Chapter 18 Integrating into the Child's Identity

A small bag of spicy strips was handed to Shen Xuewei, and the girl sitting behind her asked, panting, "I just bought some spicy strips, have some with me."

While saying he wanted to share, his eyes showed a deep reluctance to part.

Wang Chunyan's eyes lit up, and she reached into the spicy strips, grabbing a small handful and eating them with relish.

The female student looked at the spicy strip in her hand, which was now almost half gone, and a look of heartache flashed in her eyes.

I let her eat a little, not that much!

She then pretended to be generous and handed it to Shen Xuewei, saying, "Here, Xuewei, have some too."

Shen Xuewei found it amusing, then slowly reached out and, under the nervous gaze of her female classmate, pulled a spicy strip from her hand.

She smiled sweetly, her eyes crinkling, and said, "Thank you, Sister Xiaoyan. But I can't eat spicy food, so I'll just have one!"

Yes, that's right. One is named Chunyan, another is named Xiaoyan, and there's another one in the class named Yuyan.

There are three swallows in one class.

She only took one, and her words were both considerate of Xiaoyan's generosity and Chunyan's feelings.

Chunyan smiled happily, and Xiaoyan, who had saved the spicy strips, was also happy.

These spicy strips in transparent packaging cost two cents a pack.

Children in the countryside don't have much pocket money, so Xiaoyan's willingness to share is already considered generous.

Xiaoyan stuffed a few spicy strips into the mouth of the girl who was braiding Shen Xuewei's hair. The girl turned her head to take them and continued braiding Shen Xuewei's hair.

When the school bell rang, Chen Fangli and others waited outside the school and saw Shen Xuewei being surrounded by several female classmates as they came out together.

Shen Xuewei listened quietly to their conversation, and her eyes lit up when she saw Chen Fangli waiting at the door.

She turned and said goodbye to her classmates, "My second aunt is here to pick me up. See you tomorrow."

"Okay, see you tomorrow. I'll bring you some fried beans."

After saying that, Wang Chunyan lowered her voice and said, "I just saw that you've already done your homework. Remember to let me copy it tomorrow morning."

Shen Xuewei nodded and rushed towards Chen Fangli, leaving them only with her back to them.

Chen Fangli looked her over carefully and saw that Shen Xuewei hadn't been bullied and had made new friends. Her worried heart could finally be put at ease.

Shen Xuewei is back to being a primary school student, and apart from the difficulty of attending classes, she adapts to everything else very well.

I wonder if it's because I've spent so much time with elementary school students that I've gradually become childish myself, perfectly embodying the role of a child in every action.

Five days passed by uneventfully yet interestingly.

On Friday after school, it wasn't Chen Fangli who came to pick her up, but her maternal grandmother, whom she hadn't seen for several days.

Shen Xuewei and her classmates walked out of the school gate chatting and laughing. When she saw Grandma Xi, who was calling her with a kind smile, her eyes lit up.

She waved goodbye to her classmates and then rushed straight to her grandmother.

Grandma, what brings you here?

Grandma Xi took her hand, swatted away the mischievous, following dog, and said with a smile, "Grandma has come to take you home."

As previously agreed with the Chu family, Shen Xuewei would stay at the Chu family's house while attending school, and return to the Chen family's house on weekends.

However, after picking up Shen Xuewei, Grandma Xi did not leave immediately, but continued to wait for her.

Shen Xuewei knew who she was waiting for.

Xiaoli Village has five households, and they are all related through various connections.

Including Shen Xuewei, there are only two children in the village. The other one is a child named Wu Yuhong.

She and Shen Xuewei were both third-year students, but one was in Class 1 and the other in Class 2.

She was about four years older than Shen Xuewei, and according to seniority, Shen Xuewei had to call her aunt.

The two had met at school, but since they were not in the same class, did not live with the same relatives, and each had their own playmates, they only exchanged a few words occasionally and were not very familiar with each other yet.

Of course, this is what Wu Yuhong considers to be unfamiliar with.

When she appeared at the school gate, she saw Grandma Xi waiting beside her. She smiled with her dark face pursed, and quickly walked a few steps to the two of them.

“Mrs. Siblings, Vivi.”

Although her skin was a bit dark, her features were regular and beautiful, and she was also taller than other children her age.

Shen Xuewei took her hand very familiarly, "Auntie, let's go, let's go."

Wu Yuhong's parents only had two daughters. The eldest daughter graduated from junior high school and went out to work.

My family is busy, and I don't have time to pick her up.

Every Friday, she walks back to Xiaoli Village by herself.

However, after Shen Xuewei arrived, upon hearing that Grandma Xi would be picking her up, she asked Grandma Xi to bring Wu Yuhong along as well.

It was just a small favor, so Grandma Xi readily agreed.

An elderly person and two children walked along the mountain path towards Xiaoli Village.

On the way, Grandma Xi talked to the two of them from time to time, and they both said a few words in return.

The neglected Big Yellow followed the three of them listlessly, looking at them longingly and barking every now and then to make its presence known.

Shen Xuewei completely ignored Da Huang and didn't want Da Huang to lick her hand.

Who knows if Big Yellow ate poop on the back hill!

Grandma Xi glanced at Big Yellow behind her and said, "Big Yellow has been very well-behaved this week. It hasn't eaten any poop. I wiped it with an old piece of clothing before it came out, and it's very clean."

Shen Xuewei glanced at the whimpering Big Yellow, then pouted, "Suck, suck, suck..."

Dahuang instantly became excited, wagging its tail wildly and rubbing against her legs, then stretching its head out to Shen Xuewei.

Shen Xuewei reached out and patted it. It squinted its eyes and wagged its tail even more happily.

After returning home, Grandma Xi started cooking.

Granny Chen returned from outside with pig feed and was chopping it next to a large stove specifically for cooking pig feed.

The Chen family had a fire pit and a stove.

An iron tripod was placed in the fire pit for cooking rice, vegetables, and boiling water.

As for the stove, it was made of yellow mud with three sides, and a large pot was placed on top all year round.

Inside the pot was the pig's food.

There is only one old sow at home right now, so a full pot of pig feed is enough for the sow to eat for four or five days.

When it's cold, you don't have to worry about it spoiling if you cook a lot at once.

However, when summer came, as the piglets grew up and their tastes became more sophisticated, we were worried that the pig feed would spoil, so we had to cook a pot of pig feed every two days.

In her previous life, Shen Xuewei had a scar on her hand, which she accidentally got while chopping pig feed.

However, that happened when she was eight or nine years old.

Granny Chen chopped pig feed nearby, while Shen Xuewei squatted down and started a fire.

She added water to the pot spoonful by spoonful until it was half full, then stopped adding more.

After Granny Chen finished chopping the pig feed, the water in the pot was almost boiling. So she took out a lot of crushed corn from the iron bucket next to her and put it into the pot.

After the corn is almost cooked, add the pig feed.

Shen Xuewei added a thick piece of firewood to the stove, poured some water for her and her great-grandmother to wash their hands, and then washed the dishes to prepare for dinner.

While eating around the fire pit, Grandma Xi gently asked her about her life at school this week.

Questions like, "Have you been bullied?" or "Are you keeping up with your studies?"

Grandpa Chen looked indifferent, seemingly unconcerned, but in reality, he had already craned his neck to look over.

Hearing from Shen Xuewei that everything was alright, he silently pulled his neck back in.