Chapter 39

Half an hour later, the taxi stopped under the overpass where Xu Guiping usually set up his fortune-telling stall.

It was already past 10 p.m., and there were hardly any people under the overpass. Only the occasional passerby could be seen. The atmosphere was desolate and quiet, very deserted, a far cry from the bustling scene during the day when there were many stalls.

After getting out of the car, Xu Gui walked over, step by step, until she reached a small, thin figure sitting on the ground with her legs drawn up to her chest. She slowly squatted down.

The petite girl hugged her legs, burying her face in her arms. As if sensing someone in front of her, she raised her head, revealing a pair of red and swollen eyes.

"...Sister, did you already know that Dahuang didn't just get lost, but that my parents killed it and made it into dog meat hot pot?" The girl said, and as she spoke, tears streamed down her face like beads from a broken string.

She said, "I even ate that dog meat hot pot."

Xu Gui pursed her lips and asked, "How did you know?"

The girl said haltingly, "I ran into my younger brother on my way home this afternoon."

She was in a bad mood because of the dog incident. Her younger brother brought her a ball and asked her to play with him, but she refused, which led to a conflict. Then, her brother angrily shouted at her, "...You're still looking for your dog all day long! Your dog died a long time ago. Didn't you enjoy the dog meat hotpot last month?"

Only then did the girl realize that her beloved dog, Dahuang, had died.

By this point, the little girl was already sobbing uncontrollably, gagging and crying, her face turning red with discomfort.

Xu Gui patted her back, and her small body fell into Xu Gui's arms. She raised her head, revealing a wet face, with tears and sweat mixed together on her face.

She said, "Sister, I feel like throwing up." But she had already thrown up many times, and now she couldn't throw up anything at all.

Xu Gui didn't say anything to comfort her, but instead reached out and scooped her up, taking her back to the hotel.

Back at the hotel, she filled the bathtub with water and let the girl take a nice bath.

Standing outside the bathroom door, Xu Gui said, "When I was in a bad mood, I liked to soak in the water, and after soaking for a while, I would feel much better."

She loved the feeling of being surrounded by water, especially since it was the ocean, which was much bigger than a bathtub.

The girl sat in the bathtub with her legs drawn up, and couldn't help but ask, "Sister, do you ever feel down?"

Xu Gui smiled slightly and said, "Of course, everyone has bad days. So when we're in a bad mood, we need to learn to regulate our emotions because feeling bad hurts ourselves. We need to learn to cherish ourselves."

Girl: "...I don't understand."

Xu Gui smiled again and said, "Why don't you take a bath first? I'll go find someone to make something to eat. You probably haven't had dinner yet, have you?"

While the child was soaking in the bath, Xu Gui ran downstairs to ask the kitchen lady for help. Knowing that she had brought back a girl, the lady couldn't help but glance at her and ask a question: "Did you tell the child's family?"

Under the old woman's stern gaze, Xu Gui seemed to have shrunk considerably.

“It seems that the child has run away from home,” she said softly. “I met her on the street and haven’t had a chance to tell her parents yet… and I feel that she may not really want to go back now.”

The old woman sighed and said, "I know you mean well, but this can't be done. What if the child's parents come looking for you and accuse you of child abduction?"

Xu Gui: "So what do we do now? The child is in my room right now, I can't just kick her out, can I?"

The old woman frowned and said, "We need to call the police and have them notify her parents."

She glanced at Xu Gui and said, "Forget it, leave this to me. You take the food to the child first, don't keep him waiting upstairs. By the way, does the child have any clean clothes?"

Xu Gui shook his head.

The old woman sighed again and said, "Then I'll think of something. How old is she? What size clothes does she wear?"

Xu Gui: "Thirteen years old... I don't know what size clothes she wears, but she's this tall and very thin."

The old woman said, "I understand. You can go up now."

Xu Gui nodded, but as she carried the tray, she first reached out and hugged the old woman, saying, "Thank you, Auntie, you're so kind!" Then, she grabbed the tray and ran off.

The old woman kept a straight face, but after a few seconds, she finally couldn't hold back.

"This girl..." she said with a laugh.

Xu Gui carried the food back to the room and saw that the girl who had been taking a bath had come out, wrapped in a large bathrobe, revealing her fluffy head.

Xu Gui put down the food and invited her to come and eat.

Because it was late, the old lady didn't take anything too complicated or greasy, but chose something light and easy to digest. Xu Gui had already eaten, so he idly slumped onto the sofa chair by the bed and started playing on his phone.

Anyway, she didn't pay much attention to the girl and went about her own business.

Her attitude made the girl feel much more at ease, and her tense body gradually relaxed. She began to eat slowly. She didn't actually have much of an appetite, but these were all specially prepared for her by her sister, so she tried to eat as much as possible.

