Wen Qing, Ji Yanjun, and Henghengheng were only having lunch at the Ji family's house and would be leaving afterward.

Ji Yousheng and Ji Ningzhi tried to persuade him to stay, but to no avail.

Liang Wenhua leaned close to Hengheng and said, "Hengheng, please don't leave."

Hengheng answered in her childish voice, "No."

Why?

"I cry because I can't see my mom. When I cry, I cry really loudly."

Ji Yanjun and Wen Qing: "..."

"Can't you just not cry?" Liang Wenhua had never been so gentle and kind before.

Hengheng replied, "No, I'll cry if you tell me not to leave."

Liang Wenhua's lips twitched involuntarily.

"Alright, Hengheng, say goodbye to your grandparents and aunt," Ji Yanjun said.

"Goodbye, Grandpa, Grandma, and Aunt." Then, like a little adult, he waved his hand and said, "Okay, I'm leaving now. Don't see me off. Go back now."

This made Ji Yousheng and Ji Ningzhi laugh, and Liang Wenhua became even more reluctant to part with her. Finally, she couldn't help but say, "Wenqing, it's been so long... why don't you stay at home for the night?"

Ji Yanjun was taken aback and looked at Wen Qing.

Wen Qing smiled and said, "No, my mom specially fried some steamed buns and fried cakes for us at home today, just waiting for us to come back and eat them."

It was obvious that Wen Qing's resentment towards Liang Wenhua had not yet been resolved, so Liang Wenhua was essentially making a fool of himself at this moment, and perhaps he would in the future as well. After all, Wen Qing was no longer the same Wen Qing as before, and Liang Wenhua's actions had gone too far. At this moment, Liang Wenhua chuckled dryly and tried to smooth things over by saying, "In that case, you should hurry up and go. Be careful on the way."

"Okay." Wen Qing reached out her hand and said, "Hengheng, let's go."

"Okay." Hengheng raised her chubby little hand, grabbed Wen Qing's finger, turned her head and waved her other chubby little hand to Ji Ningzhi, saying, "Goodbye, Auntie."

"Goodbye, Hengheng," Ji Ningzhi said with a smile.

Wen Qing and Ji Yan sent Hengheng to Shuiwan Village. While Hengheng was playing with his friends, the two went to Nanzhou City to arrange their respective company work.

The two didn't return until dark. When they came back, they found Yao Shiling, Wen Liang, Wen Peng, and Hengheng in the yard. Wen Liang and Wen Peng were doing their homework under the kerosene lamp, while Hengheng was sitting in Yao Shiling's lap, eating a sweet potato pancake with his little hands. When he saw Wen Qing and Ji Yanjun, he jumped down happily and called out, "Mom! Dad!"

Wen Qing bent down, picked up Hengheng, and kissed his chubby face several times, saying, "Don't kiss me, your mouth is all greasy."

Hengheng chuckled.

Seeing the kerosene lamp lit in the house, Ji Yanjun asked, "Mom, is the power out?"

“Yes, there was a guy in Shanwan Village who was hauling bean stalks with a tractor. The pile of bean stalks got too high, and when he passed a utility pole, it pulled on the power lines, causing a power outage in both villages,” Yao Shiling said, standing up.

"Is he alright?" Ji Yanjun asked.

"That's alright."

"As long as everyone is alright, it doesn't matter if the power goes out for a while." Ji Yanjun walked up to Wen Qing and said, "Son, come here, let Daddy give you a hug."

Hengheng immediately stretched out her arms for Ji Yanjun to hug.

Yao Shiling went to the kitchen to get the food.

Wen Qing asked in surprise, "Mom, it's so late, why haven't you eaten yet?"

Wen Liang chimed in, "Sister, you'll have to ask your son about that."

Wen Qing turned to Hengheng and asked, "Hengheng, what's wrong?"

Hengheng said, "My mom and dad haven't come back yet, so we can't eat. Otherwise, my mom and dad will be hungry after we finish eating."

Ji Yanjun retorted, "Aren't you afraid that Grandma and Uncle will go hungry?"

Hengheng showed the sweet potato pancake in her hand to Ji Yanjun and said, "Grandma said we're hungry, so we can eat this first."

“Hengheng, you can save some food for me and Dad, then you can eat first, and we can eat the food you saved when we come back. That way, no one will go hungry, right?” Wen Qing said.

Hengheng looked at Wen Qing with her dark eyes, then hesitated for a long time before saying, "I didn't think of that, I didn't think of that method."

