It was not an easy task for an orphan who had no one to rely on to survive. She first familiarly ran to a courtyard two streets away and helped an elderly couple clean up their house and courtyard. She struggled to fill their water tank with water. The couple's son and daughter-in-law were peddlers who often traveled long distances. They would return home once every ten days. At that time, they would give her more than ten copper coins. Sometimes, they would even give her credit. After finishing her work, she would wander around the streets. When she heard that there was a wedding or a funeral, she would remember it in her heart. She would secretly freeload a meal. The two markets at the beginning and middle of the month would often have a bumper harvest. The luckiest one was when she picked up a bulging cotton money bag at the lantern market in early spring. That was the first time she saw silver. It was broken silver. It was very small, not even as big as her fingernail, but it still made her happy to this day. If there was no harvest in the city, she would have to go outside the city to try her luck. She would go to the river to catch fish and climb trees to dig out bird nests. She remembered that at the end of last year, the river froze. She saw someone cutting through the ice to catch many fat fish. It looked easy and profitable. She only needed to squat on the ice. So she tried it once. She almost froze to death. She was saved by a kind peddler who passed by. That unforgettable lesson taught her that if she was not lucky, she should not expect God to be generous to her.
A skinny little black girl was running around happily in Hushang City.
She returned to the abandoned ancient temple in the twilight. She had some vegetables and a bag of cicadas that she had caught from the trees. Today, God had opened his eyes. She had snuck into a wedding banquet in the east of the city at noon. She felt that her mouth was now full of the oily taste of the small piece of pork. Unfortunately, even though she was eating very fast, she was still thrown out of the door before she could finish a whole bowl.
In the darkness of the night, Hsu Fengnian stood by the window and watched as the little girl hummed a little tune over a pot of fried cicadas with her back to him. "Chopping off the head to serve wine, digging out the heart and liver to braise, peeling off the skin and pulling out the tendons to steam. The taste is delicious, but it's not as crispy as the fried cicadas... Day by day, I'm growing up day by day..."
Xu Fengnian didn't know whether to laugh or cry. However, when he saw the little girl carefully pick up a fried cicada and put it into her mouth, looking at her thin and weak back, and imagining her probably very satisfied expression at this time, he, who was not soft-hearted to others and himself, began to feel sad.
When a person reaches adulthood, no matter if it is a blessing or a hardship, they can't blame the heavens or their parents.
But she was still so young.
Hsu Fengnian sighed. He still didn't find anything in Stone Tablet City. Logically, he should immediately return to the Beiliang army. However, on the way back, he thought of this little piece of charcoal and inexplicably returned to the ancient temple in Huyan City.
The little girl suddenly turned her head and saw Hsu Fengnian outside the window. She was stunned for a moment, then continued to eat the delicious fried cicadas with her cheeks moving.
Taotie's cravings were particular about not eating unless it was in season. However, poor people had no choice but to eat when it was in season. If it was in a rich family, fried cicadas would be considered an unconventional dish. Although it wouldn't be on the table, it was still a rather vulgar and elegant dish.
The little girl asked curiously, "You didn't go to Stone Tablet City?"
Hsu Fengnian nodded.
She hesitated for a moment. Although her heart ached, she pretended to be magnanimous and said, "Hungry? Have you eaten? If you haven't, let me treat you to a meal? "
Hsu Fengnian smiled and said, "Sure."
The little girl clearly hoped that this fellow would reply that he had eaten, but she couldn't change her mind. She could only bitterly wave at Hsu Fengnian. There were still seven fried cicadas in the pot. She took four of them to her side. She glanced at that fellow from the corner of her eye and returned one to him.
Hsu Fengnian squatted down facing her and put one of the fried cicadas into his mouth. Not only was it tasteless, but there was also an earthy taste without any seasoning. However, Hsu Fengnian couldn't help but think of the shabby scene when he traveled the jianghu with Old Huang. Unknowingly, a smile appeared on his face.
She asked proudly, "Is it delicious?"
Hsu Fengnian nodded and said, "It's delicious."
She hesitated for a moment before patting her stomach. She pretended to be generous and said, "I'm full. You can have the rest."
After Hsu Fengnian ate four fried cicadas, he shook his head and said with a smile, "No need. I can withstand hunger better than you."
She tilted her head and asked, "You really don't want to eat?"
Hsu Fengnian nodded. While she was eating the fried cicadas, he looked around. The little girl took the opportunity to look at him.
She clapped her hands and asked, "Do you want to enjoy the shade?"
Seeing that Hsu Fengnian didn't object, she took this fellow who she didn't hate or fear to climb up the tree to the roof. Together, they lay down and looked at the starry sky.
She whispered, "Don't you have a home?"
Hsu Fengnian rested his head on his arm and said with a smile, "Yes, and it's bigger than your home."
She curled her lips and said, "Hey, hey, hey, don't brag. My home is still small. Such a big place is all mine."
A meteor streaked across the sky.
