When he arrived at the temple, Su Ziyan's expression was still dazed. He stood there motionless, staring at the floor in a daze, as if he had not yet come out of reality.
The old beggar looked at him like this and sighed helplessly. He also knew how the other person felt and did not bother him.
He laid a pile of straw in a corner of the temple for Su Ziyan to sleep. In order to let Su Ziyan sleep better, he found very soft straw and covered it with rags.
The old beggar asked Su Ziyan's name. Su Ziyan looked up at him blankly, his lonely face dull and his eyes became a little dull.
But he still slowly whispered his name, "My name is Su Ziyan"
"Well, Su Ziyan, that's a nice name. From now on, you will live with me, okay?"
"Grandpa, will my parents come back?" Su Ziyan looked at the old beggar and asked in a whisper.
When the old beggar heard this, his eyes darkened, and then he smiled and said to Su Ziyan, "When you grow up, your parents will come to see you. Now, why don't you live here with grandpa?"
Su Ziyan didn't know whether what the old beggar said was true or not, so he nodded blankly.
...
From then on, Su Ziyan lived in this dilapidated temple with the old beggar. The old beggar took care of him like his own parents, but maybe because he had never taken care of a child, everything he did was a little messy.
In addition, Su Ziyan has not completely gotten over the fact that his parents have passed away. He is silent all day long and has nightmares at night. He dreams of the one-armed strong man holding a knife and trying to kill him. Every time he dreams, he wakes up crying out of fear.
When the old beggar heard Su Ziyan's crying, he could only stand up and hug him to comfort him, telling him not to be afraid because he was with him.
During the day, in order to help Su Ziyan get over the shadow of losing his parents as soon as possible, he took him to the mountains to look for wild fruits and game.
Sometimes they could only find wild fruits, but sometimes they could also catch pheasants, mountain mice, rabbits and the like and roast them.
During the time he lived with the old beggar, Su Ziyan slowly got over the shadow of his parents' death and slowly started talking to the old beggar.
After that, the old beggar saw that Su Ziyan's condition was better, so he said to him, "Yan'er, don't run around in the temple. It's dangerous outside. There are wild fruits and a piece of pheasant meat on the table. Eat them when you are hungry."
Grandpa will go to town and bring back some food for Yaner, so that Yaner will have something delicious to fill his stomach."
Su Ziyan nodded and said, "I know, Grandpa. I will stay in the temple and wait for you to come back."
Seeing his cautious look, the old beggar sighed. After that incident, he became much more timid.
After giving a few more instructions, he went down the mountain.
After the old beggar left, Su Ziyan looked at the empty and dilapidated temple and felt scared. He walked to the gate and closed the rotten door.
A man huddled in a grass nest, his hands hugging his knees, his nose hidden in his legs, and only his eyes looking at the ground in front of him.
...
When the old beggar came back in the evening, Su Ziyan went to greet him happily. The old beggar also brought back some steamed buns, some food and the like, but in very small quantities.
He handed them to Su Ziyan and said, "Eat it. You must have been hungry for the whole day."
Su Ziyan was not polite either. He took the rice and steamed buns and started eating. Halfway through, he raised the bun in his hand and said, "Grandpa, eat too."
The old beggar stroked Su Ziyan's head and said lovingly, "Grandpa has eaten, he is not hungry, you can eat."
Although Su Ziyan was confused, he still withdrew his hand and continued eating.
Being so young, he couldn't tell whether there was anything wrong with what the old beggar said.
After that, the old beggar would go out every day and say he would find him food.
Su Ziyan didn't know how his grandfather found food, and he was happy to ask his grandfather to come back early.
Before leaving every time, the old beggar would leave enough food for Su Ziyan and tell him not to run around.
Su Ziyan was also very obedient. After getting used to the old beggar leaving every day, he was no longer very afraid. He just played with ants and insects in the yard of the dilapidated temple and never left the temple.
...
