in the village did not lock their doors, but Zheng Xiu was still a very careful person. After Zheng Yu had breakfast, he went out to have fun, and she locked the door before leaving.
Zhu looked at them and said, "We are from the same village. I came to visit you. Why did you lock the door for no reason? Who are you protecting?"
"My brother and I are the only ones at home. We have to be careful." Zheng Xiu said.
Zhu followed Zheng Xiu into the house, put the basket on the table, and opened the bag cloth. "There is nothing good at home. I steamed a few extra steamed buns this morning. I will give you two."
Although Zhu sent a few steamed buns with mixed flour, it was enough to surprise Zheng Xiu. Her second aunt has always been a stingy person. She only coveted other people's things and never took them from others.
Zheng Xiu took out the steamed buns and took a few white flour steamed buns from the stove to give to Zhu as a return gift.
Zhu said, "Hey, we are family, why should we be polite?" She still carefully put the steamed buns into the basket.
After packing the things, Zhu didn't beat around the bush and continued, "What do you think about what I told you last time about Mr. Feng's family in the town?"
Zheng Xiu didn't think about it at all after she came back, but Zhu came to ask in person, so she had to respond, "Second aunt should talk to dad about this. Marriage is a big matter and it's the parents' decision. Even if you tell me, it doesn't count."
Zhu raised her eyebrows and said, "Why doesn't it count? How can I harm you? Of course this is for your own good. You said that Mr. Feng's family is wealthy, and they are famous for their kindness and generosity..."
Then she started to praise Mr. Feng's family to the sky.
Zheng Xiu couldn't help but ask with a smile: "Second Aunt praised Mr. Feng so much, someone who didn't know would think you were here to propose marriage for Mr. Feng."
She didn't mention Mr. Feng at all, obviously she knew that Mr. Feng was not good enough.
Zhu smiled awkwardly and said: "The Feng family is well-off, so Mr. Feng is naturally not bad."
Zheng Xiu didn't want to continue to argue with her, and said impatiently: "I still say the same thing, if Second Aunt is interested, go and tell my father, my father's opinion is my opinion. If you think Mr. Feng is really good, just say the same thing to my sister." Then she found a rag and started to wipe the table.
Zhu was also a little unhappy. After all, she was the elder. Zheng Xiu's attitude was too disrespectful to her. She couldn't help but raise her voice: "Xiu girl, the second aunt really cares about you! You said you have the reputation of being a 'husband-killer'. If they didn't mind you, what else can you say to them?!"
Zheng Xiu found it more and more funny. Her second aunt was so busy, obviously because they promised her some benefits and asked her to help with matchmaking. But after failing twice, she was obviously anxious.
Not to mention that Zheng Xiu really looked down on that Master Feng, even if she liked him, she wouldn't have persuaded her to agree without going through her parents.
Before she could say anything, Zheng Yu, who had just arrived home, rushed into the house like a gust of wind and shouted to Zhu: "If your sister doesn't get married, she will stay at home for the rest of her life! Dad and I will raise her!"
Zheng Xiu glanced at him and said softly, "You are rude."
Zhu was scolded by her seven-year-old nephew and said even more unhappily, "What do you know, little kid? How can a girl not get married when she grows up? If your sister doesn't get married, our family will never be able to hold our heads up again!"
Zheng Yu also got angry and argued loudly, "That's my family's business, it has nothing to do with Second Aunt!"
"You, you, you..." Zhu pointed at him for a long time without saying a complete sentence, then turned to Zheng Xiu and said, "How did you raise your brother? Your uncle is a scholar, how could he raise such an unruly boy? A child without a mother's guidance is a child without a mother's guidance."
Zheng Ren's first wife, Wang, died of dystocia when giving birth to their youngest son. Zheng Ren, who was deeply in love with his wife, never remarried.
Just now, when Zhu talked about her marriage, Zheng Xiu was still in the mood to watch the show. But when she mentioned Zheng Yu, Zheng Xiu was not happy anymore and stopped smiling, "This is how it is in our family. The older one can't get married, and the younger one is unruly. Second aunt can't stand it, so don't come to our house often in the future."
Zhu was almost angry to death. She slung her basket over her shoulder and walked while cursing, "Your kindness is taken for granted! There is no adult in this family, and there are no rules at all. Humph, if you don't know, you would think you came from nowhere, a wild child without parents!"
Zheng Yu had never seen his mother since he was born, so how could he listen to people saying this? He wanted to rush out to fight, but Zheng Xiu took great effort to hold him back.
Zhu walked to the doorway, swearing. The black dog under the fence glared, and barked at her twice.
Zhu spat, and then scolded her fiercely, "Some people have no one to take care of them, and even the dogs at home are this kind of stuff!" As
soon as she finished speaking, Zhu fell to the ground with a cry of "ouch".
Zheng Xiu and her brother went out to see that Zhu had fallen to the ground and was lying at the doorway, unable to get up. The basket she was carrying fell to the side, and the steamed buns in the basket rolled to the ground, covered with a layer of dirt.
Zhu was lying on the ground wailing. Zheng Xiu tried to help her up, but she waved her hand to push him away. "You two, how dare you treat your elders like this! I will... I will..."
How could she say anything threatening? The most successful person in the Zheng family was Zheng Ren, who had achieved great success. County officials were very respectful to him.
Zhu got up from the ground, put the dirty steamed buns back into the basket, glared at Zheng Xiu and Zheng Yu, and limped back home.
After she left, Zheng Xiu squatted down to check, and found that there was something tied to the two doorposts at the entrance. It was impossible to tell what material it was made of. It was only as thick as a hair, and it felt like something like steel wire. It is common in modern times, but in this dynasty with limited technological development, it is a rarity. It was this thin steel wire that tripped Zhu just now.
Zheng Yu saw his sister touching the thing untied from the doorpost in silence, and quickly explained: "Sister, it was not me. I heard the second aunt scolding you at the door, so I rushed in... I, I didn't..."
Zheng Xiu touched his head soothingly. She knew it was not her brother. This thing was not something her brother could find casually.
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