Chapter 19

When Tang Qingqing returned home, everyone was already asleep.

The gate to the courtyard was not locked, and Tang Qingqing knew that it must be the door that her aunt left open for her.

She sneaked into the room, and although she walked very quietly, she still woke Tang Qiaoqiao up.

"Sister, why are you so late?"

"Did I wake you up?"

Tang Qiaoqiao shook her head, "I haven't fallen asleep yet."

"Gululu——"

Tang Qiaoqiao's stomach growled, the sound was especially clear in the quiet night.

"Did you not eat enough today?"

Tang Qiaoqiao touched her swollen belly and said, "After the granary was burned, we cooked even less meals at home."

Tang Qingqing took out a cookie from her pocket and stuffed it into Tang Qiaoqiao's pocket. "Here, I saved it for you."

The room was dark and Tang Qiaoqiao couldn't see anything, but the touch of the steamed bun in her hands told her that it was better than the mixed-flour steamed buns made at home.

"Sister, you eat it, I don't want to eat it." Tang Qiaoqiao pushed it back.

"I've eaten them all. I even ate meat today!"

"Wow!" Tang Qiaoqiao was extremely envious. "Are you full?"

"I'm full. I'm full."

The Hongqiao Brigade sent a bag of cookies, but now there are only a few left.

"Then you can eat the steamed buns my mother left for you tomorrow. I put them in the iron box in the cupboard."

"Aunt hid steamed buns for me again?" Tang Qingqing felt warm in her heart.

Ever since her aunt came into the family, she often gave her food in secret, which made Tang Qingqing feel the care from her family for the first time.

But my aunt herself has no say in this family, so she can’t help much.

But this already made Tang Qingqing very grateful. When she was a child, she even hoped that her aunt was her mother.

"My aunt is so nice."

"Sister, you are so nice to me too." Tang Qiaoqiao chewed the biscuit with great care, and her eyes widened after just a few bites.

"elder sister!"

"Shhh - don't be so loud, it will be terrible if you wake people up."

Tang Qiaoqiao quickly covered her mouth and said in a low voice:

"Sister, I got some meat."

Tang Qingqing smiled and asked, "Is it delicious?"

"tasty!"

"Then eat it quickly, and remember to rinse your mouth before going to bed."

Tang Qingqing didn’t understand these things before. As long as her face was not dirty and her feet were not smelly, it was fine. But she learned from books that it is very important to maintain cleanliness and hygiene.

"Sister, can I keep the rest?"

"You want to leave it to your uncle and aunt?"

"Um."

Tang Qingqing rubbed her head and said, "It's too little this time. You should eat it first. There will be a chance in the future."

Tang Qiaoqiao was a little hesitant. She still wanted to share such a good thing with her parents.

"Eat it. You will be happier if you can eat delicious food than they can."

Tang Qiaoqiao then continued to eat in small bites, especially when she was eating the meat, she chewed it for a long time before swallowing it.

Through the faint moonlight, you can vaguely see the little girl savoring and cherishing every bite, afraid that she would forget the taste.

————

Tang Zhenzhen walked out of the room and saw breakfast on the table. She couldn't help but pout.

"Why soy milk fried dough sticks again?"

Tang Jixue buttoned his shirt with one hand and put a fried dough stick in his mouth with the other hand, occasionally stuffing soy milk into his mouth. His hair was also messy.

"Little sister, don't you like eating soy milk and fried dough sticks?"

"You can't eat it every day. I've eaten it three times in a row in the past few days."

Tang Zhenzhen looked at the soy milk and fried dough sticks on the table and had no appetite at all.

"Mom, what a fool! I told you that I have acne on my forehead and can't eat fried food, why did you buy youtiao?"

Tang Jixue couldn't understand what the pimple on his forehead had to do with fried dough sticks. "Do you want to eat it? If you don't, I'll take it away."

"Third brother, why are you like this?"

"Ah? How am I?"

Tang Zhenzhen looked at him without saying anything.

Tang Jixue used the hand that he was buttoning to shake his head. When he saw his little sister's expression, his heart began to beat fast.

"What's the matter? Didn't you say you couldn't eat it?"

Tang Zhenzhen was a little angry: "Then what will I eat if you take it away?"

"But if I don't take it away, aren't you afraid of getting acne and won't eat it?"

"But……"

Tang Jixue looked up at the clock on the wall and jumped up from his chair:

"Ahhh, I'm going to be late. I have to go now."

He quickly ran to the door, then rushed back and took away all the fried dough sticks on the table.

"Little sister, since you're not going to eat anyway, I'll take it all. There's still breakfast in the cafeteria, go buy yourself something to eat, the meal ticket is in the shoe box, I'm leaving now!"

Before Tang Zhenzhen could say anything, the door was slammed shut.

Tang Zhenzhen stomped her feet in anger.

The breakfast was gone, and Tang Zhenzhen had no choice but to go out and buy breakfast herself.

She changed her pajamas into new autumn clothes. The styles and colors of her clothes were relatively simple, but she still managed to make use of the details.

For example, the waist can be pinched thinner and the pants can be adjusted to make the legs look longer.

Her hair was braided into two popular pigtails, but she didn't comb it tightly close to her scalp like others.

She would relax it just enough, but not too much, to frame the shape of the head and face.

Tang Zhenzhen struggled for more than half an hour before walking out of the room dissatisfied.

Then I saw Tang Jidong pouring the contents of the thermos into a bowl and sprinkling some chopped green onions into it.

"Brother, why are you back?"

Tang Jidong is currently studying at the Workers, Peasants and Soldiers University and usually only comes back on weekends.

"I heard that you haven't been eating much lately, so I came back out of concern. Look, what I brought back."

