Chapter 2: Frightened Horse

Xiaoqiu's home is on the back street of Yelin Town. The stable occupies more than half of the house, and there are three small houses where Laoqiu, Xiaoqiu and Erqiu live.

Laoqiu is in his forties, short and strong, with a hunched back. He was busy cutting grass by himself. When he heard that his eldest son had come back, he didn't even raise his head.

Erqiu was six years old. He stood in the middle of the yard, holding a hard bun in his right hand, sniffing two lines of snot, and said with a smile: "Brother."

Xiaoqiu ignored his younger brother and sent more than a dozen horses into the stable. After coming out, he helped his father cut grass.

Xiaoqiu handed the grass and Laoqiu operated the guillotine. The two cooperated tacitly, and soon a bundle of green grass became crumbs, mixed with beans, which was the night feed for the horses.

Originally, the father and son did not need to talk. Silence was the norm in this family. But Lao Qiu suddenly stopped and said to Xiao Qiu, who was carrying the second bundle of grass: "I'm telling you, Mr. Shen's family is getting married tomorrow, so you should behave yourself."

"Why am I not behaving myself?" Xiao Qiu asked back with a guilty conscience.

Xiao Qiu was diligent and hardworking, and she was also smart. In her father's eyes, she had one shortcoming - she was too stubborn and had to be disciplined frequently. "Mr. Shen married Mr. Qin's daughter. The two families are well matched. If you dare to tell others that Fangfang is your wife again, I will break your legs."

Er Qiu sucked in half of his snot and said with a smile: "Hit my brother, hit my brother."

Xiao Qiu threw the grass in her arms to the ground, "Did Er Shuan talk nonsense to you? I..."

Lao Qiu pointed at the guillotine, and Xiao Qiu picked up the green grass again. The father and son cooperated and quickly chopped another bundle. Cutting grass was a quick job, and no one spoke during the process.

Old Qiu's mind was slow to react, and he finally remembered what to say. "Er Shuan is a good kid. He is always polite to me every time he sees me. I really don't understand why you always quarrel with him."

"He provokes me." Xiao Qiu said angrily.

"Silly boy, let me tell you, if you fight each other hard when you are young, you may be best friends when you grow up. I think Er Shuan actually wants to make friends with you."

Xiao Qiu thought this was the strangest statement in the world. He couldn't think of a suitable rebuttal for a while, so he simply stood up and walked towards the door.

"It's getting dark, where are you going?" Old Qiu shouted, feeling really powerless to discipline his eldest son.

Xiao Qiu stood in front of his younger brother. Er Qiu bit the hard bun with his gap teeth, looked up at his brother, and still had a smile on his face.

"Did you hear that? Dad said that if you fight each other hard when you are young, you can be good friends when you grow up." Xiao Qiu slapped his younger brother on the forehead and ran away.

The hard bun flew away, Erqiu fell to the ground and cried loudly. Laoqiu stood up, scolding and chasing him, but he had already been unable to catch up with Xiaoqiu's legs a few years ago. When he ran to the gate, Xiaoqiu was gone.

"Alas, you are such a troublesome boy." Laoqiu shook his head, went back to pick up his younger son, found the hard bun, blew off the dust on it, and stuffed it to Erqiu.

When Xiaoqiu ran back to the bridge, it was just getting dark. He was full of anger. He couldn't vent it just by slapping his brother. He wanted to find someone to fight, but there was no one on the bridge. Ershuan and his gang were probably eating at home, pretending to be obedient children in front of their parents, and the weirdos were nowhere to be found.

Xiaoqiu sat on the shore, watching the last ray of sunset disappear, his stomach growling, he didn't want to go home at all. Instead of being scolded by his father, he would rather starve outside.

The sun had completely set, and the night was as gentle as a dream. Xiaoqiu did not find the night scary, but felt contented and comfortable.

Even the resentment in his heart gradually disappeared. He picked up a flat and round stone that fit his hand, got into position, and threw a water float to the river.

This was a perfect throw. If there were other children present, they would definitely cheer loudly.

At first, Xiaoqiu was still counting the number of floats, but soon he couldn't count anymore. The stone bounced across the river and fell into the grass on the other side.

