Rong Ting once encountered a human trafficker when he was a child.

When he was eight years old, everyone in the palace went to the hunting ground together. Later, everyone went back, and only he was left there deliberately.

The hunting ground is close to deep mountains and forests.

Deep in the mountains lurks tigers, tigers roar and wolves howl. In the middle of the night, wild beasts that are raised here for the royal nobles to shoot and kill for fun appear. Every year, we hear news that nearby villagers have mistakenly entered the hunting grounds and were accidentally injured or eaten by wild beasts.

He thought someone would come to see him.

The eight-year-old boy stumbled all the way, fell and rolled out of the mountain with a bloody face, and sure enough, he saw a figure waiting for him on the side of the road.

He was delighted, thinking that it was someone sent by the palace to take him back.

Totally wrong.

Empress Jiahe arranged two paths for the eight-year-old boy.

One is to die in the deep mountains, being bitten and eaten by wild beasts, leaving no bones behind to feed the beasts' stomachs.

Another possibility is that even if he climbed out of the hunting mountains, he would be kidnapped by human traffickers and sold to an unknown place, and he would have no idea what kind of life he would lead in the future.

The traffickers' house is at the foot of the mountain, on the outskirts of the city.

He was imprisoned for two days. One night, through a hole in the wall, he learned that the Lantern Festival was being celebrated in Jinling.

The chill from the wall seeped into my bones. I leaned against the wall, and through the small hole I could glimpse the bright lights in the dark sky outside.

The trafficker brought back a little girl that night.

The little girl was about five or six years old, and her face and body were covered with mud.

He didn't bother to see what she looked like.

But what I saw was the candy beans in her hand and her bulging pockets.

He has been hungry for too long.

…

When Jiang Rao saw Rong Ting coming, she stood up and went to help him push his wheelchair in.

Rong Ting lowered his head slightly, his expression surging and dark.

He looked listless, like a puppy that had fallen into the water.

…

Huai Qing watched from the side and thought, just see, it is indeed so.

The Ninth Prince could push his wheelchair by himself and didn't need anyone's help to go anywhere. As soon as Miss Jiang Si looked at him, he began to feel as if his hands had no strength.

There is no trace of the time when he controlled the wheelchair with one hand in the academy and went anywhere as easily as walking on flat ground.

On the contrary, his expression and movements all revealed an embarrassment of needing help from others.

Such a beautiful face, coupled with such a weak expression...

Who wouldn’t want to help after seeing this?

If he knew clearly in his heart that it wasn't his help that the Ninth Prince wanted, he would have wanted to help.

Huai Qing had a lot to say, but he kept quiet.

He followed the two masters in.

On the other hand, Fourth Miss Jiang seemed to understand her master's temper and the difficulties of being servants. She never blamed him for not being diligent and smart enough when serving the Ninth Prince.

…

After the curtain fell and they entered the inner room, Jiang Rao returned to the round table and sat next to Jiang Jinxing. She said to Rong Ting, "How was your stay in the academy today, Your Highness?"

Rong Ting's mind was still in the memories. He listened to her words and raised his eyes slowly.

Ninth Prince...

Ever since returning to the capital, he has never heard her call him Brother Ting again.

He suppressed his annoyance silently in his dim eyes and said slowly, "Everything is fine."

Mr. Yan's reputation made other scholars in the academy treat him extremely politely.

There was even a hint of flattery in that politeness.

It's all foam.

During those days when he was trampled in the mud, no one would even look at him.

Those who can refrain from adding insult to injury and join others in stepping on someone else can even be considered good people.

Nowadays, with just a little bit of fame, you can get flattery and adulation in return. It is really cold and ridiculous.

But he always remembered who was the person who pulled him out of the mud.

I only remember that one person.

Rong Ting raised his eyes and looked at Jiang Rao.

Jiang Rao breathed a sigh of relief, smiling, "That's good, that's good."

What she is best at is using money to buy favors with others, and she is very money-minded.

But using money to buy people's hearts is not a long-term solution, nor does it work everywhere.

That doesn't work in Uncle Yan's Bailu Academy.

Therefore, she was somewhat unnecessarily worried that he would be bullied by others.

But if you think about it, you will know that it won't happen. That is Uncle Yan's academy, and his direct disciple, how could he be bullied in his academy.

