Chapter 7

"Stop talking nonsense here, you damn girl! When did my Fu Lai hit you? It was Chu Shao who beat my Fu Lai without knowing right or wrong!"

Niu Ailing was anxious and pulled the captain's sleeve to complain: "Captain, Chu Shao beat Fulai so badly that he couldn't get out of bed. He bled so much! I was almost scared to death. He was a good kid, but he was beaten like this. Is there any law in the world? He beat Fulai today, he can beat me tomorrow, and he might even beat my parents the day after tomorrow! Captain, if we continue to live with a bad guy like Chu Shao, our whole family will be dead!"

The captain was frightened by her pulling and quickly took back his sleeve. Looking at Niu Ailing's face covered with snot and tears, he suddenly had the urge to wash his eyes.

"If you have something to say, just say it. Don't be so fussy. Chu Shao, are you here to beat up Zhang Fu?"

Chu Shao clenched his fists. Everyone was looking at him, but no one would plead for him or say a word for him. In silence, Chu Shao nodded.

The surrounding villagers were talking, and even though Chu Shao couldn't hear clearly, he knew what they were saying.

Look, this is the son of a slut, there is no good guy in the whole family.

Chu Shao clenched his fists even tighter, until his veins popped out. At this moment, a clear and soft voice suddenly broke into the familiar and numb discussion.

"But, brother, you're trying to protect me."

Chu Jiujiu looked up at the captain with a sincere expression, "Zhang Fulai wanted to hit me. He grabbed my neck and lifted me off the ground, then threw me out. He was very fierce. I was so scared. My brother hit him because he saw that I was injured."

As she spoke, Chu Jiujiu exposed her legs for everyone to see.

The wound was swollen and looked even scarier than in the afternoon. The captain frowned unconsciously. At this time, a familiar voice came from the crowd.

"Yes! I saw this kid at noon. He was clean and had his hair tied up neatly. How come he's so dirty now? It's obvious he's been beaten!"

Chu Jiujiu heard the sound and looked over. She found it was the old lady from noon. She was lost in thought when a rough big hand pushed her, causing her back to ache.

Mrs. Zhang was savage and said, "You are so young and you haven't told the truth yet. Why would my Fulai hit you? You must have hurt yourself, and you want to blame my Fulai!"

Chu Jiujiu cried out in grievance, "I didn't! Someone saw it, several people saw it at that time!"

Chu Shao protected Chu Jiujiu and prevented Mrs. Zhang from touching her. The captain looked around and called over a boy who usually played well with Zhang Fulai. Coincidentally, he was one of the two little brothers who had been there at noon.

He was timid. The captain looked a little scary. Every time he saw her, his legs would tremble. The captain asked him if what Chu Jiujiu said was right. He trembled his legs and was confused for a while. Then he reacted and nodded, "Yes, yes, Brother Fulai was taking Erdan and me to watch him educate Chu Shao. She suddenly rushed out. Brother Fulai was unhappy and threw her to the ground. Later, Chu Shao was also unhappy and punched Brother Fulai. Brother Fulai said he would beat him to death."

This kid is also bad. He didn't say the second half of his involvement, only the first half, for fear that if his father knew about it, he would get beaten when he got home. Thinking this way, he spoke more and more smoothly, and directly exposed all of Zhang Fulai's past: "Brother Fulai has always disliked Chu Shao. He said that he stole his family's food and was a slut's son. He was born by a mother but not raised by her. He deserved to be beaten to death. He fed Chu Shao rotten steamed bread and didn't let him go to bed. Two days ago, he stole an egg and said it was Chu Shao who stole it because that would make his grandmother kick Chu Shao out..."

"How evil! Zhang Fulai is so young, yet he's so vicious!"

"This is pushing him to the brink of despair. Chu Shao fought well. If it were me, I would have crippled him!"

Zhang Fulai gnashed his teeth when he heard this. He suddenly rushed out and started punching and kicking the man: "Shut up! Shut up!"

The villagers couldn't stand it any longer, so one man grabbed him and shouted, "How dare you hit someone?!"

The person next to him said sarcastically, "Didn't you say you couldn't get out of bed? It looks like he can beat a few more people without any problem. It really is true that like mother, like son."

Niu Ailing was embarrassed and angry, but she didn't know how to refute. She could only attack the person who made such sarcastic remarks: "I will tear your mouth apart!"

There was chaos all around and the captain's head was buzzing. After enduring for a few seconds, he couldn't bear it anymore.

"Shut up!!!"

With a roar of anger, the whole audience fell silent.

Under the jujube tree not far away, a shadow moved but did not leave.

The captain had been a soldier in his early years, but was discharged due to injury and returned home. Although he no longer had a gun in his hand, the fierceness he had gained from killing people never disappeared. Hungry and with a headache, the captain lost his patience and made the final decision: "Wait, you will live here with your brother for now. Everyone, please help me find the letter of introduction. We will talk about it after we find it. Chu Shao, hitting people is wrong. Tomorrow, don't go to the fields and pick lotus seeds. Mrs. Zhang, people are all made of flesh and blood. If I hear that your family is abusing your children again, don't blame me for deducting your work points."

