The Husky and His White Cat Shizun - Chap 259
Someone asked, “How can you remember it so clearly? How long has it been? ”
How could he not remember it clearly? In Jiang Xi’s memory from the Upper Cultivation World, it was an ordinary half a year. In Xue Zhengyong’s memory from the Lower Cultivation World, it was a year full of emotions.
But in Mo Ran’s memory, it was thirty-five days that gradually turned into despair, each day felt like a year. Every day was worse than death, every day was like purgatory.
That year, as soon as the price adjustment order was issued, people were in a panic. Duan Yihan and her child couldn’t get food, they could only pick up rotten vegetable leaves and moldy and rotten rice to fill their stomachs. Later, more and more people couldn’t eat, they couldn’t even pick up vegetable leaves. In the midst of their predicament, Mo Ran couldn’t help but say to Duan Yihan, “Mother, let’s go to the Confucian Wind School to find him and ask for some food, shall we?”
Duan Yihan muttered, “We can ask anyone, but not him.”
Begging on the street, performing arts, nodding and bowing, smiling and shouting were all things that were forced to do. But if they went to beg Nangong Yan, the meaning would be different.
Although Duan Yihan was poor, she didn’t want to cross this last line.
She didn’t want to, so Mo Ran didn’t mention it again.
The child wasn’t eye-catching, and he was surprisingly agile. On the ninth day after the price adjustment order was issued, he finally stole a white radish from the ground.
Duan Yihan carefully hid the white radish. Every day, she only cooked a little bit of it the size of a fist, and the two of them shared it. By the eighth meal, the radish was rotten, but because they hadn’t seen anything to fill their stomachs for a long time, Duan Yihan cut the remaining rotten radish in half, barely managing to survive for a few more days.
On the twenty-first day after the price adjustment order, they ate the last bit of radish, and couldn’t find any food to fill their stomachs.
On the twenty-fifth day.
There was a torrential rain, and earthworms crawled out from the ground. Mo Ran caged them together, collected some rainwater, boiled them, and ate them.
The slippery feeling of the earthworm in his mouth made him feel nauseous. Mo Ran apologized to these skinny little animals. He really had nothing to fill his stomach with. If he could get through this period, the earthworm would be his benefactor. He didn’t want to eat his benefactor anymore. When would this nightmare pass …?
The twenty-eighth day.
Mo Ran had a fever.
No matter how gifted a child was and how high their spiritual energy was, they still couldn’t withstand such hunger and torment.
Duan Yihan had long since lost his strength. His eyes were hollow.
On this day, taking advantage of the fact that Mo Ran was asleep, she finally made up her mind. She got up and left the woodshed where she stayed, and slowly walked towards the towering immortal city of the Confucian Wind Sect. She had her own bottom line, and she would rather die than beg for food from Nangong Yan.
However, the child was innocent. He was still so young, so how could he accompany her to leave the mortal world?
At this time, the people in the main hall had sympathy on their faces. Regardless of whether Mo Weiyu was guilty or not, what happened in the past was really too tragic.
Someone softened his tone and asked with a sigh, “Did you manage to get it?”
“No.” Mo Ran said, “My luck was bad. When I arrived, Nangong Yan was quarreling with his wife.”
He paused for a moment, then continued, “When that City Lord’s wife saw my mother, she flew into a rage. She has a fierce temper. Not only did she not give my mother any food, she even threw her out of the Confucian Wind Sect.”
“Then what about Nangong Yan?”
“I don’t know.” Mo Ran said, “My mother didn’t mention him.”
Maybe she tried to stop him, or maybe she just stood to the side, wanting to help but unable to.
Mo Ran didn’t know what exactly happened that day. He only knew that when his mother came back, her body was full of scars. She curled up in the woodshed and hugged him without saying anything. Later on, she began to cough up blood, spitting out blood foam and gastric juice. The room was filled with a rancid smell.
Thirty-fourth day.
Duan Yihan was on the verge of death. She could barely speak, and she didn’t cry.