Sometimes the old beggar would take Su Ziyan to the mountains to look for wild fruits and herbs, and then bring them to the town to buy.
However, sometimes the old beggar would come back with some injuries on his body, and he would ask him for help to apply medicine.
Sometimes the old beggar screamed in pain and was in great suffering. Su Ziyan felt very distressed, but he didn't know what to do and could only apply the medicine obediently.
In addition, Su Ziyan was still young and didn't know why the old beggar had injuries on his body.
As time passed, Su Ziyan became accustomed to it and his technique of applying medicine also improved.
...
However, when Su Ziyan was seven years old and the old beggar took him to the street to beg, he understood why the old beggar had injuries on his body.
The old beggar took Su Ziyan to a small town seven miles away. The town was called Baishi Town.
Little Su Ziyan was very curious about Baishi Town, because it was his first time in the town and he felt everything in the town was very new to him.
But seeing so many people, I was still a little frightened and too scared to speak.
Finally, the old beggar took him to a corner of the street, knelt down and begged from passers-by.
Su Ziyan thought this was very funny and he also knelt down like the old beggar, but he soon couldn't stand it anymore.
The old beggar said to Su Ziyan at that time, "Haha, you can't stand it, but actually, grandpa has been kneeling like this for a long time, you will get used to it."
When Su Ziyan heard this, he nodded and knelt down to beg from passers-by.
The men and women passing by looked down at him, because they usually saw the old beggar alone, so they were a little surprised to see a child there.
However, not many people felt sorry for Su Ziyan. Seeing how dirty he looked, some even glared at him with disgust and stayed away from him.
He was still muttering, "Disgusting, he is indeed a beggar, humph!"
When Su Ziyan saw their gazes and heard what they said, he lowered his head in fear and looked at the ground, remaining silent.
When the old beggar saw Su Ziyan's expression, he turned around to comfort him, patted his back and told him not to be afraid and that he would get used to it.
Su Ziyan just lowered his head and listened. After the old beggar finished speaking, he hummed and said, "I understand, Grandpa."
After they sat down for a while, four or five children of about his age, who were dressed in decent clothes, ran over and jumped and clapped their hands, laughing at the old beggar, and also laughed at Su Ziyan.
"Old beggar, no food to eat, squatting on the street corner, asking for food!"
They didn't know who taught them these words, and they spoke to Su Ziyan and the old beggar.
Sometimes they would throw small stones over, hitting the old beggar and Su Ziyan.
Su Ziyan was a little scared and didn't dare to speak. Tears began to well up in the corners of his eyes. The old beggar turned around with a distressed look and hugged him in his arms, protecting him well so that Su Ziyan would not be hit by the stones.
Seeing the old beggar protecting himself like this, the little boy felt upset and shed tears silently. Now he finally understood why the old beggar had scars on his body before. It turned out that it was because of these children who hit him.
After the children were tired from playing and left, the old beggar would ask himself, "Yan'er, how are you? Are you in pain?"
Su Ziyan nodded with tears in his eyes.
The old beggar sighed and said, "Child, this is survival. We are just beggars. We are inferior to others wherever we go.
If we do something to the kids today, their parents will not let us go. Then, we won't be able to survive in this town and may even be beaten to death.
So sometimes, when we live under someone's roof, we have to bow our heads so that we can survive.
We must learn to be tolerant, no matter what time it is. If we don't know how to be tolerant, it will be very dangerous for us.
We don't have a strong backer, background, or wealth, so we can only learn to be patient in front of others, understand?"
Su Ziyan nodded again, and it was at this time that he learned how to be patient.
Later, the old beggar would take him to the town and teach him how to beg and get food from others.
Sometimes they would go to the mountains to look for wild fruits and game, and at that time they liked the mountains and forests the most because they could relax in such an environment.
So the old beggar would take him to the mountains to pick wild fruits and hunt for game.
...