Xu Gui seemed to know what she was thinking, and said without looking up, "If you really don't want to eat, then just eat a few bites to fill your stomach."

The girl's eyes widened. She glanced cautiously at Xu Gui, but seeing that he was playing on his phone and not looking at her, she pursed her lips and continued eating.

When she was halfway through her meal, the doorbell rang, and the girl instinctively turned to look at Xu Gui.

Xu Gui guessed that the old lady had probably brought clothes. She got up to open the door and said to the girl, "You continue eating."

When she opened the door, there was indeed an old woman outside. She had someone buy the girl several sets of clothes.

"I bought these according to the height you mentioned before. Since I didn't know her exact size, I bought several sets. Let her try them on and see whichever one fits her best," the old woman said as she entered the room, looking up to see the girl sitting at the table eating.

The girl quickly stood up and greeted her politely, "Hello, Auntie."

Aunt?

The old woman twitched her lips and said, "At my age, I'm old enough to be your grandmother. You can just call me Grandma Jian."

Just then, a head popped out from the side, and Xu Gui asked curiously, "Auntie, is your surname Jian?"

The old woman glanced at her and said irritably, "You've known me for so long, and you still don't know my last name?"

Xu Gui said, "You didn't tell me either." She called her "Auntie" the first time they met, and the auntie didn't object. She continued to call her that after that, so she never asked what the auntie's real name was.

"The surname Jian... what a wonderful surname!" Xu Gui exclaimed.

The old woman asked, "What's better?"

Xu Gui: "...Anyway, it's good."

The old woman chuckled.

Xu Gui smiled, pretending he hadn't heard anything.

The girl went to the bathroom to change her clothes. The old woman said, "I've already called the police. They'll be here soon... It's best to let the police take this child home. Her parents are probably very worried."

Xu Gui nodded in agreement, having no objection. The reason she brought the child over was because it was inconvenient to leave her alone outside. People outside weren't as kind as her; what if she encountered bad people?

When the girl came out after changing her clothes, Xu Gui looked at her and immediately showered her with compliments, praising her for being cute, beautiful, and a walking clothes hanger. How could the little girl withstand such praise? Her face turned rosy, and her eyes instantly filled with trust and affection as she looked at Xu Gui.

If the paparazzi saw this, they would definitely be thinking: Is Teacher Xu some kind of succubus? She's completely captivated everyone, from the elderly to the young.

However, right now, there are only two people here, an old man and a young girl, who have been captured by Xu Gui, so no one is criticizing her. On the contrary, they all look at her with great affection.

Looking at the little girl's blushing face, Xu Gui squatted down and said to her, "I've already called the police. A police officer might come to take you home later..."

Unexpectedly, before she could finish speaking, the girl exclaimed excitedly, "I don't want to go home! I don't want to go back!"

After saying that, she looked at Xu Gui with a nervous and pitiful expression and pleaded, "Sister, I don't want to go back. Please don't send me back."

Xu Gui looked at the old woman.

The old woman said coldly, "Your sister can't take you in. You ran away from home, which means you've run away from home. If your sister really takes you in, she'll just be asking for trouble. Any smart person wouldn't do something so self-inflicted."

Xu Gui, who seems to have been subtly targeted: QAQ.

The old woman continued, "I don't know what conflict you had with your parents, but no matter how big the conflict was, you shouldn't have run away from home. Your parents must be worried sick right now."

The girl, with tears in her eyes, said, "They're not worried at all. They don't like me at all, they don't care about me, and they even cooked my big yellow dog... Waaah!"

As she spoke, she seemed to think of the deceased Big Yellow, and suddenly overwhelmed with grief, she burst into tears.

aunt:"……"

The old woman looked to Xu Gui for help. Xu Gui's gaze shifted for a moment, then hesitantly turned her head away, pretending not to see her—she was also afraid of crying children, so, old woman, there was nothing I could do to help.

Just then, there was another knock on Xu Gui's door. Immediately, both the old lady and Xu Gui looked relieved and rushed to open the door.

Two policemen arrived at the door, but upon seeing them, the girl showed an extremely resistant expression. She didn't make a fuss, she just cried, tears streaming down her face, large drops of tears, so quiet that it made her seem pitiful.

Xu Gui briefly explained the child's situation to the police, then whispered, "Her parents cooked her favorite dog and made it into a dog meat hot pot for her. She only found out about it today..."

She didn't know the girl's name, only what she had calculated that afternoon, and the information the child herself had revealed.

Those present couldn't help but be moved by what Xu Gui said—no wonder this little girl wanted to run away from home; if it were them, they would have run away from home too.

Two police officers approached the little girl and spoke to her. The little girl looked at them, didn't make a fuss, but pleaded, "Officer uncles, I don't want to go home, please don't take me home..."

