When Xingxing and Zhulin returned to the village chief's house, they saw that Li Tianlin had actually come out. These days he had been like a transparent person, hiding in the house except for meals. It was rare to see him come out of the house. At this moment, he was sitting on a low stool under the eaves, staring blankly at the sky.
Next to him was the village chief's grandson, about seven or eight years old. The little boy stood to Li Tianlin's left, occasionally poking him with his finger. Li Tianlin seemed unaware that someone was poking him, remaining immersed in his own world.
Xingxing walked over and took a look, then said softly, "It's very damp on rainy days. Don't stay outside for too long, or your cotton coat will get damp and you'll feel cold."
Hearing the sound of the stars, Li Tianlin turned around and glanced at her, then continued to gaze silently at the sky, as if he were in a daze.
"Let's go inside. This person has a low tolerance for stress; he's probably already gone mad." Zhu Lin had no patience to comfort anyone except Xingxing. This Li Tianlin had been rambling on like a madman the whole way, or he would just stare blankly for long periods of time. He even needed someone to bring his bowl to him while he ate.
Although he was young and had experienced the tragedy of his family being destroyed, Hong Niangzi was already dead and his great revenge had been taken. If he were smart, he should pull himself together, start a new life, and think about what to do in the future.
Did he think that by acting like he was half-dead and unable to take the blows, he could stay with them forever? Dream on! They don't owe him anything; the person who owed him is already dead. He's trying to blame the wrong person.
Zhu Lin was about to lead Xingxing into the house when Li Tianlin suddenly turned around and shouted, "I'm not stupid, I'm not, I'm just too sad. I miss home, I miss my parents, my older brother and sister, and my younger brother and sister, sob sob sob."
Zhu Lin frowned. This kid finally vented. After crying, he should come back to his senses. If he shrinks back like before tomorrow, doesn't say a word, and needs to be served, then let him go. Whether he stays or not depends on his future behavior.
That day in Dashu Village, Zhu Lin wanted to leave Li Tianlin there, but the boy was very clever and refused to stay. He jumped onto the carriage in a flash, saying that Hong Niangzi died in Dashu Village and he was afraid of her, so he dared not stay there.
I felt sorry for him and didn't force him. I originally thought I would find a suitable village along the way and give him to a family without children to raise. However, I couldn't find any intact villages along the way. They were all severely affected by the disaster, and the villagers themselves were starving. How could they possibly adopt other people's children?
When I arrived at Chaimu Village the day before yesterday, the village seemed peaceful and I thought the villagers were capable. If there were no problems, I would leave Li Tianlin here. Who knew that Chaimu Village was not as peaceful as it seemed on the surface, but was in great chaos inside.
"Sigh, if you want to cry, then cry. Once you've cried enough, pull yourself together and live a good life from now on. No matter how much you think about your family, they won't come back to life. Look forward and get over this as soon as possible." Zhang Xiantao heard Li Tianlin crying as soon as she entered the door and went over to comfort him without saying a word.
Xingxing blinked, smiled, and thought that with Zhang Xiantao comforting Li Tianlin, she wouldn't need to intervene. She had gotten up a little early in the morning, so she decided to go back to her room and catch up on some sleep.
She slept until evening. Zhu Changge came in to call her at lunchtime, but Xingxing just smacked her lips, turned over, buried her head in the blanket, and went back to sleep.
Seeing that she was sleeping so soundly, Zhu Lin didn't wake her up. After lunch, Zhu Lin stayed outside, thinking that she would wake up in the afternoon, but she slept until it got dark.
At this moment, the boy used a cow horn comb to comb her hair. Xingxing touched her shriveled little belly and said, "I'm a little hungry. I really want to eat something."
“You only ate something this morning and didn’t eat lunch, no wonder you’re hungry now,” Zhu Lin said with a chuckle. “Why don’t you grab some pastries to tide you over?”
"I'm not eating pastries, I'm saving room for meat. I can smell the aroma of meat." Xingxing sniffed hard, her eyes crinkling with laughter.
"Your nose is quite sensitive. I just bought two chickens from the village chief to kill, and the two maids from the Zhang family are stewing chicken soup."
"Wow, I'm so lucky! Fresh and delicious chicken soup is waiting for me to drink." Xingxing looked at herself in the small bronze mirror, saw that her hair was already combed, and hurriedly ran outside.
"Slow down, no one's going to take it from you. The chicken soup won't be ready that quickly." The boy shook his head and straightened the bronze mirror. This small bronze mirror was something Xingxing always carried with her. Back in Yegou Village, Zhao Guihua gritted her teeth and spent a lot of money to buy it specifically for Xingxing.
When Xingxing returned to the capital, she kept it with her. After returning to the palace, she took it with her again when she left the capital. It was her keepsake. Looking at the small bronze mirror was like seeing Zhou Laoda and Zhao Guihua.
Of course, when she left the palace, she also took with her the Empress's personal belongings, a golden phoenix hairpin. The Emperor had given her a jade token, which could be used to command officials in various places. It was a jade pendant that the Emperor wore with a dragon totem on it. Seeing the jade pendant was like seeing the Emperor.
"Xingxing, you're finally awake! I told you, Senior Brother and the others haven't come back yet. It looks like they won't be back today, and I don't know if they'll be able to come back tomorrow." Zhang Xiantao had been peeking out from outside for a while, and as soon as she saw Xingxing come out, she immediately went up to her.
"Hey, hey, who's your senior brother? Don't try to claim any connection." Zhu Qingruo walked over and interrupted.
Zhang Xiantao was annoyed with her, but couldn't argue with her, so she simply pretended not to hear her and bent down slightly to follow Xingxing beside her. "Xingxing, are you hungry? I have some delicious egg and scallion pancakes here. Do you want some?"
"No, I want to save room for chicken. You can keep it. By the way, how's Li Tianlin? Did you talk to him and get through to him?" Xingxing stopped and looked over.
Zhang Xiantao paused, and seeing that Xingxing was finally talking to her seriously, she immediately perked up. "With me in charge, of course we can handle him. That kid is just a coward, a real wimp. It's a miracle he hasn't gone crazy after such a shock."
His family used to be very poor, and there were many children in the family. He was the middle one, neither the eldest nor the youngest. His parents always neglected him, and he was raised by his older sister. His older brother and younger brother often bullied him. He did the most chores at home but ate the least.
But even so, it was still his home, and those people were his family. He was still heartbroken when his family died. So I broke it down and explained it to him in detail. How many people in this world don't suffer? Not to mention other places, just look at their village. It suffered both natural disasters and the misfortune caused by the Red Maiden. Everyone in the village died. And look at the people of Big Tree Village, they suffered the same misfortunes.
"Look at the madmen in the swamp of Chaimu Village. How tragic! Their whole families are dead, and they've gone mad themselves. Aren't they all just as miserable as Li Tianlin? Li Tianlin isn't insane yet; there's still hope. If he pulls himself together and works hard, he can live a good life."
Seeing Zhang Xiantao hesitate as if she wanted to say something more, Xingxing's curiosity was piqued. "What else do you want to say? Just say it."
Zhang Xiantao glanced into the house and saw that the young man was about to come out, so she pulled Xingxing a little further away to talk to him, "That young master Zhu is very heartless. He said he didn't want to take in Li Tianlin. Helping him get revenge is already a huge favor, and he has no obligation to support him anymore."
"And then?" Xingxing glanced at her. This person never finished speaking at once and always liked to leave people asking questions.
"Then I couldn't stand it anymore. It's just a child, it's not like we can't afford to raise him. If you won't take him, I will." Zhang Xiantao patted her chest forcefully, full of heroic spirit.
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