Qi Weiran was stunned.
He didn't even notice the determined expression on the face of the girl in front of him, as if she was ready to sacrifice herself at any moment.
What was that? Why did Xiao Zhi's voice suddenly sound in his mind?
"Qi Weiran, are you listening?"
Seeing the child spacing out, Yi Qingju waved her hand in front of his face.
[Ah, how cute, he even spaces out, I just want to sit on him and squash him!]
Qi Weiran: !
The young child, still unaware of how to hide his emotions, had a look of shock all over his face.
Yi Qingju noticed his strange behavior and grabbed his shoulders, asking, "What's wrong?"
[Do you need to pee? Tsk, should I help you?]
The child's ears hidden under his slightly long hair instantly turned red.
Yi Qingju had never seen such red ears before.
"I... feel a bit tired," he lowered his eyes, his long lashes covering the emotions in his eyes, and his expression quickly became calm again.
Yi Qingju patted his face and said with a smile, "Then I'll come find you again tomorrow."
[Someone save me!! This chubby child's cheeks are as soft as a butt!]
The first time being compared to a butt, the young master Qi was speechless: "..."
"Little brother, do you trust me? I will definitely help you return home." Yi Qingju stood up, clenching her little fist with a determined tone.
[Main task: Reclaim Qi Weiran!]
After Yi Qingju climbed out, Qi Weiran, who was holding the thick coat on his body, had a moment of bewilderment on his face.
"Was I just hallucinating...?"
...
When Yi Qingju hurriedly rushed back, it was almost dark. She encountered the old lady who had gone out to fight at the door.
The old lady's crutch still had a fake tooth hanging on it.
"Grandma! Is your tooth okay?"
The old lady excitedly said, "Ah, Ju'er is back! This isn't my tooth, it's Mao Dan's grandma's tooth, it's the old lady's trophy!"
Despite her old age, her eyes were shining brightly, like a female war god just back from the battlefield.
Yi Qingju bared her teeth and laughed, "My grandma is awesome!"
Her grandma also responded, "Awesome!"
The old and young stood at the door of the house, their voices of "awesome" echoing through the whole Peach Blossom Village.
It made Mao Dan's grandma, who hated that she couldn't beat him properly, beat Mao Dan's butt again!
Although young, Mao Dan was good at holding grudges. He thought it was because he pushed that poor girl into the hole, and she had reported him.
Tsk, that girl, just wait for me.
"Girl, why aren't you eating the eggs?"
Seeing the eggs left in the pot, she asked loudly.
Yi Qingju said softly, "Grandma, you eat them."
Given the situation in the family, even though she had never experienced this kind of life, she knew that for an impoverished family, eggs were such an expensive thing.
Unexpectedly, Grandma widened her eyes, "You child! We have so many eggs stored here, didn't we say we'd eat one a day, and if we don't eat them, they'll spoil!"
She lifted the two big baskets in the corner of the kitchen, and Yi Qingju peeked in.
Wow, they were all eggs.
Yi Qingju: "...Oh."
Inadvertently seeing the photo on the table, Yi Qingju finally realized that Grandma used to be a teacher, and the picture showed her with a group of students.
After a simple stay, she realized that this family might not be as poor as she had imagined, and Grandma should have a pension, but Yi Qingju still couldn't use her money to help Qi Weiran. That would be wrong.
The next day, she got up very early and asked the little boy squatting on the ground in front of her house about Old Li's address, then went there.
Grandma didn't know how she heard it, thinking she was hungry, and forcibly stuffed three yuan into her hands.
"Thank you, Grandma."
"You child..." Grandma chuckled and shook her head, watching her leave with a doting expression.
[Little chick, now that I've occupied the original host's body, where did the transmigrator and the original host go?] Yi Qingju asked after having breakfast.
Little chick took a while to reply: [When the transmigrator occupied this body, they harmed the original host's soul. After you came, the transmigrator's soul was driven away.]
[As for the original host, we are currently slowly repairing her fragile soul. Once the host has eaten more and accumulated more energy, we'll leave, and the original host will return safely.]
[Then many years later, she will commit suicide because she doesn't want to live, and a future me will transmigrate into this body...] Yi Qingju added.
The original host committed suicide because she became self-aware and knew her own fate, this was told to her by Little chick.
