boy and bone

"Cream oysters at table number two! Ferret, what are you doing!" A middle-aged chef with stubble all over his chin shouted to the only waiter in the tavern, holding an iron plate and lifting the curtain of the back kitchen.

Hearing the sound, the waiter who was wandering among the noisy guests was startled and hurried to the back kitchen.

"The plates in my back kitchen are piled up, please be smart!" the chef yelled, and pushed the iron plate to the waiter: "Here, table number two."

"Okay." The waiter replied.He took the plate and walked quickly to the second table, arranged the dishes, and replied to the group of drunkards with red eyes: "All the dishes you ordered have been served, please take your time."

"Hey, waiter." Someone behind the waiter greeted: "When did we order fried noodles 800 years ago!"

The waiter turned around and saw that the people at the next table who greeted him were all dressed in patrol uniforms, they didn't seem like casual pickers, so the waiter said, "Wait a minute, I'll go to the back kitchen to remind you."

At this time, the waists of the patrol team members each had a piece of flat, round thin stone flakes shining at the same time, and the thread patterns engraved on them were glittering and translucent.A man in the patrol took a look at his flickering flakes and said, "Don't rush...Guys, we're here to live!"

The rest of the patrol stood up from the table, took their swords and prepared to leave.

"Check out." The leading man said to the waiter.

While looking at the leftovers on the table, the waiter guessed their original appearance, and calculated: "Four bottles of osmanthus wine are worth twelve milang, dried meat pancakes are three milang, and tomato sauce is one milang. Sixteen mirons."

Twenty silver coins were taken out from the purses of the patrol members, and they counted them to the waiter one by one, but unexpectedly, someone trembled and dropped a few silver coins, rolling everywhere on the ground.

Several members of the patrol team were bending over to pick it up, but the leading man stopped him and said, "Let the waiter pick it up by himself, we are in a hurry, let's go first."

"Twenty milang, you tip the rest." As soon as the voice fell, those people left in a hurry.

The waiter squatted down and picked up the scattered coins, some rolled under the dining table, so he had to half-kneel under the table, and picked up the coins. He finally collected twenty coins, and he counted four of them and put them in the table. in your own pocket.

"Hey, ferret! Why did you get under the table?" Someone behind him patted him on the back.

The waiter stood up and brushed off the dust from his knees. Seeing the man behind him wearing the same waiter's attire, he said in surprise, "Kenuo? There is still more than an hour before the shift change, why are you here so early? "

"Don't you have an exam tomorrow? You don't need to go back early to study and study?" Another waiter said.

The ferret suddenly understood his kindness, and for a moment didn't know how to accept it properly, and just stared at him gratefully.

"Hurry up, hurry up. Remember to throw away the garbage in the back kitchen." Ko Nuo urged this inarticulate guy, and he took the bill from the ferret's hand and took over the job.

"Thank you." Ferret said.

"No, just help me take out the trash a few more times." Ko Nuo laughed.

It has been raining continuously for the past few days, from morning to night.

The street lights have been turned on dimly one by one, and the uneven stone road occasionally has a dark carriage passing by in a low-key and fast manner, splashing fine water.

Under the dark night, from the opening and closing of the back door of an open tavern on the street, there was a noisy and foul smell of tobacco and alcohol.

A young and tired waiter walked out of the tavern as usual when he came home from work, carrying two bulging sacks in both hands, and came to a dark alley across the street.

It is an alley that is regarded by the neighbors as a pile of garbage and kitchen waste.

Due to the large amount of garbage accumulated here all the year round, even if someone comes to clean it every half a month, the rancid smell that has already penetrated into the cracks in the wall has become stubborn. People are only within one meter of this alley. It is unbearable to bear the smell that makes people dizzy. Even the stray dogs begging for food on the side of the road may avoid this dark alley.

The closer you get to the alley, the more 'mellow' the impactful smell.

A large piece of filth seeped from the corners of the sack, and the vegetable soup and oil inside dripped all the way as the waiter walked.

The ferret clenched the mouth of the sack tightly, and his hands were inevitably stained with oil, and he could clearly smell the stench of fermented rot without putting it under his nose.

But the ferret seemed to be used to the surrounding environment, not even frowning.He skillfully stacked the sacks he was carrying in both hands against the wall at the entrance of the alley, and waited for the cleanup to be collected along with other sacks that had been thrown here earlier.

He hastily put away the sack, and walked habitually towards the direction of the accommodation.

Suddenly, a strange snoring sound came from the depths of the alley.

The ferret paused, and he walked towards the cat-like purr suspiciously.

The alley is deep and long, and the deeper you go into it, the less light you see, and the thicker the disgusting smell, even the ferret's nose, which has been 'influenced' by dumping garbage here all year round, can't stand it.

The ferret raised his hand to cover his mouth and nose, but the strong smell here could still find a gap and slip through his fingers into his nostrils.He could only frown and hold his breath.

Suddenly, in the darkest corner of the back alley, a white body came into view.

