no puppet

In the early morning of the next day, Yin Chun went to prepare a medium-sized coarse cloth package, laid it flat on the bedside, and began to count all Xie Hengyan's belongings.

——a bag of broken silver, an embroidered handkerchief, half a hanging copper coin, and an out-of-fit ink folding fan.

Yin Chun took the folding fan and stared at it for a while, but before he could fully open it, Xie Hengyan snatched it back, wrapped it in his arms, and said very preciously: "Don't touch this!"

"I won't touch it." Yin Zuo clicked his tongue and said helplessly, "Put it away for you, or you will lose it in a while."

"It won't fall."

Xie Hengyan snorted coldly, pinned the folding fan to his belt lightly, and carefully twisted and twisted it with the short rope, for fear that someone would steal it, wishing he could walk with it in his hand.

The two dawdled and prepared for a long time, and when they went out, a light rain had already fallen densely outside the sky.

Yin Chun walked in front holding a paper umbrella, while Xie Hengyan walked behind, rubbing against his clothes.There were hardly any people seen along the way, the streets and alleys were deserted, and there were quite a few talisman papers flying in front of the houses, some of which even covered the entire wall.

Ever since a banshee appeared in the small building in the sky the night before, the people in the town seemed to have lost their souls one by one. They sat at home all day long and put up magic circles and pasted talisman papers. A statue was erected.

Therefore, Yin Chuan has been very busy in the past few days, mostly because of the trivial matters that pop up inside and outside the shrine.

Now that he finally had a free day, Yin Chun glanced sideways at Xie Hengyan, who was poking his head behind him, and always felt that this guy looked like a stray dog ​​that broke into the house halfway.After a while, hang a wooden sign around his neck, and write a few big characters clearly - "kneeling and begging kind people to adopt", that really fits the scene in front of him, and there is no violation at all.

The two first went to the empty lamp building.At that time, the brothel had been demolished to nothing. After the red-carved fence burned down, some low sheds propped up by rags were put up one after another. Settle down in the bottom of the shed.

Xie Hengyan walked around the low shed, and soon found Achun, the girl who escaped from the empty building that day, among the crowd of beggars.

But she obviously hadn't showered for several days, her whole body was dirty and stuck together, she didn't look like she had eaten anything, and her face was pale with an unspeakable bruise.

Ah Chun turned around and saw Xie Hengyan's face, he was stunned for a few moments, then he rushed forward, and started to cry loudly.

Xie Hengyan was almost frightened by her, it took him a long time to react, and he bent down to smooth her twitching back.

Achun cried and said: "Xiao, Xiaoxie... I can see someone who can talk! Everyone in the town said Aunt Liu is a monster, and they also said that the girls in our Kongzhanlou are all monsters. I Ever since I came out of the building that day, I haven't met a former sister... woo... Where did everyone go, why did you come back alone?"

"I don't know where they went." Xie Hengyan said, "It's you yourself, how did you get into this state?"

As soon as Ah Chun heard this, he cried even harder: "I have saved my savings for several years in an empty building, and this fire has burned them all, not even a single hairpin... ...This tells me how to live in the future! How to live!"

The girl cried hoarsely in front of her, showing no tendency to stop.

Xie Hengyan squatted beside him and stared dryly, and for a while cast his gaze for help to Yin Chu who was holding an umbrella behind him.

Yin Chun seldom encountered such a situation, and after a long time of converging on his lips, he managed to ask: "... Where is your family?"

As soon as these words came out, Ah Chun completely collapsed.While weeping with tears all over her face, she said that life would be worse than death: "I only have one married sister left in my family, and the family has children, so how can I care about my life?"

"Don't...don't cry." Xie Hengyan took out her handkerchief and wiped her tears, "How do you know she doesn't care about you if you don't go? Pack up earlier, go and join her before winter comes."

Ah Chun shook his head and said, "It's useless, my sister lives in Pingchao City, which is a hundred and eight thousand miles away from us. I can't even afford food, and I don't have any extra money to go out of town."

Xie Hengyan was silent for a while, then turned around and asked Yin Zhu: "How much money will it cost from our place to Pingchao City?"

Yin Chun said: "Three to five days' journey will require a lot of food and lodging."

Xie Hengyan took out the money bag from his small broken parcel, weighed it twice, and asked, "Are these enough?"

"Probably enough." Yin Chun frowned, "What do you want?"

Without even thinking about it, Xie Hengyan put the money bag into Ah Chun's arms and said, "This is for you, filling your stomach is the priority, don't spend it everywhere!"

Ah Chun shivered and took the money bag, and was about to say thank you tremblingly, but Xie Hengyan stretched out his hand to pat the seal, and said: "...Let's go."

After the two gave the money, they turned away from Ah Chun and left the shed without looking back.

Yin Chun still held an umbrella and walked in front, after a while, he couldn't help but said to Xie Hengyan: "Why is this so?"

Xie Hengyan asked: "Why what?"

Yin Chuan said coldly: "Do you have money to eat yourself?"

Xie Hengyan said as a matter of course: "Isn't there still you here?"

