Chapter 299: Half for Each, Eat Together
"Yuqin, no matter how angry you are, you can't hit the child... Look how scared Zhaodi is!"
"Section Chief Ye, just discipline the children if they are naughty. Besides, Zhaodi has always been well behaved and is not the type of child who would do anything naughty. Just give them a few words and don't resort to violence."
"That's right... Zhaodi is a grown-up now, not a little girl anymore. You should give her some face..."
The memories of the neighbors still stay at eight years ago, when Ye Zhaodi's biological parents were still alive. Ye Zhaodi was well-behaved and obedient, with good academic performance. She was the least worrying child in the family compound.
They had no idea that eight years could wear down a well-behaved child into a tough mess.
These days, Ye Zhaodi has learned a lot from Chu Yue, especially in how to control people's hearts.
In the past, she had been beaten and suffered pain, but she hid it all and didn't dare let outsiders know.
But Chu Yue said that justice is in the hearts of the people, the eyes of the masses are sharp, and some things need to be judged by everyone.
The neighbors remembered their old friendship and felt sorry for the child, so they said a few fair words. Although their tone was not harsh, they did not dare to offend Ye Zhiqiang, but with so many people watching him, it was not a good thing after all.
Ye Zhigang had to walk out of the house. He first glared at Ye Zhaodi with his narrow and vicious eyes, then looked at Ding Yuqin.
"What are you making such a fuss about? Do you want to make a fool of yourself? How am I, the head of security, going to face people in the future?"
Ding Yuqin was not convinced, "It was obviously this girl——"
Ye Zhigang interrupted sternly, "Don't you think this is embarrassing enough?"
Ding Yuqin's face turned pale. Under the gaze of so many eyes, she had to put on a hypocritical look. "I didn't hit the child. We just had a small conflict and a quarrel! Look... the feather duster was in her hand. How could I have hit anyone? Zhaodi, you misunderstood your aunt. How could your aunt hit you? Come into the house quickly—come in quickly!"
Ding Yuqin's eyes were filled with anger, and she almost threatened directly: You little bitch, you'll be in trouble next time!
Seeing that her goal had been achieved, Ye Zhaodi threw away the feather duster in her hand and rushed into the house quickly.
She ran across the house, to the kitchen in the back, and then into a small cabin in the corner.
With a bang, Ye Zhaodi slammed the door shut.
The cabin was only one meter wide, barely enough for one person to lie down. There was no light in the room, only a hole in the wall covered with newspaper that served as a window, allowing some light to come in from the neighbor's window.
"Sister, did uncle and aunt beat you again? Does it hurt?"
In this dark and stuffy little room, a little boy of seven or eight years old was sitting on the ground. He could not stand up and could only move with his hands. When Ye Zhaodi entered, he had already been waiting at the door.
He is Ye Xiaoman.
Ye Xiaoman was a premature baby and was thinner than other children since birth. What was even worse was that he was found to have dislocated bones in his lower body and was likely unable to stand up.
Not long after the test results came out, Ye's mother passed away, and the family was completely ruined. Ye Zhaodi was unable to take Ye Xiaoman to the hospital for examination and treatment, and Ye Zhigang and Ding Yuqin were even less kind enough to do so.
Ye Zhaodi has been hoping for a miracle to happen, that one day Ye Xiaoman would be able to stand up and walk, but eight years have passed and the thin boy could only sit and had never stood up.
This is also the reason why even though Ye Zhaodi made money, she was unable to leave the Ye family and had to endure Ding Yuqin's torture.
She squatted down and hugged Ye Xiaoman tightly.
"Xiao Man, don't worry, sister is fine, sister was not beaten."
"Really? I heard some noise outside, so loud. It was my aunt's voice, she was cursing again." Ye Xiaoman mentioned Ding Yuqin's subconscious nervousness and fear, because he had suffered too much torture from Ding Yuqin when he was a child.
But compared to fear, he was more worried about Ye Zhaodi.
When he heard the noise just now, Ye Xiaoman wanted to rush out to protect his sister, but he couldn't stand up or take a step forward.
"Sister, are you hurt? Does it hurt? Are you asking for a steamed bun for me? I can eat less. Sister, I'm not hungry."
"Silly Xiaoman, what nonsense are you talking about? You're still growing, how can you not eat?" Ye Zhaodi touched Ye Xiaoman's face distressedly and asked softly, "Did you finish eating the steamed buns my sister gave you this morning? Did Fugui come in and steal your food?"
"No, Fugui didn't come today, but the steamed buns are still here." Ye Xiaoman was lying on a straw bed with a thin blanket. He took the steamed buns out from under the straw and handed them to Ye Zhaodi, "Sister, have some."
Ye Xiaoman looked at Ye Zhaodi with bright eyes.
He was confined to his small, square world and could never get out. The happiest time of the day was when Ye Zhaodi came back.
Because Ye Zhaodi would bring him food, tell him about the outside world, and tell him interesting stories.
Ye Zhaodi is his whole world.
"Silly Xiaoman, didn't sister tell me that steamed buns must be eaten on the same day? You can't hide them or they will go bad. Now sister has a job and money, and she has met a very good boss. We don't have to worry about going hungry. We have fresh steamed buns to eat every day."
"Sister, I've already eaten one today, you can have this one." Ye Xiaoman still insisted on stuffing the steamed bun into Ye Zhaodi's arms.
Because when he was younger, Ye Zhaodi said she was not hungry and gave all the steamed buns to him. He was ignorant and really ate them all. In the middle of the night, he found that Ye Zhaodi was too hungry to sleep, so he could only sneak out to drink cold water. He got sick and had a fever because of drinking the cold water.
At that time, the two siblings who depended on each other lived a very hard life.
Now that he has new steamed buns to eat every day, it is the happiest day for Ye Xiaoman.
Ye Zhaodi looked at Ye Xiaoman's face gently and smiled with relief.
She broke the bun open and said, "Xiao Man, let's each have half and eat together."
"Okay, we'll each take half."
In the gloom, the brother and sister ate the same steamed bun.
Then, Ye Zhaodi took out a bunch of things from inside her clothes, where her belly was.
Ye Xiaoman came closer and tried to look, "Sister, what is this?"
"This is called a hot water bottle. Pour hot water into it and it will be warm. It's very useful." Ye Zhaodi pulled back the quilt and stuffed the hot water bottle between Ye Xiaoman's legs. "Xiaoman, do you feel it?"
Ye Xiaoman's lower body disability is different from the general case. It is neither polio nor paralysis.
As he grew up, his legs developed together and did not atrophy. They were also sensitive, which meant that the nerves were not damaged, but the bones had not grown well.
So Ye Zhaodi always thought about saving money to take Ye Xiaoman to the hospital for treatment, and one day Ye Xiaoman would be able to stand up again.
Ye Xiaoman's legs were always cold. After leaning against the hot water bottle, a warmth spread from her skin, to her flesh, and then to her bones...
He blinked in disbelief, "It's warm, sister, it's really warm."
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