Chapter 16: Chapter 16 Luo Luo
Translator: 549690339
Lin Jing looked up, following the direction of the voice.
He saw a familiar figure.
“Isn’t that the little girl from the neighbor’s house? I remember her name is Luo Luo.”
“How come she is here?”
At this moment, Luo Luo stood helplessly by the street, her head lowered, and her little hands tightly pinching the corners of her clothes.
Meanwhile, a crowd of people had gathered around her.
Among them, a middle-aged woman stepped forward to ask, “Little girl, why are you here all by yourself? Where is your family?”
The middle-aged woman’s voice was very soft, for fear of scaring her.
But Luo Luo did not dare to look up, remaining rooted to the spot, and the little hands that pinched the corner of her clothes turned white, seeming even more nervous.
Seeing this, Lin Jing walked over.
“Luo Luo.”
Lin Jing called out.
The little girl, hearing her name being called, hurriedly looked up.
“Uncle Lin.”
The little girl said, then tears began to pour out immediately.
Lin Jing quickened his pace towards her, and the watching crowd made way.
Upon reaching the little girl, Lin Jing asked,
“Why are you here all by yourself? Where is your mother?”
“Uncle, I got lost and can’t find my home.”
“Can you take me home?”
Luo Luo said between sobs, tears flowing down profusely.
“Of course.”
Lin Jing said while gently patting the little girl’s head.
“Alright, don’t cry now, Uncle is going to take you home.”
“Mm-hmm…”
Luo Luo nodded, then gradually stopped sobbing.
At this point, the kind-hearted woman from earlier spoke.
“Are you a member of her family?”
“I’m her neighbor; this little girl lives next to my house.”
“Oh … well, hurry up and take her back to her family. It’s a good thing this is in Fang Market; it would be terrible if it were somewhere else.”
“Her family is too careless, letting a child wander about outside all alone. Such a lovely child—if she was lost, what would they do?”
Seeing that the middle-aged woman meant well, Lin Jing expressed his gratitude.
“Thank you, big sister. Rest assured, I’ll take her home now, back to her family.”
Then he took Luo Luo by the hand, ready to head back.
This time, probably because someone familiar was with her, she didn’t seem so nervous.
Luo Luo waved her little hand, thanking the middle-aged woman.
“Thank you, Auntie, Luo Luo won’t run off again.”
“Good girl, go home with Uncle, and make sure a family member is with you next time you come out.”
“Luo Luo remembers, goodbye Auntie.”
……
Walking on the road, Lin Jing asked again.
“Luo Luo, where is your mother?”
Luo Luo replied, “My mother has gone to help someone with Alchemy.”
“Why are you by yourself on the street?” Lin Jing was somewhat puzzled.
“Didn’t your mother take you with her?”
“No.”
The little girl sounded a bit dejected.
“It’s not convenient for my mother when she goes out, so she left me at the inn, saying someone would bring me food.”
“I was really bored staying at the inn, and when I saw lots of kids playing together in the street, I followed them.”
“Playing around, I somehow ended up here, and then they all disappeared, and I couldn’t find my way back.”
As she spoke, she seemed to remember the incident again, and tears started falling to the ground pitter-patter.
“Uncle, I won’t run around anymore.”
“Don’t cry, Luo Luo, Uncle will take you home.”
Lin Jing did not have experience in comforting children and felt somewhat at a loss for a moment, only able to offer verbal consolation.
And just then, a hawker’s cry on the street caught Lin Jing’s attention.
“Candied hawthorn sticks…”
“Deliciously sweet and sour candied hawthorn sticks…”
Lin Jing immediately got an idea.
“Luo Luo, would you like some candied hawthorn sticks? Uncle will treat you to some.”
The little girl’s gaze immediately shifted to the hawthorn stick seller, forgetting to cry.
“Luo Luo doesn’t want candied hawthorn sticks.”
Although she said that, her gaze toward the candied hawthorn and the bobbing of her throat had already betrayed her.
Lin Jing smiled.
“Although children aren’t easy to soothe, they sure are easy to deceive…”
Then he led Luo Luo toward the candied hawthorn vendor.
“Candied hawthorn seller, give me two skewers.”
“Alright.”
“Uncle wants to eat some—how about we each have one, and you can keep Uncle company while eating, is that okay?”
The little girl looked up at Lin Jing, saw his serious face, and then nodded.
“Okay.”
Lin Jing took the candied hawthorn and handed one skewer straight to Luo Luo.
No longer hiding her desire, she took a bite, and it was sour and sweet.
“Uncle, the candied hawthorn is really tasty.”
Lin Jing also took a bite, and memories suddenly flooded his mind.
“Yeah, it’s still the same flavor, unchanged.”
This might be the taste closest to home.
Alone in a foreign land, I stand as a stranger.
Many times, Lin Jing would unconsciously think of the past, wondering what he would be like now had he not transcended time…
“Uncle.”
A voice interrupted his reverie.
“Luo Luo, what’s the matter?”
“Uncle, are you missing home too?”
Lin Jing looked surprised, turning to the little girl.
“How did Luo Luo know?”
“Because when my mother misses home, she looks just like Uncle does.”
Lin Jing asked, “Then why doesn’t she go home?”
The little girl frowned.
“Every time I ask her, she won’t tell me.”
“Perhaps she also has her difficulties,” Lin Jing said.
Then there was a silence between them, not knowing if the little girl understood…
After a while…
“Luo Luo, is the candied hawthorn tasty?”
“It’s tasty.”
“Then will you join Uncle again next time to eat some more, okay?”
“Okay…”
……
Returning to the alley and arriving in front of Luo Luo’s house, the courtyard door was locked.
It seemed Luo Luo’s mother hadn’t come back yet.
So, Lin Jing took Luo Luo back to his own house first.
He told the little girl to play in the yard while he started browsing through the alchemy book, gaining a new understanding of the Alchemy path after today’s conversation with Elder Yu.
Time flew swiftly, and soon the sun set in the west.
Smoke from cooking fires began to rise outside, and Lin Jing looked up. Perhaps because of the day’s events, the little girl was very quiet, playing by herself.
And Luo Luo’s mother still hadn’t returned.
“It’s time to cook.”
Lin Jing said to himself as he watched the crimson sunset on the horizon.
“Luo Luo, you keep playing. Uncle will cook some food for you.”
“Thank you, Uncle.”
The little girl must have been hungry a while ago but was too shy to disturb him.
As the cooking smoke rose, Lin Jing busied himself in the kitchen.
Before long, a delicious meal was served on the table.
Of course, Lin Jing didn’t possess such culinary skills—it was his predecessor’s, and now that he had inherited everything from his predecessor, it naturally became his own.
“Uncle, your rice is really fragrant, even more so than the rice at my house.”
“Fragrant, is it? Then eat a little more,” Lin Jing said with a smile.
This was Medium Grade Spirit Rice; in the outskirts of Fang Market, there weren’t many families that could afford Medium Grade Spirit Rice.
“And…” the little girl continued to speak.
“The food you make tastes much better than my mother’s. Even though my mother is very pretty, her cooking is not tasty at all.”
“By the way, Uncle, my mother is really beautiful, not at all like what you saw. She also told me not to tell anyone.”
Lin Jing was shocked.
“I didn’t expect to hear this secret.”
“Uncle, you must not tell my mother, okay?”
“Don’t worry, Luo Luo. I definitely won’t tell anyone,” he assured.