Cake Fragrance (II)
"What are you standing there for? Why don't you go get it back?" The guy from the pastry shop saw everything and while Xiao Lin didn't react, he quickly gave her a light push.
After being awakened by others, Xiao Lin subconsciously took a step forward, but when she was about to cross the threshold, she realized that what the child had stolen was just a purse that was as light as it could be.
"No...it's okay, there's no money in that purse..."
Xiao Lin thanked the guy who had just been worried about her, and hesitantly told him about her financial difficulties.
The waiter was also stunned at first, but he quickly changed the subject. He looked around and quietly took another piece of hot cake from the box and handed it to Xiao Lin: "Eat it, kid."
Xiao Lin had been hungry for a long time, and when he looked at the soft and glutinous pastries handed to him, his stomach began to rumble.
"Thank you so much..."
She took the pastry with trembling hands, treated it as a treasure, and took a sip carefully.
As she ate, the waiter consoled her, "You're kind-hearted. I think that kid is probably one of Gao Qing's gang."
What? Gao Qing? She's Gao Qing? Is she the one they're looking for?
Just now she didn't know where to start, but she already had some clues so quickly?
"Who? She? She is Gao Qing?" Xiao Lin's eyes were filled with surprise and joy, and he couldn't help but lean forward a few inches.
Unexpectedly, the guy waved his hand again: "No, I mean, she should be with Gao Qing's group."
Xiao Lin pursed his lips, his face full of confusion: "What do you mean? I don't understand. If she's not Gao Qing, then who is Gao Qing?"
Seeing this, the guy leaned back a few inches, frowning: "Young lady, you... are from outside, right?"
It was not until this moment that Xiao Lin realized that his actions had become quite offensive, and he straightened up and responded a few times.
Then, the waiter explained the whole story: "Gao Qing, a little girl, a beggar, came to Tianling City at some unknown time. She specializes in stealing and robbing people. She and her gang work very closely together, and the authorities are unsure of their whereabouts. Her name is well-known in Tianling City."
"Then how can she be a beggar? She's clearly a little... thief!"
"Not really." The waiter changed the subject and began to defend Gao Qing. "She stole from those evil people who exploited the common people. Even though those high-ranking officials repeatedly called for her to be punished, we common people just watched the fun and didn't call her a thief anymore."
"So, according to what you said, I'm not a high-ranking official, so the girl just now wasn't Gao Qing and the others?"
The clerk pursed his lower lip and continued busying himself. "You never know. Nowadays, many little kids are imitating her. There are good and bad ones, and there are quite a few real thieves among them."
But Xiao Lin refused to give up. Even though the waiter had lowered his gaze, she still mustered the courage to ask, "Then... then, where can I find Gao Qing?"
When Xiao Lin said this, the waiter snorted in disdain: "How should I know this?"
"Isn't she doing good things for everyone? Why don't you help her?"
"We are just here to watch the fun and enjoy the novelty. This is a business that offends the nobles. She has three heads and six arms, and we ordinary people don't have so many heads."
Unexpectedly, the clue that I finally got was broken again.
Xiao Lin was discouraged. He thanked him and walked out of the shop.
Lifting up her torn and fluttering cotton coat, she couldn't help but sigh, and then she covered the cut with her hand, fearing that the snow-white cotton would fly away from her in a puff of air.
"Gao Qing, Gao Qing..."
Xiao Lin muttered as she walked, but before she could take a few steps, a hand fell on her shoulder.
Mu You stood behind her with a puzzled look on his face and asked, "What are you thinking about that makes you so engrossed?"
Seeing that the person was Mu You, Xiao Lin said nothing and replied lightly, "It's okay."
Mu You wasn't one to get to the bottom of things. Seeing Xiao Lin refusing, he pouted his lower lip and suggested with interest, "Xiao Lin, we're all out now. The streets look quite lively. How about going for a walk?"
"Okay... okay." Xiao Lin's voice was very small, but Mu You still caught it.
