Die Faust zerschmettert alle Himmel und unzählige Welten

Kapitel 43

Long San had wanted to visit her and talk to her, though he didn't know what to say. He just wanted to talk to her again, but she refused. So Long San could only watch her from afar when he had a spare moment, watching her play with the little toys he had bought for her, watching her teach the children to fly kites, watching her jump around with the children in her arms to make them happy.

He was somewhat unhappy—no, he was very unhappy. That wasn't his child, but Feng Ning loved her very much. So, after looking at her twice, Long San stopped secretly watching. He felt that it was best to cut ties decisively.

Because of the child's situation, the Feng family had no standing, so Feng Ning's divorce was a foregone conclusion. Long San finally wrote the divorce papers this time. Feng Ning was present; she looked down at the ground, while Long San stared at the table. He didn't want to admit his hand trembled slightly, he didn't want to admit his handwriting was worse than ever before, but regardless, the divorce papers were finished, and he and she stamped them with their fingerprints.

Feng Ning silently took the letter of divorce and left. Qiao Li and Feng Zhuojun also left with dark faces, but they left behind a sentence: "This matter is not over. The debt that your Long family owes the Feng family will be repaid one day."

Feng Ning heard these words, but she didn't care. What did the Long family and the Feng family matter? What did grudges and affections matter? She didn't care. Holding Bao'er, she got into the Feng family's carriage.

Long San felt a vague unease. He and Steward Tie, ostensibly to see the guests off, but actually to keep watch, followed the Feng family to the gate and watched them board their carriage. Long San knew he didn't really need to come; Steward Tie was enough. But he thought this might be the last time he saw Feng Ning, and he still wanted to see her off.

He watched Feng Ning board the carriage, watched her holding the child with her head down, and just as the carriage door closed, he saw her look up at him. It was a look that Long San could not describe, a look that struck his heart heavily. Even after the carriage disappeared from sight, Long San was still staring ahead unconsciously.

For the next few days, Long San lost his appetite and couldn't sleep. He clearly had a lot of things to do and should have gone out, but he didn't want to move. He stayed in his room, thinking about how Feng Ning used to misbehave there, how she would sit in a big chair with a book after she had drunk her fill, not reading it, but just staring at him... He realized that the memories she had left him in these past few months were far more than those of the past three years.

Long San felt he was sick too, a kind of stupidity. Did hitting one's head mean one would lose their intelligence? She had clearly done such a thing, something no man in the world could tolerate, yet he still cared for her and missed her.

There were many suspicious things about her, and he desperately tried to find reasons, excuses, and justifications for her. He imagined a million possibilities. He wished she wasn't Feng Ning, but it was all unlikely, and there was no evidence.

He couldn't understand it, he couldn't figure it out. She filled his mind, making it impossible for him to properly sort out, analyze, and unravel this mystery. Without her interfering, he became stupid.

One day, Long Er came to Long San to complain: "Feng Ning stole my silver!"

Long San was dumbfounded: "How could this be? Didn't she go home?"

“She stole it before she left. I was wondering why she suddenly said she wanted to talk to me about you that day. In the end, she didn’t say anything important, just rambled on about a bunch of useless things and left. I only discovered today that a bag of silver I left in that room is gone. It wasn’t much, but it’s really infuriating.”

Long San was stunned for a moment, then started rummaging through his cabinet. He had some silver there too, but when he looked, it was all gone.

Seeing this, Long Er was furious: "Are the Feng family rats or something? How come they steal one thing after another? They can't get the big treasures, so they start stealing small amounts of silver?"

Long San panicked: "Second Brother, I'll go after them."

“Yes.” Long Er was furious: “Get my family’s silver back, not a single copper coin will be given to them.”

"No." Long San had already started packing his luggage: "Feng'er must not have gone back to the Feng family with them; she ran away."

"Run away?" Long Er was taken aback. "You're overthinking it. If she wanted to run away, she could have done it here. Why would she leave with the Feng family and then leave again?"

"If she disappeared from the Long family, wouldn't the Feng family use it as an excuse to cause trouble?"

Long Er fell silent. He watched as Long San quickly finished packing and was about to leave when he hurriedly called out, "Third brother, even if she wants to leave, she still has parents. Do you think the Feng family members are dead?"

Long San turned around and said, "Second Brother, if the Feng family had treated her well, she wouldn't be like this. Something else must have happened. I can't let her become homeless and destitute."

This time, Ryuji was truly speechless.

Feng Ning has indeed run away from home. She has learned from her past mistakes and knows the hardship of being penniless. Most importantly, this time she plans to take Bao'er with her, so she must make sure she has enough money.

She dared not take large sums of money, fearing it would attract attention and lead to her being hunted down. Stealing small amounts of silver might make people hate her, but they wouldn't chase her down to get it back.

Feng Ning had planned this all along. She spent a lot of time with Bao'er, partly to build a relationship and partly to learn how to care for her. She wasn't going to be a good wife, but at least she wanted to be a good mother. On her way back to the Feng family home, she found an opportunity and asked the Feng couple to buy her and Bao'er a lot of supplies. Once everything was ready, she carried a large bundle, a letter of divorce in her arms, her daughter in her arms, and the stolen valuables, and ran away.

