"Don't stay here. You young people should go out and talk. I can be alone."

"Auntie, my cooking is delicious. You haven't tasted my cooking yet, so let me try."

"...Okay, Auntie will help you."

"Okay."

In less than five minutes, Gao Yang tiptoed in.

Gao's mother glanced at her daughter.

The latter chuckled and snatched the rapeseed from Gao's mother's hand, "Mom, go inside and talk to my sister. I'll help him."

Gao's mother saw that the two of them had something to say in private. They were both experienced people and it was impossible for them to tear someone else's umbrella when it rained.

Mother Gao put her hands in the sink, shook off the water droplets on her hands, and walked out with a smile on her face.

Gao Yang stood where Gao's mother had been, picking vegetables. "Gu Zhonghua, you're not angry with my brother, are you?"

Gu Zhonghua was cutting potatoes into shreds, and each piece of potato shred was exactly the same thickness and length.

Gao Yang came over, bent over and leaned on the cabinet with the chopping board, holding his chin with his hands, like a blooming flower bud, staring at Gu Zhonghua's knife skills eagerly, "Wow, Gu Zhonghua, you cut potato shreds better than my mom, have you practiced secretly?"

Gu Zhonghua finished shredding the potatoes, dragged them with a kitchen knife and placed them on the enamel plate next to him. He turned around and patted the little girl on the forehead, "I've learned how to cook."

Gao Yang was surprised. "Is it true? Why didn't you tell me about it?"

Gu Zhonghua picked up the two pounds of pork belly next to him and started cutting the meat. "There's nothing much to say. I've only learned a few basics. I can't really become a master, so I can only show off in front of you."

Gao Yang asked happily, "Who did you learn to cook from?"

Gu Zhonghua was slicing the pork belly, which became very obedient in his hands. Every slice was 70% lean and 30% fat, with the fat and lean parts alternating, and the pig skin still attached. "I learned this from the chef who cooks at funerals in the village. Yangyang, didn't I tell you about my childhood?"

Gao Yang nodded repeatedly, "You only told me that your family situation is a bit complicated, and you didn't say anything else."

The little girl is not stupid either.

It was obvious that Gu Zhonghua was going to tell him about his childhood, so he stood up straight immediately.

Gu Zhonghua's men were not idle, and his mouth was not idle either. "My family has many children. I'm talking about my biological parents' family. I'm the sixth child. I have four older brothers and one older sister. The poorer they were, the more children they had. The more they had, the poorer they became. After I was born, my family couldn't even make ends meet."

Gao Yang pursed her lips and looked at Gu Zhonghua with heartache. Her family had always been well off, and she had never experienced what it was like to be hungry.

Gu Zhonghua continued, "It just so happened that my uncle had a colleague who was 35 years old and had been married for 15 years, but his wife couldn't conceive. When my uncle heard that our family couldn't afford to raise a child, he brought that colleague to our house, and my parents sold me to him."

Gao Yang frowned.

How could anyone be willing to sell their own biological child to someone else?

Gao Yang took two steps forward and hugged Gu Zhonghua's waist from behind, "Gu Zhonghua, I will take good care of you in the future."

Gu Zhonghua laughed heartily, "Do you want to continue listening?!"

The little girl nodded vigorously.

Gu Zhonghua had no choice but to continue, "So, I went to someone else's family and became someone else's son. My new parents' family was okay. My new father did some small business selling sesame oil. Our family was considered a relatively wealthy family in the village. When I was three years old, my bride got pregnant. When I was four, she gave birth to two children, a pair of younger brothers.

Let's start. I'm quite happy. From a child's perspective, when my younger brother grows up, he can play with me. I'll take him climbing trees, taking him to collect bird eggs, and playing in the mud. But right now, my younger brother has just been born, so I can only wash his diapers.

Gao Yang's eyes were red. He was only four years old at that time. He was also a child who needed his parents' love, but he had already carried a basin to wash the diapers for his newborn brother. The water must have been very cold.

Gu Zhonghua took a deep breath. "Two years passed like this. My brother was getting older, and as you can imagine, the family's expenses were also increasing. They probably didn't want to support me anymore. The first time, my new father pushed me in a cart to a village more than ten miles away. He gave me a piece of steamed bun and told me to squat there and wait for him, but he didn't come back. I thought he was lost and couldn't find me, so I walked back alone. I passed by the woods, crossed the cemetery, and even stepped in two piles of dog shit."

Gao Yang's voice was muffled and tearful, "Didn't you think at the time that he wanted to throw you away on purpose?"

Gu Zhonghua: "No, I thought I was so obedient and well-behaved. I could cook, take care of my younger brother, and do a lot of work. They had no reason to abandon me. Later, they left me with my grandfather, a hunched old man. He had suffered so much in his youth that his back could no longer be straightened. He was only 1.8 meters tall, but he was only as tall as a ten-year-old child."

Gao Yang asked, "Is Grandpa good to you?"

Gu Zhonghua: "It was good, very good. I lived with grandpa for four years. Those were the happiest four years of my life. But the good times didn't last long. Grandpa passed away. My new father and bride came back to attend the funeral. The twins were already six years old at the time. They were white and plump and very cute. I thought they would take me away after the funeral, but they left me in the middle of the night."

Gao Yang: "What would you do alone? You were only ten years old at the time, right?"

"Yes, I just turned ten. The day before they left was my tenth birthday."

"...They are so bad! They didn't even take good care of the child they wanted!"

My dear, there is more to this chapter. Please click on the next page to continue reading. It will be even more exciting later!