When Li Jiangang and Liu Chunhua heard the crying, they ran out immediately to see what was happening. They found that the firewood piled against the wall was on fire!

It was the middle of summer and the firewood was dry and very easy to catch fire. If the fire was not put out quickly, the house would probably burn down. We had to put out the fire quickly!

Liu Chunhua glared at An An and said, "You are courting death. Why are you playing with fire?"

He kicked Li Jiangang again: "What are you still standing there for? Go get some water and put out the fire!"

Li Jiangang reacted immediately and took a bucket to fetch water to put out the fire.

As the saying goes, troubled waters are good for fishing. While Liu Chunhua and Li Jiangang were busy, Li Xia quietly walked into Liu Chunhua's bedroom and opened the brick under the bed...

There was a piece of scrap cloth inside. When I opened it, I saw that it was full of pictures of unity.

She didn't have time to count them, and stuffed them all into her pocket along with the banknotes, not leaving a single cent for Liu Chunhua and Li Jiangang.

The most direct way to deal with bad guys is to hit them where it hurts the most.

What does Zhou Qingshan care about most? His future. So when Li Xia threatens his future, he is willing to spend money to avoid disaster. As long as Li Xia does not report him, he will accept it.

What do Li Jiangang and Liu Chunhua care about most? Of course, it's money. This black-hearted couple can be said to be willing to sacrifice their lives for money.

The reason they adopted the original owner was not out of kindness nor because Li Xia was a child of the Li family, but because the original owner's parents died and the brigade gave them a pension and food subsidies, so Li Xia was able to live in their home.

They are profit-driven.

So the best way to deal with them is to take away all their money, which is much better than beating, scolding or tripping them up. When they see that all their money is gone, they will probably feel worse than death.

Li Xia then put the bricks in place and walked out of the bedroom without anyone noticing.

After doing all this, she also joined the fire brigade.

Liu Chunhua was very angry and put her hands on her hips, preparing to deal with An An.

Li Xia quickly walked over and protected An An behind her. She patted An An's butt twice like patting dust with thunder and rain, and said, "Don't be angry, auntie. I'll take care of him. This kid, why is he playing with fire when there are other things to do!"

Liu Chunhua's curse words got stuck in her throat and she swallowed them hard: "Okay, Li Xia, you have to teach him a lesson. He almost set the house on fire!"

"Aunt, you are right. I must give him a good beating!" Li Xia responded, picked up a stick, and led An An into his room.

Inside the house, Li Xia hit the quilt with a stick: "Gu Shian, do you know you are wrong? I told you not to play with fire!"

An An sat on the bed and howled a few times: "Wuwaaa, it hurts - Mom, I was wrong, I will never dare to do it again -"

After howling, he asked in a low voice: "Mom, did you get it?"

This is what his mother whispered to him on the way back. His mother asked him to cooperate in a play, and he did it obediently.

Li Xia took out a thick stack of money from her pocket and said, "Are you still worried about my mother doing things? You count these one-dollar and one-cent coins, and I'll count the big money."

An An was stunned for a moment, because he had never counted so many numbers before. These banknotes looked like a lot when put together, so many that he might not even be able to count them with his fingers.

But in her mother's expectant eyes, An An nodded vigorously and counted slowly, "One, two, three...Mom, there are thirty-five dollars and eighty cents!"

Li Xia gave him a thumbs up: "An An is great."

An An is already four years old. There is no orthodox class in the village, only a primary school. However, An An is not yet old enough to go to primary school, so he has not yet received formal education.

She also did not find any incident of teaching An An to read and write from the original owner's memory, but when An An was counting money just now, he could actually count to more than thirty, which shows that he is a smart child and can observe and learn on his own in daily life.

For this kind of child, she should teach him more knowledge in life. Learning and applying it in life is the easiest to absorb.

The mother and son were counting the money, occasionally cursing and howling, acting very realistically.

There were exactly 320 Great Unity notes, with a value of 35.80 yuan.

