What a sensible child she was, reminding her of Xiao Xiao who had wandered with her in her previous life.
"What’s your na?"
"My surna is Liu, and my nickna is Yaya, I’m ten years old this year."
Ten years old? Good heavens, she looked only seven or eight; she hadn’t realized she was already ten.
How has poverty twisted such a young child?
"Where are your parents? Why is it just you and your grandma depending on each other?"
Yaya quickly bowed her head, her voice choked, "Four years ago, my grandfather, sister, and brother died from the plague. Two years ago, my parents and brother died from famine. Now, it’s just my grandma and left, but my grandma is also close to passing away. What will I do in the future?"
"There was an epidemic four years ago, and there was even a famine two years ago?"
As she blurted it out, Yaya lifted her head, wiped her tears, and nodded at her.
"Yes, four years ago there was a severe outbreak of rat plague here, killing many, many people. So villages were even exterminated. It was horrible. My grandfather, sister, and brother didn’t survive and died. Actually, after the rat plague, it was very dry. The famine broke out two years ago, my parents and brother went out to the sea to fish and encountered a storm. They disappeared with their boat, and my grandma and I almost didn’t make it through. If it hadn’t been for the villagers giving us so fish and shrimp, we might have followed them in death. I didn’t expect that now,"
So that’s how the famine ca about; no wonder she had felt sothing amiss after coming ashore. It appeared that people’s spirits were sohow wilted. A real market should be bustling and lively, with people smiling and cheerful, but the commoners she saw were only marked by their laborious efforts and not their joy.
With epidemics before and famines afterward, even the strongest would be tornted by life into unspeakable suffering, wouldn’t they?
No wonder the child, although not very old, appeared exceptionally sensible.
She took the bun from her pocket, put it back in her hand, "Yaya, be good, eat this. I’ll give more to Grandma, there’s enough for both."
Yaya hadn’t expected to truly et a noble person on her outing. She was so excited, and after checking with her several tis, she very carefully began to eat the bun, savoring it bit by bit. After swallowing a mouthful, she would look up, her face brimming with happiness.
"Sister, it’s really sweet, this bun is sweet!"
"If it tastes good, eat more. Sister has plenty."
"Sister, how old are you? You look so much like my real sister, but sadly, she died. She was almost eighteen and was about to get married,"
As Yaya spoke, she began to choke up again. Shen Xiaoyu thought of Shen Ze, feeling a shared sense of empathy.
"Be good, your sister will watch over you and Grandma from heaven. See, didn’t she send to help you?"
"So... will Grandma’s illness get better?"
Xiao Yu nodded affirmatively, "Don’t worry, I will help you."
However, when the two reached the city gates, they shared an awkward look at each other: "Do you have any money?"
Yaya touched her empty pockets, her eyes reddening.
"No, I ca here with an auntie from my village. I didn’t need to pay."
Basically, she had sneaked in, but Xiao Yu, with her tall stature of one hundred sixty-five centiters, couldn’t possibly sneak out like a child could.
"Sister, don’t you have any money?" Facing Yaya’s question, Xiao Yu felt sowhat embarrassed, "What if I said my money was stolen; would you believe ?"
Yaya looked at her curiously, "Why wouldn’t I believe that? If Sister said it was stolen, then it must have been stolen. But Sister, how are we going to leave the city? My ho is in the fishing village outside the city, we definitely need to leave, and apart from the city gate, there is no other way unless we could go by sea, but we don’t have a boat..."
"If we don’t have money, we’ll just find a place to earn so. Co on, Sister will take you to make so money."
To secure an identity, Xiao Yu was determined, pulling Yaya’s hand as they approached the most imposing signboard in the city...
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