The one with such strange eyes was a young master. He was dressed in a scholar's robe and his long hair was scattered behind his head. His appearance and figure revealed a handsome and outstanding style. However, at this moment, he seemed to have overdrawn all his vitality. He picked up the wine jar and poured it into his mouth in a dispirited and lonely manner. Other than the initial gaze, he did not care at all and did not mind that there was a little girl of unknown origin in the carriage.
The owner of the carriage did not say anything, but it did not mean that Li Yue could stay here confidently. She stood up by holding the inner wall of the carriage and used the etiquette she had learned from the women in the brothel to bow to the young master. Then, she sat up straight and tried to use the most serious tone to praise the young master as if he was the only one in the world. In the end, she tactfully and carefully asked if he still lacked an errand boy.
Li Yue said so much eloquently, but the young master turned a deaf ear. However, the burly man in front of them lifted the mink curtain and revealed a rough face with a curly beard. He used a tone that was completely opposite to his appearance and asked softly, "Young master, there is still a long way to go.
"Young Master, there's still a long way to go. There's not enough time left for us to return to Guannei. I'm clumsy. It's not enough for me to take care of Young Master alone. Why don't we keep this child and take care of him? If Young Master thinks it's inappropriate, we can go to a place with people and find a suitable family to keep this child.
The bearded man's words were very pleasant. After all, at Li Yue's age, her background was unknown, and she was a girl. Usually, she could not do much. On the contrary, the person who took in the child had to spend a lot of effort to take care of her. Ordinary people would definitely abandon her in the border.
Therefore, as soon as the burly man finished speaking, Li Yue hurriedly began to promote herself.
"I have no relatives in this world and I don't eat much. It is very easy to feed me. Not only can I read, but I also know how to calculate. So, can I trouble you to take me in for the time being?
I will work hard to make you feel that it is worth it. "
She did not know which sentence moved the young master. He finally put down the wine jar in his hand and carefully looked at Li Yue. He let out a low sigh from the bottom of his heart.
"I am a hopeless person. How can I dislike others? If you are willing, then stay. If you want to leave one day, you don't have to tell me."
After saying this, the young master's lips curled into a bitter smile. He raised the wine jar again and drank. His entire person was once again shrouded in a defeated aura and forcefully separated himself from the world.
Li Yue did not like to see people drowning their sorrows with alcohol. She originally wanted to persuade the young master, but she swallowed the words that were about to come out of her mouth.
The atmosphere in the carriage was too depressing. Li Yue had the idea of sitting outside and looking at the scenery along the way. However, just as she lifted the curtain, the cold wind that came from the front made her sneeze.
Shrinking into the warm corner of the carriage, Li Yue suddenly remembered that when she escaped, she only wore a light-colored, tight-fitting thin shirt for the sake of convenience. She did not wear any thick clothes at all. The reason why she was able to sleep in the carriage for so long was also because the interior of the carriage was covered with a thick layer of mink fur and she was covered with the young master's thick coat.
Now she wanted to sit outside the carriage. After a little hesitation, Li Yue picked up the thick coat that the young master did not wear and firmly wrapped it around her body.
The area outside the pass was mostly bitterly cold. Although it was not yet the twelfth lunar month of winter and snow had yet to fall, the wind blowing from all directions was so cold that Li Yue could not help but exhale.
The bearded man, who was driving the carriage, looked at the little girl who squeezed to his side. He simply took off his cloak and directly covered the little girl.
The little girl wrapped the cloak around her body and raised her head to ask the man,
"My surname is Li, my name is Yue. How do I address you and the young master inside?"
"Your surname is also Li?
No wonder you are fated to meet my young master.
My young master's surname is Li, and his name is Xunhuan. He is the Third Scorer. Unfortunately … sigh.
As for me … I, Tie Chuanjia, am just an ordinary servant. You can just call me 'Uncle Tie'. "
"Oh, Li — Li Xunhuan?
Wait … Uncle Tie, you just said … young master is Li Xunhuan?
That Xiao Li's Flying Dagger … Third Scorer? "
Li Yue's heart skipped a beat. She looked at Uncle Tie with a face full of horror.
Uncle Tie seemed to be surprised that a mere child knew of Li Xunhuan's title. He carefully looked at Li Yue's hands, clothes, and cheeks. No one knew what he was thinking, but a disapproving look appeared on his face.
"Although young master is a well-known figure in the jianghu, it's not something a child like you can easily know.
Child, did you run away because of a conflict with your family? You're too bold. What if you meet a bad person and fall into a dangerous situation? "
What's wrong with a child? Before a child transmigrated, she also grew up watching the TV series "Xiao Li's Flying Dagger".
Even if the fans of the original novel who knew the plot of the TV series had been magically altered, Li Yue still could not forget Li Xunhuan, one of the two male gods with curly hair in the TV series. She secretly glanced at the original Li Xunhuan through the gap of the curtain. In her heart, she compared the difference between the main character and the actor. She softly refuted Uncle Tie.
"Uncle Tie, my family is really not in this world. You see, I can wear such good clothes not because of my good family background, but because I was sold by a neighbor to pay off a debt.
Speaking of dangerous situations … is there any place worse than a brothel? "
As she spoke, Li Yue sadly lowered her head. The bearded man thought of all kinds of rumors in the jianghu over the years, but in the end, he did not say it to scare the little girl. He gently rubbed the little girl's head and shook the reins with his other hand.
