The two were doing their daily routine - bickering, when they suddenly heard footsteps outside. They were startled, and Zhuge Yue immediately stood up, pulling out a dagger and holding it in his hand.
Just as I was about to go out, I suddenly heard a bang, and two small figures rushed in and almost pulled down the curtain of the tent!
Chu Qiao and Zhuge Yue were stunned for a moment, and looked at each other. Then Chu Qiao spoke first, and asked softly, "Little guy, what are you doing?"
Little Xingxing had a dark face and red eyes, and was holding a child younger than her in her hands. When she heard Chu Qiao's voice, the little girl pouted and tears fell from her eyes, more and more.
Zhuge Yue's expression was extremely ugly. He looked at the two children who looked like they were rolling in a pile of coal with impatience, and said in a deep voice, "Who let you in? Get out now."
“Woo woo…” The child who looked only four or five years old suddenly raised his head. His face was dark, and his eyes were large and round, with a clear distinction between black and white. He looked at Zhuge Yue pitifully, his lips trembling, and his cry sounded like that of a small animal. His chubby little hands crawled on the ground as he came towards Zhuge Yue.
Zhuge Yue had fought on the battlefield and planned strategies. In all these years, he had never felt afraid. But at this moment, he suddenly panicked. He pointed at the little guy and shouted, “You, you stop. Don’t come over here. I order you to get out right now!”
“Wow!” A heaven-shattering and soul-stirring cry suddenly sounded, and the child hugged Zhuge Yue’s thighs like a vicious dog pouncing on its prey, his tears and snot all smeared on Zhuge Yue’s clothes, “Daddy!”
Instantly, Zhuge Yue’s handsome face seemed to be filled with blood, and it turned red. His expression could almost be described as “panic-stricken”. After looking at Chu Qiao who was also stunned, Zhuge Yue hurriedly said, “Who is your father? Let go! Or I’ll beat you up!”
“Daddy!” The little guy was not even as tall as Zhuge Yue’s thigh. Although he was small, he was very strong. He used his hands and feet to hold him tightly, hanging on his legs, crying and shouting, “Daddy, Daddy.”
A child this young could probably die from a single kick. Zhuge Yue didn’t dare to hit him, and couldn’t push him away. In the end, he turned around and said to Chu Qiao in a wronged tone: “I’m really not his father.”
He himself didn't know why he had to explain to Chu Qiao, but he got angry when he saw Chu Qiao's slightly surprised and somewhat gloating look.
Chu Qiao laughed, but she also felt that this matter was a bit strange. Seeing that she couldn't get anything out of the little guy, she turned to look at Xiao Xingxing and asked, "Xingxing, who is he? What's going on?"
Before Xingxing answered, the crying child suddenly turned around, as if he just realized that there was Chu Qiao in the room. The child pouted and stretched out his hands to Chu Qiao in grievance, sobbing and shouting, "Mother..."
“Are you the child of the Ouyang family?” In the small tent, four people sat together in a solemn manner. Zhuge Yue looked up and down at the child’s luxurious silk clothes and said in a deep voice.
The child seemed terrified, like a frightened little rabbit. He shrank his head, timidly looking at Zhuge Yue from the corner of his eyes, then stretched out a small hand, about to pull Zhuge Yue's sleeve, and called out pitifully in a low voice: "Daddy..."
"I'm not your father!"
With a slap, the child's hand was hit down. The child's mouth pursed, as if he was about to cry again, but he held back his tears.
Chu Qiao frowned, turned to look at the other child, and said seriously: "Xingxing, you brought him here?"
Little Xingxing was young but very clever. Upon hearing this, she glanced at Chu Qiao secretly, then lowered her head and said nothing.
"If you don't tell me, I'll kick both of you out right now."
Xingxing raised her head quickly, blinked her big eyes, and asked in a baby voice, "If I tell you, can you just kick me out?"
Chu Qiao was stunned when these words came out, and her brows relaxed a little, then she asked: "Xingxing, don't you know that it will be troublesome to bring him with you?"
"I...I know." The little girl pouted and frowned, saying helplessly, "I can't take him back to my tent. Daddy will tell Manager Lin."
"So you brought him to me?"
The little girl nodded dejectedly, "Yeah."
"Do you know each other?"
"We are good friends!" Little Star tilted her head back, her face very serious, then she straightened her chest and said solemnly, "We played together all the way!"
“Daddy…” The child next to him tried to pull Zhuge Yue’s sleeve again, pouting and saying aggrievedly, “Mo’er is so hungry.”
After being glared at by Zhuge Yue, the child turned around and looked at Little Star for help, but his eyes were mostly filled with the discomfort of being hungry and the confusion of being bullied. There was no understanding of the word "friend" at all.
"Wait a moment!" Xingxing patted the child's shoulder with clear eyes.
