Bai Xiaoxiao's final decision surprised Mr. Wu.
She neither wanted to follow Mr. Wu back to the hospital, nor did she need Mr. Wu to come over every day to deliver meals.
"I still have some naan cakes at home. I'll boil some water to eat with them. I can eat them for many days! Mr. Wu, you don't have to run around every day, which is troublesome and tiring."
Mr. Wu thought for a while and took out a small iron box, "There are some cakes in here. You eat it first. I will bring you some in two days. By the way, I can tell you about your brother. How about it?"
Bai Xiaoxiao originally wanted to refuse, but after hearing the news that Mr. Wu would bring Bai Gu, he had no choice but to nod in agreement.
"Then I leave. Aren't you afraid of being alone at home?"
Bai Xiaoxiao shook his head, "When I was little, I would go out to find food, and I would always be at home alone. Before I was six years old, my brother couldn't worry about me, so he went out with me to find food. Later, when I was six years old, I Now that I can take care of myself alone, let me leave me alone at home while I go out to look for food."
Bai Xiaoxiao hesitated for a moment, then continued: "I am my brother's spoiler. When he takes me out, he has to keep an eye on me. The food he finds will be much less. He often gives me the little food he wants. I am hungry. I stay at home so that I can devote myself to finding food, so that both my brother and I can have something to eat."
The more Bai Xiaoxiao spoke, the softer his voice became, and his head lowered.
Mr. Wu only felt a little sore in his throat, and his face became a little sad.
Mr. Wu had no idea that a ten-year-old girl could already know so much and think so much. This was something he had never imagined before.
When I was ten years old, I seemed to be playing in the mud under the big tree in front of my house, right? How could I think so much at that time?
When I feel overwhelmed, I just think about what to test in the school exams, what rewards I need to ask my parents for if I get good grades, or where the kites in the sky will fly, which stream has fatter fish, and when will they grow up? Grow taller?
Sitting by the embankment every day and thinking about when I will grow up, and sitting in a dilapidated wooden house thinking about when I will grow up are two different things. There is a huge difference.
The same candied haws on a stick can be eaten by the former every now and then, and one can even get tired of eating it. The latter may only be able to look at it and smell it for the rest of their lives, because it is a meal, or even a day's meal.
That's food money to survive. It's hard-earned, but you can't just waste it on such a dispensable pastime. Filling your stomach is important.
Mr. Wu recalled a book he once read. It said that children from rich families are precocious and will be praised as sensible and talented. They will be trained as successors early and try their best to cultivate them, so that they can enjoy glory and wealth early. As for poor families, they just endured hardship earlier.
It is better to learn things early than to learn things later, and you will suffer less hardships and suffer less sins.
Mr. Wu originally thought that Bai Gu and Bai Xiaoxiao grew up eating hundreds of meals, but looking at everything in front of him and the words the old beggar once said, it may be much crueler than he imagined.
"Baijiafan? You're thinking too much. Wild dogs snatch shit from their mouths and eat it. It's not like Xiaobai has never done it before!"
Mr. Wu sighed, "Are you really not afraid of being alone at home?"
Bai Xiaoxiao thought about it carefully and smiled sheepishly, but his tone was full of depression, "When I was young and the house was dark, I was really scared. I often hid under the quilt alone and secretly Crying. Children in the alley often play together. When they run past the door of our house, they laugh loudly. I also want to join them in playing. But I am afraid that I will run too far and cannot find the way home. I'm even more afraid that when my brother comes back, he won't be able to see me, and will be very anxious and look for me everywhere. My brother is already very tired when he goes out to find food every day, and I don't want him to make himself even more tired because of my playfulness. "
Bai Xiaoxiao suddenly cheered up, "It's different now, I've grown up! Now I can help my brother share some things! When my brother comes home, I can boil a pot of water in advance, and he can boil it as soon as he comes home. There is water to drink! When my brother is sick, I can run and ask Grandpa Liu to come over and treat me! I can do a lot of things now, which can make my brother feel much more relaxed!"
Bai Xiaoxiao became more and more enthusiastic as he talked, and his little face was filled with happiness from the bottom of his heart.
Mr. Wu also had a kind face and listened attentively.
The suffering and beauty in the world are rare and rare.
——————
"I knew it was you." Mr. Xu, who was dressed in sackcloth, stopped the broom in his hand and looked up at the door.
Lao Liu put his hands behind his head and said in a hoarse voice, "Stop talking nonsense and quickly remove the barrier."
Mr. Xu in white robe suddenly appeared in the small courtyard, forming a tripartite confrontation with the old Liu Tou and Mr. Xu in linen.
Old Liu Tou sneered, "What, you want to fight two against one? They are just two dying people whose souls are divided. If you want to die, just give it a try."
Mr. Mai Xu smiled and said: "They are all elderly people, so they shouldn't be so angry."
Mr. Xu in white robe glanced at the two of them and said, "You can fight if you want. I'm not interested."
Old Liu Tou's tone was still stiff, "Hurry up and remove the barrier, don't delay things."
Mr. Mai Xu just smiled and said nothing.
Mr. Xu in white robe made a fearless seal, and the lotus-reclining Buddha crown above his head flashed with light, and then shook his head, "The two of us are just activating the light barrier. There is no way to know the solution."
Old Liu frowned, "What do you mean?"
"The two of us are just pulling off the thin thread that triggers the mechanism, not opening the mechanism." Mr. Xu in white robe said indifferently.
"Bai Yi?" Lao Liutou frowned even more.
"It's her, and it's not her. She's just an important link. The light-accumulating barrier can't be lifted by anyone other than the caster, so you don't have to waste your efforts."
Mr. Mai Xu suddenly smiled and said, "Finally come here, come in and sit down, have a meal before leaving?"
"How can you be so kind?" Old Liu Tou snorted coldly.
"After all, we are of the same clan, so we can still afford a meal." Mr. Mai Xu still had the same smile.
Old Liu Tou sneered and said: "What kind of fellow tribesman? Don't put too much credit on your face. A half-human and half-ghost thing is worthy of calling me a fellow tribesman?"
Mr. Xu in white robe immediately retorted: "It's just a little bird, why are you so arrogant?"
Old Liu's face was as frosty as ice and he stopped talking.
Old Liu Tou didn't move, but a majestic momentum rose from his body, a bird's cry resounded through the sky, and gusts of wind blew up in the small courtyard.
A dharma image of birds and beasts with only the body visible but no edges rose in the sky, and the trees and snow behind Old Liu Tou were swept away and leveled to the ground.
Mr. Mai Xu sighed softly, "There will be a fight at every turn. People are old and their hearts are not old. Why are you so irritable?"
Mr. Xu in white robe stretched out a hand and slowly pressed it down into the void in front of him. A ray of Buddha's light rose into the sky and turned into a winding giant snake with purple-gold eyes.
Seeing this, Mr. Mai Xu had no choice but to put his other hand on the broom and use the broom to lean on the ground with both hands. A white spiritual power exploded, turning into a snow-white giant snake that covered the sky.
One bird and two snakes stand on three legs, facing each other from a distance.
