More than ten years ago, there was a welfare home a street away from the wonton stall.
Although the equipment, facilities, environment and treatment of that orphanage are not as good as those in Shangcheng District, it is pretty good in the nearby neighborhoods. The children living there can at least have enough food, clothing, and the opportunity to go to school for free. Study in a public welfare school.
At that time, the couple who ran the wonton stall rented a one-bedroom house next to the welfare home and set up a stall selling wontons at the entrance of a nearby street.
Occasionally, children from the welfare home will come to their stall to buy wontons after saving enough money.
The couple who ran the stall had a very good impression of the children.
But I don’t know since when, among those children, there was a thin and frail child who looked like a dried radish. The child likes to follow the group of children, or squat in the shadow of the wall, staring directly at the food in people's hands.
At first, the couple thought it was a new child in the orphanage.
Although I thought the child was pitifully thin, at that time their life was barely enough for food and clothing, and they had no extra ability to change anything.
I thought that the situation would get better if the child entered the orphanage for a long time or was adopted by a kind person.
This situation lasted for some time.
Until late one night, they closed the stall and went home, and met the skinny child again on the road. When they met the child, he was being beaten by a nearby resident.
"Stop, don't bully the children." The stall owner plucked up the courage to stop him.
The resident stopped and glared at the stall owner and his wife impatiently.
Then the residents told the stall owner and his wife that he was not bullying others, but that the child was too hateful. Their family has lost several eggs in a row.
Not only their home, but also their neighbor, the neighbor next door, and the nearby neighbors have all lost a lot of things recently.
Although they are all worthless food, such as two eggs, a steamed bun, or an old piece of clothing, things keep getting lost, and the nearby residents are also very annoyed.
After hearing this, the stall owner and his wife looked at the child lying on the ground in surprise, wondering if he was still alive.
So, their family also lost two steamed buns the day before yesterday.
Also one morning, the uneaten wontons were dumped in the sink and disappeared when I went downstairs to pick up the package. At that time, the couple thought that a wild cat slipped in through the window and took away the wontons in the sink. Now that they think about it, there is a tree outside their kitchen, and the landlord has told them to close the window to prevent anything from getting in. Climb in through the tree.
Could it be?
The stall owner's eyes fell to the ground.
“Don’t be deceived by him, he is just pretending and he is energetic.” The resident said, raising his foot and kicking the child’s leg.
The child curled up on the ground opened his eyes. A pair of black and white eyes looked straight at the residents, which was very scary.
“Still staring!” the resident said, kicking him down again.
“Don’t——”
The stall owner and his wife wanted to stop it but it was too late.
After the residents finished kicking him, they told the stall owner and his wife that he didn’t know where he came from. He was used to cheating, stealing, and stealing. He often pretended to be a kid from an orphanage and deceived good people who went to the orphanage. There is also food in the hands of volunteers.
Sometimes, he even sneaked into the welfare home to steal food, and was caught several times by the employees there.
"Maybe he is too hungry." The stall owner said.
"Hungry? Then go live in a welfare home. What's the point of stealing people's things outside?" said the resident.
Finally, probably out of anger, the residents cursed and left.
The stall owner and his wife looked at the child on the ground, hesitating whether to go over and have a look? Then I saw him using a hand as thin as a hemp rod to support his body and get up from the ground unsteadily.
Before the couple could speak, they limped into the alley next to them.
"Huh? You can still run. It seems that the person just said was right. He was really faking it." The stall owner thought to himself.
This is just a small episode for the stall owner couple.
Later, they met the child several times in the neighborhood, but after what happened last time, both the couple had a grudge against the child.
I used to encounter him, and maybe watch him from a distance, but now I try to avoid him and pretend he doesn't exist.
Perhaps you know that there is such a person, and then the news about this person will reach your ears through various channels.
So is the news about the child.
Those rumors are becoming more and more exaggerated.
The child stole someone's cake today, robbed the money of the child in the welfare home tomorrow, and knocked down the old lady on the street the day after tomorrow... The stall owner and his wife didn't know which ones were true and which ones were false?
Until one time, a neighbor who came to their stall to eat wontons said that the child had stolen medicine from the drugstore next door the night before and was caught by the drugstore owner and beaten to death.
“That’s terrible.” said the neighbor.
"How is the child now?" the stall owner asked.
"I heard that it was thrown into a nearby stinking ditch. The body is probably stinking now." The neighbor said nonchalantly, and then talked about something else.
The stall owner just sighed with his partner afterwards and put the matter behind him.
Life is like this.
If you pay attention to everything, you won’t be able to do your own thing.
As time goes by, whether it is the neighbor who beat someone up, the legendary drugstore owner, or the couple at the wonton stall, they have gradually forgotten about the strange child.
Until one day three months later.
Because a restaurant on the first floor along the street was built illegally, a gas pipe exploded and the entire street was engulfed in fire. The fire spread from the other side of the street, along the orphanage, to the rental house where the couple lived.
It was late at night when the accident happened. The couple had just returned from closing the stall outside. They were putting away the cooking utensils in the kitchen and getting ready to go to bed when they heard a loud bang.
The ground shook and the stall owner's friend was hit by a falling cabinet on his leg.
Seeing that the fire was about to break out, and the cabinet pressing on his partner's legs could not be moved, the stall owner was desperate and was ready to die together...
Just then At this time, the kitchen window was smashed open from the outside, and a thin figure climbed in through the tree outside the window.
It was the child who was thrown into the stinking ditch by the drugstore owner and whom they all thought was dead.
