Linxia

Chapter 185, follow-up

Fang family.

"The next chapter is 'The great Han Prime Minister dies and the governor of Wei becomes frightened when he sees the wooden statue.'" Fang Lin and Tian Xuan sat side by side at the door, and Fang Lin was reading to Tian Xuan.

After the heavy rain a few days ago, the weather became much cooler and the open space on Xiaowu Mountain became lively again. Fang's mother went there, and he read the Romance of the Three Kingdoms to Tian Xuan at home.

"Brother Lin, let's stop here. I don't want to listen to the rest." Tian Xuan said, and suddenly she understood why Fang Lin said that his reputation would turn around a few days ago. She felt a little heartbroken when she heard it now: "Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, and Liu Bei are all dead, and Kong Ming also died of illness at Wuzhangyuan. Brother Lin, why did you write them all dead?"

"That's the vein of the Three Kingdoms! For minor events, we can use the Spring and Autumn style, like in the second part, when Zhuge Liang came out of the mountains and burned Xinye, highlighting a small victory after a great defeat; however, the major events cannot be changed, such as the deaths of Guan, Zhang, and Liu, and Zhuge Liang's unfulfilled ambitions and death, these are things that cannot be changed."

As Fang Lin was speaking, he suddenly thought of something and felt sad: "Small trends can be changed, but big trends are hard to reverse? Is it the same for Daxia?"

'In this era of family rule, no matter how much I do or how many advantages I accumulate, if I meet a weird emperor, I will lose everything in one day. For example, the Emperor Jiaomen or Emperor Chongzhen.'

To be honest, the emperor is not afraid of lying down, but he is afraid of thinking that he is working hard to govern the country, but has no idea of ​​his own abilities and does some fancy things.

"Never mind. It's useless for me to think about these things now."

Fang Lin put aside his thoughts on the system and focused on the present: "To open a factory, the background is sufficient and the land is good. The three or four volumes of Romance of the Three Kingdoms have been sold, and the money is enough, and the reputation has also spread. It just so happens that there is a flood, refugees are gathering, and there is no shortage of labor..."

'After a few days, when the influence of the third and fourth volumes of Romance of the Three Kingdoms has further fermented and those fanatical readers have calmed down, we can step forward and open a workshop!'

So he thought.

"Brother Lin?"

"Oh, I was just distracted and thinking about something. Sister Xuan, if you don't want to listen anymore, let's get up and take a walk!" Fang Lin helped Tian Xuan, who was pregnant, to get up carefully.

The evening breeze was blowing gently as the two walked in the alley, greeting neighbors as they met them.

The sunset glow in the sky became brighter and brighter, then gradually dimmed and finally disappeared. There was still light in the air. The flower-legged mosquitoes in the dark smelled the scent and began to flicker in front of people.

In this environment, Fang Lin and Tian Xuan held hands and walked slowly home.

……

During the days when Fang Lin stayed at home and accompanied Tian Xuan as she was about to give birth, the influence of the third and fourth parts of "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" spread in the city. Countless people were extremely sad when they read about the deaths of Guan, Zhang, Liu, and Zhuge.

This caused many accidents, such as storytellers being beaten and having things smashed on the stage. Well, Fang Lin single-handedly turned storytelling in the city into a high-risk profession.

Later, he went to see Master Ou, Xu Kuolao, Prefect Pu and others. They all expressed resentment and said that the third and fourth parts were really heartbreaking to watch.

However, there are also many wonderful scenes in the third and fourth parts of "Romance of the Three Kingdoms": the division of the Three Kingdoms, Cao Pi usurping the Han Dynasty, the clever layout of the Eight Diagrams, the seven captures of Meng Huo, the six expeditions to Qishan...

Perhaps it was because the drama was both cruel and exciting, which made people unable to stop watching; or perhaps it was because the third and fourth parts were released at the same time, and the Three Kingdoms ended, which added to the sentimentality. This time, the influence of the third and fourth parts of "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" was even greater than the previous two parts. Storytelling in teahouses and taverns, and the choreographed fireworks shows, drove the rapid recovery of Huai'an's economy after the disaster.

