Suddenly, there was a rustling sound of footsteps outside the open courtyard gate.

"Hey? My dear? Are you guys back? I'm here to bring the person back to you!"

Aunt Hua's familiar voice rang out in the yard.

The three of them walked out.

Xiao Huaying was pulled by Aunt Hua and stood in the yard.

"Okay, thank you, Second Aunt."

Hua Shi walked forward and stretched out his hand to pull Hua Ying over.

Aunt Hua waved her hand and said, "You're welcome. I was just in my yard when I heard some noise over here. I knew it was you guys coming back. Well, don't be too sad. Life still has to go on."

Perhaps feeling that the atmosphere was a little depressing, Aunt Hua smiled and comforted her with a few words before leaving.

Hua Shi escorted the person out the door.

Aunt Hua is my next-door neighbor. We live very close to each other and have lived here for decades, but I rarely visit to chat.

During his lifetime, Li had a strong and moody personality and never liked to interact with his neighbors. On weekdays, he was not even willing to talk to his neighbors, let alone have any friendship with them.

During these seven days, Hua Shi had no one to take care of Xiaoying because he was busy keeping vigil, and he couldn't bring her to the ancestral hall every time, so he went to find Aunt Hua next door.

They didn't have much of a relationship, and at first, Aunt Hua's family was unwilling to take the babysitter. Later, Hua Shi said that he would pay five cents for taking care of the baby for a day, and they agreed. They didn't have to worry about food and drink, and they could get five cents for free. Who would feel bad about spending money?

When Hua Shi walked back to the yard, Xiao Huaying, who had just entered the door, came up to her, raised her hand and tugged at the corner of her clothes, and whispered, "...I'm hungry."

Normally at this time, Hua Xiao and Hua Li would prepare meals at home, take him home to eat, and then send them to the ancestral hall for her and Hua Yu.

Two meals a day, this is how I solved the problem for a few days.

Hua Shi estimated the time and said, "I'll do it now. You go sit over there and wait obediently."

She still had some flour in her room, but the rice was probably gone. She hadn't been so frugal these past few days, and a few kilograms of rice were not enough to feed several mouths.

Hua Shi took out a bag of flour from the house and walked into the kitchen.

Hua Xiao, who was standing by, followed her back with eager eyes for a few seconds, seemed to hesitate for a moment, and then quickened his pace to catch up with her.

"Do you want to help?" Hua Shi turned his head and looked at the little girl standing at the kitchen door and asked.

Hua Xiao nodded.

Hua Shi asked her to sit in front of the stove and burn firewood to make a fire.

After a while, Hua Li also came over with Xiao Huaying, huddled outside the door frame, and looked inside eagerly...

While Hua Shi was kneading the dough, there was a faint sound of footsteps outside the yard. It was Hua Yu coming back.

The young man looked at the empty yard and heard a sound coming from the direction of the small kitchen. He turned around and looked towards the source of the sound.

"Second brother, you're back."

Hua Li shouted out after seeing the person walk to and stand under the eaves.

"Yeah." Hua Yu responded softly.

Hearing the response, Hua Li's heart suddenly relaxed. She found that her second brother had been looking towards the kitchen. He explained in a somewhat high-pitched voice: "We are making noodles. They will be put into the pot soon."

Even though he had eaten Hua Shi's hand-kneaded noodles several times, and although the taste was bland and tasteless, the chewy texture, paired with the hot soup, made him eat two large bowls...

It was not until the noodle soup was about to be served that Hua Shi realized that Hua Yu had returned from outside the house at some point. At this moment, he was standing quietly under the eaves, facing the direction of the small kitchen, his dark eyes seemed to be looking at her.

Their eyes met.

The thoughts that had finally calmed down during the flower season became active again.

To be honest, she herself hadn't figured out how to face Hua Yu...

Especially, she suddenly realized that Hua Yu had revealed his plan to her without any error, as if he had no concerns that she would tell anyone else...

"You two go move the wooden table in the yard to the main room."

Hua Shi whispered to Hua Xiao and Hua Li, turned around, and started to fill his bowl with noodles.

It seemed as if the glance they just exchanged from a distance was an illusion.

The dinner was tasteless. The five people sitting together buried their heads in the noodle soup in their bowls. No one looked at each other, and no one wanted to speak.

The atmosphere was silent and strange...

The slow-witted Hua Xiao and Hua Li realized something was wrong, but they lowered their heads and didn't dare to say a word.

No one said a word until the end of dinner.

After tidying up, Hua Shi led the three of them, wiped their faces, washed their feet, and took Hua Xiao back to his room. Only after the door was closed and isolated from the outside world did Hua Shi breathe a sigh of relief.

It wasn't like she didn't notice the atmosphere was amiss, especially the vague glances Hua Yu gave her from time to time. She had absolutely no intention of negotiating with him, and it was obvious that Hua Yu's mind was a little active...

Hua Xiao looked at her with some worry, and an uneasy look was written all over her little face.

"Go to sleep quickly." Hua Shi came back to his senses, patted her shoulder, and motioned her to lie down on the kang first. He squatted down, stuffed several handfuls of coal under the kang, and lit them with wooden sticks and fire starters.

After all the trouble, the sky had already darkened.

The room was so quiet that I could even hear my own breathing.

The white fox, the black cat and the little white dog were not in the house. She had told the three of them earlier that they would not be back for the next few days.

It's probably because she hasn't been back these past few days, so these three haven't returned on time like before. They should be back later...

Hua Shi thought about it and crawled into the bed with her clothes on. Hua Xiao, who was curled up inside, was probably a little uncomfortable and turned to look at her from time to time.

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