That night, she woke up from her coma and actually recovered some strength. She saw Mo Ran huddling beside her, trying to use his thin body to warm her. She said very softly and gently to him, “Ran’er, if you have a way, go back to Xiang Tan.”
“Mother …”
“Go back to Xiang Tan, find Sister Xun, and repay her kindness.” Duan Yihan stroked Mo Ran’s hair, “If you want to go to Xiang Tan to repay your kindness, don’t stay in Linyi to seek revenge … Listen to your mother, be good … When your mother came to Linyi, I owed your Sister Xun a lot of money, and I can’t pay it all back … Go back, stay by her side, do something for her, and make her happy. In the future, if other people show you kindness, you must remember it well. ”
Mo Ran had tears in his eyes as he looked up at her skinny face in the woodshed.
Duan Yihan’s eyes were so black that they were shining, and there were even some grape-like purple.
“Then repay your kindness.”
That was what Duan Yihan did for Mo Ran before she died.
She was afraid that after she left, her child would go astray, so she repeatedly told him that he must, must leave this sad place.
If people had aspirations, they would not let their imagination run wild, and it would not be easy to fall into the trap of hatred.
She gave him aspirations — — Repay her kindness.
Don’t take revenge.
On the thirty-fifth day.
This ridiculous price adjustment order was finally abolished in the midst of the riots, and it lasted only a short one month and five days.
For the rich, it was like a farce had finally come to an end. Linyi was full of smoke and miasma, and they woke up in the soft and warm bed, and took the eight treasures fragrant nectar served by the maids to rinse their mouths and pick their teeth. When they heard that the price adjustment order was abolished, they only complained a few words and yawned.
It was all insignificant.
But for Mo Ran, it was something that could not be more exciting.
He did not have to worry about food rations, so the number of kind-hearted people on the streets increased again. Mo Ran got a biscuit and even a bowl of pitifully thin meat porridge.
He was reluctant to drink a single mouthful, and carefully held it in his hands. He wanted to hurry back and give it to his sick mother.
Meat porridge was such a good thing, if his mother drank it, she would definitely recover, right?
He could not wait to use this bowl of porridge to save his mother’s life, but he did not dare to rush back home. The porridge bowl was cracked, and there was a big hole on the side. If he ran too fast, it would be a pity to spill it.
Thus, he returned to the woodshed in both joy and torment.
“Mother — —!”
He held the broken bowl with both hands, and used his dirty head to rub open the broken door like a little puppy, with a smile on his face, full of longing for the future.
How wonderful, there was meat porridge to drink, his mother would get better soon, and the flowers would finally bloom in the warm spring, they would go back to Linyi together. There was singing and dancing, and they would not starve. With a sister surnamed Xun, they would finally not have to wander and beg for a living.
How wonderful, they would go home together.
“Creak.”
The door opened.
“She’s lying inside,” Mo Ran said calmly in the Dan Xin Palace Hall.
The bystanders were either surprised by his indifference, or chilled by his cold-bloodedness.
This person, when mentioning his mother’s death, was unexpectedly calm. There was no warmth, no ripples, and not even tears.
However, no one had ever thought about how many years of yearning and heartbreak it would take to smooth out the scars and obtain such a calm face.
“I called her, but she didn’t wake up,” Mo Ran said, “She would never open her eyes again, and she would never drink that porridge again.”
There was a long silence.
Madam Wang said with a trembling voice, “Then … then, you … you went back to Linyi alone?”
Mo Ran shook his head, “I went to the Confucian Wind Sect.”
Someone cried out, “Ah!” and said, “You, you’re going to seek revenge?”
“My mother said to repay kindness, not seek revenge,” Mo Ran said calmly, “I didn’t want to seek revenge, I just wanted to bury my mother. But I didn’t have money, and I didn’t have time to raise money, so I went to his house and begged him to give me some money. ”
“Did he give you any?”
Mo Ran almost smiled and said, “No.”
“No, no? But according to what you said before, your mother was still in Nangong Yan’s heart. How could he not even have money for the funeral … ”
Mo Ran said, “Because his first wife committed suicide not long ago and passed away.”
