Flowers in full bloom

Chapter 486 Sad Past

On the other hand, because of the tight budget, even if it was two cents, Hua Mancheng would not be willing to spend it for no reason. Therefore, it was unlikely to find a job in the town, but there was no income at all in the valley.

At first, Hua Mancheng wanted to teach the children in the valley to read and write and collect some tuition fees. However, there were only about ten families in the valley in the remote mountain area, and there were not many children.

And every household is in a similar situation. It is already very good to be able to eat and wear warm clothes throughout the year. It is extremely difficult to save a few dollars.

Not to mention that it was basically impossible to let the children learn. Therefore, Hua Mancheng could only teach these children to read for free during rainy days and winter when they could not go into the mountains.

When the weather was fine and suitable for going into the mountains, Hua Mancheng followed Grandfather Ni to the mountains every day to learn how to pick herbs, and then went to the herbal medicine shop to exchange them for silver. However, the silver he earned had to be used to replenish Yun's body, so sometimes it was not enough.

Although Yun's health had recovered a lot after her miscarriage, she was still left with fear of cold and physical weakness.

Especially in winter and spring, life is even more difficult. In addition, there are not enough warm clothes, and the problem of cold and qi deficiency is getting worse. When it is serious, I am out of breath after walking a few steps, and sometimes I can't even get out of bed.

Although Cheng Linsheng was already eleven years old, he had grown up in Changyun County in the plains. So at the beginning, he knew nothing about the mountain herbs and other things that could fill his stomach and exchange for money.

However, the situation was pressing, so he had no choice but to ask to follow Hua Mancheng up the mountain to learn how to pick some herbs and other things that could be exchanged for money. Sometimes, he would also follow Ni Daya to pick some wild fruits and mushrooms to supplement the family income.

But even so, after a year of spending money in the city, they still couldn't save much. In the past few years, apart from barely having enough to eat, they still couldn't save enough money to go back home.

During this period, Hua Mancheng accidentally went to the town to sell herbs when he heard that Zhu Botao, the prefect of Chengde Prefecture, was unexpectedly robbed by a group of unknown robbers on his way to promotion.

More than a dozen people in the family, young and old, all died in an accident, and the huge amount of property they carried with them was also missing. While Hua Mancheng was sighing, the pressure of being silenced also disappeared unconsciously.

Before they knew it, several years had passed and Cheng Linsheng and Ni Daya had developed feelings for each other because of the affection they developed from frequently going up the mountain to pick mushrooms together.

Because they knew each other well, Grandfather Ni and Hua Mancheng did not stop them, so they arranged a marriage for them when they were 18 years old. Soon, Mobao was born.

Unfortunately, at the beginning of this year, the snow in the mountains had not yet melted, but Grandfather Ni was in a hurry to go to the mountains to collect herbs. At that time, Hua Mancheng caught a cold, so he didn't go with him.

As a result, Grandfather Ni accidentally fell on the mountain road on his way back from picking herbs. As luck would have it, he hit a big rock and died immediately.

When the mountain people went to the town to help buy incense, candles, paper money and other items needed for the funeral, they also bought a jar of wine needed for the funeral.

After the funeral, Hua Mancheng accidentally saw the word "花" (flower) printed on flower buds and the mark of the wintersweet flower at the bottom of an empty wine jar. This made Hua Mancheng miss his hometown and he was eager to return home.

After the 57th day after Grandfather Ni's death, Hua Mancheng proposed his idea to Cheng Linsheng and Ni Daya. He wanted to take Yun back to his hometown immediately and let Cheng Linsheng stay in the valley and live a good life with Ni Daya.

In the past two years, Yun's health has improved a lot. Although she is still a little afraid of the cold, Yun is also very worried when she hears what Hua Mancheng said about the flower characters and wintersweet patterns on the empty wine jar.

Therefore, even if he was not fully recovered, he insisted on returning to Tongde Town. But Cheng Linsheng was a little worried, although he had no blood relationship with Hua Mancheng and his wife.

However, over the years, he has treated Hua Mancheng and his wife as his own parents, so he wanted to send them back to Tongde Town in person, but he was worried about leaving Ni Daya and the young children in the old house in the valley.

So, he proposed to take Ni Daya and Mo Bao back to Tongde Town. After thinking about it for a few days, Ni Daya agreed, and then sold her thatched house and a few acres of thin land for a few taels of silver, and added her savings to set off with her family.

However, the expenses on the road far exceeded the expenses of staying at home, and Ni Daya soon spent most of the money from selling her fields and houses.

However, the journey had only lasted about two months. There were still four or five months to go. Mo Bao had caught a cold again, and Yun Shi was also a little exhausted.

As a last resort, the family had to stop and find a cheap farmhouse to stay at for a while. Then Hua Mancheng and Cheng Linsheng went to find temporary jobs to save money for the trip.

In this way, the family walked and stopped, looking for work while traveling, and after earning money, they started on the road again. From early spring February to now, it has been more than ten months.

When Tian Xiaofu saw Hua Mancheng at the dock in Jianyang Prefecture, it was indeed the last day that Hua Mancheng and his family left Jianyang Prefecture. Therefore, he had no idea about Tian Xiaofu's missing person notice.

Their original plan was to go directly to Qingyangzhou instead of going ashore in Fengyangzhou. However, while on the boat, Mo Bao suddenly started to vomit and have diarrhea, perhaps because he had eaten unclean food or caught a cold.

In order to find a doctor for Mo Bao, the family temporarily landed in Fengyang Prefecture and found a doctor for treatment. In order to save money, they stayed in the doctor's utility room for two days.

This is also the reason why Tian Changjin and his son did not find any records of Hua Mancheng staying in the inn or restaurant. The population list at Fengyangzhou Wharf did not include Cheng Linsheng's personal information, which was also to avoid paying a few cents to go ashore.

The temporary notice that Hua Lei saw on the notice board at Jianyangzhou Wharf said that people going ashore had to pay a landing fee of two cents per person, and children under five years old were exempt from payment.

That day, the ship docked after dark. In order to pay less money, Hua Mancheng and his men decided to let the agile Cheng Linsheng carry two boxes and escape from the eyes of the clerks at the dock when it was dark and the clerks were busy.

Hua Mancheng, on the other hand, carried his bag, held his calligraphy, and took the frail Yun and the pregnant Ni Daya with him. He lined up obediently, paid the landing fee, and went ashore. This was also the reason why Tian Changjin and his son did not see Cheng Linsheng's information on the roster.