Yun Zhen felt dizzy and disoriented, taking a long while to register her surroundings.
“Oh my!” an exclamation rang in her ears.
A woman ran over, her footsteps falling in a rapid PATTER, and helped her up.
“Are you alright, little girl?
I didn’t notice anyone here when I threw that just now, and it accidentally hit you.
I’m so sorry.
Can you still stand?”
Yun Zhen finally regained her senses and looked at the woman supporting her.
The woman had a plump figure and fair skin, dressed in clean, neat clothes.
She had a head of long, curly, yellow hair, making her look like a foreigner.
Huang Li was a landlady in the nearby residential area.
A tenant had moved out and asked her to help throw away the bedding they couldn’t take with them.
Just now, she genuinely hadn’t seen anyone standing by the trash cans.
Her line of sight had been blocked by the items in her hands, so she casually tossed the bag of bedding—only to end up hitting someone.
“I’m fine,” Yun Zhen replied.
She hurriedly stood up and shyly pulled her arm back.
Whatever had hit her was soft.
She didn’t know what it was, but she hadn’t been hurt.
Huang Li scrutinized the girl before her.
She looked about fifteen or sixteen, draped in several layers of tattered rags.
She was covered in dirt and grime, so emaciated she was practically skin and bones, and her facial features were completely sunken in.
The exposed patches of her skin were riddled with frostbite and cracked wounds.
Huang Li’s heart gave a violent lurch.
“What a sin!” she thought.
She guessed the girl must come from a fiercely patriarchal family that favored boys over girls.
There were plenty of cheap clothes online for just a few bucks; even the most destitute families could afford them.
No responsible parent would ever bear to let their child leave the house looking like this.
She sighed endlessly in her heart.
“As long as you aren’t hurt.
My name is Huang Li, and I live in the residential compound next door.
What’s your name, little girl?
Where is your home?
At your age, you should still be in school.
Do you want me to help you find the police so they can talk to your parents?” Huang Li asked gently and tactfully.
Yun Zhen didn’t quite understand what she was saying, but she could sense the woman’s good intentions.
The other party probably wanted to help her find her way home, but her home wasn’t here.
“My name is Yun Zhen, and my home isn’t around here.”
Huang Li sighed.
The little girl’s evasive answer made it clear she didn’t want to reveal her family situation.
“Alright then.
Wait here for me for a moment.
I’ll be right back.
Don’t leave; you must wait for me,” Huang Li said before turning and walking toward a small supermarket nearby.
Yun Zhen stood rooted to the spot, entirely at a loss.
She turned her gaze to the object that had hit her.
It was a large, square cloth bag, stuffed to the brim and bulging out roundly.
“What is this?” Yun Zhen murmured, having never seen such a thing.
Ms.
Huang Li had just said she accidentally hit her while throwing something away.
She wondered if this item was being thrown out, and if the woman truly no longer wanted it.
RIIIIP.
Suddenly, the stitching on the square bag split open, and something popped out from the tear.
Yun Zhen finally got a clear look at what was inside.
She wondered why the material looked so much like a cotton quilt.
She had used linen quilts stuffed with straw before, as well as animal skin blankets her father had prepared from his hunting trips, but she had never been covered by a cotton quilt.
However, when that unfaithful husband of hers who had abandoned her passed his exams and became a Scholar, someone had gifted him a quilt stuffed with goose feathers.
She had heard it was worth dozens of taels of silver.
She glanced around.
Seeing that no one was paying attention to her, she immediately squatted down to inspect it.
She touched it; it wasn’t prickly in the slightest.
She gave it a squeeze; it was soft and fluffy.
Slipping her hand inside, she found it astonishingly warm.
Good heavens!
She had never seen such a warm quilt.
It was just like the legendary cotton quilts.
One tael of cotton was worth one tael of gold!
Only high-ranking officials and nobles could bear to use cotton, which was as expensive as gold, to make quilts!
She had learned to read with her father and knew that cotton was practically synonymous with gold.
How could anyone just casually throw away such a rare and priceless treasure?
“Little girl, thank goodness you didn’t leave.” Huang Li returned, carrying a shopping bag of snacks and a whole case of pure milk.
Yun Zhen stroked the cotton quilt in her hands, a myriad of emotions welling up in her heart.
She wondered if the woman really didn’t want it anymore, and if she could take it back with her.
