Cang Ji watched Chen Caoyu, and couldn't help but stunned: "It's so small, it's not even enough to plug in between the teeth."
Jinglin went around the table and approached the bed. He saw the little girl who was in a coma, with a face that was not as big as a palm, and was so thin that she could see it. He flicked his fingers over the little girl's brows, and when he saw her black pigtails, a copper bell rang in his ears.
"I've seen her." Jinglin said, "in a dream."
The dense smoke was gradually cleared away, revealing Chen Caoyu's playful back with a bell. She jumped in front of her happily, often looking back and smiling at Jing Lin. Everything around him suddenly went backwards, and Jinglin heard the "ding ding" of the copper bell, and then he clearly heard Donglin say to Chen Caoyu.
"Watch your feet."
"Uncle Dong." Chen Caoyu beckoned, the copper bell rang, she shouted, "Are you going somewhere else? I want to go too, Uncle Dong, take me with you?"
Dong Lin's hand fell on top of her head, and Jing Lin noticed the thick and solid emotions. They seemed to be entrenched in Dong Lin's heart all the time. Because of past mistakes, they gave them all to Chen Caoyu at this time. This feeling is too heavy, making Jing Lin unconsciously take a step back.
It seems he has suffered too.
The copper bell rang so loudly that Jing Lin had a splitting headache. He saw Chen Caoyu's face gradually fade, turning into another face he was familiar with. The little girl no longer called "Uncle Dong", but called "Ninth Brother" with a bell.
"Jinglin?" The weight was suddenly pressed from behind, Cang Ji shook his arms in front of him, "What are you doing
Jinglin woke up like a dream, sweating profusely. He didn't even care about Cang Ji's head, and said in a daze: "I understand... It wasn't Donglin who stole the copper bell, but the copper bell who found Donglin."
Cang Ji was startled: "I didn't notice it, it also has legs?"
Cang Ji wanted to continue, but felt that the man in his arms turned around, and then his waist tightened, and he was hugged by Jing Lin first. Cang Ji almost bit his tongue, even though he said it presumptuously, he was never hugged. Beneath his conceit, there is still a clean blank.
"I saw the story of Donglin."
As soon as Jinglin's voice fell, Cang Ji heard the copper bell. The scene in front of me shattered into fluorescent light, and then reassembled in an instant.
He saw it too.
Frosty nights in late autumn, cold and rainy.
Donglin dragged his grouting legs and slipped on the edge of the bridge hole. He was unkempt and breathless. The rain dripped into a curtain and covered his back, causing him to gasp intermittently. Dong Lin's eyes gradually became slack, and his consciousness was erratic. He was lying there, his hands and feet turning white.
Dong Lin took a deep breath, and cried one after another from his throat. His face was buried in the mud and ice water, as if to hide his tears, which made people mistakenly think it was the noise of rain. He cried so hard that his rain-exposed back was heaving in the endless lashings of the rain.
It rained all night, and he cried all night here.
In the early morning, when it was raining and clearing, the ox cart ran over him, shoved a few fresh wet things from its tail, and covered half of his face. Donglin's heart was ashes, and he didn't move. The bullock cart passed by, and the whistle and the morning light drove together, alarming the whole town. Dong Lin never closed his red and swollen eyes. He waited weakly for death, and had no expectations for anyone who came over.
A thin dog came to sniff, sniffed Donglin's head from his back, and licked the cow dung. Warm swaying on the face, arousing a little business. The thin dog arched Donglin's head, dragging his shoulders to the bottom of the bridge. Mud and dirt were piled up on the ground, and a few licked bones squeezed Donglin's face. The dog will use him as food, gnaw it clean and put it on the bone.
Dong Lin closed his eyes in the wet saliva, feeling the thin dog tugging at the fabric on his shoulders and digging at his flesh. The sharp teeth pressed into the flesh, causing Dong Lin to sneer in pain. He opened his mouth and coaxed hoarsely: "Bite off the neck and plan it again..."
The thin dog can't wait, but the old teeth are weak. Even if he gnawed at the meat, he couldn't pull it down, and he was so anxious that he snorted and flicked his tail. Dong Lin gave it a slap and stumbled.
"Use some force." Dong Lin stuck the thin dog's neck and pressed towards himself, "Bite here and open your mouth."
The thin dog was pinched at the back of his neck, and he shyly didn't dare to do it again. He kept wagging his tail and licking Donglin's eyes and nose.
Donglin pushed it away: "Go away..."
He poured back into the filth and wiped the remaining cow dung. He was waiting to die, when he heard a man fall from the river with a "thump". Dong Lin didn't want to care, it had nothing to do with him. He listened to the person falling into the water, but he didn't even react at all except for the initial splash.
"It fell off." The passerby on the bridge looked up, "Did you still jump off?"
"I didn't see it clearly." The hawker who set up the stall shrank back, "Seven or eight-year-old girl, it's pathetic..."
Before they finished speaking, they heard the sound of water under the bridge. The dirty and stinky beggar jumped into the water, and a savage stabbed it down, and it didn't take a moment to drag out a little girl.
Dong Lin carried the little girl ashore. He wiped his face and patted the little girl on the cheek. This girl's face is not as big as his palm, and if he is slightly heavier, he can pat her and hurt her. Dong Lin hesitated for a moment, then tapped with two fingers.
"Did no one tell you not to play in the water?" Dong Lin gasped from the cold, he hugged his shoulders, "In such a cold day, no one will pay attention to you next time."
Chen Caoyu stood up tremblingly, she was surprisingly thin, and when she picked up her body, she was not as heavy as a wild cat. Dong Lin reached out his hand to pull her, but she immediately hugged her head and flinched, sobbing in fear.
Donglin looked at her and withdrew his hand. The hatchback was speechless, and the girl never put down her arms from beginning to end.
Dong Lin said, "Do you get beaten often?"
Chen Caoyu peeped at him from the gap between his arms and shook his head vigorously.
Dong Lin glanced at her wrists, and saw that the wrist bones were all stick marks, and the places where they were beaten fiercely were rotten to the point of frostbite. Even the thin dog just now looked more decent than her. Dong Lin looked away and went silent. Chen Caoyu stumbled between his teeth in the cold, lost a shoe, and stepped in the mud with his bare feet. Donglin didn't make a sound, so she didn't dare to move.
Donglin groped his hand in his pocket and touched a few beads. He finally couldn't hold back, got up and took Chen Caoyu by the back collar, took the staggering little girl to the bridge, and bought hot buns for her.
Chen Caoyu devoured the steamed buns and stuffed Huang Shou's cheeks. While sobbing and swallowing, she looked at Donglin with big, abrupt eyes. Dong Lin was like dust in his eyes, he couldn't bear it, he only felt pain.
"get out."
Dong Lin roughly stuffed the remaining steamed buns into Chen Caoyu's arms, turned her by the back collar, and pushed her gently.
"go home."
Chen Caoyu raised his head and stared at him, covering his mouth to prevent the buns from leaking out. She swallowed hard, not even letting go of a bit of meat. She took a few steps under the thrust of Donglin, as if she was afraid of him, and finally ran into the crowd.
Dong Lin watched for a while, then cursed, "White-eyed wolf."
He was unshaven, shoved into the crowd, and went back to his bridge to die. The next morning, Dong Lin was wrapped in wet clothes and sleeping against the wall, and was pushed and shoved a few times on his back.
"Go away." Dong Lin was exhausted and burned. He half-opened his eyes and said, "I don't have the money to buy buns with you anymore."
Chen Caoyu knelt down and climbed behind, stuffing hot sweet potatoes into his arms. This potato was no longer than his finger, and it was obviously fed to livestock by another family.
Dong Lin was scalded by the sweet potato, he stared at the bridge wall and muttered, "Why don't you let me go."
Chen Caoyu shrank her hands and leaned in a corner, peeling her potatoes while blowing. Dong Lin rolled over and sat up, pinched the potato cross-legged and looked at it, then raised his hand and threw it back into Chen Caoyu's arms. Chen Caoyu looked at him in shock and shrank again.
Donglin leaned against the bridge wall and said, "I don't eat it."
Chen Caoyu peeled it off and stuffed it into his mouth. Dong Lin looked at her and saw that she was wearing new clothes today, but they didn't fit well. The shoes are also bigger, and they look like those worn by boys.
"You have someone to take care of," Donglin said, "isn't it?"
Chen Caoyu turned a deaf ear. She is quite attentive when she eats, and attentiveness is perceptibly a little sluggish. Dong Lin turned around, grabbed her arm, straightened her sleeves, and saw that she had been treated for yesterday's injuries. He dragged her like this, but she was still eating.
"Since someone is in charge, don't come to me again." Dong Lin released his hand and said, "Stay with the family."
Chen Caoyu suddenly shook his head, pulled down his sleeves, looked at Dong Lin and shook his head desperately.
"Are you dumb?" Donglin said.
"No." Chen Caoyu's voice was like a mosquito, "No."
"Then listen," Donglin said, "I'm a villain, don't stay with me. Go home and don't come again."
Chen Caoyu didn't move, Dong Lin grabbed her and pushed her out. She retreated desperately, and Dong Lin lifted it up immediately, about to throw it out of the bridge hole. Chen Caoyu cried out, she grabbed Dong Lin's hand, shook her head and shouted, "Don't go back, don't go back! Please!"
Donglin said nothing.
Chen Caoyu kicked off his shoes that were one size larger, and pressed against his body almost as if he was lying, clinging to Dong Lin's hand tightly, choked up and said, "Please, please...don't go back..."
Dong Lin's heart suffocated, and he suddenly withdrew his strength. Chen Caoyu slid to the ground and quickly climbed back to the corner. She hugged her body, clinging to the bridge wall, choking. Dong Lin squatted down to pick up the shoes and put them on.
"You..." Donglin buried his head in his arms in frustration, "Why don't you go home."
Chen Caoyu wiped her tears: "It hurts..."
"What?" Dong Lin raised his eyes, "Did your parents beat you?"
How can a parent be willing to beat a child? Dong Lin thought, "I won't. If I can find her, I will hold her in the palm of my hand, and tell her that the wind will catch the wind and the rain will catch the rain." I can't wait to give her everything in this world, I can't bear to touch even a finger.
Chen Caoyu refused to say any more, and she cried like a cat on her face. Dong Lin wanted to wipe her off, but found himself dirty again. So he pulled her sleeve and blew her nose. Chen Caoyu's nose was rubbed red, and she endured the pain.
Donglin couldn't drive her away, so she came every day. Dong Lin lingered on, but he was a little more worried. He originally thought that Chen Caoyu was in charge of his parents, but it was a momentary awkwardness. But he gradually realized something was wrong. This girl kept new clothes and kept it clean all day, but once she opened her sleeves, you could see all kinds of stick marks. New wounds overtake old ones. Someone rubbed medicine on her, and someone beat her harder, as if with that shiny layer of skin, she could do whatever she wanted.
Dong Lin squatted under the bridge hole and waited for Chen Caoyu to finish eating the cakes. He said, "Where is your home? Go back."
Chen Caoyu looked at him blankly.
He stood up, wrapped the smelly clothes around his head, and turned into a total lunatic.
"You go," he said. "I'm watching."