Rong Ting's eyes scanned Jiang Rao's face carefully.

Little by little, it corresponded to the little girl with dirty mud on her face in my memory.

He believes that he is not a good person and is evil at heart, but he never feels the slightest bit of guilt because of this.

He was born this way and deserves it.

But he didn't know at that time that the little girl was her.

At eight years old, he just wanted to survive.

No matter what means.

Even if it hurts others.

If he had known it was her, he would never have taken anything from her.

For the first time, Rong Ting felt guilty about the bad things he had done and regretted that he could not go back to the past.

He didn't tell anyone about the kidnapping.

I take it too seriously. From childhood to adulthood, there have been too many times when I almost lost my life.

But when I think back, the memories of that time are still clear.

After the little girl was caught that night, she was not like the other children and started crying as soon as she came in. On the contrary, she was calmer than some of the people older than her. She first walked around the room, as if trying to find a way out.

But she shed a lot of tears afterwards.

When he snatched her candy beans, she cried so hard. The moment he snatched her hairpin, she sat on the ground with her hair disheveled, sobbing loudly, with tears streaming down her face, leaving mud marks on it.

He thought it was very noisy at the time.

I feel sad now.

Later, she cried for too long and became tired, sobbing and falling asleep.

Apparently because she was too scared, after sleeping for a while, she rolled over to his side and hugged him for warmth.

He pushed her away because she was in the way.

But after a while, she came back to me again.

Holding him, she called out to her parents in fear.

Her body is small, but very warm. It's soft and fluffy, like fluffy clouds.

But he hated the body temperature of other people, even of all living things, and even when it was very cold at night, he didn't want to hug her to keep warm.

He pushed her away, three times in total.

When I woke up the next day, the first thing that caught my eye was a furry little head.

The little girl wrapped her arms and legs around him, and put both of her little hands into his arms, covering them with her palms against his chest.

“…”

He's the kind of guy who knows how to find a place to keep warm.

He pushed her away for the fourth time.

Four times.

I felt so annoyed and disgusted when I pushed it away.

How regretful I am now.

That little girl turned out to be her, it turned out to be her...

Rong Ting's eyes were filled with dejection and sadness, and he asked in a hoarse voice, "Niannian, I heard you just now saying that you were kidnapped when you were a child..."

Jiang Rao raised her eyes and looked at him, she felt that his eyes were more painful than her brother's.

The gaze was deep and tender, containing emotions that others could not understand.

"It was many years ago. I'm fine now." Seeing the expressions of the two people opposite, as if they were the ones who were abducted, Jiang Rao couldn't help but smile and said, "Isn't there that child? I'm well protected."

Rong Ting remained silent and lowered his eyes.

He had not thought of saving anyone at that time.

The only thought in his mind was to do whatever it took to keep himself alive.

Saving people was just a coincidence.

When he thought of this, the fingers hidden under his sleeves couldn't help but tremble.

If it hadn't been such a coincidence...

"That child is so amazing! He was able to protect his sister." Jiang Jinxing had a natural admiration for such heroic deeds of saving lives. He listened with sparkling eyes and repeated loudly, "He is a great hero."

He climbed onto Jiang Rao's lap and tilted his head up, wanting to hear a story. "Sister, please tell me more. I want to listen."

When Rong Ting saw the chubby boy crawling into Jiang Rao's arms, he frowned, and a hint of possessiveness appeared in his eyes.

"Come here, your sister is tired." He said to Jiang Jinxing.

Jiang Jinxing turned his head and looked at Rong Ting, "But I want my sister to hug me."

Jiang Rao also loved him, so she pulled him into her arms and said to Rong Ting, "I'm not tired."

Rong Ting: “…”

He moved his fingers, wanting to stretch out his arms and hold Jiang Jinxing in his arms.

But it's too difficult.

His arm didn't actually move at all.

With a frown, he hesitated between letting him hold Jiang Jinxing and letting Jiang Rao hold him.

Both are difficult to endure.

Rong Ting is secretly cold and indifferent by nature, he loves coolness and hates other people's body temperature.

To this day, I have only had the desire to touch one person.

Huai Qing, who was standing by the wall, suddenly felt a gaze falling on him.

