In the dark night.
A little boy who looked to be only three or four years old walked through the overgrown bushes, looking back vigilantly from time to time.
The boy's name was Gu Yu, and he stopped wearily, lying on the rough tree trunk, his thin chest heaving and falling, and his tender white ears pricked up vigilantly.
He has been running for more than an hour. According to the physical fitness of a child, he should have been unable to run, but he couldn't stop.
Stop it...will be sold.
Xiao Guyu escaped from a nearby orphanage. While the teachers were not paying attention, he got out of the dog hole in the courtyard wall.
Before Xiaoguyu was taken to the orphanage, he used to live in the mountains. "Mom and Dad" loved him very much, and he was the first to think of him when he had anything rare.
But since "mother" gave birth to a younger brother, Xiaoguyu's life has completely changed.
They no longer treat him like a jewel, but beat and scold him frequently, gave all his clothes and toys to his younger brother, and let Xiao Guyu, who is only four years old, take care of his younger brother. A severe beating.
Xiaoguyu didn't understand at that time, he just thought that he was not good enough and took care of his younger brother carefully enough, so "Mom and Dad" would treat him like this. No matter how well-behaved and sensible he was, he couldn't get back the love of "Mom and Dad".
They also got their intensified dislike.
Xiaoguyu will be reprimanded by "Mom and Dad" if he eats more food.
Xiaoguyu didn't understand how his originally gentle parents turned into this appearance, until one day, he learned the truth from the aunt chatting under the big camphor tree at the entrance of the village.
It turned out that he was not the biological child of "Mom and Dad" at all, he was bought from human traffickers for 5,000 yuan.
"Lihua has a child of her own, how can she treat him well... After all, she bought it, and it is definitely not as good as her own child through a layer of blood." The aunt lowered her voice, her eyes seemed to be pity, and she glanced Xiao Guyu not far away took a look.
"Hey, stop talking, he's coming."
"What are you afraid of here, kid? I don't understand." The aunt picked up her grandson while talking, and stuffed a piece of beautifully wrapped chocolate into the grandson's mouth.
Xiaoguyu stared intently at the chocolate in the hand of the aunt, it was the most fashionable snack at the canteen at the entrance of the village, and a piece cost two yuan. When there was no younger brother in the past, "mother" bought it for him once or twice. Long time no see.
Xiaoguyu opened his eyes wide, looking at the sun that was about to set in the sky, and it was time for the parents to call the children who were playing wildly in the village home.
The little friends around were called away one by one. They seemed to have seen Tang Sanzang's monkeys. After hearing the yelling of their parents, they withdrew their magical powers and followed their parents obediently towards home.
In the end, Xiaoguyu was the only one left.
No one called him home, maybe because...it wasn't his home.
Xiaoguyu waited and waited until the full moon hung high, her small body curled up into a ball because of the cold, but she didn't.
Xiao Guyu was completely disappointed. He walked three or four kilometers along the winding and difficult mountain road under the moonlight until he reached the newly built road by the government.
He walked forward aimlessly, eventually exhausted, passed out, and was taken back to his adoptive parents' home by passing villagers.
Xiao Guyu woke up in a daze, and heard "Mom" calling someone, muttering: "This kid wants to run away... Take him back, money? Of course the money will be refunded, anyway, you have nothing to lose No, it will still be sold if you change households."
The woman noticed that Xiao Guyu had woken up, and hurriedly staggered his gaze towards her, and said vaguely to the other end of the phone: "Okay, then come here earlier."
In the next few days, the woman's family stopped beating and scolding Xiaoguyu, and even asked Xiaoguyu to eat more, so as not to lose weight from hunger.
Xiaoguyu thought that the act of running away from home finally frightened "Mom and Dad", and they began to feel sorry for themselves.
Until a few days later... an old van passed by the entrance of the village and drove all the way to his house.
The woman picked up Xiao Guyu and went out to welcome him, and said to the man driving the van: "Nephew, take a look, I can take care of this child well, my money..."
"Auntie, I can only refund you three thousand, otherwise everyone will be like you. I can't do this business. It's only three thousand because we are relatives." A stack of red banknotes is handed to a woman.