The little girl quickly closed her eyes and made a wish.
Hsu Fengnian said softly, "You made a wish? What wish? "
The little girl rolled her eyes and said, "Didn't your parents tell you that a wish won't come true if you say it out loud?"
Hsu Fengnian looked at the gorgeous summer sky and said softly, "Let me tell you, in fact, whether you say it out loud or not, whether you tell others or not, it won't come true."
The little girl hurriedly spat a few times and turned her head to angrily stare at this guy with a crow's mouth.
Hsu Fengnian smiled apologetically and said, "That's my own experience. Maybe you're different."
The two of them were silent for a long time.
She suddenly asked, "Have you ever ridden a horse?"
Hsu Fengnian said, "Of course, I've ridden a horse since I was very, very young. Why, do you want to ride a horse? "
She lowered her voice and said mysteriously, "Let me tell you a secret. My father has many, many horses. My father has 10,000 horses, no, 100,000 horses!"
Hsu Fengnian laughed and teased, "Little girl, do you know how many 100,000 horses are? If you let the horses run next to each other, from a high place, the backs of the horses will look like the earth. "
She whispered, "So it's like that."
Hsu Fengnian lay on his side and looked at her and said, "You treated me to four fried cicadas, so I can grant you four wishes. For example, you can ask me to treat you to a chicken leg, give you one tael of silver, or something. I will try my best to satisfy you. How about it? Am I not a bad customer?"
The little girl shook her head and said seriously, "My mother said to treat people with sincerity. I gave you those fried cicadas, not sold them to you. Besides, even if I really sold them, they wouldn't sell for a copper coin. "
Hsu Fengnian reached out and pinched her cheek.
The little girl didn't refuse, but she didn't give Hsu Fengnian a good look. She suddenly sighed and said, "When I was young …"
Hsu Fengnian couldn't help but laugh and interrupted her, "You're also very young now."
She stared at him and continued, "When I was young, my mother said that in the far south, every summer, there would be something called fireflies. They would fly around and they were very beautiful!"
Hsu Fengnian smiled and said, "That's right. The poets there liked to call them Xiaozhu, Nightlight, Jingtian, and so on."
She blinked her sparkling eyes and curiously asked, "Do they really emit light? Why? I asked my mother, but she didn't tell me. She told me to ask my father, but my father … didn't tell me. "
Hsu Fengnian seriously replied, "That's because the fireflies have light sacs in their tails. They emit a yellowish-green fluorescence."
Hsu Fengnian smiled and added, "Your father is really stingy. He didn't tell you this."
She raised her fist and put on a posture that said, "If you say bad things about my father again, I'll hit you."
The little girl sighed.
Hsu Fengnian also sighed for no reason.
The two of them continued to not speak.
Hsu Fengnian crossed his legs and enjoyed this rare moment of peace.
Ever since Liang Mang started the war, in these four years, there had been endless flames of war, endless sounds of war drums and horse hooves, endless battles, and endless people killed.
Perhaps in the future, the history books would use the words "great waves and spectacular" to describe this war. But as the people involved, no one could truly take a breather.
Hsu Fengnian had always felt that he was far too inferior to Xu Xiao.
Leading troops to war was like this.
Being a father was even more like this.
Xu Xiao, this father, had left him the hereditary title of King of Beiliang and 300,000 cavalry. Hsu Fengnian had been young and frivolous for twenty years. In Beiliang, His Royal Highness had been even more unfettered than the Crown Prince.
This was the so-called "a family of good deeds will always have more to celebrate."
And when it was his turn to be a father, where was his child?
Was this the "a family of evil deeds will always have more to suffer?"
A gentle voice sounded in his ear. "Homesick?"
Hsu Fengnian sighed. "Yes."
The little girl imitated Xu Fengnian. She crossed her legs and swayed them back and forth, humming a new song that she had made up on the spot. "Firefly, firefly, be good and follow me home …"
In any case, it was just a line of lyrics.
After an unknown amount of time, Hsu Fengnian, who could no longer hear the song, found that the little girl had fallen asleep.
Afraid that she would catch a cold, Hsu Fengnian took off his robe and gently covered her body.
Hsu Fengnian looked at the sky. The night lasted until dawn.
The little girl, who had been huddled in the warm robe all night, woke up with a yawn. Seeing the person sitting cross-legged, she didn't know what to say for a moment.
Hsu Fengnian turned his head and asked with a smile, "Little girl, do you want to come to my house to play? I'll take care of your food and sleep."
She said with disdain, "Not going."
Perhaps she was afraid that it would be hurtful to reject his good intentions so directly, she grinned and said, "Sorry, I can't wander around."
Hsu Fengnian reached out and rubbed her messy hair. "It's okay, I'll come and play with you in the future."
"Next time you come, can you bring a drumstick?"
"Yes."
"Pinky swear?"
"Okay."
The adult and the child solemnly pinky swear.
Hsu Fengnian's smile didn't change, but he quickly got up and looked in the direction of the city gate.
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