Le voyage d'un mendiant à travers le monde

Chapitre 159

The two had studied this characteristic of children being prone to crying.

Lian Junchu thought she inherited this trait from Yue Ruzheng, since Yue Ruzheng also cried easily. Yue Ruzheng retorted, "I only cry when I'm truly sad. Your daughter cries without understanding anything; how can that be the same?"

"What do you mean 'my daughter'? Isn't that your child...?" He glanced at her, then turned to look at the child.

Yue Ruzheng reached out and picked up the still-sleeping child, smiling as she said, "Alright, she's our daughter."

As she spoke, she placed the child on his lap and said to her, "Little fish, isn't that right?"

Even the little fish learned to speak and walk amidst all the crying and wailing.

She often didn't understand why her parents were so surprised when she said a single word, and why they were so delighted when she took a single step.

What's so strange about that? He's just an ordinary child!

However, she was truly different from the other children. While other children usually learned to call her "Mother" first, she could only stammer and make noises for a long time without actually saying anything. Yue Ruzheng was so worried she thought she was mute. But not long after, when Lian Junchu was playing with her using a cloth tiger, she suddenly rushed over and mumbled, "Daddy!"

She tried to run before she could walk, and ended up falling half to her death, leaving a small scar on her forehead. She saw her father grieve for a long time because of this, remaining silent. That day, her mother had gone down the mountain to buy rice, and her father was washing vegetables in the yard when Lian Xiaoyu stumbled and rushed past him. He jumped up in surprise, but by the time he stretched out his leg to stop her, she had already tripped over a small pebble and fell with a thud onto the flagstone.

Strangely, this time when she bled, she only cried for a while at first. After her mother returned and bandaged her wound, she stared intently at the bright red candied hawthorns in the bamboo basket with her big, dark eyes.

"Eat up." Her mother bit the candied hawthorn into pieces and fed it to her. Even though Xiaoyu loved this sweet and sour treat, she swallowed it anyway, even though she couldn't bite into it.

And so the tears stopped, with only two large teardrops still clinging to her cheeks.

Father, on the other hand, sat alone in the corner of the room, seemingly sulking with someone. Little Fish just kept eating; when Mother saw she had stopped crying, she left her and went to Father's side. The two of them whispered something to each other, and Mother was even hugging Father… Hmm, adults always like this…

When Lian Xiaoyu was four years old, Wei Heng brought his son to visit Nan Yandang. His son, Zhixian, was two years older than Xiaoyu, but when he saw strangers, he would hide behind his father.

"This is your uncle and aunt." Wei Heng was quite patient at first, but when he saw that Zhi Xian was still acting shy like a little girl and wouldn't even greet them, he lost interest and led him to Xiao Yu's side so that the two children could play together.

Lian Xiaoyu was squatting on the ground playing in the mud when she suddenly saw this boy dressed like a child who had stepped out of a New Year's painting, and she couldn't help but open her mouth wide.

"Little Fish, is this? This is Zhixian, you should call him brother." Wei Heng smiled and patted her head before going back to drink and chat with Lian Junchu and Yue Ruzheng.

"Brother." Xiaoyu stood in front of Zhixian with her hands behind her back, looking at him curiously.

Zhi Xian lowered her head, kicked at the pebbles at her feet, and called out in a soft, humming voice, "Sister."

"What is this..." Lian Xiaoyu stretched out her still-unwashed hand and pointed directly at the small cloak that Zhi Xian was wearing. It was embroidered with peonies, peonies and other flowers of various colors, with gold and silver threads intertwined and interwoven, making it exceptionally beautiful.

Zhi Xian was already exhausted, and the mountain forest was so secluded that he was quite afraid. Seeing that the little girl was someone he had never seen before, he didn't want to talk to her anymore and simply backed away.

Lian Xiaoyu was very fond of the little cloak and reached out to grab his collar. Zhi Xian was startled and hurriedly tried to push her away, but Lian Xiaoyu was pushed squarely and almost fell. In a fit of anger, she grabbed Zhi Xian's sleeve with both hands and pulled hard, refusing to let go.

Zhi Xian's face flushed red, but he dared not shout. After all, he was much taller than her. With a sudden effort, he flung Lian Xiaoyu aside again. Then he hurriedly ran towards the house, wanting to seek his father's protection.