Yin Chun: "...?"

Not long after that, they successfully found Aqiu girl who used to have a good relationship with Xie Hengyan at the innermost end of the three narrow alleys behind the street.

At that time, Ah Qiu was holding two babies wrapped in swaddling clothes, and beside them were two other babies running barefoot, chattering and chirping, and the courtyard was filled with joy.

Only their mother was hunched over among the children, unable to move her arms and legs, unable to walk, and even taking a step forward seemed somewhat difficult.

——Aqiu is the mother of four children at the same time.Since he stepped into the brothel at the age of 16, all his money savings have been used to support the two small ones in his hands, and the two big ones next to him.

And what's even more unbelievable is that the fathers of these four children... are not the same.

Aqiu said: "At the time, I thought I would give birth. Anyway, I am not short of money. Who would have thought that the brothel opened by Aunt Liu would not live up to expectations... It didn't take long before it was closed."

Xie Hengyan stood not far from her, and the two barefoot children ran around him, circling round and round.

One shouted: "Brother, I want sugar."

Another shouted: "Brother, I want shoes."

Therefore, the last half of Xie Hengyan's copper money was used to buy a pair of new shoes for each of Aqiu's four children, plus four bags of delicious small sugar cakes.

After a while, Yin Chun and Xie Hengyan retreated from Aqiu's house consciously.

There was no words all the way, and after staying in silence for a long time, Xie Hengyan turned her head and asked Yin Chun: "...are you still looking for it?"

Yin Chun had no expression on his face, and asked him back: "Do you still know anyone?"

Xie Hengyan patted his head and thought for a long time, and finally pulled the seal to find Xiaolu who was injured in the fire that day.

Xiaolu's original name was Gu Luyi, but she changed her stage name when she was working under Liu Zhou'er.

Earlier in the Kongzhan Building, she could sing and dance, and was proficient in all kinds of piano, chess, calligraphy and painting, and her own conditions were not too bad. The family's ancestors have been doing business for generations. Although it has declined a lot in her generation, the remaining The money is barely enough for her to support herself alone.

——The only thing missing is that she was a good girl before, but now she has a thin leg and has to use a cane to go everywhere.

When Xie Hengyan saw Gu Luyi again, the girl had become so skinny as a bamboo pole, with a wooden crutch next to her legs, it was almost impossible to tell where it was without looking carefully.

When Gu Luyi saw Xie Hengyan, her reaction was exactly the same as Ah Chun's. When she stared at her eyes, she immediately began to cry endlessly.

"Xiao Xie... I thought something happened to you too!" She cried and said, "It's a good thing you're still alive, otherwise my sister would feel really uncomfortable..."

Xie Hengyan also laughed dryly, and comforted her, "It's alright, everyone is still living well, you don't have to worry all the time."

Gu Luyi wiped her tears and said: "That's good, that's good... Recently the town is really not peaceful, once the empty building is demolished, everyone will have no place to go in the future, I'm afraid life will not be easy."

Xie Hengyan turned her head and looked at Yin Chun—they had no extra money on them, and they came to visit the girl right now, and they didn't bring any suitable gifts.

In the midst of embarrassment, Gu Luyi's eyes suddenly lit up, and she pointed at Yin Chun and shouted loudly: "Ah... isn't this Xiaobai!"

Xie Hengyan nodded and said, "Yes, yes, this is Xiaobai."

Yin Chun opened his mouth, and just about to explain something, Gu Luyi immediately smiled through tears, rubbing the corners of the two people's clothes and said cheerfully: "It turns out that Xiaobai ransom you to go home, and it made me worry so much before... Sigh , everyone says that a friend in adversity is a friend, and Xiaobai is willing to take you with him at this time, which shows that he is not a bad man!"

Xie Hengyan said coldly: "...That's right, Xiaobai is the best to me."

Yin Chun was expressionless: "..."

"That's great, great, great!"

After Gu Luyi said three "great" in a row, she resolutely held the palms of the two men in front of her at the same time.Then solemnly and seriously, they were tightly overlapped, and they were clapped upward twice, saying: "This is the best news I have heard in a while."

Yin Chun: "No, I..."

"No, you are. Xiaobai, you are a responsible man." Tears flashed in Gu Luyi's eyes, and she said sincerely and sincerely, "I will really feel at ease when Xiaoxie will follow you in the future."

——After half an hour, Xie Hengyan and Yin Chun said goodbye to Gu Luyi, and once again set foot on the old winding road.

Not long after the shower stopped, the sky was covered with a layer of water-colored red glow.

Xie Hengyan squatted down, picked up a branch at random by the side of the road, and poked, poked, poked along the edge of the ground bit by bit.

However, with a "pop", the branch broke.

"I'm tired." Xie Hengyan, who is currently penniless, said lazily, "You can find it yourself, I won't accompany you."

Yin Chun took a deep breath and didn't speak for a long time.

"correct."

Xie Hengyan stretched out his hands to rub his belly, blinked and said to Yin Chun, "I'm still a little hungry. How about we... have dinner first?"