C7

Green Bamboo pursed his lips and took out a handkerchief from his pocket. Not new, but very clean.

"Little stone, why are you crying? Do you miss your mother? "

She stood on her tiptoes, one hand on the cold stone, the other trying to lift it up and wipe the droplets bit by bit. As she wiped, she consoled softly, "I think she must be missing you too! I must have met with some difficulty, so I couldn't hurry back in time to pick you up. If he waited any longer, perhaps he would arrive.

Speaking of which, I'm rather envious of you. At least, there was one more thought. I've never had a mother since I was young, and I've never seen my father, not even the chance to wait. If we stand together, you'll be much stronger than me. "

A gust of autumn wind blew a few strands of hair from the girl's forehead. The stone stood there, its color darker now that the rain had been dried.

This stone had a name, "Motherland." All the locals knew of its origin. But some of the details were told by Grandma Yu next door.

It was said that many years ago, the village bachelor had used all his savings to buy a beautiful wife from the traffickers.

In the beginning, women always wanted a chance to escape. The old bachelor had spent a lot of money, so he naturally didn't want the money to go to waste. So he locked her in his house and kept his eyes on her. Later, the woman gave birth to a lovely son.

After a while, she seemed to get used to life here and stopped making a fuss about going home. Only then did the bachelor relax a little and occasionally let the woman go out to work, but she was not allowed to take the child with her.

One afternoon, while she was in the field, the woman ran away.

Only then did the man realize that her acceptance of her fate was just an act. He searched the area for a few days in a flurry, but there was no sign of him.

A year later, he married a wife. The stepmother had a bad temper. She would look for trouble all day and scold the child. The man hated his son's mother, so he never cared.

Whenever night fell, the villagers would see the thin and frail little boy standing at the village entrance, eagerly looking into the distance. It was as if he was waiting for his mother to come back and take him away.

Day after day, no matter whether it was windy or rainy, every day was like this.

However, the woman did not appear again. Then the boy disappeared, and there was a big stone at the entrance to the village.

After hearing this legend, Green Bamboo firmly believed that the stone was the child who transformed into it, and even gave "him" the name of "Little Stone".

Because of Qiu Feng's incident, the green bamboo had a poor reputation in Stone Village.

Children older than her often bullied her, and children younger than her avoided her. Beside her, there were no other companions of similar age. Her heart was extremely lonely.

Every time she had a problem or was in a good mood, she would come over and pour out her heart's content. Although he had been talking to himself from beginning to end, the bamboo was still very satisfied.

In short, Little Rock became the only friend of Qing Zhu.

Green Bamboo twisted the handkerchief dry, folded it and put it back in his pocket and continued:

"By the way, let me tell you something — I made two dollars today. You know what? It was the first time I'd ever had so much. You see, I've grown a little taller and can do more work for my family. So I'm no longer a burden, am I? "

After saying this, the bamboo happily pursed its lips and smiled. A pair of watery eyes slightly narrowed into two crescent moons. Two rows of teeth, white and neat. On both sides of her lips, two cute dimples appeared.

When they were young, the pear vortices were not obvious. As he grew older, he became clearer and clearer.

"Would it be lonely to turn into stone and not move? When your mother comes back, you'd better turn back into a human! When the time comes, I'll roast the sugar cake for you to eat. Grandma said my baked sugar cake thieves are delicious, eat several pieces every time. Alright, I can't talk to you for too long today. I have to hurry back. I'll play with you in the future, take care! "

Green Bamboo waved at Rock and headed back to the village.

He had only taken a few steps when he saw the most naughty children in the village huddled together, discussing something.

The boy standing in the middle had a bulbous nose and was tall and strong. He stood out among the children.

This person was the leader of the children in the village and was also known as the "little overlord". Ever since they moved to Stone Village last month, they had been bringing a bunch of troublemakers to wander around, looking for trouble to bully.

At this moment, the little overlord was holding a small branch in his hand and picking his teeth with a tilted head.

A pile of freshly burnt wood was smoking at his feet. By the side of the wooden log, there were piles of colorful chicken feathers as well as a few pieces of chicken bones that were left over from gnawing on it.

"Let's not talk about it. This chicken from Old Liu's house tastes really good!" "In a few days, you guys go get a few more and help laozi satisfy my craving." He let out a burp, narrowed his eyes and announced, "When we've eaten our fill, let's digest the food and play a game of 'county magistrate investigating prisoners', what do you think?"

"Yes, yes!" That old fart is so funny! " The children surrounding him all responded positively.

When the green bamboo saw them, it immediately lowered its head. He leaned against the wall and quickly walked towards the village.

These people were not kind people. Every time she saw them from far away, she would hide as far away as she could.

"Same old rules. I'll be the county magistrate." The little tyrant bent down, picked up a tattered felt hat from the ground, and put it on his head.

According to past experience, being a prisoner was a pain in the ass. Therefore, all the children were fighting to be a bailiff, afraid that the unfortunate job would fall to them.

"If there aren't any prisoners, who can I interrogate?" The little overlord waved his fist, and threatened with a fierce glint in his eyes, "You lot draw or guess my punches, choose one right now or I won't forgive you!"

The little overlord had an irritable personality, was tall and big, and was much stronger than them. He bullied them quite a bit.

Hearing the little overlord's words, everyone looked at each other in dismay. No one dared to object.

A short and fat boy looked around and caught a glimpse of the green bamboo as it passed by.

He could not help but light up his eyes, giving a meaningful look to the people around him, before gesturing in the direction of the green bamboo.

The others understood immediately, and rushed forward with him to block the girl's way. Without a second word, some tugged at their arms, while others grabbed their sleeves, forcefully pulling her over.

"What?" Green Bamboo staggered and asked with furrowed brows, "Where are you bringing me?"

"Little murderer, behave yourself. "Be good and play with us for a while. I'll let you go when you're done."

"No." As she struggled, she discussed it with the children. "I've got to go back and get a meal."

These guys, they were all full of bad luck, and she didn't want to play with them.

"Cut the crap, hurry up and come over." They refused to let her go and insisted on forcefully pulling her away.

Crap, what should I do? Green Bamboo bit his parched lower lip, trying hard to think of a way to escape.