An eight-year-old kid emptied his scumbag father's warehouse and followed his grandparents into

After a while, a small black head emerged from the cave, with messy hair covered with dirt and cobwebs. The child jumped out of the cave as nimbly as a frightened little animal, and his bare feet did not make any sound when stepping on the cold ground.

He tiptoed to the door, pressed his ear against the mottled wooden door, and listened attentively to the movements outside. After a long moment, after confirming that it was safe, he tiptoed back to the cave entrance, his movements as light as a falling leaf.

The little guy knelt at the entrance of the cave, sticking his upper body into the darkness, his outstretched arms looking particularly slender in the shadows.

"Don't worry, come out!" He called out in a low voice, his soft Jiangnan accent carrying a calmness that was inconsistent with his age.

The first girl to be pulled out was a girl with crooked pigtails, her exposed wrists so thin they looked like they would break if bent. The second, even smaller girl, was practically half-carried out, barely able to stand.

Finally, the three of them worked together to pull the old woman up. The old woman's gray hair was scattered and stuck to her face, and her heavy breathing was particularly clear in the silent kitchen.

The four people collapsed on the ground, their chests heaving violently. After a long while, the old woman raised her trembling hand and wiped the dirt off the children's faces.

"Hao Shao goes to the toilet, grandma goes to fetch water, and Nannan makes a fire and roasts some rice." The old woman's voice was hoarse like sandpaper being rubbed, and she gestured with difficulty as she spoke.

Although he had a strong rural accent, the eager gestures and the children's immediate response made Green Shadow hiding in the dark understand that he wanted them to hurry to the toilet and then come back to divide the work of cooking.

Several thin figures pushed the door open quietly, first poked their heads out to look around, and after confirming it was safe, they slipped out one after another, like a team of well-trained little mice, disappearing in the dark corridor in the blink of an eye.

Qingfeng quietly slipped into the kitchen. When he raised his hand to take off his face towel, the moonlight just happened to shine on his angular face. He pushed the water jar back to its place neatly, the heavy pottery jar in his hands felt like nothing.

He gently placed the bag of snow-white steamed buns next to the stove, forming a sharp contrast with the half bowl of yellowed stale rice that the old woman had just taken out of the cave.

After doing all this, he retreated to the darkest corner like a shadow, even his breathing became barely audible, and he waited quietly for them to come back.

"Oh, there's food to eat!"

Nannan's hoarse scream broke the silence.

The girl, who was about six years old, rushed into the kitchen first. Her skinny arms, which were originally reaching for the rice jar, turned abruptly in the air and grabbed the snow-white steamed buns like a hungry eagle.

Her movements were incredibly fast. Almost the moment she saw the food clearly, she had already stuffed a steamed bun into her mouth. When her cracked lips touched the soft dough, her whole body trembled.

Without hesitation, without doubt, without even chewing, she desperately swallowed. The coarse steamed bread crumbs got stuck in her throat, choking her and making her roll her eyes. The veins on her thin neck bulged.

The boy rushed in like a gust of wind and slapped the girl's thin back hard with his dirty hands.

"Eat well!" He shouted hurriedly in Jiangnan dialect, but his voice was very low.

As Nannan spit out the steamed bun from her mouth, his alert eyes quickly scanned the dim kitchen and finally fixed on Qingfeng.

The boy unconsciously took a defensive posture, protecting his daughter behind him, but his calves were trembling slightly.

"I'm not a bad guy." Qingfeng crouched down slowly, a gesture that made him seem less threatening. He spoke in Mandarin with a northern accent, "I was sent by the King of Yan to rob the rich and give to the poor."

He said this fluently, obviously having practiced it repeatedly, and it was also an excuse they had agreed on long ago.

But the two children still tensed up, like two frightened little animals, but Nannan still did not forget to stuff the steamed buns into her mouth.

Qingfeng sighed and simply sat cross-legged on the ground. The cold ground felt through the thin fabric of his clothes, and he deliberately patted his empty waist.

The boy's eyes followed his movements, and after seeing that there was indeed no weapon, his tense shoulders relaxed a little.

The atmosphere in the room shifted subtly. The boy pulled his daughter back to the wall, deftly dragging a polished bench over. The daughter sat down obediently, but her eyes never left the bag of steamed buns.

The boy walked quickly to the stove and grabbed the entire cloth bag, his fingers trembling slightly. He put the bag down heavily on the bench, making a "dong" sound, as if swearing it belonged to him.

Qingfeng noticed that the boy always stood closest to the door, with his toes pointing outward, ready to run away at any time. This is a smart child, Qingfeng thought.

He deliberately slowed down his speech. "I just want to know where all the people in Qiantang County have gone? How can we save them?"

The two children remained silent for a long time, and then a pair of trembling cloth shoes appeared at the door.

When the old woman stepped in with her other foot, she paused noticeably. Her cloudy eyes lingered on Qingfeng for a moment, then turned to her daughter who was wolfing down her food.

Then, when she turned around and picked up the youngest girl, she was as light as a rag doll and made the old woman's body sway.

After the child sat down, the old man sat down on the bench very slowly, as if every bone was protesting.

She didn't say anything, but picked up a steamed bun in one hand, gave it to the youngest child first, and handed the other to the boy, but no one took it.

When she turned around and saw the boy still standing there, she suddenly raised her voice: "Eat more and become a glutton!" The voice was particularly loud in the quiet kitchen.

The steamed bun was forced into the boy's hand, and he was pulled back.

The old woman took a big bite. She chewed vigorously, her sagging cheeks trembling. This action seemed like a signal, and everyone else began to eat.

Qingfeng noticed that they ate very quickly but also very carefully, even picking up the fallen crumbs.

Each person had a steamed bun which was quickly eaten, leaving only the youngest girl who had not finished hers.

Then something magical happened - they stopped at the same time and stopped sharing the steamed buns.

The old woman tied the cloth bag again with shaking fingers, tied two knots. The package now looked smaller than before, and she placed it solemnly back on the bench.

"Speaking of which, what do you want me to do?"

The old man suddenly spoke, his hoarse voice carrying a certain determination. He must have been thinking that if you eat someone else's food, you should do things for them.

As she spoke, she touched the steamed bread crumbs on the corner of her mouth and put them back into her mouth, but her eyes had become sharp.