"This…this is it." A short and fat woman, her entire face flushed red from being out of breath, pointed at the small footprints on the ground with her fat and short fingers.
"I didn't expect this damned brat to be so good at running. He chased me until my legs were about to break. I'll definitely teach him a good lesson when I catch him later.”A muscular old man with a fierce face appeared behind the fat woman.
"May I help you two?”Liu Wuqing stepped forward.
"I want to find the little boy who ran in just now. Quick! Hand him over!" The fat woman's tone was not polite at all.
Liu Wuqing frowned. She disliked the way the other party spoke.
"Madam, I don't understand what you mean. This is a pawnshop. If you want to find someone, you should go to the government to report to the officials.”
Thinking back to Little Winter Melon's panic and the current situation, Liu Wuqing somewhat understood.
The fat woman ignored her and shouted,"I know he's here. Go and call him out. No matter what, I'm taking him away today.”
Liu Wuqing secretly suppressed the displeasure in her heart. Even if she knew where Little Winter Melon was, she did not want this arrogant woman in front of her to see him.
"You two, I've already made it very clear. I run a pawnshop, so it's inevitable for people to come and go. Maybe a little boy really came in, but as you can see, there's no one else here besides me.”
The old man snorted. "We only saw the footprints that came in, but there were no footprints that went out. The damned brat must still be here.”
"I'm warning you, if you don't hand over my son, I'll see you in the government!"”
"Your son?" This time, Liu Wuqing's calmness was gone.
The only thing on her mind was-
This stinky, rotten, and tasteless man who liked to steal other people's things was even kidnapping other people's sons? This was too much!
"Little brat, stop right there!”
The little figure curled up in the corner of the corridor quickly got up and wanted to run when he saw her approaching.
"I told you not to run, didn't you hear me?”Liu Wuqing, who was faster than him, grabbed his thin arm.
"Sister…Liu!" Little Winter Melon lowered his head and mumbled, but he did not dare to look at her.
"Your mother came to look for you just now."
Suddenly, a pale face full of fear came into Liu Wuqing's sight, and his lips trembled.
"She…she's here? Don't, don't!" Little Winter Melon suddenly threw himself into her arms and shouted loudly. "Don't hand me over to them. I beg you, Sister Liu. No, no, I don't want to go with them!”
He didn't want to go back to that terrifying life. He didn't want to be beaten up again, he didn't want to go hungry again, and he didn't want to be…they…
Liu Wuqing's small body kept trembling. He could feel it and his heart tightened.
She gently pulled him into her embrace. For the first time, she felt a sense of concern for a child who she had never liked.
She bent down and leaned close to his ear, comforting him with a gentle voice that he had never heard before."Don't worry, you and your master are now under the management of my Heartless Manor. I won't let anyone take you away so easily.”
Her words were indeed effective. Little Winter Melon's trembling body gradually calmed down.
"Brat, why aren't you with your mother?”Why would someone choose a thief over their family?
Little Winter Melon didn't say anything, but he seemed to hold her tighter.
"Where's your grandpa?" It seemed that she had to ask someone else.
As soon as Yang Guhong was mentioned, Little Winter Melon's tense mood immediately relaxed. "Master, you're still sleeping!"
"What time is it now? Are you still sleeping? Is he a pig reincarnated?!"
Her words made Little Winter Melon laugh. Little Winter Melon let go of Liu Wuqing's hand in embarrassment and coughed lightly."I had no choice. I came back very late last night…"
Come back very late?
Could it be that he went to steal again?
Dragging Little Winter Melon, Liu Wuqing angrily rushed towards the " front boudoir " and kicked open the pitiful door with his powerful legs.
"Wake up! Get up!"
Her roar could probably be heard within a few miles, let alone the person on the bed with his eyes closed. However, he only slightly moved his eyelids and mouth, and then, like the previous times, turned his head away and ignored her.
Liu Wuqing simply shook him with both hands. "Don't pretend to be asleep! Wake up…"
"Sister Liu, Master is usually like this when he is tired. No matter how much you disturb him, Master will ignore him.”Little Winter Melon squeezed between the two of them and opened his arms to protect Yang Guhong.
