Fatty came out from behind the tree, trembling with every step. Only then did Yan's father and mother see the full appearance of the little boy.
The four words "a person lives up to his name" flashed through their minds at the same time.
He said softly, "Sister Mai Mai, the village chief said that we should be willing to help others and not ask for benefits."
Yan's mother smiled. This chubby appearance completely matched her stereotype of childhood. But unfortunately, Xianjue had poor health when he was young, so he was much smaller than his peers.
She squatted down, took out a handkerchief from her handbag, helped Mai Mai wrap her dates, and handed it to the little girl.
At the same time, she touched the fat boy's round head and said apologetically, "My brother doesn't like to eat sweets recently, so I don't have any snacks to give you."
When Fatty heard the sugar word, he rubbed his hands and shook his head vaguely: "Not really."
Mother Yan noticed Mai Mai's eager eyes and looked up to touch her head. "It's good to help others, but it's also good to be paid for your own work. Auntie is asking for your help, so there's nothing wrong with you asking for payment."
Mai Mai felt a little embarrassed when he was touched on the head, but he also said with a little pride: "The village chief said that my parents also work outside like this, helping others and earning money so that we can go to school."
Mother Yan was stunned. She turned her head and looked at Father Yan.
Obviously, both of them had a brief understanding of the situation in the village from Mai Mai.
At first they thought that the village chief liked children very much, so the children also liked him very much.
But it obviously doesn't sound like that, as Maimai and Pangdun are both left-behind children.
At this time, Mai Mai had already taken the initiative to hold Yan's mother's hand and pulled her to continue walking to the back.
She skillfully removed one of the pieces of wood in the fence. After she crawled through, she turned around and found that the hole seemed too small for Yan's mother.
Mai Mai scratched his head and said, "What should I do? I don't know any other way."
Father Yan walked at the back, holding Fatty, who was still covered in mud from who knows where. He estimated the height of the fence and said, "It's okay, uncle will ask someone to come and take it down."
Mai Mai quickly shook her head: "No, no, this is what the uncles nailed before they left for work. If you take it down, the big tiger will come."
Yan's father looked at the Taoist temple and thought that even if a big tiger came, he would have to leave crying.
But seeing the girl's insistence, he discussed with Mai Mai, "Uncle will only tear up a hole this big, and then fix it for you before I leave, okay?"
Mai Mai hesitated for a moment and gestured with her hands to show how big it was: "Is this size okay?"
Father Yan estimated that both he and Mother Yan could make it, and nodded: "Okay."
Yan's father called the bodyguard who stayed outside to come in, and under Mai Mai's supervision, he removed a few more wooden boards next to the original ones.
Just as Father and Mother Yan were about to follow Mai Mai inside, the bodyguard stopped them: "Sir, should we go take a look first?"
The bodyguard who spoke had rye-colored skin and spoke in a muffled voice, but Mai Mai looked even more at ease than before. She raised her head, one hand on her waist, and pointed at the bodyguard with the other and said, "Are you doubting me?"
"I wouldn't do that. I got paid." Father Yan looked at his bodyguard who was stunned by the little girl's accusation and laughed out loud. He had no conscience as a boss at all.
He waved his hand and said, "It's okay. We'll go take a look. You guys just stay here and guard. I'll call you if anything happens."
"Sir, but the young master..."
Yan's father glanced at him, and the bodyguard immediately fell silent: "Yes."
Mother Yan watched the scene silently from the side. After Father Yan had made all the arrangements, she followed Mai Mai and walked up the mountain along the winding road.
On the way, Yan's mother continued to ask euphemistic questions: "Why did Mai Mai bring Auntie up the mountain?"
Mai Mai tilted her head: "Because the village chief said they are all buried there."
She originally thought that such a beautifully dressed aunt would not be able to walk, so she supported her. Now she found that Yan's mother was not affected by the mountain road at all, so Mai Mai simply let go of her hand and walked in front, jumping and skipping.
Yan's father suspected that if he was a human trafficker, he would have taken Pangdun away without her noticing.
Fatty was still lying on his shoulder, sucking his fingers. When he heard Mai Mai's words, he added, "It's delicious."
Mai Mai puffed up her face and said unhappily, "You only know how to eat. It's clearly a sacrifice... a sacrifice..."
Mother Yan reminded her: "Sacrifice."
Mai Mai nodded: "Yes, sacrifice."
Both Yan's father and mother had a bad premonition in their hearts. Under what circumstances would all the people in the Taoist temple die together.
After they climbed over a small hill and passed through a cave, the view in front of them suddenly became clear.
Father Yan took out his phone, compared the scene in the photo with this place, and said suddenly: "So the place we are looking for is here, not the Taoist temple we were looking for before."
Speaking of which, he had felt that there seemed to be something wrong with the layout before. He thought it was normal for the surroundings to change after so many years.
Unexpectedly, they simply went to the wrong place. If it weren't for Mai Mai, they would probably have returned empty-handed again this time.
Mai Mai blinked, not understanding what he said. She just pointed to a half-man-high inscription and said, "This is it."
Father Yan put Pangdun on the ground, walked forward a few steps, and carefully read the words on it.
In the front are the names, Taoist titles and ages at death of more than twenty people, and in the back is an epitaph.
"This is... my father's handwriting."
Mai Mai opened her eyes wide. She understood what he said: "Has Uncle's father been here too?"
Father Yan: "Uncle, can you take a picture?"
Mai Mai hesitated for a moment: "Is that okay? Why don't you go ask the village chief?"
Father Yan nodded, but didn't rashly take out his cell phone to take a picture of the tombstone.
Taking pictures of tombstones in any way is disrespectful to the deceased.
While the two were talking, Yan's mother also finished reading the not-so-long epitaph.
The matter is not complicated. To put it simply, it is a war that happened decades ago and affected this remote mountain village.
The Taoist priests who lived next to the villagers protected everyone, but none of them were lucky enough to survive.
Some people died on the spot, while others died because they did not receive timely medical treatment.
Mother Yan said, "Can Mai Mai take us to see the village chief?"
Mai Mai twisted her fingers and held up two: "Then this is the second job."
Mother Yan nodded.
Mai Mai smiled happily, took a few people back the same way, and then chose another path to go down the mountain.
"Village chief grandpa, village chief grandpa." When approaching the village entrance, Mai Mai shouted towards the big tree.
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