With the money, Elio headed towards the bakery again. He wanted to return the money to Sister Anna and buy some delicious food.
"Anna?" A strange maid blocked the backyard door, preventing Elio from entering.
"Oh, now I remember. That maid, she's not here anymore."
"Then where did she go?" Elio asked anxiously.
"I don't know. I just heard that she quit her job and I think she got married. You should also know that she is not young anymore. In our place, she should be a mother at this age." The maid explained impatiently and then drove away the dirty boy.
"Don't come here anymore. Customers will be disgusted when they see you." She said with disgust.
"Sorry..." Elio apologized and ran away.
He vaguely remembered where Anna lived. It was in another corner of the city, where ordinary civilians seemed to gather. Although it was not rich, the houses and streets were intact.
"I'm sorry, I've never heard of anyone named Anna." An old lady shook her head and asked the boy to ask somewhere else.
"Ha, who is that? Get out of the way." Someone also waved impatiently.
"Go away, this is disgusting." A girl covered her mouth and nose and waved her hands in disgust.
"Anna? There are too many people with this name." An uncle carrying prey on his back shook his head.
"I don't know." The passerby hurried past.
"Who are you?" Some people refused directly.
Elio asked for a whole day but still got nothing. He squatted on the corner and thought for a long time, and finally had a new idea.
It was evening again, and Elio stopped Mr. Andrew, the pastry chef from the bakery, on his way home on the street.
"Hello, I want to ask where Sister Anna is." Elio looked at the man seriously.
"You are...? Oh, now I remember, it seems that Anna does take good care of you." Andrew looked at the thin and dark boy.
"I advise you not to look for her anymore. Anna has gone home."
"Go home, which home?"
"Her hometown is actually in a mountain village in the neighboring county. She usually lives with her uncle, but he pays her some money as rent."
"Actually, you don't know. Anna works very hard. Most of the money she earns is taken away by her uncle. Sometimes she even hides some of the money in the store and asks me to keep it for her."
"I recently heard that her uncle introduced her to a butcher and married her off to him."
"But..." Elio wanted to ask a lot of things, such as where she got married, what kind of person she was, whether Sister Anna was happy or sad, etc.
"Don't think too much about it. It's not a good thing to disturb others again." Andrew shook his head.
"But I have to pay back the money. I owe Sister Anna a lot." Elio looked at Andrew seriously.
"Oh, this..." Andrew wanted to get away, but was stopped by Elio several times. Finally, he had to tell him the direction.
"It's in a small village not far from the city, probably to the east?" Andrew said, looking around.
"I'll go find her." Elio ran away without looking back.
The cold wind blew across the winter fields, like a tiny blade brushing across the cheek. Although it was not as cold as the north, it was still uncomfortable.
Elio, carrying a few wrapped breads, ran along the road in the field, guessing which road might lead to the village based on the simple handwriting on the fork in the road.
After taking many wrong turns, it took him nearly three days to finally find the village Andrew mentioned.
"There is a grove of birch trees at the entrance of the village." The boy silently recited the village's logo, then walked quickly into it.
Scattered houses are scattered on the hillside. It is still deep winter now, and the doors of every household are closed. Only rings woven with frost green are hung on the doors. This is the custom of praying for blessings in winter.
Elio had to shamelessly knock on every door, asking if there was a newly married girl named Anna.
"I don't know." Someone shook his head.
"Go away, kid." Someone ignored him.
"I haven't heard of anyone getting married recently."
"You mean the butcher? That's easy. It's the house further inside the village, near the big rock and the sheepfold."
"Thank you." Elio saluted gratefully and ran over quickly.
With tired steps, Elio finally stopped in front of a house, and frightening curses came from inside.
"Can you serve others? I spent a lot of money to buy you, not to keep a useless person." After saying this, the sound of a basin of water overturned could be heard, followed by a slap.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry." Elio finally heard Anna's voice again.
The door opened, and Anna, dressed as a woman, came out squatting with a basin of water and splashed water outside the door. At this time, she saw the child standing outside the house.
"You are...Elio?" There was some disbelief in his voice.
"It's me, Sister Anna." The boy wanted to step forward and speak, but Anna quickly winked and waved her hand.
Then he stood there, watching Anna put the basin back into the house. After a while, she quietly walked out of the back door and pulled him into the hidden shade of a tree.
"Why are you here?"
"I want to return your money." Elio took out the purse from his arms, which was still warm.
"No, take it yourself." Anna waved her hand.
Elio stood there in a daze, a little overwhelmed, but finally he asked.
"Is Sister Anna okay now?"
"It's okay. You don't have to worry about me. Think more about yourself." Anna hesitated and then continued.
"Actually, you don't have to thank me specifically, because your mother helped me in the past, and I'm just returning the favor."
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