Guan Cheng glanced at Jiang He, then at his younger brother in Feng Qingxue’s arms, opening his mouth but not knowing what to say.
He knew Jiang He was right, but he couldn’t bear to leave all these children behind.
Feng Qingxue’s heart ached deeply. These children, huddled together for warmth, would lose a comforting corner if anyone was missing.
Guan Cheng still knelt on the ground, his hands cradling his head, the broken temple falling into an eerie silence.
How silent was it? You could hear a pin drop.
Finally, it was the hungry growl from Guan Cheng’s stomach that broke the silence.
"Guan Cheng, you must not have eaten anything." Zhang Erya hurriedly handed over the uneaten half of her steamed bun to Guan Cheng.
Feng Qingxue quickly said, "Erya, keep it for yourself, I have more. Guan Cheng, the steamed bun is in the basket, fetch it yourself. Eat something first. After we’re full, we’ll discuss about later."
Guan Cheng released his hands and lifted his head, remaining still.
"You’re so stubborn!" Feng Qingxue reached into her basket with an empty hand, took out a steamed bun and handed it to him, "Eat it. You need to eat something first. How can you take care of your brother if you’re starving?"
"Thank you!" Guan Cheng hadn’t eaten any grains for the past two days, just a bit of wild vegetable soup, and was starving.
If it wasn’t for worrying about his younger brother, he simply couldn’t have made it to find his biological mother and step-father, and he couldn’t have made it back to the broken temple after being beaten up.
After eating half of the steamed bun, Guan Cheng felt full.
He carefully placed the remaining half of the steamed bun into the pocket of his tattered clothes.
Feng Qingxue handed over a water bottle, "Have some water."
"I’m not thirsty." Guan Cheng shook his head. He had been so thirsty that his mouth was dry on the way back. After having the steamed bun, he felt even more thirsty, but he hesitated to drink from the bottle for fear of dirtying it. He planned on scooping up some water from the river.
"Take it, drink!" How could Feng Qingxue not understand what he was thinking? She forcefully stuffed the water bottle into his arms.
Tears welled up in Guan Cheng’s eyes as he held the water bottle and took small sips.
Feng Qingxue noticed a few broken bowls in the temple, urged Guan Cheng to wash one that only had a small chip, returned to pour water from her bottle into the bowl, then took out a small portion of the white flour bun from her basket, tore it into pieces and steeped them, to feed Guan Yu who had been under medication for a while.
The extremely hungry child, even though not fully conscious, responded to the needs of his body and swallowed heavily.
Porridge would have been best, but under the current circumstance, he couldn’t.
Just the white bun soaked in water made those present envious, they couldn’t help but smack their lips.
White flour buns, they had only heard of them, never seen one.
In no time, Guan Yu had eaten up the soaked bun, filled his stomach a little and alleviated the cramps in his intestines. His eyebrows relaxed, he fell into a deeper sleep.
Jiang He slapped Guan Cheng’s shoulder hard. "Guan Cheng, what are you hesitating for? Don’t hesitate anymore."
One could easily see that Feng Qingxue’s kindness towards Guan Cheng and Guan Yu, even to the point of offering her white flour buns, came from the depth of her heart. In this age, many parents could not do this. Jiang He was envious of Guan Cheng while also feeling happy for him, happy that his good friend finally had a chance to have a normal home, no need to wander outdoors anymore, leading a life worse than pigs or dogs.
Guan Cheng turned back and looked at him, speaking in a low voice, "I can’t bear to leave you, Jiang He. If I leave, there will only be you left. Erya is, after all, a girl. Can you take care of all the kids by yourself?"
"Isn’t it just looking after them all to beg for a living? I can handle it!" Jiang He dismissively said.