Yao Shiling couldn't help but smile: "Alright, stop talking, let's eat."

Wen Qing smiled and shook her head.

Wen Liang and Wen Peng pointed at Hengheng and said, "Silly boy."

“Uncle, you’re the idiots! I’m still young, there are so many ways I don’t know. You’re all grown up, and you still don’t know. You’re even dumber than me.” As Hengheng was speaking, Wen Liang and Wen Peng had already gone into the kitchen to serve the dishes, completely ignoring the little chatterbox. The little chatterbox had no choice but to turn to Ji Yanjun and say, “Dad, I’m not stupid.”

"Yes, Hengheng is smart."

"I...I'm not as smart as my mom," Hengheng said.

"Yes, when you grow up, you'll be smarter than your mother."

"I'm not as pretty as my mom."

"You'll be just as beautiful as your mom when you grow up."

"I'm not as thin as my mom."

"That's right, you eat more than your mother every day and every meal, so you'll only get fatter than her."

Hengheng: "..."

"Yanjun, Hengheng, stop talking and hurry up and wash your hands before eating," Wen Qing called from the kitchen.

"Okay." Ji Yanjun carried Hengheng to the washstand and took the basin off the shelf: "Son, wash your hands."

Hengheng held half a sweet potato pancake in her hand, held it for a long time, and now she couldn't eat it anymore. She handed it to Ji Yanjun and said, "Dad, I don't want to eat this anymore."

"Give it to me." Ji Yanjun took it and ate it in a few bites. Another form of parental love is not disliking the food left over by the child. After chewing, Ji Yanjun said, "You didn't wash your hands after playing in the sand this afternoon."

Hengheng said seriously, "I washed it, but it wasn't clean."

"What a rip-off!"

"Dad, I didn't rip it off, I ate it myself."

Ji Yanjun: "..."

"My dears! Dinner's ready!" Wen Qing called out again.

Hengheng replied, "Honey, we're here."

Ji Yanjun finished washing up and left first, while Hengheng quickly finished washing up and ran to the dining table: "I'm here!"

After a sumptuous dinner, Ji Yanjun lit another kerosene lamp to wash the pots and dishes, while Yao Shiling, Wen Qing, Wen Liang, Wen Peng, and Hengheng sat in the courtyard chatting.

Hengheng sat in Wen Qing's arms, chattering away, which made the others laugh.

Ji Yanjun was also laughing in the kitchen.

After Ji Yanjun finished packing, he took Hengheng, held him in his arms, and asked Yao Shiling about Wen Qing's childhood.

Yao Shiling said, "Wen Qing was just as good-looking as Heng Heng when she was little. She was chubby and kept talking as soon as she learned to speak. But now that she's grown up, she talks less."

Upon hearing this, Ji Yanjun grabbed Wen Qing's hand in the darkness, held it in his palm, and occasionally rubbed it with the pad of his thumb. Wen Qing smiled.

Yao Shiling, Wen Liang, Wen Peng, and Hengheng talked a lot until Hengheng fell asleep in Ji Yanjun's arms. There was still no electricity. The group thought they would start harvesting beans at night or in the early morning, so they went to bed early.

Before dawn the next day, Yao Shiling, Wen Liang, and Ji Yanjun took sickles and went to the eastern field to start harvesting beans. Before they left, Ji Yanjun told Wen Qing to sleep a little longer, and Yao Shiling carried Hengheng to Wen Peng's bed so that Wen Peng could hold Hengheng while he slept.

When Wen Qing woke up, Wen Peng was still sleeping with Heng Heng in his arms. Wen Qing covered the two of them with a thin blanket and then whispered, "Peng Peng, I'm going to Dongdi to bring some water to your brother-in-law and the others. You and Heng Heng stay home and behave yourselves."

"Okay." At this moment, Wen Peng woke up.

A moment after Wen Qing left, Da Dao was outside the courtyard, shouting, "Peng Peng! Peng Peng!" which woke Heng Heng up.

Hengheng rubbed his eyes.

"Hengheng, don't cry. Your sister and brother-in-law went to harvest beans. It's just the two of us at home now," Wen Peng said.

Hengheng said sleepily, "Uncle, I need to pee."

"Okay." Wen Peng got up first, picked up chubby Hengheng, and went outside to find shoes for Hengheng to wear.