The stall owner was shocked.
The child who crawled in saw the stall owner’s partner’s legs being pinned down. He calmly walked to the sink, took off the kitchen knife hanging on it, quickly returned to the stall owner and the couple, and raised it The kitchen knife hit the cabinet from the side.
After two misses, quickly hand the kitchen knife to the stall owner.
“Cut.” He only said one word.
The stall owner took the kitchen knife blankly and slashed at the corner of the cabinet frantically until he cut off one of the cabinet legs before freeing his partner. Next, under the instruction of the child, he picked up his partner and escaped through the smashed window.
It was not until they escaped from the fire that the stall owner and his wife realized that they were really saved. Moreover, it was the child...
"Thank you so much, if it weren't for you..."
But when the couple finally calmed down and wanted to say thank you to the child, Only to find that the child was gone. There were cries and calls for help, mixed with the sirens of ambulances, fire trucks, and police.
The sudden fire did not stop until late at night.
When the first ray of sunlight shone down in the morning, only the ruins of the walls and the mess on the ground were left, and many familiar faces disappeared.
Although the children in the orphanage were rescued, the orphanage was also burned down.
The stall owner’s eyes were also invisible at that time.
You said you inhaled too much smoke and hit your head again when you climbed down the tree?
The couple didn't quite understand either.
In short, the eyes cannot see.
However, they saved a life.
They don’t know why the child was thrown into the smelly ditch and still survived? I wonder why he appeared at that time? Why was he so calm and calm in the face of the fire compared to the two adults?
I don’t know why the children risked their lives to save them?
Is it because they stopped the neighbor from beating him? Or is it because of those little wontons that disappeared into the sink?
They don’t know.
After the stall owners could adapt to the darkness, they moved to the next street, set up a new wonton stall on the roadside, and continued to sell their small wontons.
To this day, more than ten years later.
"It's him." The stall owner confirmed.
After saying that, the expression on his face became complicated.
"Will he come back?" he asked.
The partner thought about the previous contact and shook his head slowly: "Probably not."
No one wants that dilapidated past.
Now, that child already has someone with whom he can eat wontons.
"Perhaps he has found his new life." His partner murmured.
*
Su Qing and Shi Zhuo were walking in an abandoned building.
It can be seen that this place has been abandoned for a long time. Before it was abandoned, this place might have been an activity center, a school, or...
Su Qing saw the plaque leaning against the opposite wall. One corner of the plaque was burnt, and the words on it were also... It fell off early, and the words "Xingxing Welfare Institute" can still be vaguely seen.
"Or is it a welfare home?" Su Qing raised her head and looked at the house in front of her.
It was a coincidence that she and Shi Zhuo came here.
After leaving the wonton stall, she wanted to eat something to eat, so the two of them walked aimlessly along the dilapidated streets. On the way, Su Qing saw a group of buildings that looked like they were abandoned after a fire. He turned his head and looked over there, and was discovered by Shi Zhuo.
Shi Zhuo asked her if she wanted to see the stars?
So, they came here.
Star Welfare Home?
Su Qing looked at Shi Zhuo who was walking in front. He seemed to be very familiar with this place?
"Sister Su Qing, this way." Shi Zhuo stopped in front of the abandoned stairs and waved to Su Qing.
Su Qing came back from her thoughts and quickened her pace towards Shi Zhuo.
"Go up from the stairs, be careful where you step." Shi Zhuo led the way, and Su Qing followed.
The building has only three floors.
Not long after, they arrived at the top rooftop.
"Crash."
A cool breeze blew over, making the grass underfoot rustle.
Su Qing retracted his gaze from his feet and looked further away.
It looks so open here.
"Sister Su Qing, look." At this time, Shi Zhuo, who was standing next to her, raised his finger and pointed at the night sky above his head and said to her.
Su Qing raised his head when he heard the words, and saw the bright starry sky.
It seems that it is because it is close to the city wall, or because this area does not have the bustling neon lights in the city. Everything seems so quiet. Even the night sky that was polluted by various lights has restored its beauty here. Original color.
Shi Zhuo was holding the bag of wound medicine, staring at the stars in her eyes, and said with a smile: "Pretty, isn't it."
"Beautiful." Su Qing nodded.
Very beautiful.
"So, this is what you said at the city celebration that night, the more beautiful stars." Su Qing.
Shi Zhuo looked at her with a soft smile, without saying "yes" or "no".
"As long as you like it." Shi Zhuo also turned his head and looked at the starry sky above his head.
At this moment, the figures of 20-year-old Shi Zhuo and Shi Zhuo, who was only a few years old, standing on the roof looking at the stars, seemed to overlap.
Wow, wow.
The wind beneath my feet blew the bushes in the ruins.
Su Qing suddenly felt that Shi Zhuo was also a person with many secrets.
When coming down from the roof, Su Qing accidentally saw the towering city wall not far away. She found that the city wall became clearer when viewed from the top of the Xingxing Welfare Institute.
Shi Zhuo noticed her gaze and looked at the city wall.
"Sister Su Qing, are you interested in that city wall?" Shi Zhuo asked.
As soon as he finished speaking, the system's voice sounded in Su Qing's mind -
"Ding! The side mission has started! Find Shi Zhuo's past and complete the additional mission to get 10% Progress reward! Do you accept it?”
(End of this chapter)
The author said: More~
Good night everyone, see you tomorrow~
......
Shi Zhuo: Look at the stars.
(The review of this book has been opened. The latest version of Little Angel for Android. If you are interested, you can try it~.)
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