“What?!”
Jiang Xi narrowed her eyes, “… Nangong Yan’s wife did die very early, and it was suicide …”
“That woman was pregnant, but her husband was entangled with other people outside. After giving birth to the child, they were always quarreling and lived a very unhappy life. My mother went to the house to look for them that day, and after she bumped into her, she became more and more furious. It was said that she stabbed Nangong Yan with a knife at that time, which made Nangong Yan so angry that he said he wanted to divorce his wife. ”
Mo Ran paused for a moment, then said, “She couldn’t take it, and hanged herself in the middle of the night. She died a few days earlier than my mother. ”
Hearing this, everyone didn’t know what to say. The romantic and unrestrained young master had a brief relationship, but in the end, the beauty died, and his family was ruined. This was the cycle of karma in the world.
“When I appeared, Nangong Yan was being reprimanded by the sect leader. His wife’s family also came, they were famous business magnates in Linyi,” Mo Ran said, “Nangong Yan had already been scolded badly, and he was very angry. Suddenly seeing me, how could he have a good temper? ”
Madam Wang was the most soft-hearted. Although she knew that Mo Ran was not related by blood, she still felt sorry and said with tears, “Ran Er …”
Mo Ran really didn’t want to talk about this past.
Nangong Yan’s face at that time, and the faces of those who were present.
There was also Madam Nangong’s mourning hall — golden paper and silver flowers, little children made of paper, a mountain of spiritual tools, a beautiful soul-summoning banner, a shiny black coffin made of Phoebe zhennan wood, and too many things.
Hundreds of people knelt on both sides to watch the coffin of the woman who committed suicide, and mourned.
The lamp was filled with whale oil, and the 99 scrolls of incense were burning silently. The wind blew away the smoke, and the powder rustled.
It was a very lively scene.
What about his mother?
Xiangtan Yue Xian Duan Yihan, she only had a tattered dress that she might never wear again after taking it off, and a bony young child.
She didn’t even have a straw mat to wrap the corpse.
“You can’t expect ten feet of fate.”
— — That was what Nangong Yan said to Mo Ran in extreme anger and despair.
Then, under the gaze of the sect leader, under the gaze of his in-laws, this man pushed the illegitimate child out of the door and refused to acknowledge him.
Madam Nangong died. She should be matched with a gold-and-red colored coffin, agate, fragrant pearls, and a snow-white shroud to protect her body from decay. Silk covered her face, silk covered her eyes, and silk covered her eyes.
Duan Yihan died. A corpse, a person’s tears, separated by life and death, there was nothing else. According to Nangong Yan, she shouldn’t even ask for a thin wooden coffin.
So, who dared to say that people were equal in the face of death?
Fate was unfair from the very beginning.
In the end.
Her skin was still like jade.
She had already rotted into mud.
“I dragged her to a mass grave and buried her.” Mo Ran said a few words, understating it.
He didn’t talk in detail about how he begged a passing gentleman to give them a ride, or how he spent fourteen days dragging that rotten and smelly corpse to the suburbs.
He also didn’t talk about how he used his hands to push aside the rocks and crushed soil to bury his mother’s thin body.
Mo Ran wasn’t used to complaining in front of others.
He had always been a person who buried his past deeply. Unless he was forced to, he wouldn’t say it lightly.
In the first ten years of his life, he had already suffered humiliation, malice, supercilious looks, and slander. His heart was as hard as iron. He didn’t care how others looked at him. He didn’t care if others sympathized with him.
“Then I went to Xiangtan.”
He couldn’t stand Linyi anymore. One day, he hid behind a Taoist priest’s handcart and secretly sneaked out of the city in a wicker basket.
He began to follow his mother’s instructions and walked to Xiangbian. He walked for half a year, from midsummer to early winter. His shoes were broken, so he walked barefoot. In the end, the soles of his feet grew thick calluses.
He walked like this and asked questions. When he reached the outside of Wubei Temple, he finally fell into a haystack because of the cold and hunger.