There seemed to be some movement in the grass. Xiaoqiu stood up suddenly and suddenly felt the need to check it out. This idea was so urgent that he jumped directly into the waist-deep river and walked to the other side.

He had just taken three steps when something strange happened. A bird suddenly flew up from the ordinary grass, or maybe it wasn't a bird. Xiaoqiu only saw a green light and didn't even see the shape clearly before it disappeared.

Xiaoqiu felt an indescribable panic. He was known for his courage among the teenagers of the same age, but this panic rose from the bottom of his heart and did not give him time to prepare.

Xiaoqiu turned around and crawled to the shore.

"Stay away from demons." Xiaoqiu remembered the strange man's reminder. He shook his head and sneered at his panic. There are indeed many strange things in this world, but Yelin Town is safe. According to legend, the biggest danger it has ever encountered was a group of hungry wolves coming from afar in winter one year. Even this is a legend from decades ago.

"Madman." Xiaoqiu muttered to himself and turned to look at the other side. The half-man-high grass swayed gently in the night wind. There was nothing unusual. He rubbed his eyes and could not even confirm that there was a green light flying just now.

The night was getting darker and darker. The residents of Yelin Town went to bed early. Occasionally, there were a few barking dogs. Everything was peaceful. Even the wild cats did not come out to make trouble. The only person in the whole town who had ulterior motives was probably Xiaoqiu.

None of the partners who had agreed to meet on the bridge showed up.

In addition to being disappointed, Xiaoqiu was also a little angry. At his age, he had extremely high standards for the loyalty of his friends, and he felt that he had been betrayed.

He walked towards the town and decided to act alone.

"Brother Xiaoqiu?" A tentative question came from under the eaves.

Xiaoqiu hadn't walked far into the town when she stopped and her heart suddenly cleared. "Why are you here? Didn't you agree to meet on the bridge? Where are the others?"

Daliang walked out and booed Xiaoqiu. There was no light on the street. He was afraid of the dark night and mustered up great courage before walking out of the house. "Don't go to Fangfang's house. Ershuan and his gang are waiting there."

"How come?" Xiaoqiu asked in surprise.

"I don't know. Maybe the news was leaked, or maybe Er Shuan guessed it. Anyway, I heard that he led people to guard near Mr. Qin's house. If he sees you, he will kill you."

The wind picked up, Xiaoqiu raised his hand to hold the straw hat on his head, "Then let's fight, I'm not afraid of him."

Daliang blocked the way, "No, there are adults helping Ershuan, we can't defeat her, and besides... we can't save Fangfang."

The last sentence made Xiaoqiu discouraged. He took off his straw hat and said, "What should we do?"

"No way." Daliang spread his hands helplessly, "Anyway, you didn't really promise anything. Everything you said in the past was a joke, and no one would take it seriously. You don't owe her anything, so just let it go. In a few days Let’s find a chance to give Er Shuan a good beating, because he always talks nonsense..."

"Well, I understand." Xiaoqiu said reluctantly. The matter was not that simple, but he didn't know how to explain it to his good friend.

Daliang breathed a sigh of relief, "I have to go home quickly. Do you remember that weirdo by the bridge during the day? My father said he was not a lunatic, but a Taoist priest who specialized in taking in children. He would take away anyone he liked without telling his family, at least. It took ten or eight years for them to be released, and some of them never came back. I don’t want to go home with them.”

"Fangfang would rather go with the Taoist priest." Xiaoqiu said.

Daliang was stunned for a while, "This is also a way, but I don't know if the Taoist priest can like her. I have to go..." Daliang ran towards his home along the street, turning his head to look around from time to time, as if the strange Taoist priest was hiding behind In the shadows.

Xiaoqiu didn't go home immediately, but ran to the school. Daliang was right. A group of people were patrolling nearby. Ershuan's gang of teenagers were also there, as well as seven or eight adults. Listening to their conversation, it was not Xiaoqiu they were guarding against. , but according to custom, it is to expel bad luck.

Xiaoqiu returned home, found the leftovers in the pot, ate them up, went to bed and lay down, thinking that she would not be able to sleep, but she fell asleep after a while.

The next day, when Xiaoqiu went to the forest to herd horses, he was always depressed. The other shepherd boys felt sorry for him and found many fresh wild fruits for him, but no one mentioned Fangfang.