Then, he heard his Ninth Prince order, "Huai Qing, come here and hug Young Master Jiang."

Huai Qing looked at Jiang Jinxing's round figure: "..."

Can you not hug me?

Jiang Jinxing was not shy and immediately opened his arms to Huai Qing. His puppy eyes sparkled and he said, "Brother, hold me."

Huai Qing suddenly felt that although this little ball was visibly heavy, it was so cute.

This was the first time a young master from a wealthy family called a eunuch like him "brother".

He picked up Jiang Jinxing, and his body squatted down uncontrollably before he stabilized.

Cute is really heavy.

…

Jiang Jinxing was held by Huai Qing, and his curiosity was very strong. He stared at his sister and continued to ask, "Sister, do you know who was the child who saved you?"

Rong Ting held his breath.

Jiang Rao was speechless for a moment.

After the kid killed someone, blood splattered on his shoulder.

While all the children were huddled together, frightened to death by his actions, he calmly opened the door, faced the rising sun, and walked out.

Without looking back.

But before he left, he threw the bloody hairpin back in front of Jiang Rao.

That was the last time Jiang Rao looked at him.

But at that time, his face was not only dry and

There were bloodstains, and new bloodstains were added, and the eyes were even redder.

From beginning to end, she never got a clear look at what he looked like.

She shook her head and said to Jiang Jinxing, "I don't know who he is."

Jiang Jinxing was a little disappointed, "I wanted to thank him instead."

"Sister, have you ever thought about looking for him?" he asked.

Jiang Rao shook his head firmly.

When she thought of that child, she thought of his calmness and ferocity beyond his age when he killed people, and... the bloody hairpin he threw in front of her at the end.

She has shadows.

"That child was the first to run away. I was worried that he hadn't returned, so I asked our family to look for him nearby. There were no children his age. Families in Jinling who had lost children all said that their children had returned, so he must have gone home."

And she knew that the child was home, and that was enough.

As if she noticed the change in Rong Ting's gaze, Jiang Rao glanced at him and felt that he was a little strange today.

Jiang Jinxing was even more confused when he saw Jiang Rao shaking her head, "But he is my sister's savior. Doesn't my sister want to meet him?"

Jiang Rao could only evade him and said, "It's because my sister is stupid and can't remember what he looks like and can't find him."

Jiang Jinxing pursed his lips, feeling very regretful, "Okay."

…

"Just now, did you hide something from your brother?"

After the maid took the sleepy Jiang Jinxing away, Rong Ting asked.

His eyes were as black as ink and his gaze was deep.

Even though he had basically determined that the girl was Jiang Rao, he still had a glimmer of hope in his heart...

What if she isn't?

He remembered it clearly. When the human trafficker died, she curled up in the corner, terrified to the extreme. Her whole body was shaking as if she had just been pulled out of cold water.

He was young and didn't know what compassion was. Now when he thought back to the little girl with wet face from crying, his heart ached. He didn't expect that he was the one who scared her like that.

"I did hide something." Jiang Rao turned her head and looked at Rong Ting, "I was afraid that my brother would be scared if he heard it."

"The child who saved me that year was only about seven or eight years old, just..." Jiang Rao gestured slightly to show the height in her memory, "a child this tall."

She lowered her eyes slightly and recalled, "He was so vicious, he robbed my candy beans and my hairpin like a little robber, and he used my hairpin to kill people."

The worst thing is that this little robber is a person who borrows and exchanges things!

After using the hairpin, he actually threw the bloody hairpin back in front of her!

Too scary

.

For several years after that, her legs would go weak whenever she saw the hairpin, and it took many years for her to feel better.

Jiang Rao said sincerely: "He used my hairpin to kill someone and save me. We have exchanged and borrowed, and there is no loss or debt. Don't meet again in the future. I am scared, I am really scared."

And in her heart, she would wish that child a peaceful life.

Rong Ting showed a hint of embarrassment.

It turns out, it was really her.

After a while, he lowered his eyes and his expression slowly calmed down.

But he just said "hmm" lightly, agreeing with Jiang Rao's words, "We won't meet again."

Although his tone was firm, his palms were covered with sweat.

He would never let her know that the vicious and cruel little robber who scared her to tears at that time was him.

absolute.