"As for you," the team leader looked at Zhang Fulai, whose arm was held, "don't go to the fields tomorrow. Go shovel manure! Shovel until the autumn harvest!"

After saying that, the captain walked away in a heroic manner, not paying any attention to the Zhang family members who started to make trouble behind him. The other onlookers gloated over his misfortune and then dispersed.

Without an audience, Mrs. Zhang's crying stopped abruptly. She glared at Chu Shao and Chu Jiujiu, "You unlucky ones! You want to stay here, right? Fine, I'll let you stay in the little house!"

After making so much noise for so long, the sky turned dark blue. The Zhang family returned to the three connected large houses. Chu Shao and Chu Jiujiu stood outside the courtyard gate. In the quiet atmosphere where only the chirping of insects could be heard, they looked at each other and walked in silently.

No matter what, there is at least a place to shelter from the wind and rain.

In a blink of an eye, there was no one outside Zhang's door. The shadow under the jujube tree stood up, held the things in his arms, and walked briskly towards the team headquarters.

He passed the team headquarters, returned to the cowshed, walked into the first small room, closed the door, and in the cramped and dim environment, he put the bird eggs in his arms on the table.

"Grandma, I'm back."

Grandma Han was sitting on the bed sewing clothes. Hearing this, she hummed indifferently. Grandpa Han, on the other hand, sat up with great effort and said with a smile, "Shengyi is back. Oh, these are bird eggs. Shengyi, don't climb trees next time. It's not good to fall."

The boy called Shengyi smiled faintly: "It's okay, Grandpa, I'm good at fighting."

Grandpa Han touched the delicate bird eggs, coughed, and asked, "What's going on in the village?"

"The Zhang family has a new granddaughter," Han Shengyi scooped himself a bowl of water in the dark, "She's said to be Zhang Fengjuan's daughter, and she's here looking for her relatives."

Zhang Fengjuan is the full name of Chu Shao's mother. When they heard this name, the two old people paused. Grandpa Han opened his mouth and wanted to say something, but Grandma Han was one step ahead.

"Stay away from them, no matter if they are surnamed Zhang or Chu."

Han Shengyi's voice came from the darkness, submissive and steady, "I understand, grandma."

——

Standing in the corner of the hut, Chu Jiujiu lowered her head and didn't dare to speak, while Chu Shao was busy piling up the straw.

The reason why this house is called the small house is because it was built next to the big house. The big house is a brick and tile house, and three generations of the Zhang family have lived in it. The small house is an adobe house with broken windows, only half of the door, and even a corner of the roof is leaking.

It was filled with farm tools and sundries. When Chu Shaogang came in, there was no place to stay.

There was dust everywhere, only a little straw piled near the door, which the Zhang family kept for burning.

It's too dirty, it's not a place for people to live.

It’s okay now that it’s summer, but if we wait until winter, it will be a question whether we can survive here.

Chu Shao and Chu Jiujiu have one thing in common: they don't worry about things that are too far away. They just want to solve the problems in front of them first, which is the most important thing.

So, after Chu Shao came in, he first blocked the door with a broken wooden board, and then began to tidy up the debris inside. After much difficulty, he cleared out a place for the two of them to lie down. He moved the straw over and laid it out as flatly as possible.

Seeing that he didn't say anything, Chu Jiujiu thought he was angry, so she didn't dare to move or make a sound until Chu Shao reached out to her and said, "Give me the clothes."

Chu Jiujiu blinked, then immediately realized what was happening. She handed over the coat to him, saying, "Grandpa, sleep on this. This coat is very comfortable."

Chu Shao ignored her, spread his clothes on the right side of the straw, and then lay down on the left side.

It was dark, and although she couldn't see anything, she could hear the rustling sounds of various small animals crawling by. Chu Jiujiu couldn't stand it anymore. Seeing this, she hurried over and wanted to stick close to Chu Shao, but when she got close, she saw Chu Shao frowning, so she had to step back a little, leaving a one-centimeter gap between them.

Moonlight streamed down from the broken roof. Chu Jiujiu asked cautiously, "Grandpa, are you angry with me?"

Chu Shao smelled the mixed smell of straw and dust. He lay on his arms and closed his eyes. "No."

Chu Jiujiu: "Really?"

"Really not."

Chu Jiujiu then smiled. Her grandfather didn't blame her, so she no longer felt heavy-hearted. She looked around excitedly and didn't feel sleepy at all.

Sitting on the coat, Chu Jiujiu's mood was in high spirits. Chu Shao didn't know why she was so happy. She could still laugh while living here. She was definitely not a normal person.

Chu Shao opened his eyes and saw Chu Jiujiu hugging his legs and rocking back and forth happily.

While shaking, he whispered: "Although the conditions are a bit poor... but, hey, I have a home again."

After she finished speaking, she turned her head and looked at Chu Shao, but Chu Shao still had his eyes closed, and seemed to be asleep.

Chu Jiujiu withdrew her gaze and continued to immerse herself in her happy mood. She didn't notice that under the moonlight, the corners of Chu Shao's mouth also curled up.