Perhaps it is because the famous generals in the third and fourth parts of "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" have grown old and the stars of war have faded away. Such a tragedy is more memorable, and various character cards have been hyped up, and the prices have skyrocketed, especially the character cards of Liu, Guan, Zhang, and Zhuge Kongming, which have reached a staggering level.

By the way, Xu Xianwen was quite smart. He saw the business opportunity and planned to buy low and sell high to make a lot of pocket money. Everything was going well, but unfortunately he was caught by Master Yu when he was counting cards in class and his cards were confiscated, so he lost all his money. Later, this kid was still unwilling to give up and sold the Ma Chao collection character cards based on his father's portrait. Then Xu Kuo found out and beat him up...

In addition, Manager Fan from Qingyun Pavilion also came and brought ten pieces of abalone with bones, just to obtain the original manuscripts of the third and fourth parts of "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" and wanted to collect a complete set.

This Qingyun Pavilion was the place where Dong Zugao got his results in the provincial examination and the two men became sworn brothers. On that day, Manager Fan waived his meal and everything just to ask for a copy of the original manuscript of "Romance of the Three Kingdoms". The original manuscript of the second part was given to Dong Zugao, and the other draft was given to this person.

……

Another half month passed quickly, and when the excitement of the readers gradually faded, Tian Xuan also knew that Fang Lin had been accompanying her for many days and had accumulated a lot of things. Although she was about to give birth and was extremely attached to him, she was very reasonable and let Fang Lin go out.

Go to the main store first, then the two branches.

Although this time the sale was after the disaster and the timing was not very good, because there were two films released at once, they promoted and boosted each other, and the profit in the first month was much greater than the previous two sales, reaching several thousand taels.

This number is indeed not small, but it is only one city after all. Compared with the total revenue of the distribution channels, it is still dwarfed. Fang Lin naturally treated it as normal and remained calm. However, the shop assistants were not so happy. After counting the numbers, none of them could believe it. Thinking of the reward share, they were so excited that their faces flushed.

It is worth mentioning that when we last went to Yandaixie Street, we encountered a very interesting thing.

"Who is this person?" Fang Lin looked at a girl in the store.

The other person was slim, with a slightly sunken face and dry and sallow skin, but a pair of big, bright eyes covered up all these flaws.

"This girl's name is Meng He. She fled from the north and passed down her family tradition of farming and studying. She can also read a few words, but her family has fallen on hard times. The store has been busy these days, and Fang He happened to tell me about it, so I asked her to come over to help out temporarily."

Dai Zongqi introduced them to Fang Lin in a low voice, paused, and added: "Here, those who fled from the famine in the north are not registered in this prefecture. They have to queue after the local victims when they are given porridge outside the city, and they are often looked down upon. It's really pitiful."

"Oh?"

Fang Lin was very perceptive. He figured out something after hearing Fang He's introduction. This time, he looked at Meng He more seriously. "She has a nice face shape. If she is well-maintained, she should be handsome. She looks neat and tidy. She can read. She looks good at the moment."

Then, he called Fang He over and said, "Meng He, how do you know him?"

"She came here looking for work. She came several times. I met her twice on the street. I saw her and her brother... Then she came again and I helped her say a few words..." Fang He said.

Because Fang Chuanhui went to the fleet and went out to sea, he was bored recently and went out for a walk whenever he had time. He saw Meng He and his sister looking for work in the city. They had come to this branch several times before. The last time he helped to mention it, Dai Zongqi gave him face and let them in, and then the two slowly got to know each other.

"Brother Linzi, well, Meng He is very capable. If she performs well in the future, can you let her stay?" he said hesitantly.

"Did she ask you to say that?"

"No! No!" Fang He was afraid that Fang Lin would misunderstand him, so he quickly shook his head: "We didn't talk too much, and we were talking about things in the store..."

"He's old enough to admire Ai." Fang Lin looked at Fang He's nervous expression and laughed in his heart: "Why, are you attracted to her?"

"That's right, I just feel it's okay." Fang He scratched his head.

Fang Lin understood.

