Lu Yun nodded at them, "From now on, if you have any urgent matters, go to the tenth brick from the bottom on the back wall of the first house in Osmanthus Lane. Draw a vertical line on the first brick from the left, and if I see it, I'll come find you."
Osmanthus Lane was next to Yuhua Lane, and they passed by it every day on their way to and from school. They could see the signals left by the beggars at a glance.
The beggars' eyes lit up, and they all responded in agreement.
After discussing with the beggars, Lu Yun turned and solemnly instructed the Cripple, "Uncle Cripple, we'll go find your brother now. You take care of these hooligans afterward.
If we find your brother, we'll bring him here, so you stay here for the next few days and don't run off. If we can't find him today, we'll continue searching tomorrow and the days after. Take care of yourself, we're leaving."
The Cripple took out a somewhat old portrait from his懷, handing it to Lu Yun, "This is a portrait of my brother, you can take it."
Lu Yun saw that the person in the portrait had handsome features, but his hair was disheveled, his clothes were tattered, and he looked a bit foolish.
Tian Ya also patted the Cripple's shoulder, "Uncle Cripple, don't hide anymore this time. Once we find Uncle傻子, I'll find a place for you to live, and I'll earn money to support you. You are my uncles."
The Cripple looked at the little masked child in front of him and suddenly felt like laughing. How could this child, who was only six or seven years old, support them? And his brother was a complete fool.
However, he still needed these children to find his foolish brother, so he didn't refuse directly.
Lu Yun took the portrait and led Tian Dou, the other four children, and Guan Zi along with the beggars to search for people.
When they reached the street, he spent a few dozen copper coins to have the calligraphy and painting seller redraw several portraits.
Lu Yun gave each beggar a portrait and asked them to search based on the image.
Anyone who found him would be rewarded with 200 copper coins, and those who didn't would still receive 10 copper coins from him. They would regroup under Tuniangniang Bridge the next morning.
Lu Yun figured that the fool had only gone missing yesterday and shouldn't have gone too far, so they would search outward from Tuniangniang Bridge.
However, by the time the five children finished searching, the sun was about to set, and they still hadn't found any trace of the fool.
They were exhausted from their day of running around. They decided to go back for dinner and rest for the night, then continue searching the next day, as returning too late would make his brother and sister-in-law suspicious.
The sun was setting.
As they dragged their weary legs back to Yuhua Lane, they saw a tall, disheveled, and ragged man under a large tree in front of them, walking in circles around the tree, appearing to be mentally unstable.
The man's hair covered his face, so Lu Yun couldn't see his features.
But Tian Ya suddenly sprinted forward and shouted, "Uncle傻子!"
Uncle傻子?!
This... was truly a case of searching far and wide for something that was right under their noses.
But how could Uncle傻子 have come to Yuhua Lane? It couldn't be such a coincidence, could it?
Tian Ye had taken off his mask by then. He rushed forward and hugged the six-foot-tall fool, not caring if he was dirty.
The fool stared at Tian Ya, shaking his head for a while, then pointed at Tian Ya and chuckled foolishly, "Hehe, little beggar, little beggar, little beggar..."
Tian Ya exclaimed joyfully, "Uncle傻子, I am the little beggar, I've finally found you!" After not seeing him for so long, Uncle傻子 still remembered him! He was deeply touched.
The fool pouted and stomped his feet, "Little beggar, I want to go home, I want to go home."
"Alright, alright, I'll take you home, to find your brother, okay?" Tian Ya said with a smile, coaxing him like a three-year-old child. He then turned to Lu Yun, "Brother Yun, why don't we take him back to Tuniangniang Bridge now?"
Lu Yun looked at the sky, thought for a moment, and said, "Okay, let's go find a carriage; it will be faster."
"Yes, thank you, Brother Yun," Tian Ya said gratefully to Lu Yun.
Lu Yun stepped forward and gently punched him, "What are you thanking me for? You're my brother, and your business is my business. Don't be so polite in the future."
Tian Ya said sheepishly, "Brother Yun, I'm not being polite. I just feel that if we're too late because of this, and Madam blames us, it will be my fault for implicating you all."
Lu Yun and the four children immediately said, "Tian Ya, we are all good brothers. We share fortune and bear hardship together."
"Yes, share fortune and bear hardship together!" Tian Ya's heart warmed.
"Let's go now, let's hurry. We might be able to get back before dinner," Lu Yun stepped forward to help Tian Ya lead the fool.
As soon as the fool saw Lu Yun, he also started laughing and kept calling out, "Sister, sister..."
The other children couldn't help but laugh when they heard the fool call Lu Yun sister.
Lu Yun also grinned. Well, fools spoke without restraint. Sister was sister, he didn't mind.
As the two of them were about to lead the fool out of Yuhua Lane, the fool stubbornly pulled in the opposite direction, pointing at Yuhua Lane and repeatedly chanting, "Go home, I want to go home, I want to go home..."
"Uncle傻子, we are taking you home," Tian Ya said gently to comfort him.
The fool seemed not to understand and kept wanting to go in the direction of Yuhua Lane.
Although he was extremely thin, he was tall and quite strong. Lu Yun and Tian Ya couldn't pull him, and were instead pulled forward by him.
"Go home, I want to go home," the fool kept dragging them forward until he stopped outside the gate of the Lu Residence, pointing at the house and shouting, "Go home, I want to go home."
Lu Yun, Tian Ya, and the children were all stunned. How did Uncle傻子 know they lived here?
This was too magical!
The fool immediately tried to knock on the door, but Lu Yun and the children stopped him.
Tian Ya coaxed him, "Uncle傻子, if we go in now, Madam will punish us and spank us. How about we go around and enter through the back door?"
The fool immediately touched his butt in fear and muttered, "Spank me, brother spank me."
The children quickly took advantage of the situation and pulled the fool to the side wall of the residence.
Tian Ya took out the remaining meat buns from his bag and offered them to the fool. The fool grabbed them and began to eat ravenously.
By this time, it had already grown dark.
Lu Yun thought for a moment and said, "Brother Ya, didn't you decide to find a place for them brothers to live and support them from now on?"
Tian Ya nodded solemnly, "Yes, Brother Yun. I can do it alone. I will never let you all be in trouble."
Lu Yun glared at him, "What are you talking about? Your business is our business."
Tian Dou also said, "Uncle Cripple and Uncle傻子 saved your life, they are your benefactors, and therefore they are our benefactors. From now on, we will support them together."
"And us too," Lu Yu and Tie Zhu also patted their chests.
Tian Ya's eyes turned red, and with a thick nasal voice, he said, "Thank you, brothers. Being your brother is the happiest thing in my life."
The five children put their arms around each other's shoulders, forming a small circle.
Lu Yun suddenly remembered something and exclaimed joyfully, "Do you guys remember the bamboo forest behind the west courtyard? And the rockery behind the bamboo forest? And the small courtyard for storing miscellaneous items behind the rockery?"
"Remember, remember!"