Miaochu

Chapter 1 Demanding Debt

The cold spring is scary.

Just after midnight, the sun was completely obscured by thick clouds, not even half of it was exposed, and the sky was extremely gloomy.

In February in Beijing, the snow had just melted, and spring snow started falling again. It was so cold that the sounds of cats and dogs on the roadside were muted.

Song Miao bent over and fetched half a bucket of water from the well in the snow.

Snow particles drifted into her clothes, and the ice made her shiver.

She lowered her head and was about to wash up when she saw the face emerging from the water in the barrel that was half full.

She is a girl in her prime, her nose is red from the cold, her face is haggard, and her eyes are red and swollen.

Despite this, the face is only as big as a palm, the facial features are exquisite, and the beauty cannot be concealed.

So familiar.

Familiar yet strange.

It’s clearly her face, but it shouldn’t be her face.

This body is also called Song Miao. His mother passed away in childbirth a few years ago. He had an eldest brother who followed his master on a study tour in the north last year. A group of more than ten people encountered bandits in the river, and only two bookboys escaped to report his death.

Her biological father was originally a married woman, so he changed his surname to Song when he entered the family, and was known as Song Dalang.

The ancestors of the Song family had a courtyard, with a restaurant in the front and people living in the back. There were four rooms in two, which was not very big. The location was just outside Zhuque Gate, at the end of Jujube Alley, but it was considered well-off in the capital where every inch of land was precious.

However, as soon as his wife and son died, Song Dalang, the father, was like a bird in a cage entering the forest. He ignored the restaurant and scattered the family wealth like water. At first, he just went out to eat, drink and have fun, and then he became addicted to gambling. Within a year or two, everything in the family was pawned and sold, and the business plummeted.

In the first month of the year, he fell into the Bianhe River in the middle of the night. When the soldiers in charge of the river water broke through the ice and fished him out, he was frozen solid.

An autopsy was conducted and it was said that he lost his footing and drowned.

While Song Dalang was still lying there, local gangsters blocked the mourning hall with a house purchase document - it turned out that he had gambled his head and sold the Song family's ancestral property at a low price, and the buyer took the opportunity to hire someone to come and collect the house.

The gangsters made a big fuss in the mourning hall, and the original owner relied on Li Zheng to make peace, and then reluctantly extended the deadline for taking over the house for one month.

But the gangsters just left, and the other creditors got the letter, and one or two of them came to collect debts.

There are also employees and clerks in the shop. Because they can't get wages, they take advantage of the fact that they are close to the water, so they take away the tables, chairs, furniture, dry goods, etc. that can be seen in the shop to make up for the money.

She turned out to be only fourteen years ago, and she had been raised as the apple of her eye since she was a child. Since she had an older brother, she was not needed to support the family, and she had a new relationship. Although her fiancé’s family was relatively poor, her father-in-law was a teacher in a private school.

At this time, scholars, farmers, industry and commerce were at the top of the list. The Song family also felt that everything was of low quality, except for academics. Not only did they send their son to school, but they also only taught their daughter some poetry and calligraphy, in order to be favored by her husband's family in the future.

But after Song's mother disappeared, her fiancé's family became a little embarrassed. When the news of his brother's death came back, they didn't even move around. When they found out that Song Dalang had fallen into the water and the property was for sale, they immediately came to cancel the engagement.

The original person had not gone through anything. In just three or two years, his mother, brother, and father passed away one after another. Before he could take a breath, his fiancé broke off the engagement. It was no different from the sky falling. He could not bear it, so he committed suicide that night.

When he opens his eyes again, this "Song Miao" will become the "Song Miao" on Pingyang Mountain decades ago.

The same name, the same surname, the same face.

Now the memories and emotions of the two people merged in her mind, and for a while, Song Miao couldn't tell who she was.

But no matter who it is, it is extremely lucky to survive from death.

It is so good to be alive.

