Chapter 3

That winter, Niuniu's mother fell ill. Perhaps she could have endured a common illness, but this time it was different; she was very ill. Niuniu's mother grew increasingly frail, and gradually, she could no longer struggle to beg for food.

One day, the emaciated Niuniu's mother lay in the dilapidated temple, the sunlight shining on her. The sun was still bright, but her face remained ashen.

Niuniu lay on her mother, crying helplessly. A Chou was on the other side, his eyes brimming with tears, but he held them back, not letting them fall. Since he had cried for an entire afternoon in Huanshan Village until his eyes were swollen and his voice hoarse, he had not cried again. It seemed that his tears had dried up from that moment on.

Niuniu's mother held Niuniu's thin hand with one hand and A Chou with the other, her eyes filled with such sorrow, a mix of helplessness, desolation, longing, and pain, that it broke one's heart.

"A Chou, Niuniu... I entrust her to you..."

Niuniu's mother knew A Chou was still young and that this stubborn child had always refused to beg, unable even to support himself. But she had no one else to entrust her to. The beggars in the temple stayed far away, watching her with cold eyes. She saw no trace of sympathy in their numb gazes.

"Niuniu..."

Niuniu's mother sighed deeply, her weak hand resting on Niuniu's head, gently stroking it a few times before she passed away. Her eyes remained open, a tear trickling down her cheek.

"Mother! Mother..."

Niuniu clung to her mother's body, sobbing uncontrollably.

A Chou's eyes turned red. With red eyes, gritted teeth, and tears held back, he gently closed Niuniu's mother's eyes and stood up to walk out.

Niuniu lay on her mother's body, crying. When she had no strength left to cry, A Chou returned.

A Chou looked like a little dog that had rolled in the mud, his body dirty. He walked back to the dilapidated temple, sat down next to Niuniu, and after a long breath, he pulled the tattered bamboo mat, placed Niuniu's mother on it, and dragged her out of the temple.

On the grass by the river, A Chou dug a hole with a stick and his hands.

When a person dies, they should be buried to rest in peace.

His family, his parents, and his sister had all turned to ashes in a raging fire. At that time, he had cried like Niuniu, fleeing the village in a daze. Now, he had the strength to bury Niuniu's mother properly, rather than letting her become a discarded corpse in a ditch.

A Chou buried Niuniu's mother with his bloodied, worn-out hands, placed a small wooden board as a tombstone, and then had no strength left to move.

From that day on, A Chou and Niuniu relied on each other, like brother and sister.

She no longer called him A Chou but A Xiong, and he still called her Niuniu.

A Chou continued to steal and often got beaten, so the two often went hungry.

Niuniu, who had been taken care of by her mother, did not know how to beg well. The good spots for begging were taken by other beggars, so she could not get much food. Once, she was bitten by a dog and could not move for several days. A Chou could not steal anything, and she was nearly starved to death.

A Chou, like a desperate wolf, squatted beside the nearly lifeless Niuniu, looking at her with a deep, sad gaze. Niuniu did not know what A Xiong was thinking; she had never understood him. She only knew that A Xiong was good to her, and since her mother's death, he was her only family in the world.

A Chou looked at her for a long time, then tightened his already empty stomach with a grass rope and walked out with a weak step.

The beggars in the temple immediately became indignant, saying that Niuniu's mother had raised a white-eyed wolf, that A Chou had abandoned Niuniu to die, and that he no longer cared for her. But they were unwilling to share any of the food they had begged for.

Niuniu did not believe them. She did not believe that the A Xiong who climbed high trees to get bird eggs for her, who caught dragonflies with twigs for her, and who caught fish for her would abandon her. She believed A Xiong would return, perhaps to dig a grave for her, just as he had for her mother.

Thinking of soon seeing her mother, she felt a mix of joy and peace. Thinking of being separated from A Xiong, she felt a mix of reluctance and melancholy. She did not know what the world of death was like, but her instinctive attachment to life and fear of death filled her with fear.

She waited for a long time, thinking for a long time, until she had no strength left to think. The indignant buzz of the beggars stopped, and Niuniu saw A Xiong return. He walked weakly, but his hands were not bloodied or dirty. He held a broken clay pot in his hands, which contained half a pot of hot porridge.

A Chou fed Niuniu mouth to mouth, one bite at a time.

Their lives were as cheap as the wild grass on the field, trampled by many but still living on.

Niuniu survived.

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That winter, the closest spots to the fire were taken by other beggars. The two children were at the far end, under the broken roof of the temple, where snowflakes gently fell on them. They were covered in straw, hugging each other tightly, relying on each other's warmth to fight the cold.

Spring came, and A Xiong, once a clumsy, shy beggar, became a very clever and capable little beggar.

The once stubborn boy who preferred to steal and get beaten had become accustomed to being a beggar. Perhaps he still harbored a bit of stubbornness, pride, and persistence in his heart, but for Niuniu, he buried it deep inside.

In the spring, the rain fell like silk threads, weaving a dense net between heaven and earth.

A Chou and Niuniu ran barefoot in the rain, like fish in the water.