Hearing Ms.
Huang Li’s voice, she stood up, mustering her courage to ask if the cotton quilt had truly been discarded.
Before Yun Zhen could speak, Huang Li shoved the heavy shopping bags into her arms.
“Take this.
It’s just a token of my care.
I bought some snacks that little girls like to eat, along with a case of milk.”
Yun Zhen hastily waved her hands.
“No, no, I couldn’t possibly!
How could I accept such precious things from you?”
To be given such valuable food upon their very first meeting—this woman was simply far too generous.
Huang Li shoved them right back into her arms.
“Just take it.
Consider it my apology for hitting you just now.
A bit of snacks and a case of milk isn’t worth much money anyway.
We were brought together by fate, so don’t decline.
Hurry up and take them.
I also bought you some frostbite ointment.
Don’t forget to apply it to your face.
It wouldn’t be good for a young girl like you to be left with scars.”
Yun Zhen had never met someone so warm-hearted in her life.
She felt profoundly moved.
“You can take them back for your younger brothers and sisters to eat,” Huang Li added.
Yun Zhen hesitated.
She didn’t have younger brothers or sisters, but she did have her father, mother, and daughter.
They hadn’t eaten anything in a long time.
If they didn’t eat soon, they would starve to death.
She didn’t refuse again and reached out to accept the items.
“Thank you.
I truly don’t know how to repay you,” Yun Zhen said, overwhelmed with emotion.
During this year of terrible blizzards and famine, every household had completely run out of food, yet she had actually received help from a kind soul in this strange place.
“That’s more like it.
What’s this nonsense about repaying me?
I just felt a connection with you.” Huang Li smiled.
Yun Zhen hadn’t forgotten the most important matter.
“Ms.
Huang Li, you mentioned earlier that this…
this quilt isn’t wanted anymore, right?” She looked toward the quilt exposed from the torn seam of the bag.
Huang Li nodded.
“When my tenant moved out, they said they didn’t want it anymore and asked me to throw it away for them.
I don’t have anywhere to store it at home, so I just tossed it here.”
“Could I have it?” Yun Zhen asked, braving the embarrassment.
“If you want it, then go ahead and take it,” Huang Li replied readily, pointing to an electric tricycle parked nearby.
“There are two more bags in the cargo bed.
There are quilts, mattresses, pillows, and throw pillows.
Young people nowadays don’t like lugging things around when they move.
Bedding that cost them hundreds or even thousands of bucks is discarded just like that.
“Tell you what, if your home is nearby, I can drive the electric trike and drop you off.
This stuff is really heavy,” Huang Li offered enthusiastically.
Yun Zhen was ecstatic!
These were cotton quilts!
A treasure only high-ranking officials and nobles could afford to use.
And she had suddenly acquired three of them!
“Thank you so much, Ms.
Huang Li!” Yun Zhen thanked her from the bottom of her heart.
“No need to thank me.
They were going to be thrown out anyway.
Since they caught your eye, just take them home,” Huang Li said as she grabbed the torn bag of bedding and tossed it onto the tricycle.
She patted the seat next to her.
“Come sit.
Where is your home?
I’ll take you there.”
Yun Zhen hesitated for a moment.
“Ms.
Huang Li, could you take the cotton quilts down?
I’ll carry them back myself in a bit.”
“This stuff is very heavy,” Huang Li reminded her.
“The trike is much more convenient.”
“I’m very strong, so it won’t be a problem.” Yun Zhen didn’t know how to explain it to her; in truth, she didn’t even know how to get back home herself.
Her attitude was resolute.
Seeing this, Huang Li nodded and didn’t force the issue.
“Since you don’t need a ride, I won’t drop you off.
Still, I’d advise you to go home and fetch someone to help.
The things you’re carrying are already quite heavy, and there’s no way you can manage all three bags alone.”
She pulled the three massive bags down from the tricycle.
Yun Zhen gave a vague hum of agreement.
Huang Li still had to go back and deal with her tenant’s remaining belongings.
“I’ll be throwing out more things the tenant didn’t want tomorrow.
If there’s anything you need, just come back here and scavenge.” With that said, she revved the electric tricycle and drove off.
Yun Zhen looked at the three large bags as if she had found a priceless treasure.
She thought that finding cotton quilts was no different from picking up solid gold!
With these cotton quilts, her family would fare much better during this bitterly cold winter.