Having heard this, Gu Sui’er was inwardly surprised. A dignified person like him should be living luxuriously and enjoying all the glory and splendor. How could he yearn for a mouthful?
Keeping aside the fact that he was actually the Emperor’s son, even if he were the young master of the Ruiding family, he would not have lacked this food.
Just as she was thinking about it, she suddenly remembered the grave.
The grave was in the forlorn wilderness with weeds growing all over it.
The silence and desolation of the grave were perhaps only known to Xiao Heng.
Then, in the past, when he was with his mother, did he suffer loneliness like the unchecked weeds growing all over the grave?
As she stared at him, the doubts in her eyes gradually faded. A dense cloud of sympathy rose in her chest, which left her feeling swollen and sore. She stared at his cold and calm face: he was obviously a distinguished and handsome young man, but through this face, she envisioned what he looked like when he was a child.
Did he lie on his stomach and stick out his plump buttocks to wait for fried eggs with toon leaves impatiently?
Did he cry when he couldn’t eat it? Did he get upset too?
No, no, no… Gu Sui’er felt this was not the correct way.
A reticent person like him might also be a child who didn’t like to talk very much, right? So, did he just sit there and silently hoped to get what he wanted without being willing to open his mouth and ask for it?
Xiao Heng sensed the gaze of the woman before him. Her eyes were filled with pity and distress like a mother looking at her own child.
He turned away, feeling a heat gradually spreading on his face.
After a moment’s silence, he said softly: “I didn’t live in the Marquis residence in my childhood. I lived with my Mom.”
Gu Sui’er gave him a slight nod and listened to him intently.
At this moment, Xiao Heng also did not need a reply.
“My Mom brought me up all by herself. At that time, we were very poor. My mom also raised a chicken that could lay an egg every day.”
“She told me that if we save the eggs and sell them in the market, she would buy new shoes for me.”
Gu Sui’er was hit with a strong sense of familiarity by his words.
She almost felt as if they had been told her to her.
It used to be like this for her too.
“And then?” She stared at him and asked in a low voice as if she was afraid of agitating him.
“Later, we finally saved up enough, a full basket of eggs.” Xiao Heng looked out of the window, his gaze as profound as a deep pit which could not be gauged: “Mom carried the basket and I followed her to the market.”
“That’s great ah…” She remembered going to the market as a child to sell eggs and dry goods picked up from the mountain and buy some snacks and household items with the money.
Those were the sweetest and happiest days of her life in the countryside.
“But that day, we just happened to come across the retinue of a powerful official passing through the street. The people on the road all got out of the way but when I was rushing off with Mom, I tripped on a stone.”
While he was speaking, Xiao Heng’s eyes were deep and misty, but his tone was calm and light.
However, Gu Sui’er, who was deeply immersed in his recounting, subconsciously asked: “What happened after you fell?”
Xiao Heng continued: “My knees started hurting after I fell down but I didn’t cry and just sat there like a fool. At this moment, one of the servants in the retinue came and tried to throw me aside because I was blocking the road.”
Xiao Heng closed his eyes slightly and the scene from his childhood reappeared before his eyes.
Many people stood around them and chattered in sneering voices, saying that this child was mute and a little idiot. Some also said that there was something wrong with this child.
Someone came over, picked him up as if lifting a chick and motioned to toss him aside.
His mother ran over to protect him and snatched him from the other person’s hands.
The chatter was replaced by mocking laughter and the men stared at his mother lecherously. Some took advantage of the opportunity and stepped forward to shove her.
A severe headache hit.
Xiao Heng suddenly opened his eyes.
He stared straight at the outside through the window.
This was the Tingzhu Courtyard. Outside, the bamboo trees rustled softly. Only a few servants worked here so it was quite peaceful; there was no clamor.
And the scene he just recalled happened a long, long time ago.
Slowly withdrawing his gaze, he looked at Gu Sui’er again.
Gu Sui’er was looking at him worriedly. Her moist little lips were parted slightly as if she wanted to speak but was afraid of disturbing him.
His originally quivering gaze slowly focused on her and the emptiness in it gradually became clear.
He said hoarsely: “Later, when Mom and I returned home, we found that the eggs had all been smashed to pieces and everything inside had long flown out.”
He didn’t get new shoes nor was he able to have a bite of those eggs.
Later, a disaster struck that area and the chickens succumbed to the chicken plague.
For a long time afterward, he wondered how the eggs tasted.
Gu Sui’er looked at Xiao Heng in shock. She felt uncomfortable, her chest hurt; she wanted to comfort him and hug him.
She wanted to hug the little child in his recount.
But she also knew that it was all a matter of the past.
The taciturn little boy mocked by others grew up and became the noble and indifferent Xiao Heng.
She couldn’t help reaching out and holding his hand.
She wanted to say something to comfort him and make him feel better.
But she didn’t know what to say. She had never been good with words.
After much deliberation, she finally spoke out, “I’ll make an egg pastry for you tomorrow, okay?”
These words sounded much too senseless for her. However, she was unable to think of something else to tell and this anxiety made her teary.
“Why are you crying?” He raised his hand and tried to wipe away the tears from the corner of her eyes with his cool fingertips.
“It hurts.” Gu Sui’er murmured in a low voice, “My–my–my heart hurts for you!”
She suddenly hated herself for not being able to speak properly.
Raising her hand, she grabbed his big hand and held it in the palm of her own two little hands.
“I just feel bad for you.” Gu Sui’er bit her lips: “I was also called little fool every day when I was young but I actually don’t think I’m stupid at all! I don’t think you are stupid. Neither of us is stupid.”
After being hit on the head, she was muddled for a brief period of time. Others called her stupid all day long. Even her mother said she was stupid. Gradually, she started thinking that she was indeed stupid.
But after mulling over it again, she felt that she might not be stupid as everyone else said. Most of the time, she understood everything but was unwilling to say it out. At other times, others called her stupid when they failed to comprehend her thoughts.
Gu Sui’er’s chest was surging with an unknown feeling that rose and fell softly.
She really didn’t know how to express this bitter sensation of tenderness in her heart. Unable to help herself, she finally stretched out her arms and wrapped them around him.
Usually, she was the one being hugged by him and would curl up in his arms comfortably to enjoy his warmth.
But today, she encircled her arms around him, just like how she embraced little Ah Chen.
She felt that he was actually a child at heart, a child who would sleep with his little buttocks sticking out like little Ah Chen’s, a child who would look eagerly at delicious food.
She wrapped her arms tightly around him.
Xiao Heng was caught in a soft and fragrant embrace. It felt like a big and warm bî had been draped over his body at the beginning of winter.
At first, he was a little stiff, because no one had ever done this to him before.
The closest his Father Emperor had done was carrying him in his arms when he found him. But that was a lot different from this because it was a man’s strong embrace.
His Grandmother’s embrace was also a lot different from this.
When Gu Sui’er hugged him, he felt that he had turned back into that lonely little boy who sat alone by the window, waiting for his mother to return home.
After the initial stiffness, Xiao Heng slowly relaxed. He also raised his hand and hugged her back.
He buried his head in her soft body with a milky fragrance.
His eyes were suddenly filled with moisture, but he kept himself buried in her arms and rubbed it off with a few shakes of his head.
He wrapped his hands around her tightly. The two bodies were tightly clamped, without the slightest distance between them.
Since his mother passed away, he had always felt that he had no relatives in this world, and was alone. Later, when he met her, and by an unexpected turn of events, gave birth to little Ah Chen, the two of them became his ties to the world.
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