The world is broken, the cubs mend it

The leaves of the willow trees on the street had long since fallen, leaving only bare branches swaying in the wind. The distant mountains were covered with a thin layer of mist, and it looked like it was going to rain.

Pei Zhiyan hadn't been to such a busy street for a long time. His notoriety spread far and wide, and people tried to avoid him as much as possible.

Wandering around with the child like this, he gradually felt more alive and was infected by the lively atmosphere.

The rain was drizzling down. Pei Zhiyan bought an oil-paper umbrella and carried the child back to the post station. Caizhi had already prepared hot ginger soup for the father and daughter to ward off the cold.

Yuanyuan lay on the soft couch, organizing her new toy. She held the kaleidoscope in front of her eyes and twisted it, carefully observing the gorgeous patterns inside.

The little guy pointed the kaleidoscope at the old man's father and twisted it twice trying to see the old man's father's face like a telescope, but unfortunately he was unsuccessful.

The weather was getting colder, so Pei Zhiyan found a copper pot to boil bone soup, prepared the beef, mutton and green leafy vegetables bought from the market, and made a spicy dipping sauce for hot pot.

Yuanyuan followed him like a little tail, helping him get things and scoop water, like a little spinning top.

This way of eating is not popular in the capital. Pei Zhiyan had eaten it several times at the border. It retained the original flavor of the ingredients and was very good.

Caizhi and Xiaofuzi were also curious and added firewood to the fire.

Four people sat around a copper pot, picked up the meat with serving chopsticks and put it in the pot to cook.

"Master Zhangyin has excellent craftsmanship."

Xiao Fuzi plucked up the courage to praise him. He never dreamed that one day he would be able to eat meals made by the Master himself, and eat together with him.

In his eyes, Pei Zhiyan was the master and he was the servant. It was not that the servant was unworthy of eating at the same table with the master. This was a blessing to him.

Pei Zhiyan glanced at him without saying anything and put the cooked meat slices into the child's bowl.

"good to eat!"

The sauce in Yuanyuan's bowl is spicy, with a little chili pepper wrapped in thick sesame paste.

"If it tastes good, eat more. We have to travel in the next few days."

Pei Zhiyan prepared some extra snacks this time to help the children relieve their boredom during the march.

"Daddy, eat more too..."

Yuanyuan picked up a big bone and gave it to him. The bone was so big that she had to use a lot of effort to fiddle with it.

"..."

Pei Zhiyan looked at the bare bones in the bowl, and for a moment he didn't know whether the child wanted him to eat more or just want him to chew the bones to satisfy his craving.

A big yellow dog happened to pass by the roadside. He picked it up and threw it towards the dog. The dog jumped up and caught it steadily, then wagged its tail at him and ran away.

"..."

Yuanyuan watched as the big bone that she had picked out with great effort was thrown away by the old man in less than three seconds. She was so angry that her face wrinkled like a bun.

The old man was not even willing to suck on the big bone she gave him.

"What are you looking at?"

Pei Zhiyan picked up a piece of beef slice wrapped in coriander and fed it to himself, but the child's filial piety was too hard for him to chew.

"What do you think of you?"

Yuanyuan's eyes suddenly opened wider, and she raised her little face and moved closer to him, as if she wanted to stare a hole through the old man's face.

"Casual look!"

Pei Zhiyan felt that she looked like a newborn calf, with her eyes wide open.

It reminded him of his sister, whose eyes were also round and bright.

"Why would you give the bone I gave you to a puppy?"

Yuanyuan tugged at his sleeve and questioned with a stern face, saying that the old man really disappointed her.

"Because I don't like chewing bones."

Pei Zhiyan lowered his eyes and looked at her wrinkled face, wanting to raise his hand to smooth it out.

"Humph! Don't even think about eating the bones I give you in the future."

Yuanyuan was so angry that her nose was almost crooked. The copper pot was warm but her heart was cold.

"Thank you!"

Pei Zhiyan replied calmly, this is really great news.

"..."

Yuanyuan looked at the old man's cold and ruthless appearance and instantly became dejected.

"I'm so sad. I can't even eat a bite of food."

As he spoke, the little fellow picked up a piece of hotpot, dipped it in the sauce and put it into his mouth. He stuffed so much into his mouth that his cheeks were bulging.

"Fortunately you are sad. If you were happy, you would probably chew this copper pot as well."

The father on the side mocked the child by saying that he ate a lot in this meal. He couldn't stop eating because he was sad. If he was happy, he would have eaten more.

"I don't really want to hear you talk..."

Yuanyuan shook her head and covered her ears with one hand, indicating that she didn't want to listen to his nagging at all.

Watching the interaction between father and daughter, Xiao Fuzi and Caizhi felt very uncomfortable.

After dinner, Xiao Fuzi stayed behind to clean up, and Caizhi took the children to clean.

I hadn’t been able to properly wash myself during the few days in the carriage. In Yuanyuan’s childish words, “I’m going to be marinated in sweat.”

The little guy went back to rest after taking a fragrant shower. Looking at his old father sitting next to the candle, he ran over and snorted at him harshly.

"Tsk..."

Pei Zhiyan also tutted at her in the same way, and it was obvious that he was not very good at using cold violence.

The bone became a thorn in the child's heart. At night, the old man lay down beside her, and she realized that she had moved inside to make some space.

Pei Zhiyan hadn't slept well in the past few days. He finally lay down peacefully and fell asleep in a moment after closing his eyes.

Listening to the old man's weak breathing, Yuanyuan tossed and turned in bed. After turning over three times in a row, she leaned close to the old man's ear and asked, "Why did you throw away the big bone I gave you?"

007 looked at this familiar scene and couldn't help but sigh: "They are really a father and daughter. Their operations are exactly the same."

"..."

Pei Zhiyan had excellent hearing. He frowned slightly when he heard it but did not open his eyes.

"Why did you throw away the big bone I gave you?"

Yuanyuan asked again stubbornly, and when she saw that the old man didn't answer, she kept asking.

After she asked for the fifth time, she was silent for a long time and sat cross-legged on the bed.

Pei Zhiyan thought she would calm down, but he heard the child say faintly: "Daddy, I know you can hear me, don't pretend to be asleep."

"..."

For the first time, he felt his hair stand on end and goose bumps appeared on his back.

In fact, Yuanyuan didn’t know whether the old man could hear her or not. She was just talking nonsense because she was bored.

"Can you sleep?"

Pei Zhiyan felt that there was no need to pretend anymore since he had been seen through, so he sat up and looked at her in the dark.

"Why did you throw away the bone I gave you?" Seeing that he woke up, Yuanyuan immediately seized the opportunity to ask again.

At this moment, Pei Zhiyan regretted throwing away the bone. He should have snatched the bone back from the dog's mouth, chewed it into crumbs and swallowed it.

He felt that his mental state was starting to go insane. It was true that taking care of a child would make one crazy.

"There's no meat on that bone, what are you going to let me eat?"

"Oh!"

Yuanyuan suddenly realized what was going on, and leaned back to cover herself with the quilt.

Being young means just falling asleep.

"..."

Pei Zhiyan looked at her in such a desperate state and was so angry that he wanted to punch her twice.