Xiaoxun sat up suddenly, panting heavily, like a fish on the verge of death out of water. He remembered where he had seen the boy carrying the cage.
It turned out to be him, the child in the cage next to him when he escaped from Ren Yazi's clutches!
Although her body shape has changed, the mole at the corner of her eye cannot change.
The weather was hot, and all the windows in the house were open. The sound of heavy breathing reached the next door. Xiaoruo knocked on the wall and asked, "Axun? What's wrong with you?"
The walls of the houses here are thin and the windows are open. You don't have to move around the two adjacent rooms. You can hear what the people next door are saying by just shouting.
After waiting for a while, Xiao Xun didn't respond. Xiao Ruo felt something was wrong, so he put down the account book in his hand and got up, walked out of the room, and walked into Xiao Xun's room.
"A Xun?" She lifted up the gauze curtain that blocked the mosquitoes. Xiao Xun was sitting on the bedside, holding his forehead with his hands, still breathing heavily.
Unable to see the face of the person in front of her, Xiaoruo stretched out her hand to touch him worriedly, only to realize that his hand was shaking slightly.
"Axun, what's wrong with you? What's wrong with you?" Now she started to panic and lowered her head to look at Xiaoxun's face.
"Ruo Ruo..." Xiao Xun murmured in a low voice, "I saw him..."
"Who? Who did you see?"
"That man, the man carrying the birdcage, is the child in the cage next to me!"
Xiao Ruo couldn't react to her mindless words, and subconsciously repeated what Xiao Xun just said: "The child in the cage next to...?"
Holding Xiao Ruo's hand and feeling the soft warmth in his palm, Xiao Xun's breathing gradually became calmer. Except for the fine beads of sweat on his forehead, there was no trace of the nightmare he had just had.
"Do you still remember how I escaped from Ren Yazi's car?"
Xiaoruo frowned and tried to recall the memory Xiaoxun told when she was in Qiangfan, "You said at that time that you were all locked in a cage in the car. You opened the cage with wire... wire?! You mean that boy was with you?
Children transported together?”
Xiaoxun nodded, released his soft little hand, turned over and sat on the edge of the bed, picked up the soap boots and put them on his feet.
Looking at the sundial, he had fallen asleep for less than half an hour, but now it was impossible to fall asleep again.
"Ruo Ruo, I want to see that boy again."
Ask him if he is the child back then. If so, where were they transported to? Who were they sold to? Why are they now Mrs. Lichun's attendant?
If he needs help, Xiaoxun would not mind helping him get out of his current situation and find his true origin.
Xiao Ruo understood what Xiao Xun meant. In addition to the same hatred for Ren Yazi, he also felt a little guilty in his heart.
It's a pity that Xiaoxun was too weak back then. He was lucky to be able to save himself under the circumstances at that time. He really had no spare power to help other children.
"Okay, let's go to the Chamber of Commerce together."
After slightly tidying up their clothes that were wrinkled and messy from their nap, the two of them hurried out the door.
As soon as they arrived at the gate of the courtyard, old man Cen called out to the two of them: "What are you two doing at noon? Be careful of the heat!"
The old man was in a state of confusion. Just now, when he was half asleep and half awake, he felt someone talking outside. When he got up, he happened to see the hurried backs of the two people.
There was no time to explain to Old Man Cen, Xiaoruo just said "Let's go to the Chamber of Commerce" and disappeared at the door.
The distance between the Chamber of Commerce and the Xiao family was not far. At this moment, they didn't care whether they would get tanned or walk in the shade. The two of them quickened their pace and walked directly through the alley, arriving at the compound of the Chamber of Commerce in a short while.
The crowd of people watching in the morning at the entrance of the courtyard had dispersed, and the wedding musicians were nowhere to be seen. Only the cicadas hidden in the treetops were singing tirelessly at the quiet entrance.
After crossing the gate, there were only two guys sweeping the yard. One of them looked up and saw the two of them, stopped the broom in his hand, and said enthusiastically with a smile: "Miss Xiao, why are you back?"
It was the guy who asked Xiao Ruo to deliver the message when he was leaving in the morning.
"Where is Mrs. Lichun?" Xiao Ruo had a vague suspicion in her heart when she saw the empty yard.
"The customer has left! The shopkeepers are inside calculating commissions for the few people standing guard. Why don't you go in and take a look?" The waiter held a broom in one hand and pointed in the direction of the main hall with the other.
