Mist System: Legend of Stars and Moon

Xu Ranqing was born in a small tiled house. The first time she became aware of the world was in her mother’s flowery backpack. The noisy sounds outside reached her ears, making her full of interest in the world. However, her head was covered, which prevented her from seeing the outside world clearly.

When she was four years old, she could already run and jump. Her parents were very busy with their business, so she could only play at home alone. She was too old to go to school, and she was drowsy when she woke up in the morning.

When Xu Xuerui was getting ready to set up her stall, her father carried her on his back to buy some snacks.

The father put his daughter down and pointed at her and asked, "Little sister, choose what you want."

The snack stand was a bit high, so Xu Ranqing couldn't see clearly, so her father picked her up and said, "Little sister, take a look and take whatever you want to eat."

Then he said to the boss, "Boss, bring me a bag."

Xu Ranqing saw the braised beef instant noodles and grabbed a pack. There was a pile of jelly there, so she picked up a few, and then there was her favorite Coke.

Finally, she was too sleepy to choose any snacks. Her father asked her, "Little sister, have you made your choice?"

Xu Ranqing nodded in his father's arms.

The father gave the boss a bill and left some change, then carried Xu Ranqing on his back and went home with the snacks.

"Little sister, we may be back late. You are home alone. If you are hungry, just eat some instant noodles. We have locked the door."

Xu Ranqing closed his eyes and said, "Yeah."

Xu Ranqing didn't know why she was so sleepy. After her father carried her to the bed, she fell asleep while her father was getting ready to go to work.

When she woke up, her parents were not at home. Only a few rays of sunlight came in through the window, illuminating the black floor. In order to save electricity, the family usually did not turn on the lights during the day, so Xu Ranqing did not turn them on either. When she was hungry, she ate some instant noodles and then crawled back into bed.

When she opened her eyes, there was no light coming in, just like a dark night. Xu Ranqing thought that when she opened the quilt later, her parents would be back! So she fell asleep again.

She didn't know how much time had passed before she heard the kids outside, who had all finished school, laughing and playing. She woke up and squinted at them through the small window as they passed by her door. She enjoyed the liveliness of the moment, even though it did not belong to her.

After the long line of people leaving school passed by, the hustle and bustle disappeared and only the lonely sunset accompanied her. She had no choice but to return to the dark bed.

She began to feel lonely, but it didn’t matter. She told herself that she would not feel lonely once she fell asleep, and that she would have everything in her dreams.

Seeing the red flowers of the Chinese rhubarb shining brightly in the sun, Xu Ranqing picked one, pulled out its tail skillfully, and put it on her ear, imagining that she was a fairy in the sky and dancing gracefully.

The flowers of the Rhizoma Coptidis fell and black-red fruits were produced. Xu Ranqing would pick up a disposable cup, put all the fruits in it and pound it, and then use the juice mixed with dust to make cakes. The product was very good. She couldn't help eating it in her hand and was finally awakened by the shock.

She waited like this until her parents came back. When Xu Xuerui came back, she brought in the broom and other things to clean up. Xu Ranqing also came to help her mother clean up.

After cleaning up, it was time to prepare dinner. Mom used the vegetable basin to bring in water to wash the vegetables. Xu Ranqing gave her mother the peeled garlic and scraped potatoes to wash. Those were the ingredients for dinner. After Xu Xuerui washed the vegetables, she poured the water into the garden dam.

When Xu Xuerui was pouring water, she saw her husband coming back and said with a smile, "You're back? I've prepared the dishes, we'll eat later."

"Okay, hard work."

My father went into the house to find Xu Ranqing because he brought her a small gift.

He put his hands behind his back and walked up to Xu Ranqing and said, "Little sister, guess what I bought?"

Xu Ranqing didn't know, so she went around to her father's back to take a look. Her father stopped pretending and took it to her. It was a pull-string car.

Xu Ranqing jumped up and down happily: "Thank you, Dad."

After that, she took the car and played outside, making other children envious.

Xu Xuerui's lard hot pot was ready, and she called out, "Little sister, eat."

Xu Ranqing brought her beloved car back home, and the family of three squeezed into this small home and had dinner happily.

The next day was different from the previous day. Xu Xuerui had some fruits to sell so she stayed at home to cook for her daughter.

Xu Ranqing is now at an age where she particularly likes to imitate others. She saw a man rinsing a bowl under the tap at the door, so she went back and moved a small stool and stood on it so that she could reach the chopping board.

She took a few bowls, squeezed some detergent into them and went to the faucet. Xu Xuerui was frying rice outside, and no one knew what she was going to do. The fire was high, and she was afraid that the rice would burn, so she didn't stop her daughter.