The woman put down Xiaoguyu, nodded some money, and said, "The number is right, you can take it away."
As she spoke, she pushed Xiaogu Yu towards the mouse man, Xiaogu Yu pushed back crazily as if realizing something, turned around and hugged the woman's leg tightly.
"I'm not your mother. I bought you with money. Stop pestering me. Follow this uncle. Let uncle find you a good family. Be good." The woman's rough and wide palm was on Xiaoguyu's There was a virtual pat on the head.
This is the first time "mother" has spoken to Xiaoguyu so tenderly since she had a younger brother.
Xiao Guyu was stunned, and soon the mouse man seized the opportunity and stuffed it into the car.
The mouse man brought Xiao Guyu into an orphanage, which was a veritable black-hearted orphanage, without any formal procedures, and under the name of an orphanage, it was actually doing black-hearted activities of child trafficking.
The abducted children are kept here by the traffickers for customers to choose from.
...
One or two lights on the hillside of Xiaoguyu were on.
Just when Xiao Guyu was hesitating whether to go down and find someone to borrow, there was rustling and the sound of leaves being trampled in the bushes not far away.
Then came a man's thick voice: "Brother, are you sure that little bastard is running this way?"
"It should be here. Someone said they saw him just now. How far can a kid run, I'll look here and you'll look there. I have to take him back today. That kid looks good and can sell a lot Where's the money?"
The two men were discussing with each other, and the light of the flashlight wandered around in the bushes, searching for the whereabouts of Xiaoguyu.
They are not far from Xiaoguyu, Xiaoguyu has no time to hesitate, he must find a new hiding place.
He ran to the house closest to him with the lights on as fast as he could in his life!
The sound of the wind was whistling in the ears, piercing the air, Xiao Guyu didn't dare to turn his head back, the little heart in his chest was beating with overload, as if it was going to jump out of his throat in the next moment.
A few minutes later, he pushed open the unlocked fence gate and trotted all the way to the hut made of mud and wood.
"Hello? Is there anyone?" Xiao Guyu asked tremblingly, his voice was like a small candle that would be extinguished by the wind at any time.
No one answered.
He ventured to knock on the door again.
Still no answer.
He knocked on the mottled door and opened it a little, but it didn't close.
Going in directly...wouldn't it be impolite?
Just when Xiao Guyu was thinking about whether to switch to another company for help, the voices of the men's conversation just passed through the empty road and reached his ears without hindrance.
"Not here, go
Hearing the words, Xiao Guyu didn't dare to delay any longer, gritted his teeth and pushed open the door, looked around the empty room, and hid in a large brown tank at the entrance.
After a while... Apologize to the owner here again, Xiaogu Yu thought guiltily.
The inside of the big tank was pitch-black. He was a four-year-old child, and he had been running for so long and hadn't eaten dinner. Tiredness and hunger flooded his thin body at the same time.
Xiaoguyu's eyelids couldn't help closing and closing, and soon fell asleep.
Drowsy, and I don't know how long he slept, Xiaoguyu felt that someone was pulling his collar and pulling him out, he struggled subconsciously, like a cat that was lifted up by humans and then moved its limbs.
While struggling, Xiao Guyu saw clearly the person who lifted him by the light of the pale candle on the wooden table.
It was a somewhat obese, tall man. The man's facial features were actually very simple and thick, but there was an inexplicable coldness that made people chill, as if the chill came from inside his body.
The fat man was wearing a sackcloth jacket with a high collar that completely covered his neck, like someone in a costume drama.
"Who are you, and why are you at Lao Tzu's house?" The fat man's tone was very rude, and his eyes were full of fierceness when he looked at Xiao Guyu.
Xiaoguyu was frightened by his fierce tone, lowered his head and stammered to explain: "Yes, I'm sorry! Someone wanted to arrest me just now, so I entered your house... I'm sorry!"
The fat man glared at Gu Yu fiercely, gave a "tsk" forcefully, and put the little Gu Yu on the ground in displeasure.
"Get out of Lao Tzu's house." The fat man's voice was so severe that Xiao Guyu's hair was about to explode in fright.
He didn't dare to say anything else, and immediately ran out of the room quickly.
But as soon as he ran out of the house, he didn't dare to move.
