52 Xiao Xia

Yao Ling decided to go, but she agreed to Xiao Yu's term. The street was also bustling with small stalls – almost the same with the left side street. However, the types of people were pretty different. The street where 'Fu Rong' belonged to was visited by a lot of merchants and nobles. Yes, there were lower class people, but only a few of them. It was probably because it was a high-end street. While this side of the street was the opposite.

Various kinds of people could be seen here. Rich, poor, scholar, soldiers. When they just turned around, they only saw food and snack stalls – for example, tanghulu and meat bun. It made Yao Ling swallow her saliva. The smell was very inviting and everything looked so delicious.

"Xiao Yu, let's find something to eat!" Yao Ling felt like a little kid who was giddy and wanted to eat as many snacks as possible. She went to almost every stall and pointed at almost everything.

"I want this!"

"I want that!"

Xiao Yu gaped at her young mistress. Yao Ling was usually calm and collected, sometimes adorable. However, she never saw her this hyper and greedy. She also ran around like a little child. She wanted everything! Luckily, they brought money with them. Xiao Yu also ran around following Yao Ling, while paying everything that she bought. Xiao Yu almost couldn't keep up with her young mistress for a few times. She felt out of breath, but she didn't want to lower her young mistress' spirit. She could only shake her head and obediently follow hee young mistress.

When Xiao Yu couldn't hold more things anymore, she whined, "Young Mistress, please stop buying more foods! Look at both of our hands! This servant had no space left in this servant's hands to bring more foods!"

Yao Ling looked at both of their hands and realized that she had really gone overboard. She always loved eating stall foods, but previously she had no money. She could only drool. With 'Wang Fu' allowance, she had more money than ever. Thus, she decided to buy all the things that she couldn't buy before. But… looked like she really went overboard.

She laughed and said, "Opss… Sorry."She didn't feel guilty at all, but yes, she should stop buying things for now. Yao Ling was going to eat her tanghulu again when she saw a little girl looking at her tanghulu. The little girl was drooling cutely. The little girl's cloth was tattered in a few places and it was in a poor condition. Her face was smudged with dirt here and there. In a glance, she knew that this little girl was a beggar.

Yao Ling felt pity to the little girl and gave her the tanghulu. The little girl reminded her of her past self. When she saw the big smile on the little girl's face, she felt like crying. She missed her deceased mother. Although they didn't have that much money, she sometimes bought one for her. The cost? Her mother didn't eat anything for several days. Only when she was older that she knew about it. Since then, she lied to her mother that she hated tanghulu and never once ate it again. Until now. Her condition at thay time wasn't as severe as this little girl.

Yao Ling looked around and found that this little girl seemed to be alone. "Are you alone?"

The little girl nodded at her. "Yes. I'm an orphan." After saying that, the little girl lowered her head sadly.

"Where do you live?"

The little girl hesitantly answered her. "It's a dirty place. Pretty lady, it's not a good place for you to go."

Yao Ling furrowed her eyebrows. Was the place really that bad? Yao Ling decided to follow her gut and asked, "Why don't you take me there? Maybe I can help you."

The little girl's eyes lit up. "Really? Are pretty lady going to help us?"

Yao Ling smiled, feeling happy that she could wash away the little girl's sadness – even only for a while. Before she answered, she felt Xiao Yu tug her sleeves, "Young Mistress, I don't think that this is a good idea."

"Why?"

Xiao Yu felt like rolling her eyes but didn't dare to do so. The little girl already told them it was a dirty place and it was certainly not a good place for Young Mistress to go. The little girl could also become a bait of bad people. However, how could she say all this in front of the little girl?

"It's an unsuitable place for a noble lady such as yourself to go." Xiao Yu could only say that much, however, she could see the little girl's face fell. She felt guilty, but she had to think of her young mistress' safety.

Yao Ling knew that what Xiao Yu said was making sense, but she really pitied the little girl. Besides, this was also aligned with her plan. Was this a good thing for her to go? Or should she delay it first? She felt slightly hesitant. What choice should she make? However, she couldn't resist the little girl's sad expression.

"It's okay. I'm just going to take a look for a bit. I don't think there's going to be a problem later." She softly gazed at the little girl and said, "Lead the way, please."

The little girl nodded happily. She knew her place and didn't dare to go near the pretty lady. She was dirty and she didn't want to rub her dirtiness to the pretty lady.

"What is your name, little girl?" Yao Ling didn't know how to call her, so she decided to ask her name.

"This slave's name is Xiao Xia," the little girl answered meekly.

"Xiao Xia… is your place far?" Yao Ling hesitantly asked. Xiao Xia took them to her home, but the paths that were taken… quite complicated. They passed through small alleys. The twist and turn made both Xiao Yu and her feel confused. It was hard to remember the way.

She suddenly became not so sure anymore. Was this actually a trap? She removed her negative thought. There was no way this cute little girl would dare to do that. Therefore, she still followed her nonetheless.

"No, Pretty Lady. We will soon arrive there," Xiao Xia turned around and grinned widely.

"Can you send us back later?"

Xiao Xia nodded happily. "Of course! The path is confusing, right? We don't live in a nice place and we can only live in a secluded place that was accidentally found. I have been living here since last year."

"Last year?"

"En~ my parents died last year and my auntie kicked me out of the house with nothing. I have nothing but myself! Luckily, Ning jie found me, otherwise, I'd have died on the street." Xiao Xia explained.

Yao Ling and Xiao Yu both pitied her. Their wary gaze softened and continued following Xiao Xia. When they walked along the confusing path, they didn't find any other person. The place was deserted.

"Why is there no one along the way?" Xiao Yu whispered in fear. "Young Mistress, do you think this is the right decision?"