Then, his eyes flickered slightly, and he finally mustered up the courage to grab her wrist, took a step forward, and sneaked into the lights of thousands of homes without hesitation.
During the Harvest Festival in Tianling City, there is singing and dancing everywhere, and the place is decorated with flowers and splendor; in the restaurants, guests clink glasses and drink to their heart's content; in the mansions of the wealthy, there are the sounds of strings and pipes, and every seat is filled with guests, whom the hosts are anxious to welcome; on the streets, red and green are flying, and the scene is unprecedentedly grand, with all kinds of lanterns in full bloom.
During this festive occasion, friends and family gather together, laughing and joking. Bright red lanterns hang from thin strings across the streets, their light dotting the sky like a starry sky descending upon the earth.
The ten-mile-long street is bustling with music and singing, with bright lights and dotted with flowers, like silver flakes sprinkled from the sky, enough to warm people's hearts.
When visiting the Lantern Festival, it is natural to accompany it with delicious food.
Therefore, before going out to find Xiao Lin, he secretly searched the floor of the teahouse for a long time. It took him a lot of effort to find some copper coins that were still in the cracks. After counting them, if they used them sparingly, it would be enough for the two of them to buy some snacks.
So, according to the plan, Xiao Lin and Mu You went to look for food separately, one bought candied haws and the other exchanged for meat patties.
"How much are two strings of candied haws?"
"Ten cents."
"Then I want two."
When the jingling copper coins fell into the vendor's palm, Xiao Lin immediately picked out two strings of hawthorn candied haws with sesame seeds from the haystack, one in each hand, and the children passing by cast envious glances at him.
The crimson candied haws looked even more translucent under the light, and Xiao Lin instantly felt a sweet taste in his heart.
But when she came to the street and looked up, she didn't see Mu You.
Xiao Lin was full of doubts, and his anxiety grew stronger.
Looking around at the bustling crowd, Mu You was still nowhere to be seen.
Suddenly, somehow, on the second floor of a tavern in front of him, the waiter climbed up the ladder quietly and lit the painted lanterns one step later than others.
The lantern was hung on the corner of the house, swaying its body, fed by the aroma of wine, and dancing in the wind.
As the flames danced, they were like newborn stars in the night sky, gradually lighting up the outline of the entire tavern.
The light of the lantern also attracted Xiao Lin's attention, but when she looked up, her peripheral vision swept to the corner of a dark alley next to the noisy tavern.
Weird? There seems to be someone inside?
The lights were dim, and she squinted her eyes, trying hard to see what was happening inside.
Taking a step forward, a corner of clothes flickered in the orange-yellow light.
He twisted his body, and the corner of his clothes shrank into the darkness again.
After taking a few more steps forward, a burst of intermittent crying sounds, which pierced through the deafening noise around, surrounded my ears.
Amidst the laughter and joy, even the faintest cry seemed out of place at this moment, like a handful of sugar dripping with sauce.
Why is there crying?
Xiao Lin leaned sideways, about to walk around the crowds towards the only dark corner of the bright realm, when the candied haws in her left hand was suddenly bitten from behind. When she turned around, it was Mu You.
Xiao Lin loosened his grip as if he had been electrocuted. Fortunately, Mu You held the candied haws tightly, otherwise the candied haws would have been smashed to pieces. "Why didn't you make any noise? You scared me to death!"
"Why do you scold me the moment you see me?" Mu You stretched out two fingers, pinched the wooden stick of the candied haws, and took the opportunity to sip the melted sugar at the tip. "What do you want to do? Go to the hotel? How old are you, and you want to imitate your father's drinking?"
His joke made Xiao Lin unhappy: "I'm not going there to drink."
"Here." Mu You was used to seeing Xiao Lin's grouchy look, so he didn't take it to heart. He then took out a meat pie and handed it to Xiao Lin. "I just bought it. Eat it quickly. It's still hot."
