He had seen clearly by the moonlight just now, there was someone in the ear room, a child, wearing a much larger cotton robe, huddled in the corner and scratching something on the wall. The sound was made by the small stool she was sitting on, and the legs of the stool creaked every time she leaned forward.

Why this child is alone in the ear room Hong Tao is not clear, the lights are still on in the main room, the children should not have slept yet, maybe they were punished because they made a mistake.

No matter what the reason is, Hong Tao plans to go in and take a look, in this cold day, even if the corporal punishment is not so vicious, it doesn't matter if the child is too annoying, but it is very troublesome to get frostbite. In this era, if you have a fever or pneumonia or something, if you don't do it, you will die.

I remember that my grandmother had told my aunt and uncle many times that I was not allowed to deliberately scare myself, because the soul of the child was not yet strong, and it was easy to scare away. So Hong Tao deliberately made some movement to let the children in the room hear it first, and give him a mental preparation.

Stepping forward and pushing the door, the children in the room were indeed ready, but the empty room had nowhere to hide, so they had to shrink in the corner of the wall, and cover their faces, as if this would make people invisible. But the child is a child after all, and his curiosity is too heavy, and his eyes are still looking at the door through the cracks of his fingers, wanting to see who is coming.

"Yo...... Your name is Wang Chen, right? When he saw that the person who came in was Hong Tao, his two hands were automatically put down, and Hong Tao immediately recognized the two distinctive eyeballs, one yellow and one flower. Isn't this the little girl that Lian'er insisted on bringing back, I forgot what it was called, but I gave her a new name.

"......" The little girl flashed a pair of cat eyes and did not speak, but nodded emphatically.

"It's ...... Why is it depicted on the wall, is it a mistake and is it punished by the gentleman? Seeing that the child also recognized himself, Hong Tao was relieved, so he squatted down and carefully looked at the traces on the wall by the moonlight that came in through the broken window.

It's surprising that it's actually Arabic numerals, only 1 and 2, and it's been written so many times that it's not neat, at best it's recognizable.

But it's not easy, this little girl is only about three years old, learning to write a few numbers is not a new thing, but a person huddled in a dark room and carved on the wall, obviously not very ordinary.

"......" The little girl blinked again and shook her head vigorously.

"They're all reluctant to play with you, right?" Hong Tao reached out and touched the child's head, she had the urge to dodge, but she didn't. Then Hong Tao grabbed a pair of children's small hands, which was cold.

Since she didn't make a mistake, Hong Tao probably knew why. I remember that when I was in the Salesian Bureau, Xu Donglai seemed to have said that this little girl was often bullied by orphans, so he hoped that he would take her away, so as not to suffer in that place for many more years.

I didn't ask carefully at the time, but now that I think about it, she must have been bullied again. Children don't have much heart, and when they are rejected by the group, they can't bear the humiliation and bear the burden, and the most common way is to hide.

Then they will become more and more withdrawn, less and less trusting of their own kind, and even after adulthood, this mental defect will not be healed, at most it will be hidden deeper and less easily discovered by outsiders.

"......" may have been said to be in her heart, or she may have been touched by the warmth of Hong Tao's hand, the little girl had another expression in addition to nodding this time, and shed tears.

"Cry if you want to, you have the right to cry now, no need to use it in vain. After crying, tell the official, why do you write these words? ”

Tears, but not crying, because the child couldn't cry at all. This made Hong Tao feel even more uncomfortable, she once spoke, she was definitely not dumb, but she didn't even cry, obviously not born, she should be bullied and afraid, and she could only cry secretly most of the time, so she developed this habit.

Humans are sometimes crueler than wild beasts, not only adults, but also children. From a very young age, he was cruel to his body, especially in treating his own kind.

The reason why this little girl was rejected by the group Hong Tao now probably understands that not only is her left eye disabled, the lens may have been injured and turned variegated, and her right eye is not black, not very similar to the Han people.

"Learn the skill...... "Even though she was held in her arms by Hong Tao and encouraged, the little girl didn't cry loudly, and after shedding a few tears, she actually opened her mouth to speak.......

"Well, ambitious. Shall you tell the official where your home is, and then the official will ride you back on a big horse? ”

This answer made Hong Tao's heart twitch again, the child is not ordinary, even if he is out of the orphanage, he can now be fed and clothed, and there is meat to eat and milk to drink, he still has not forgotten his wish to go home.

The casual flicker of "......" seemed to be seen through by the little girl, and then tears gushed out again. This time I should have barely cried, still silent, but my body was twitching incessantly.

"Did you forget your home? It doesn't matter, the official is very capable, as long as you can tell what the family is like, I can take you back. ”

Hong Tao had no choice but to continue to flicker, obviously, this little girl can't remember where her home is, even if her parents told her, but she definitely can't understand or remember, this is anxious and aggrieved tears.

"Daddy said to the west, far away, there is a ...... on the house"

The little girl was fooled by Hong Tao, wiped her tears with the back of her hand, bit her lip and thought about it, then shrank her body and got out of the cotton robe, turned around and gave Hong Tao a back.

"I ...... Mine...... It's far enough! Although there were no candles in the room, it was clear by the faint moonlight, and then the few whiskers almost stood up.

There is a huge six-pointed star pattern tattooed between the shoulder blades on the child's back, not only the six-pointed star, but also some decorative ribbon-like lines, and it is not clear whether there is a text in the middle.

But just a six-pointed star is enough to surprise Hong Tao, this little girl is really not Han, and it doesn't seem to be enough distance to say that she is a Hu person. Her hometown should be further west, and she must have crossed the Black Sea.

This situation is the last thing people who like to brag to see, and even if they have a detailed address, with a house number and a list of relatives, they can't send her back.

"......" The little girl is indeed not an ordinary child, she seems to see hope in Hong Tao's expression and tone, and then blinks a pair of cat eyes, full of tears, staring at Hong Tao's face.

"Uh...... The officials do know your hometown, but right...... It is too far away, separated by mountains, deserts and the sea, and it can only be reached from when wearing cotton clothes to wearing cotton clothes when wearing single clothes and then putting on cotton clothes. Now the officials can't take you home, you're too young, and there are a lot of monsters as big as a house on the way that eat children. In this way, you first learn skills from the officials, and when you grow up, you have more strength and knowledge than the officials, how about we set off and go home? ”

Hong Tao can see it, as long as he dares to say half a word, this kid will definitely let himself see what it means to cry. In order to stop worrying, I can only continue to flicker and give her hope, but I can't touch it in a short time, and I guess I will forget it after a long time.

In this life, Hong Tao really didn't plan to go around Europe again, without a strong navy, it was too dangerous to go over from the land, and he couldn't row.