The boy continued to carry the panther on his back, running through the night. After he buried all the treasure he had stolen from the bandits, he buried it somewhere. He would dig it up again when he needed it.
The treasure was covered with the finest cloth and contained several items that were water- and soil-resistant. So the boy felt safe after burying it.
Although he was only a child, he was actually quite intelligent. The boy had arrived at a small town. Having already met some villagers, the little boy finally climbed down from the panther's back.
His golden eyes stared at the boy in front of him in confusion. The boy patted his head. "Go back. I'll check on the situation here. Make sure you take care of yourselves."
The panther seemed to know they would be separated for a long time. He rubbed himself against the boy, and the boy also touched his slender black body. The little boy patted the little animal's back.
"Okay. Time to go back. Don't let the villagers see you. You'll be in danger." As soon as the panther heard the little boy's words, he realized. He immediately glanced around and ran quickly.
Fortunately, he was black. As soon as he saw a passing human, he was good at hiding and eventually returned to the forest where he had first lived.
It was already very late at night. The little boy didn't know where to stay. He had 20 taels of silver in his pocket and several 1-silver notes worth 500 taels. He tucked the notes into his shoes.
This was only a small village. As he kept running, he lost track of where he was going. In fact, this was the town before Fucheng City. This village was the village where the town was located. Although this town wasn't as large and expansive as Fucheng City,
However, its residents were very prosperous, but the villagers suffered greatly. In Hu'An City, there were many wealthy officials and wealthy people who liked to squander their money.
There was also a lot of crime going on in this town. The little boy continued walking through the village. He didn't think anyone was outside their homes. Some houses were completely dark, while others were still lit.
The little boy was hungry; he hadn't even eaten anything before he fled. Fortunately, a small grocery store was still open. Claiming it was open, it was actually preparing to close.
The little boy ran and arrived before the store closed. The shopkeeper was a middle-aged man named Ger. He wasn't handsome, nor was he particularly ugly. He was quite pleasant to look at.
When he saw a little boy appear beside him, he was shocked and almost screamed. Seeing the child's pitiful appearance, he felt pity.
The little boy raised his head and said, "Uncle Ger, what do you sell in your shop? I'm starving and want something to eat."
When the middle-aged Ger saw the little boy beside him, he immediately smiled. "Child, which family are you from? It's so late, why are you still outside? Even if there aren't any ghosts, it's still dangerous for a child like you to be outside. Where is your house? Uncle Ger will take you there!"
The little boy shook his head. "Uncle Ger, I'm hungry."
The little boy immediately took out a tael of silver and handed it to the middle-aged Ger standing in front of him. The Ger was a little surprised that such a unkempt child would hand him a tael of silver.
The Ger saw his hungry appearance and immediately spoke. "Wait a minute. There's nothing else for sale in the shop. But I have food at home. Let's go together."
After the middle-aged Ger closed his shop, he immediately carried the disheveled little boy into his house. A man also happened to be helping his wife close their shop. He saw that his wife had already entered the house carrying a disheveled little boy.
"Where did you find this little boy?"
"We'll ask him later. Let him eat first. He looks very hungry." The middle-aged Ger answered her husband's question. Because they lived a comfortable life, they always had food at home.
The boy saw brown rice with boiled vegetables and some minced meat on the table. He picked up his chopsticks and began to eat. It was delicious.
He thought to himself, it had been a long time since he had eaten such delicious home-cooked food. The last time he had was when his father was still around, and he could still eat deliciously.
The little boy's eyes suddenly moistened, and a few tears fell onto the table. The middle-aged Ger and her husband stared in confusion. Suddenly, the little boy in front of them cried while eating.
"Son, are you okay?"
The little boy shook his head. The middle-aged Ger said, "Eat. Don't worry, there's still plenty of rice at home."
The little boy nodded. He finished the entire bowl of rice. His stomach was full. The boy put down the empty bowl, not even a grain of rice left.
The middle-aged man sighed softly. "Are you still hungry?"
The little boy shook his head. "I'm full. Uncle, Uncle Ger, thank you very much. This is my payment!"
The little boy handed a tael of silver to the two old men in front of him. The middle-aged man furrowed his brows. "Child, where are your parents? Let Uncle and Uncle Ger take you tomorrow. It's late, so you should spend the night here."
The little boy looked at them. Both were a little surprised, even though the boy's face was a little dirty. However, they could see that he was a handsome young man.
"My daddy's dead, killed by my father."
When the two men heard the boy's words, they immediately froze, and expressions of anger appeared on their faces. The middle-aged man felt sorry for him. Why would a husband be so cruel as to kill his own wife?
The middle-aged man looked at the little boy in front of them. "So where is your father now?"
"He's dead too. Killed by a young man. My father tried to kidnap his son and was ultimately killed by his father. Now I have no one here." The child cried.
He wasn't crying because his father died. He was crying because if his father were still alive, he would definitely be experiencing the same food as he is now.
The middle-aged Ger felt sorry for them. They had been married for a long time and had not had children. Until finally, the gods had been kind to them.
Now they had a Ger who was probably the same age as this child. The middle-aged Ger smiled.
"Since you don't have a place to live, you can stay here as long as you like. And you can think of us as your father and father from now on." The middle-aged Ger looked at her husband.
The man nodded. That's right, just having an extra mouth didn't hurt him at all.
As the little boy listened to the middle-aged Ger's words, he saw that they were sincere. He immediately smiled. "When I grow up, I will repay all your kindness."