“Mother …” The little child crouched on the ground. Under his messy black hair was a pair of unfocused eyes. He looked at the vast world.
It was snowing. It was the first snow of winter.
“I’m coming to see you … I’m sorry … I can’t take it anymore …”
The snowflakes fell lightly and softly like a sigh. They covered his eyes and brows.
In a daze, he heard footsteps approaching. Then, a pair of hands pushed aside the haystack. He heard a young voice, “Shizun, come quickly! Look at him. What’s wrong with him? ”
After a while, a pair of straw shoes approached. A man was speaking, “Don’t worry about it. Go back first. I’m here to see him. ”
The man’s voice was deep and cold. There wasn’t much emotion.
Mo Ran was instinctively afraid. He instinctively felt that the young man was close to him and that the man was cold. He didn’t know where he got the strength, but his desire to live made him raise his hand and weakly grab the corner of the young man’s clothes.
Before she could say a word, tears began flowing down her cheeks.
“Food …”
I’m so hungry. Please, I want to eat.
The young man he grabbed was Chu Wanning, who went down the mountain with Huaizui that day. Chu Wanning was stunned, “What?”
Mo Ran forced himself to raise his dirty little face. He shakily made a eating gesture, swallowing the bitterness in his throat. Everything in front of him was blurry and dizzy. His ears were ringing.
He cried and begged the person in front of him. He knew that if this little brother abandoned him like all the other masters he had met, then he wouldn’t be able to live. He would definitely die. He really couldn’t take it anymore.
“Eat …”
Later, Chu Wanning fed him a pot of rice soup.
A pot of soup saved a person who was on the verge of starvation.
After drinking the rice soup, Mo Ran left Wubei Temple. At that time, his mind was groggy. He only remembered that “Big Brother Benefactor” had a pair of slightly upturned almond-shaped eyes and thick and long eyelashes. He didn’t have any other impressions.
However, from Wubei Temple to Xiangtan day and night, he wore the cloak that “Big Brother Benefactor” had given him. At that time, his body was small. The young man’s clothes looked particularly clumsy and funny on him. Especially when he wore the hat, the brim of the hat could almost cover his entire face.
On the road, there were always children who didn’t have to worry about food and clothing. They snuggled up to their parents and laughed, “Father, mother, look at that little beggar. What is he wearing? It’s so funny!”
Mo Ran wasn’t angry.
What did other people’s cynicism mean to him? He was only grateful that this ill-fitting cloak could shelter him from the wind and rain, and give him warmth.
When it snowed, the snowflakes couldn’t fall on him. When it was late at night, the darkness couldn’t enter his heart.
When night fell, he would make a fire and hug his knees by the fire pit to warm himself. He would cover his head with the cloak and shrink into it, looking at the orange flames from under the soft edges.
The cloak was very warm. It was like his mother’s embrace, and also like his Big Brother Benefactor’s pair of gentle almond-shaped eyes … The little child curled up and fell asleep. In his dreams, he could even smell the faint fragrance of the cloak. It was like leaning against a blooming begonia tree.
When he looked back, it was no wonder that he always felt that Chu Wanning smelled very good. As long as there was his scent on the bed, he could always sleep peacefully.
It was also no wonder that when he first saw Elder Yu Heng under Tong Tian Tower, he felt that those almond-shaped eyes were very gentle. It was as if he had seen them somewhere before.
It turned out that everything had a cause and effect.
He and Chu Wanning … had talked so early. They had touched each other’s body temperature. He even licked Chu Wanning’s palm. It turned out that he had smelled the fragrance of flowers on Chu Wanning’s clothes. It turned out that his Big Brother Benefactor, whom he had been looking for, was by his side.
Mo Ran lowered his eyes. In this cold and desolate Dan Xin Palace, there was actually a trace of warmth because of this.
However, this was a secret between them. Mo Ran thought in his heart. It was both sad and sweet. He kept this secret in his heart. He wouldn’t tell anyone, and he wouldn’t tell anyone.
