Chapter 6: Only able to play with dogs

She buried herself in her maternal grandmother's arms and called out in a muffled voice, "Grandpa, Grandma."

The two responded.

Grandpa Chen handed the cotton handkerchief to Grandma Xi, who wiped her face and then led her back into the house.

After breakfast, the two elders squatted down in front of Shen Xuewei, took out a green two-yuan note, and coaxed her, saying:

"Weiwei, the money you had before isn't enough to buy anything. How about Grandpa and Grandma exchange it with you? Look, this green one in Grandma's hand is so pretty, it can buy lots of candy."

Shen Xuewei touched the wad of money in her pocket and listened to the two men lying to her in a tone as if they were talking to a child. She remained silent for a moment.

She found it a little funny.

But then I thought about it, isn't she just a child now?

She pretended not to know anything, took the two-yuan note from the two men, and actually handed over the previous stack of money.

Ahem... I did give them to you, but I secretly kept a few of them.

The two elders got the money from her and then coaxed her out to play with Da Huang. They carefully counted the money, which totaled two thousand eight hundred yuan.

In an era when most workers could only earn three to five hundred yuan a month, this was undoubtedly a huge sum of money.

Looking at the money, Grandma Xi looked worried.

“Weiwei took so much money from her dad. What if he gets angry later? Should we send the money back to him?”

Holding the large yellow muzzle, Shen Xuewei, who was multitasking, heard this sentence and immediately shouted:

"Don't send it back. If you do, Dad will give it to his mistress, not to Weiwei."

Upon hearing this, the two elders' faces instantly darkened.

"Your dad is keeping a mistress on the side?"

Shen Xuewei put on a pitiful expression, "Dad gave money to the girl on the street, and when Mom found out, she had a big fight with Dad, but then they made up. They won't let Weiwei tell anyone, or they'll beat Weiwei..."

She wasn't spreading rumors; she was telling the truth.

The Chen family members are all good-looking. Her mother was a beauty in the surrounding area when she was young, otherwise her father wouldn't have chased her all the way to the mountains and said all the nice things to marry her.

However, her mother had given birth to three children in a row, which caused her to develop freckles and her figure to inevitably change.

Her father wasn't honest when he was young; he had many affairs, and the couple argued about it for many years.

It's just that as I got older, I lost my strength and became more docile.

As for now...

Shen Xuewei smiled coldly; her father was playing a very clever game!

Even though the two elders were in excellent health at the moment, they were still so angry at what Shen Xuewei said that they were panting heavily.

After a long while, Grandma Xi slapped her thigh and said with exasperation:

"What a spineless Min'er! What's there to miss about someone like that?"

Grandpa Chen's face was also very unpleasant. After a long while, he said, "In a few days, when A-Qiu comes back from outside, let him go to Huacheng to work with his friends. Also, keep an eye on his brother-in-law."

The "A-Qiu" mentioned by Grandpa Chen is their youngest son, Chen Fangqiu.

After finishing junior high school, Chen Fangqiu did not continue his studies because he failed the high school entrance exam. He started working in society at the age of sixteen.

Of course, the "mingling in society" mentioned here doesn't refer to working or being involved in the underworld, but rather to being a petty hoodlum.

When he was sixteen or seventeen, he was imprisoned for fighting in a group, and he spent many more time in jail in the following years.

He only became a little more mature when he was nearly thirty years old.

However, at that time, although he didn't fight, he became addicted to gambling.

Shen Xuewei still remembers her last phone call with her uncle; he called to borrow money.

At that time, Shen Xuewei was heavily in debt and had no money to lend him.

After she explained to Chen Fangqiu, Chen Fangqiu said matter-of-factly, "Anyway, you've already owed others for so many years, so what's a little more? How about this, you and your friends borrow some more money to lend to me, and I'll pay you back when I have the money."

At that time, Shen Xuewei set up a stall on weekends, worked during the day, and also worked at a small restaurant near her rented room at night. She was so tired that she gained weight.

When she received this call, she was so angry that she almost cried.

In a fit of anger, she blocked his phone number and never contacted him again.

Hearing her maternal grandparents mention her uncle's name, Shen Xuewei had an indescribable feeling.

If she remembered correctly, her uncle, though not a gambler, was young and hot-blooded, and had gathered a few thugs under his command. Ordinary people didn't dare to mess with him.

Her uncle was indeed a bad guy; he was a notorious hoodlum in the neighborhood.

However, he has only one advantage: he is protective of his own.

If he goes to Huacheng to find her parents... then there will be quite a show.

The elderly couple looked at the money in their hands and sighed.

Grandma Xi then said, "Then let's not give this money back. Let's keep it for now and use it when Weiwei goes to boarding school in a few years."

Grandpa Chen nodded and carefully put the money away.

The village where the Chen family lives now has only five households, and one of them will be moving away soon.

Upon learning that Chen's niece, Shen Xuewei, would be staying here permanently, they all rushed over to take a curious look at her.

After Shen Xuewei was led by her maternal grandmother to meet everyone, the group left with smiles on their faces.

Grandpa Chen lived next door. After lunch, he slowly walked over to Grandpa Chen's house with his hands behind his back and took a closer look at Shen Xuewei.

Granny Chen was hard of hearing, while he was hard of seeing.

Perhaps because he couldn't see Shen Xuewei's face clearly, he took out his reading glasses from his pocket and put them on.

He looked her over for a moment, then patted Shen Xuewei's head and sighed, "She's quite a pretty girl, just a little thin. Didn't your parents feed you?"

Shen Xuewei, still eating the White Rabbit milk candy that Granny Chen had given her, stuffed one into his hand before saying:

"They give me food, but I can't eat much; if I eat too much, my stomach will feel uncomfortable."

In this way, she answered almost every person who asked her this question.

Upon hearing this, Old Man Chen stared at her for a while longer before slowly leaving.

Big Yellow wagged its tail and ran in, then squatted down in front of Shen Xuewei and barked twice.

Shen Xuewei got up, took a piece of tattered cloth, scooped water from the water vat to wet it, and then grabbed Da Huang's head and vigorously wiped it again and again.

Big Yellow pawed at the ground a couple of times with its front legs, but couldn't refuse, so it closed its eyes as if resigned to its fate.

Once Shen Xuewei felt she had cleaned Da Huang, she put the rag aside, patted Da Huang's head, and played with it.

There are only a few households in Xiaoli Village. When she first appeared, not many people played with her.

If she doesn't play with Da Huang, who else can she play with?

She patted Big Yellow's forehead with her little hand. Big Yellow stretched its neck, squinted its eyes, and its tail was still wagging wildly behind it.

Grandpa Chen, carrying a package in his left hand and leaning on his cane in his right, slowly crossed the threshold, which was only a hand's width high, and returned.

Shen Xuewei put down the big yellow dog's head and hurriedly went to greet it.

"Grandpa, there's a threshold, be careful."

Mr. Chen was two years younger than Mrs. Chen, but he was far less healthy than Mrs. Chen.