"Go away! Brat, do you think I don't know what he's doing? He's out doing bad things again! If it wasn't for the fact that he saved my life and had an agreement with me, I wouldn't have let a thief stay in my Heartless Manor.”It caused her endless trouble.
"Sister Liu, I'm not as bad as you say! Master…he only borrowed some things from those people. Master said that when we leave, Master will return it to them.”
"Borrow?"
Facing Liu Wuqing's cold snort, Little Winter Melon looked guilty.
"Why wouldn't you tell Master if you borrowed something? Why would he need to take it away to borrow something? Why did he need to hide it in his bag and hide it from others? Little brat, stop putting in good words for your grandpa. A thief is a thief!”
"It's not like that. I…I'm just looking for something whose whereabouts are unknown. I'm not a thief!”
"Looking for something?" She didn't really believe the little ghost's words.
"Two days before I met Sister Liu, Master and I didn't rest for almost the entire day in order to catch a monkey who sneaked into someone's house to cause trouble and stole a red jade gem. It wasn't easy for Master to catch that monkey, but Master only took a look at the red jade and let the monkey take it away. At that time, I asked Master why he did this. Master replied that this was not what he was looking for.”
Liu Wuqing did not say a word and kept his words in his mind.
" Although I'm usually lazy, good at eating, and don't do much, I don't say anything nice, and I often cause trouble for Sister Liu..." Little Winter Melon rattled off a long list of shortcomings, not noticing the two faintly twitching eyebrows behind him.
"However, I am indeed a good person.”The more he spoke, the more agitated he became, and the louder his voice became.
" If it weren't for me, I might still be living under the whip. If I didn't do a good job, I would be beaten. If I couldn't get money, I would starve. On the day I saw you, I almost had my limbs broken. If it weren't for you…If it weren't for you…" He would have crippled his mother and that person long ago.
The voice suddenly stopped, and the room fell silent.
Liu Wuqing grasped the key point. "Do you mean that your parents usually abuse you like this? And you were able to leave them because your master helped you!”Seeing Little Winter Melon nod his head, Liu Wuqing couldn't help but curse his parents 'behavior in his heart. They were too despicable. He was glad that he didn't hand Little Winter Melon over.
"Yes, Master saved me. He gave all the money he had to my mother and told her not to pester me anymore. However, my mother didn't seem to let me go. Today, she accidentally bumped into me on the street. I didn't have anyone to accompany me, so she wanted to capture me with that terrifying uncle!”
For a long time, Liu Wuqing did not know what to say. The extremely thin boy in front of her was trying to pretend to be strong, which made her heart ache for some reason.
"Sister Liu, you won't let them take me away, right?”
He recalled what Sister Liu had said before. They had come to ask for him!
She sighed lightly and patted his forehead, pretending to be relaxed.""Don't worry! Didn't I tell you to send them away when I came to find you? With me here, no one can take you away from Heartless Manor.”
"They…left!"
Little Winter Melon's previous nervousness and uncertainty slowly turned into peace of mind and happiness.
Suddenly, he hugged Liu Wuqing and shouted. "Thank you, Sister Liu. Thank you for letting them leave and not letting them catch me…"
For the first time, Liu Wuqing felt that a child's embrace was actually quite warm! She liked this feeling.
"Sister Liu, can you…can you not hate me?”Little Winter Melon whispered in her arms.
Liu Wuqing was surprised by his request.
"Master is the person I respect the most, and Sister Liu is so good to me. I really hope that we can get along. Sister Liu, I'm really a good person. Don't hate him!”
How could she not hate Yang Guhong? Of course she hated him, and she hated him to the core!
This man had taken over her room as soon as he arrived and even ordered her around like a servant. He ordered her to do this and that and even often teased her. How could she not hate him?
However, her dislike wasn't really extreme. It was just that she didn't like his behavior. It wasn't that she didn't take it to heart when Little Winter Melon defended him. He wasn't a bad person. In fact, she had already confirmed this, hadn't she?
"I'll try not to hate him, okay?”As long as he didn't make her angry, she believed that it would be easy.
"Then, can Sister Liu try to like me?”Little Winter Melon's face was full of hope.
" Cough-" Liu Wuqing almost choked on his own saliva. "Brat, you…what did you say?”