He took a deep breath, paused, and continued, “After I arrived at Xiang Tan, I followed my mother’s will and found Xun Fengruo.”
At that time, Ran’er was only five years old. He was wrapped in a thick cloak that belonged to the young Chu Wanning.
The cloak dragged on the ground and was already dirty. The child poked out a dirty bird’s nest head from the fluff. He looked up with a sallow and emaciated face and asked softly, “Excuse me … Sister Xun Fengruo, is she here?”
“Xun Fengruo?” The performer who was pulled by him laughed and looked at him curiously. “Top Courtesan of the Music House? Although we’re here to sell our arts and not our bodies, who wouldn’t like Miss Xun’s appearance more than her singing voice? Little brother, how old are you? You know how to find her? ”
Mo Ran’s eyes were wide open. He didn’t understand her words at all.
However, the girl’s ridicule was obvious. Mo Ran was embarrassed because of this. He grabbed the collar of his cloak tightly and said with a red face, “Please, I want to see Sister Xun. My, my mother asked me to find her … ”
“Huh? Who’s your mother? ”
“My mother’s surname is Duan. Her name is Duan Yihan …”
“Ah!” The performer’s expression changed. She took a step back and covered her mouth with her handkerchief. Even her lazy peach blossom eyes suddenly widened. “You, you’re Duan Le Xian’s child?”
When Duan Yihan was famous, she never acted like a tyrant. She often gave extra jewelry and money to her sisters who were old and no longer sang like before. Therefore, when the performer heard that he was Miss Duan’s child, her attitude immediately changed. She hurriedly took him to the greenhouse of the Flower Pavilion and saw Xun Fengruo lying on the bed in the room.
After closing the door, Mo Ran bowed to Xun Fengruo and told her the whole story. Xun Fengruo’s heart was filled with grief.
She immediately found her mother and said that she wanted Mo Ran to stay by her side. Her mother originally refused, but after several pleas from the top courtesan and sizing up Mo Ran, she felt that this child could at least do something for the Pavilion. Thus, she reluctantly agreed. Beggars were afraid of bringing bad luck when they entered the Pavilion. According to the rules, they had to burn all their clothes and clothes and then thoroughly wash them.
There was no problem with bathing, but when they said that they had to burn the clothes, Mo Ran cried.
“What are you crying for! It’s not like I won’t buy you new clothes in the future! ” Her mother impatiently knocked Mo Ran’s head with her hookah. “Be sensible. I’ll give you food and a place to live. Other people can’t wait to laugh at you. Look at your poor appearance!”
Mo Ran was afraid that he would implicate Sister Xun. She had already put in a good word for him.
Thus, he bit his lip and endured with all his might. He rubbed his red eyes and stood in front of the fire sobbing silently.
At that time, he really didn’t understand why all this happened. Why did he just want to keep an old set of clothes? Because he was weak, because he was lowly, because he was a stinky beggar. In order to not bring bad luck and trouble to others, he could only let others take it off him. He couldn’t struggle, couldn’t say “no”, and didn’t even have the right to cry.
It used to give him so much warmth, sustenance, and support. In order to shelter him from wind and rain, it was so dirty that its original color couldn’t be seen.
Now that he had a place to stay, perhaps he wouldn’t need it anymore. He just wanted to carefully wash it clean and fold it neatly. Even if he never wore it again, it would be good to keep it under a small box. It was his friend, not just an old set of clothes.
But everything was not up to him.
With a boom, the dirty cloak was thrown into the flames. The person who threw it was just throwing it away casually. In the end, they even thought that their hands were dirty. But to Mo Ran, it was a cremation, a funeral.
He watched helplessly.
The tongue of fire suddenly rose up, and the magnificent world was blurred.
— —
“Drink slowly … … there’s still more … …”
“Where are you from … …”
He could still hear the gentle voice of that young man in his ears. That was one of the few kindness he had received in his humble life.
It was all turned to ashes.
Just like that, Mo Ran worshiped the mother of the Drunken Jade Building as his godmother. He also received an adopted surname from his godmother, surnamed Mo. From then on, he became an errand boy in the building, and finally lived a peaceful life.