In this way, Su Ziyan lived with the old beggar for two years. However, as Su Ziyan grew older, he gradually realized that his parents would no longer come to see him.
After learning about what he saw and heard in the town, Su Ziyan understood the meaning of death.
After realizing that his parents died at the hands of bad guys, a seed of hatred gradually sprouted in Su Ziyan's heart, but he did not show it.
I didn't blame the old beggar for lying to me before. He kept everything in his heart.
But he was so young that he didn't know how to take revenge, and he had never seen his enemy. He only knew that the man had a broken arm, a face full of fat, and a scar on it.
When I grow up and have the chance, I will definitely go and see if I can find a chance to take revenge on them!
When I grow up and they are old, I will still have a chance!
...
Su Ziyan has grown a lot taller in the past two years, but he is very thin and looks like he is not getting enough nutrition.
The kids of his age have also grown a lot taller, and they would play with Su Ziyan whenever they see him.
But in the end, he was bullied so much that he couldn't stand it anymore and wanted to avenge the old beggar. After they left, Su Ziyan would find an excuse to leave the old beggar and go to some alleys to secretly take revenge on them.
It's just that he was discovered and beaten several times in the beginning, but later he gradually learned his lesson.
In the end, the kids didn't know who beat them, and when they went to look for them, they were no longer there.
When the old beggar saw Su Ziyan leaving, he understood why he left, but he thought that it would be good for Su Ziyan to suffer a little so that he would understand how to survive.
When he was nine years old, the kids stopped bullying him and walked into another street.
At that time, Su Ziyan saw that they did not bully him and went to another place, so he followed them out of curiosity.
Then they were seen walking to a small courtyard covered with green tiles. In the middle of the courtyard, opposite the door, there was a white stone sculpture of a human figure holding a stone book and touching his beard with one hand.
The yard is not very big, but the houses are much better than the surrounding houses.
There were other children already inside, only boys, and the noise of children shouting and laughing could be heard from inside.
He looked around and waited until no one had entered before Su Ziyan sneaked in.
Passing by the small courtyard, I took a look at the flowers and plants planted in the courtyard, and also saw several cypress trees on both sides of the door, which were growing very lush, and in the middle was a rather large main room.
Seeing that there was no one around, he crouched down to a window and looked inside.
I saw that the children who came in were sitting on a small stool. There was a table in front of them. Two people sat at each table, and there were books with blue covers on the table.
"What is this?" Su Ziyan looked at the book curiously. He never saw anyone holding it when begging.
I also saw a middle-aged man of medium build wearing a long robe in front of the children.
He wore a crown hat and had a long dark beard that reached down to his chest.
He held a ruler in his right hand and a blue book in his left hand, and was reciting something while shaking his head.
The children below listened quietly, no one made a sound, their eyes fixed on the middle-aged man in front of them, listening to his lecture.
Su Ziyan found it interesting, as if a new world had opened up to him, so he lay there quietly.
Therefore, every day when he was begging, Su Ziyan would make an excuse to leave and secretly come to the school, lie on the windowsill, read books and learn characters. Although he did not enter the school, it did not affect his learning.
In this way, Su Ziyan went to the school to learn characters every day. When he returned to the dilapidated temple, he would take a branch and write the characters he learned today on the ground and read them.
The old beggar was naturally very happy watching him write, and he often praised Su Ziyan for his promising future.
Hearing these words, Su Ziyan was extremely happy and became even more excited.
As time passed, Su Ziyan once went to eavesdrop on a lecture and was discovered by the teacher and the children in the school. The teacher did not say anything and continued teaching.
But after the get out of class, the children in the school would surround him and laugh at him, "A beggar wants to learn to read. Can he really learn it? Can he learn it? If he learns it, will he know how to beg for food? Hahahaha."
The other children also laughed mockingly.
But Su Ziyan remained silent and didn't say anything. He lowered his head and accepted their ridicule, but still went to lectures every day.