What a bully! She hasn't even done anything yet, but he's already acting all defensive, as if everyone is like him, hitting people at the drop of a hat.

Although she did have the urge to beat him up, business was more important. Song Tantan squatted down and reached into the cloth bag to rummage around. Actually, the bag only contained a small snowflake dumpling, no food. But she didn't have any other cloth bags, so she could only pretend that she had taken it from here.

She took out four white steamed buns from her cloth bag, and then two pancakes. "You two get up and eat quickly. After you're full, take us to find the person. If we find the person, I will reward each of you with one tael of silver."

Sigh, thinking about how much money she's spent these past few days looking for people, if it weren't for those boxes she collected in Xifeng, how could she be showing off like this now?

Thinking about this, she felt a pang of regret for the money she had spent. The only way to soothe her disappointment at losing money was to reach into her bag again and pet her little pet, Snowflake Dumpling.

The two old beggars opened their eyes immediately upon smelling the food, sat up abruptly, snatched the food Song Tantan handed them, and began to wolf it down. They choked because they ate so fast.

Ye Moxun gave him a look, and Zhang Jiafei quickly handed over his water gourd to them, then stood obediently to the side, not daring to move again.

The two old beggars were clearly burping from being so full, but their eyes were still fixed on Song Tantan's cloth bag. They had seen her reach in earlier, but why hadn't she taken the contents out? Were they reluctant to part with them?

"Young master, please take out the remaining food. We can still eat it." If you can't finish it, you can keep it in your pocket for later.

"That's all. I gave you everything edible in my bag." Song Tantan was speechless. People just don't know how to be content.

"Why are you still rummaging around even though you don't have any left? You made us think you were taking food, made us think there was still some left." The old beggar who spoke had a pointed face and a very high-pitched voice that was somewhat unsettling and felt like it was irritating our eardrums.

However, Song Tantan did not point out that a person's appearance and voice are innate, given by their parents, and cannot be decided by themselves. Just like some people are born with a hoarse voice, is that something they want?

Of course not, so as bystanders, we shouldn't make comments about other people's appearance and voice; it's very rude.

Even though the other party was just an old beggar, one should still be cautious. Song Tantan silently took out a snow-white ball from her cloth bag, her tone slightly boastful, "This is my little pet, isn't it cute?"

It's cute, but other people aren't interested.

Zhang Jiafei stared intently at the snowflake-shaped creature, unblinking. He tentatively asked, "Is this a little snow leopard?"

"You got it right, but there's no reward," Song Tantan said with a smile.

Ye Moxun glanced at the sky and said calmly, "Let's set off now, stop dawdling."

Reminded by him, Song Tantan put the little dumpling back into the cloth bag and said to the two old beggars, "You ate my food, which means you agreed to help us find the person. Don't worry, even if we can't find the person, I will treat you to another meal. I will cover all your meals while we are looking for the person."

"Very good, very good!" The old beggar with the pointed chin laughed shrilly.

His laughter was so loud it felt like her eardrums were about to burst. Although it was wrong to use someone else's voice, she really couldn't take it anymore.

"Sir, could you please give the chance to speak to the gentleman next to you? If you can be a little quieter, I'll buy you a jar of wine when we get to Huaming County, along with some roast chicken, how about that?"

As long as he stops torturing her ears.

A shrewd glint flashed in the other party's eyes, and he said with a half-smile, "Deal."

He kept quiet until he got the wine, then he finally spoke.

On the way, Song Tantan asked another round-faced old beggar who had been silent, "Grandpa, do you know how many dilapidated temples there are in Huaming County, and how many beggar gathering places there are?"

The round-faced old beggar gave her a meaningful look but didn't answer.

Song Tantan: "..." She didn't understand the meaning conveyed by the other person's eyes.

She chattered on and on, asking many questions, but the round-faced beggar remained silent, his gaze shifting from meaningful to inscrutable.

"Hey, tell me, why isn't he saying anything?"

Song Tantan was a little annoyed. She had only told the person with the pointed face to be quiet, not the person with the round face. Why was the person with the round face being so sarcastic and cold towards her?

Could it be that he also wanted to drink, but was too embarrassed to ask, so he protested by remaining silent?

Song Tantan felt that she had hit the nail on the head and immediately promised, "When Grandpa Round Face arrives in the county town, I will also treat you to drinks and roast chicken, so you can talk now, but if you don't answer my question, I won't treat you to anything."

Upon hearing this, the round-faced beggar's slightly cloudy eyes lit up. He then grinned at her and nodded vigorously, but remained silent.

At this moment, Song Tantan seriously suspected that perhaps the round-faced beggar's voice was also unpleasant, so he was ashamed to speak?

Zhang Jiafei tried several times to curry favor with the round-faced beggar, and when the beggar didn't answer, he wanted to shout at him, but every time he tried to speak, he would meet Ye Moxun's gaze, so he couldn't say a word.

"Ah Xun, are those two deliberately messing with me, embarrassing me, and making me lose face? They didn't give me any respect at all." Helpless, Song Tantan could only seek comfort from Ye Moxun.

Ye Moxun chuckled and reached out to ruffle her hair. "Silly girl, that round-faced beggar is mute. He can only hear but not speak. How do you expect him to answer?"

Song Tantan was shocked and looked sharply at the round-faced beggar, only to see the other man nod slightly to confirm that what Ye Moxun said was true.

I never expected Ye Moxun to have such a sharp eye; he could see that out. It's truly admirable.

"How did you know he was mute?" Song Tantan was very curious about how he figured it out.

"When he was eating in the dilapidated temple, I noticed that his tongue was shorter than normal, probably because it had been cut off before."

Ye Moxun's expression turned somewhat unpleasant as he spoke. Who was so ruthless as to cut off a living person's tongue?

Song Tantan felt as if she had fallen into an ice cellar. It was terrifying. Who could have done this?

Upon hearing this, Zhang Jiafei was also horrified. He thought, "If biting one's tongue can lead to suicide, how did someone with a severed tongue survive?" He stared at the round-faced beggar in horror.

The round-faced beggar seemed oblivious to the stares of others and continued on his way without changing his expression, while the pointed-faced beggar let out a heavy sigh with a sorrowful look on his face.

“Awl… no, this thin-faced old man, you’ve known the round-faced old man for a long time, haven’t you? Tell me about him.” Song Tantan was always curious about everything.

As the saying goes, curiosity killed the cat. Knowing too much is not a good thing. Ye Moxun pulled her over and whispered, "Don't ask too many questions. They may not want to tell you at all. And guessing about this kind of thing is definitely not a good thing."

It's better to avoid trouble than to create it yourself.

Song Tantan nodded obediently, "Okay, I won't ask anymore."