However, good times didn’t last long. At that time, Xun Fengruo was already not young. According to the rules of the building, although the music building was not comparable to the brothel, but when one reached the age, if one didn’t earn enough “self-pity money”, then the girls’ first night would be sold to those rich men by the mother.
Xun Fengruo didn’t worry. She had already earned a lot for the Drunken Jade Building.
“There’s still 150,000 gold left.” Xun Fengruo said to Mo Ran with a smile, “Ran’er, when I earn enough money, I can redeem myself. Sister will take you to live a good life. ”
Mo Ran was assigned to work in the kitchen, so Xun Fengruo rarely saw her. Nanny was determined to prevent the people in the building from forming cliques, so Xun Fengruo and Mo Ran always met secretly.
She reached out and pinched his cheek, then gave him a candy. “Shh, take it and eat. Unfortunately, I can’t give you money, I’ll be found out. Godmother’s eyes are very sharp, hehe. ”
Mo Ran grinned, revealing a mouth with missing baby teeth. “En, thank you, Sister Xun.”
However, Xun Fengruo was still 150,000 gold away from redeeming herself. How could the mother not know this?
Although her face was calm and collected, she was extremely anxious in her heart.
Losing Xun Fengruo meant losing half of the Drunken Jade Building’s source of income. The mother calculated that before Xun Fengruo left, she must make a lot of money.
At that time, there were many rich people who coveted Xun Fengruo’s beauty. They all offered sky-high prices, enough for the mother to eat for a lifetime. In the end, the mother had a bad idea. Behind Xun Fengruo’s back, she made a contract with a wealthy merchant. The two of them took advantage of the Lantern Festival. Xun Fengruo sat on the stairs and played music. He gave her a cup of tea with drugs and then brought it to her room …
That day, Mo Ran cooked glutinous rice balls and carefully brought them to the warm room for Sister Xun to eat.
Before he entered, he heard heavy breathing in the room. Mo Ran was shocked. He opened the door and a strong smell of Rui Nao incense hit him in the face, making him want to vomit.
In the dim light, he saw a greasy rich merchant who was like streaky pork. He was drooling and his clothes were wide open. He was powerlessly struggling on Xun Fengruo’s sore body.
“Clang!”
The glutinous rice ball bowl shattered on the ground. Mo Ran rushed into the room. He did not know where he got the strength — he was very talented since childhood — but he beat the rich merchant. Then, he held the fat man tightly and shouted at Xun Fengruo who was crying like a pear blossom in the rain.
“Sister, go quickly!”
“But you …”
“You go quickly! I can’t go, I have to hold on to him! If you don’t go now, when the mother comes, we will all die here. Go quickly! Go quickly! If you go, I will run away immediately! ”
Xun Fengruo was his benefactor.
Mo Ran told her to run away from Yue Zhou and never come back.
That day, he finally became a hero for once.
Xun Fengruo sobbed and bowed to him, then ran out of the building. But Mo Ran did not have time to leave. When the mother heard the commotion, she quickly brought people up. When she saw Mo Ran hit the guest and let Hua Kui go, she was so angry that her face was distorted and she almost vomited blood.
The mother had a son who was about the same age as Mo Ran. That son was vicious and had a belly full of evil tricks. When he saw that his mother was so angry, he had an idea — sometimes, a child’s viciousness was so naive and scary. The boy punished his peer, who had angered his mother, in the same way that animals were punished.
He found a dog cage and had people lock Mo Ran inside. The cage was narrow and cramped. Mo Ran could only squat inside. He could not lie down or stand. They fed him scraps of cold rice like they were feeding a dog, and this went on for seven days.
For seven days, Mo Ran was trapped in Xun Fengruo’s old house. The smell of incense and the stench of a man’s body fluids mixed together.
He squatted, hunched over.
Smelling this groggy, sweet and greasy smell.
He wanted to vomit.
Seven days.
From then on, he felt disgusted whenever he smelled the incense. Fear and terror seeped out from his bones.
