The thatched house was very dilapidated, and there was air leakage in some places. It would be no exaggeration to say that the house had only four walls.
After asking, I learned that this thatched cottage had been dilapidated and abandoned for many years and had never been inhabited. The two brothers and sisters had only moved in a few years ago as a shelter from the wind and rain.
During the conversation, Liu Shen also learned that the young man's name was Yuan Xiaofei, who was thirteen years old this year;
The little girl's name is Yu Hong. She is ten years old. They are not biological siblings.
Yuan Xiaofei's parents died when he was young, and he grew up eating food from hundreds of families.
Yu Hong fled with her relatives four years ago. She broke her leg on the way and was lost by her relatives. She was later picked up by Yuan Xiaofei.
Perhaps he had been caught in the rain and wanted to hold an umbrella for others, which moved him to feel compassion. Yuan Xiaofei acted as an older brother and took care of Xiao Yuhong, who was only six years old at the time.
A friend in need is a friend indeed. Although the two are not biological brothers and sisters, their relationship with each other day and night for four years is much more sincere than that of some biological brothers and sisters.
'Floods, fleeing, stealing...'
Although Liu Shen was used to seeing the suffering in the world, his expression was a little dazed, as if he had gone back in time and returned to the time when he fled to Anqing Mansion four years ago.
He looked at Xiao Yuhong's sloped foot and said, "Expose this foot and let me see it."
"..."
Although Yu Hong didn't understand what he meant, she didn't say much. She sat on the edge of the bed obediently, took off her shoes and socks, and lifted up her skirt to reveal her sloping legs.
Her feet were fine, but there was a dislocated bulge in her calf. It was obviously caused by not having professional treatment after the fracture and allowing the dislocated bones to grow back.
This is why she walks with a limp now.
Before Liu Shen had time to speak, he heard a "gurgling" sound coming from the little girl's stomach.
Yu Hong obviously didn't expect that her stomach would growl this time. She was shy and a bit panicked. She lowered her head as if she didn't dare to look at anyone.
Yuan Xiaofei beside him was also blushing, but he just gritted his teeth and said nothing.
Liu Shen sighed secretly, took out his money bag from his body, took out two silver beans, and called: "Boy, come here."
"What?"
Yuan Xiaofei pursed his lips and came to his side.
"You're a good runner. I was tired of chasing you just now, and now I'm hungry."
Liu Shen placed two silver beans in his palm and said, "I smelled the red duck on the street just now. It's very fragrant. Go and buy two for me."
"..."
Yuan Xiaofei clutched the silver beans in his hand, looked at Liu Shen, then at Yu Hong, then gritted his teeth and ran out.
Yu Hong watched his back go away, looked at Liu Shen curiously, and asked: "Sir, if you just ask my brother to buy things like this, aren't you afraid that he will take the money and never come back?"
"He'll be back."
Liu Shen found a bench to sit down on his own, and said very firmly: "Because you are still here."
Yu Hong lowered her head, wept secretly, and choked with sobs: "Sir, can I go to the government on my brother's behalf?"
"no."
Liu Shen shook his head and asked: "You want to help him go to the government, is it because he is very good to you?"
"Brother is very good to me."
Yu Honglihua nodded with tears, and said with choked sobs: "My brother will sing to me, tell me stories, and count the stars for me. When I don't eat, he will also talk about me, saying that eating can help me grow taller. When you grow taller and your body grows up, you won’t be bullied, saying..."
"..."
Liu Shen sighed secretly when he heard this, and then asked: "From what you said, do you know that he stole things?"
"Know."
"Then did he teach you to steal?"
"No, he doesn't let me learn or steal."
"What did he say?"
"He...he said..."
Yu Hong wiped away the tears on her cheeks and imitated Yuan Xiaofei's tone and said, "I am a bedbug that everyone despises. When you grow up, please don't imitate me."
"..."
Liu Shen was silent for a long time, not knowing how to speak.
It was obvious that his life was very unhappy, but he still couldn't bear to see such suffering in the world.