Xu Ranqing turned on the faucet slightly, and imitated the man who had just done that by swirling the water in the bowl a few times and then pouring it out. She thought this was very fun, like practicing some magic.

The mother was relieved to see her daughter was just washing dishes at the faucet. The rice was ready, so she scooped out the rice in a large bowl and said, "Little sister, take out a bowl and eat."

Xu Ranqing washed all the dirty dishes she had taken, so she gave them to her mother, who said with relief, "My little sister knows how to wash dishes!" Then she gave Xu Ranqing a small bowl of rice. Xu Ranqing was also very hungry, and she said while eating, "Thank you, Mom!"

After Xu Xuerui added more rice to her plate, she said, "Little sister, eat slowly! Wait for Haer to follow mom to sell fruit."

"Ah."

They just heated up some food and didn't move the table over. Xu Ranqing took out the small stool she had stepped on from the house, wiped it, and sat in the garden to finish her meal.

Xu Xuerui and her daughter were selling fruit on the street near their home. The street was at an intersection with a small square.

At night, Xu Ranqing likes to watch others dancing in the square here. Although she can't dance, it's lively! As the music sounded, the aunts all danced happily. The street lights were so dim, but their hearts were happy.

There is a small magazine in the corner of the square, a cylindrical house surrounded by glass. Xu Ranqing looked at the rich colors and pictures in the comics and wanted to buy one. What she wanted to buy most was the comic book with Barbie doll clothes. This is a book, and her parents should agree to let her buy it!

After watching for a while, the square dancing ended. Xu Ranqing felt a little deserted, so she went downstairs to the cosmetics store. The happiest thing for Xu Ranqing was to look at the beautifully packaged cosmetics through the glass. What attracted her most was the colors on the eyeshadow palette, which were colorful. If only she had money, she could buy them and paint with them.

She felt that her mother would not agree to let her buy these things because only adults could buy them and children would be immature if they bought them, so she never mentioned these things.

Next to the eyeshadow palettes were rows of lip glosses, each containing a delicate little flower. There were all kinds of little flowers. Although she couldn't afford them, she could choose! When she had money in the future, she could come to the store and buy them.

Xu Ranqing's little action was seen by the aunt who was watching the store.

The auntie had sparse, dry hair, which was clipped with a clip. She wore tight pants, which made her legs look thin. She came out, pulled her face, bent down and said with a fake smile: "Little boy, do you want to buy it?"

Xu Ranqing was frightened by the aunt's appearance. He looked at her blankly and shook his head, saying, "Aunt, I can't afford it now, but later..."

Her words were interrupted by Auntie Bi: "You can't afford it, what are you looking at, whose child is so ignorant, get out!"

Aunt Bi's words were like thunder in Xu Ranqing's ears. She was about to cry. Xu Xuerui on the opposite side raised her head and put down the knife in her hand when she saw this. She also stopped selling sugarcane and just rushed towards Aunt Bi.

Xu Xuerui went to check on her daughter first. She bent down and wiped her daughter's tears with her hands: "What's wrong with my daughter?"

Xu Ranqing said in tears: "I was outside looking at those things, and the aunt asked me if I wanted to buy them. When I said no, she got mad at me."

Xu Ranqing was furious after hearing this, and threw a piece of paper on the face of the bitch: "What did you say just now, bitch?"

"Hitting someone, beating someone."

"It's you I hit."

Pedestrians gathered around to watch.

Those who knew the situation explained, "It was those women who scared the child first, so her mother came to help."

"You look so poor, your child will be poor too."

"You are the only one who is rich, but what about your family? Your hair is so thin and sparse, and your mouth is so long and thin, like a fucking old woman. How can you suck your husband's semen with your rotten mouth? It stinks."

Aunt Bi was scolded so badly that she had no way to respond and could only strangle Xu Xuerui.

Xu Ranqing cried very loudly: "Mom, please stop hitting me."

Xu Xuerui said to Xu Ranqing, "Go and look after the stall for mom, she will come over later."

"Yeah." Xu Ranqing walked towards her stall crying.

Aunt Bi felt that she could not beat Xu Xuerui, so she wanted to smash Xu Xuerui's stall and prepared to run towards Xu Ranqing's stall, but was pulled back by Xu Xuerui.

Xu Xuerui thought that there was a knife in her basket, so she rushed to her stall and took the knife out, which scared Auntie Bi who was about to smash the stall.

Aunt Bi waved her hands and said, "Sister, don't get excited. I was wrong. I was wrong. I was just joking."

