Between heaven and earth, the clouds are vast and misty, this is not a vision, but the heaven and earth are frozen, at the end of the four seasons, the cold air makes everything a little cold.

Lao Li raised his slightly sloppy face and looked at the foggy sky, and then lowered his cloudy gaze, his slightly slumped body was wearing a washed white green shirt, and the collar had been tightened many times, but unfortunately the chill did not decrease much.

He was carrying a small bucket in his hand, it was a wooden barrel, yellowed and old, and inside was some leftovers, which was his payment for today, the payment for storytelling.

"Alas!"

I don't know what he thought of, and a sigh full of emotion came out of his withered old face, as if he was helplessly sighing.

He walked slowly along the somewhat deserted path, but stopped after a few steps.

Next to the trail, there was a small bulging bag, and some patches of clean mattresses seemed to be wrapped in something.

Lao Li Tou saw that it was a baby, it seemed that the congenital deficiency was very small, and the face that only showed was a little sallow, without the ruddy of some children, and it was full of sickness.

He looked around again, but he didn't find anything and looked again, and then walked slowly past the baby with a slight trembling expression, a little hesitant and a little hesitant.

Looking at the mattress, it is obvious that the child's parents are not rich and noble, and it is estimated that they feel that the child is weak and unable to support him.

Old Liu Tou's heart had flashed a lot of thoughts in an instant.

But he couldn't even support himself, let alone add another child, so he could only walk through in hesitation.

Just when the old man was about to walk to the corner of the path, he suddenly felt a chill on his face, and then he saw snow falling between the sky and the earth.

"Babble!"

A faint voice also sounded at the same time, so that Lao Li Tou's footsteps stopped, he paused for a moment and looked back, saw the direction of the mattress, at that moment, he seemed to see a pair of very clear eyes through the futon.

The snow grew heavier and flew like goose feathers, and the baby was gone.

......

Yangzhou, Jiangning County, Yicheng.

"Old Li Tou, I didn't think I would have an extra son if I didn't see you in a few days? ”

In the tavern, a few regular customers watched the child tied behind the old Li head and make casual teasing noises while holding the food on the table.

Although they laughed loudly, they laughed as they took out some vegetables with oil stars from the table and poured them into the bucket of old plums.

The child was also strange, not crying, laughing, or making trouble, but just looked calmly or silently, as if listening to everyone's conversation.

"Old Li Tou, he won't be a dumb person, right?"

Someone else spoke, but there was no more ridicule, looked at the child's sallow face, shook his head, and then took out a little bit of loose silver from his bosom, the meaning of which was self-evident.

Lao Li didn't explain, but just kept nodding.

"Boss, come here for twenty catties of cut cooked beef. ”

A hearty voice suddenly sounded outside the hall, and I saw several figures standing outside the door, burly and majestic, wearing clothes sewn from animal skins, all of them in strong bodies.

"The good man of the Fuji family has come to the city to deliver goods again. ”

The tavern is not a husband and wife, working day and night to save a little money, it seems that these people are already regular customers here, and the owner is very familiar with them.

"Yes, by the way, I will exchange a little more New Year's goods. ”

The leading man was burly, and his upright face revealed a sense of simplicity.

He took the wrapped beef, and then saw the old Li Tou who was slowly coming out, and then his eyes moved to the baby behind him, and saw the sallow and sickly face, the expression in his eyes changed, but he didn't know what he thought.

"How much money do you have left?"

He turned to a fellow man on his right and asked.

"There are more than seventy taels left. ”

The man pinched a piece of beef, swallowed it, and then said with some slurred words.

"Take thirty taels out. ”

The leader paused slightly when he heard this, and then said.

A moment later.

"Take it, buy something to make up for this child, and buy some clothes for the winter. ”

After saying that, he turned and left.

"Brother Fan, what's wrong with you?"

In the distance, I heard an inquiry from the snow.

"No, I just thought of that kid from our family. ”

The sound faded away, dissipating into the snow.

It's just that no one saw that the child behind the old Li Tou seemed to have a slight light in his eyes when he heard the word Qingshan at this moment.

The snow was getting heavier and heavier, and it was the biggest snow of the year, and Lao Li Tou wrapped the child's clothes again and then disappeared into the snow, and walked to their humble low house, where a dim candle lit for a long time.

......

"Little dumb, ugly, don't speak, mud doll ......"

On the street, a child who was only four or five years old was silently being held by Lao Li's head and walking back, and behind him were many children of the same age, who were not throwing some mud in their hands, but were playing and grimacing with childish words, and the target was that child.

The thin body, the yellow hair, the sallow face, like a little monkey, he did not fight back like some children after being ridiculed, just silent, or perhaps, he could not speak like those children said.

Lao Li Tou glanced at him and then tried his best to block his body beside the child, and the original plain clothes of the two of them suddenly became muddy at the moment.

Lao Li Tou is very ordinary, but in his eyes this child is very extraordinary, it seems that he has never heard this child speak since the first time they met, he has taught, but the child does not know whether he doesn't want to say it or can't say it, but he can see it from the child's eyes, he understands.

It seems that that sound is just to survive, so that Lao Li Tou can save him.

He doesn't play like other children, but whenever he has time, he stands outside the house and looks at the sky in a daze.

Lao Li Tou seemed to feel that this kid was very interested in the so-called strong people, and whenever he said that he talked about some topics of the strong people in Kyushu, he felt that the child's eyes were a little different.

The child has no name, although he is washed clean by Lao Li every time, but he is always thrown some mud by the children nearby, and he is always covered in mud, so everyone calls him a mud child.

"What's wrong?"

Lao Li Tou's body stopped, because he felt that the mud boy's footsteps had also stopped, he looked at the sky a little stunned, some stunned, some stared, the look in his eyes was sometimes silent, sometimes hateful, sometimes missing, Lao Li Tou didn't understand how a person's eyes could have so many changes, and he was still a five-year-old child.

Lao Li looked at the child's eyes, but he was a little embarrassed in his heart, he remembered the diagnosis of the mud child by some doctors at the beginning.

"This son is congenitally deficient, and it is a great luck to survive. ”

It's not just one doctor who says this, but many doctors who say it, and they are all amazed that the mud boy has survived to this point, which seems to be a very incredible thing.

If the spirit of ordinary people has ten, then the spirit of the mud boy is only one or two, the body is weak, and the meridians in the body are naturally blocked and withered, since he was a child, he has been weak and sick for so many years, he is fed by the medicine jar, he is also very sensible, the bitter decoction is drunk as soon as he knows, as if he knows that he must drink, at that moment, his eyes are extremely strong desire to survive.

"Tick!"

A crisp sound suddenly sounded.

Lao Li saw that the mud boy's eyes were slowly flowing with tears, and after flowing down his cheeks, they had become extremely cloudy.

People who have never cried are crying today.

"Ah ......"

A strange tone of voice came from the mouth of the mud child, I don't know if the vocal cords have not yet developed or the first time to speak, in short, it is very strange, just like a bitter cry.

Lao Li Tou's body was like a lightning strike, and his eyes were very excited, but then the light in his eyes gradually faded away, because the sound didn't last long and ended hastily because the mud boy closed his mouth.

The mud boy also slowly retracted his gaze, tugging on Lao Li's hand and slowly walking back.

The two then disappeared around the corner of the street.