Xiangyang City, west of the city.

This is a relatively remote and barren place in Xiangyang City.

Xiangyang City's dignitaries mainly live in the north of the city. Most of the houses in the west of the city are low buildings rammed with soil. There are no contiguous pavilions, no big families.

The people who live here are mostly workers.

Li Yan lives here.

Li Yan is a tenant. In this barren place, he doesn't even have his own house. When Li Yan was in Nanyang County, he had a house allocated by the government, followed by his wife and children. With him working in the government, although Li Yan is incorruptible, he doesn't worry about food and clothing, and he doesn't worry about spending money, so he can get by.

No great wealth, no poverty. But when he returned to Xiangyang, his days fell from the sky to the ground and became the bottom of Xiangyang City.

Prices are higher in Xiangyang City.

Renting is not cheap.

Li Yan wants to rent a better house, but he has no money left. In his present condition, he can only live in such a remote place.

To this day, the government has no news and has not arranged his affairs. Li Yan went to Xiangyang County Yamen in person and asked the magistrate. The result was waiting.

I don't know when to wait.

There's never been any news.

Once upon a time, when Li Yan was an official in Nanyang County, all his distant relatives came to ask Li Yan for help or arrange things for him. Even if Li Yan didn't help, some people praised him, saying that he was a good example for officials.

From time to time, there are distant relatives to send some eggs, poultry and so on.

Life at home is very relaxed.

Now it's different.

Li Yan's family today is as poor as a stone. No more relatives praised him, no more distant relatives who gave gifts, only endless criticism and abuse.

What's more, some distant relatives came to Li Yan's house to ask for the eggs he had given to Li Yan and ask him to return the gifts.

There are so many wonderful flowers.

It's a pity that the world is so cold.

As the saying goes, the rich have distant relatives in the mountains, and the poor have no one to ask. When Li Yan was an official in Nanyang County, even if he was in a remote place, some people came to visit him, all of them were very pleasant.

However, when Li Yan came to Xiangyang City, he did not become an official for the time being, and he had no source of income. Although some people came to visit, they all came to ask for things and asked him to return the gifts he had received before.

Originally, Li Yan was not rich.

He is also a person with lofty disposition. When others ask for repayment, he doesn't hesitate to exchange money directly.

One to two, the family is even more poor, life is difficult.

Li Yan's temperament is quite noble. Even in trouble, he doesn't like to borrow money from his friends. When he was in trouble, he didn't like to let his friends know and didn't want to let his embarrassed side be seen by his friends.

So in the extremely difficult situation, Li Yan made a change. Every morning, he took out his back basket, took out his pen, ink, paper and inkstone, and made a simple stall to go to the street and write letters for others.

Although the income is meager, the family will not run out of food and can still maintain it.

For several days in a row, the income is also increasing.

After all, Li Yan has been a scholar since he was a child. His calligraphy is excellent. He is well-informed and has strong memory. He is familiar with allusions and has a good literary talent. So after he set up a stall, from the beginning of nobody's interest, to the business booming.

However, after the appearance of Li Yan, the business of some down-to-earth scholars in the original streets became worse.

Li Yan didn't take care of these.

He himself has a hard time. If he can earn income, he will be happy, but he can also make a living in hardship.

On this day, Li Yan was still at his usual time. At dawn, he arrived at the market early, put up the stalls, and sat down to wait for business. Just as he had just sat down, the people who set up the stalls around him gathered one by one and came to Li Yan's position.

Seeing this, Li Yan sank his heart and said, "what are you going to do?"

"Hit you!"

One of them, answer out loud.

After the sound came out, he jumped, rushed to Li Yan's body, and swung his fist. The rest of the people, one by one, came to Li Yan's body. Without saying a word, they swung their fists and smashed them down.

Li Yan lay on the ground and was beaten black and blue. He wants to open his mouth, but what he can get is still a fist.

I was beaten badly.

"Go away!"

"Boy, come here again. Next time, we'll hit you."

"Once I see you, once I hit you!"