The police officers felt a pang of sadness, but they couldn't really listen to the young girl's advice on this matter.

"What's your name?" the policeman asked.

The girl sobbed, "My name is Zhao Di..."

Zhao Di?

Upon hearing the name, the two police officers couldn't help but exchange a glance.

Nowadays, such names are rarely seen. Whether due to social opinion or other reasons, most parents would not give their child such a name.

Xu Gui's eyes dimmed slightly as he thought of the girl's words, "They don't like me at all."

"Okay, Zhao Di, where are you from?" the police officers asked, their voices softening as they asked gently, "Where do you live? Do you know your parents' names? Do you remember their phone number? Shall we take you home?"

No matter what the police asked, Zhao Di kept her lips pressed tightly shut like a clam shell, refusing to say a word and completely uncooperative. It was clear that she really didn't want to go back at all.

Left with no other option, the police had to talk to Xu Gui and let the child stay with her temporarily.

"We'll let you know as soon as we have any news," the police officer said.

Xu Gui nodded: "Okay."

The police left, and the old woman left after sitting for a while, leaving only Xu Gui and Zhao Di in the room. Zhao Di looked a little embarrassed at this moment. Suddenly, she sat on the bed, looked at Xu Gui expectantly, and asked:

"Sister, have I caused you any trouble?"

"No, I don't think you're a nuisance." Xu Gui helped her lie down, covered her with the blanket, and the two lay down to sleep.

Zhao Di lay on the bed, looking up at the ceiling. She whispered, "Sister, I'll tell you a secret. I'm not Mom and Dad's child. They found me. That's why they don't like me at all."

Xu Gui: "How did you know?" Her voice was very calm.

“I heard it from others.” Zhao Di said in a very mature tone, “They thought I didn’t know, but I know everything… My parents took me in just so that I could bring a son to my mother, that’s why I’m called Zhao Di.”

Zhao Di added, "Actually, they were very nice to me at first, but after my younger brother was born, they stopped treating me well."

When her younger brother was born, Zhao Di was already grown up and had memories. Her life can be divided into two phases: before her brother was born and after he was born. Before her brother was born, her parents treated her very well. But after her brother was born, her parents treated her with disdain. They would even criticize her for eating an extra bowl of rice.

Xu Gui knew why. As far as she knew, some people without sons would adopt other children because there was a saying in the world that if a childless person adopted a child and raised it, that child would bring them another child.

Xu Guihui knew this because there was a child like this in their orphanage. He had been adopted by a couple, but after the couple had their own biological child, they sent him back.

Xu Gui thought to himself: Human beings are truly a kind of life that is both warm and extremely cruel.

“Only Dahuang likes me the most in the family,” Zhaodi said softly.

For a dog, the little girl who picked it up is the most important person to it. In its heart and eyes, there is only Zhao Di, and only it loves the girl who was rejected by her parents and had nothing.

As for Zhao Di, the only thing she owned in that house that truly belonged to her was Da Huang, but now Da Huang is gone too.

Zhao Di cried again.

Xu Gui heard her soft sobbing, but she didn't say anything and just let the little girl cry.

"Sister, what kind of people are my biological parents?" the girl asked, sobbing. "Why did they abandon me? Did they not like me? Was Zhao Di pregnant? Is that why everyone hates me?"

Xu Gui patted her head and said, "No, it's not that they don't like you or hate you. It's just that the timing was wrong. They didn't have the ability to raise you back then."

"Is that so?" Zhao Di sniffed and said, "Alright, then I'll forgive them for abandoning me."

Xu Gui smiled and reached out to touch her head, thinking to himself: Human children are so fluffy, warm, and fun to play with. They are really cute, much more fun than their Xuan Turtle clan's little cubs who only know how to stay still.

The main thing is that Zhao Di is very well-behaved. When Xu Gui touches her, she lets him touch her and even actively moves her head closer so that Xu Gui can touch her more easily and comfortably.

Gently rubbing Zhao Di's head, Xu Gui casually asked her, "Do you want to find your biological parents?"

Zhao Di, who was feeling a bit drowsy, was jolted awake by these words.

She thought for a long time, and finally said blankly, "I, I don't know..." This matter was too complicated for her, a child who only went to and from school every day. She had never thought about it before.

"Sister, will you help me find my biological parents?" Zhao Di asked softly.

Xu Gui smiled and said softly, "I'm just asking." He'd ask first.

Zhao Di rolled over, rubbed her cheek against the pillow, and mumbled, "Okay."

Her voice was filled with drowsiness. After saying those words, her breathing became calm and quiet, and she fell asleep completely. In the darkness, Xu Gui stared at Zhao Di's thin body silhouette.

At that moment, Zhao Di's fate unfolded before her eyes, and she saw the humble and silent life that this frail girl would lead in the future.

Xu Gui closed his eyes.