The two children on the streets were especially eye-catching. When the pedestrians walked past, they couldn’t help but glance at them. Sometimes, just a glance wasn’t enough, and they took two and then three more looks. The two children looked to be around five to six years-old, with the little boy dressed in a brocade robe, his defined eyebrows and large eyes making him seem full of life. His facial features were all delicate, making him look as pretty as a girl. Beside him was a doll-like girl, still in the prime of her youth. Her smile was bright, and her peach-coloured lips were downturned, unconsciously causing others to pity her.
Seeing the two children walking together, others almost mistook them to be the golden children at the feet of Guanyin Bodhisattva.
The little girl followed closely behind the boy, often asking, “Big Brother Xiao Yu, do you know where we’re supposed to go?”
He shook his head, saying, “I don’t know.”
Soon enough, she asked again, “So…Will you be able to find my big brother and Steward Wang?”
Forcing himself to remain patient, the boy answered, “Let’s look around first.”
The girl couldn’t resist and her voice wavered as she whimpered, “I want my big brother…”
Before he could react, she breathed in heavily and continued walking behind him, wiping off a few errant tears with her sleeve. “I didn’t cry.”
The boy simply hummed in agreement, and walked faster without looking back.
Before they had gone very far, the little lady couldn’t contain her curiosity and started speaking again. “What if we aren’t able to go back? Will we be lost forever? Will daddy be able to find us?”
“…”
“Big Brother Xiao Yu, hurry up and answer me…” She prodded at his hand, but still he didn’t answer, causing her to feel quite uneasy. “I’m tired, can we rest for a while? I want to drink some almond tea and eat some creamy pineapple rolls or lotus pastries… Eh, wait for me!”
Losing his patience, Li Yu snapped angrily, “Shut up.”
After he said this, the person behind him finally went silent.
He led her down the street before stopping in front of a pastry shop and turning around. However, it would’ve been better for him to have continued, as the moment he turned around he felt somewhat helpless.
Xie Zhen’s eyes were filled with tears, and he lips were tightly pursed. She looked as though she was forcing herself to not cry, even to the point that her eyes were red. Large, round tears shone in her almond eyes, and it looked like if she blinked, the tears would fall down.
Li Yu hadn’t seen a girl cry before, not less comforted a crying girl, so he was slightly panicked. “What, what are you even crying about? I wasn’t referring to you just now.”
He wasn’t referring to her? Just now, they’d been lost, and she’d needed reassurance, okay? But he hadn’t just ignored her, but also called her annoying.
Xie Zhen lowered her head to wipe away her tears, feeling like it was quite embarrassing. She normally wasn’t so prone to crying; usually the crybaby was Ah Xun. It was all Big Brother Xiao Yu’s fault for making her cry! After wiping away her tears, she raised her head. Full of grievances, she pointed at him accusingly, “You were angry at me just now.”
Li Yu’s face didn’t change as he refuted her, “I wasn’t.”
She persistently replied, “You were.”
“No I wasn’t.”
“You were!”
Li Yu finally compromised, “Oh.” He’d learnt to speak like this from her, and it was almost the exact same way she said it.
The two of them unrelentingly argued with each other. Although Xie Zhen was still angry with him, she still didn’t let go of his hand. Still, she didn’t want to give in and said, “i want to eat some lotus pastries.”
Li Yu kept silent.
Continuing, she said, “I also want to eat some creamy pineapple rolls.”
These snacks were all specialties from the capital, and were difficult to find in Qing Zhou, and even if they managed to find them they wouldn’t have the same authentic taste as they would in the capital. Li Yu was tortured by her until he had no patience left, and without any other solution, he could only bring her to a snack shop.
There, he ordered two different snacks–some preserved kumquats and a cake filled with red dates. He didn’t have any money with him, and so could only use a piece of jade hanging on his waist in place of actual money. The piece of jade was clear and obviously well-made, and looked to be worth at least a few hundred silver pieces, yet he unblinkingly tossed it onto the counter.
After the baker wrapped the to pastries up, he passed it over to him, and he in turn gave it tot Xie Zhen. “Eat.”
Immediately, Xie Zhen’s eyes sparkled and she stopped being angry at him. After taking a bite of the pastry, her smile was brighter and sweeter than a flower. “Thank you Big Brother Xiao Yu.”
As the two walked away hand-in-hand, the baker looked at the piece of jade and tried to figure out which household had produced a child that couldn’t even tell how precious the piece of jade was… It was obviously worth much more than those two pastries!
*
The two children were walking alone on the streets, with no adult nearby, making them quite a sight to behold, especially since Xie Zhen and Li Yu were such good-looking children.