Are those people... gone?
He stood in front of the fence, pressing his little hand on the fence door, but he didn't dare to pull it away.
The fat man's urging voice came from behind again: "Don't go yet, wait for me to send you off?"
Xiaoguyu didn't dare to stay any longer, and trotted away from the fat man's courtyard.
With Xiao Guyu's departure, the fat man extinguished the only light in the room. The moment the candle was extinguished, blood trickled down his heels and fell to the ground, soon staining the ground red.
The fat man showed pain, and his limbs and head left his torso in a very strange posture.
But even so, the man is not dead.
His head kept changing expressions of pain, his limbs twisted and twitched wildly on the ground.
Even in so many pieces... the fat man was still in pain.
The village was completely darkened, the crescent moon hung high in the dark sky, the stars were hanging down all over the field, it was extremely silent, even the cicadas stopped singing completely.
After all, Xiaoguyu is just a child. Even if he is more mature than his peers, he is now afraid, unable to move his feet, and dare not go to other places.
Suddenly, his eyes fell on the big tree not far away.
It was a huge camphor tree with green leaves and many branches, it looked like it was old.
Xiaoguyu just slept under the tree all night.
The next morning, Xiaoguyu woke up from the cold. Although it was summer, the outdoor temperature was still a bit cold.
There was cold water vapor on his cheeks, Xiaogu Yu wiped his face with the water vapor, and the mud on his face was wiped off, revealing his original fair skin.
After washing his face, he is actually a very beautiful and fair child. His eyes are round and black, and his eyelashes are as long as butterflies. He is just thinner than other peers. A well-behaved and sensible child like him, if he is in his native family Here, it is bound to be pampered to heaven.
But...he was a foundling.
This is what the mouse man revealed to Xiaoguyu.
The short sleeves on his body were damp, Xiao Guyu shook his clothes, smiled at the sun father who had just lost his face on the other side of the hillside, and then got up and climbed up the hillside. When he passed the hillside yesterday, he saw a field of wild raspberries , today you can pick some raspberries to fill your belly.
With a rumbling stomach, Xiaogu Yu finally found the raspberry bush according to his memory.
The raspberry grows on the vines that climb freely on the ground, and it looks like a semicircle composed of small red fruit grains.
The bright red is very gratifying.
When Xiaogu taro was in the mountains, he often went to pick it with his friends in the village.
He holds the hem of his short sleeves in one hand to make a pocket, and carefully picks raspberries with the other hand, but the vines that grow raspberries have thorns.
Xiaoguyu endured the pain and put the picked fruit into his pocket. Snakeberries usually grow near raspberries. The fruit of snakeberries is much brighter than raspberries and looks more attractive, but they are poisonous and cannot be eaten.
Xiaoguyu heard the parents of other children in the village mention this matter more than once, and they told their children over and over again that the snakeberry is a raspberry spit by a passing poisonous snake and must not be eaten.
Xiaoguyu didn't take the trouble to remind his parents, but Zhan Guang got this information from other people's parents.
After a long time, Xiao Guyu picked a bag full of raspberries. He held the hem of his clothes in one hand, afraid that the raspberries would spill out, so he didn't dare to walk too fast, so he slowed down. When I walked back under the banyan tree, the sun had already completely climbed over the hillside, and the warm sun dried Xiao Guyu's damp clothes and gradually became scorching hot.
Xiao Guyu picked up a small red raspberry with his small round hands covered with tiny bloodstains, and was about to put it in his mouth when his eyes suddenly fell on the fat man's hut.
Although the fat man kicked him out yesterday, he entered the other party's house without the owner's consent yesterday, and it was indeed wrong.
Should be apologetic.
Xiaoguyu's dark and moist eyes fell on the raspberries in his clothes.
A few minutes later, Xiao Guyu tiptoed into the fat man's courtyard, placed a large leaf in front of his room door, and put half of the raspberries on the leaf.
Xiaoguyu slowly returned to the camphor tree to eat the remaining raspberries.
He hadn't eaten anything all day, and he was already so hungry that he quickly ate up the remaining raspberries, leaving only a few rotten ones and throwing them at his feet.
After eating raspberries, Xiaoguyu's dry and white lips finally had some color.