Chapter 370

"You... why are you giving this to me?"

The little girl's tone carried obvious hesitation.

The faint fragrance wafting from the rice ball kept tempting the little girl.

But the girl, who had seen all the warmth and coldness of the world, was wary of everything in it.

When a stranger suddenly treats you so well, they must be plotting something.

"I just saw you looked pretty hungry, that's all."

Jiang Yan naturally knew what the little girl was wary of.

So Jiang Yan chose the most straightforward way to make the little girl trust him.

He simply split the rice ball in his hand in two, and ate one half in a few bites.

Then he held the other half out in front of the girl.

"Here, eat. It's safe."

Seeing this, the girl also let down her guard. Unable to hold back any longer, she snatched the rice ball Jiang Yan handed over and devoured it ravenously.

There was nothing for it—she really was far too hungry.

Even a plain, simple rice ball before her was like a feast of delicacies.

"Eat slowly. If it's not enough, I still have more here."

Jiang Yan said softly, took a waterskin from his bosom, and handed it to the girl.

"What's your name?"

Seeing the girl finish all the water in the waterskin, Jiang Yan took out another rice ball and handed it to her, asking softly at the same time.

"... Little Beidou."

The girl hesitated for a moment, but in the end still said her name.

Her impression of the man before her was fairly good. Though she was still wary of his motives, at the very least he was far better than those who bullied her.

When Jiang Yan heard this name, he was briefly taken aback.

Was this dirty little girl in front of him really the future Southern Cross Captain, the uncrowned Long Wang Little Beidou, who would one day command the seas?

Jiang Yan just quietly watched little Beidou finish off another fist-sized rice ball. Seeing how she still seemed unsatisfied, Jiang Yan laughed softly.

Beidou also knew her eating manner just now had seemed rather unsightly, and her dusty little face flushed a little.

But Jiang Yan had no intention of mocking Beidou. During the period after his parents passed in his previous life, with no income he had even gone in the middle of the night to rummage through trash bins for something to eat.

He knew better than anyone what hunger tasted like.

"Being hungry too long isn't suited for eating so much—easy to get bloating."

"Let it digest a while before eating more. I still have plenty of rice balls here."

Recalling the bitterness of his previous life, Jiang Yan's gaze at Beidou carried a touch of heartache.

Beidou nodded gently. Through this brief contact with Jiang Yan, the guard in her heart had clearly lowered somewhat.

Little Beidou had wandered for years. She might not have any other skills, but she did have the ability to judge whether a person was good or bad.

At the very least, through this brief contact, Jiang Yan didn't seem like a bad person.

"Thank you, big brother."

Little Beidou said with some gratitude.

"It's nothing, just a small effort."

Jiang Yan had just been about to ruffle Little Beidou's little head, but she flinched away from him.

Jiang Yan's hand stiffened slightly, but then he lowered it again.

"S... sorry, I... I'm just not used to it..."

Beidou hurriedly apologized—she had instinctively dodged Jiang Yan's hand just now.

She also realized how rude her behavior had been.

Big brother had clearly been so kind to her, yet she had treated him like this.

He's sure to find me annoying...

A child's heart is sensitive, and they think a lot too.

Jiang Yan, for his part, didn't think anything was wrong.

A child wandering outside—if she didn't have some wariness, she'd die without even knowing how.

"It's fine. Being alone out here, staying alert is the right thing to do."

Jiang Yan said with a smile.

Hearing that Jiang Yan wasn't angry over the matter, Beidou quietly breathed a small sigh of relief.

"Big brother, may I ask what your name is?"

Then Beidou asked.

She had to remember big brother's name. Once she grew up, she would definitely go repay him!

"Me?"

"My name is Jiang Yan—the 'yan' as in speech."

Jiang Yan said with a cheerful smile.

"Brother Jiang Yan..."

Beidou murmured, secretly committing the name to memory in her heart.

Don't you say it.

You really shouldn't say it.

Little Beidou and Little Ningguang both share a similarity.

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The little them back then really were super cute!

Even though Little Beidou is now dusty and grimy, like a little mud doll.

It still cannot conceal those bright eyes and delicate features.

Thinking this in his heart, he asked Little Beidou:

"So, Little Beidou, where do you want to go now? Or rather, what are your plans going forward?"

It wouldn't do for Little Beidou to keep wandering like this.

The Southern Dipper governs life, the Northern Dipper governs death.

The name Beidou corresponds to the death star, representing misfortune and ill omen; wherever Little Beidou goes, the Zhudingbu Society will inevitably not welcome her.

Jiang Yan suddenly got the idea of whether he should also take Little Beidou as a disciple.

He'd already taken in one Little Ningguang anyway, so one more Little Beidou wouldn't make much difference.

Little Ningguang and Little Beidou were a pair of sworn enemies in the plot of his previous life.

Moreover, Little Beidou had a special talent for naval warfare; Jiang Yan felt that in the future he could let her take over the position of Commander-in-Chief of the Navy.

After all, the current Commander-in-Chief of the Three Armed Forces was him.

The position of Tianquan had already been reserved for Little Ningguang; with Little Beidou assisting, it would probably be much easier.

And when Jiang Yan brought this matter up, the smile faded from Little Beidou's face, replaced by an inexpressible worry.

Little Beidou had always been lost about the future, thinking every day only about how to fill her stomach.

This had also caused Little Beidou countless times to feel she was a person without a tomorrow.

But Little Beidou did not want to expose her weak, pessimistic side to the big brother in front of her.

She forced out a smile: "I haven't thought that much about it; as long as I can survive today, that's enough."

"Tomorrow's affairs and personal feelings, I'll leave them to tomorrow's me."

"Right now, I guess I'll be thinking about where I can sleep tonight..."

Jiang Yan slowly raised his hand, bent a finger, and flicked Little Beidou's little head lightly.

"Silly girl, you don't have to force yourself to smile."

"You're just confused about the future, right? You don't know where you're headed, and you don't know what you should do."

Little Beidou gently rubbed her forehead, pressed her lips together, and said nothing.

Because Jiang Yan's words left her with no room to retort.

"How about this."