Li Xia did the math in her mind. Gu Weicheng sent her 60 yuan every month, and she gave Liu Chunhua and Li Jiangang 50 yuan, which was almost 3,000 yuan in five years. Unexpectedly, the money was not spent by them, but Li Xia made a profit!

Although the profit was not much, the original owner's food and accommodation over the years were also paid for by Li Jiangang and his wife. With this calculation, this deal was quite cost-effective.

Li Xia did not put the money together. He put the banknotes in a pocket that was easy to access, and the remaining big unity notes were sewed separately into each pocket.

This way, even if you encounter a pickpocket, not everything will be stolen.

"This money was the allowance that Dad sent us over the years, and it was taken away by my grandparents in the name of safekeeping for us. But Mom knew that they were liars, and once the money was in their pockets, it would be impossible to take it out, so Mom had to use this method to get the money back." Li Xia said.

An An is still young, so she has to explain the things that need to be explained clearly. She can't let An An think that they are stealing money, and she can't let him think that "stealing" is right.

"If this money is not ours, can we take it?" Li Xia asked.

An An shook her head: "No, this money was given to us by our father, but was taken away by our grandparents. We can only think of other ways to get it back."

"Yes, that's right, An An is awesome." Li Xia rewarded An An with a kiss on the forehead.

An An was stunned for a moment, and his handsome little face turned red.

Li Xia then remembered that although the original owner also liked her son An An, she had never kissed An An like she did.

Even intimate acts like hugging are rare, and even less so is praising An An.

In fact, this is a common problem in education in this era. Chinese people are very reserved in their emotions. Especially people in this era, they firmly believe that "a good son is born under the stick", and they use repressive education for their children, which has led to many people even having intimacy disorders.

Li Xia was born in the new era. She couldn't understand or comprehend this way of education.

Thinking of the original story, An An spent an extremely dark year in Daxi Village because of the death of the original owner. Later, Gu Weicheng learned that he had a son named An An and took him to the army.

Later, with the help of the leaders in the army, Gu Weicheng and the heroine Su Wenyan got married.

An An became more and more silent, withdrawn and difficult to approach...

Li Xia still remembers that in the reviews of the novel, a reader cursed, "Can the author write fewer scenes for Gu Shian? He looks eerie every time he appears, like a dead person. It's so unlucky."

Damn the author!

Her An An is obviously a smart and cute child. His eyes are curved like crescent moons when he smiles. Why did she write him like that!

Thinking of this, Li Xia felt heartbroken.

There were not many entertainment activities in the countryside in the 1970s, and everyone went to bed early. At about nine o'clock, Liu Chunhua and Li Jiangang went to bed.

Li Xia did not take An An away immediately, but waited for another two hours. After Liu Chunhua and Li Jiangang fell into a deep sleep, she woke An An up: "An An, wake up."

Before falling asleep, An An knew what they were going to do, so she got up obediently and dressed herself, while Li Xia took out the luggage they had prepared long ago.

There wasn't much to take except a few pieces of clothing.

There was also a pair of shoes that the original owner made for An An. Li Xia did not leave them behind and also stuffed them into the bag. These were left by the original owner for the child and must be well preserved.

After packing up all the things, Li Xia took the flashlight, took An An, quietly closed the gate, and left the Li family without any reluctance.

The full moon is like a cake, hanging on the branch, and the shadow under my feet is stretched very long.

Li Xia and An An took every step firmly.

Li Xia knew that the movement had already begun and it would be safest for her to take An An to the army.

As for An An, wherever her mother is, that is the best home.

…

Early in the morning at the Li family, the big rooster had already crowed several times.

Liu Chunhua got up, but found the stove was cold. Usually Li Xia made breakfast, but she didn't make breakfast today?

"Xiao Xia, get up and make breakfast!" Liu Chunhua walked to the door of Li Xia's room and called inside.

But after calling several times, there was no movement from inside.

Liu Chunhua's expression became solemn. She reached out and pushed the door hard, but found that it was not bolted from the inside and it opened immediately.

When I looked again, the room was empty. Where were Li Xia and An An?