The two were completely unaware of any danger, and continued to try and find their brother and steward. Coincidentally, they encountered one of the shops run by Gao Xun’s family on the way. Xie Zhen hadn’t forgotten her original goal, and dragged Li Yu along as she rushed towards the shop entrance.
The shop was filled with countless precious hairpins and jewellery, but unfortunately, Xie Zhen was too short. Even as she tried her best to tiptoe, she still couldn’t see anything. Anxious, she could only describe the kind of hairpin she wanted to the shopkeep. “It’s a white-coloured hairpin with a peacock on it… and a cicada as well?”
The shopkeep was a thirty to forty year-old woman; even past the prime of her youth, she still held a kind of charm. She wore a peony-patterned cloak, and her hair combed neatly and decorated with a hair pin. She smiled warmly, naturally liking the beautiful doll-like girl. After telling someone to bring over a stool, she helped the girl up and asked, “What kind of hairpin are you looking for?”
Standing on the stool, Xie Zhen could immediately see everything clearly. Still, after looking through every piece they had, she still couldn’t find the one that looked exactly like Ah Niang’s. Disappointed, she asked, “Do you only have these few pieces?”
Thankfully, there were fewer customers that day, so the shopkeep was quite patient with her, and patted her head, smiling. “There are still many pieces behind, tell me what you want and I’ll bring it over for you to see.”
Helplessly, Xie Zhen glanced at her. Hadn’t she already described it to her? Had she described it wrongly?
Hesitant, she said, “It’s just… a jade…”
Beside her, Li Yu couldn’t take it anymore, and helped her answer. “A jade cicada hairpin.”
Xie Zhen immediately perked up, her heavy burden removed. “Yes yes yes, that kind of hairpin.” Saying this, she hopefully looked up, asking, “Do you have anything like that here?”
The shopkeeper, Madame Zhao, felt like the two children were just too adorable; if it were other children in their place, she would have definitely have turned them away.
“Yes, we do have something like that. Wait a little, I’ll have someone go behind and get it.” Saying this, she told a servant to go to the back and bring out the hairpin.
Soon, the servant brought a box over. The shopkeeper opened and asked, “Is this the hairpin you were looking for?”
Xie Zhen hurriedly turned her head. Seeing an identical replica of her mother’s hairpin, she was overjoyed. “Yes yes that’s the one!” Jumping off the stool, she faced the shopkeeper and asked, “Can you sell this to me? I want this one.”
Madame Zhao laughed and said, “Of course, but you’ll have to pay 120 silvers.”
Xie Zhen had been sheltered all her life; whenever she wanted something her mother would get it for her, so she didn’t have any use for money. Furthermore she didn’t know one bit about it, and also didn’t know what could be considered expensive or cheap. Thinking back to just now when Li Yu used the piece of jade to pay for their snacks, she took a silk satchel from her waist and asked, “Can I use this to exchange for it?”
Madame Zhao shook her head.
Unwilling to give up, she took a protective talisman out and asked, “What about this?”
Again, Madame Zhao rejected it.
After a while, she didn’t have anything else to take from her waist. Still, she was still quite clever, and took the silvery-blue auspicious lock from her neck, asking, “What about this? It’s worth quite a bit.”
Madame Zhao looked it over, and realised that the lock was actually incredibly well made, and that there were four precious rubies embedded in the chain, making it quite valuable. Finally, she nodded her head, and gave the box to Xie Zhen. “Your auspicious lock is more valuable, so I’ll keep it for you first. Later on if you want to buy it back, I’ll give it back to you.”
Having obtained the hairpin, Xie Zhen couldn’t be bothered to care about the lock anymore. She had several similar locks, even if she were missing one Ah Niang wouldn’t notice.”
As she happily bounced out of the shop, she suddenly thought of something. “Big brother Xiao Yu, how did you know that I wanted a jade cicada hairpin?”
Walking beside her, he answered easily, “Gao Xun told me.”
“……”
Xie Zhen was so angry that her cheeks puffed up with air. “He actually dared to tell me that he wouldn’t tell anyone! Next time I won’t share anymore secrets with him!”
Li Yu glanced over at her, wondering: you two have actually shared secrets with each other?
Eventually, he just huffed. So what if they shared secrets, that had nothing to do with him.
*
Actually there had been someone staring at Xie Zhen and LI Yu for a long time, having followed them the moment they stepped out of the alley alone. After listening to their conversation, he knew that they were definitely children from rich households if they were able to readily give up a piece of precious jade and an auspicious lock. If he managed to kidnap them, they’d be worth quite a large sum.