Because of him, Fang He was considered a popular guy. In their West Lane alley, every time Fang He went to eat, there were many people who wanted to propose marriage to him.

Fang He had tried several times, but because he had no house in the city and his cousin had a pretty good job, the girls he introduced each time were not the best, that is, those who were pretty, literate, from the provincial capital, and had a good family background.

Therefore, after each introduction, Fang He said "it's all right", which actually meant it was not good enough; this time he said "it's okay", which actually meant it met the requirements but he was not particularly satisfied; only last time when they went back to Xiaohe Village, Fang He and Fang Chuanhui talked about Yang Xiu Lian and commented "pretty good", which meant they were extremely satisfied.

However, how could a woman like Yang Xiulian be so easy to meet? Most couples in the world just live together.

It was this Meng He, the one who had suffered a great disaster in the north, whose family was impoverished, and some other factors of his… otherwise, Fang He would have been considered marrying above his station.

"I think Meng He will be even better looking after she has had a good meal. As for her character, I have not had much contact with her, so you can get to know her slowly. If you really want to like her, it's up to you as for Second Uncle and Second Mother."

Fang Lin patted Fang He on the shoulder and walked away with a smile. It's actually quite interesting to look at this kind of thing from the perspective of someone who has experienced it.

……

Afterwards, Fang Lin came to the place where the victims were resettled outside the city.

When I got here, I saw someone telling a story, and the story was "Romance of the Three Kingdoms".

Master Tang was also here. Seeing Fang Lin, he came over and explained with a smile, "There are many people here but little land, so people often fight and cause trouble. The prefect knew about it, so he came up with an idea and sent someone who can read to read your Romance of the Three Kingdoms. You know what, the effect is surprisingly good."

As he spoke, he joked: "Now, for these disaster victims, it's okay to go without food for a day, but it's not okay to go without reading for a day."

Fang Lin found it quite funny after listening to it. He thought about his previous life, when there was a fool in the village who was always making noises. Later, someone bought him a smart phone, installed some entertainment software on him, and he never went out again since then.

"That's good, it can help me expand my influence," he thought to himself.

As the two were talking, the disaster victims not far away were watching and talking about it.

"Who is that person who can talk to Master Tang?"

"You don't know? The Romance of the Three Kingdoms that we listen to was written by him. His last name is Fang, and I think his name is Fang Lin."

"I heard that the emperor likes to watch the Romance of the Three Kingdoms. He was so happy after watching it that he gave this man a high position!"

……

Among the victims, there was a woman who listened to this, stared at Fang Lin's face, and tried to pull her children over, but was stopped by the yamen runners.

"Is your mother's name Sun Hongling?" she shouted to Fang Lin.

Fang's mother, Fang Sun, her real name is indeed Sun Hongling.

"you are?"

"I'm your mother's sister. My name is Sun Hongye."

'A relative from my mother's side, or a biological sister?'

Fang Lin looked at the other person. Perhaps she was really a biological child. After all, she looked very similar to Fang's mother. Same eyes, same nose. One could vaguely see the shadow of Fang's mother, but she looked much older. She was clearly Fang's mother's sister and younger than her, but she looked like a little old lady.

He believed it about 60% in his heart, and then, looking at the other person, who was short, vaguely similar to Fang's mother, but like a little old lady, he felt an indescribable pain in his heart, as if he saw Fang's mother who had no time and space of his own.

……

I brought the man back and asked Fang's mother to identify him. She was really happy to recognize him and invited him into the house.

Fang's mother said: "My hometown is in Chu. In the 23rd year of Hongde, there was a severe drought. My father, eldest brother, second brother, and youngest sister fled to the north; my mother, youngest brother, me, and third sister followed my uncle here... It was like that at that time. We didn't know where to survive, so we separated so that at least some of our family members could survive."

"My younger brother died on the road. My mother left me in Xiaohe Village and married me to the old Fang family."

Fang's mother said to Fang Lin, "In the past, in our Fang family, your father was not as favored as your eldest uncle, second uncle, or youngest uncle. He was not the eldest or the youngest, and was as unfavored as your second uncle. Compared to your second uncle, your father cared more about his reputation and would not compete... I came here to escape famine, and it didn't cost much to marry me, so your father married me..."

