Ever since the Qi family learned that she could feed ghosts, they have been giving Song Mian 10,000 yuan every month, allowing her to set aside about three days a week to cook some home-cooked meals for Lin Jiaojiao.
Song Mian already needed to cook for herself to save money, and now with Lin Jiaojiao added to the mix, she can earn about 8,000 yuan net from the 10,000 yuan monthly food expenses, while also solving Lin Jiaojiao's problem of eating alone.
"Little Stone, eat whatever you want. We'll talk about it after you've filled your stomach," Song Mian said, serving Little Stone a large bowl of rice.
Little Stone looked on in surprise as Song Mian placed a large bowl of rice in front of him.
What was originally a tangible bowl of rice became illusory when it reached his hands.
At the same time, he could clearly smell the aroma of rice.
The aroma was rich and fragrant, and the translucent white rice grains looked so plump. He could even feel the rising heat gently enveloping his face.
Little Stone's hands began to tremble, and then he took a bite of the overflowing white rice.
Song Mian picked up a piece of scrambled eggs from the tomato and egg stir-fry for Xiao Shitou, only to find that Xiao Shitou had eaten a third of a bowl of rice in one bite.
Little Stone's cheeks were bulging, and the rice was almost overflowing from his mouth. He was so stuffed that he could hardly chew.
"Little Stone, eat slowly." Before Song Mian could finish speaking, she saw Little Stone take another big bite.
"Little Stone, don't eat so fast, you'll choke!" Song Mian saw that Little Stone's face had turned red from choking, but he was still trying his best to stuff rice into his mouth!
"Young boss, stop him!" Lin Jiaojiao was also startled and quickly snatched the rice bowl from Xiao Shitou's hands with Song Mian.
Little Stone was startled, and in his struggle, the rice bowl in his hand fell to the ground.
With a snap, the porcelain bowl containing half a bowl of rice shattered into pieces.
Song Mian and Lin Jiaojiao finally breathed a sigh of relief.
To their surprise, even after the bowl was smashed on the ground, Little Stone still insisted on eating.
He moved very quickly, squatting down and grabbing the rice mixed with porcelain shards.
"Little Stone!" Song Mian was startled and rushed over to slap Little Stone's hand hard.
Little Stone winced in pain, then seemed to snap out of a daze and looked at Song Mian and Lin Jiaojiao in front of him: "I'm sorry, I ate too much. I shouldn't have been so selfish. I won't eat anymore, I won't eat anymore..."
As Xiao Shitou spoke, Song Mian squatted down and hugged her head. She couldn't describe the complex feelings that welled up in her heart at that moment.
"Jiaojiao, how exactly did Xiaoshitou die?" Song Mian lowered her voice and whispered in Lin Jiaojiao's ear, "When I was holding him just now, I found that he had many wounds on his body."
“The state that ghosts present is related to their bodies before they died. The wounds on Little Stone’s body are definitely related to his death.”
"Do you think he might have been abused before he died?" Song Mian looked at Xiao Shitou's pitiful, curled-up body and felt a sharp pain in her heart. "I've only seen news reports about children like Xiao Shitou online before, and many of them are abused by their families..."
“If Little Stone had been abused by his family, he would have harbored resentment and could only have become a low-level ghost at most. But he is a mid-level ghost, which means that no one in his family lacked good karma. I think perhaps he encountered some bad people, which led to his being abused to death. Ghosts like this, who died unjustly, generally have a higher status in the ghost world,” Lin Jiaojiao explained.
"Could he have been abducted? He has many new and old injuries on his body, which look like he has been abused for a long time. I remember reading in the news that many traffickers will deliberately beat children after they are captured, or even deliberately maim them, in order to gain sympathy and make them beg on the streets." The more Song Mian said this, the more pitiful she felt for Xiao Shitou.
The phenomenon of human traffickers exploiting innocent children to beg, ultimately leading to the children being tortured to death, has existed for a long time, and Xiao Shitou's current situation fits this description perfectly.
"These bad people should go to hell after they die!" Lin Jiaojiao couldn't bear to hear this.
Song Mian squatted down so that her line of sight was level with Little Stone's: "Little Stone, don't be afraid. You can eat your fill at my shop, and you don't have to worry about not having anything to eat. But you have to eat slowly, okay?"
"I don't need to eat my fill. Sister, I'm not hungry anymore. You can have the rest of the food. I can't eat so much by myself." Little Stone raised his head and looked at Song Mian timidly.
"Why can't you eat that much?" Song Mian asked patiently.
Little Stone didn't dare to look Song Mian in the eye. After hesitating for a moment, he cautiously said, "Because if I finish all the food, my older brothers and sisters and younger brothers and sisters will have nothing to eat."
"Do you have any other friends?" Song Mian asked, her heart aching as she saw Xiao Shitou nod.
Yes, human traffickers have harmed more than just one child.
There are many, many more children like Xiao Shitou who have never even had a full meal before dying at the hands of human traffickers.
"Little Stone, how about I make sure you and your older brothers, sisters, and younger brothers and sisters all have enough to eat? Tomorrow night, you can bring your friends over, and they can eat with you then. Now, get up and finish your dinner tonight." Song Mian said, helping Little Stone up from the ground.
"Look at this huge table of food, the boss and I can't possibly finish it all. Little Stone, to avoid waste, you have to help me eat it," Lin Jiaojiao said, pretending to be relaxed.
Song Mian served Xiao Shitou another bowl of rice.
This time, Little Stone took a small bite of the overflowing rice, then picked up the scrambled eggs that Song Mian handed him with his chopsticks and ate them.
The sweet and sour egg, coated with a layer of tomato sauce, was slightly hot and mixed with fragrant rice, all of which slid down Little Stone's throat into his mouth.
"Sister, what is this? It tastes so good!" Little Stone's eyes lit up with surprise.
"This is scrambled eggs with tomatoes." Seeing that Xiao Shitou had never even eaten such a common home-style dish as scrambled eggs with tomatoes, Song Mian quickly put vegetables and meat on his plate.
"Don't give it all to me, the sisters should eat too." Little Stone put down his bowl and used the other end of his chopsticks to serve food to Song Mian and Lin Jiaojiao: "Don't worry, sisters, I haven't used this end of the chopsticks, it's clean."
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