Seeing this child, Huang Qiong's heart suddenly softened for some reason. He walked over in a few steps and walked up to the child. He saw that there was nothing in her hand, only a sheep bone as big as his thumb, and the half-broken bowl in her little hand. Who knew who was there? Half a steamed bun thrown in.
When the child saw Huang Qiong walking in front of him, he stood up carefully. After taking a horrified look at the villagers who were busy eating and drinking over there, he gently tugged on the hem of his robe. After Huang Qiong squatted down, he brought the sheep bone with nothing in his hand to his mouth: "Master, they all call you Master, but you are not old. Chai Tou calls you brother, okay?" ?”
"Why don't you eat meat? This piece of meat was given by my mother-in-law. It's delicious. If you eat this meal today, you will be hungry next time. Brother, you have to eat more. Chaitou has no parents, brother. Don’t you have parents? Without parents, no one will take care of you, and no one will give you food, so brother, you have to eat more. You eat this bone first, and you will pick up the firewood later. "
Listening to the childish words of the little girl in front of me in this cold late autumn, wearing only tattered and thin clothes, and even a pair of bare feet. Huang Qiong knelt down and gently took out a few strands of dead grass from the child's hair. I didn't dislike this kid whose face was covered with dirt and grime at all, and the clothes he wore that barely covered anything were so dirty that you couldn't tell the color.
She didn't even pay attention to the hem of her clothes, which was scratched with a few small fingerprints by her somewhat greasy and dirty little hands. He picked her up, wiped her dirty little face with his sleeves, and said in a very gentle tone: "Brother won't eat it, so give the mutton to Chai Tou. If Chai Tou wants to eat anything else, I will ask them to give it to you." Do it. Today, my brother will let Chai Tou eat his fill."
Seeing Huang Qiong, a noble person, he picked up this little beggar-like child. He was wearing a very expensive-looking robe, with a few small handprints on the hem. An old woman with a few pieces of meat hidden in a bowl in her hand hurriedly came over and scolded the little girl: "You kid, come down quickly. Look, you've made the great master dirty."
The old woman walked over in a few steps and took the child out of Huang Qiong's arms. After taking a look at the people around him. He poured a few pieces of meat from the bowl in his hand into her broken bowl, took out a steamed bun and stuffed it into her arms and said, "Let's go quickly. If others find you here, you will be beaten again." Yes. These pieces of meat and steamed buns were brought to you secretly by my mother-in-law."
The old woman's words made Huang Qiong frown slightly, feeling very unhappy. I wanted to get angry, but finally endured it. From the actions and words of this old woman, Huang Qiong could tell that this old woman still felt a little pity for this child. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have secretly brought food to this child.
But the words that if others saw him, he would be beaten again, made Huang Qiong very uncomfortable. Moreover, these villagers actually rejected such a child. I had prepared so much wine and meat, but no one was willing to let the child serve it. There was only an old lady who secretly brought the child such a small amount of food.
After looking at the old woman, Huang Qiong frowned as she poured a few small and fat pieces of meat into the child's broken bowl. But Huang Qiong, who wanted to know why the people in this village were so repulsive to this child, managed to suppress the anger in his heart. He said to the old woman: "Old lady, just let Chai Tou stay here. I don't have so many rules here."
"Listen to what Chai Tou said, this child is an orphan? We are all from the same village, why are we rejecting this child so much? When I was setting up the running water mat, I mentioned that all the villagers should participate. But this child is also like this She's from the village, why didn't anyone let her serve? What did you mean when you said you were discovered by others and would be beaten again? "
Hearing Huang Qiong's question, the old woman hesitated for a moment, and finally said: "The master is compassionate and does not dislike Chai Tou. If this little girl meets you, she has met a great benefactor. Chai Tou said Yes, this child is an orphan. Just because her mother was attracted by the chief steward of Prince Jing's Mansion, he took her mother to Mr. Liu's old house. "
"His father couldn't swallow this, so he sued from Mizhou Yamen all the way to Zhengzhou Mansion, but no one paid any attention to him. On the way back from Zhengzhou Mansion, he was blocked by a group of people from Prince Jing's Mansion and was beaten to death. When he was carried back, he died halfway. And after the chief steward beat his father to death, he still did not let go of the other family members."
"In the middle of the night, he sent a group of scoundrels to his house, set a fire and burned the whole family to death. People in the village wanted to put out the fire, but were stopped by the servants of Prince Jing's Mansion. Whoever tried to save would have their legs broken. Everyone in the village had their legs broken. The people in the village could only watch helplessly as the whole family was burned alive. There were seven members of the family, old and young, and no one was left except this girl."
"This girl survived because everyone tried their best to hide it. Chai Tou, from that day on, she has been eating from hundreds of families. But most of us here are tenants of King Jing. We are too poor to eat, and there are no How much food is needed to feed a child? What’s more, she is a girl who is not very popular.”
