Song Sanshun looked up and took the Dragon King statue: "Okay, uncle will dig a shrine and put it in."
Chang'an was satisfied, clapped his hands, stood up, and went to paint another Dragon King statue.
Song Sanshun's cellar was only dug vertically. He wanted to dig a pit horizontally so that he could have a hiding place in the future.
But the disaster is not serious now, and people are looking forward to rain one day. They have not thought of leaving their homes and fleeing to the fields, so there will be no large number of refugees robbing food.
For the survival of his family, Song Sanshun can only dig the cellar deeper to see if water can be discharged.
First, dig a niche on the cellar wall and put the Dragon King statue given by his niece in it. Song Sanshun also bowed to the Dragon King statue devoutly and silently said a few words of blessing from the Dragon King in his heart.
Then slowly dig the soil down.
The excavated soil is put into the bamboo basket hanging from the cellar mouth, and his wife pulls it up.
This work is tedious and tiring. The couple was almost exhausted after being busy for most of the day.
Seeing that it was getting dark, the couple had to stop and climb up to wash their hands and cook.
The next day, after breakfast, they were about to continue digging when they heard someone shouting outside the door: "Sanshun! Someone has sent a letter!"
"Who sent the letter?" Song Sanshun immediately opened the courtyard door and looked out. He saw a man and a horse standing behind Song Laoliu. They were unshaven and dusty, and they were carrying a large bag on their backs.
The man said, "Brother, are you Song Sanshun, the younger brother of Song Erxiao?"
"I am Song Sanshun!" When Song Sanshun heard his brother's name, his heart skipped a beat. He quickly extended his hand to invite the man into the house: "Please come in and talk."
The man was not polite and walked into the yard and followed Song Sanshun into the main hall.
Seeing that there was a guest at home, Wu hurried to make tea.
There was no tea leaves, but there was a small bamboo forest outside the yard, so she ran to pull a handful of bamboo leaves and put them in the pot to boil.
When she brought the tea to the main hall, she saw her little niece sitting on Sanshun's lap, reading a letter.
Although he read it stutteringly, the general meaning was clear.
The letter said that Song Erxiao had made meritorious service and was now a small flag. He wrote back to report his safety. He was doing well in the frontier and might be able to return home in a few years.
In addition, he asked his comrades to bring back some children's toys to Chang'an, and asked his younger brother Sanshun to ask someone to write a letter to him after receiving the letter.
Song Sanshun couldn't help sobbing after hearing his brother's letter.
Changan was frightened by his uncle's crying, and hugged his neck to comfort him: "Uncle, don't cry, Daddy said he is fine and will come back home in the future."
The visitor also smiled and said: "Yes, Song Xiaoqi has made great contributions and has a promising future. In a few years, he may be promoted to the general flag."
Song Sanshun wiped his tears and bowed to the visitor: "Thank you, Brother Zhang, for sending the letter. I will ask someone to write a reply. You can rest here and have a simple meal first, I will be back soon."
Zhang replied: "Please."
Song Sanshun put his niece down and asked someone to write a letter, and then told his wife to buy a chicken from another family to kill it to entertain the guests.
Wu nodded, took the money and went to buy a chicken.
Chang'an tilted his head and looked at the uncle in front of him, and asked: "Uncle, have you seen my daddy?"
Zhang picked up the tea bowl and took a sip: "Yes. You are the daughter of the second brother Song, right? I heard him mention you."
Chang'an smiled, blinked and asked: "Daddy still remembers me? What does he look like?"
Zhang thought for a while and said: "Your dad is a bit like your third uncle." Both are thin people.
"Will uncle see my daddy again?" Chang'an asked again.
Zhang smiled and said: "Of course, I am passing by here for something and will return later."
Chang'an was excited when he heard it, "Uncle, I have something to give to daddy, can you give it to him?"
"Sure." Zhang nodded: "As long as it is not too heavy, I will take it for you."
"Not heavy! Not heavy at all!" Chang'an jumped up happily and ran to the backyard quickly. She wanted to give the little beads to her father, but where should she put them properly?
It would not work to put them in a steamed bun, as the weather is too hot now and the bun would spoil.
Or she could make a clay doll, put the little beads in it, and let her father wear it close to his body, which should also protect him.
Thinking of this, Chang'an sat on a reed mat and quickly made a little doll like herself.
In order to make it easy for her father to wear it around his neck, she deliberately made it small, only the size of two bird eggs.
Then she quickly painted the little clay doll and put it under a tree to dry.
The little clay doll had two braids and wore the same clothes as Chang'an, with curved eyes and a happy smile.
When the clay doll was almost dry, Chang'an held it and whispered, "Little beads, come out quickly and protect your father in the future."
A flash of light flashed in the palm of her hand, and two leaves turned into streamers and flew into the body of the little clay man.
Chang'an was puzzled. She wanted to give all seven leaves in her palm to her father, so why did she only give two?
Two pieces are fine.
Chang'an quickly ran to the house to find her small bag and put the clay figurine in it.
Looking at the bag, she thought it would be best to write another letter to her father, asking him to bring the clay figurine with him.
Chang'an took out the ink stick and dripped water to grind the ink, and wrote crookedly on the paper:
"Dad, I am Chang'an, your daughter. I miss you so much, when will you come back?
My uncle and grandmother are so bad, they like to beat people, including my aunt. My cousin and aunt are also bad, they want to poison me and my aunt, but fortunately they are gone.
I will make a clay doll, please ask uncle to bring it to you, you must wear it, it will protect you."
Chang'an wrote several pages of paper, her hands were sore. She
couldn't write the word "dad", so she drew a male figurine instead. She
couldn't write the word "aunt", so she drew a female figurine.
In the end, she couldn't even write the words "poison" and "wear", so Chang'an used pictures instead.
After finally finishing writing and letting the ink dry, Chang'an folded up a thick stack of letter paper and put it together with the clay figurine.
After doing all this, Chang'an was in a good mood and ran to check the little toys his father sent back.
A small bundle contained a rattle and a small porcelain figurine, as well as a jigsaw puzzle and a nine-linked ring.
There was also a palm-sized cloth bag, which was untied layer by layer, revealing a pair of small silver bracelets.
Chang'an picked up the silver bracelet and shook it, his eyes smiling into crescents.
My little cousin also had a silver bracelet, but she never allowed me to look at it.
Now I have one too, I'm so happy.
Chang'an put the bracelet on his wrist and ran to show it to my aunt.
But my aunt was busy cooking, and she only took a look and said, "Don't wear it outside."
"Yeah." Chang'an knew that if he wore the silver bracelet outside, it would definitely be taken away by bad people.
In the main hall, my uncle had returned, and my sixth uncle, the clan leader and two clan elders also came. They talked to Uncle Zhang in the main hall.
Chang'an had no choice but to go back to the backyard again and show the bracelet on his wrist to Huahua and Baihuahua.
Huahua rubbed his head against his master and swung his tail lazily.
Baihuahua and Dahei didn't understand why, but they still licked their master's hand in a flattering way.
Chang'an muttered to Huahua: "My cousin is so bad. She actually said that Daddy will die. Humph! Daddy won't die. Look, he even brought me the bracelet."
He picked up a small porcelain doll and said, "And this one. Hey? Why is it so heavy?"