Mu Jinnian filled a kettle with water and put it on the fire to boil.
After finishing these tasks, Mu Jinnian opened the food that Caiyun and Caixia had prepared for them.
Braised beef, stir-fried vegetables with eggs, stir-fried bamboo shoots with cured pork, and four large steamed buns.
Caiyun and Caixia prepared a rich and plentiful feast, enough for Xiaotuanzi to eat for three meals.
Mu Jinnian was very grateful and thanked the two of them again in his heart.
With these two meals, he could leave more money for the little dumpling before he left.
The little dumpling leaned closer to the food and twitched its nose.
A gurgling sound broke the silence of the house.
It turned out that the little dumpling's stomach couldn't help but growl because of the aroma of the food.
Mu Jinnian, who had been deep in thought, was amused by the sound. He picked up a still-warm steamed bun and handed it to the little dumpling.
"Little dumpling, eat quickly, or your tummy will start rumbling again."
Hearing her brother's teasing words, the little dumpling blushed shyly, but her mouth couldn't wait to start eating.
Mu Jinnian served food to the little girl while looking at her with doting eyes.
The little dumpling noticed that her brother hadn't eaten a single bite.
Why isn't brother eating?
"Brother isn't hungry now, he'll eat later."
The little girl thought her brother was amazing; he was busy for so long and wasn't hungry at all, unlike her, who got hungry much earlier.
Mu Jinnian's gaze lingered on the little dumpling's face for a moment, and after a long while, he finally made up his mind and said:
"Little dumpling, your brother has to go out tomorrow and may not be back for several days."
"For the next few days, you can stay at Aunt Zhang and Uncle Zhu's house, okay?"
The little dumpling's pupils widened in surprise, and she hugged Mu Jinnian tightly.
"Where is brother going? Doesn't brother want little dumpling anymore?"
The little girl's mind was filled with thoughts of her brother saying he wouldn't be back for several days, which is why Fuling had just returned him, and now her brother was leaving again.
The little dumpling became more and more upset, and she couldn't even finish her steamed bun.
With tears welling up in her eyes, she said, "Waaah, brother, please don't leave, please don't leave, waaah, don't leave little dumpling all alone."
The little girl's cries broke Mu Jinnian's heart, but he had things he had to do, things that concerned his and his sister's lives!
The journey ahead is too dangerous; he cannot protect the little girl with him.
So even though Mu Jinnian was heartbroken and reluctant, he still didn't change his decision to leave.
He could only say, "Be good, little dumpling, I promise I'll be back soon."
He would leave the food and money for Xiaotuanzi and ask Aunt Zhang and Uncle Zhuzi to take care of her.
Once everything is done, he will return in glory to pick up the little dumpling.
But the little girl didn't care about any of that; she nestled in her brother's arms and kept shaking her head.
She didn't want her brother to leave; he was the brother she had begged to come back after kneeling all night, and she couldn't lose him again.
The little dumpling cried louder and louder, her emotions nearing a breakdown.
Mu Jinnian couldn't bear it any longer and had no choice but to say that he would not leave.
After coaxing her for a while, Mu Jinnian asked:
"By the way, little dumpling, where is the jade pendant your mother left behind?"
The little dumpling had just stopped crying when she heard these words, and looked at Mu Jinnian with some wariness in her round eyes.
What is my brother going to do?
Does my brother want to take the jade pendant that our mother left behind with him?
Thinking of this, the little dumpling's eyes welled up with tears again.
She pouted, wondering if she had done something wrong.
Mu Jinnian sighed and had no choice but to drop the subject.
The water on the stove boiled, and Mu Jinnian added some cold water to wash the little dumpling's face and feet clean.
Then I took the frostbite cream and applied it to the frostbite on the little dumpling's hands and feet.
The little dumpling's delicate skin was covered with patches of swollen red spots.
In some areas, the pain and itching were unbearable when the flare-up occurred, and the little dumpling scratched them raw.
Mu Jinnian was shocked by what he saw, and he turned his head away to keep the little boy from seeing the tears in his eyes.
"Haha, brother, it tickles!"
The little girl fluttered her tiny feet, laughing nonstop. Her brother had just applied medicine to the soles of her feet, and they were so itchy!
