Chapter 44 - I Forgot (1/2)

Mister Zhong breathed deeply and smiled. ”Let's search for that stall of my cousin. It should be in some less known side road, so we'd better leave the main road and start looking in the outskirts.”

Madam Zhong nodded and the three of them made their way through the crowd, hurrying into one of the side roads and into the outskirts of the city from there. They had to cover quite a distance to get there and Mister Zhong slowly got an impression of how big the capital really was. How were they to find his cousin's stall in this place? If they started at the wrong end, they might just need a week! And they couldn't even split up, since his wife had never seen his cousin. He himself had at least met him twice.

Mister Zhong looked wryly at his wife. He hadn't expected this.

”How about asking around? Surely someone would know his stall if it's nearby?”

”Mn. You're right. Let's try that.” He looked at Jing Yi and the horses and sighed. ”We shouldn't have taken them with us. What will people think, if they see us like this?”

”It doesn't matter. But it'll be difficult to move around with them always trailing behind. We should keep them somewhere. Or maybe I could wait with Jing'er and the horses, while you look for your cousin?”

Mister Zhong nodded. ”Let's do that. Finding a stable would be good, but we probably couldn't afford it. Just be cautious. If somebody gets the wrong idea, just run away with Jing Yi. No need to care for them.”

”We'll do that.” Madam Zhong patted her son's head and watched, as her husband turned around and stopped the first person to ask. He shrugged his shoulders in her direction, when that person shook his head, and hurried on to ask someone else. Soon, Mister Zhong was out of her sight.

Madam Zhong sat down with Jing Yi, hugging him close to her chest. ”Jing'er, say … that daoist master … did he tell you anything?”

Jing Yi looked up at her questioningly. He didn't understand, what his mother was talking about.

”Oh, it's nothing. I was just wondering, why he helps us all the time.”

”Isn't it, because he is a daoist master? Don't they help all people in need?”

Madam Zhong nodded. ”Yes, yes, you're right. Look at me, I forgot. It's time we get to your father's family and rest a bit.”

”You can rest here! I'll look out!”