Already gone?
The two looked at each other, turned around and left at the same time with a tacit understanding, leaving the two sweepers looking at each other.
"Miss Xiao, what's going on? Why do you look so serious..."
"I don't know..."
Xiaoruo and Xiaoxun left the Chamber of Commerce compound and went straight to Yuelai Inn.
Yuelai Inn is some distance away from the Chamber of Commerce. One is on the east side of the city and the other is on the southwest side of the city. You have to walk through three streets and then turn two alleys to get there.
The power of midsummer in early July continues unabated, and the midday sun makes the bluestones on the street feel hot.
It was summer time and no one was going out, and no guests were arriving. At this time, people were hiding at home, and there was no one else on the street. Only Xiao Ruo and Xiao Xun were running around under the scorching sun.
Although Xiaoruo was not afraid of the heat, the thin embroidered soles could not withstand the hot stone slabs, and the delicate soles of her feet were almost blistered due to the constant walking.
She frowned, bit her lip with her white teeth, and continued walking without saying a word, pulling Xiao Xun's clothes.
Suddenly, his green-white fingers were pulled by resistance, and Xiaoxun stopped.
Xiao Ruo tilted her head and looked at Xiao Xun. Before she could ask why she wasn't leaving, she saw Xiao Xun stepping in front of her, bending his back towards her knees, squatting down, and motioning for Xiao Ruo to come up.
Liu raised his eyebrows, and Xiao Ruo was not polite, jumping up and down on his broad back, and wrapping his arms around Xiao Xun's neck.
The person behind her was her sweetheart. The moment she jumped up, Xiaoxun immediately held her petite body and bumped her up to make sure the person behind him was safe. He immediately walked as fast as flying and continued to walk towards Yuelai Inn.
——————
Da Mao, the clerk at Yuelai Inn, is not very happy today. The sun is extremely hot today and there is not even a ghost on the street, let alone in the inn. Apart from monthly money, his main income is the rewards given by customers. Without customers, he has nothing.
additional income.
Sitting crookedly at the table near the door, the tablecloth was thrown casually on his shoulders, and his big hairy head was dazed. The innkeeper saw him wandering around, shook his head and went into the backyard. Anyway, there was no customer in the shop now.
He might as well take a nap.
"Xiao Er, Xiao Er brother!" The crisp female voice was like a cool spring, pulling Da Mao back from the air.
He immediately got up and bent down, and instinctively chanted the lines he repeated countless times every day: "Hello, sir, do you want to work in a hospital or stay in a hotel?"
After finishing speaking as usual, Da Mao raised his head and looked at the visitor.
I saw that the visitors were a man and a woman. The man was handsome and the woman was pretty. Both of them had extraordinary temperament and did not look like ordinary guests.
He showed a more attentive smile and looked at the two of them with more eager eyes.
Is he looking at the guests? No, he is looking at the moving rewards!
The pretty and lovely girl spoke first and said: "Little brother, we are not here to stay at the hotel, we are here to find Mrs. Lichun."
As soon as these words were spoken, Da Mao's attentive smile immediately disappeared, and his expression of lack of interest returned. He leaned forward, put his hands casually on the edge of the table, and continued to sit on the stool.
"Mrs. Lichun, she has left." He replied nonchalantly.
"Leaving?" It was the heroic man who spoke this time, with obvious doubt in his tone.
"Yes, it turned out that she was the one who lived in Tianzi House. She paid off the rent at noon and took her brother with her."
Da Mao still feels a little sad when talking about this matter. Although this lady rarely sees me, every time she serves her, she can get a lot of reward.
Seeing the waiter's nonchalant look, Xiaoruo took out ten cents from his sleeve and put it on the table: "Brother, please think more about it, how long has this lady been gone?
Did a young man carrying a birdcage also go with him?"
Looking at the ten cents in hand, Da Mao scooped it up with a big hand and held the copper plate in his palm, with an attentive smile on his face again. "We have been gone for more than half an hour. The young man you are talking about is her brother.
, naturally I followed her."
"Brother?" Xiaoxun frowned unnoticeably and asked, "Are you sure he is her brother?"
After receiving the reward, Da Mao was very patient: "Sure, I went to bring her water a few times, and I heard her calling the young man brother, and asked him if he was hungry and thirsty. With such a caring look, he must be her biological brother.