Ten years ago, when my brother was fifteen, our parents returned to their hometown, leaving us siblings at home, with him tasked to care for us. On his way back after seeing off our parents, he encountered a homeless child who was searching for relatives in Yanfeng. Without hesitation, he gave away all the money he had to this child, causing us to freeload meals for a month.
As a result, my brother gained a reputation for being foolish, and my sister and I were dissatisfied, believing he had given our living expenses to a scammer. The child refused my brother’s help to find his relatives and promised to return the money after finding his family but vanished without a trace.
However, it wasn’t until today that I learned this child was not a scammer. She was Xue Miaoyin.
Xue Miaoyin recalled the past with emotion. “Back then, my hometown was ravaged by an epidemic, and my parents and sister died from the disease. Before her death, my mother instructed my uncle to take me to Yanfeng to find my distant aunt.”
Unbeknownst to her, her uncle also fell ill and died on the way, leaving Miaoyin to reach Yanfeng by begging.
For a young girl, the journey was unimaginably difficult. She encountered ill-intentioned people, some attempting to kidnap her to sell her to a brothel or as a servant. She narrowly escaped, gradually understanding the cruelty of human nature.
To protect herself, she covered her face with soot, wore ragged clothes, and disguised herself as a dirty, abandoned street child, finally reaching the outskirts of Yanfeng.
She was about to faint from hunger when my brother rescued her.
In her words, my brother was like a “god descending to earth.” Not only did he give her food, but he also kindly asked why she had collapsed there. Upon learning she was searching for relatives, he offered to help her find them. Wary of strangers and fearing he might have hidden motives, she refused his offer. Unexpectedly, he pulled out all the money he had and gave it to her.
Xue Miaoyin thought she had met a compassionate deity.
