Zhao Yao noticed the middle-aged man staring at him in a daze, looking slightly surprised. He subconsciously raised his hand to touch his own face and asked in confusion, "Uncle, is there something on my face?"
The middle-aged man didn’t answer, but Tong Xi, who was standing nearby, did.
"Young master, there’s nothing on your face."
"Nothing?" Zhao Yao rubbed his little face again, "If there’s nothing, why would Uncle look at me with such astonishment?"
The middle-aged man seemed to recall something, his face inadvertently showing a look of nostalgia, but shortly after, his expression turned sad.
Seeing the middle-aged man’s appearance, Zhao Yao touched his own face and asked, "Uncle, do I look like someone you know?" Judging by this uncle’s dejected and sorrowful look, it was likely that the person he knew was no longer around.
The middle-aged man snapped back to reality, looked at Zhao Yao, and asked, "What’s your name?"
Hearing the middle-aged man finally ask for his name, Zhao Yao smiled happily, "My name is Liang Yao, I’m six years old. Uncle, what’s your name and how old are you?"
The middle-aged man did not answer Zhao Yao’s question.
"Uncle, if you don’t want to tell me your name, at least tell me your surname."
The middle-aged man still said nothing.
"Uncle, never mind if you don’t want to say." Zhao Yao continued to ask, "Uncle, do you live here alone?"
This time, the middle-aged man spoke.
"Yes."
"Does anyone take care of you? Uncle’s legs seem to have some issues. If no one takes care of you, living alone must be inconvenient."
"There is someone."
"Where are they? Why did they leave you alone here in a daze?"
"Elsewhere." The middle-aged man liked peace and quiet, preferred being alone, and didn’t like anyone lingering around him. The person who took care of him wouldn’t appear in front of him unnecessarily.
"That’s good, I thought you were living here alone, that would be too inconvenient." Zhao Yao asked again with concern, "Uncle, are you sick?"
Seeing Zhao Yao’s pure and clear eyes filled with concern, the once lifeless eyes of the middle-aged man softened a bit.
"No."
"How can that be, Uncle? Your face looks pale, how can you not be sick?"
"Old illness, I’m used to it." The middle-aged man looked at Zhao Yao and asked, "Why did you e here?"
"I had Tong Xi bring me over the wall." Zhao Yao said very honestly, "I knocked on the door several times, but no one answered. I got curious, so I had to climb over the wall. But Uncle, I’m not here to steal anything."
"Why did you want to e in?" The middle-aged man didn’t mind Zhao Yao climbing over the wall.
"Curiosity, Uncle, don’t you know your house is rumored to be quite mysterious?" Zhao Yao shared with the middle-aged man the rumors he’d heard, "Uncle, your place is being called a haunted house."
"And you still dared to e in?"
"I don’t believe in ghosts, so I wanted to e and see." Zhao Yao smiled and said, "I guessed right, this isn’t a haunted house, Uncle, you’re a person, not a ghost."
"I don’t believe in ghosts." This sentence made the middle-aged man momentarily lost in thought again.
"Uncle, what’s the matter with you?" Why did this uncle zone out again?
"Nothing, just remembered an old friend."
"Do I look a bit like your old friend?"
"A little." His old friend also had a dimple only on the left side of their mouth.
"Then I have a destined relationship with Uncle." Zhao Yao said confidently.
The courtyard occasionally had a breeze, and Zhao Yao asked with concern, "Uncle, aren’t you cold sitting here?"
The middle-aged man replied, "No."
"Really?" Zhao Yao said, reaching out to hold the middle-aged man’s right hand, discovering it was very cold. "Uncle, your hand is so cold, and you say you’re not cold! Let me push you inside!"
"No need, I like it here." The middle-aged man said, once again gazing into the distance. At that moment, an eagle soared through the sky, letting out a cry.
Zhao Yao noticed a hint of envy and yearning in the middle-aged man’s eyes, realizing this uncle, whose legs were disabled, was likely confined to a wheelchair for life and thus greatly admired the freedom of the soaring eagle.
"Uncle, were you once a soldier?" He noticed this uncle, though sitting in a wheelchair, always kept his back straight, a habit mon among soldiers. Of course, his annoying father was an exception. His annoying father used to be a soldier too, but he never sat or stood properly, unlike a soldier at all. Only soldiers who held themselves to high standards kept their backs straight their whole lives.
He had just touched this uncle’s hand and found many calluses on his palms, the result of years of practicing martial arts and handling weapons.
The middle-aged man looked at Zhao Yao with some surprise, "How did you know?"
"Uncle, your back is always straight, and your palms have many calluses."
The middle-aged man hadn’t expected the child in front of him to have such keen observation, "Is anyone in your family a soldier?"
"Used to be, but not anymore." With his annoying father’s careless manner, no one would believe he used to be a soldier. They’d believe it if you said he was a hooligan.
"You’re right, I used to be a soldier, but later..." The middle-aged man reached out and grabbed his knee, "With these legs wasted, I’m not anymore." His expression was calm, without a trace of resentment or unwillingness, as if he were discussing something unrelated to himself.
"Then you must have been a formidable General, right?"
The middle-aged man didn’t know what he was recalling, but his eyes suddenly turned cold, followed by a self-deprecating smirk, "No, I’m a useless person!"
"Uncle, you don’t seem useless at all." Even though this uncle was sitting in a wheelchair, he carried himself with a strong... aura. How to put it, he felt this uncle was like a sharp knife, rusted over time but still showing his former edge.
"If I were useful, these legs wouldn’t be wasted, and my..." Upon reaching this point, he didn’t continue. His previously emotionless face showed a hint of hatred.
Zhao Yao said seriously, "Uncle, whether you’re ’useful’ or not, if you’ve ever been on the battlefield to protect the people, you’re a hero."
The middle-aged man remembered something an old friend had once said to him: [Anyone who has been on the battlefield and killed an enemy, even just one enemy, has protected the people and is a hero! And a hero’s background doesn’t matter!]
This child had said the same thing as that old friend!
"Who taught you to say that?"
"No one taught me, I said it myself, wasn’t it right?" Zhao Yao said with his arms crossed, "In my view, any soldier who has been on the battlefield and killed an enemy, even just one enemy, has protected a civilian, or several civilians, and is a hero."
The middle-aged man’s expression suddenly became a bit excited, "Who are your parents?"
"My parents are just ordinary merchants, not heroes." Though his annoying father had been on the battlefield and killed enemies, it was his duty, so he didn’t count as a hero.
Meanwhile, in the Imperial Study, the emperor picking his nose suddenly sneezed, accidentally flicking out the booger he hadn’t gotten out.
Sun Kui, seeing the emperor sneeze suddenly, immediately panicked and shouted, "Call the Imperial Physician! Call the Imperial Physician! Call the Imperial Physician!"
The emperor raised his hand to stop Sun Kui, saying, "It must be some brat bad-mouthing me behind my back."
User Comments
0 comments from readers