With the promise of candied hawthorns, Wang Hu stopped crying, though he was still sobbing. It wasn't until dinner time that his mood improved, and he happily showed off his meal.

I felt sleepy after eating, so I went to sleep.

"Sigh..." This made Wang Dazhu and Zhao Chunniang, a married couple, very distressed. It took the two of them to help Wang Hu change his clothes and put him on the bed to sleep.

"This kid is really heavy!" Wang Dazhu, whose thin body was panting heavily, said, "I'm going to see my aunt tomorrow. If I have any money left, I'll buy some meat for Hu Zi and give him a good rest. He's been crying so much, it's hurting his eyes."

“I think it’s a good idea.” Zhao Chunyan nodded and said, “I often hear people say that you can cure a disease by treating its symptoms. Tiger’s eyes are tired from crying. When you go to buy pork tomorrow, ask the butcher if they have any pig eyes for sale. Bring them back for Tiger to help him recover.”

“That makes sense. I’ll ask when I get back,” Wang Dazhu nodded in agreement.

...

The next morning, when he left home, he didn't forget to take some extra money from home.

Every time he went out, he would remember to bring Wang Hu some pastries and candies. Even if it wasn't much, it was a token of his love as a father.

Wang Dazhu delivered holiday gifts to his aunt's house, picked up some things his aunt had prepared for him, and bought pork, candy, and pastries before returning home.

As darkness fell, Wang Dazhu walked into a desolate forest. A cold wind blew, and he couldn't help but shiver.

The further he walked, the more he felt a chill down his spine, as if something was following him.

"..."

Wang Dazhu frowned, thinking about the bandits and fearing that they hadn't been completely wiped out yet.

He didn't dare look back, so he quickly ran two steps forward, panting heavily.

But my hand felt as if it had touched something cold.

"!!!"

Wang Dazhu's body stiffened. He heard the cracking sound of his neck and slowly glanced back.

But then he found there was nothing behind him.

He let out a long sigh of relief and tried to raise his hand to wipe the cold sweat from his forehead.

"It's terrifying! There's nothing behind it, it must be the sound of the wind..." Wang Dazhu calmed his wildly beating heart and began to reassure himself.

As soon as he put his hand down, he felt something sticky and cold gripping it.

Wang Dazhu felt a chill run down his spine once again.

"Uncle, what are you holding in your hand? It smells so good, I'm so hungry!" A little girl's voice suddenly rang out.

When Wang Dazhu looked down, he realized that there was a child standing next to him who was not much older than Lin Wanyue, and looked to be only four or five years old.

The little girl wore a tattered, coarse cloth jacket, with several patches of cotton cotton showing through, all greasy, dirty, and black. Her clothes were ragged, and her hair and face weren't much better; her messy hair looked like it hadn't been washed in ages, matted into clumps, and several flies were obliviously buzzing around it. Her filthy hands were even worse; pressing them against the back of Wang Dazhu's hand, a farmer's hand, somehow left a black mark.

Wang Dazhu himself was often scolded by his wife for being unclean, but now, looking at this little girl, he realized what real uncleanliness meant.

If he takes him back and lets his wife, Zhao Chunniang, see him, she's sure she'll never scold him for being slovenly again.

"Who...whose family are you?" Wang Dazhu asked.

"Uncle, I'm so hungry... I'm so hungry..." The little girl didn't answer, she just kept saying that she was hungry.

Wang Dazhu still had some snacks he planned to take back for his son, but he had no intention of giving them to this unfamiliar girl.

"Little girl, why are you here all alone? Where are your parents?"

As Wang Dazhu asked, he also looked around. This place was in the middle of nowhere, far from any village or shop. He had no idea where this little girl had come from.

"I don't know... Uncle, I'm so hungry, I'm really so hungry..." The little girl's mouth opened and closed, and her thin little face and two dark eyes looked excessively large. She didn't look cute at all, but rather a little scary.

Wang Dazhu didn't pay attention to any of this. He didn't want to waste food on others, but he couldn't get rid of this little brat.

Suddenly, he seemed to remember something.

Lin Wanyue, that little girl, is not the biological daughter of the Lin family. She was picked up by Liu Junlan on the roadside and taken home.

Previously, Zhang Cuihong, that woman, went mad and kept shouting that she was the one who discovered the child first, and that she should be the one raising it.

Could this girl be some kind of little fairy?

Otherwise, why would someone be here all alone so late at night?

Thinking this way, Wang Dazhu felt inexplicably excited. It seemed that this immense wealth was finally going to be his!

"Little girl, do you want to eat your fill?" Wang Dazhu asked with a smile as he squatted down, looking at the little girl at eye level, and staring into her dark but somewhat stiff and lifeless eyes.

"I want to eat! I'm so hungry... I'm starving..." the little girl nodded, her lips were dry and peeling, revealing a pale complexion.

Wang Dazhu glanced at her and knew that the little girl was probably not only hungry, but also hadn't had any water.

"Then come home with your uncle. Your uncle will give you food and drink, and even dress you nicely, okay?" A glint of excitement flashed in Wang Dazhu's eyes.

"Uncle, you smell so good... I'm so hungry, can you give me something to eat? I'm so hungry..." The little girl sniffed, staring intently at the bundle in Wang Dazhu's hand.

Thinking of his son's crying, Wang Dazhu gritted his teeth and finally took a small piece from the food and gave it to the little girl.

"Since you've eaten my food, you're now part of my family. Remember to behave when you visit," Wang Dazhu said sternly.

The little girl was completely focused on the food and didn't notice what he was saying at all. She just nodded frantically, took the small piece of pastry that Wang Dazhu gave her with her dirty hands, and stuffed it into her mouth in one bite.

This also shows that Wang Dazhu is really stingy, only willing to use such a small thing to win people over.

However, he still led the little girl back to Ning'an Village.

When Zhao Chunniang saw that Wang Dazhu had brought back a strange little girl, she immediately went into a frenzy.

"Wang Dazhu, explain yourself! Where did this little brat come from? You've only been gone for a day and you've brought a woman back with you? You heartless bastard, do you have any conscience at all? I gave birth to several daughters and you didn't want them, but now you're bringing someone else's daughter home to raise, is that it?" Zhao Chunniang was so angry that she jumped up and down, opening the door to throw the skinny little girl out.

"Hey... don't get excited." Wang Dazhu quickly put down the bundle on his body, grabbed Zhao Chunniang, and said irritably, "You petty woman, aren't you? Even if I had a child with another woman, I wouldn't do this to her, would I? I picked this little girl up on the road!"