"Little dumpling, apply this ointment three times a day, once in the morning, once at noon, and once in the evening. Do you remember?" Mu Jinnian instructed.
The little dumpling's eyes were still smiling as it said, "I'll remember!"
"Apply it once in the morning, once at noon, and once in the evening," the little dumpling repeated the words she had memorized.
Mu Jinnian pulled the blanket over the little dumpling, covering him completely.
He bent down and kissed the little dumpling on the forehead. "Sweet dreams, little dumpling."
The little dumpling giggled and obediently closed its eyes.
Have a good dream, and she'll dream of her mother!
The branches crackled and popped as they burned, filling the small, cold winter cabin with warmth.
...
The next morning, before the little dumpling even opened his eyes, he reflexively called out "brother".
But when she didn't hear her brother's reply, the little dumpling suddenly opened her eyes and sat up in bed.
There was a yellow oil paper on the bedside table. When the little dumpling opened it, it contained some candied fruit.
It turns out her brother secretly bought her candied fruit...
"Brother! Brother!" the little dumpling stretched its neck and called out loudly.
No one answered her, and the little dumpling suddenly felt scared.
She didn't even bother to put on her cotton-padded coat before climbing out of bed and pushing open the door.
It started snowing heavily outside, and the cold wind whipped snowflakes onto the little girl's face, causing her thin body to shiver immediately.
But the little dumpling didn't care about anything else; she was running around the yard anxiously.
"Brother, where are you?"
"Brother, come out quickly!"
The courtyard was empty, with only her small figure in the vast white snow.
The little dumpling froze, looking around blankly, its eyes filled with helplessness and fear.
Until she seemed to remember something, she took off running back into the house, covered in snow.
She crawled under the bed and took out her wooden box.
The copper coins and the few pieces of silver were still there, not a single one missing.
But... that jade pendant is gone.
Tears welled up instantly, and the little dumpling sat on the ground crying.
That's all! Nothing left!
The jade pendants belonging to her brother and mother, which she cherished most, are gone!
"Why? Why don't my brother and mother want me anymore?"
The little dumpling hugged its cold body and cried pitifully.
She didn't know what to do next; everything seemed to have become boring.
After sobbing for a long time, the little dumpling forced herself to get up from the ground.
She put on her cotton-padded coat and trousers, rubbed her frozen little hands, and walked outside with a determined look in her eyes.
If her older brother and mother are both leaving, then the little dumpling will go find them.
The little child, with an unknown amount of perseverance, stubbornly and resolutely walked through the wind and snow.
Little Tuanzi remembered Aunt Zhang saying that to get out of Qinghe Town, you had to cross the high mountains.
She raised her little head and looked at the very tall mountain in front of her.
The mountain was covered with a layer of white snow.
It looks like Uncle Mountain is asleep, covered with a white blanket.
The little dumpling took a step up the mountain, put her little hands together, and muttered, "Uncle Mountain, I'm sorry, I'm going to find my brother, I didn't mean to disturb your sleep."
The mountain path was difficult to walk on, and the little dumpling stumbled along, tearing several holes in her cotton pants and scraping her palms.
She wiped away her tears and snot, feeling terrified, and wanted to go back to her own home.
But when she thought of her brother and mother, the little dumpling was filled with hope again.
She clenched her little hand, which had been broken, into a fist. "Come on! Come on! Little dumpling, try your best to find your brother and mother."
The little dumpling had no idea how big the world was, nor where her brother and mother were.
She naively thought that once she crossed the mountain and left Qinghe Town, she would be able to see her brother and mother.
The snow fell heavier and heavier, and the air on the mountain was frighteningly cold.
The little girl struggled through the thick snow when she suddenly stepped on something, slipped, and fell forward.
"Ah!" the little dumpling cried out as it fell to the ground in the snow.
"Ouch, that hurts!"
"Mother! Brother! Waaah, where are you?"
The little dumpling was in tears, too weak to even get up.
As her body grew increasingly tired, the little dumpling gradually felt her eyelids getting heavy.
In the world of clusters of snowflakes, she could hardly see anything.
Just as she was drifting off to sleep and about to close her eyes, she suddenly felt a smooth, warm touch on her face.
The little dumpling struggled to open its eyes.
A fluffy little creature was looking at her with two black bean-like eyes.
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