"Da da da da"
Huo Xiaolong's short legs darted down the stairs with lightning speed.
The steps of Fengyue Tower are not high. They were renovated a few months ago because the little girl doesn't like being carried and struggles with the steps every day.
When going upstairs, they used both hands and feet to climb like little turtles; a four-year-old's legs are just too short.
The steps are now half the height of before, and the little girl can roll around on them with ease.
"mom!"
Huo Xiaolong ran up to Cen's mother, staring at her with his dark eyes.
Now that Cen's mother has spent a lot of time with the child, she understands what that look means. The little girl doesn't talk much, and often just stares at you with those two grape-like eyes. It's not that she's being affectionate, but it's just so endearing.
Cen's mother squatted down, turned the child's body to face the couple, and said...
"You still don't remember them? Ya Dan'er?"
Huo Xiaolong remained silent, staring intently at the couple.
She had vague memories of what had happened before, such as the man standing in front of her who always liked to hug her and rock her for a while when he came home every day, and the woman who watched over her at home almost every day, washing and cleaning for her.
Before, she seemed to lack even the awareness to go to the toilet by herself and couldn't be separated from others.
Before seeing the couple again, she couldn't make out the faces of the people who did these things to her, but after they came today, the memories in her mind became clearer and gradually became more concrete.
"Long'er, this is your father, and this is your mother."
The man knelt down, took her small hand in his, and his eyes were red.
"Yes, it's all our fault, we lost you."
The Mid-Autumn Festival is supposed to be a happy day. The family of four went to the market in the county town, and the little girl was always by someone's side the whole time.
But the flower lighthouse collapsed.
There were many people, and the family was separated.
Last year's Mid-Autumn Festival also saw the most children go missing, with more than thirty parents of missing children arriving at the county government office the following day.
Huo Xiaolong wasn't abducted; he was forcibly taken away by human traffickers.
Her mother's voice was hoarse from shouting, as she watched two male kidnappers carry her daughter away.
She wanted to fight them, but she was swept away in another direction by the crowd, and by the time her family reunited, it was too late.
"It's all my fault, I didn't hold you tight enough."
The woman's tears never stopped. For the past year, she had been blaming herself every day, hating herself for not holding her daughter properly.
Huo Xiaolong looked at the couple in front of him and shook his head.
"I don't remember at all."
She didn't know how to face her biological parents; she hadn't had them in her past life, and it felt very abrupt. Her position in the brothel was that of a general helper, a four-year-old little general helper.
Although I was supposed to be doing odd jobs, most of my days were spent being told what to do by all the pretty ladies.
Send this rouge to that older sister.
Sigh! Can I let Sister Chunying hold her skirt tonight? Shouldn't a courtesan like me have a little fairy boy to accompany her, Mother Cen? Every night when the courtesan of Fanghua Pavilion across the street makes her appearance, she has a little flower boy following behind her, pulling her skirt. Let's get one too!
Cen's mother glared at her.
"If she eats shit, would you eat it? You want to sleep with everything!"
The little girl nodded. "Okay, I'll get you one too." This made Chunying beam with joy. If those men saw her looking like a young girl, they'd probably give her anything she wanted.
Little one, Mommy wants some candied hawthorns, let's go buy two from the door!
Then, Huo Xiaolong ate one and a half hawthorns himself, while his mother and sisters each ate one hawthorn, and she had to raise her hand to feed them.
The little girl was deeply moved. Unlike her previous life, her heart was slowly beginning to feel something.
It's slowly getting warmer.
Huo Xiaolong reached out and gently wiped away the woman's tears.
"Don't cry, I'll remember slowly."
Hearing the little girl's words, everyone present felt a lump in their throat, and the woman in front of them hugged the child tightly.
"Waaah, don't think about it, don't think about it. If you can't remember, then don't. Let's get to know each other again."
The woman gently stroked her head.
As they touched her, they thought, "How can my daughter be so good? How can she be so good?" Watching their little girl who could talk and run around, the couple felt that nothing could make them happier.
Even if she wasn't found.
The man looked at the young girl's clothes and accessories and realized that the brothel had really taken very good care of her, a hundred times better than if she had stayed with the two of them.
His face became rounder, and he grew taller.
"My wife and I will bring the household registration to you shortly. Once we have raised enough money, you can return the household registration to me. Is that alright?"
This is a plan to mortgage the whole family here so that she won't sell the little girl for the time being.
But Cen's mother wasn't in a hurry; she didn't believe that a family that had just arrived in the border town could quickly raise one hundred taels.
"OK"
The man bowed to Cen's mother with a fist and palm salute, then spoke to the woman.
"Ah Yi, are you going to wait here, or come to my house to get it together?"
The woman wanted to spend more time with her daughter.
"You, you go back by yourself. I'll stay with Long'er a little longer."
The man understood; if it weren't for the need to express their feelings to Cen's mother and show her their sincerity, he would have liked to stay with his daughter a little longer.
It was already noon, and the snow had stopped outside.
"You two haven't eaten yet, have you? Perfect timing! Let's have a simple meal together when your husband gets back."
Mother Cen began to make arrangements, speaking to the maid behind her.
"Go tell Aunt Zhang in the kitchen to make extra lunch; we have important guests coming today."
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