The mother and daughter settled in a small town called Fuyang. Feng Ning carefully calculated her money. She rented a small house. In the same courtyard, there was a mother and daughter who sold snacks and pancakes, a single man who was a peddler who bought trinkets, cosmetics and other items from various places and sold them on the street, and a father and son who looked like strong men who seemed to do manual labor.

The courtyard housed four households. Apart from Feng Ning and Bao'er, who were idle, the other three families all worked hard from dawn till dusk. Feng Ning also considered that she didn't have much money, and sitting around waiting for the savings to run out wasn't a solution. She thought and thought, and finally decided that she too would go to the streets to earn money.

"My darling, I have an idea. I'll go to the street and perform for money to buy you food, okay?"

"Good. No." Bao'er didn't understand what street performance was; she just liked to echo what others said.

Feng Ning smiled at her adorable appearance, kissed her little cheek, and said, "I'm worried about you because there's no one to take care of you at home, but there are many people on the street, so you can't leave me, okay?"

"I know," Bao'er replied, then added a word after thinking for a moment: "What?"

Feng Ning laughed heartily and took Bao'er to stroll around the streets for several days looking for a suitable spot. Later, with the help of an elderly woman from the same courtyard, they found an open space next to their food stall. This way, when she was performing, Bao'er could stay with the elderly woman and her daughter for support.

Without hesitation, Feng Ning bought a gong, a sword, a long staff, and a brightly colored outfit. After dressing up at home, she asked Bao'er, "How does it look?"

"Your Majesty, Bao'er wants to be like Your Majesty."

“They don’t have such small ones elsewhere. I want to see how well this business is doing. If it’s profitable, I’ll have the shopkeeper make you one too.”

Bao'er listened, seemingly understanding but not quite, but nodded earnestly.

And so, Feng Ning took Bao'er to work. She carried her tools, held Bao'er's hand, and walked to the old lady's snack stall. When Bao'er arrived, as Feng Ning had instructed, she called out, "Auntie, Auntie." The old lady and her sister happily responded and tried to hug Bao'er. Bao'er looked at Feng Ning shyly, and Feng Ning nodded before Bao'er snuggled up to her.

Aunt Zeng smiled from ear to ear, hugged the chubby and pink-cheeked Bao'er tightly, and said, "Fengfeng, don't worry, we'll stay here and watch over Bao'er for you."

Feng Ning thanked them and stepped aside, banging on a large gong: "Dear fellow villagers, elder brothers and sisters, I am a newcomer here, seeking only to earn a living. I offer my martial arts skills to pass the time and bring you some joy. If you find it enjoyable, please feel free to give me some money. I would be eternally grateful." She repeated her words several times, and a few people gathered around. Seeing this, Feng Ning demonstrated a sword move, unleashing several graceful sword techniques.

She stopped and said, "If you have money, please support me financially; if you don't have money, please support me with your presence. Thank you." She clasped her hands in a fist salute to the crowd around her and then performed a sword routine with great seriousness. Some people cheered while others remained silent. When Feng Ning finished her routine and was about to ask for a reward, everyone dispersed.

Feng Ning sighed, holding up the gong. Aunt Zeng, standing beside her, advised, "Feng Feng, don't worry, this is just the beginning. I think your skills are amazing, a hundred times better than those street performers. You'll definitely make money, don't be discouraged."

Feng Ning nodded, turned to see Bao'er looking at her expectantly, and went over to kiss her. Bao'er smiled shyly, hugged Feng Ning's neck, and kissed her back.

Feng Ning took a few deep breaths, then walked to the center of the arena and repeated what she had just said. This time, she performed a set of stick techniques and received a copper coin. She handed the coin to Bao'er: "Bao'er, this is money, a very important thing. It's the first copper coin I've earned. Keep it safe for me."

Bao'er looked at it carefully for a long time, holding the copper coin gently. Later, Aunt Zeng took some red thread and used the copper coin as a pendant, hanging it around Bao'er's neck. Bao'er was happy and whispered, "I won't lose it."

"Yes, it won't get lost." Aunt Zeng really felt sorry for this good child, who lost his father at such a young age.

That day, Feng Ning performed five sets of kung fu and earned eight copper coins. After deducting the one she gave to Bao'er, she had seven left. She returned to her hut and looked at the copper coins from left to right. It really wasn't easy to earn some money.

On the fifth day of Feng Ning's performance, Bao'er refused to stay with Aunt Zeng any longer. She didn't make a fuss, but instead clung tightly to Feng Ning, burying her head in her arms and refusing to come out. Feng Ning had no choice but to let her sit on a small stool beside her. While she performed, Bao'er would sit behind her, guarding her bundle and belongings.

"Dear fellow villagers, elder brothers and sisters, I am a newcomer here and am asking for food..." Feng Ning had just finished speaking when a crisp, timid child's voice came from behind her: "Asking for food."