The middle-aged man smiled, "I'm Huang Yu, and this is my husband, Xiao Heng. You can call us Dad and Daddy. Tomorrow you can meet our brother, Xiao Li. By the way, what's your name, son?"
"I... don't know." The little boy didn't want to say his name anymore. It was his father's surname, and he didn't want to say it.
Huang Yu and Xiao Heng exchanged glances. They both thought the same thing: Has this child lost his memory?
Huang Yu finally spoke, "Since you don't remember your name, how about we give you a new name? Xiao Xun? Do you like it?"
The little boy nodded. His name was now Xiao Xun. He was the adopted son of his new family. This was his family.
Xiao Heng smiled, "Your name is Xiao Xun now. A Xun, come here. I'll take you to your room."
Huang Yu also stood up and put all the dirty plates and bowls in the sink. She washed her hands and followed her husband to see off their adopted son.
Xiao Heng stood up and walked over. When Xiao Xun realized that his adoptive father's leg was actually disabled, he walked with a limp. Xiao Heng noticed his adopted son's strange gaze.
He smiled, "Is it strange?"
Xiao Xun shook his head. "Uncle, what's wrong with your leg?"
"This, when I was fighting, I was very careless and ended up letting the enemy stab a spear into my leg. Luckily, I survived, and this is the result." Xiao Heng showed him his leg, which clearly had been hit by a large spear. When Xiao Xun saw it, he immediately became gloomy.
"Uncle, that must have hurt?" Xiao Xun asked. Xiao Heng stroked his head. "I told you to call me Dad in the future. We're your parents from now on. So stop calling me Uncle. Just call me Dad."
Xiao Xun nodded his head. "Dad, your wound is so big. It must have hurt a lot!"
Xiao Heng smiled. "Not really. This is the mark of a man."
After they talked, Xiao Xun and Xiao Heng finally found themselves in a room. Xiao Heng smiled, "From now on, this is your room!"
Xiao Xun smiled. "Father, thank you so much."
"You get some rest. You must be exhausted now. Let's go to sleep." Xiao Xun nodded. After that, Xiao Heng returned to his room. Huang Yu had cleared the dining table. There was still a tael of silver on it.
Huang Yu looked at her husband. She held a tael of silver in her hand and handed it to him. "Husband, this is Xiao Xun's tael of silver."
"You keep it for now. Return it to Xiao Xun tomorrow," Xiao Heng said.
Huang Yu nodded. Xiao Heng looked at his wife. "How did you find it?"
"He came to our shop by himself. At first, he asked what we had for sale. I said we didn't have any food. But we had some at home. So I closed the shop and brought him home. Husband, he's such a poor child." Huang Yu felt sad.
Such a young child should be abandoned by both parents. But to hear that his own father killed his father. That was so cruel.
Xiao Heng shook his head. "Okay, he's a member of our family from now on."
Huang Yu nodded. Feeling relieved, he felt a little sleepy. Xiao Heng looked at his wife. He smiled, "Come on, it's time for us to sleep too."
"Okay. I'm so sleepy now." Huang Yu smiled gently.
____
The next morning, the family woke up a little late. When Huang Yu woke up, he looked at the already sunny weather. He was a little surprised that he had slept so long. Huang Yu finally woke up.
When he entered the kitchen, his younger brother and their new family member were already there. Xiao Xun smiled, "Daddy, you're awake."
Huang Yu's face flushed red, seeing that the little boy had woken up earlier than her. Seeing that breakfast was already on the dining table, Huang Yu asked, "Did your father cook?"
"Yes," the ger replied. "Father said he didn't want to wake Daddy, so he cooked it himself. Daddy, Daddy's cooking isn't good."
Huang Yu smiled, "Okay, finish your breakfast now."
Huang Yu went to the bathroom, took a pillow tree root, rubbed it with salt, and brushed his teeth. After feeling refreshed, he got some water and rinsed his mouth.
After rinsing, Huang Yi went to the table and ate his breakfast. He looked at Xiao Xun. "A Xun, this is your sister, Xiao Li."
Xiao Xun nodded his head. "My sister is so beautiful. In the future, she will definitely find a good man to marry!"
When Xiao Li heard Xiao Xun's words, her entire face immediately turned red. She didn't know what had happened. Her father had told her this morning that their family had a new member.
She saw that Xiao Xun was very considerate. He was happy to have a friend his own age. Huang Yu saw that Xiao Xun was sociable. He felt much happier.
He initially thought that Xiao Xun would definitely harbor some lingering shadows from his past. But Xiao Xun didn't seem affected at all.
Huang Yu finished his breakfast. "Daddy will be looking after the grocery store. You guys go play with the other kids."
Xiao Li listened to his father and immediately took Xiao Xun's hand. "Ge, let's play. I'll introduce you to my friends."
Xiao Xun nodded his head. Huang Yu watched the two leave. He smiled gently. It had been a long time since he'd seen his Ger so happy. It was true. Actually, his Ger was a bit lonely at home, being alone.
Huang Yu got ready to leave. He stepped outside, and many Gers were ready to go shopping. As soon as they looked at Huang Yu, they said, "Ger Huang, you woke up late. We wanted to go shopping early today."
Huang Yu smiled embarrassedly. "Sorry, I slept late last night. That's why I woke up late too."
The middle-aged Ger smiled, "I see there's a new member in your house? Who is he? I see that he's not a resident here!"