Fang's mother's younger sister, Sun Hongye, continued, "Later, I followed my mother and continued to walk until we reached Dashe Village in Guyang County. Our mother was in poor health and died within a year."

"I know that. Hongye, you sent me a message. But then, there was no news from you anymore. I thought..."

"It's far away and it's hard to send a letter. Life is not easy at home either." Sun Hongye forced a smile.

In this era, a married girl is like spilled water. Without Fang Lin's grandmother as a bond, and because they live far away and are busy with their own lives, and both families are poor, it is normal for them to gradually lose contact.

Fang Lin listened to this and nodded slightly. Just like Fang's father, Fang's mother naturally had relatives as well. They wouldn't just appear out of nowhere.

Fang's mother talked about her life over the years.

Sun Hongye listened and also talked about her own experience: "I gave birth to eight babies, but because I couldn't raise them, they were either given away or died young. Only one son and one daughter are left... My family had little land and not enough food. When I gave birth to a baby, I had to pick snails to exchange for rice before it was one month old. A bowl of snail meat could only be exchanged for half a bowl of rice..."

Because she gave birth to many children, she had no rest after giving birth, and she was hungry and full at times, plus the heavy physical labor, which left her with asthma. When she spoke, it was as if she was pulling on a bellows stove, panting, and her head swayed like a peddler.

"Where's their father?" Fang's mother asked, looking sad and wiping her eyes.

"Two years ago, his father borrowed a cow from the Hu family in the village to plow the field. My husband took the plowshare off his shoulder and put it in place, then took the cow's shoulder pole and put it around the cow's neck. I don't know if the cow was shy or what, but the cow used its long horns to hit my husband. He only cried out 'Ouch' and the cow hit him in the stomach... He was hanging on the cow's horns like this, with his feet dragging in the field. Blood was pouring out, and the water in the field was dyed red."

Sun Hongye said, "It was too late when we got there. My wife was already in pain, her eyes were wide open like bells, her teeth were bared, and I didn't dare to look at her for even a second..."

After Fang Lin listened, he sighed and then let it go.

Once, he looked at Sister Guihua, Granny Qiu, Chuntao, Mr. Man... and thought that only people around him were like this. Later, when he got to know people on a wider scale, he found that it was universally true, and then he sighed that all living beings are suffering.

'Yes, in the 1950s and 1960s, many people could not feed their children, let alone in ancient times? Scarce supplies, ignorant ideas, and backward medical care, a slight accident, and the pain that can be easily cured in later generations is an unbearable burden in this era.'

'They lag behind in this aspect, lag behind in that aspect, and all these factors combined have formed a huge deviation, forming this miserable world that people in the previous life could not imagine or empathize with.'

"It's over, it's over."

Sun Hongye said, forcing a smile: "I just hope these two kids can survive."

Her son was called Ren Chang, about fifteen or sixteen years old. The name "Chang" means that he hoped he could live longer. He looked to be of medium height, dark and thin, and he did not dare to look up at people.

However, when he took the initiative to help with chopping wood and doing chores, he was very skillful and could finish a bundle of wood without making a sound.

Her daughter was called Ren Xiu'er, she was twelve or thirteen years old, timid and taciturn. Compared with the lively Fang Yuyu and Fang Xiaoxiao from the old Fang family, she was at the other extreme.

Fang Lin has no prejudice, it’s just that their living environments are different. What does that prove?

During the meal, Sun Hongye and her cousin were afraid to sit at the table and were very reserved. It was Fang's mother who forced them to sit down and serve them food.

After dinner, Fang Lin said he would find a place for them to live, but they insisted on going back to the shantytown outside the city, saying that all the villagers were there, so he could only give them some things.

Wait until Sun Hongye, her mother and her two children leave.

"Linzi, looking at their character, if they deserve help, then give them a hand. If not... forget it." No matter what, Fang's mother still values ​​her own family more.

"Mom, I remember it." Fang Lin nodded.

……

(End of this chapter)