"Why do we need tangible rewards?" Sisi didn't understand. "Father said these are his people. As the city lord, he has to take responsibility for their hunger. Father's people are Sisi's people, and Sisi has to take responsibility for them."
"What if one day your people become the entire world? Would you take responsibility for the sake of the entire world?"
Sisi bit her finger, looking completely bewildered. "How can all the people under heaven be my people? Aren't they the Jade Emperor's people?"
"...What if?"
The little guy's confusion deepened. "What if it's not? I'm not the Jade Emperor."
"What if you were the Jade Emperor?"
The old tortoise prayed frantically in his heart, "The child is too young to understand, that's why he said that. Please, Jade Emperor, don't blame him!"
"Then I will definitely take responsibility."
The beggar smiled contentedly, took a big bite of the steamed bun, and said, "Little girl, thank you for the steamed bun. Here, take this and use it as a mirror."
A worn-out bronze mirror was handed over.
Sisi pouted at the mirror, but the mirror was too dim to see her expression clearly.
But she was still very happy with the gift the old man gave her. "Thank you, Grandpa."
"You're welcome, go back now."
Sisi skipped back home, clutching the mirror. Then she wondered if the old man would choke on just eating steamed buns, and whether he drank porridge. Sisi decided to ask him.
When I turned around, the person who was just there was gone.
yeah?
What's the old man doing?
Didn't it have no legs? How did it run away?
"Little Gem, did you see when that old man left?"
Little Gem shook her head, while Sisi bit her finger and thought.
Perhaps it was the old man's family who came to pick him up.
After a long day of distributing porridge, the Zhou family returned home and were all bedridden.
"Mommy, go to sleep. Sisi is here with you, so Sisi isn't tired at all!"
The little guy is very active.
Madam Qin nodded, glanced at the hairpin on the bedside table, and said, "That's the hairpin your second brother bought for you. Take a look and see if you like it."
Wow!
Erguoguo, such a stingy person, actually bought her a hairpin. That's amazing!
Sisi, being vain, stuck it in her hair.
She's going to thank Erguoguo.
"Mommy, I'm going to find Erguoguo!"
The little guy ran all the way to the next room. Zhou Erqian had been practicing martial arts all day and was sleeping like a log. Sisi knocked on the door for a long time but couldn't wake him up.
"Never mind, Erguo must be tired." The little guy muttered as he walked back.
The moon is very big and beautiful tonight. Sisi was attracted and sat in the yard looking up, wondering if she would see the Moon Goddess Chang'e and the Jade Rabbit.
Suddenly, light footsteps sounded behind me.
Thinking it was Erguotou coming out, Sisi happily turned around, only to see a stranger.
Who are you?
Yu Chen stared at her, his dark eyes flashing slightly. "Did an old man give you a mirror today?"
Sisi's eyes widened. "How did you know?"
“That’s my mirror. He stole my mirror.” Yu Chen reached out to her. “Give it back.”
The little guy shook his head. "How can you prove the mirror is yours? Will it respond when you call it?"
"Will it respond when you call it?"
"No way, you're so silly. How could a mirror talk?" Sisi said with a hint of disdain.
"..."
"Then how can you prove the mirror isn't mine?"
“Because it’s in my arms.” Sisi patted the bronze mirror inside her chest. “If it’s in my arms, it’s mine, not yours. You’re so silly.”
Having lost patience, he said, "Give me the mirror."
"No!"
"Fine, then don't blame me." Yu Chen grabbed her arm, but pulled his hand back abruptly as if burned.
He can't touch her.
He cursed and grabbed the mirror from her arms, pulling at her clothes. Sisi bit his arm, and by sheer coincidence, the blood flowed onto the mirror.
A flash of white light appeared, and the mirror changed its appearance. The surface of the mirror rippled like water. Sisi suddenly felt sleepy and fainted in his arms.
"Why can't we go to school? You clearly promised that my third brother and I would go to school!"
It's so noisy!
Sisi rubbed her eyes and suddenly realized that she was back at the Zhou family's house. The yard was not yet built, the whole house was dilapidated, and she even saw "herself" there.
She was sitting on the muddy ground, playing with stones, and occasionally putting them into her mouth.
"Fool."
Sisi turned around and found Chen standing beside her. She asked in surprise, "You brought me back to Peach Blossom Village?"
"This is my past."
He turned his head, his dark eyes fixed on her, and Sisi could easily see the hatred in his eyes.
Sisi didn't understand. She wanted to ask, but Chen said coldly, "Shut your mouth."
He entered the mirror of the past and could only leave when the flow of the past ended. He originally intended to snatch the mirror and force her to see her past, but unexpectedly…
The people in the courtyard were still arguing.
"You're a liar! You favor Zhou Sisi. You give her all the good things here. Even if we don't eat them, she has to. The money we save from our labor has to be used to treat her mental illness. She's mentally challenged and can never be cured!"
Zhou Shu shouted at the top of her lungs, only to be slapped by Qin Shi. Qin Shi retorted, "She's your sister! How can you talk about your sister like that?"
"You're so biased! You don't love us at all, so why did you bring us into this world to suffer? How can you be so selfish?!"
"Zhou Sishu!" Madam Qin roared, tears welling in her eyes. "You are also my son, someone I raised. How could you say such heartless things?"
“You lied to me. I’ve been reading and writing since I was little. I know my family was poor, so I worked in town and would sneak off to the school to listen in whenever I had free time. I was beaten and kicked out many times, but I never gave up. You said you would let me study.”
Zhou Shushu's face was covered in tears, and his eyes were empty. "You lied to me time and time again, saying that you would send me and my third brother to school once you had saved enough money. Now you say that you will give the money to Zhou Sisi for treatment. All these years, you know that it is not curable and you still waste money."
He looked up, his voice filled with despair, "Mother, no one will say anything if you love Zhou Sisi, but you can't abandon our brothers' future because you love her. We are your sons too. Why don't you think about us?"
"What can your mother do? I see all of you are so bright and clever, but your sister is mentally challenged. Do you know how much it breaks my heart?"
"So you choose to sacrifice us?"
Qin clutched her heart, overwhelmed with pain. "It's not like that, Sishu, please wait a little longer, Mother will definitely..."
"Alright, stop lying to me."
Zhou Shushu grabbed his silent third brother, picked up the package, and headed out. Qin Shi chased after them, crying, "Where are you going?"
"Go to town to do hard labor."
Zhou Shu smiled sadly, "Mother, I thought you named me this in the hope that I would be well-versed in the Four Books and Five Classics, have extensive knowledge, and become a top scholar in the future."
"My son!"
Qin cried bitterly, but she couldn't keep him.
Sisi turned her head blankly, and there seemed to be tears in his dark eyes. She pursed her lips and asked, "Are you Siguo?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