Surrounded by clumps of sacks piled up for a long time, the naked body lay in it, the immature face was pressed against the pitted floor tiles, and the dark chestnut hair was the only embellishment on the white body.

The intermittent low snoring came from here. In such a foul-smelling environment, the person lying on the ground was able to maintain a sound sleep.

"Kid..." The ferret approached in amazement. He knelt down, patted the boy's cheek lightly, and called, "Kid?"

Seeing that the boy still didn't wake up, the waiter looked around with surprised eyes. He didn't see any extra figures here. The street lights far away from the alley could not illuminate the darkest part of the garbage alley. The boy who was sleeping soundly here, It seems to be a world away from the noisy streets.

At this time, the fine and light rain fell down, and the raindrops that were neither light nor heavy fell on this young body in the back alley, as if hitting an unconscious object, coupled with the surrounding garbage situation , the ferrets quickly associated the boy with pitiful words such as 'abandoned', 'abandoned', and 'abandoned'.

Gradually, the rain-soaked thin skin of the boy turned rosy, which symbolized freshness.

he is alive

The rain was getting heavier, and the ferret hesitated for a moment. He took off his coat, wrapped the boy up, and then carried it on his shoulders, leading the lonely boy out of the alley.

However, the bewildered ferret didn't notice that he carried the boy out of the alley like a heavy sack of rice on his front feet, and a hand bone crawling in the darkness followed behind him.

************************************************** ********************

The black gold wrought iron gate of the Knight Academy was tightly closed, and the pattern of the fire wolf's head on it was fixed and focused, as if a pair of beast's eyes were really waiting for an opportunity to move.

The access control time has passed, and the ferret, who has been working late all year round, has already figured out a shortcut and secret passage to return to his dormitory without going through the gate.There is a gap in the outermost fence on the north side of the college, which is only big enough for one person to pass through.

He supported the boy on his shoulders, bent slightly and got into the academy.

Nearly midnight, most of the bedroom doors were closed, and the lights and candles were extinguished.He quietly walked around the common hall in the dormitory, where some people were still reading at night to prepare for tomorrow's examination.

Even though he had nothing to do with the boy he brought back, just out of pity, he always felt ashamed, as if he had done something immoral, and the ferret squirmed like a thief, Sneaking back to his own room.

Back in the room, the ferret placed the boy he had picked up on a creaky narrow bed against the wall.

The boy was still wrapped in his coat, the linen coat was soaked in some rain, and the smell of garbage in the alley was still lingering on it.

The ferret tried to wake up the person he put on the bed again. He wiped off the wet rain on the boy's face with a dry towel at hand. Unfortunately, the boy seemed to have fallen asleep. After being doused by rain and being moved After tossing and moving, there was no intention of waking up.

The ferret was a little suspicious. He put the towel on the side of the bed, and reached out to touch the boy's neck lying on his back. The weak but unignorable beating was indeed a sign of life.

The ferret picked up the candle on the desk in front of the window, turned on the switch in the shape of a butterfly half-wing on the bronze base of the candle, and suddenly the bright candle light approached the bed, and then the ferret carefully observed the sleeping boy Xiuxiao. Five senses, for some reason he regretted it, he should have handed over the boy to the patrol at the moment he found out, instead of bringing him back to take care of himself, this boy's origin is unknown, who knows if this will cause some troubles that are unclear thing.

But since he has impulsively taken the trouble on himself, it's not easy for him to throw people back.He could only wait for the boy to wake up before making plans.

The ferret's dormitory was originally a utility room, and the dormitories in the Knight Academy were allocated according to the amount of accommodation fees paid by the students.Students like Ferret, who are poor and rely on part-time jobs to make ends meet and study, will no longer have extra money to live in beautiful and comfortable dormitories.Fortunately, the college understood his situation and freed up a narrow utility room for him to use for free. Except that the bed table that was moved in was relatively simple and old. to other students.

It will be dawn in a few hours, and the ferret looks at the thick stack of books on the desk, sighing in his heart: it will be another night.

There was a wooden food box on the desk with fried noodles. This was the breakfast he ate in a hurry in the morning. The ferret picked it up and smelled it. It smelled bad. It was really not easy to store food in summer.The ferret thought it was a pity in his heart, and put the lid on the food box and put it in the trash can, thinking about throwing it away together tomorrow.

After dealing with the matter at hand, Ferret put down the candlestick and sat down at the table, intending to temporarily forget all chores and concentrate on the ancient books in front of him.

As the ferret settled down, there was no more movement in the room, it was very quiet.

The candlelight on the table only swayed within a square inch, and the weird skeletons hidden in the shadows gradually moved their joints. The dark bone branches crawled across the floor and climbed up along the old wooden bed legs. , it was close to the boy's ankles, burrowed into the boy's body under the long coat, and didn't stop until the chest. It was hidden under the clothes, curled up in the boy's heart like a curly dead leaf.

At this time, the boy who had been closing his eyelids on the bed suddenly opened his eyes.