Chapter 8

When Jiang Sheng saw Wen Zhiyun, he seemed to be frightened and covered his face with both hands, his body trembling slightly.

She had never seen such a timid boy before.

Jiang Sheng was curious and went over to ask, "Who are you? Why are you here?"

The little boy didn't speak.

Jiang Sheng thought for a while, and gave him the half of steamed bun she had left.

The little boy was tempted by the aroma, swallowed hard several times, and finally couldn't help taking it and nibbling slowly.

Although he was a boy, his behavior and manners were more delicate than ordinary girls.

Jiang Sheng was bursting with curiosity and said seductively, "Tell me who you are and I'll buy you another steamed bun."

After the boy finished eating the last bite of the steamed bun, he licked his lips again and said hoarsely, "My name is Wen Zhiyun."

"My dad and my mom were taken away by a group of bad guys."

"They told me to hide, and said that if they didn't come back after a day, I should run as far as I could by myself."

Wen Zhiyun was trying hard to restrain his sadness, and his voice became smaller and smaller.

Jiang Sheng suddenly realized.

He turned out to be the doctor's child. His parents must have sensed the danger and told their child to hide.

Almost instantly, Jiang Sheng felt a surge of ambition in her heart.

The doctor had been good to her, so she wanted to repay him. If something happened to the doctor, she would repay the doctor's child.

Without any hesitation, Jiang Sheng sent Zheng Ruqian to buy another steamed bun and gave it to Wen Zhiyun, promising that they would wait with him.

Wen Zhiyun was very grateful, almost crying.

So they waited in the clinic.

They waited from dawn until dark, and from dark until dawn again.

Jiang Sheng tried to stay awake several times but still couldn't make it, and fell asleep.

She was awakened by suppressed crying, opened her eyes, and saw Wen Zhiyun kneeling in front of two corpses.

Jiang Sheng was shocked. She rushed over and saw the doctor and his wife as expected. They seemed to have suffered vicious torture, with incomplete flesh all over their bodies and covered in blood.

"Jiang Sheng, don't look," Xu Mo said gently to stop her.

Fang Heng covered her eyes with his hand.

But the cruel scene was still imprinted in Jiang Sheng's eyes.

In addition to freezing, starving, and beating to death, there was such a cruel way to die.

Little Jiang Sheng's heart was completely shocked.

"Dad, mom," Wen Zhiyun still cried loudly on the ground, "What do you want Yun'er to do without you? How can Yun'er live alone?"

Jiang Sheng's heart ached. She went over and pulled his hand, whispering, "Little brother, if you don't mind, come with us."

Although they were a little poor and shabby, and had no money to eat meat.

Jiang Sheng had already decided that if Wen Zhiyun was unwilling to follow them and wanted to go to his relatives, she would give him two gold beans and twenty copper coins, and finally urged him to hide them well, keep them for his future wife.

But to her surprise, Wen Zhiyun hesitated for a moment before nodding.

Jiang Sheng was stunned.

Rationally, she was unwilling to feed another mouth.

But the doctor had been so kind that she couldn't be heartless to his child.

Wen Zhiyun was also as weak as a little girl. He would probably die alone in this cold winter.

"Okay, fourth brother," Jiang Sheng sighed like a little adult, "From now on, we are a family."

The corpses could not stay in the clinic for a long time. At Xu Mo's suggestion, the children worked together to dig a pit.

Jiang Sheng paid twenty coins, just enough for a thin coffin.

They couldn’t afford a tombstone, so they just put a piece of wood at the grave with the doctor and his wife's names simply written by Xu Mo.

"Dad, mom, Yun'er is unfilial and can only leave you here," Wen Zhiyun knocked his head heavily three times, "When I grow up, I will definitely move your remains and avenge you."

Revenge, avenge.

Who doesn't want that?

Xu Mo lowered his eyelashes to hide his grief.

Fang Heng turned his head, unwilling to watch any longer.

Back at the clinic, Wen Zhiyun kept his head down, sad and dazed.

Jiang Sheng was also very sad that no one could cure her big brother's leg.

"We still have to go to the county," Zheng Ruqian said, biting his lip.

Before Jiang Sheng could tell them about the huge price difference between a donkey cart and a flatbed cart, Wen Zhiyun next to her came to his senses. "You want to treat the broken leg. I learned from my dad for a few years. I can barely do it, but my skills are not as good as my dad’s... you may have to endure some pain."

As he spoke, his eyes brimmed with tears again as he thought of his parents. Jiang Sheng quickly distracted him. "That's great. We can't stay in this clinic. Fourth brother, take your stuff and come home with us."

Home?

A home without parents?

Wen Zhiyun gave a miserable smile with tears. He wrapped all the medicines in oil paper for Xu Mo while changing his splint.

These were the foundation of the clinic and what Xu Mo needed most.

"Just take these?" Jiang Sheng's eyes almost popped out. "Don't take anything else?"

Quilts, cotton clothes, cotton shoes were all good stuff.

"Take the rest too?" Wen Zhiyun didn't understand.

Jiang Sheng closed her mouth and told him with action that they should take everything.

She took away almost everything from the clinic. If the medicine cabinet hadn’t been too heavy and the broken temple couldn’t hold beds, she would have hated not taking it all.

For this, Jiang Sheng rented another flatbed cart.

The five children struggled back to the broken temple. Only then did Wen Zhiyun understand why everything had to be packed.

Other than shelter from wind and rain, this broken temple had nothing else.

Fortunately, the stuff from the clinic was quite complete.

A few thin quilts were spread on the straw mats, and thicker ones used as covers. The cotton shoes were a little big but could be worn, just with a few more layers of cloth padded.

Most importantly, they now had a lot of intact pots and bowls.

Jiang Sheng put the small broken pot she used before in the corner, took out a complete large iron pot, grabbed two handfuls of rice, added three ladles of water, and started a fire to cook porridge.

Fang Heng and Zheng Ruqian went to return the cart and took back the deposit. By the time they came back, the rice was thoroughly cooked and bubbling merrily in the big iron pot.

Jiang Sheng took out the fire stick and extinguished it with soil, then took out clean porcelain bowls and scooped five full bowls of porridge.

The hot breath rushed in as soon as it entered the mouth, carrying the unique aroma of rice, the thick taste of rice soup, sliding over the tongue, and finally falling into the esophagus.

Jiang Sheng took a sip and closed her eyes happily.

But soon, she sighed again.

In the past, half a handful of rice was enough for her alone, but now with five people, two handfuls of rice still needed an extra pinch, otherwise it would not be enough to eat.

This was the downside of having more people.

But when she opened her eyes and looked at the four brothers in various postures, sitting in different places, either writing calligraphy, dull-witted, calm as a pine, or soft and tender, they occasionally talked to each other, and then settled down to do their own thing.

Jiang Sheng was unrestrainedly happy inside.

In her seven years of struggles, she had met friends and wanted to treat them as siblings, but before long, they left her for various reasons.

Jiang Sheng didn't know how long these four brothers could accompany her.

But Jiang Sheng cherished every day with her family. For her, every extra day like this was a gain.