idle mistress

Chapter 5 Ancient Phoenix Mountain

She knew that Mrs. Zhang was very timid, afraid of people by day and ghosts by night, so it took a lot of courage to chase after him in this dark night.

"Er Niang, why did you keep up?" She lowered her waist and slid down the stone wall.

Seeing her approaching, Mrs. Zhang reached out and grabbed her by the corner of her clothes, begging bitterly: "Qiu'er, come back with me. In this cannibalistic world, how do you live as a girl? Don't be afraid, two Although your mother is useless, I will never ask that Rong to sell you out."

Under the moonlight, Xu Weiqiu was moved by the woman's begging eyes.

Seeing that she didn't respond, Mrs. Zhang was so anxious that tears rolled in her eyes, Xu Weiqiu's heart softened, and he couldn't help but nodded in agreement: "Okay, Er Niang, I won't go."

She reached out to help Zhang Shi: "Let's go back!" Unexpectedly, after a little effort, Zhang Shi frowned and cried out: "Qiu'er, I...I can't get up, this leg seems to be sprained."

"Let me see..." Xu Weiqiu helped her to sit down, stretched out his hand and pressed it lightly somewhere, Zhang cried out in pain, seeing this, Xu Weiqiu's face changed accordingly...

At dawn, Mrs. Zhang was carried into the hut by two farmers. Seeing her like that, Mrs. Rong called her a sinner.

Zhang's injured leg has been fixed with a splint, which was obviously treated by a special person. Seeing Xu Lian's puzzled face, Xu Weiqiu explained: "A kind doctor happened to pass by on the way, and he bandaged Erniang."

Hearing what she said, Mrs. Zhang had a strange expression on her face. It was obvious that she had bandaged her own leg, so why did she falsely claim that it was done by the doctor?Also, the skillful way she bandaged herself just now is not something ordinary people can do.

She never knew that her stepdaughter had such abilities.

Xu Weiqiu avoided her probing gaze, and added casually: "The doctor told me that Er Niang has to stay in bed for a month, otherwise this leg will be useless."

"What...?" After hearing this, Rong could no longer calm down, she yelled, "One month?"

"Yes, one month, not one day less."

"No, even if we delay one day on the way, it will be money. Let alone a month, we can't afford to wait two days. Master, what do you think?"

After hearing this, Mrs. Zhang was afraid that she would be abandoned, so she burst into tears in fright.

Xu Lian stood there, looking at this and that, unable to make up his mind for a moment.

Rong continued: "There are so many of us, and we still have to pay five slings a month for food and clothing. How can we have such spare money now?"

Xu Weiqiu couldn't bear to listen, so he couldn't help but said, "Don't worry, as long as you promise not to leave Er Niang here alone, I'll figure out a way for the five slings."

Because of this sentence, three days later, Xu Weiqiu changed into Xu Weicheng's clothes, and followed a team of strong men to Guhuang Mountain, which was twenty kilometers away.

Before leaving, Rong also took off the cloth shoes under her feet and gave her a pair of poorly made straw sandals. If it wasn't for fearing that her second mother's life would be difficult after leaving, Xu Weiqiu really wanted to fight her.

There were nearly a hundred people in the same company, all of them were men, some were elderly, some were strong middle-aged people, and more were young people in their teens and 20s. That's four people.

On the way, because of his similar age, a boy named Goudan always came over to talk to Xu Weiqiu; he was an impostor, and Xu Weiqiu was afraid of revealing his secrets and sneaking a look at the official leading the way not far away, so he didn't dare to talk to him. ; but this bitch is a chatterbox, as long as she replies a word, the other party can chatter more than ten sentences.

On the way, Xu Weiqiu learned from Goudan that Guhuang Mountain is a well-known geomantic treasure land with a unique scenery.

They only knew that they were arranged to go to Ancient Phoenix Mountain, but no one knew what they would do there. If it was a place with beautiful scenery, it would be good.

Along the way, over mountains and ridges, trekking through mountains and rivers, when a group of people arrived at their destination, the scene in front of them made everyone dumbfounded. Where did the picturesque scenery come from?

The huge Guhuang Mountain, which stretches as far as the eye can see, has been dug beyond recognition, and high walls have been built in many places.

In the billowing dust, as far as the eye can see, there are many laborers, probably as many as thousands of people.

The huge project in front of him, if he didn't know that it was Cheng Dynasty, Xu Weiqiu might mistakenly think that it was building the Great Wall.

Goudan standing behind her saw this and said to her with a sad face: "Xiaoyu, I don't want to stay here anymore, I want to go home." The factory, and soon these hundred people were scattered and assigned to work in various districts.

Here, I work at sunrise and rest in the adobe house at the foot of the mountain after sunset, day after day.

At first, Xu Weiqiu was worried that her daughter would not be able to hide her body. However, she soon realized that she was worrying too much. The work here was too intense, and no one would have the energy to pay attention to a yellow-haired kid who didn't even grow any hair.

Under the scorching sun, on Guhuang Mountain, people are working like ants: moving sand, digging foundations, transporting wood, stone...

Such high-intensity labor is exhausting even for the young and strong. Xu Weiqiu has just arrived and does not know how to work tirelessly. After working hard for a few days, she already feels that her body can't take it anymore.

At night, there was thunderous snoring all around, and Xu Weiqiu curled up in a corner of the thatched cottage, moaning softly. Her hands and feet were worn out in many places, and due to the heavy load, her shoulder bones on both sides were in unbearable pain, and a slight touch would cause pain. There was a piercing pain.

The next day, when it was dawn, the whistle for the start of work sounded like a hypnotic sound, and she followed the crowd into the factory with the discomfort, and started a day of hard work.

Xu Weiqiu couldn't help letting out a hiss of pain when the back basket full of gravel was pressed against her shoulders. Seeing that she couldn't straighten her back, the uncle couldn't help asking, "Are you okay?"

Xu Weiqiu shook his head with a bitter face.

Seeing that she was young and small, the other party couldn't help feeling sorry for her, so he removed two big rocks from her back basket to lighten her burden. Just as he was about to unload the third one, he saw a supervisor turned his head and looked over. I have to stop quickly.

In this workshop, people are also divided into ranks. Apart from the guards on the outside, there are also many supervisors on the construction site.The laborers who do coolies are also divided into levels. There are artisans hired with money, and most of them are Yao slaves who were forced to go up the mountain like her.

There is also a relatively special group, that is, prisoners.

Prisoners, as the name suggests, are those prisoners who have committed crimes and are released to the mountains for hard labor.They were all wearing prison uniforms, with heavy chains on their feet, and they were driven to work like walking corpses.

(End of this chapter)