Moved By Freedom

Chapter 2. Madame Qing and the living dead.

The house was really warm. As soon as you crossed the threshold, your frozen cheeks were immediately covered in heat from the fireplace. Only after entering this rather large house, even at first glance, and starting to examine it, Feng Huangyu realized that he had not been in a house for nearly twenty years. And those are unchanged. There was a feeling as if he had not missed anything. I slept a little, and time stopped.

Feeling eyes on him, he turned his head to Madame Qing and noticed that she had been looking at him all this time, which made him slightly embarrassed.

"It's obvious that you're really very cold, son..." she smiled, "all your cheeks are red." There's warm water in a barrel over there in the corner, at least wash your face and hands.

The young man nodded and, going up to the indicated barrel, rinsed his face and turned - Madame pointed to a small bench near the wall:

"Sit here for now, I'll make you some tea, you'll warm up." And at least throw off some wet rags, otherwise you'll catch a cold.

- Auntie, do you often let unknown young men into your house? - Feng Huangyu blurted out, taking off some of his clothes and hanging them to dry next to the fire, and only then did it dawn on him that this could sound rude or even ambiguous, and he immediately slapped his lips, closing his eyes for a moment and shaking his head at how spanked hard. And then he looked away, beginning to study the beauty of the local floorboards.

The woman was amused by this reaction:

"You just reminded me of myself, that's all."

She went to the kitchen.

- You? "Feng Huangyu asked again and again directed his gaze at the woman who was already making tea. - How so?

"It's simple," she answered with a warm smile. - I'm lost.

Village people usually called lost children who were found on the street. It was not known whether they were orphans or not; children, as a rule, could not tell much about themselves. Such children were usually taken to orphanages or kept as their own children. Few people started looking for relatives and only a few were found.

Feng Huangyu put two and two together: probably, as a child, she also got lost in these parts and froze, but someone found her and took her in. Well, or handed him over to a shelter, if there was one here at all.

- Ah, I understand. - he nodded. - I am grateful for your kindness, and I am sorry that I cannot repay you in any way for it...

"Yes, yes, the horse stole the money," she laughed, waving her hand, not wanting to hear this nonsense again, "and, you know...

The corners of her lips floated up, and she squinted slightly:

"If you really want to thank me, then tidy up the top shelves, I can't reach them myself."

After that, she took some kind of rag from the table nearby and threw it to him.

This ability to come up with activities, coupled with her commanding tone earlier, reminded Feng Huangyu of something.

"You have such a character, you could be a good teacher!"

Madam Qing chuckled.

"I was, but a very long time ago." And for very little ones.

Feng Huangyu did not expect that he would hit the bull's-eye, and he had nothing more to say, so without thinking twice, he began to carefully wipe the shelves, picking up various trinkets from there, and Madame Qing commented on each of them, bringing tea to the table and sitting down nearby: