"That'll teach you to run around like that, that'll teach you to disobey!"
"Do you dare to do it again? Huh?"
In a remote village, the pebbly road sank into a mud pit before it even reached its end. A man in a sharp black suit opened the car door. A light drizzle was falling from the sky, and someone immediately held up an umbrella to shield the car from the rain.
"Mr. Gu, why don't I come with you?"
"No need, you can just wait here."
The black umbrella obscured half of the man's face, revealing only his resolute chin. His voice was deep, and even a simple sentence uttered by him sounded incredibly captivating.
The accompanying assistant had no choice but to hand the umbrella to Gu Tingxiao.
It is basically a sparsely populated mountain village, and the few roads that can be traveled are extremely rugged.
Even Gu Tingxiao's long legs had to slow down when walking on this kind of road.
When Gu Tingxiao reached the house with the persimmon trees in front of it, he heard a woman shouting a reprimand.
Accompanied by the sound of wooden sticks striking flesh.
Strangely, only the woman made any noise from beginning to end; the voice of the person being reprimanded was not heard.
As Gu Tingxiao was about to walk over, the woman was still cursing.
"You little bastard, you dare disobey me?"
Seemingly because her words were not taken seriously, the woman raised her voice even higher.
It was harsh and unpleasant to hear.
Gu Tingxiao, who usually didn't care about things that didn't concern him, couldn't help but turn his head to take a look.
Under the persimmon tree, a plump woman held a thin branch and pressed a child who looked no more than five years old onto her knee, whipping him repeatedly and viciously.
The child who was hit seemed to feel no pain, or perhaps... or perhaps she was unable to cry out, so even though she was so close, Gu Tingxiao didn't hear the child's cries at all.
"I'm telling you, you're not allowed to eat today, do you hear me?"
Not content with just hitting the child, the fat woman brandished the thin twig in her hand while viciously cursing the little boy she had beaten.
They even threatened to withhold food from him.
Even if this is your own child, it's still going too far.
Gu Tingxiao couldn't help but frown and stood there.
The woman, who was in the middle of a fierce fight, seemed to notice something and looked up in Gu Tingxiao's direction.
At first glance, I was almost scared to death by Gu Tingxiao's all-black outfit!
Today is Qingming Festival, and she thought she had seen a ghost in broad daylight.
The surprised fat woman glanced at Gu Tingxiao again, and even after confirming that he was alive, she was still shaken.
"Are you trying to get yourself killed? Didn't you see other people disciplining children?"
She was still speaking fiercely, but after saying those words, the fat woman threw away the branch in her hand, ignored the child who was left on the ground, and slipped into the house.
The small, thin body was thrown directly to the ground. Because of the rain, the soil was a little wet, and the child's face was buried in the dirt.
Just as Gu Tingxiao was about to go over to check on the child, who was lying there quietly, the small body moved slightly on the muddy ground.
Then Gu Tingxiao saw the child slowly get up on his own, and even turn around and glance at him.
Because the child's clothes were already worn out, and he had fallen in the mud, Gu Tingxiao couldn't really see what the child looked like. The only thing that impressed him was the child's eyes.
Far surpassing the stars, brilliant and clear.
What kind of mistake could such an innocent child have made to deserve such abuse from their family?
But since it was someone else's child, and Gu Tingxiao wasn't a Pacific police officer, he turned around and continued walking in the direction he had originally intended after seeing that the child had stood up on his own and seemed to be alright.
Under the persimmon tree, which was covered with white, bell-shaped flowers, the child who had been beaten and punished by not being allowed to eat touched his empty stomach and looked in the direction where Gu Tingxiao had left.
Its dark, round eyes darted around, a hint of liveliness flashing within them.
That person looks delicious.
After standing there for a long time, the little boy finally seemed to have made up his mind and took a few steps, wobbling as he followed in Gu Tingxiao's footsteps.
***
After sweeping his mother's grave and paying his respects, Gu Tingxiao stood quietly for a long time in front of the inconspicuous grave mound and stone tablet.
During the Qingming Festival, a light rain fell and the sky was overcast, with a chill in the wind penetrating to the bone.
Gu Tingxiao didn't pay attention to how long he stood there, but when he walked back along the mountain path, his vision suddenly went black and he fainted.
When he opened his eyes again, what he saw was not just a dirty-looking little face, but a pair of beautiful eyes that were unforgettable.
An Man squatted down beside him, her big eyes fixed on him.
Two small, unidentified green fruits were clutched in her equally dirty little hands.
Seeing Gu Tingxiao wake up, An Man's small hand, which was holding the fruit, twitched, and she finally chose to hand one of the fruits to Gu Tingxiao.
Gu Tingxiao had previously estimated that the child was no more than five years old, but now it seems that the child is even younger than he expected.
Gu Tingxiao pushed himself up with his hands and looked at the fruit the small child had offered him. For some reason, he remembered what the fat woman had said.
This chapter is not finished, please click the next page to continue reading!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
