Cherry Red and Lychee Fragrance (3)
“The imperial concubine smiled upon seeing the horse raising red dust; no one knew that it was lychee coming.”
The sun was shining and the cicadas were singing in summer.
There was a school down the street, and the sound of children’s voices was loud and clear with a sense of hope and beauty.
Outside the school’s courtyard, there was a cherry tree of considerable age. It bore many tender red cherries, each one so small and lovely that it pulled the branches down a little.
However, it seemed like the cherries had been hanging for a long time. They were already ripe but no one picked them, so they fell to the ground one by one.
A bird flew in, pecking at the cherries, and accidentally dropped one onto the head of a man under the tree.
It was a little boy with shoulder-length black hair, which was tied in a bun, wearing slightly tattered gray clothing. His body was thin, his face smeared with grime, and the only color on his body was the two red feather earrings hanging from his ears.
He was leaning against the cherry tree with his eyes closed, but when the fruit hit him, he opened his eyes with a shudder.
It was like fresh rain in the well-watered Jiangnan, south of the Yangtze River, so hazy that just looking into those eyes reduced some of the heat.
His fingers ran through the air. It was unknown what he was thinking about.
Although he looked a little younger than before, Li Ruo Shui was still able to recognize him at once. His eyebrows were as good-looking as ever.
Knowing that no one else could see her, Li Ruo Shui walked straight over to him but stopped a few steps away.
Sure enough, Lu Zhi Yao, whose five senses were extremely sensitive, turned his head. Thinking that there was someone here, he flashed a smile. His younger self already had a bit of the charm like the grown up him.
Based on the estimated time, he would have been abandoned by his mother by now, but it couldn’t be sure if he had met his master.
Li Ruo Shui looked closely at his clothes. The cuffs were torn with a few holes, and there were quite a few bruises on his exposed arms. His trousers only reached his ankles, and his shoes seemed to be too small.
In general, a street beggar was better dressed than him.
Fortunately it was summer. Otherwise, with just these two pieces of clothing, he would have died after two steps in winter.
“Lychees are sweet and delicious, and it’s in season this time of year. Go back today and buy some, then write it down as a testimonial, and hand it in tomorrow.”
The teacher’s voice came from within the courtyard wall.
Perhaps it was too hot in the house, so he conducted the lesson with the children in the courtyard, just a wall away from Lu Zhi Yao.
The one inside the wall shook his head while reading. The one outside the wall tapped his fingertips against the tree. Then he remembered the little thing that had fallen on his head. He lowered his head and shook it off.
Seemingly a little bored, he moved back and forth under the tree, stepping on a number of ripe cherries on the ground during his actions, and the ground was full of bright red juice.
Li Ruo Shui had no idea what he was doing here, so she sat on the ground, propping her jaw up and watching him.
The red feathers under his ears swayed as he walked around, his dark hair just covering his jaw, and the red silk tied to the top of his head fluttered around, looking like a homeless little girl.
Suddenly, he picked up a fruit core wrapped in soft and rotten pulp from the ground and hit Li Ruo Shui without saying a word.
The situation was so familiar that Li Ruo Shui didn’t even dodge, and she watched as the fruit core passed through her head and hit a vendor’s cart.
Perhaps his internal strength was not enough, the fruit core didn’t get embedded and bounced off with a thud.
Lu Zhi Yao tilted his head in a slightly suspicious manner. It was unknown what he was thinking again.
The stall owner, who was painting sugar figures when the car shook, looked over with an impatient face and walked over to the tree with the sweet scent of maltose all over him.
Li Ruo Shui hurriedly stood up and subconsciously stepped in front of Lu Zhi Yao, but she couldn’t stop anyone. She could only watch as the stall owner walked through her and stood under the tree with his arms crossed.
“Whose kid are you? Why are you throwing stones around?!”
Lu Zhi Yao lifted his small face. His eyes were dark and unfocused, but he still drew a smile at the stall owner.
The corners of his lips were already slightly upturned. This smile made him even more good-natured and cute, even Li Ruo Shui’s heart softened a lot.
“Where are your parents?!”
The stall owner, however, did not soften his heart one bit. Instead, he became even more aggressive when he saw that he was vulnerable.
The sun was scorching hot. There were not many pedestrians on the street, and his candy melted easily, so he had been in a sulking mood for a long time. Now that he finally found a punching bag, how could he let it go so easily?
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