She stood on tiptoe and peered into the crowd, but all she saw were unfamiliar backs.
Her nose stung, and her earlier delight vanished in an instant. Even the rabbit sugar painting in her hand no longer seemed appetizing.
"Waaah-Xiao Cui, where did you go-"
She pouted, her large eyes rapidly misting over. Crystal-clear tears swirled in them, on the verge of falling.
She had squeezed the sugar rabbit's ears slightly out of shape, and sticky syrup clung to her fingers.
Yet she was completely unaware of it, simply standing there at a loss, her little figure looking especially frail amid the passing crowd.
Tears swirled in the little girl's eyes, about to fall.
The old sugar-painting vendor hurriedly put down his copper ladle and wiped her cheeks with his sleeve. "Oh, little one, don't cry, don't cry. Look how pretty this sugar painting is, with those long rabbit ears. Grandpa will give it to you for free, all right?"
As he spoke, he tucked the rabbit sugar painting, coated in gleaming golden sugar, into the girl's hand.
Then he clumsily imitated a rabbit's call, making the girl burst into a giggle.
Her tears still rolled down, though, hanging from her chin like crystalline diamond chips.
Su Yu came over just in time to witness this scene.
He looked at the old man's stooped back and his copper ladle, polished bright with use.
Then he looked at the sugar painting in the girl's hand, glowing amber in the sunlight. His steps slowed before he took out a Silver Soul Coin and held it out to the old man. "Sir, take this."
The old man looked up and saw who it was. He hastily waved his hands, the veins on their backs standing out. "Your Highness the Holy Son! I couldn't