The hanging iron pot was right in front of him, bubbling with water and steam rising up. A layer of white mist blocked his vision.

In a trance, Shen saw a purple-brown figure rushing in. The oil lamps along the prison corridor were all lit up, reflecting the figure, which was so white that it was dazzling.

He recognized the man.

That was his Lord, his Highness.

It seemed like someone was talking. The wound on his shoulder was still bleeding, and his hands and feet were getting colder.

It was so cold, Chen bent his body slightly, but accidentally pulled the long nail engraved in his shoulder bone. He didn't know whether it was because of the cold or the pain, but he couldn't help shivering.

Suddenly, a fox fur coat with body temperature was draped over him, almost covering his entire body, and the scent of agarwood filled his entire face.

Shen seemed to be finally relieved. He tilted his head slightly and then fainted.

It's another snowy day.

Shen had a high fever and it was freezing cold outside, but his inner clothes were soaked with sweat. His long black hair was hanging down and stuck to his sweaty temples.

He was dreaming and waking from time to time, with several nightmares intertwined, causing him to curl up in pain.

He also had grandparents in a small village not far from Beijing. In his memory, there was a courtyard surrounded by an earthen fence, a simple house, and a bamboo bed that creaked when he slept on it.

Grandpa was addicted to alcohol. Whenever he got home drunk, he would beat him and his mother. He could not remember his grandfather's face, but he only remembered that he would always pick up the fire tongs in the hall and beat him.

While beating him, he cursed with a loud tongue: "You little beast whose tongue was twisted by the heavenly dog, you only know how to eat, only know how to eat! What's the point of me raising you? You can't even speak a word!"

Ah Niang always stood in front of him at first, stopping him with red eyes: "Why are you angry with a child like him? What does he know? If he hadn't taken the wrong medicine that year, he would have been a complete child."

If she talked back, Grandpa would beat her and my mother too, saying that she had bad character and couldn't take good care of the children. Sometimes he even called her a whore, saying that it was she who had flirted with the village doctor and seduced him to poison and mute their son.

"A complete child? He is clearly a monster that is neither male nor female," Grandpa scolded and kicked him, "He should have been drowned in the river and sacrificed to the God of the River. What is the point of keeping him in the world with a body like this? He is just making people laugh at him."

Shen listened to their words, confused and not knowing who was wrong. He just thought that the worst one was the pliers in front of the hall. So one day, when the adults were away, he quietly threw away the pliers at home.

But later, when the drunk grandfather came back, he couldn't find the pliers, so he grabbed his hair and dragged him against the wall. After beating him, he went on to beat my mother.

Later, A'niang gradually changed. When A'yeah beat her, she would take her anger out on him.

His mother called him a mute and a debt collector, saying that it was because of him that his grandfather drank all day and did not work properly, and it was because of him that she was beaten by men every day.

But when A Niang said those words, she also cried. Chen knew that she was aggrieved. The grievances that had been piling up in her heart day by day had nowhere to vent, so she had to blame him.

In fact, she probably knew that what she said was unreasonable, she just couldn't live any longer.

Finally one day, A Niang sold the only valuable iron pot left in the house and bought two packets of arsenic.

That day she went with Chen Que holding his hand. The sun was shining brightly and warmly that day. The wild flowers by the roadside were bright, and even the weeds were bright.

Chen was in a good mood, holding A Niang's hand and looking left and right.

When Chen came back from the town, he was so hungry that he saw stars. He took a few sips of water from the water tank, but the more he drank, the hungrier he became. So he pushed open the bedroom door, and saw A Niang hiding in the room eating something.

He hurried over, his dark eyes shining, and pointed at his stomach and then at his mouth.

But A-niang kicked him and cursed him in a low voice: "Get out."

Shen looked at her eagerly, somewhat confused. Just now in the town, A'niang had clearly bought two bags of food, so why did she eat them all by herself and not share any with him?

In the past, when he picked sweet little fruits, he would keep half of them and put them in the leaves to bring back for his mother.

He refused to go out, so he sat on the ground near the door and played with the sand with his hands.

The room was very quiet, but Shen's stomach growled from time to time. He knew his mother heard him, but she ignored him and sat on the bed holding a bowl, looking dazed and confused.

After a while, Ah Niang suddenly squatted down, touched his face very gently, and whispered to him: "Guan'er, go outside and help me watch. When the sun sets, go to find your cousin at the village head."

Her eyes fell down, with a bit of kindness, a bit of tenderness, and a bit of reluctance: "Just say that mother has been sleeping for a long time, and you can't wake her up no matter how hard you try. Ask him to come and see her, okay?"

Chen nodded in confusion. He was too young at that time and didn't know what his mother's words meant.

But he would listen to whatever his mother said.

He happily held A Niang's fingers with his two dirty little hands and then held them in his arms.

He hoped that his mother would be so gentle to him every day, even if he was going hungry.

Perhaps because she saw that he was obedient, A'niang went out of the house, went to the front hall, wrapped a few pancakes that had been baked in the iron pot before being sold in a cloth, and handed them to Chen Que. This was the only flour left in the house, but A'niang did not eat a single one.