Even if he didn’t manage to get their families’ to pay the ransom, he could still sell them off to some judge or minister. He’d heard of Masters of some rich families who liked these kinds of pretty boys and girls. These two were especially good-looking; even the word “good looking” wasn’t good enough to describe them. When they were older, they would look even better.
The way the man looked at the two children was similar to how one looked at a money tree [1].
After following them for a while, he finally made his move. Running over to them, he blocked their way and cried as he knelt on the ground. “Young master, young miss, this servant finally managed to find you, hurry and follow this servant back home!”
Xie Zhen was so frightened by this that she immediately dragged Li Yu back a few steps. “Who are you?”
The man answered, “It can’t be that the young miss was so frightened that she actually doesn’t recognise this servant anymore… I’m Steward Wang!”
“Rubbish!” Frowning heavily, her lips pursed and she said, “Steward Wang doesn’t look as ugly as this!”
Xie Zhen wasn’t actually being rude, it was just that the man looked far too ugly, with beady eyes similar to those of a rat, along with a mouth full of yellowed teeth. The moment he opened his mouth a putrid smell wafted out. Xie Zhen was incredibly disgusted; she was a clean and hygienic person, and refused to talk to this dirty fellow. “Big brother Xiao Yu, let’s ignore him.”
Still, the man wasn’t easily deterred, and he wiped the menacing expression off his face. Looking incredibly worried, he still followed after them, “Young Miss, you’re too scared and confused right now. If you don’t follow this servant, what if you get kidnapped by some bad people? Stop throwing a tantrum and follow this servant back home to find the Master and Madame…”
Seeing him speaking logically, the passers-by didn’t hold any suspicions against him, and didn’t go over to help the children.
At most, they were slightly puzzled. The two children were dressed to the nines, and with just one look they could tell they were quite wealthy, so why was their steward dressed in rags?
Li Yu knew that the man was actually a human trader, and told Xie Zhen to ignore him as he led them to a more crowded area.
He didn’t think that the trader would be so brave; the moment he saw the two children heading towards the crowded area, he was afraid that he’d lose his money, and gritting his teeth he picked Xie Zhen up.
Xie Zhen found that he was not only dirty but also smelly, and found him extremely disgusting. With a cry, she started struggling. “Don’t touch me!”
Li Yu scowled as he yelled anxiously, “Let her go!”
The trader ignored them as he realised they started attracting other peoples’ gazes. He’d actually wanted to take the other one as well, but afraid that he would end up losing all of his money, he decided to leave Li Yu behind and turned tail to run.
Li Yu was so anxious that his eyes started to turn red, and he desperately picked up the box that Xie Zhen had left behind, threw it at the trader, and then turned to beg the bystanders. “Everyone please block his way! He isn’t our steward!”
Xie Zhen struggled in the trader’s grasp, crying, “Someone save me, Big brother Xiao Yu save me…”
Thankfully, Li Yu’s aim was sure, and at that moment the wooden box struck the back of the trader’s head. His stumbled a little, and a string of curses left his mouth before he continued running down the street.
Before Xie Zhen could be carried further away, a few passers-by stood in front of the trader and blocked his way, telling him to put the child down.
The trader actually wanted to run past them, but eventually he was beaten soundly by a young, well-built man. Finally, he decided to run away.
After tossing and turning for so long, Xie Zhen’s bun came loose, and her clothes also became wrinkled. A few strands of hair hung limply, and she looked extremely pitiful.
Picking up the box, she saw that the hairpin had broken into two pieces.
This time, she didn’t cry, and only rubbed her eyes before saying, “It broke again.”
Li Yu felt slightly guilty since he had been the one to break it. “Next time I’ll buy a new one for you.”
She hummed in agreement. “But Ah Niang will still scold me.”
He told her she wouldn’t, and held her arm as they walked. “I’ll help you explain to Aunt Leng.”
After walking for a while, Xie Zhen’s sniffles started to quieten down. After experiencing such a huge shock, even if she was extremely brave she was still quite traumatised. The streets were far too dangerous; she wouldn’t ever go out alone again.
But would they be able to find her big brother? Would she be able to return home?
Walking slower and slower, Xie Zhen started to whine, “I can’t walk anymore…”
Li Yu answered, “Even if you can’t, you don’t have a choice.”
He’d asked around just now; as long as they walked back to the main street, they would be able to find Xie Zhen’s father Xie Liqing. Then they would be able to return home.
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Tired, Xie Zhen suddenly said sweetly, “Why don’t you piggyback me?”