The boy looked thin and weak, not very tall, but his voice was quite loud, and when he cried it was so loud that it could be heard through the sky. Xie Wangzhi, Li Qishen and Zhao Ye were already an eye-catching combination, and now there was a boy who was crying so hard that he hiccuped, and passers-by couldn't help but take a few more glances.
Seeing that the passers-by were about to come over to watch the fun, Xie Wangzhi quickly patted Li Qishen's arm, signaling him to let go of the dagger, and then took out a handkerchief to wipe the boy's tears: "Don't cry. What's your name?"
"Huzi." The boy was already crying with a series of hiccups. He cried even harder when such a beautiful lady asked him in a gentle voice and held his soft and fragrant handkerchief. "My name is Huwuwuwu..."
Forget it, the rest of the room was filled with crying. Seeing Xie Wangzhi patiently wiping the dirt and tears off Hu Zi's face, Li Qishen felt inexplicably unhappy. But he endured it and put away his dagger: "I won't argue with you. Take out your things."
Hu Zi hiccuped again, his shoulders twitched twice, and he reached into his arms and took out a purse.
As soon as Xie Wangzhi saw the big face of the coal ball on the purse, he knew why Li Qishen suddenly reached out to grab Hu Zi. It seemed that Hu Zi was not an experienced hand and made a mistake. The purse looked very flat, and it was obvious that there was nothing inside; the stitching was not good, the blue base was slightly faded, and the edges were also hairy, so it was not valuable.
Seeing Li Qishen putting the purse into his sleeve like a treasure, Xie Wangzhi's face suddenly became a little hot, and he whispered in embarrassment: "You still keep it."
Li Qishen said "hmm" as a matter of course, and continued to torment Hu Zi: "Should we leave now, or go to Jingzhao Prefecture?"
Hu Zi thought that the matter would be settled after returning the purse, but the man would not give in. Just as he was about to speak, his stomach began to rumble, and he knew at once that he was a hungry ghost.
"… It seems that we should go eat first." Xie Wangzhi felt that the boy was a little pitiful and looked at Li Qishen, "There is a wonton stand over there."
"You're lucky." Li Qishen raised his hand and patted Hu Zi on the forehead again, then pulled him across the street and sat down at the wonton stall.
This wonton shop is an old shop. The soup is made with pork bones and whole chicken, which is very fragrant. After it comes out of the pot, sprinkle a handful of green onions while it is boiling hot. The fragrance is so fragrant that you can swallow your saliva. Xie Wangzhi let the fragrance arouse her appetite, but the wonton soup is watery. She ordered lip balm, which made it inconvenient to eat, so she simply went to buy a steamed rice cake nearby.
Li Qishen and Hu Zi didn't care. Li Qishen wasn't hungry and didn't crave it, so he just bought one bowl for Hu Zi.
Hu Zi hadn't had a full meal for several days. When a large bowl of delicious wontons was placed in front of him, with meat filling vaguely visible in the half-cooked dough, he didn't even care why he was brought to eat. He slurped the bowl and drank up the soup, almost licking the bowl.
"Are you full?" There were many soldiers who ate like pigs. Li Qishen ignored this and asked casually.
Hu Zi touched his stomach: "... Can I have another bowl?"
Li Qishen: “…”
"Dream on." He gave in and tapped the boy on the head again. "Look at you, you haven't had a full meal in a few days, right? Eat another bowl and you'll be a glutton."
Xie Wangzhi couldn't help but smiled and asked softly, "Are you stealing purses because you have no food to eat? Where are your father and mother?"
He hadn't taken care of this when he was eating wontons just now. Now that he was full and Li Qishen and Xie Wangzhi were sitting in front of him, Hu Zi's face became hot. He hadn't done this many times before, so he gritted his teeth and lowered his head: "I don't have food to eat... It's not because there is no food to eat."
The words were a bit confusing, but Li Qishen understood them. He tapped his fingertips on the table and said lightly, "Then you can tell me, what's your reason?"
The words were considerate, but the tone contained a hint of sarcasm. Hu Zi's face flushed and he raised his head suddenly: "I didn't lie to you! It's not because I have no food to eat!"
"Oh." Li Qishen still had that indifferent look.
Hu Zi glared at him and said nothing.
"I think you are only about ten years old. How did you do this?" Xie Wangzhi was still a child, so he would not squander his kindness. However, he was willing to listen. He was also afraid that Li Qishen would draw his sword again, so he only said to Hu Zi, "What's the reason? Tell me everything."
Hu Zi held it in for a while and said, "My mother is sick."
"What about your father?" Xie Wangzhi asked.
"It's long gone." Hu Zi said, "My mother fell ill in the middle of her month. It seemed to be a lung disease. She went to the clinic, but the doctor said she needed money. Just buying medicine cost three cents a month."
Judging from his attire, he didn't look like a merchant or servant, but a farmer from outside Chang'an. Farmers have their own land, but they rely on the weather for food and are self-sufficient. At most, they grow some vegetables and sell them to vegetable vendors. When Xie Wangzhi was in the Shangshi Bureau, his monthly salary was only one or two taels of silver. Asking a farmer like Hu Zi to pay three taels of silver a month was tantamount to a direct death sentence.
Xie Wangzhi didn't know how to start, but Li Qishen said, "So you came out to steal money to treat your mother's illness?"