The well water came up from the ground and was still a little warm. After she washed up, before she could wipe off the water droplets on her face, she heard "bang bang bang" banging on the door from outside. It was very urgent and heavy, and someone hurriedly shouted from the door: "Miss Song!" She hurriedly made a bun with a wooden hairpin, and Song Miao walked through the backyard and went to the front hall to open the door.

There was a man and a woman standing outside the door. The man seemed to be quite old, with gray hair and beard, and his back was a little hunched over. The woman was in her thirties or forties, with big shoulders and round waist, and frowned brows.

As soon as they entered the door, the two of them looked around in unison.

Song Miao also followed their gaze and looked around.

The front was originally a restaurant, but now the hall is empty. Most of the previous things have been moved away. There are only dust marks on the ground caused by long-term storage of items, a few broken tables and chairs, and scattered garbage.

There was a stove at the door, with some broken pots and basins on it, and even the bowls were only chipped and cracked.

The faces of the two fell down almost immediately.

The old man turned his head and stared at Song Miao: "Mrs. Song, you don't recognize me. I am from the Cai Family Fish Shop. Your father's debt should be settled, right? There are thirty-six guan and fifty-nine guan in total. I don't want any change. I'll give you 36 guan." That's it."

"Mrs. Song, your family hasn't given me any meat money for a long time. Ninety-seven yuan, my small business can't stand the delay." The woman followed and took out the account book from her arms.

The old man quickly took out a handful of bills from his sleeves and said hurriedly: "Pay mine first! Mine is here!"

Song Miao took the bills from the two of them and turned over a few pages.

I don’t know how Song Dalang managed to owe so much in such a short period of time, but the debt was indeed real and he did not blackmail her.

Just a little too hasty.

Nowadays, restaurants generally have door-to-door vegetable and meat stalls. They have to make a contract and settle the bill on time.

The payment period agreed between the Song family and these two families has not actually come yet, but now that such a big thing has happened, who can sit still?

In fact, there has been an endless stream of debt collectors these days, and two sums of money are nothing at all.

Song Miao closed the account book in her hand, raised her head and said: "I'm really sorry for the long arrears. I will definitely settle your accounts as soon as possible, but you have also seen that the house is like this now... Can it be convenient for you to extend a few days?"

The old man immediately opened his eyes: "We small traders can only earn some hard money all year round, and my family has no rice to cook. How can I be lenient? Mrs. Song, I don't embarrass you, and you don't embarrass me! Today's debt, whether you die or live, you have to settle with me!"

The woman also said loudly: "This is all lenient. It's been a long time, how can we extend it?"

As she spoke, she tried to pull Song Miao's clothes and said: "If we can't settle the bill, we will go to the Yamen to pay back the debt. It's a matter of course. It just depends on how the official will judge me!"

Song Miao stepped forward and stretched out her hand.

The woman did not expect this reaction and was stunned for a moment.

"Even if I meet the official, my family will not be able to provide money." Song Miao took the woman's hand and sighed, "Besides, even if you sell me, how much money will you get?"

The other party was speechless for a while.

Last year, there were floods in the south, and hundreds of thousands of refugees went north. In order to have food to eat, there were people selling their children and girls all over the place. Some even asked for no money, just to give their children a bite of food.

The old man hesitated, stared at Song Miao's face for a long time, and said: "Didn't you say... that Wu Yuanwai in the east of the city promised to pay off your debt? Even if he doesn't, based on your appearance, there must be a makeup shop in Xiaotianshui Lane who is willing to pay a high price."

It should be a short story, about farming in a relaxed way, to lighten the mood, and if it goes well, it will be completed with 30,000 to 400,000 words (I will definitely be able to control myself from adding new lines randomly this time).

It is still a poorly written old meme. It gathers all the classic and cliche elements and only tells a few short stories. It will not make you worry when you read and abandon it. It will be thrown away after finishing writing.

I hope everyone enjoys watching it~
Finally, a warm reminder: It’s super fictitious, so don’t watch it with your brain.

　(End of this chapter)