"Jia!"
From the time Li Yue escaped until she woke up, half a day had passed. Therefore, after a period of bumpy ride in the carriage, Tie Chuanjia stopped the carriage on the flat ground by the roadside and lit a bonfire to boil water.
He and Li Xunhuan were both men, so they could make do with lunch. However, with a little girl in the carriage, he could not eat lunch so easily.
Forcing the little girl to stay in the carriage, Tie Chuanjia picked up a cloth bag and got out of the carriage. After a while, he came back with a few more rabbits in the bag.
Tie Chuanjia had originally wanted to leave a rabbit for the little girl to play with, but the little girl was more excited than he had imagined. However, this excitement was not because of her love for pets, but because of her anticipation of roasted meat. The little girl even continuously told Tie Chuanjia what seasoning to add to make the roasted rabbit taste better. Tie Chuanjia was speechless.
The roasted meat filled their stomachs, so they naturally did not take out the dry food. After resting for a while, Tie Chuanjia filled the kettle with hot water. He took the little girl to sit outside the carriage and started the carriage again.
In the eyes of the common people, the area outside Yanmen Pass was a desolate place with few people. However, since the founding of the Xian Dynasty, the court had never prohibited the people living at the border from trading with each other. After a hundred years, the trade caravans between the Central Plains and the Western Regions became more and more frequent. Outside the pass, there were many small and large relay stations, small towns, and cities led by the people of the Central Plains or the people living at the border.
Following the tracks left behind by the trade caravans, Tie Chuanjia hurried the entire way. When the sky was completely covered by night, he finally drove the carriage to a deserted small town.
Probably because they often encountered late travelers, the only inn in the small town was not closed. The candles in the lanterns at the door swayed in the cold wind. Tie Chuanjia looked around and hesitated for a while before parking the carriage inside the inn.
The waiter was lying on the table outside the inn drowsily and had no intention of coming out to greet the guests. Tie Chuanjia skillfully put the horse into the shed and added some fodder. He then carried Li Yue down and pulled up the hood to cover her face. Then he gently called Li Xun Huan a few times but did not receive a response.
Tie Chuanjia habitually pulled open the curtain of the carriage and helped the drunk Li Xun Huan off the carriage. Li Yue did the best she could to take some things and followed closely behind the two.
There were very few people in the inn. Other than the waiter, there was only a short and fat middle-aged man standing inside. He was constantly fiddling with the abacus in his hand, calculating something.
Under the dim yellow light, the middle-aged man looked gloomy. He heard the sound of footsteps in the inn and slightly raised his eyelids to glance at the newcomer. His voice was hoarse and unpleasant to the ears.
"Do you want a meal or a place to stay?"
"A place to stay. I want two of the best rooms. If there's hot water, bring two buckets and send it directly to the two rooms."
"How can there be a good room in this godforsaken place? There's only one room. Just make do with it."
The middle-aged man did not say if there was hot water. He went straight to the waiter and kicked him. His face was getting more and more impatient. "Get up and get to work."
The waiter's body swayed and stood up listlessly. He led Tie Chuanjia and the other two upstairs and pushed open a door. He did not care about the faces of the guests who were left aside.
Tie Chuanjia silently brought Li Xun Huan into the room and let the latter sit on a chair. Then he spread a sheet on the dirty bed and let Li Xun Huan lie on it.
Li Yue frowned when she entered the room. There was no other reason than the room was too smelly. It was obviously so dry outside the Great Wall, but the room was filled with a musty and rotten smell. She could not help but want to open the window to get some fresh air. Tie Chuanjia reached out to stop her. Li Yue could only sit on the chair silently and watch Tie Chuanjia tidy up the room.
After a while, the waiter came into the room with half a bucket of hot water and a pot of hot tea.
Li Yue looked at the dirty teacup and teapot. She gritted her teeth and poured a cup of tea. The water in the cup was also very muddy. She scratched her head and stood aside, watching Tie Chuanjia wash up Li Xun Huan who was drinking. She felt that she could not get involved at all.
After washing up Li Xun Huan, Tie Chuanjia tidied up the teacups and teapot. He moved the dining table inside and found a quilt from the next room to lay on it. Then he wiped Li Yue's hands and face with a hot towel and comforted the child to sleep on the table.
Tie Chuanjia was an eight-foot tall, muscular man. He was more virtuous than Li Yue in her previous life. Seeing Tie Chuanjia guarding the door, Li Yue felt relieved and closed her eyes.
Disregarding the loud noises she heard in her daze, this night could be said to be the most peaceful night Li Yue had ever slept since she transmigrated. When she sat up with a yawn, the first thing that appeared in her vision was Tie Chuanjia who was sewing clothes with an embroidery needle, followed by Li Xun Huan who was sitting on a chair and drinking wine with his head tilted back.
Sensing that the little girl had woken up, Tie Chuanjia let go of the embroidery needle and went downstairs to bring two buckets of hot water up. He carefully washed the little girl's face and hands and brought two bowls of hot soup noodles from downstairs.
After the three people in the room had tidied up everything, Tie Chuanjia carried Li Yue downstairs and covered the little girl's eyes with his big hands.
Li Yue peeked through Tie Chuanjia's fingers to a corner of the inn. The floor was full of broken tables and chairs and traces of a fight. Combined with the fact that the inn staff had not been seen since she woke up, Li Yue was a little confused.