Yang Wanwan stared in astonishment at the taro leaves the boy handed her before she came to her senses.

Pan the mute called himself, "Wanwan?"

He calls himself Wanwan?

So... intimate?

Pan the Mute smiled softly; it was a beautiful sight.

For some reason, Yang Wanwan was somewhat lost in thought as she looked at the excessively handsome young man in front of her.

Red lips and white teeth, a high and straight nose, thick and sword-like eyebrows, and bright and piercing eyes.

However, she is still very thin.

His appearance was somewhat familiar.

But she couldn't remember who could be like that.

"Wanwan, I've already finished self-studying the junior high school textbooks. Do you have any workbooks?"

Yang Wanwan's endless speculation was interrupted by Pan the Mute's question. Coming to her senses, she was even more astonished.

It's only been less than two months, right?

"Yes, yes, I'll have Shang Tao deliver it to you when I get home."

"good."

What Yang Wanwan didn't notice was that after Pan the Mute said those words, his tightly clenched fist slowly loosened.

His palms were sweaty.

Subsequently, along the way, Pan the mute asked him many questions about his studies, and Yang Wanwan patiently answered them for him.

Now, Yang Wanwan is certain that Pan the Mute can communicate with people just like a normal person.

As soon as I got home, Yang Dali came to my door.

He carried a fish and smiled kindly as he entered the door, saying, "Wanwan, these are fish from my pond. They float a bit, so I caught several. We can't finish them all, so you and your siblings can have some. Look, these fish are still alive, so don't be disgusted."

The local water system is well-developed, and at least 30% of the households in the village have ponds of various sizes where fish are raised. During their growth, the fish sometimes get sick for various reasons and float to the surface, half-dead.

Rural people are reluctant to part with the fish, knowing they won't survive, so they catch them and eat them before they're completely dead.

In some households, a dozen or more fish would float to the surface of their fishponds at once. Since they couldn't eat them all, they would give them to their neighbors or relatives, which was very common at the time.

However, many people are reluctant to give the fish away, so they simply dry it to make preserved fish, which they can add to dishes regularly.

Therefore, only close relatives would send one or two of these fish; otherwise, they wouldn't send them at all.

After all, the fish is still alive, isn't it?

Yang Wanwan immediately understood Yang Dali's intention; he was trying to trick her into revealing information.

She has been reborn for almost three months, and has seen Yang Dali only a handful of times.

Several times we met by chance on the road. Once, at the beginning of the school year, Yang Dali and two people from the village came to deliver the tuition money, saying it was left by Yang Jinqiang before his death. However, this was the last thousand yuan.

At the time, Yang Wanwan accepted the money without saying anything and kept it.

Today, I don't know where he got the news, but he knew that Yang Wanwan had been called to the police station, so he came to find her.

Yang Wanwan did not take the fish from Yang Dali. Instead, she pretended to be busy in the kitchen and said, "Uncle, there are many people in your family. You should keep it for yourselves."

Yang Dali was accompanied by a villager named Yang Xinqiao.

He frowned and said, "Yang Wanwan, you really are an ungrateful child. Your uncle saw that you and your siblings were pitiful and had no vegetables to eat, so he tried his best to give you some nutrition. What kind of attitude is this?"

Yang Dali quickly said, "Xinqiao, Wanwan is young and doesn't know any better. I'll teach her properly later. She's just feeling embarrassed about always eating our food, so please don't say anything more."

Yang Wanwan smiled.

It's all my fault for being blind in my past life; I never even considered Yang Dali's cunning and shrewdness.

Whenever Yang Dali delivers a fish to Yang Wanwan and her brother, he "coincidentally" brings a villager over to witness it, so that others will know that he is a great person who cares about his half-brother's orphan.

What can be true about someone like that?

Fortunately, Yang Wanwan had been wondering these past few days whether Cao Xinchun was the only one who lured her and her brother into abduction. Now it seems that it would be a miracle if Yang Dali wasn't involved!

Yang Xinqiao was still angry and scolded, "Yang Wanwan, your parents died young, but you still have to grow up and learn to be decent people. You always eat food from your uncle's family, shouldn't you know how to be grateful? What can I say! Your parents would be heartbroken to see you like this in the afterlife!"

Yang Dali quickly stopped him: "Xinqiao, stop talking. Wanwan is still young. She'll understand eventually."

Yang Xinqiao looked heartbroken and unwilling to say more.

Yang Wanwan looked at Yang Xinqiao, her face showing the innocent expression of a sixteen-year-old girl, "Uncle Xinqiao, I don't quite understand what you just said. Can I ask you a few questions?"

She turned sixteen a few days ago.

Yang Xinqiao gave an unpleasant "humph," and said, "Go ahead and ask."

Yang Wanwan said, "When my parents passed away, I was just eleven or twelve years old. I didn't understand anything back then. Uncle Xinqiao, do you think what I'm saying is right?"

Yang Xinqiao said, "Yes."

"These past few years, we siblings have benefited greatly from our uncle's education. Uncle Xinqiao, don't you think so?"

"Of course, if it weren't for your uncle, none of you would be able to afford to go to school. That's why I said earlier that you should be grateful to your uncle."

"So that means it's all been Uncle's fault for teaching us these past few years. Then I'm wondering, why have we become increasingly disobedient? Uncle Xinqiao, what's going on? Do you mean it's all because Uncle taught us wrong? That we're becoming increasingly disobedient because of Uncle's teaching?"

Yang Xinqiao: ...

Enraged, Yang Xinqiao cried out, "Dali, look at this! Look at your niece's mouth!"

Yang Dali smiled kindly the whole time and said, "I told you, she's just a child, don't take it to heart. She'll understand when she's older."

He has such a magnanimous appearance!

Looking at Yang Dali's face, Yang Wanwan felt extremely disgusted.

With a bang, Yang Wanwan threw the kitchen knife in her hand onto the cutting board, turned around and went to the main room, leaving Yang Dali and Yang Xinqiao in the kitchen.

She suddenly realized that she didn't care about reputation anymore.

Some time ago, she thought that she shouldn't go against Cao Xinchun too much, but should instead establish a good reputation in the village so that if anything happened in the future, the villagers would speak up for them because of their good reputation.

It seems that even if the facade of Cao Xinchun and his wife is stripped away, as long as they have power and money, and as long as Yang Wanwan and her brother are in a vulnerable position, countless villagers will still flock to them and try to curry favor with them.

Even though they knew Yang Dali was hypocritical and even tried to abduct his niece!

It's already the mid-1990s, and in a few years it will be the 21st century.

From the 1980s to the 21st century, people's thinking has changed a lot. No good reputation is as important as having money and power.