Taking the meat pie handed to him by Mu You, Xiao Lin opened the oil paper and the aroma of meat filled his nose.
The meat patty's crust is crispy and golden, and the filling inside is a mixture of fat and lean meat. It is fried to perfection, with slightly crispy edges and a juicy center. When you take a bite, your mouth is filled with fragrance.
Seeing Xiao Lin eating with great relish, Mu You also smiled.
As Xiao Lin was eating, he suddenly remembered something. He chewed a few more times and said incoherently, "Oh, I found out who Gao Qing is."
"I was just about to tell you about this." Unexpectedly, Mu You also brought it up.
Strangely, the two of them actually thought of the same thing.
Therefore, Xiao Lin spoke first: "The guy at the pastry shop said that Gao Qing is a notorious thief in this city. I guess she's not very old, but... I'm afraid she's not easy to find."
"In this city?" After hearing Xiao Lin's detailed account of the news, Mu You frowned. "How come I heard along the way that she's no longer here?"
"What?"
Xiao Lin was puzzled as to why the information the two people heard was so different?
Mu You was also confused by this and started to explain, "When I went to burn the paper basket, I saw a book boy who was also there to burn letter paper. I thought I had nothing to do anyway, so I just chatted with him."
"So, how did you get to talking about Gao Qing?"
"I talked to him a lot. First, I asked about this teahouse. He said something very mysterious. He said that the owner of this teahouse, Chu Mo, said he was a celestial being and that he knew immortal magic. So he asked us to serve him well. Maybe we could get a magic pill and become immortal in one fell swoop."
"You believe this too?"
"Of course I don't believe it!" Mu You was so angry that he denied it flatly. "But don't tell me, just looking at Chu Mo's face and everything he did to bring us here, I suddenly feel that what he said seems to make sense. If Chu Mo doesn't know immortal magic, then how did we get here?"
Indeed, the reason why they were in this unfamiliar predicament was all because of Chu Mo, including how they should go back, which was decided by him alone.
"What's going on with Gao Qing?"
"Isn't that what I was about to say? After talking to him about Chu Mo, I thought about this mess. I didn't have high hopes, but luckily after asking him a few more questions, he actually knew Gao Qing!"
"Then what?"
"Then the servant told me that Gao Qing had been gone from the city for a long time. He himself didn't know what happened to her, but he heard someone say that Gao Qing had stolen something from an official's house and was accidentally caught. She couldn't escape, so she was beaten to death by the official's men."
"Beaten to death?" Xiao Lin exclaimed, feeling that something was wrong with this anecdote. "That's impossible! If she had been beaten to death long ago, why would we be here rewriting the ending?"
Mu You also found it strange, shook his head, and spread his hands: "I don't know, the servant told me."
Staring into Mu You's eyes, he could tell that he was not lying, but this fact was so strange that Xiao Lin couldn't help but feel flustered.
She stretched out her thumb and began to chew her nail.
Xiao Lin is just like that, easily panicking when encountering things. Whenever she encounters some trouble, she will unconsciously bite her nails, and then stand there blankly, motionless.
As her childhood sweetheart, Mu You had seen her like this many times since they were young, so he immediately reached out and grabbed her wrist, pulling her along as they started walking. "Don't panic when you encounter something serious. The person who tied the bell must untie it. Since we each have our own stories, why don't we go directly to Chu Mo and ask him for clarification?"
Before she could reply, she was pulled by Mu You and gradually swam into the crowd accompanied by the sound of gongs and flutes.
However, the two figures disappeared into the crowd, but the sound of crying was not taken away with them.
Next to the tavern, in a cold corner, out of reach of the light of Longling, a little girl was sobbing. There were people around her, but no one was willing to pay her any attention.
Tear marks covered her pretty face, her eyes were blurry with tears, and her messy hair stuck to her red cheeks from crying.
Suddenly, the ground was illuminated by darkness. I raised my eyes, but could not see the face of the shadow.
The girl was extremely frightened and huddled herself even tighter.
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