The little star from the Gobi Desert, handed over to the state, is hailed as a national treasure.

That iron basin was round and big, exactly the same as the one at home.

She remembered that there was also such an iron basin at home. Every night, her mother would boil water and let her sit in the basin to take a bath. Her mother would also splash water and sing nursery rhymes to her.

I miss my mom so much... Sweetie blinked her wet eyes, a hint of sadness rising in them.

After feeding the child leaves, the staff member turned and left with the empty basin. Sweetie, perched on Liang Zhe's shoulder, kept her eyes glued to the familiar metal basin until it disappeared from sight.

Just then, she suddenly felt something was wrong. She quickly turned her head and saw two half-grown children squatting in front of the deer pen, doing something furtively and secretly.

Sweetie rubbed her eyes and looked closely. It turned out to be two little boys, around ten years old, who were carefully pulling grass out of the deer pen and stuffing it into the paper bags they were carrying when no one was looking. The two boys were quick and coordinated, and in no time, the paper bags were bulging.

Because the grass was fluffy and soft, they pressed it down with their hands, then stuffed the paper bag into their clothes and wrapped it tightly in their coats, afraid of being discovered.

The more Tian Tian looked, the stranger it seemed. She quickly leaned close to Liang Zhe's ear and whispered in a voice only the two of them could hear, "Daddy, those two little boys are stealing something."

In those days, stealing was no small matter; at best, you'd be arrested and taken to the police station, and at worst, you'd end up in jail. Liang Zhe's heart skipped a beat, and he quickly looked in the direction his daughter was pointing, but the two little boys had already sensed something, turned around, and ran out of the exhibition hall as fast as the wind.

"What did they steal?" Liang Zhe asked quickly.

"Stealing the grass the deer ate." Sweetie stretched out her little finger, pointing to the grass in the deer pen that had been pulled into a mess, and said seriously.

Grass? Liang Zhe was stunned for a moment, his mind filled with doubt: What's so great about stealing grass? It's worthless and has no use.

Seeing that the two children had already run out of the exhibition hall, Liang Zhe didn't have time to think and chased after them with Tian Tian in his arms.

He originally thought that he could catch up with the two teenagers in no time, given his speed. But to his surprise, the two children were like two mischievous monkeys, running and tumbling with agility. They clearly knew every path in the zoo like the back of their hand, and they deliberately chose to take the secluded paths. Liang Zhe was always a few steps behind and could never catch up.

He wanted to stop them several times, but then he thought that the two children were still young and what they had stolen was nothing valuable. If he made a scene in public and arrested them as thieves, it would affect their reputation for life and even ruin their future.

Let's catch up with them first and find out what's going on.

As Liang Zhe thought to himself, he quickened his pace and, without realizing it, was almost out of the zoo.

He hesitated. If he kept chasing after her, they would definitely miss the zoo. His daughter had been looking forward to it for so long. Should he let this little thing ruin her trip?

Unexpectedly, instead of stopping him, Tian Tian urged, "Daddy, quickly grab the little brother and ask them why they stole the deer's food and made the deer go hungry."

Seeing his daughter's earnest little face, Liang Zhe felt a warmth in his heart and, without further hesitation, continued to chase after the little boy in the direction he had run away.

Not far away is the zoo's back gate. Few tourists come and go here on weekdays, and there are no staff supervising it; only an old lock hangs on the gate.

The little boys ran up to it and expertly fastened the lock—

With a "click," the lock opened.

The two of them immediately slipped away like fish.

Hey, Liang Zhe was even more puzzled. Judging by his practiced manner, he either had a key in his hand or was a repeat offender!

Otherwise, how could a perfectly good lock be opened so easily?

When he chased after them, he saw a long alley outside the back door. The alley twisted and turned, leading to a main road, and then to the right, there was a maze of hutongs.

Standing at the entrance of the alley, Liang Zhe looked at the network of alleyways and was momentarily at a loss as to which direction to chase after them.

Just then, Tian Tian had already figured out the direction. She pointed her little finger into one of the alleys and shouted, "Daddy, they're over there!"

Without further hesitation, Liang Zhe immediately picked up Tian Tian and darted into the alley. The group darted in and out of the narrow alley like they were playing hide-and-seek. The walls of the alley were mottled, and weeds grew in the corners. Occasionally, a few barks could be heard from the corners.

Fortunately, there was Tian Tian, ​​the little "radar". No matter how the two children took detours or hid, she could accurately identify their direction and guide Liang Zhe to chase after them.

A dozen minutes later, Tian Tian suddenly pointed to a dead end, tugged at Liang Zhe's sleeve, and whispered, "Daddy, the older boys went into that house."

Liang Zhe walked over. At the end of the alley stood a crooked tree, next to which were several brick and tile houses, with a wooden door tightly shut. The door was dilapidated, with a finger-width crack between the wooden strips, and several brick walls beside it had collapsed, exposing the soil underneath.

In fact, Liang Zhe had already noticed on the way that the two boys were dressed in very tattered clothes, with several patches on their clothes and worn-out shoes, clearly indicating that their family was not well-off. Now, seeing this dilapidated house, he had a better idea of ​​what was going on; this family was probably living a very difficult life.

He hesitated for a moment, then raised his hand and knocked on the door: "Is anyone home?"

The room was quiet for a moment, then a woman's weak voice, tinged with doubt, asked, "Who is it?"

Footsteps sounded, and the door was pulled open. The little boy who had been running so fast looked up at the tall Liang Zhe, and his expression changed in just one glance.

He recognized Liang Zhe.

When he was running away, he glanced back and saw the tall man chasing him with a little girl in his arms. He didn't pay much attention at the time, but he never expected that the man would chase him all the way to his house.

The little boy instinctively tried to close the door, but Liang Zhe reacted faster, gently reaching out to block the door.

"What are you doing!" the little boy shouted, trying to appear calm but his voice betrayed his fear and panic.

"Xiaoyu, who's outside?" The weak female voice came from inside the house again, tinged with worry.

The boy called Xiaoyu opened his mouth, but didn't know how to answer. He could only stare fiercely at Liang Zhe.

Seeing his wary look, Liang Zhe guessed what was going on. He gently pushed his hand away, picked up Tian Tian, ​​and stepped inside.

This is a small courtyard with two small vegetable plots. Hoes and picks are casually tossed aside, but the plots are bare, with not a single seedling growing. It has obviously been abandoned for a long time.

Inside the main room, a woman in her early thirties sat in a wheelchair, her face sallow and her figure thin, holding a pillowcase that was only half-embroidered.

Another little boy was squatting by the stove, adding firewood to the firebox. The iron pot on the stove was bubbling and steaming, as if something was cooking inside.

Upon seeing Liang Zhe and his daughter, the little boy also became nervous and looked at Xiao Yu with some helplessness.

Liang Zhe didn't look at the two young brothers. With a quick glance, he saw that the iron pot on the stove was cooking the grass that the two had stolen earlier, along with a few grains of coarse rice, which was the only food in the pot.