"Hey, fuck!" Clarke, the one-eyed dragon, couldn't hold back any longer, and scolded:

"Little one! I obviously heard you shouting all the way to sell 5 oysters for a copper plate, how did it come to our marquise to increase the price? You little guy looks pathetic, but you're actually fucking shit! When you see a rich person, you are waiting for an opportunity to raise the price! See I don't smoke your big mouth! ”

Janine protected the frightened little girl, "Clark! If you bully her like this again, I'm going to lose my temper! ”

The one-eyed dragon spread his hands helplessly, "Wronged, madam, I am here to protect your interests...... Hey, let's not talk about it, who made us look unwelcome. With that, he turned his back with a smile and lit the pipe in his hand.

Janen Winstide touched the hidden pocket sewn into her sleeve, and pinched a heavy golden shield between her fingers.

"Little girl, I want all the oysters in your car."

The little black-haired girl was stunned, she had never seen so much money in her life, she took a deep breath, and seemed to be stunned by the little golden light in front of her:

"Oh my God, noble lady, the oysters in this cart are not worth even half a silver star, and you give so much money...... I can't find it. ”

Jian Ning said softly: "I'll talk about the money later, I'll ask you a question first, little girl, where are your parents?" ”

The little girl seemed to remember something sad, and her face darkened, "Half a year ago, my parents went out to sea to fish, and then they never came back, and other fishermen said that they encountered a storm and died in the stormy seas. ”

"And how are you going to live now?"

"I live with my grandfather, and he's my only relative." Speaking of this, the little girl's nose was sore, and tears had begun to gather in her eyes.

"My little poor boy," Janine hugged the girl.

"Ma'am, I'm covered in sludge, and this will stain your beautiful clothes."

"It doesn't matter, you know, little one, you're like someone I know."

"Who?"

"Myself."

The girl had wiped away her tears and said, "This is impossible! How could a noble and wealthy lady like you come from such a poor place. ”

"I didn't lie to you, the experiences of the two of us are very similar, we both grew up in this place, we both lost our parents, I was just lucky, I took refuge in my father's old boss before his death, and became the adopted daughter of a rich family."

The little girl's eyes flashed wide, and she still didn't seem to believe it.

Jian Ning took her little hand and pointed to a dilapidated house at the end of the small fishing village, "Look over there, that's my old home, which has now collapsed." ”

"Oh!" The girl jumped to her feet and shouted, "Grandpa told me about this place, this is the old house of the Winstede family, this family died out many years ago, and the only daughter left behind has become a street child, what a pity!" ”

"And I'm the street kid of the year—Janen Winsted."

At this moment, the little girl finally believed it, and involuntarily relaxed her vigilance: "It's amazing! I didn't expect a noble person like you to be my countryman! ”

"Little girl, I used to be like you, in order to earn a few copper plates to supplement the family, pushing a cart along the street to sell fresh fish and oysters, seeing you, like seeing the reflection of my childhood, it is incredible, like going back in time, it is embarrassing."

The black-haired girl asked excitedly, "You've also sold things?" Can you teach me the secrets of doing business? Madam? I'm stupid and can't always sell. ”

"Haha, of course there's a secret, kid, there are almost no locals who buy oysters, it's all tourists and passing merchants, if you want to sell your goods, you have to show them how to eat it."

"How?" The girl asked.

"You have to give them a free taste, when I was a kid I always carried a small knife made of stone with me, and when I saw someone from outside, I would pry open an oyster, and then squeeze some lemon juice into it, and hand it to them, very few people would finish eating and leave, and most people would pay a few for a few small bucks."

The little girl touched her pigtails and asked, "I don't understand, why do you add lemon juice?" ”

"Lemon juice can remove the fishy smell of oyster meat, and the sour taste can also whet people's appetite and make them want to buy a few more."

"Oh my God! You know so much! The little girl looked at Jian Ning with adoring eyes, "It seems that I still have a lot to learn." ”

"Of course, you have a lot to learn, and the fisherman's knowledge is great! Take this! Janine shoved the golden shield into the girl's palm and squeezed her little hand hard:

"But you have more important things to do at the moment, I noticed that the clothes of your grandfather and grandson are in tatters, use this money to buy some new clothes, and save some money for the rest of the money, your grandfather is old, little girl, you have to support this family earlier, manage this money reasonably, it should be able to improve your life to a great extent."

After a while, Jane Ning left the breakwater with her bodyguards and walked to the beachhead in the distance, and the one-eyed dragon Clark kept looking back at the little girl, only to see the child stunned in place, looking at the golden shield in his palm.

"Madame, you are really generous, I have to remind you, it is not early, where are we going next?"

"Mr. Clark, I want to pay my respects to my biological parents."

The one-eyed dragon wondered, "But...... You're walking towards the sea, where is there a graveyard? ”

"You don't understand, the people of our fishing village believe in the ancient god of the sea, we think that the dead should return to the ocean, and my parents are buried at sea."

"Sea burial?" The one-eyed dragon said it hadn't heard of it.

"It is to put the body of the deceased on a small boat, spread a layer of straw soaked in oil, and the send-off person ignites the boat, and then pushes it down to the surface of the ocean with force, and watches the loved ones slowly sink to the bottom of the sea."

After saying this, Jian Ning fell silent, obviously the scenery around her reminded her of something.

Even a rough man like Clark, the one-eyed dragon, sensed the sorrow in Janing's heart, so he wisely closed his mouth and silently accompanied the hostess.

The two walked to a shallow shoal covered with sand and reefs, Janine stopped at the water's edge, silently looked at the wide blue sea, let the tide wet her boots, she lowered her head and was silent for a long time, remembering the sound and smile of her biological parents.

Despite not being wealthy, the family still has fond memories.

The most impressive is Jian Ning's ninth birthday, it was the winter of a certain year, and the always stingy father went to a nearby town to buy a cream cake for his daughter.

At that time, my mother was already sick in bed, and her weak body could not participate in labor, but she still used what little strength she had to knit a pair of woolen gloves for her daughter and gave them to her as a birthday present.

Thinking of these former beauty, Jian Ning couldn't control her mood anymore, tears fell onto the reef, and she silently thought in her heart:

(Mom, I'm sorry I lost the gloves you gave me, and I can never forgive myself for this.)

Dad, I'm coming to see you again, don't worry, my husband is the smartest and bravest man in the world, he loves me very much, and I have to work hard to prove that I am worthy of him. ）

After a few moments, the afterglow of the setting sun shone on her long hair, reflecting the fiery red as if it were bronze.

"Mr. Clark, give me the mandolin in your backpack, and I'm going to sing a song to my parents."

Without saying a word, the one-eyed dragon respectfully handed the hostess what she wanted, and then silently stepped aside.

Janine Winsted adjusted the tightness of the strings, sat on a flat reef, faced the sea, and sang a song "Burial at Sea":

“

Sleeping in the middle of five feet of water

The body turns into coral

Eyes turn into pearls

Nothing has gone away

With the changes of the sea

Transfiguration into something beautiful

Bizarre and colorful

Fishermen's sons and daughters!

Listen!

For whom is this death knell sounded?

Ding dong!

The goddess of the sea is calling

The revenant head to the Abyssal Trench

Over there

The children of the sea will live forever!

”

After a while, Jian Ning wiped away her tears, put away the mandolin, and said to the bodyguard:

"Mr. Clark, it's getting dark, let's go back to the hotel, we'll have to continue our journey early tomorrow morning."