“Oh, my goodness! I never thought that finding gold would be that much of a pain.” Ma Rui was panting heavily, her throat feeling scratchy. “If I needed gold, I could’ve just thrown my money into the gold mine! Ahaha…”

Autumn or not, Warrego was a sweltering stove. It was on dry land, and there were very few trees in this area – though there were some vegetation and dried-out grass. Standing in this place felt like being fried alive. Digging was a decision with many regrets. It had already been a day and Ma Rui was exhausted; ‘exhausted’ is an understatement.

However, unlike her, the children looked very diligent. Mo Yuan used the shovel to dig more while Han Luo used a pan to search for gold. There wasn’t a hint of exhaustion on their faces. On the contrary, they even looked excited about finding the gold. Mo Yuan also used a pan to look for gold, just like Han Luo. They had been doing this all day and found ten raw gold stones. It made them even more motivated.

‘Why do I feel like I made these children greedy? I feel guilty.’ Ma Rui thought to herself. She finished drinking a bottle of water and huffed to the children, “Don’t just play… drink some water too or you will suffer from constipation.”

Mo Yuan looked at her and declared, “Our bottles are empty.”

“Ah, why didn’t you say that sooner? I’ll go and fill the bottles… if I can… you two stay here and don’t go anywhere else!” Ma Rui gripped the bottles and stumbled on her way to her friend’s cottage. It was the third time she went to fetch water.

Mo Yuan and Han Luo were silently fossicking. Suddenly, Han Luo let out a painful sound. Her soft skin pressed against a piece of glass and it scratched her finger. It stung and a drop of blood spilled from the injury.

“What happened?” Mo Yuan grasped her hand and saw the droplet of blood. He wanted to wipe it but realized that he didn’t have his handkerchief with him, and both their clothes and hands were all dirty. He put her small middle finger into his mouth and licked it clean.

Han Luo was blankly stared at him. It wasn’t the first time she saw blood. The last time she saw the oozing liquid of blood was on her parents’ bodies. They left her forever. She was never able to be with them. Now seeing the droplet of blood, she thought that she was going to die too. She started shivering as her eyes glowed red.

Mo Yuan was licking her finger when saw her expression. He thought that she was afraid of him. He paused and asked, “Does it… hurt a lot?”

Han Luo shook her head. She sniffed and cried, “I think… I’m going to die…”

“Why would you die?” Mo Yuan couldn’t understand her trail of thoughts.

Han Luo looked at her finger that was covered with his saliva. “Because there is blood. And I remember my mommy died after she bled…”

“You won’t die from spilling a droplet of blood. It’s just a simple injury. Don’t worry.” Mo Yuan tried to comfort her. When he saw that it didn’t work, he reached out and patted her right shoulder with his left hand. His other hand was still holding onto her right hand. “When your big brother Sheng Ming and Yujin fell, they bled too. Their injuries were more severe than yours. They bled a lot and they didn’t die. So, you won’t die too.” This was the first time he ever talked to her that much.

“Is… that so…” Han Luo gazed at him in the eyes as if her life was depending on him.

Mo Yuan looked straight at her eyes and nodded. “Yes, nothing will happen to you. But you shouldn’t touch the ground or soil anymore. Your injury will become dirty and it’ll be more painful.”

“I-I understand.” Han Luo nodded.

Mo Yuan let her hand go and she sat on the ground. She was wearing a brown jumpsuit and black shoes that day. Her hair was tied into a bun on the top of her head. Her face was flushed and her forehead was all sweaty due to the heat. Her eyes were red and wet since she was about to cry. Her round chubby face looked worried. She looked very pitiful.

Mo Yuan observed her for a while and then went back to fossicking. Ma Rui came back and saw Han Luo sitting on the ground. She asked worriedly, “Luo’er, are you tired? Do you want to go back and sleep?”

Before Han Luo could answer, Mo Yuan proclaimed, “She cut her finger.”

Han Luo worriedly cried out, “Mom, I’m bleeding… will I die?”

“Oh my, let me see.” Han Luo showed her hand to her. Ma Rui took her hand and observed carefully. “Oh, does it hurt?” Seeing that the little girl shook her head, she continued, “I will apply some medicine and cover it with a band aid. Nothing will happen to my Luo’er.”

Han Luo finally smiled. After applying the medicine, Ma Rui covered the young girl’s finger with a band aid.

Mo Yuan was alone in the field. He was silently digging when he saw Han Luo come over. “Aren’t you going to take rest?”

“No! Ah Luo wants to stay with big brother and look for gold. Is that okay?” Han Luo smiled at him. Her smile gleamed like the rays of the autumn sun.

Mo Yuan’s heart softened as he replied in a composed manner, “You’re welcome to do whatever you want.” His voice was gentle. There was a small smile hanging on his lips.

Han Luo smiled more brightly and started playing with him. From the sidelines, Ma Rui’s eyes were sparkling. ‘Oh, my goodness! What did I just see? What did I just see! Is this really my son? He actually smiled! I can’t believe this! Was my son always this handsome? He looked breathtaking when he smiled. My heart is pounding hard… haha! What should I do?’

While she was occupied with her ‘Kya! Kya!’ moment, the two innocent children were fossicking without a care in the world.

*Kya! Kya! means exciting.