In Zichuan, there is a man surnamed Liu, with a fierce personality, like a tiger possessed, and people avoid him. Later, this person moved to Yishui County, and his bad habits did not change, and people were still jealous of him.
The man surnamed Liu is adjacent to the family surnamed Miao, with a total of several acres of bordering land. The Miao family was industrious and thrifty, planting peach trees all over the ground. When the peaches were ripe, the children of the Miao family climbed the tree to pick peaches, but were brutally driven away by the man surnamed Liu, who claimed that the peach tree was his.
Miao Jiazi helplessly wept and reported to his father. Miao's father was shocked when he heard the news, and was about to appease him, but the man surnamed Liu had already rushed to the door angrily, and even threatened to go to the government to complain. Miao's father greeted him with a smile and calmed his emotions, but the man surnamed Liu was still indignant and walked away.
At that time, Li Cuishi, a fellow villager in Yishui County, was running a pawnshop, and he was quite familiar with the person surnamed Liu. One day, the surnamed Liu entered the city with a piece of paper and happened to meet Li Cuishi. Seeing this, Li Cuishi asked curiously, "Where are you going?" The surnamed Liu truthfully told him that he was going to file a lawsuit.
Li Cuishi smiled after hearing this, and said, "Your old man's reputation is known to everyone, and I have known that person surnamed Miao for a long time. He is a kind man, how can he deceive your peach tree? I'm guessing you're probably saying the opposite, right? With that, he tore up the paper and pulled the man surnamed Liu into the shop, intending to mediate the matter for them.
However, the surnamed Liu was still resentful, secretly took out the pen of the shop, rewrote a piece of paper, hid it in his arms, and insisted on complaining. Soon, the surname Miao also came to the shop. He described the incident to Li Cuishi in detail and begged him to help mediate and stop the complaint, surnamed Liu.
The surnamed Miao said: "I am a farmer, and I have never seen ** in half my life." As long as I don't go to court, how dare I take a few peach trees for myself? Subsequently, Li Cuishi called out the person surnamed Liu and told him that the person surnamed Miao was willing to back down and give him the peach tree.
But the surnamed Liu still scolded, without any intention of stopping. And the surname Miao has always been kind and pleasant, and he didn't dare to refute half a sentence.
A few days later, while Li Cuishi was wandering around the village, he overheard people talking that the person surnamed Liu was no longer there. This surprised him, and he had mixed feelings in his heart.
One day, Li Cuishi went out to run errands and met a pedestrian on crutches on the road. He took a closer look and couldn't help but be surprised, it turned out that this pedestrian was a friend surnamed Liu who he thought had passed away. A friend surnamed Liu greeted him warmly and invited Li Cuishi to his home as a guest.
After three rounds of drinking, a friend surnamed Liu began to tell about his bizarre experience: "A few days ago, I was suddenly taken to the government by two errand officers. The ** there had an angry face and accused me of doing a lot of evil and stealing other people's property. He said I should get out of the pan. However, at a critical moment, an errand officer checked the records and found that I had used three hundred dollars to help reunite a couple in the thirteenth year of Chongzhen. Therefore, ** decided to let me go for the time being. On the way home, the two officers asked me for bribes, but I refused them on the grounds that I had many years of experience in the Yamen. When I got home, I was in a coma for two days before I woke up. It turned out that I was so angry that I was killed. ”
After Li Cuishi heard about this, his heart was full of curiosity, so he asked about the details of the good deeds of his friend surnamed Liu.
It turned out that that incident happened in the thirteenth year of Chongzhen, and that year suffered a rare catastrophe, and even a tragic situation of cannibalism. And a friend surnamed Liu was serving as a head catcher in Zichuan County at that time.
One day, he met a couple on the street, and they cried heartbreakingly. After inquiring, I learned that they had only been married for more than a year, but due to this year's famine, life was in trouble, and it was difficult for the husband and wife to survive at the same time, so they were very sad. A sense of sympathy swelled in the hearts of friends surnamed Liu.
Soon after, he met the couple again at the gate of the oil mill and seemed to be arguing over something. It turned out that the shopkeeper of the oil mill saw that the couple was about to starve to death, so he gave them sesame sauce every day. And now, the shopkeeper offered to buy the woman as a slave to solve her food and clothing problems. However, the shopkeeper's family had already bought more than a dozen people, and there was no urgent need to buy more slaves. He proposed an extremely low ** in an attempt to depress the woman's value.
After hearing this, the man's heart was mixed. He knew that food was expensive now, and three hundred yuan was already a huge amount of money for him. He insisted on selling his wife, hoping that both would survive. If he sold his wife, he would still be unable to escape death, and he would rather choose another path. He didn't dare to bargain with the shopkeeper, but just hoped that the other party could accumulate some yin virtue and help them tide over the difficulties.
Seeing this, a friend surnamed Liu sympathized with the couple even more. He asked the shopkeeper how much he was willing to pay for the woman. The shopkeeper replied that a woman was worth a hundred cents at most. After hearing this, a friend surnamed Liu couldn't help but feel a sense of righteous indignation in his heart. He asked the shopkeeper not to be less than 300 yuan, and said that he was willing to help with half of the money to save the woman.
However, the shopkeeper firmly disagrees with this. The friend surnamed Liu was young and vigorous at the time, and his heart was full of a sense of justice. He said to the man, "This shopkeeper is too stingy to tell him." I'll give you 300 yuan, so that you can escape from the famine together. Wouldn't it be better if they could escape the famine together and the husband and wife would not be separated? After speaking, he took out three hundred yuan from his pocket and handed it to the couple.
The husband and wife were moved to tears and kowtowed again and again to thank them. After taking the money, they left gratefully. A friend surnamed Liu saved the couple's life with his good deeds, and also accumulated a blessing for himself.
After listening to this story, Li Cuishi was full of praise for the kindness of his friend surnamed Liu.
Since then, the person surnamed Liu has abandoned his former bad habits, and although he is now over 70 years old, his body is still strong. Just last year, when Li Cuishi went to Zhou Village, he happened to bump into someone surnamed Liu who had an argument with someone. Despite the crowd's onlookers and persuasion, the matter did not subside. At this time, Li Cuishi smiled and asked loudly, "Do you want to sue for the peach tree again?" Hearing this, the person surnamed Liu seemed to wake up suddenly, his attitude immediately changed, he lowered his head and agreed again and again, and then left.