"Pengpeng!" Da Dao called from outside. Seeing Wen Peng carrying Hengheng out, he hurriedly ran over and said, "Pengpeng, look! My dad caught a big black fish, it weighs eight pounds!"

"It's so heavy."

"Yes, I caught them in the river, and there are lots of crabs and shrimp too. Come to my house and have a look!" Da Dao extended a warm invitation.

"I'll dress Hengheng first before we go see him," Wen Peng said.

"Then I'll help you," said Big Knife.

So Wen Peng and Da Dao, with their four hands, put short-sleeved shirts on Heng Heng and pants on him, pulling them off and putting them on again when they were on backwards.

Before the two of them had even finished their fussing, Hengheng was fully awake and said, "Uncle, I need to pee, hurry up. I'm going to wet my pants." Without Wenpeng and Dadao messing around, he could dress himself.

"Hurry up, big knife!" Wen Peng urged, "Hengheng needs to pee."

Da Dao used all his strength to put Heng Heng's shoes on, and finally got them on. He breathed a sigh of relief.

Hengheng peed, and then Wenpeng and Dadao dragged him to see the blackfish. After watching for a while, he ran back on his own. On the main road home, he saw Erpao's mother carrying a bamboo basket with a white cloth covering it.

When the Second Artillery Corps' mother saw Hengheng from afar, she smiled and called out, "Hengheng, isn't this Wen Qing's Hengheng?"

Hengheng often went to Erpao's house to play, so he knew her and asked, "Erpao's mom, where have you been?"

When Erpao's mother saw Hengheng's chubby and adorable appearance, she was overjoyed and said with a smile, "I'm going to deliver some food to Erpao's grandparents and father."

Hengheng tilted her head back and asked, "Why are you bringing me food?"

The Second Artillery Corps' mother couldn't help but say a few more words when she heard Hengheng's sweet little voice: "Because the Second Artillery Corps' grandparents and father are cutting beans in the field and working, they haven't eaten yet, so they must be hungry, so I'm bringing them some."

Hengheng blinked his big eyes, seemingly understanding but not quite, and then looked into the bamboo basket of the Second Artillery Corps' mother.

The Second Artillery Corps' mother thought he was hungry, so she lifted the cloth, took out a piece of bread, and said, "Here, have some."

Hengheng shook her head: "I don't want to eat it, Grandma's has some." After saying that, Hengheng turned around and ran home.

The Second Artillery Corps' mother couldn't stop her even when called, and she walked home with a smile.

After returning home, Hengheng ran straight to Yao Shiling's room in the east wing and looked up at the bamboo basket hanging from the rafters. Not only Yao Shiling, but almost everyone in Shuiwan Village would put some snacks, fried food, and fruit in bamboo baskets and hang them on the rafters to keep cats and dogs away, prevent children from eating them, and save space.

Hengheng knew that the bamboo basket above his head was filled with lots of delicious food, which his grandmother usually took down and gave to him.

He tilted his little head and jumped a few times, but he couldn't reach the bamboo basket at all. He blinked his big black eyes and looked for a while, then ran out and came back in a little while later with a bamboo pole in his hand. He aimed the pole at the bottom of the bamboo basket and poked it hard, tilting the basket. With a clatter, a small part of the contents of the basket fell out.

"Oh dear, so many things have fallen!" Hengheng threw away the bamboo pole and bent over to pick them up from the ground, including apples, radish and bean sprout dumplings, sweet potato pancakes, and steamed buns.

"That's enough to eat." Hengheng said to himself. His chubby hands couldn't hold any more, so he put the food in his pockets. When his pockets were full, he simply rolled up the front of his clothes and picked up everything on the ground. After he had almost finished, he took a breath of relief, grabbed the rolled-up hem of his clothes, and ran out of the Wen family's courtyard with apples, radish and bean sprout dumplings, sweet potato pancakes, steamed buns, and other food in his pockets, heading east.

Just then, Wen Peng returned from Da Dao's house looking for him. Seeing the chubby boy carrying something and running quickly with his short legs, he hurriedly called out, "Hengheng, where are you going?"

Hengheng glanced at Wenpeng, then continued walking without stopping, answering in a childish voice, "Uncle, I'm bringing food to Grandma, Dad, Mom, and Uncle because they're hungry."

Author's Note: Due to the ranking, this story still needs 30,000 words of extra chapters, otherwise I'll be blacklisted, o(╯□╰)o囧. So I still need to write 30,000 words. You can choose to subscribe at your own discretion, mwah!

Tomorrow we can interweave past lives.