At this moment, Daxi Village.

It was gradually getting dark, and the children playing outside were called home by their parents for dinner.

Only An An was standing alone under the old locust tree, staring blankly into the distance.

In his arms he held a pair of brand new shoes, which his mother had made for him two days ago, but he was reluctant to wear them.

Two days ago, my mother said she was going to the city to do some work and would be back the next day, but today is the third day and she still hasn't come back...

Others say that his mother doesn't want him and ran away with another man.

After hearing this, he rushed forward and bit the man's arm hard. The man screamed in pain and threw him off him.

But he didn't feel any pain, he just kept saying "Mom didn't run away! Mom will come back!"

But……

Will Mom really come back?

An An wanted to cry, but he tried hard to hold it back.

Mom said that men shouldn’t shed tears, he shouldn’t cry.

At this moment, a familiar figure broke into An An's blurry vision.

That figure is slim and beautiful, it's my mother!

"Mom, you're back!"

An An ran over and hugged Li Xia. At this moment, she finally couldn't help but vent the emotions that had been suppressed in her heart for several days: "I thought you didn't want An An anymore..."

Li Xia's body stiffened as she looked at the little kid in front of her.

As expected of the male protagonist’s son, he is really handsome, especially his big black eyes, so beautiful.

It was just a little wet, and looked pitiful and adorable.

"Well, mom is back. Is An An waiting for her here?" Li Xia squatted down and spoke in a soft tone.

An An nodded, and changed the action of hugging Li Xia to holding her hand. The little hands held her hands tightly, as if she would disappear immediately if he let go.

"They said Mom left and won't be back...Mom, where did you go? Why did you come back just now?" An An looked at her with her red and swollen eyes.

Li Xia felt like her heart was about to break.

She didn't know whether this was the emotion left in her body by the original owner or her own. She only knew that she really couldn't bear to see An An so sad.

Especially when she saw the pair of shoes in An An's arms, the pain in her heart became more obvious.

This pair of cloth shoes was made by the original owner for An An before he left. It was also the last thing the original owner left for An An.

The original text wrote that the original owner died in the guesthouse, and An An no longer had a mother. In the days and nights that followed, he would always sleep with this pair of shoes in his arms, because it was the only thing his mother left him.

Holding these shoes is like holding my mother.

Recalling what the original owner said to An An before she left, Li Xia explained: "They are lying. How could Mom not come back? Mom went to the city to get money, but she got sick in the rain, so she came back late."

When An An heard that her mother was sick, she immediately asked worriedly, "Sick? Are you okay now? Is everything okay?"

"I've taken the medicine and I feel much better now." Li Xia said, taking out the oil-paper bag containing the meat buns from his pocket.

"By the way, I also brought you some meat buns from the state-owned restaurant. They're still hot, so eat them quickly."

The meat buns were kept warm by Li Xia. When she opened the oil paper bag, the plump white meat buns popped out, emitting an enticing aroma.

When An An saw the meat buns, his stomach immediately started to growl. He hadn’t eaten all day.

"It smells so good." An An took the meat bun and took a big bite.

"You must be starving." Li Xia said with concern.

The original text does not give a detailed description of the time An An spent in Daxi Village after the original owner's death, but thinking of the character of the original owner's uncle's family, An An didn't know how much suffering he had endured in those two days.

It's already dark now, and An An, a four-year-old child, hasn't returned yet. No one from the Li family comes to look for him, and they're not afraid that anything might happen to him!

"How have grandpa and the others treated you during the two days when mom was away?" Li Xia asked.

She was talking about the original owner's uncle. The original owner's parents died early, and later she lived in her uncle's house. After An An was born, she always called them "grandpa and grandma".

Over the years, the original owner had always treated her uncle and aunt as her real parents, and they took advantage of her foolish filial piety to control her.

An An swallowed a mouthful of fragrant pork, struggled for a while before saying, "Grandpa and his friends secretly roasted the meat and hid it to eat, and only gave me corn rice to eat... and asked me to go to the mountain to cut grass for the pigs, otherwise I couldn't even think of eating corn rice..."

He is a little over four years old, and just as tall as a backpack. However, he is required to carry such a big backpack and go to the mountain to cut grass for pigs. If he does not cut enough grass to fill a basket, he will not be given any food. How is this different from abuse?

Li Xia was so angry that she clenched her hands and wished she could treat the Li couple like pig grass and cut them.

Taking a deep breath, she gave An An a reassuring smile and said, "It's okay, mom is back, no one can bully you anymore."

"Yeah!" An An nodded vigorously.

To be fair, although the original owner did not like Gu Weicheng, she still liked her biological son An An.

In the last moment of her life, she was worried that if she died, what would happen to An An?

An An only ate one of the two big meat buns. Although he hadn't eaten all day and was still not full, he still left the other one for Li Xia: "Mom, eat it."

Li Xia did not reject An An's filial piety. She took a bite and said, "Okay, Mommy and An An will eat together."

After listening to this, An An thought it made sense. She looked at the remaining big fragrant meat bun and continued eating.

The mother and son sat under the old locust tree, eating the meat buns one bite at a time.

The meat buns smelled so good that the evening breeze was filled with the fragrance. An An looked at his mother and felt that she loved to laugh today. He liked to see her laugh.

"An An, can mom take you to the army to find dad?" Li Xia suddenly asked.

In fact, this was her plan after careful consideration. The original owner's uncle's family was evil-hearted, and there was no benefit in staying here. Now was the ten-year movement period, and in this era where you needed a letter of introduction to go anywhere, where could she go with a child?

After much deliberation, joining the troops is the best solution at the moment.

An An raised his head in surprise.

dad……

He has never seen his father since he was a child, and his mother rarely mentions his father in front of him. Sometimes when others ask about his father, his mother will be unhappy.

So he never dared to mention the word "Dad" in front of his mother, for he was afraid that his mother would be unhappy.

But now when mom mentions dad, she doesn't seem unhappy? She even wants to take him to find his dad!

An An didn't say whether it was good or bad, he just said: "Wherever Mom goes, I will go."

After eating the meat buns, Li Xia took An An to the captain's house and asked him to write her a letter of introduction to join the army.

The captain had a good relationship with Li Xia's father who passed away early, so naturally he hoped that she would live a good life.

It's just that this girl has always listened to her uncle and aunt in everything, and she won't listen no matter what others say, so he has no way to deal with it.

Hearing Li Xia saying that she was going to join the army, she smiled and said, "Xiao Xia, have you thought it through and decided to take An An with you? It's good for the family to stay together. It's not a good thing to be apart for too long."

"Well, Uncle Liu, you are right, the family should be together." Li Xia said.

The original owner was raised wrongly by his uncle's family and could not tell good from bad. However, Li Xia, as an outsider, could see it very clearly.

She can tell who is sincere and who is fake at a glance.

And according to the timeline in the original text, the time when the male and female protagonists will meet is about to come.

She had to take An An to find Gu Weicheng before that.