Not a Witch

Compared with other places, the provinces and territories in the east are relatively peaceful and wealthy, with a warm maritime climate, and even the few provinces in the interior rely on prosperous commerce to live well.

However, even in relatively peaceful areas, there are still people living in poverty.

In the mountains full of yellow leaves scattered, a boy of about 14 years old is trekking in the mountains. He is wearing rough linen clothes, the whole body is light yellow, and the color is like dry soil, which blends with the surrounding environment.

Although it is already winter, there is no snow in Yuesui Province, but there is some coolness in the mountains. The young man's clothes are thin, and sometimes he has to move his hands and feet more so as not to get cold.

Elio jumped onto a big rock on thick rope sandals, and searched the grass and under the shade of trees, and soon found those hidden small gardenia fruits, which ripen late and are usually picked in late autumn.And because of the local climate, he can still find unfallen gardenia in the mountains in winter.

After finding the target, he jumped off the stone, brushed aside the dry and rough weeds with both hands, held the long branches of the shrub, and then stroked down the long branches with his hands, peeled off a row of small orange fruits, and slid them into his palms .

These fruits are slightly smaller than grapes, covered with a layer of translucent and dry withered skin, and there are small separate green buds at the tip of the fruit. If they are piled together, they look like orange yellow dotted with a little light green, giving people a feeling. Comfortable visuals.

Picking up a few fallen gardenias among the dead branches and fallen leaves, the boy put them in his carry-on cloth bag, tied a rope around his waist, and continued to search for the next place with gardenias.

Gardenia fruit can be sold to some herbal medicine workshops, but they don't receive a lot of goods, so they are more often sold to cloth dyeing workshops, because they can be used to extract pigments and dye them yellow.

It is worth mentioning that the yellow linen on his body is dyed with gardenia, the most hardworking ordinary people, this color is resistant to dirt and not easy to fade, it is very popular.

Walking among the withered grass and bushes, Elio grabbed these small fruits and put them in the bag. He tried to find as many as possible so that he could exchange for more money.

Time gradually approached noon, the young man sat down on a clean stone, and took out half of an unfinished dry biscuit from his arms. He had very little money, so he could only buy such affordable things to fill his stomach .

Bite down these cold and hard dry biscuits with all his teeth, and then chew slowly, trying to moisten and soften the food with saliva so as not to be choked.

Even though his cheeks were a little sore and limp after chewing, Elio was still a little hungry after eating half of the pancake. He licked the crumbs around his mouth. The boy had to stand up again, and continued to walk on the mountain with sour steps. between search.

This continues until the sun gradually deviates, and the time is probably in the afternoon.

Stretching out his hand to pat the tiny insects stuck to the bag, Elio looked at the not-so-warm sun in the sky, guessing that it was going to go down the mountain.

He didn't dare to spend the night in the mountains, even if there were no wild animals, the low temperature there would still kill him.

He untied the bag, put his hand in, and felt the tiny gardenia fruits rolling down from his hand, and he couldn't hold it with one hand. He felt a burst of satisfaction and happiness.

With these, I guess I can have a full meal tonight.No, I can't eat enough, I have to save some money, winter is coming.

He is already an adult, and after his mother is gone, he can only live on his own.

Elio grabbed the bag, quickly and skillfully shuttled among the rocks and yellow mud withered grass, slid down the hillside, and galloped forward.

In the distant field, a big city stands beside the flowing river, and the green smoke rises from time to time. This is the third largest city in Koshio Province, located in Kuyan County.

------

There are sporadic lights on both sides of the street at night, and the windows of some rich people illuminate the street. Elio walks out of the gate of the workshop contentedly with a bag of copper coins in his arms.

Looking at the pedestrians around, he carefully wrapped the coins in his collar and ran quickly.

You have to go to the backyard of that beautiful bakery, where you can probably buy some expired scraps. Such food can be said to be a luxury among the poor.

Those luscious cream mixed with cake crumbs were so sweet and delicious that he tasted them for the first time at the age of 9, when his mother was still there and made himself a few.

When he came to the door of the backyard where people were coming and going, the boy tiptoed and looked inside. When he saw a busy maid, he waved his hands happily.

"Sister Anna."