At this moment, Yuan Xiaofei ran back panting with two oil-paper bags in his arms. After entering the door, he was relieved to see that Xiao Yuhong was intact, and placed the two oil-paper bags in his arms on the table in front of Liu Shen.
"The two red ducks you want."
"Um."
Liu Shen opened an oil paper bag, and the fragrant aroma reminded him of the unbearable past when he fled to Anqing Mansion.
Glancing out of the corner of his eye, he saw brother and sister Yuan Xiaofei and Yu Hong swallowing hard at the side, their stomachs growling with hunger.
He pushed aside the unopened oil paper bag and said, "You guys eat, I can't finish two red ducks by myself."
"Can……"
"You can eat as long as you are told. Where's all the nonsense?"
"..."
Yuan Xiaofei was frightened by his ferocious demeanor before he could say anything, and thought that this red-skinned duck was his decapitated meal.
Seeing Yu Hong's stomach growling with hunger, he no longer refused. With red eyes, he opened the oil paper bag, tore off a duck leg and stuffed it into Yu Hong's hand.
"eat!!"
"During the flood four years ago, I fled to Anqing Mansion."
Seeing the two brothers and sisters devouring the red-skinned duck, Liu Shen said to himself: "At that time, the gruel provided by the government for disaster relief was limited every day. I was so hungry that I was dizzy and had no other choice, so I took advantage of Zui Feng Tower. While preparing a banquet, the boy secretly ate a red-skinned duck to satisfy his hunger..."
"That red-skinned duck is delicious, soft and sweet. My mouth is full of oil and no bones are left."
"The red-skinned duck was also very unpalatable. When I ate it, it felt like something was stuck in my throat. I was choked with tears and couldn't swallow it until I abandoned my dignity."
"..."
The brother and sister were stunned when they heard him talking about his secretly eating red duck without scruples. Yuan Xiaofei pursed his lips and asked, "What next?"
"Then?"
Liu Shen gnawed on the duck and said with great nostalgia: "Then I put down the burden in my heart and sold myself to eat in Caobang."
"Later, after I received my monthly payment in the first month, I went to Zui Feng Tower and bought a red-skinned duck. I paid the bill for two..."
"I have to say, that duck tasted really good. Thinking about it now, it still leaves a lingering aroma in my mouth and teeth, with endless aftertaste!"
"..."
Yuan Xiaofei froze on the spot, seeming to hear something from his words, but it seemed that there was a layer of membrane between them, so what he heard was not real...
"Teach you a very important rule of life. I was only your age when I learned it, boy."
Liu Shen spit out a piece of bone and said seriously: "People are most afraid of encountering two difficulties, one is the wrong path, and the other is the dead end. For most people, going astray is not terrible, because there is still a way out; the terrible thing is At the end of the road, there is no retreat and no way out.”
"Wrong road, poor road..."
Yuan Xiaofei lowered his head with red eyes, as if he didn't dare to look at him again, and asked: "I...do I still have a chance?"
"have!"
During the chat, Liu Shen had already finished the red-skinned duck in front of him. He clapped his hands and stood up and said, "The best time to plant a tree was ten years ago, and the second best time is now."
"..."
Yuan Xiaofei looked at him blankly, obviously not understanding the meaning of his words.
Liu Shen had something to do when he came to Xikou Town this time, and meeting the two brothers and sisters was purely accidental. Now that he had found his money bag and everything he needed to say, he didn't want to keep it any longer.
"I miss you because you are too young to send you to the government."
After that, he turned around and left...
In the dilapidated thatched house, the brother and sister felt inexplicably at a loss when they saw him leaving.
Yu Hong sucked the oil stains on her fingers and said softly: "Brother, this gentleman looks fierce, but he is actually a good person."
"I know…"
When Yuan Xiaofei heard this, his expression was gloomy. He smeared the oil stains on his hands casually on his body, then got under the bed and pulled out a broken wooden box and rummaged through it. After finding a shabby ancient book that was eaten by insects and rats, he took a quick step chased him out...