She backed away as she spoke, and when she had almost retreated she ran back to her shop.

She wanted to continue doing this job, but every time someone passed by her store, they would talk about it: "It's this woman, she yelled at the kids when they were looking through her window."

Aunt Bi probably felt that she couldn't continue doing this job, so she resigned, and Xu Ranqing never saw her again.

The shop owner was replaced by a gentle sister. Xu Ranqing was afraid that she would be as naughty as the original aunt, so she was very careful every time she visited her.

One time, the elder sister noticed Xu Ranqing, and she went out and gently said to Xu Ranqing: "Little friend, do you want to come in and see?"

It was the first time Xu Ranqing saw this intimate elder sister up close. She was so beautiful. Xu Ranqing nodded: "Is it okay?"

The young lady came in holding her hand and said: "Feel free to look at the things in here. If you can't get what you want, I'll get it for you."

The store was even more prosperous than it looked from the outside, with just the gentle yellow color. Xu Ranqing was walking in front, and the young lady was following behind.

Xu Ranqing asked: "Sister, what's your name?"

"Zhang Xiaomin, the sharp Min"

"It sounds nice. My name is Wang Ranqing."

"Your name is pretty nice too!"

"Ok!"

Xu Ranqing pointed to the lip gloss with flowers in the bottle and said, "Sister, I want to see that lipstick. It's so beautiful."

Zhang Xiaomin went to find a trial pack of that model for Xu Ranqing.

Xu Ranqing looked closely at the flower inside; it was a beautiful blue color.

Xu Ranqing asked curiously: "Will this flower wither?"

"Of course not."

“It’s really beautiful.”

"Yes!"

Zhang Xiaomin took the lip gloss off and slowly put it to Xu Ranqing's nose. Xu Ranqing smelled a fresh and slightly sweet fragrance, and his eyes became bright and energetic: "It smells so good! How is it made?"

"Right! Well...we just sell it. I don't know how it's made."

Zhang Xiaomin put the lip gloss back.

Afterwards, he took her to see other products. This was a time that belonged only to her and Zhang Xiaomin.

One time when Dad brought Xu Ranqing to pick up Mom, she went to Zhang Xiaomin's shop to see her again, but she was closed.

Xu Ranqing ran over and said, "Sister, good evening."

Zhang Xiaomin smiled and said, "Good evening, Ran Qing." Then she said sadly, "I'm quitting my job and going to study."

"Are you coming back then?"

"Maybe!" Zhang Xiaomin took out the packaged lip gloss from her purse and said, "This lip gloss is for you. Please keep it well. It represents our friendship. In the future, we may have a hard time meeting each other again. I feel that technology will continue to develop. When the time comes, you can take a photo of this lip gloss on the Internet and I will find you."

"Ah."

In the end, Zhang Xiaomin disappeared from Xu Ranqing's life. Xu Ranqing sometimes fantasized about how wonderful it would be to meet Zhang Xiaomin again when he grew up.

Later, when Xu Ranqing took the bus to this place again, the store had been replaced by another one, and she had to return home disappointed.

In the evening, her parents came back as usual. Their landlord was drinking again. He wailed in pain after taking a sip of wine. Xu Ranqing didn't quite understand what he said, so she wanted to go over and comfort her grandfather.

But when Grandpa saw her coming, he shouted, "Get out! Get out! Get out!"

The father heard the noise and saw that his daughter was not there, so he came out to check. He saw that his daughter was driven away by her grandfather. He ran over and picked up his daughter and rushed home, but he did not forget to apologize: "Landlord, I'm sorry, I disturbed you, I'm sorry."

Xu Ranqing returned home safely, and his father scolded him, "I told you not to meddle in other people's business."

Xu Ranqing was about to cry: "I want to go and comfort Grandpa."

The father hugged his daughter and said, "I'm sorry I was mean to you, but we really can't control so many things."

Xu Xuerui on the side said: "Little sister, you went to provoke the landlord."

The husband replied, "She said to comfort her, to comfort her."

Xu Xuerui apologized repeatedly: "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, daughter, I misunderstood you. Don't go over there when the landlord is drunk in the future."

Xu Ranqing was still puzzled: "Why? It's obvious that grandpa needs comfort."

Xu Xuerui explained: "Because we are afraid that you will get hurt. If that happens, we will be very sad."

"So what am I going to do next?"

“No need to do it.”

"What happened to Grandpa? Why did he drink?"

"We don't know either. We are just ordinary tenants who rent his house. His affairs should be managed by his children. Do you understand?"

Xu Ranqing said "hmm" in a daze.