It was a fairly common name, one in ten girls in the East was named Anna.After hearing the boy's shout, the maid raised her head and looked around, but she didn't immediately agree. She was used to answering the wrong person.

"It's you, Elio." She looked at the boy in surprise, and then walked over.It's almost closing time, and the store is also idle.

"It's me, I want to buy something to eat." The boy said excitedly.

Anna was someone he had known for a long time. It was said that his mother had helped her a little in the past, so they got to know each other well.

"But it will be very expensive." Anna said worriedly. Although she is a maid in the bakery, she can't take out the contents at will, and this job is very important to her, and she dare not do things that violate the rules.

"I know." The young man took out a bag containing copper coins. For people who have been on the line of food and clothing all year round, being able to eat well is the greatest happiness in life.

"Where did you make the money?" Looking at the bulging bag, there were estimated to be dozens of copper coins in it, Anna looked around, saw that no one was paying attention, so she came over to help him cover it, and put it back into the boy's arms inside.

"Don't be as bad as those hooligans on the street. If you are really short of money, my sister can lend you some, although it's not much." Anna squatted down and stroked Elio's hair, looking at this thin and good-looking man Cheek, lamenting that he has a good mother.

"No, I went to the mountains to find some fruits bought by the workshop. I know where these things grow. I have been running in that mountain since I was a child, so I am very familiar with them." The boy explained, looking at Anna with a smile.

"Okay, you still have to be careful in the future. Although there are no monsters in the mountains, some ordinary beasts are dangerous enough."

"Yeah, I know, Sister Anna." Elio looked at the maid in front of him and nodded from time to time.

"Okay, I'll go to the back kitchen first. Mr. Andrew will clean up the expired pastries today, and I'll get some for you then. You can wait around now."

"Yes." Elio agreed, watching the maid walk back to the yard.

Afterwards, he squatted on the stone by the street, wrapping his hands around his body, so as to preserve the heat, and looked up at the darkened sky. Under the cover of the buildings in the distance, there was a smear of light purple on the sky, which was the color of the fire cloud.

As time went by, pedestrians occasionally passed by on the street, and none of them paid attention to this ordinary boy, but a few ruffian boys familiar to Elio whistled at him, and when they saw that he didn't respond, they also walked away with a smile passed.The weather is so cold, bullying others is not an interesting thing, even they will want to get to the warm nest as soon as possible.

Just when Elio was in a daze, a familiar voice came from behind.

"Elio."

"I'm here." The boy stood up quickly, but he staggered because his feet were numb from the cold, and he held on to the wall to stand still.

"It's freezing." Anna came over with small steps, put a piece of oil-wrapped stuff aside, squatted down, and checked Elio, seeing that his arms and body were red from the cold, and his lips were also a little purple. Rubbed affectionately for a while.

"Go home early, it's too cold outside." She reminded the boy, and handed over the small package.

"Here are the crumbs I got from Mr. Andrew. Most of them should not be broken, but they can't be put anymore."

"Thank you!" Elio excitedly took it, and quickly opened it, revealing crumpled bread and cake inside, with some white cream in it.

Regardless of the coldness, Elio directly took it out with his hands and put it in his mouth. The sweetness was as soft as cotton, and it melted in his mouth, and it was gone in one bite.

Afterwards, he grabbed some more in a row and put them in his mouth. The few crumbs that were originally there were eaten up in one go.Seeing the young man gobbling, Anna smiled, and then patted his back to avoid choking.

"By the way, money." Elio took out the bag of copper coins from his pocket, ready to pay Anna.

"No, I'll treat you as my sister this time. It's cold, so it's time for you to buy some warm clothes."

"This..." Out of self-esteem in his heart, Elio really wanted to continue to give the money to Anna, but he hesitated again when he thought that he was often unable to sleep due to the cold recently.

"Okay, I'm working in a bakery, and I'm not short of this money." Anna saw Elio's hesitation, and continued to add.

"Then, I will repay Sister Anna in the future." Elio took the bag back, then waved to Anna, and ran towards the place where he usually lived.

It was a remote corner of the slums, and although it was very messy, it was the only place he could stay.He also thought about building a log cabin in the wild mountains before, but the wild beasts and monsters in the mountains made him give up his mind.

At least it's more convenient to work and earn money here, it's probably colder outside.

