Xu Runli's voice was trembling uncontrollably.

The man recognized her, paused for a moment, then turned around, picked up two hot steamed buns from the steamer, wrapped them in a cloth, and handed them to her.

Xu Runli held the hot steamed bun, her hands trembling from the heat, but tears streamed down her face uncontrollably.

She thought of Yun Tangyin, her mother and father, and the days she had destroyed with her own hands.

It turns out there really are people who, when she falls into the mud, will still offer her some small acts of kindness.

The snow fell heavier and heavier. Xu Runli held a hot steamed bun and stood in the swirling snow.

The steam from the steamed bun blurred her vision and warmed her frozen fingers.

She knew she still had a way to go, even if the road was full of mud, even if she had to move forward step by step, prostrating herself.

She was going to find a decent job, even if it was sweeping the streets or cleaning toilets. She was going to save money little by little, to be worthy of those two hot steamed buns, and to be worthy of Yun Tangyin's unspoken forgiveness.

Xu Runli carried the two hot steamed buns and walked for a long time in the snow.

The steam from the steamed bun seeped into her palm through the coarse cloth, scalding her fingertips until they went numb, but she couldn't bear to put it in her mouth.

She recalled the look in the eyes of Yun's distant nephew when he handed her the steamed bun—no disdain, no pity, just as if he were handing it to an ordinary neighbor, so natural, so ordinary.

This kind of ordinariness is the most luxurious thought she has ever had in her life.

She found a sheltered spot against the wind, squatted down, and carefully broke off half a steamed bun.

The aroma of dough mixed with the slight sourness of yeast spread on her tongue. As the warm dough slid down her throat, she suddenly covered her mouth, and suppressed sobs leaked out from between her fingers, like a wounded stray dog.

Snow fell into her hair, quickly accumulating into a thin layer of white, like a cheap mourning garment draped over her.

"Oh, isn't this Miss Xu?" a sharp voice pierced through the air.

Xu Runli looked up and saw Granny Wang from her old village standing in front of her, carrying a vegetable basket with snow-covered radish greens in it.

When Wang Pozi was young, she always flattered her, saying that she was a precious daughter of the Yun family who had been separated from her family. But now, the way she looked at her was like that of a beggar on the street.

Xu Runli turned and ran away without daring to look back, tears streaming down her face.

The cold wind swept snowflakes past her tattered cotton-padded coat, but something inside Xu Runli's heart was slowly melting.

Just like the pumpkin seeds hidden in the frozen soil at the corner of the courtyard, as long as they survive this winter, they will eventually sprout in the spring.

But she never had the chance to see Yun Tangyin again.

Xu Runli herself knew that from now on, she would only be able to live like a homeless ghost, wandering aimlessly...

-The End-

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