Xiaoqiu didn’t mention it either.

After the grazing was over, Xiaoqiu broke off a flexible wicker stick and used it as a riding whip, and drove the horses to join her friends and return to the town together.

According to the custom in Yelin Town, the bride should enter the husband's house at dusk, and it was not long before the auspicious time.

After crossing the bridge, the shepherd boys went back to their homes. When Daliang said goodbye, he said, "Brother Xiaoqiu, let's find a chance to clean up Er Shuan tomorrow so that he won't dare to laugh at you again."

"Yeah." Xiaoqiu replied dully, chasing after the horses in front.

Arriving at the entrance of the town, Xiaoqiu heard the sound of musical instruments in the distance. It seemed that the Shen family's new daughter-in-law was about to enter.

The horses had automatically turned to the back street. Xiaoqiu rushed to the front, stopped them, and walked into the front street. He thought that he could take a look from a distance.

The Shen family is the biggest wealthy man in the town. Half of the people in the town were invited to sit down, while the other half stood on the street and watched with envy.

Grandpa Zhang, who was in his sixties, shook his head and sighed: "This ostentation is a waste. I just pity Fangfang. How old is she..." He turned around and saw Xiaoqiu and the group of horses. He raised his walking stick and pointed at Xiaoqiu and said: " Mud monkey, what are you doing here?”

"have a look."

"Look, Fangfang is also the daughter-in-law of the Shen family. Can she still go back with you?"

The neighbors all laughed and turned their attention from the distant Shen family gate to the shepherd boy herding horses.

Liu Er was a prostitute on the street. He was not invited by the Shen family and was very dissatisfied. He said: "Xiaoqiu, why didn't you let your father help you with the betrothal gift? Now, Fangfang will return to Shen Dasheng. You are a fool." Don’t you want to make a scene?”

Grandpa Zhang hit Liu Er with a cane, "You brat, Xiaoqiu is still a child, what nonsense are you talking about."

Xiaoqiu silently jumped on the bay red horse and made up her mind.

"Neighbors!" Xiaoqiu shouted at the top of his voice. His voice was still a little immature and could not reach far. It could not cover the sound of the Shen family's musical instruments. However, everyone nearby heard it and raised their heads at the same time, looking at it in surprise. He said, "Make way for me!"

There was a leading horse in the group of horses. Xiaoqiu raised his whip and whipped it hard towards the horse's buttocks.

The leading horse raised its front hooves and neighed in surprise and dissatisfaction. When the second whip came down, it was frightened, its hooves flew forward, and ran forward lifelessly. The other horses followed suit, ww. ａ.comｍOnly the bay red horse is still under Xiaoqiu's control.

Only then did the neighbors understand the meaning of Xiaoqiu's words. Grandpa Zhang lost his walking stick, Liu Er hugged his head and jumped up, Aunt Li picked up the child, and Uncle Zhao sat down on the ground... There was chaos on the front street of Yelin Town.

Xiaoqiu rode on a bay red horse, followed the frightened horses, and ran to the gate of Shen's house under the extremely surprised eyes of the residents of Yelin Town.

The crowd that had gathered at the door made way for a large open space. The obese Matchmaker Liu sat down on the ground, the flowers on her head trembling slightly. The musicians still maintained their posture of playing the instruments, but they could not make any sound.

Everyone looked at Xiaoqiu on the maroon horse, wondering whether this was a prank or a new trick of the Shen family.

Xiaoqiu even saw his father in the crowd. Old Qiu was stunned. He never thought that his eldest son would dare to do such a thing. All the previous warnings were in vain.

Xiaoqiu saw the sedan chair and the small figure in front of it. He bent down on the horse's back, stretched out his right hand, and said in a hollow voice: "Get up, follow me."

(I applied for a book number yesterday. I didn't expect to publish a chapter. I apologize to those readers who asked me when to publish the book. I didn't mean to hide it. It was really an accident. The official publishing time is still counted from today. From now on, one chapter will be published every day from 8-9 am and 18-19 pm. Everyone is welcome to express their views and opinions on this book in the book review area.)

(The cover of this book is provided by the deputy version of Muzi Jen. I would like to express my gratitude.)

(Congratulations to the first leader of this book, Hailanzhu, and thank every reader for rewarding.)