They looked so pitiful that Lin Xinlan couldn’t help stopping in her tracks, waiting for them to approach.
Before she even had the chance to speak, the old man looked towards her and took the initiative, "Young lady, hello, may I ask if you could spare some hot water for us to drink?"
He looked at her, his gaze filled with a hint of pleading.
The girl beside him, her cheeks red from the cold, was thin and trembling in the wind, as if she might collapse at any moment.
Fearing that she might mistake them for bad people, the old man hurriedly explained, "Don’t get the wrong idea, we’re not bad people. This is my granddaughter; we just ran out of money for the trip home, so we’ve been begging all the way here. We haven’t had anything to eat for two days, could you kindly give us a bowl of rice?"
It turned out they were just like her, all poor souls.
Lin Xinlan smiled slightly, "My house is just up ahead, if you don’t mind, you can rest at my place."
"Thank you, you really are a good person," the old man said with a grateful smile.
"You’re welcome. Let’s go, to my house now," Lin Xinlan said, smiling as she led the way with the two following behind her.
She had rented a house in this small town, with several rooms and a small garden, but the rent was very cheap, only four hundred a month; she had rented it for three months in one go.
And her time was now down to just so little.
The two followed her into the house, where they were immediately greeted by the warmth of the heating.
Lin Xinlan invited them to sit down, poured two cups of hot milk for them, and then put on her apron to cook noodles for them.
The old man kept thanking her, saying that she was a good person.
He kept calling her "big sister," which sounded strange to Lin Xinlan’s ears.
If she hadn’t aged, she probably would be calling him "Grandpa" just like the girl beside him.
Even stranger to Lin Xinlan was that the girl addressed her as "Granny." When she heard it, she nearly fell over.
Alright, she indeed was now a granny.
Lin Xinlan was quite skilled in the kitchen, and soon two steaming bowls of noodles were ready.
The grandfather and granddaughter were truly starving; they ate hastily and quickly, leaving the large bowls spotless, with not even a drop of soup remaining.
After feeding them some pastries and more milk, they finally felt full.
After eating, the old man started to share their story with her.
He was Yang Ming, and his granddaughter was Yang Shan. They were from a village in H City. It was just the two of them at home since his son and daughter-in-law had passed away.
Half a month ago, Yang Ming’s leg trouble flared up, and he had to go to the city for a doctor.
So, the two of them took all their savings and went to the city, only to be swindled of all their money on the train.
They reported the case to the police, who, knowing their situation, kindly pooled together a few hundred yuan for them to get home and promised to inform them if there was any news.
But it was the first time either of them had been out of their village, and there were many things they did not understand.
When buying train tickets at the station, they ended up with counterfeit tickets from someone and were asked to pay extra money when the fraud was discovered on the train.
But they didn’t have enough money on them, so they could only afford tickets to a station along the way.
After getting off the train, they stood in a completely unfamiliar place, at a loss. They didn’t know whom to ask for money or how to find food and shelter.
So, they had no choice but to pick up and sell recyclables for money to buy food, while walking home.
After nearly half a month on foot, they had only reached this place, where they then encountered Lin Xinlan.