Chapter 822: Mother

Chapter 822: Mother

Six-year-old Miao Guihua lay in bed, her head heavy and dazed. She was utterly famished.

At first, she wept bitterly, pleading with her mother for food. But after two days, she could no longer cry. Her eyes glowed green from hunger, and all that filled her mind was the single thought—food.

Yet there were people in the city. Her mother had held her close, money in hand, searching the entire town for sustenance—but found nothing.

She heard that earth from the mountainside could be eaten. So Miao Guihua followed her mother outside the city gates. But the riverbank was packed with people digging mud; the two women couldn’t even squeeze through.

They managed to dig up some roots, but soon even those were gone.

Of course, other places had roots, but by then they were so weak they could barely walk. After more than ten days of starvation, her body had grown numb. Her stomach no longer growled. Walking required a stick.

"Mother, I'm hungry..." Miao Guihua called out weakly to the woman sprawled beside her, but there was no response.

She wanted to cry, but tears had dried up. Looking around, she scraped off a few white chunks of plaster from the corner of the wall and shoved them into her mouth, chewing slowly.

Her mother had always forbidden her from eating such things, but now, she really was starving.

The taste was bitter, and it absorbed water—after a few pieces, her mouth felt dry.

Guihua picked up a stick from the floor and tottered toward the water jar. She strained her whole body into the moss-covered container, reaching with the gourd ladle, yet not a drop came.

Then she turned around and called weakly to the woman on the ground: "Mother, there's no water left."

Seeing her mother still unmoving, Guihua leaned on her stick and pushed her gently.

When she saw her mother truly ignored her, panic began to rise within her. The adults had suddenly stopped moving, stopped speaking altogether.

Desperately, she ran toward the door, hoping to call for help.

"Master, Senior Master," Guihua mimicked her mother’s voice, shouting at the monk pushing a rickshaw. "Master, my mother won't move. Can you help her?"

Soon, she saw the bald monk enter her home. Within moments, he lifted her mother onto his shoulder and carried her out, placing her on the rickshaw before pushing off.

"Master, where are you taking my mother? Will she wake up?" Guihua clutched her stick, struggling to follow behind the rickshaw.

She walked slowly, but just as she feared she might lose sight of it, the monk, kind-hearted, waited for her. More people began to pile onto the rickshaw.

Eventually, she arrived at a temple. Guihua remembered her mother mentioning this place—the Buddha here was powerful. It was here that her mother had prayed and conceived her.

And the senior monks were good people, always giving away meat soup. Her mother had once been lucky enough to get a bowl, though she never touched it—she gave it all to Guihua.

The soup had tasted delicious. She had licked the bowl clean.

"Senior Master, where are you taking my mother?" Seeing her mother being led into the temple, disappearing from view, Guihua panicked completely, breaking into helpless sobs. Something deeply wrong was happening.

Not long after, the same monk who pushed the rickshaw returned, carrying her inside.

"Be good, wait here. Food will come soon," said the senior monk, placing her on a stone bench.

Guihua felt obedient. If the master said to wait, then she would wait.

Soon, the senior monk emerged from a red house, holding a bowl full of meat soup.

As Guihua reached out to take it, another monk approached him and whispered something.

Then she saw the senior monk look at her, his expression excited, shouting, "Be good, wait here. Food is coming!"

Soon, many bald senior monks came out, each with a rickshaw or cart, as if preparing to carry something.

Not only monks, but men, young and strong, began entering through the temple gate.

They looked hungry too, but at least they didn’t need sticks to walk. Everyone gathered around, waiting eagerly.

Just as Guihua wondered what they were doing, suddenly a hole opened in the sky, and a burlap sack shot out.

Everyone rushed forward. Cries and screams erupted from within. Guihua strained to stand on tiptoes, but saw nothing.

Another sack flew from the sky, but this time it didn’t land properly—it only half-fell.

When golden millet spilled out, Guihua realized it was full of grain.

Sacks of grain poured from the sky, stacking high. When the last man in red clothes carried two sacks out, Guihua knelt on the ground, bowing her head like the others.

From the cries and wailing of the adults, Guihua learned that this man was called a Bodhisattva—a god who could go to heaven and earth, whose words could save her mother.

Soon, Guihua saw the divine figure walking toward her, lifting her up, placing a steamed bun in her arms.

Seeing food, Guihua forgot everything else. She devoured the bun greedily.

Halfway through, she looked up, eyes full of longing, asking, "Bodhisattva, can you give me another one? My mother is still hungry."

After receiving another bun, she hurried to the monk pushing the rickshaw. "Senior Master, where is my mother? I have food now."

Following the trembling finger of the monk, Guihua ran into the kitchen.

On the table lay her mother. Guihua stood on her toes, reaching out with the bun, trying to push it to her mother’s lips.

"Mother, there’s food! Eat quickly, you won’t be hungry anymore."

But her mother still didn’t respond. Guihua turned helplessly toward the red-robed Bodhisattva at the door. "Bodhisattva, can you help my mother? She won’t eat."

Seeing the Bodhisattva remain motionless, Guihua began to understand. Her lips trembled, tears welling in her eyes. "Bodhisattva, did my mother die?"

"No child, I’m not dead. I can still eat," came a familiar voice.

Guihua looked up in shock to see her mother’s eyes open, speaking.

As she watched her mother take the bun, bite into it without chewing, and swallow it in two bites, Guihua burst into tears of joy.

She threw herself into her mother’s arms. "Mother!!"