Unexpectedly, Lian Xiaoyu pounced on him from behind, slamming into him and knocking him to the ground. Zhi Xian couldn't help but cry loudly. The adults inside heard the noise and rushed out. Just then, Lian Xiaoyu was straddling him and bit Zhi Xian's wrist.

"Little Fish, what are you doing?!" Yue Ruzheng rushed over and lifted her up. But Xiaoyu had already bitten several teeth marks on his hand. He lay on the ground and cried loudly, refusing to get up.

Lian Junchu and Yue Ruzheng were quite embarrassed, but Wei Heng didn't make a big fuss. He just looked at the injuries, said "it wasn't bitten through," and then told the two of them to go back and drink.

At the dinner table, he told the two of them helplessly that Zhixian had never traveled far from home since he was a child, and had not even really visited Huangshan. This trip was specifically to bring him out to see the outside world, so he had long been prepared for him to get injured or sick.

At this moment, Lian Xiaoyu was dragged into the house by Yue Ruzheng and punished by being made to squat in the corner and not be allowed to eat. Lian Junchu looked at her daughter's small back and felt a little reluctant, but she could not plead for her in front of Yue Ruzheng.

Thus, this first meeting between the children ended tragically with one crying and the other starving.

For the next few days, Yue Ruzheng gave Lian Xiaoyu a cold shoulder. Although Xiaoyu was unruly, she knew how to restrain herself. Seeing her mother's cold and indifferent attitude, she would hide with her father. After Wei Heng left with Zhi Xian, Lian Xiaoyu thought the storm had passed, so she climbed onto the table to grab the remaining pastries.

As a result, Yue Ruzheng snatched it away.

Seeing the delicious food she was about to eat disappear, all the grievances she had held in for the past few days erupted, and Xiaoyu cried her heart out. While she was wailing, her father and mother also started arguing.

"I haven't given her a proper meal for days, is it really necessary?"

"I didn't let her go hungry, and you're so protective of her, look what you've done to her!"

How could I not protect my own daughter?

"You have to know your limits! If a little one like that bites, what will happen when it grows up? It'll be climbing on roofs and tearing tiles off the ground!"

"...I learned to bite from you!"

Father struggled to utter those words, but Mother lunged at him and struck him hard. Little Fish's eyes widened, and she ran over, grabbing her mother's clothes, sobbing uncontrollably, crying, "Don't hit Father! Don't hit Father!"

The mother stopped, ruffled Xiaoyu's hair haphazardly, and sighed, "I wasn't really hitting him..."

Little Fish didn't believe it. She clearly saw her mother start hitting her, so why wasn't she hitting her? Therefore, she cried even harder.

Father had no choice but to squat down, smile, and say, "You really didn't hurt me; we were just playing around."

The little fish peeked through his fingers and, no matter how he looked at it, he felt that his father's smile was fake.

"You two are so close." Mother turned and left, seemingly still unhappy.

It's no wonder Xiaoyu was anxious; ever since she was old enough to understand, she knew that her father treated her the best.

She would bring back anything her father went down the mountain, whether it was food or toys. She loved her father's bamboo basket the most, and she would always reach in with her little hand to rummage through it. If there was nothing of interest to her that day, she would be disappointed for a long, long time.

In spring, her father took her to fly kites. He had made the kites himself—black and white swallow kites with two round eyes and long wings. Her mother ran ahead, holding the string, while her father chased after them. The kite soared into the sky, disappearing into the high clouds, as if it could reach the land of the immortals.

In the summer, her father took her to catch fish, but he wouldn't let her get close to the pond. With her mother holding her back, she could only stretch out her little feet and splash around in the cool water. The little fish in the water nibbled at her ankles, making her giggle. "They are little fish, and I am a little fish too," she exclaimed, thrilled with her discovery.

In autumn, the orchards in the mountains were laden with fruit. She would happily run to her father, holding bunches of fruit in her hands. "Daddy, have some!" She would imitate her mother, raising the fruit high in her hands and offering it to her father. To get the fruit that Little Fish offered, her father would have to kneel on the ground, but he always ate it happily, regardless of whether it was really sweet or not.

In winter, she didn't want to go out, so she would stay by her father's side, by the stove, listening to him softly reading. "I...I...I'll turn the pages for you!" Seeing that her father was still barefoot in winter, she became so anxious that she stammered, clinging to his lap and insisting on turning the pages for him…