The autumn wind blows and crabs' legs itch. After the autumnal equinox, it's a good time to eat crabs.

Eat female crabs in September and male crabs in October. After they are cooked and the shells are uncovered, the female crabs will turn golden and the male crabs will be as white as jade and taste delicious.

Bashu is located in the south and west of the dynasty, with rivers crisscrossing it. Every year in September or October, people living along the river will go down to the river to touch crabs.

There are several types of crabs in Bashu, among which hairy crabs are the most famous. They have a large and fat body, a green back and white belly, delicate meat, and a fresh and sweet taste, which is not inferior to the hairy crabs in Yangcheng Lake.

Every year after the autumnal equinox, fishermen will build nets to catch the crabs, and then carry them to the city to sell them. The price is not expensive. You can buy a 2-tael female crab for a few copper coins to drink with wine.

People in the city also like to eat crabs, and will buy a few almost every time they come across them to taste the unique brightness of this season.

In the city of Jialu Prefecture, a thin old Confucian scholar was haggling with a street vendor. Finally, after a lot of talking, he bought three crabs with missing legs at a low price.

The old Confucian scholar has lived in this city for nearly twenty years, and almost everyone knows him. Jialu Prefecture is neither big nor small, and the number of people registered in the government office has reached nearly 20,000.

It is said that he has a reputation that can be recognized by 20,000 people in the city, and there is no way he should be so poor.

But the reputation of the old Confucian scholar is not a good one.

An old Confucian scholar had a daughter named Xiu'er, who was famous for her beauty from all over the country.

Xiu'er's wife died early, and the old Confucian scholar raised her up alone.

Because of his handsome appearance, people came to propose marriage. The old Confucian scholar lived in poverty, and although he could not afford a decent dowry, he did not have to worry about getting married.

Later, in Xiu'er's sixteenth year, a middle-aged Confucian scholar finally helped her find a marriage partner. The other party was the son of a wealthy family in the city, a scholar, and it was said that he had a decent appearance.

With the matchmaker's help, the originally small house was suddenly filled with betrothal gifts.

Looking at the bright red silk and satin, the Confucian scholar was indescribably happy. That night, he opened a jar of good wine that had been dusted for a long time, and drank the pig head meat given by his relatives.

Early the next morning, the matchmaker brought a doctor and said he wanted to take Xiuer's pulse.

Throughout the ages, the husband's family has often said seven things about divorcing his wife, including "evil disease." Although the father of the Confucian scholar was unhappy, he didn't say anything.

After all, the other party can send someone to diagnose in advance, so as to avoid divorcing the wife if there is any problem after the marriage. This is already a great deal of face.

When the doctor put his fingers on Xiu'er's wrist, he immediately frowned, and the Confucian scholar became nervous when he saw this.

"This girl, you..." The doctor twirled his beard and hesitated.

Seeing this, the matchmaker behind her urged: "What's going on? Tell me quickly. The days have been settled. If there is a problem, it's better to fix it as soon as possible, right?"

The matchmaker's words left enough room. After all, she made a few hundred taels in this trip. If she were to spit it out again, it would be as painful as cutting a piece of flesh.

The doctor closed his eyes and numbered carefully for a while, and finally affirmed:

"The girl is pregnant, already three months old."

"Ah?" The matchmaker opened her mouth.

When the Confucian scholar heard this, he glanced at his daughter, and saw that the daughter was lowering her head and saying nothing. The Confucian scholar's heart suddenly felt cold, and he whispered to the doctor:

"This...is it the wrong number? Sir, please call again."

The doctor shook his head and sighed:

"I have been practicing medicine for decades, and I can't make a mistake about the Ximai pulse. You... better ask her."

After saying that, the doctor picked up the medicine box and left, leaving the matchmaker and the Confucian scholar staring at each other.

Although the Confucian scholar looked solemn, he still asked softly: "Xiu'er, what's going on?"

The girl named Xiu'er still lowered her head and remained silent, making it difficult for the other two people present to see her true appearance.

The matchmaker on the side finally couldn't bear it anymore and shouted:

"It's not obvious. Your daughter is not keeping herself clean. She is pregnant with someone's seed, which makes me work in vain and lose money..."

The matchmaker suddenly closed her mouth when she said this, because she saw the Confucian scholar opposite, who had always been gentle and gentle and did not even dare to speak loudly, staring at her with red eyes.

"What do you want to do?"

The matchmaker looked scared.

"roll!"

The Confucian scholar who had never used foul language in his life spoke dirty words for the first time.

"Okay, okay." The matchmaker said the word "ok" three times in a row, "Just wait for your family to become famous."

After saying that, he hurriedly turned around and left, fearing that if he left a step too late, the fierce-looking Confucian scholar would be the target of his anger.

After getting angry at the matchmaker, the Confucian scholar turned around again and found that his daughter had raised her head. Big tears fell from the corners of her eyes, which made him feel heartbroken.

Xiu'er's mother died early, and the Confucian scholar who only became a father in his thirties was extremely fond of this hard-won daughter. He would rather skip a drink than buy Xiu'er a nice headband.

But the fate failed, and the Confucian scholar who thought he had finally made it through was happy that his daughter had found a good family the night before, but that night he started drinking in front of the lamp.

