Please pull the trigger for this world one more time.

Let's temporarily rewind to eighteen years ago, to Tianhe Port.

At this moment, a group of people dressed in dark green uniforms gathered in a riverside villa on the outskirts of the city. Each of them had an iron scissor emblem on their chest.

"Boss, the net has closed, what do you think..."

"Are there any fish that slipped through the net?" asked a middle-aged man who looked unremarkable.

"All the men are here, except for one woman who was holding a child. She went east before we closed the net, probably to the river."

"Take me to see it."

"Yes."

The group followed the footprints to the riverbank, where the middle-aged man in the lead took a monocular telescope from one of his men.

In the binoculars, an exquisite shawl floats on the water, and further away, a small bamboo basket drifts further and further away.

"The water here isn't too deep, brothers, should we go in..." one of the henchmen asked.

"No need," the middle-aged man waved his hand. "Let's call it a day."

"Yes."

……

Eight years later.

Tianhe Port was unusually cold that year.

In the southern part of Tianhe Port City, near the southern suburbs, a woman pushed open the door and entered an old house.

"Crunch."

Some of the dilapidated wooden doors were pushed open, and a gust of cold air slipped into the already not-so-warm room through the gap. A woman or girl who looked extremely young walked into the room carrying a bag of oil paper and a few snowflakes in her hand.

"Wow, Sister Zao'er is back!"

"Look! Sister Zao'er is back with some delicious food!"

"Um, that..."

Five children, who had been sitting around the stove, ran excitedly toward the young woman at the door.

Chen Zao'er smiled and patted the children's heads, then subconsciously looked up, her expression turning slightly cold. "Ermutou, where's that clove of pickled garlic on the cabinet?"

The oldest-looking boy answered somewhat aggrievedly, "I... I ate the daifuku..."

The woman glanced around the room but saw no one. Her usually alluring eyes suddenly sharpened. "You blockhead! Where's Dafu?"

"They ran away..."

"Where did you run off to!"

"No, no, I don't know..."

"My darling baby..."

The woman slammed the brown paper bag she was holding onto the cracked wooden table. "Don't feed me until Dafu comes back!"

After saying that, the woman hurriedly rushed out the door.

The room fell silent. The brown paper bag on the table emitted a unique aroma of meat, and the sound of swallowing saliva was particularly clear in the quiet room.

A slightly dirty little hand tremblingly reached for the brown paper bag, only to be slapped back by a slightly larger little hand. "Sister Zao said, we can't eat it until Da Fu comes back!"

Not long after, the wooden door of the house was pushed open again, but this time a young man covered in white ash was standing there.

The man brushed the snow and ash off his head, stamped his foot at the doorway, and went inside.

The man immediately spotted the brown paper package on the table, but didn't see the person who had brought it back. He subconsciously looked around, and finally his gaze fell on the five children beside the table, who were swallowing their saliva.

"Look at them, they're so hungry! They didn't even greet their brother when they came in. Where's your sister Zao'er? Did she take Dafu out shopping?"

This time, however, a little girl ran up to the man, stretched out a slightly dirty little hand, and tugged at his clothes. "Brother Chen Xing, Sister Zao'er went to find Dafu..."

The little girl chattered away as she told the man what had happened. Although her explanation wasn't very clear, he still understood what had happened.

The man didn't say anything immediately after hearing this. He pinched the little girl's cheek and said, "Little Orange, I know. Go wash your dirty little hands. After you're done, go eat something delicious."

"You too, go wash your hands, and eat after you've washed your hands... Er Mu Tou, come here."

The boy, nicknamed "Second Wooden Head," moved step by step toward Chen Xing.

Chen Xing pulled up a stool for himself, took out a half-smoked homemade cigarette from his pocket, and then lit the last match from the matchbox.

The only sounds in the room for a moment were the popping of cigarettes and chewing and swallowing.

When the man had almost finished smoking his cigarette, he squinted at Er Mutou standing in front of him and asked, "Er Mutou, when did Dafu eat the pickled garlic?"

"It's...it's...it's this afternoon..."

Why didn't you check before you ate it?

"I...I...I didn't see it. By the time I saw it, I had already finished eating it with the cornbread."

"Oh, really? What did you say after you finished eating?"

"I told you, I told you: you've already eaten it all, so why did you call Chen Xing back to eat it? Just... just this..."

The man nodded after hearing this, and while puffing out smoke, he stubbed out the cigarette butt on the ground.

"Snapped!"

Suddenly, Chen Xing sprang up and slapped Er Mutou across the face.

The slap was delivered with great force, knocking Er Mutou to the ground.

This startled the other four children who were eating at the table, and they all stopped putting food into their mouths.

Ermutou's head was ringing from the slap. He fell to the ground, clutching half his face, a few tears glistening in the corner of his eye. "Brother, why did you hit me?"

Chen Xing looked down at Er Mutou on the ground, gritted his teeth, and said, "Why did I hit you? Do you know what day it is today?"

"Today, today is the Lunar New Year's Eve..."

Chen Xing clenched his fists, squinting at Er Mutou on the ground. "So, tonight for New Year's Eve dinner, I'm not eating that piece of rotten garlic, you know that, right?"

……

Meanwhile, Chen Zao'er, who had rushed out of the door earlier, was walking briskly on the street. At this moment, the snow outside was falling heavier and heavier, and had already turned the entire street white.

Instead of shouting everywhere like a normal person would when looking for someone, she walked in one direction with a clear purpose.