Their shoes were worn out, and Niuniu's mother, who had turned into a mound of yellow earth, could no longer make them straw shoes.

A Chou and Niuniu ran to a cluster of banana trees, where the large banana leaves became their umbrellas. Although the rain still dripped down the leaves, it was more comfortable than being drenched directly.

A Chou pulled out a bun from his chest, but it was already soaked. A Chou's face turned sour. The obedient Niuniu comforted him, "A Xiong, it's okay. We ate a lot of mulberries today, and our teeth are already sore. If the bun is too hard, we can't bite it."

She smiled at A Xiong, showing a new, playful little tiger tooth.

A Chou rubbed her head, which became messy like a bird's nest.

The two of them each held half of the soaked bun, using young banana leaves as cups to catch the rainwater. They took a sip of rainwater and a bite of the bun, filling their stomachs.

The rain continued to fall, like silk threads...

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In the summer, an incident occurred that prompted A Chou and Niuniu to leave the dilapidated temple, leaving them without a place to stay.

That summer night, the moon was full.

A Chou was awakened by a cry. He found that a strong beggar nicknamed Xiao Lang, who also lived in the temple, was on top of Niuniu, tearing her already tattered clothes and kissing her with his stinky mouth.

Niuniu was young and did not know what Xiao Lang was doing, but her instincts told her that something terrible was about to happen, so she cried out.

The beggars in the temple were awakened and watched the scene with a mix of ambiguous and eerie gazes. No one spoke, and as they watched, their gazes became more eager and frightening.

A Chou was awakened and, seeing Xiao Lang bullying his sister, suddenly transformed into a different person. Perhaps this person had been locked in his heart, nurtured by hatred and humiliation, and had long turned into a fierce beast. Now, the cage was open, and the beast was released.

A Chou's eyes turned red, and the veins on his forehead bulged. He roared in anger and pounced on Xiao Lang, clawing, scratching, and biting with his entire body as a weapon.

Xiao Lang, nicknamed Xiao Lang, was strong, and with one swing, he could have thrown A Chou against the wall and crushed him. But A Chou, in this moment, had an inexplicable strength. He clung to Xiao Lang, fighting to the death. He first bit off half of Xiao Lang's ear and then tore a piece of flesh from his shoulder.

Xiao Lang screamed in pain, punching A Chou repeatedly. A Chou's mouth spewed blood, splattering Xiao Lang's face, but he only responded with sharp teeth. When Xiao Lang saw A Chou's cruel, wolf-like gaze, he realized that the often absent-minded A Chou might have gone mad. He finally broke down, screaming and fleeing.

A Chou, covered in blood, his eyes swollen, and his mouth full of a bloody, mangled piece of flesh, crawled back to Niuniu, who was sobbing. He hugged her tightly.

A beam of moonlight shone through the broken roof, illuminating A Chou. A Chou, covered in blood, looked at all the beggars with a fierce gaze, like an injured wolf defending its territory, and said, "Whoever wants to bully her, kill me first!"

The beggars turned over and went back to sleep as if nothing had happened. The temple was left with only Niuniu's crying. A Chou held her, the pale moonlight shining on them. After a long time, A Chou suddenly shed silent tears, the first time Niuniu had seen him cry.

Niuniu was very anxious. She thought A Xiong was in pain, so she stopped crying and, being considerate, went up to him, gently blowing on his swollen eyes and softly rubbing his bruised face. She only wanted to stop A Chou's tears. Seeing A Xiong cry, her heart ached more than her fear.

But A Chou's tears only increased, and Niuniu started crying too.

A Chou hugged her tightly and choked, "Niuniu, I'm so scared. I've really become a beggar! I'm afraid... that one day, I'll become like them, a walking corpse. Niuniu, A Xiong has really become a beggar!"

Niuniu did not understand A Xiong's words. He often said things she could not understand, but she knew he truly cared for her. Since her mother's death, A Xiong was her only family in the world. Whether she understood him or not did not matter; she only needed to know that he was good to her, and that was enough.

She lifted her little face, looking at A Xiong's tear-streaked eyes. His gaze was so sad, just like when her mother passed away, filled with helplessness, desolation, and sorrow, breaking one's heart.

Niuniu was afraid of losing him, just as she had lost her mother. She cried and hugged A Chou, saying, "A Xiong, do whatever you want. No matter what A Xiong does, Niuniu will be with you, whether as a beggar or a thief. As long as I'm with A Xiong, it doesn't matter!"

A Chou and Niuniu left the dilapidated temple that night, fearing that the panicked Xiao Lang would return. They could not protect themselves with just courage. They continued to beg, as it was their only means of survival. But A Chou had decided to find something to do; he wanted to live, to live like a human being.

Their departure marked the beginning of a legend.

Legends are always created by miracles.

What is a miracle?

A miracle can be an extraordinary person doing extraordinary things, or it can be a series of coincidences coming together to form a wonderful coincidence.

The miracle of A Chou and Niuniu involved both coincidences and extraordinary people and events!

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Note: During the Tang and Song dynasties, Guangzhou experienced snowfall.

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