The wine is still the same as yesterday's leftovers, but the taste has completely changed.

As the lights flickered, Xiu'er finally calmed down, walked lightly to the only table in the room, and looked at the man opposite who was working hard to stretch herself with red and swollen eyes.

"father……"

"There's no need to say anything. Dad doesn't blame you. If you really don't want to tell who that person is, forget it.

Dad will return the betrothal gift tomorrow. If you don’t want to abort the child, then give birth to the child and dad will help you raise it. Dad is planning to have his grandson as soon as possible."

"Dad!" The woman finally couldn't hold on any longer and fell to her knees.

…

The next day, the Confucian scholar returned the betrothal gift. Even though the door of the other party was closed, he still bowed respectfully to the mansion.

In the next few days, rumors spread in the city. Some said that Xiu'er had hired a wild man, some said that she had been defiled by a flower picker, and even worse, it was said that the father and daughter had violated human ethics and acted in an unruly manner.

The child is not a grandson but a son...

No need to ask, the matchmaker who was humiliated that day must have been angry and went back to make it up.

Since the Qing Dynasty became Qing Dynasty, the Confucian scholar did not pay attention to these rumors and did not go to the matchmaker to trouble him. In his heart, the safety of his daughter was the most important thing.

He could take it calmly, but Xiu'er may not be able to do so. The Confucian scholar who knew his girlfriend's wife sold the only property in the city, and the father and daughter bought a small house with a courtyard not far outside the city.

Although the hut is not as spacious as the original one in the city, it is better than the quiet one, and by the way, my ears are also much cleaner.

…

Seven months later, just after the autumnal equinox, the child in Xiuer's belly was born. It was a little boy with a handle.

The Confucian scholar, whose ears and temples were already turning gray, smiled for the first time, hugging the little guy and teasing him.

The arrival of the little one adds a lot of color to the ordinary life, and the originally small cabin becomes even smaller.

Outsiders don't know how much ink a Confucian scholar has in his belly, but they know that he can write well, and there are not many people who ask him to write.

In the past, Confucian scholars were still reserved and would only help writers write Spring Festival couplets, but would not accept any other requests. He was even unwilling to be offered dozens of taels to write an elegiac couplet.

However, since the birth of their grandson, the family's consumption has increased dramatically, and the house has become smaller and smaller. Sooner or later, the house where the three of them live will need to be expanded.

So the old Confucian scholar gave up his worthless reserve and not only often wrote elegiac couplets for others, he even wrote epitaphs together with them.

Because the epitaphs written by Confucian scholars are beautiful and grand, they often bought epitaphs to give elegiac couplets, and bought elegiac couplets to give inscriptions.

This kind and honest way of trading was quickly recognized by everyone.

As his reputation spread, more and more people came to him to write elegiac epitaphs, and in the end his work became his main business.

Although the Confucian scholar often said in front of his daughter that he was not a scholar in the first place, the money he earned now could support three people and still have some left over, which diluted his remaining scholarly spirit a lot.

But the good times did not last long, and God seemed to be disdainful of the Confucian family.

When his grandson was three years old, Confucian scholar looked after the child at home, and Xiuer went to the street to buy groceries, preparing to give the child a decent birthday.

But once you leave, you can never come back.

Xiu'er went out at noon, but at night there was still no one there.

The Confucian scholar was anxious, so he picked up his grandson and went out to look for her, but until he found the curfew, his throat was filled with smoke, and he could not find his grandson's mother.

At this time, the streets were already deserted. Knowing that something was wrong, the Confucian scholar rushed to the door of the government office and sounded the drum of injustice.

The prefect, who had just laid down on the bed and fell asleep with his concubine in his arms, was awakened by the sudden sound of drums. He cursed, put on his clothes and came to the lobby.

Seeing that the person playing the drum was a Confucian scholar, the prefect's anger at being woken up in the middle of the night was instantly gone. He knew this man.

Last year, when the old man from the prefect passed away, the Confucian scholar in front of him helped write the elegiac couplet. The prefect saw that the handwriting was correct and the contrasts were neat, so he asked him to write the epitaph together.

When the prefect got the epitaph written in small regular script, he was so shocked that his jaw almost dropped. Could it be that this was his own ghost father who secretly touched the maid's ass?

Confucian scholars spoke with great praise, describing the late old man as a saint comparable to Confucius and Mencius, as if the world would stop functioning without this old man who lay on a rocking chair and sunbathed all day long.

One of the lines, "The benefit lies in the present, the merit lies in the future. The loss of Mr. Liu will make us howl for three hundred years" is the finishing touch.

Although Liu Futai was thin-skinned and refused to accept her in the end, the relationship was forged. When he heard that the Confucian scholar's daughter had not returned, he quickly ordered his men to search throughout the city.

But after a busy night, until the next morning, there was still no life or death or corpse.

Liu Futai ordered people to send the exhausted Confucian scholar home, and promised to notify him as soon as there was any news about Xiu'er.

The Confucian scholar waited patiently at home until the afternoon, and finally received news that made his liver and gallbladder split apart - Xiu'er was dead.

The body was discovered by a fisherman and brought up by the fishing net along with shrimps and crabs.
To be continued...