Hearing what the old woman said, Huang Qiong picked up the poor child again and said, "Where did the child's mother go after being snatched away? Or is it her mother's family, uncle or aunt? Where is his family? Can you tell some news about them so that I can send someone to look for him? If he can really be found, this child will have someone to rely on, right? "
Huang Qiong's inquiry made the old woman sigh and said: "Don't mention the child's mother. After being snatched away by the big manager, he didn't know what means he used, and it didn't take long to become his wife." The most favored wife. She gave birth to a son to the chief steward the year before last, and now she is even more favored."
"Wear gold and silver all day long, and I heard that a hairpin on her head is worth hundreds of dollars. But my biological daughter spends all day outside begging for food. She doesn't even have a winter coat in the middle of the winter, and she never I haven't even bothered or asked about it. Don't say that you can't see her in this deep house compound on weekdays. Even if you see her outside the yard, you will immediately stay away from her. "
"It was the same time last year. This child might have missed her mother too much, or she might have been hungry. When her mother came out, she hugged her mother and refused to let go. As a result, she was raped by her mother, who was not even a human being. He asked the maid and woman who were following him to pull the child away and push him to the ground, even though his head was bruised and he didn't care."
"What's even more annoying is that she helped the big steward oppress the folks here. Most of the people here are the big steward's tenants. After she became the big steward's concubine, she took care of us for him. These tenants. When it comes time to pay the rent every year, they are either picky or picky, or they insist that the high-quality food is low-quality food."
"Although Chai Tou did not benefit from her, because he is her child, he has suffered a lot in the past two years. Although this child looks like he is five or six years old, he is actually seven years old. , the reason why she didn’t grow taller was because she was hungry. After her mother did those things, the people who originally gave her stuttering stopped because of her mother’s relationship.”
"This child can't even endure a good meal of hunger or fullness, and is often beaten. The people in the village are angry with her mother, and they are petty and use her to vent their anger on her. Don't look down on this child. , but she is very sensible. Originally, the villagers wanted to drive her out of the village, but she was left behind after every family kowtowed until their heads bled."
"Later, Prince Jing's Mansion was raided, and the chief steward was beheaded by the new King of England. After the house was also sealed, her mother had no way to stay in the village because of what she had done before, so she held on to the future. The child I gave birth to ran away to who knows where.”
"In the past two years, she has made a lot of shady money by relying on the big manager. But when she left, she didn't say she would leave a son for Chai Tou, nor did she take the child away. Neither did the child's maternal uncle's family. No one cares about her, and her biological uncles are busy making money with her mother, so why do they care about her? Every time I see this child here, they don't even say a word."
"Originally, the people in the village thought this child was unlucky and did not plan to let her come. Later, you said that all the helpless old and weak people in the village must also attend. The people in the village were afraid that you would be angry. , so she was allowed to eat. Today, I am afraid, this child has had a full meal for the first time in the past few years. In fact, we all know that the things her mother did have nothing to do with her, so it is not right to vent her anger on her. "
"But everyone, no one can get over the hurdle in their hearts. In addition, we are all poor, and no one can feed more than one person. In addition, everyone knows clearly in their hearts that this child must have lived or died. She wants to stay in the village just so that she can see her mother occasionally. In fact, her mother has no control over her life and death, which is really a crime."
The old woman's words made Huang Qiong silent. He kept holding the firewood in his arms and never put it down, feeling very uncomfortable in his heart. Although Huang Qiong roughly guessed why this child became an orphan. But I didn't expect that this child's life would be so miserable. My father died, and although my mother did not remarry, she became like that.
She didn't get enough of the day's glory, and she suffered a lot because of her mother. If he hadn't met him today, seeing how thin the child was, he might not have been able to survive this winter. He couldn't figure out what kind of mother that was. He just looked at his child, begging for food all day long, without even a winter coat in winter, and remained indifferent.
At one point Huang Qiong wanted to ask if this child was her mother's biological child. But in the end, these words were not uttered. Huang Qiong didn't know what it felt like just looking at this thin child nestled in his arms, looking at him with a pair of beautiful big eyes.
Just when Huang Qiong was thinking about how to place this child, Lin Hanyan's voice came from behind: "Ninth brother, this child will follow me from now on. Anyway, I have no children, and I don't even have a child around me. Although Because the adopted one won’t be able to make it to the Jade Disc, but staying with me is still a support, isn’t it? After all, this is your second brother’s fault, and I should repay it for him.”
After saying that, Lin Hanyan walked to Huang Qiong and took the firewood over. Holding this child, whose body was as light as a feather, Lin Hanyan shed tears. He paid no attention to Chai Tou's little face covered in dirt and oil. He put his face against it and said, "Chaitou, from now on, I will be your mother, okay?"
Looking at the gentle and elegant woman in front of him, feeling the warmth that this woman brought that no one else had given, the child who had not enjoyed mother's love for many years, hugged Lin Hanyan's neck, pitifully He said sadly: "Can I really call you mother? But they all say that I am a scoundrel and the bane of this village, so I don't deserve a mother."
