"Shanxing, do you still remember a little girl named Lihua from your village?"
"Pear Blossom, where is she? Do you know her?"
Shanxing asked her anxiously.
Li Lanzhen nodded and said, "Yes, I saved her."
When she was a little over four years old, her aunt took her to Youzhou City and sold her to human traffickers. The traffickers drove a carriage with several girls in it. When they passed a mountain, Lihua jumped off the carriage and ran into the forest.
Later, she begged alone and met Stone and a few other orphans, and they wandered around together.
I went to Youzhou City to find my youngest son and encountered Stone.
Later, they encountered soldiers who trapped Lihua and the other children in a cave, intending to burn them alive.
I saved nine of their children.
The oldest are Shanxing and Shitou, both 12 years old, while the youngest is only three years old.
I plan to bring them to live with us in our village.
Otherwise, without adult protection, those few children wouldn't be able to survive.
"So, Pear Blossom brought you here?"
No. We're planning to go back to our village in the mountains.
As soon as we went up the mountain, we encountered the yamen runners and soldiers of Youzhou City searching the mountain.
We dared not go back to the village, fearing that the soldiers would find the village and harm the villagers.
Running towards this valley, Pear Blossom recognized the way back to the village when she arrived.
There's a village here called Pear Tree Village.
She wanted to bring me along, but I refused. I came to scout ahead myself and told them to hide in the mountains.
After Li Lanzhen finished speaking, she saw that the children were not happy at all, but instead became even angrier. Each of them clenched their fists and glared at her fiercely.
However, Li Lanzhen could sense that their emotions weren't directed at her, which puzzled her.
Just as I was about to ask, the boy angrily shouted again.
"Don't mention pear blossoms. It's all their fault. It was her heartless aunt who brought people here and killed everyone in the village, including my grandfather and my father... Waaah..."
After saying that, she burst into tears.
His crying caused the other children to start crying as well.
Shanxing, however, did not cry.
She stared at Li Lanzhen with a calm, indifferent gaze.
"You heard it too, just like Sanwang said, it was Lihua's aunt who brought people from Youzhou City and killed the whole village."
Li Lanzhen asked.
"What about Pear Blossom's grandparents? She told me that her uncle and aunt not only took over their house, but also kicked her grandparents and her out."
Finally, when there was no food at home and her cousin wanted to find a wife, her aunt tricked her into going to Youzhou City and sold her to human traffickers.
Have you ever thought about it? Pear Blossom is also a victim of suffering; she hates her aunt to death.
She just told me that if her aunt were still in the village, she wouldn't have fled the famine.
She was going to avenge her parents and take her grandparents away.
I agreed; she could take Grandpa and Grandma with her and come with us.
Shan Xing'er said indifferently.
She will never see her grandparents again!
Her aunt and uncle, those two beasts, not only brought people to slaughter everyone in the village, but also killed Pear Blossom's grandparents, saying they had hidden Pear Blossom away.
Li Lanzhen then asked, "What about his uncle and aunt's family?"
"Dead!"
The two cold words, spoken by the child Shanxing, were as cold as a sword, piercing straight into one's heart.
The girl lowered her head and thought for a while, then looked up at Li Lanzhen with a blank expression.
"Here's what we'll do: take me to see Pear Blossom. If what you're saying is true, we'll let you go."
Li Lanzhen nodded and said okay.
She looked at these children, so thin and bony, wondering how they managed to survive in this desolate village.
He put the basket on the ground, and then took out a lot of wild vegetable cakes from the basket's storage space.
"Shanxing'er, you can share these wild vegetable cakes with them. I'll leave the basket here."
"Come on, I'll take you to see the pear blossoms."
Li Lanzhen straightened up, then thought of something else and said.
"If you don't mind, I can bring them here, okay?"
Pear Blossom was going to lead us into the village, but I was afraid the soldiers behind us would discover our tracks and chase us into the village, harming the villagers. That's why I didn't let her come; I came alone quietly.
After listening to Li Lanzhen's words, the children looked at Shanxing.
Li Lanzhen wasn't sure if these children were allowed to come to the village, but Shanxing said otherwise.
"Alright, go and bring them here. We'll wait for you at the village entrance."
Li Lanzhen watched as the children swallowed hard, but none of them approached the basket to reach for the wild vegetable cakes inside.
After thinking for a moment, she walked over, grabbed a wild vegetable pancake, and started eating it in big bites, talking as she ate.
"Wait for me, I'll be right back."
Li Lanzhen didn't pass by that courtyard when she left the village this time, and she felt a little uncomfortable.
She didn't return to the place where she had initially stayed; instead, she left the village and went straight up the small hill.
Under several large trees on the mountaintop, she saw Xue Bao and the children sitting on the grass, resting against the trees.
Pear Blossom stretched her neck and saw Li Lanzhen from afar.
She immediately stood up and greeted him with a smile.
"Grandma, have you seen anyone in the village? Have you seen my grandparents? Tell them, am I still alive?"
A series of questions left Li Lanzhen unsure how to talk to the child.
She took her hand and walked towards Xue Bao and the others, saying...
"Xue Bao, let's get up and get ready to go into the village."
Xue Bao said, "The village chief allowed us to go in. Won't our going in cause them trouble?"
Li Lanzhen shook her head and said, "There won't be any trouble."
Xue Bao didn't think too much about it and quickly organized everyone to stand up, counted the number of people, and headed down the mountain.
Yan Ming looked at Li Lanzhen and asked, "You're not carrying a basket anymore?"
"Grandma, where's your basket? Where are Da Tou and Dou Hua?"
Li Lanzhen suddenly realized that she had been negligent once again; the two little ones were obviously sleeping in the space.
She gave an awkward chuckle and said, "The basket is in the village."
You'll see them both in a little while.
"Pear Blossom, you lead the way. We'll go straight to the ancestral hall; they're all inside."
Li Lanzhen roughly guessed that the first house she would enter at the entrance of the village should be the home of Uncle Lihua and his wife.
It's estimated that these children buried the entire village, leaving only that one family alive.
So she didn't want Pear Blossom to see that scene.
Pear Blossom agreed and happily walked in front.
As soon as they entered the village, Pear Blossom noticed a group of children standing at the village entrance.
She ran forward happily, and because she had been away from here for so long, she didn't recognize Shanxing and the others at first.
Once they reached him, he happily waved and shouted.
"Sister Shanxing, Sister Shanxing!"
She lunged forward and grabbed Shanxing's hand, crying, "I'm Lihua, I'm Lihua!"
Only then did a slight smile appear on Shanxing's face.
"Pear Blossom, you're back."
"Yes, I'm back. I didn't die, and I wasn't sold by human traffickers. Where are my grandparents? Sister Shanxing, I'm going to find them."
Sanwang rushed over and shoved her away.
He shouted angrily, "Your grandparents died long ago! They were killed by your uncle and aunt!"
They even killed the entire village!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com