Chapter 1268 - 1267: A Touch of Warmth

Chapter 1268: Chapter 1267: A Touch of Warmth

The man sighed. At this time, even if they were to look for a small inn, they wouldn’t find one. A grown man with four children might arouse suspicion and lead to a police report. If that happened, jumping into the Yellow River wouldn’t clear his name.

The man was fairly familiar with this area and found an abandoned coal shed to make do until dawn. Although this season was known for strong winds, tonight was unexpectedly calm. Otherwise, with the four children sleeping in the car, even one blanket wouldn’t have been enough.

At dawn, the sun rose in the distance, and its golden rays streamed in from one side of the propped-up coal shed, shining on Luo Yirui and the others’ faces. Luo Yirui drowsily opened his eyes.

Soon, the other three also woke up. They looked around in a daze and were surprised to find themselves all asleep. Turning their heads, they saw the man from last night nestled up front, still sleeping. They exchanged a glance, each letting out a sigh of relief.

If this man had sinister intentions, they might have already been sold by now. They were truly exhausted; even with Luo Yirui’s talismanic water, after all, they were just children, with limited energy and strength.

As soon as the four children began to stir, the man woke up as well. He groggily opened his eyes and looked at them. Last night, it was too dark to see clearly. Now, seeing the four children, although they were dirty and disheveled, each one was remarkably good-looking. They certainly weren’t kids from the village; undoubtedly, they were city kids.

City kids these days are so daring, running away before even turning ten?

"Where are your parents? Have them come and get you," the man said.

He truly didn’t have much money. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be hauling planks in the middle of the night, and he would have bought these four kids something to eat.

Luo Yirui didn’t have much to say, but smiled and said, "They’re in the county town, no need to worry, Uncle. The four of us are thankful to you, Uncle. Without your lift, we might have been in dire straits now."

Saying this, he jumped off the cart and bowed deeply. The other three saw this and followed suit by bowing after getting down.

The man had never seen such a gesture before, and hurriedly waved his hands, coming over to lift them up, "I’m just a rural villager, don’t know much, don’t do this. You even helped me get the cart out. What do they call this? Mutual help! Yes, mutual help."

Luo Yirui, seeing the sincerity of this uncle, flashed a neat set of teeth, "Uncle, we’re going now."

The man nodded, feeling somewhat apologetic. He really had no money to treat the four children to a meal. His trip to the county was to see a doctor, but these four kids looked as if they hadn’t eaten in a long time. Although they had a few large white radishes, you can’t eat those every day.

With that thought, he pulled out a worn handkerchief from his jacket pocket and opened it to reveal some small bills and a one-dollar bill, not even a five. The larger bills were kept elsewhere to pay the doctor.

"Kids, Uncle really doesn’t have much money. Take this and buy some buns to tide you over." The man handed them the small bills with some embarrassment, but all his money was urgently needed, and after this load of planks, he barely had enough for himself, even lacking money for food.

Luo Yirui glanced at the small handful of bills and was somewhat moved, looking up at the uncle. His wrinkled, dark face was unremarkable, with cloudy eyes and a slightly stooped back.

Having seen so much of the darker side of human nature, Luo Yirui was beginning to feel a bit bleak inside.