The slums are full of mud and rubbish, and it is extremely cold and dark at night. Because there are no lights, you can only move forward in the dark, and sometimes you have to be careful of those with malicious intentions.

Fortunately, it is winter now, and there are quite a few people wandering outside.Elio trotted through the alley and came to a closed and dilapidated courtyard. He found a collapsed place on the side, stepped on the moss and gravel to pile up the footing, and turned into the courtyard.

"Is it Elio?" An old voice sounded.

"Yes." The boy replied, and then looked at the dilapidated house in the corner of the yard. An old man with gray hair looked at him through the air leaking window, and then disappeared into the shadows.

This old man is missing a leg and is half-blind. He lives here all year round and makes a living by selling some strange "handicrafts" on weekdays. He is considered Elio's neighbor.

"Getting into his small, drafty room, Elio moved stones and blocked the door, so that there would be less draft through the door.

He wrapped the broken old blanket around his body, then curled up in the corner, enduring his still hungry stomach, imagining a beautiful scene, there is a world where he can eat bread at will, where he has a mother, and a Warm stone house.

Just like that, Elio fell into a deep sleep.

The next day, he went to a place selling old things on the street, and found an old overcoat that didn't fit well. Although it had several holes, it was still a good thing to keep warm as long as it was mended.

In the next week, before the hoarfrost covered the ground, he went to the mountains several times to look for those gardenia fruits that could be sold for money, until one day he finally gathered a huge wealth of one silver coin.

This is the first time in his life that he has earned so much money. Even if he doesn't go out for a month, he can barely survive with a huge amount of wealth.

Taking the money, Elio headed towards the bakery again. He wanted to return the money to Anna's sister and buy some delicious food.

"Anna?" A strange maid stood in front of the backyard door, preventing Elio from entering.

"Oh, I remembered, that maid, she's not here anymore."

"Then where did she go?" Elio was a little anxious.

"I don't know, I just heard that she quit. She seems to be married. You should also know that she is not young. In our case, she should be a mother at this age." The maid He explained impatiently, and then drove away the dirty boy.

"Don't come here, customers will be disgusted when they see it in the future." She said with disgust.

"Sorry..." Elio apologized and ran away.

He vaguely remembered where Anna lived. It was another corner of the city. It seemed to be a place where ordinary civilians gathered. Although they were not rich, the houses and streets were intact.

"Sorry, I've never heard of someone named Anna." An old woman shook her head, and then asked the boy to ask other places.

"Ha, who is that? Don't get in the way." Some people waved their hands impatiently.

"Get out, it's disgusting." A certain girl covered her mouth and nose and waved her hands in disgust.

"Anna? There are too many people with that name." An uncle with a prey on his back shook his head.

"I don't know." Passers-by hurried past.

"Who are you?" Some people directly refused.

In this way, Elio asked for a day and still got nothing. He squatted on the corner of the street and thought for a long time, and finally got a new idea.

Another evening, Elio stopped Mr. Andrew, the baker's baker, on his way home.

"Hello, I want to ask about the whereabouts of sister Anna." Elio looked at the man seriously.

"Are you...? Oh, now that I think about it, it seems that Anna really takes care of you." Andrew looked at the thin black boy.

"I advise you not to look for it, Anna has gone home."

"Go home, which home to go to?"

"Her hometown is actually in a mountain village in a neighboring county. She actually lives in her uncle's house on weekdays, and she just gives some money for rent."

"Actually, you don't know that Anna has worked very hard. Most of the money she earned was taken away by her uncle, and sometimes she hid some of the money in the store and asked me to help keep it."

"Recently, I heard that his uncle introduced a butcher to her, so he married her."

"But..." Elio wanted to ask a lot of things, where did he marry, how was the other party, whether sister Anna was happy or sad, and so on.

"You don't have to think about it, it's not a good thing to bother people." Andrew shook his head.

"But I have to pay back the money. I owe sister Anna a lot." Elio looked at Andrew seriously.

"Oh, this..." Andrew wanted to get away, but was stopped by Elio several times, and finally had to tell him the direction.

"It's in a small village not far from the city, probably to the east?" Andrew said, turning his head around.

"I'll go find her." Elio ran away without looking back.