Tang Zhenzhen looked towards the small dining table, her eyes suddenly lit up:

"Wontons? They're not made by that state-owned restaurant at the East Street intersection, are they?"

Tang Zhenzhen walked forward, took a quick sniff, and knew it was definitely there.

Tang Jidong pushed the bowl in front of Tang Zhenzhen, "Try it and see how it tastes. Last time you said that the chopped green onions turned yellow, so this time I didn't use any green onions at all. I just cut some from the kitchen and sprinkled it on top."

"Brother, you are so good to me!"

Tang Jidong smiled and patted her head gently, "Eat quickly. Tell your second brother what you want to eat next time."

The wontons are delicious, and the meat filling inside has been specially processed to make it soft, glutinous and smooth.

Tang Zhenzhen happily ate all the wontons, even the soup.

The soup is slowly boiled with bones and is particularly fragrant.

Tang Zhenzhen still felt a little unsatisfied after finishing her meal.

Tang Jidong took out a basket of steamed buns as if performing magic.

"Ah, my favorite steamed buns." Tang Zhenzhen was very happy. "This is too much. I definitely can't finish it."

“Eat as much as you can.”

As Tang Zhenzhen is still growing, she is always concerned about her weight, but her body craves food, so she can't help but eat more.

Fortunately, she is only growing thinner and not gaining weight, so she is not that nervous.

The small steamed bun is thin and has a lot of fillings. The meat inside is still dripping with juice, and it is dipped in a little special spicy sauce. The taste is so delicious that you can't help but squint your eyes and stamp your feet.

Tang Zhenzhen ate four and didn't dare to eat any more, so she pushed the remaining steamed buns in front of Tang Jidong.

"Second brother, you eat too."

Tang Jidong's mouth curled up slightly. He took the remaining steamed buns and ate them one by one.

"Second brother, can you bring me some spicy hotpot from Dongjiekou next time?"

Only a few people know about the Hu La Tang at Dongjiekou. It is a shop secretly opened by a man whose ancestral home is in Henan Province.

Only the gourmet knows this place. He only does business with people he knows. Ordinary people can’t buy it even if they find the place, and those who set up stalls are afraid of being caught.

Looking at his sister who was smiling sweetly, Tang Jidong couldn't help but agree: "I'll buy it for you tomorrow."

Tang Zhenzhen held Tang Jidong's arm affectionately, "Second brother, you are so good to me!"

"You are my only sister. If I don't treat you well, who else should I treat well?"

Tang Zhenzhen's smile became even brighter, and the silver bracelet on her wrist glowed faintly.

——

Tang Qingqing got up the next morning and did not run away quietly.

All the food and money she earned from work points were handed over to the public, so there was no reason for her to not eat a single bite and go out to beg for food every day.

She got up later than usual because she didn't do the laundry early in the morning.

Tang Qingqing felt that the reason why she was so short was not only because of poor diet, but also because of lack of sleep.

According to the book, she should look like a grown-up girl now, but she is only the size of a ten-year-old.

She doesn't want to be a short person, so she has to get enough sleep and eat enough, and she can't be as frugal as before.

As soon as Zhao Dahua saw her, his face immediately became stern.

"I thought you didn't know you were going home."

Tang Qingqing hasn't been at home these few days and no one has washed the clothes, which are still piled there.

Tang Qingqing ignored her and went straight past her to the kitchen.

When her aunt saw her, she smiled at her.

She looked outside the door and secretly stuffed an egg into Tang Qingqing's pocket.

Tang Qingqing was extremely surprised and asked in a low voice: "Aunt, where are you from?"

"Your eldest sister came back yesterday."

The eldest sister that my aunt was talking about was her daughter with her ex-husband and she got married five years ago.

The place where she married was half a day's walk from Rongshan Brigade. She always came and left in a hurry.

Tang Qingqing wanted to say something, but Zhao Dahua rushed in and yelled:

"Tang Qingqing, you've grown so independent that you didn't even say hello to your mother when you saw her!"

Tang Qingqing turned her head, her eyes were cold and deep:

"Are you my real mother?"

Zhao Dahua was stunned for a moment, then quickly reacted:

"You silly girl, do you think you can become a king just by making achievements? I tell you, no matter what you become, I am still your mother, and you have to listen to me! Otherwise, it would be a great disrespect to your parents, and you will be criticized wherever you go!"

Tang Qingqing sneered, "You are my mother? If you were my biological mother, how could you say such words? Those words, every word is trying to force me to death."

"You are not self-disciplined and you never tell your family about anything. Can you blame me if I misunderstand you? Why don't I misunderstand others? It's your own fault.

Besides, if you go around the village, you will see parents who don’t discipline their children. Why do you have so much trouble?

I am doing this for your own good. If you continue to act wild, something bad will happen sooner or later."

"For my own good?" Tang Qingqing rolled her eyes. "Do you dare to use the lives of Tang Xingwang, Tang Xingsheng, and Tang Xingqiang to guarantee that everything you said was for my own good?"

"You stupid girl, you actually dared to drag your brother into this! How can you be so cruel? They are your own brothers!"

"If you can't swear, don't make excuses for yourself. Anyway, I know you are not my biological mother, and you have never treated me as your daughter. Don't use these words to fool me in the future. I still have a brain on my neck."

After Tang Qingqing finished speaking, she took three steamed buns from the pot and quickly slipped away from Zhao Dahahua.

Zhao Dahua wanted to catch her, but she ran away like a loach.

Zhao Dahua was furious and yelled at her from behind:

"You said I'm not your biological mother, so this is not your home. If you have the guts, don't ever come back for the rest of your life!"