"… I can't do anything. My mother said that the weather is bad this year. The fields only grow weeds, not vegetables. There is nothing to sell, and we can't even get enough to eat. I know I can do odd jobs, but the people in the city don't want me… They think I'm dirty and too young." Hu Zi swallowed, "I can't do anything… "
"You have no other choice but to steal?" Li Qishen asked lazily.
"I said I can't do anything! I can't do anything! That's my mother, my mother, she's dying, she'll die if she doesn't take medicine!" Li Qishen's attitude was too indifferent, Hu Zi got angry, clenched his fists tightly, "Don't you have a mother? If your mother is dying, you..."
“Shut up!” Xie Wangzhi’s face changed, and he scolded Hu Zi so much that his shoulders shrank. He then turned to look at Li Qishen, his fingertips trembling uncontrollably.
Li Qishen was quite calm, speaking in a light tone: "My mother died when I was eight years old. Why do you care whether my mother is still alive? I am asking you now, is it right for you to come here to steal in order to save your mother?"
When he said the second half of the sentence, his tone suddenly became serious, his eyebrows and eyes were stern, and his dense eyelashes could not hide the snow in his pupils. Hu Zi was frightened by that look. He also knew that stealing was wrong, so he held it in for a while: "... I did it for my mother..."
"Who do you care about?" Li Qishen asked, "I just want to ask you, is it right or wrong?"
Hu Zi held his anger for a while, then suddenly relaxed: "It's wrong. I was wrong. I shouldn't have stolen anything."
"That's good to know." Li Qishen's expression remained unchanged, but his tone was a little gentler. "Today you stole my purse, and although I treasure it very much, it's not a big deal. But tomorrow you steal someone else's purse, and what if that purse also contains life-saving money?"
Xie Wangzhi's face was a little hot from the "baby" and he touched it casually, "Also, if you met someone who was harder-hearted or law-abiding than us today and insisted on taking you to Jingzhao Prefecture, what would your mother do?"
Hu Zi looked at Li Qishen, then at Xie Wangzhi, and was shocked. He realized that he had made this decision in a moment of anger, and if it really happened, it would cost someone's life. He lowered his head and said nothing.
"But I also know that filial piety is hard to come by, and human life is hard to recover." Li Qishen was the first to speak up. He hid all his money in his sleeves, took out a handful of silver, took the handkerchief that Xie Wangzhi had used to wipe Hu Zi's face, and wrapped it in the handkerchief. "I weighed it, and there's probably more than one or two taels in it, enough for your mother to take medicine for three months, and the rest can be used to buy food for myself."
Hu Zi was startled and looked up: "You..."
"I'm not pitying you, I'm pitying your mother." Li Qishen was too lazy to say more. "If you dare to steal again, you may not be so lucky. If you steal from me, you'll spend the rest of your life in jail."
That's true, but he said it harshly. Xie Wangzhi didn't want to scare Hu Zi, so he pushed the handkerchief wrapped in silver coins over there and said, "Take it, hide it, and go back. Don't show off your wealth on the road."
Hu Zi swallowed and wanted to ask the two men why, but he didn't dare to ask. He sat for a while, grabbed the handkerchief and stuffed it into his arms, and whispered, "I will repay you."
After saying that, he turned around and ran. His small figure merged into the crowd and ran towards the clinic.
"… Hey, you don't even know who we are," Xie Wangzhi retracted his gaze, "How can we repay you?"
Li Qishen, who had just glared at Hu Zi, softened his attitude towards Xie Wangzhi. He rested one hand on the table, resting his chin on the back of his hand, and looked at her with a smile: "Are you really going to let him repay you?"
"... No." Xie Wangzhi's heart skipped a beat when he was stared at by those light amber eyes. He looked away, his eyelashes trembling, and opened the oil paper bag in his hand, "Want some sugar cake?"
After asking this question, she came to her senses, "… Oh, no, you don't like sweet things."
"Yes, I don't like sweet things." Li Qishen didn't notice Xie Wangzhi's little thoughts. He just thought it was quite funny and continued to look at her with his chin supported.
Xie Wangzhi's face quickly turned red, and she lowered her head to hide it. The steamed rice cake was soft and had to be eaten while it was hot. She took a small piece and slowly put it into her mouth. She took a sip and her mouth was filled with sweet fragrance.
But it's strange, she loves to eat this, and she used to be happy for a long time after eating it. But now that Li Qishen is staring at it, the steamed rice cake is still the same steamed rice cake, but it seems to taste different, and it's almost tasteless.
Xie Wangzhi felt inexplicably flustered. He swallowed the mouthful in his mouth and put the remaining half back: "I won't eat it anymore."
"Not tasty?" Li Qishen thought it was not to his taste. "Then go to another one. I remember walking south, the dim sum at Zhenweizhai was pretty good... But that was in the past, I don't know now, it doesn't hurt to go and have a look."
"No, it's not a big deal." Xie Wangzhi didn't have to eat it, so he quickly spoke up to stop Li Qishen.
She looked up and her face fell into Li Qishen's sight. The 17-year-old lady was not in her prime, but she had almost grown up. She had black hair, white skin, and eyes full of emotion. She was indeed worthy of the saying in Chang'an City: "Beauty moves the capital." She had just eaten a sugar cake. The fine sugar grains stuck to her lips, like a newly opened flower, trembling and revealing a little honey fragrance.
Li Qishen lowered his eyes and looked at the sugar grains. As if bewitched, he suddenly reached out and gently touched her lips.
The author has something to say: Ah, Changsheng, you are being a hooligan again, mom won’t allow it! ! ! !