The sun set quickly, and he lay down beside his mother's bed. His mother's lips turned blue, and he was a little scared. His heart was in a mess, and his nose was itchy. He wanted to cry, but he held back.

He couldn't make any sound, so he could only push A Niang's shoulders again and again.

But A'niang didn't move at all.

A Niang had been sleeping for a long time. Just like she said, she couldn't be woken up no matter how much she was called. However, Chen was so hungry that he didn't dare to eat the cake. He had to do what A Niang asked him to do, and only then could he eat the cake when he came back.

So Shen ran out of the house barefoot. The straw sandals that his mother had woven for him had long been worn out, and his grandfather's old shoes were lying in the hall, but he didn't dare to wear them for fear of being beaten.

When he ran all the way to his cousin's house at the village entrance, his feet were already cut by something and were covered in blood.

My cousin's wife was a very nice person. When she saw him running here in such a mess, she said "Aiya" and scolded him with some pity: "Why did you run here without shoes? Where's your mother?"

While talking, she wiped the blood from the wound on the sole of his foot.

This cousin was mute just like him, but he was mute because of the medicine he took, while this cousin had the disease from his mother's womb. The cousin was also a good man and taught him a lot of sign language, which he remembered.

While thinking about the actions, he slowly told his cousin what his mother had told him to do. After hearing his words, his cousin's face suddenly changed.

Without having time to explain to his wife, he picked him up by the waist and hurried to their home.

His cousin's body was warm, with a hint of earth and sweat, which reminded him vaguely of his grandfather, but his grandfather never wanted to hug him, and he was even too lazy to look at him.

But what he was most familiar with was his grandfather's fist.

When they got home, his cousin left him outside and took his aunt into the house to check. Just as he closed the door, Shen heard a scream from inside. It was his aunt's voice.

Later, his grandfather also came back. The adults were discussing together in the house, his cousins and their wives were whispering, and his grandfather was furious.

At this moment, Xiao Shen finally opened the cloth bag, took out the pancake that his mother had baked for him, and ate it bite by bite.

Halfway through his meal, his grandfather suddenly kicked the door open and rushed out, picked up a broom from the yard and threw it at him, cursing, "You are such a bastard, you have no conscience, and you only care about eating at this time."

"Your mother is dead. You killed her! Did you know that?"

Shen was knocked to the ground, but he was still reaching out to pick up the cake covered with yellow soil.

He was so hungry that he felt anxious and his heart ached.

Grandpa seemed to be crazy. He stepped on the back of his hand and crushed it hard: "Your mother doesn't want you anymore. Why didn't she take you, the debt collector, with her? She threw you, a burden, to me. How much does she hate me!"

My cousin and aunt held Grandpa, one holding him, the other picked him up from the ground. He huddled in my aunt's arms, listening to her comforting him: "No, that cake is dirty, we don't want it. I have something delicious, we'll go to my house to eat later."

Before the aunt finished speaking, Shen Que let out a low whimper.

No crying, only tears.

His grandfather doesn't love him, and his mother doesn't want him anymore. From now on, he is alone in this world. How is he going to live?

It was the first time that Xie Shiguan saw Shen Que cry. In the past, no matter how wronged he was, he would only see his eyes turn red, with a layer of mist covering his bright black eyes.

He was a little curious and rubbed his tears with his knuckles. They were warm, as hot as his body.

Shen was startled awake by his light touch, gasping for breath. When he finally came to his senses from the distorted dream, he looked up and saw a face that was both familiar and unfamiliar.

He shrank back slowly, but the man held him tighter on his knees.

Maybe it was because the high fever of the past few days made him extremely weak, but he had almost no strength to resist. He just opened his eyes wide and stared at the man.

Half of his body was resting in Lin Xie's arms, and the tears brought on by the nightmare wet his collar, wetting a small area.

Shen's face turned red and he felt ashamed, so he struggled to get up again and grabbed his arm and pulled it apart.

The man looked as if he had suffered a great injustice, and said with a gloomy face: "I don't know who it was just now. He was crying in pain and begging me to hold him. Now that he has woken up, he has turned his face away and refused to recognize me."

Shen was stunned, looking at him doubtfully, his body was burning badly, his consciousness was groggy, for a moment, he really thought that he had provoked him first.

But the next moment, he saw a teasing look on Lin Xie's face, which seemed to be about to laugh.

Yes, he is a mute, how could he cry out in pain in his dream? This Lin Xie must be deceiving him again!

Seeing his startled and angry expression, Lin Xie laughed: "I didn't lie to you. There is no soft couch in your room. I had nowhere to sit, so I had to sit on the edge of the bed. I only sat there for a while, and then you climbed over and stuck to me and didn't move."

However, Shen didn't believe what he said at all. He looked at him coldly and stopped struggling. He looked out from the half-open window in the room and caught a glimpse of the moonlight, which was cold and fell to the ground with the flying snowflakes.

He hated the person behind him, but he didn't know if it was because he was still sick and had such a dream, but now he felt that with this person around, he seemed to feel a little better.