Fairy Eye

Snow was falling heavily as Ah Chou stood at the village entrance, waiting for his younger brother to come home for the New Year.

After waiting for a long time, there was still no sign of his younger brother. He was already freezing solid, dressed in thin clothes.

But he dared not go home, otherwise he would inevitably be scolded by his parents during the New Year.

Ah Chou is called Ah Chou because half of his face is black, as if it were covered with a layer of black ink, which looks very unsettling.

Because of his face, he was often treated as a monster, either feared or ridiculed, and even his parents disliked him.

At this time.

The outline of a carriage appeared in the snowstorm, and Ah Chou's spirits lifted. He quickly went to meet it.

A handsome young man emerged from the carriage.

He stared at Ah Chou with deep disgust on his face: "What are you doing here?"

The light in Ah Chou's eyes quickly dimmed. "Mother sent me here to pick you up."

"Father, who is it?"

A little girl wrapped in a brand-new cotton-padded coat peeked out from inside the carriage.

But when she saw Ah Chou's appearance, she screamed in fright and shrank back. Then a woman's comforting voice rang out in the carriage.

"I'm sorry, I scared your child."

Ah Chou lowered his head and said to his younger brother Han Qing with shame.

His younger brother, Han Qing, was only a year younger than him, but he had already married into a wealthy family in town and was living a very prosperous life.

Many people in the village say that Han Qing is a gigolo and has no ambition, but that's just sour grapes. They probably wish they were the ones being gigolos.

However, this had nothing to do with Ah Chou. No matter how well her younger brother was doing, she never thought of helping him out. On the contrary, she became more and more distant from him.

Upon hearing Ah Chou's apology, his younger brother Han Qing merely gave him a cold look before urging the driver to continue driving into the village.

Ah Chou stood alone in the wind and snow, watching the carriage silhouette gradually disappear, a self-mocking and bitter smile rising in his heart.

He shook his head and prepared to go home.

But they had only taken a few steps,

Ah Chou's gaze was drawn to something.

The carriage drove over the snow, leaving two deep ruts, one of which flashed with a faint silver light.

A Chou walked up curiously, dug a bead out of the dark soil, and examined it closely in his hand.

The bead was about the size of a walnut, and its entire body was silver-gray, as if it were cast from silver.

The surface is covered with patterns resembling the roots of an old tree, and there is also a deep vertical line that looks like a closed eye slit.

At first, Ah Chou thought that since this thing was made of silver, it might fetch a good price.

But upon closer inspection, something seemed amiss. Although the bead was not large, it was extremely heavy, weighing at least four or five pounds in the hand.

I put it in my mouth and bit it, almost breaking my teeth, but it didn't leave a single mark.

This is clearly not silver.

It resembled an unusually heavy stone, only its color was similar to silver.

"Daydreaming again."

Ah Chou chuckled, then tucked the stone bead into his pocket and continued walking towards the village.

It was quite a distance from the village entrance to his home. Ah Chou walked for half an incense stick's time through the snow before finally arriving at his doorstep.

But then he discovered that the once-open courtyard gate was now tightly shut and bolted, and he couldn't open it no matter what he did.

"Bang, bang bang!"

"Father, Mother, I'm home!"

Ah Chou pounded on the courtyard gate with her hands, which were red from the cold.

He could hear his parents chatting and laughing with his younger brother's family inside the house, and the sounds of chopsticks and bowls being moved, clearly indicating that they had already started their reunion dinner.

Ah Chou felt a little uneasy. After hesitating for a moment, he continued to knock on the courtyard gate.

"Grandpa, it sounds like someone is knocking on the door."

The voice of his little niece reached Ah Chou's ears.

"There's no one there, probably just stray dogs! Sakura, eat quickly, Grandpa will go check on them."

A deep, middle-aged man's voice rang out, and footsteps gradually became clearer in the courtyard. Then, with a creak, the courtyard gate was opened a crack.

A tall, middle-aged farmer appeared before Ah Chou.

"Father." Ah Chou lowered his head.

"What are you filming for? Do you think you're so great?"

The middle-aged man stared coldly at Ah Chou, as if the person in front of him was not his son, but his enemy.

Ah Chou opened her mouth, feeling a little wronged. Although she was ugly, she had done all the housework herself over the years. Why couldn't she even get a kind word during the New Year?

At this time.

A woman came out carrying a steamed bun.

"Ugly, it's not that your mother doesn't like you, it's just that you're ugly and will scare Xiaoying if you go in. Here, take this steamed bun and eat it. After you finish eating, find a place to stay for the night. Come back and stay after your brother's family leaves."

Ah Chou looked around, her heart aching, and said, "Mother, this snowy field is covered in snow, and the wind is biting cold. Where am I supposed to go to make do..."

"I don't care where you go! As long as your brother hasn't left, you're not allowed back in the house!"

Ah Chou's father grabbed the steamed bun from the woman's hand and threw it at Ah Chou. Ah Chou missed it, and the bun fell straight to the ground.

By the time he bent down to pick up the steamed bun, his father had already closed the courtyard gate again and bolted it shut once more.

This moment.

Ah Chou's heart felt as if it were being pricked by needles, and it ached terribly.

He stared at the tightly closed door, and tears welled up in his eyes.

Then he looked at the motionless steamed bun on the snow.

after all.

I still didn't pick it up.

He remained silent for a long time, then finally took a few steps back, knelt on both knees in the snow, and kowtowed three times heavily to the gate.

"Father, Mother, since you dislike me so much, Ah Chou will just leave."

After saying that, he stood up and walked stiffly towards the edge of the village. The pale snow reflected off his back, making him look extremely desolate.

Once outside the village, looking at the vast expanse of white snow, Ah Chou felt lost, unsure of where to go.

He had considered going out to make a living like his younger brother before, but because of his face, he was turned away by everyone.

However, Ah Chou soon started walking again and continued forward.

He believed that there was always a way out and that he would find a way of life that suited him.

As darkness fell, Ah Chou continued to walk listlessly through the snow. His feet had lost all feeling, and he was only able to walk by the will in his heart.

But he seemed to be really unable to hold on any longer; his feet sank deep into the snow, and he couldn't lift them up for a long time.

Finally, as if all his strength had been drained, he collapsed heavily onto the snow.

Ah Chou was unaware that shortly after he fainted, the stone bead he had picked up from under the rut began to glow.

Immediately afterwards, a warm current was released from the stone bead, entered his lower abdomen and quickly flowed throughout his body, making him feel warm and extremely comfortable.

And so, Ah Chou slept in the snow all night.

When I woke up the next day, I felt no discomfort at all, and I didn't even feel hungry.

Ah Chou was very puzzled, but after thinking for a long time, he still couldn't figure it out. He could only assume that it was God's blessing, and that God didn't want him to die young.

So they continued on their way.

I don't know how far I walked, from morning until noon.

Ah Chou still didn't feel hungry at all, but then he encountered an oxcart traveling through the wind and snow.

The driver was an old farmer, pulling a cart full of hay. He stopped when he saw Ah Chou.

"Are you the Han family boy from Zhuxi Village? It's freezing cold, why are you walking alone in the snow?"