"Sister Liu doesn't hate me, but she can also like me!”This was the Dual Polarity Theory that he had comprehended.
"This one!"
"Can't I? This lord is so handsome and good-looking. Many of the ladies and sisters we met before said that they liked this lord! Why couldn't Sister Liu like him?”"Uh…"
"In the past, there was a private school near where I lived. I often eavesdropped on the teacher's lessons. That's right,'after this village, there won't be this temple.' Sister Liu doesn't even like someone as good as this master. With Sister Liu's fierce and bad temper, it will be very difficult to find someone who can tolerate you like this master in the future. If Sister Liu doesn't grasp it well, no one will want you in the future…"
"Have you said enough? I gave you some color, and you started a dye house!”She gave him a hard knock on the head.
Didn't they say that children shouldn't be spoiled? She was nice to him and immediately started badmouthing her. What fierce and unwanted? This brat really needed a beating.
"Let me ask you, kid, what is he looking for?”
Little Winter Melon covered the swollen area on his head and said pitifully,""Grandpa? Oh, I'm looking for-"
"Little Winter Melon."
A mellow voice that was neither too loud nor too soft accurately interrupted the words that Little Winter Melon was about to say.
He definitely did it on purpose! Liu Wuqing narrowed his eyes and glared at the man on the bed who had opened his eyes.
"Help me get something to eat. I'm hungry again.”
The obedient little winter melon immediately went to the kitchen to prepare, leaving only her and him in the room.
"You shouldn't order him to do things like this. He's not your servant.”Her tone was reproachful.
The black eyes that stared at her delicate face flashed with a puzzled light. It was as if for a moment, the owner of the black eyes could not understand what she was saying.
Was she criticizing his attitude? Ever since he was young, no one had ever dared to say such a thing to him.
"I'm thirsty." He sat up and glanced at the glass of water on the table.
"I don't understand what you mean."
"I said I'm thirsty."
His commanding tone made her furious.
"So what if you're thirsty? You have hands and feet, so why don't you get up and look for water to drink? Do you still need me to serve you? Who do you think you are? The emperor, the prince, or the general in the palace? I'm not your servant. You don't have the right to order me around!”
He stared at her for a long time, his black eyes flashing with a bright light, as if he was thinking about something. After a while, he smiled.
"Then, please pour me a glass of water. Thank you!”
She was stunned for a moment. This was the first time he had spoken to her so politely!
She was used to his arrogance and condescension, so she couldn't get used to his sudden politeness. She poured him a cup of tea according to his request, moistened her throat, and asked,"Hey, since you're in the Heartless Manor, I have the right to know what you're looking for!”
He cleverly diverted her attention. "Do you know how Little Winter Melon's mother treated him?”
This move was indeed effective. Liu Wuqing immediately threw away her question and urged him to speak quickly with his eyes.
"The first time I met Little Winter Melon, he had his legs injured and was left begging on the streets. The second time she saw him, he was beaten up because he refused to become a male servant.”
"A male attendant?"
"It's the kind of servant who specializes in serving men and allowing men to have fun with her.”He stared at her, who did not understand.
After realizing what he was talking about, Liu Wuqing gasped.
He closed his eyes and inhaled the fragrance of tea. He heard the sound of drizzle coming from outside. "They sold Little Winter Melon to someone else as a waiter, but Little Winter Melon refused to go. They tried to threaten him by breaking his limbs.”
"They've gone too far! How can you treat your own child like this!"
"Actually, they are not Little Winter Melon's biological parents. After Little Winter Melon's father passed away, he married this woman. Two years later, Little Winter Melon's father also passed away, leaving behind this woman who is nominally his mother. Since he is not my own flesh and blood, I think it is very difficult to treat him well.”
"Why isn't this stupid brat escaping?" If she had been treated so unfairly, she would have run away long ago.
"Those two people were already on guard. In order to prevent him from breaking free, they chained Little Winter Melon like a dog so that he couldn't go anywhere.”
" They... they..." Liu Wuqing was so angry that he could hardly speak. "Did you teach them a lesson when you took the little ghosts away?”She remembered that he was good at fighting.
This book comes from：m.funovel.com。