……

All the people who took the shot began to drink and scold Li Yan, and their faces were full of disdain and disdain. The people who worship calligraphy and painting stalls nearby didn't plan to clean up Li Yan, but Li Yan's business was so good that he robbed everyone of their jobs, leading all the people to unite to deal with Li Yan.Li Yan was even more miserable.

There's blood spilling from the corner of the mouth.

"Go

The leader yelled and the swarm dispersed.

Li Yan still covered his head. After a while, he released his hand to protect his head and looked up. All around him is empty. Because he came early, there was no common people around him, and no evidence could be found.

Li Yan, a former official, knows very well that even if he reports to the government, no one will testify. Even if he identifies these people, he can't stand up. What's more, he didn't even know the names of these people.

It's all gone. There's no one.

He didn't run the county government. It's impossible to fight because of his words.

Li Yan's cheek was burning and he limped up. First, he sat down and straightened his untidy hair. Then he put away his painting and calligraphy stall, picked up his basket and limped back.

At the moment, Li Yan bent his back, dressed in rags, his face was bruised everywhere, and the corners of his eyes were cracked with blood. After the blood overflowed, Li Yan gasped in pain.

He felt his cheek burning. He wiped it with his clothes. When he found blood, he quickly wiped it clean before he went back.

When he came to his home, Li Yan looked at his family's house and felt sad.

He didn't know how to deal with his wife and children.

Are you going home?

He couldn't hang on his face and didn't know how to explain to his wife.

Li Yan put down the basket on his back and sat at the gate of the yard with a sigh. As the sun rises, the golden light falls on Li Yan. On the contrary, it makes Li Yan's rickety figure even worse.

Seeing that there were more people coming and going, Li Yan stood up, picked up the basket with pen, ink, paper and inkstone, pushed open the door and went in.

In the yard, a woman was chopping wood.

This woman, Li Yan's wife, is two or three years younger than Li Yan. She has a dignified appearance and a scholarly air. Before she married Li Yan, she was also a scholar, and her family was from Nanyang.

She followed Li Yan and had a good life. It was only after she arrived in Xiangyang that she became very difficult.

Now, her dowry has run out.

The family is poor and the days are hard.

She heard the sound of the door being pushed open, looked up and saw Li Yan come back with blood on his face. She exclaimed, threw away the firewood knife in her hand, ran to Li Yan's side and worried, "husband, what's the matter with you?"

She is very worried about Li Yan.

Li Yan has been out these days, and he can earn money. His life has improved a lot.

Li's family felt that somehow they were relieved.

I didn't expect it to happen again.

Li Yan put down the basket behind him and said with a sad smile, "it's nothing. It's not in the way. It's just a fall."

Li said, "it's impossible!"

She is not a fool, how can not see the injury. Seeing Li Yan's injuries, he said, "who did you fight with? You are a weak scholar. How can you be the opponent of others? "

Li Yan bowed his head and sighed: "it's not who I want to fight with. I set up the stall well, and the people around me rushed up and knocked me over directly. What can I do?"

Li was very angry and said in a loud voice: "husband, we'll report to the official. I don't believe it. Is there no royal law?"

"No use!"

Li Yan shook his head and sighed: "I am also an official. Don't you know how to deal with this situation? Without evidence, it doesn't work at all. Even if it's an identification, it doesn't work. "

"But..."

Li's eyes were full of worry.

Li Yan said: "it's nothing, but that's it. Lady, I'm going to have a rest. I won't go out today. Tomorrow morning, I'll set up a stall in another place and find a more remote place. "

Li wanted to persuade, but Li Yan didn't speak and went straight to the room.

Li Yan said that he was going to have a rest. In fact, he hid himself and licked the injured wound. The injury on the body can be recovered quickly, but the injury on the heart can not be recovered in a short time.

Li sat in the yard, big tears, such as off-line, splashed down and soaked his cheeks. At least his son went out to play, but he didn't see this scene.

It took a while for her to recover.

Sitting in the yard, she lifted the axe in her hand and sighed at the wood in front of her eyes.

When is the end of this day?