"Uncle Li!"
When she saw the small grocery store, Yi Qingju finally understood why Grandma had given her money. It turned out that this uncle with instant noodles and chocolate in his pocket was the owner of the grocery store.
"Morning, Ju'er." Uncle Li, wearing a light sweater, was in good spirits as he greeted her.
After getting a bottle of mineral water and a bag of bread, Yi Qingju handed him three yuan and casually asked, "Uncle Li, I heard from Mao Dan that the big city is very prosperous, with lots of delicious and fun things to eat and play. Do you know how to go to the big city?"
She seemed like a real child, full of curiosity about the outside world.
Uncle Li, seeing this, thought the child was so cute, and told her, "Our village is only outside the county town. You can take the train there, but the train is expensive, going to the next big city is far away, it'll cost over 50 yuan."
Hearing this figure, Yi Qingju suddenly felt a sense of melancholy.
After a lifetime of wandering, she had returned to being a penniless wretch.
"Uncle Li, can you lend me some money? I want to go to the county town, I'll write you an IOU, and please don't tell my grandma."
Old Li just thought she wanted to go to the county town to play, and immediately showed a simple and honest smile on his face: "No need for money, Uncle Li is going to the county town to buy supplies, I'll give you a ride in the bread van."
If it weren't for the adult soul hidden in Yi Qingju's body, she would have jumped up and kissed this hero of the people.
"Thank you, hero."
Being called a hero again, Old Li's old face flushed with shyness, and he smiled shyly.
He used to just think this Ju'er was shy, but he didn't expect that after she had received his kindness, he would discover the girl's true character.
"Uncle Li, can I bring a friend?" Yi Qingju clenched her fists.
Last night she had hinted at Grandma.
It seemed that the people in the village didn't know that Old Man Niu at the east end had bought a child.
Before coming here, she had gone to Old Man Niu's house, but the door was locked, and the neighbor said he had gone down the mountain to find someone.
Yi Qingju guessed he had gone to find a human trafficker.
What a great opportunity, to take Qi Weiran away from here while also making some money.
"Ah, sure." Old Li, having been praised so much, was in a very good mood.
Yi Qingju decisively went to the cave and told Qi Weiran about the situation and her analysis.
The latter was greatly surprised, not because of Yi Qingju's boldness, but because of her clear-headed thinking, which was different from that of a child.
This surprise had even surpassed his discomfort with the hallucination.
"But, how are you going to make money? We're still young, and people aren't willing to hire child workers."
He couldn't call his family, nor could he use electronic devices to seek help. Qi Weiran didn't believe he had been kidnapped, and he didn't think the group around Pao had pushed and helped with this.
Though young, he knew a lot and could analyze the situation and weigh the pros and cons.
"Leave that to me." Yi Qingju promised firmly.
Old Li didn't know Qi Weiran, and just thought he was Yi Qingju's out-of-town friend. He directly took the two of them to the county town.
Qi Weiran, full of vigilance, kept his back straight and stared unblinkingly at the driving Old Li in front of him. He tightly gripped the sharp stone that had been polished in his left hand, even ready to jump out of the car at any time.
Suddenly, a soft little hand grasped his icy right hand, and Qi Weiran was startled.
Yi Qingju turned to him and flashed a smile: "With me here, it's alright."
Although she was younger than Qi Weiran, the words she spoke gave one a convincing feeling, and her eyes sparkled with a maturity beyond her years.
Inexplicably, Qi Weiran calmed down.
He believed in this girl with the name of a pure white flower.
Half an hour later -
Yi Qingju smeared mud on his porcelain-white little face, then covered his signature eyes with a cloth strip. She also disheveled her own hair, and then, holding two bowls, led him to sit down in the busiest part of the county town.
The bewildered Old Li watched as she placed a sign on the ground that read "Which gender cares more about homeless children?"
Large words were also placed in front of the two broken bowls.
On the left, "Man", on the right, "Woman".
In this time when female empowerment had already awakened and men were unwilling to be outdone, the young beggar Yi Qingju took full advantage of this, openly begging for food.
Qi Weiran, who had never imagined himself resorting to begging: "..."
Although he very much wanted to die, he felt that the real culprit was someone else.
When he grew up, he would kill all the damn branches of the Qi clan!!
