My brother entrusted his child to me, and I livestreamed raising the baby, making the Empress cry wi

So the two left the alley and searched other places in the surrounding area.

They waded through the puddles in the rain, walking from one alley to another, like two mice soaked to the bone, not a single part of them dry.

My feet pattered on the waterlogged cobblestone street.

Some of the stone slabs were loose; when you stepped on them, a stream of blackish-yellow muddy water would gush out from underneath with a gurgling sound, splashing mud all over your trouser legs.

The muddy water had a faint, fishy, ​​rotten smell, like the smell of rotten vegetable leaves that had been soaking in a ditch for a long time.

Her hair lay flat against her scalp, matted into strands, and rainwater trickled down her hair and into her collar.

The clothes clung to my body, and as I walked, I could hear the rustling sound of the clothes rubbing against each other and the pattering sound of water droplets dripping from the cuffs and corners of the clothes.

My shoes were filled with water, and with every step I could feel my toes slipping in the soaked shoes. The soles of my feet were white and wrinkled from being soaked, and the ground felt soft and spongy, like stepping on a rag.

The two walked slowly through the nearby streets and alleys, searching through every garbage heap, every corner, and every pile of discarded items along the way.

There was no one to be seen on the streets. Even the beggars who used to huddle together under the eaves were nowhere to be found.

The whole street was so quiet it didn't feel like a place where people lived; all that could be heard was the sound of rain, a constant, relentless downpour.

The shops and residences on both sides had their doors tightly shut, with a thin, long sliver of dim light shining through the cracks in the doors, swaying gently in the puddles, which looked rather warm.

But that warmth belonged to others, and had nothing to do with them.

Occasionally, faint voices could be heard coming from behind the door. They were worried about the rain, and there were sounds of bowls and chopsticks clattering and children crying.

These sounds were muffled by the door and the sound of rain, as if they were coming from a very, very far place.

The rain is still falling, and the wind is still blowing.

Raindrops fall on the surface of the puddles, creating countless ripples. The ripples collide, overlap, and dissipate, only to be replaced by new ones.

The reflections on the water's surface were shattered by the raindrops; the crooked eaves, the warm yellow window openings, and the gloomy sky were all broken into pieces on the water's surface.

The wind blew the raindrops at an angle, hitting her face like countless tiny needles. Shu Jingwei squinted, water droplets clinging to her eyelashes, and the street in front of her became blurry.

Looking through the water droplets, the whole world appeared distorted. The outlines of houses were warped, the streets were distorted, and even the puddles on the ground seemed to come alive, swaying and flowing to both sides.

Several gray-black stray dogs ran past the street corner with their tails between their legs, their wet fur clinging to their bodies, revealing the outline of their ribs.

He was so thin that he looked like a skeleton with skin stretched out, his belly was so flat that it was pressed against his spine, and when he ran, you could see his bones sliding up and down under his skin.

They shook their fur, glanced back at the two people, one crippled and one small, their eyes numb and wary, then turned and disappeared into the rain.

The claws made rapid, splashing sounds as they stepped into the water, growing fainter and fainter.

The two men would find one plank and bring it back, because they couldn't carry any more. They kept running back and forth like this until it was almost dark before they finally found enough planks.

With each trip back and forth, it seemed as if the rain was getting heavier and the wind was getting colder, whether it was just my imagination or not.

The last piece, which was also the largest, was an old door panel that had been removed from somewhere. It was soaked by the rain, wet, slippery, and heavy, and its surface was covered with dark green mold. It felt sticky to the touch.

As soon as Shu Jingwei's hand touched it, her fingertips sank into a soft, sticky substance, like touching the skin of a dead fish.

The unpleasant odor assaulted the nostrils; it was a damp, suffocating smell, mixed with the acidity of fermented wood and the stench of some small animal that had died inside, all of which made one feel nauseous.

Shu Jingwei could only use her only movable hand to drag one corner of the wall, using it as leverage to move forward.

Shu Rou supported the side, and the two of them slowly moved the wooden plank into the alley.

The two of them walked back to the alley, stopping almost every step, panting heavily.

Shu Jingwei's chest heaved violently as she gasped for breath, her throat hissing with each inhale, like a leaky bellows.

Rainwater accidentally got into her mouth, causing her to cough several times.

Shu Rou bent over, her hands supporting her knees, her face wet with a mixture of rain and sweat.

The tattered clothes that I had originally put over my head to block the rain were now soaked through and stuck to my head and back.

The rain wrapped them up tightly, cold and airtight, clinging to their skin and squeezing out the last bit of warmth.

Shu Jingwei stacked the wooden planks and bricks layer by layer until the height exceeded her knees before stopping.

Then she stepped on the stacked mats and tried to prop up the largest plank horizontally.

The mat wobbled under her feet, causing her to sway as well, which startled her so much that she quickly grabbed the wall to steady herself.

Once she was steady, she sandwiched the door panel between her head and right arm, slowly straightened up, and tried to lift one side of the door panel with her right hand. The muscles in her arm were so tense that they were about to cramp, and the veins in her neck were bulging.

Raindrops pattered on the back of her hands, trickling down her arms, and water that had seeped into her sleeves flowed down her body.

Shu Jingwei held her breath and pushed upwards with all her might, finally securing the wooden plank firmly in mid-air.

The two walls were just enough to support the wooden planks, barely forming a roof that could keep out some rain. The raindrops hit the planks with a dull thud.

Water overflowed from the horizontal edge of the wooden plank in front, forming a curtain of water that shimmered with a cold, eerie hue in the dim light.

Although some rain still gets blown in from the only open side and soaks me, it's much better than before when half my body was exposed to the rain.

Besides, the two of them had been working all afternoon, soaking wet, and were extremely tired. They climbed onto the mat, leaned against the wall, and fell asleep in no time.

The two, one big and one small, huddled together, trying to draw warmth from each other's equally weak body heat.

Shu Rou buried her head under Shu Jingwei's arm, using her body to shield herself from the wind, shivering in the rain.

The heavy rain continued throughout the night.

The sound of rain showed no sign of abating; on the contrary, it became even denser, like beans being poured down from the sky, the pattering sound filling every crevice between heaven and earth.

The rain pattered on the tiles, on the stone slabs, on the puddles, and on the door panel above their heads, each making its own distinct sound. High and low, near and far, all mingled together, creating a deafening roar.

The wind was stronger than during the day, blowing rain in from the alley entrance and making the makeshift wooden roof creak.

This rarely visited alleyway has become a temporary home for the mother and daughter.

In the dead of night, two unexpected guests arrived.