Zhuge Yue and Chu Qiao were suddenly stunned. This little girl from a servant family dared to take such a big risk and try every means to save someone just because she was playing with him on the road. The word "friend" came out of her mouth so firmly, so firmly that the two adults sitting opposite her were in awe and couldn't utter a word of rebuttal.
Such determination may have long been extinct in the adult world.
Chu Qiao's expression softened, and she asked in a deep voice, "Where did you find him? Where were you hiding all day?"
Seeing Chu Qiao's expression ease, Xiao Xingxing also grew a lot bolder, and said very proudly: "So many soldiers came last night, I was scared, so I hid in the meadow at the back. Then I saw an uncle, I know that uncle, he is from Mo'er's family, there was a big bird on his back, I have seen it before. I saw that he was covered in blood, lying on the meadow, holding Mo'er in his arms. He was already dead, but he was still holding Mo'er tightly and would not let go. Mo'er was scared and wanted to cry but didn't dare to cry, his face turned pale, so I pulled him out. After the soldiers left, I took him home."
"Go home?" Chu Qiao raised her eyebrows.
"Yes, but mother wouldn't let us into the house. When father saw Mo'er, he panicked and wanted to report it. I knew that if the soldiers knew about it, Mo'er would be killed like uncle, so I took him and ran away. We have been hiding in the meadow at the back all day today."
Mo'er sat on the ground with his head drooping, his lips pouting, looking listless, as if he had no idea that the other three people were talking about him. The child was so tired. He had been hiding for so long and had been chased by someone. He was hungry and thirsty, and the father in front of him was still very fierce. He had no interest in listening to these people talking, and he almost fell asleep in a daze.
"Then why did you bring him to us?"
"I...I..." Little Xingxing frowned and mustered up her courage before she whispered, "My sister is very kind, but this...this uncle is very fierce and powerful..."
“Uncle?” Zhuge Yue glared at him and slapped Little Xingxing on the head, “Little guy, stop yelling!”
Last night, several families including the Wang family, the Jia family, and the Ouyang family were all killed. Only this young master managed to escape. It must have been the servants of the Ouyang family who protected him and tried to escape with their lives. However, he died on the road before leaving the camp, and was coincidentally discovered by this little girl and hidden away. Liu's people thought that the child had been rescued, so they chased after him, but they didn't expect that he was hiding openly in the outer camp. Xingxing's parents knew that the child was rescued by their daughter and did not dare to report it.
Chu Qiao sighed and said, "Xingxing, do you know that it is very dangerous for you to do this?"
"I know," the little girl said with a depressed look on her face. She couldn't figure out why her rich friend had fallen to this point overnight. She scratched her head and said, "But what can we do?"
Yes, what can we do? Do you want her to betray her friends?
"So you brought him to us and taught him to call us 'Dad and Mom' in order to gain sympathy, right?"
The little girl lowered her head even lower, as if she knew that what she was doing was not so glorious. Chu Qiao let out a long sigh, stretched out her hand to hold Xiao Xingxing in her arms, and sighed: "What a good child."
At this moment, there was a thud, and the child's head tilted, and he actually fell asleep like that, his whole body falling into Zhuge Yue's arms, his head resting on his legs, drooling from his mouth, his belly rising and falling, and snoring softly.
"Get up! Who told you to sleep here? Get up, you..."
The child opened his eyes feeling aggrieved, and saw Zhuge Yue’s flaming face again. He rubbed his eyes in frustration and whispered, “I’m starving…”
Just then, there was a sudden noise of footsteps outside. The two children jumped up like frightened birds. Xiao Xingxing hugged the trembling Mo'er like an old hen, and looked around, but there was really no place to hide. Finally, they ran behind Chu Qiao, grabbed her clothes and squatted down.
Even though they were only pulling at their clothes, Chu Qiao could still sense their panic and fear. The footsteps passed by the tent but did not stop. Instead, they went straight inside. It was obvious that they were not looking for them.
"Sister, I want to go back." Xingxing said timidly, "I'm afraid my father will say something wrong, so I want to go back and take a look."
Chu Qiao looked at the stars, then looked down at the young master of the Ouyang family who was staring at her eagerly. She suddenly made a decision, then lowered her head and said to the child, "If you want to eat, go and ask him."
The child was stunned for a moment, then looked towards Zhuge Yue fearfully. Seeing Zhuge Yue’s unfriendly gaze, the fear on his face became even more intense. He took two timid steps forward, then knelt on the ground and started crying with a thud. His speech was incoherent and no one could hear what he was saying. All one could hear was the sound of his kowtow echoing in the tent. The child kowtowed foolishly, his voice gradually becoming clearer, crying and shouting: "Please, please..."
Even a four-year-old child probably knows what kind of situation he is facing. His family was destroyed and he was being hunted. Even though he was so young, he probably knew that his future was not good.