Soon, Chen Zao'er arrived at the entrance of an alley with seven huge stone slabs. She then crossed two main streets and entered a small alley. After turning two corners in the alley, she finally arrived at the entrance of a free market.

As soon as she entered the market, Chen Zao'er's eyes began to dart around. Her gaze carefully swept over every corner where someone could hide, but she couldn't find anyone.

As time went by, Chen Zao'er grew increasingly anxious.

Feeling as if a tinderbox had been lit in her heart, she broke out in a sweat during the coldest part of the Frosty Moon season.

As she walked, Chen Zao'er came to a small shop selling noodles.

"Brother Liu, did you see any Dafu today?"

The shop owner, who was kneading dough behind the storefront, raised his eyelids slightly. "I saw it. He even stole a fried cake from me."

"You poor kid, I'm so sorry to have troubled you." Chen Zao'er said, taking out a few yuan from her pocket and handing it through the window.

However, the hand that was extended was blocked by a strong, powerful arm.

"Forget it, my noodle stall is only so big, I'm not blind. Sigh... You all have it tough, especially you who are only 16, a year younger than my daughter."

The shop owner, surnamed Liu, dusted himself off and glanced at Chen Zao'er standing in front of his stall. "What's wrong? Didn't that child go home?"

"Brother Liu, do you know where she went?"

The shop owner shook his head. "I don't know, but after that child left me, he went that way along the market."

"Okay, thank you, Brother Liu! Thank you, Brother Liu!"

After thanking her, Chen Zao'er turned and left. The shop owner, surnamed Liu, watched Zao'er's hurried figure, sighed softly, and then went back to his work.

……

Han Dafu ran through the snowstorm on New Year's Eve, shattering the drifting snowflakes, but unable to shake off the cold wind that followed closely behind.

hungry.

Even after eating, I'm still so hungry.

"Hmph! It's just a clove of garlic, a clove of pickled garlic..."

"Sister Zao'er and Brother Chen Xing should be back soon, right? I should go back too, and apologize to Brother Chen Xing..."

In the biting cold wind, Han Dafu's small figure looked around, only to find that this place felt like another world to her.

"Where... am I?"

So the small, thin figure started running, but soon she couldn't run anymore...

I don't know how much time passed.

A large vermilion lacquered wooden door slowly opened, and an old man with graying hair, dressed as a servant, stepped out carrying a large wooden bucket.

With a "splash," a large bucket of steaming swill was poured into the ditch in front of the door.

The old man shook the bottom of the bucket to make sure it was empty, then tightened his clothes and prepared to hurry back to his own gatehouse with a stove fire.

Just as he turned his head, he caught a glimpse of what appeared to be a child squatting not far away.

The child huddled in the corner, motionless.

……

"Old Zheng, I heard from the men that you have a daughter?"

A well-dressed, middle-aged man with half-gray hair led a noblewoman into the room.

"Sir, you're teasing this old servant. I've been a bachelor my whole life, where would I find a daughter...?"

The old man respectfully ushered the man and the noblewoman into the gatehouse.

The woman beside the man saw the girl lying unconscious on the bed in the gatehouse, and immediately turned to the maid following behind her and instructed, "Xiaochun, quickly heat up a bowl of ginger soup, add more brown sugar, and a few dried red dates."

The maid turned to leave, but was stopped by the man beside her.

"No ginger soup, there's no time. Quickly get the small blankets."

The woman looked at him in confusion, but the man did not speak. He simply walked to the bed and stretched out a hand. This hand was not as delicate as that of a typical wealthy person; instead, it was unusually rough.

The man probed the girl's neck with two fingers, then touched her slightly purple lips, and said in a serious tone, "Old Zheng, call Xiao Sizi."

Upon hearing this, the elderly man surnamed Zheng immediately turned around and left the gatehouse.

"Husband, it's almost the end of the year, and clinics and hospitals are all closed. I'm afraid it will be hard to find a doctor, won't it?" the woman said with some confusion. "Let's not rush into this bowl of ginger soup. It'll be good to warm ourselves up first."

"Madam, you may not know this, but in my younger days when I was working on the sea and running boats, I saw far too many people suffering from the cold. Even young men in their twenties couldn't withstand being in the sea for long..."

Then look at this girl, sigh... I'd guess she's only seven or eight years old, and she's so thin. You can tell she's not well-fed. I bet she didn't eat anything for lunch either. A bowl of ginger soup won't do any good.

Moreover, judging from this condition, most hospitals probably wouldn't be able to save him.

While the man explained, his hands didn't stop. He pulled out a hot water bottle from the gatehouse. There was boiling water in the stove in the room. After filling the bottle, the man stuffed it into the girl's thin cotton coat.

While they were at it, the old man surnamed Zheng led a young man in his early twenties back to the gatehouse.

The man reached out and shoved an iron key into the hand of the young man who had just come in. "Quick, take my car, bring this kid, and hurry to the Night God Temple. I remember they also provide medical care there, and they don't celebrate the New Year."

"Huh? Sir, you mean night... what thing?"

"Tsk... that 'big stone temple' in the northern suburbs! Got it?"

"Okay! Got it!"

……

An ether car smashed through all the wind and snow, arriving at its fastest speed in front of a tall, ancient building in the northern suburbs.

"Doctor! Doctor! Help!"

Several men dressed in old blue robes ushered them inside, examined them, and then shook their heads.

Just then, a gentle middle-aged woman's voice rang out.

"I'll do it, this child can be saved."