When Lao Futou doesn't speak, no one will notice his existence.

Old Yang was in charge of all the big and small matters at home, but as long as he asked someone to do something, she would never object to him.

For example, now, Lao Futou said:

“What can I say to these two idiots?

Old man, take the child and let the eldest son stay with you, and send the child to the village chief's house now.

I have explained the whole story clearly. This child has nothing to do with our family. He can go wherever he wants. Our Fu family cannot afford to raise him."

Old Futou waved his hand impatiently, turned his head away without even looking at the couple from the second room lying on the ground, and walked back to the brazier with his hands behind his back and sat down.

"Listen to your father." Old Mrs. Yang also spoke.

Li Shile was so happy that his teeth were about to burst out, and he responded happily:

"Hey~~Okay~"

As he said this, he walked around the second couple who no one was paying attention to, picked up the child and left.

Little Yang was so anxious that she cried and tried to pull Li's clothes, but Li was sharp-eyed and nimble enough to avoid her and walked quickly towards the door.

Zhao, who had been playing dumb with Wang and Fu Sibai, quickly raised her head and said:

"Sister-in-law, that little blanket that is used to wrap the child is the most precious thing in our family. You have to take it back."

"I can't forget it." Li replied.

Fu Dabai dragged his slightly numb feet and grabbed A Yuan's clothes like a little tail, wanting to follow him to help Li open the door.

The light of hope in Fu Erbai and Xiao Yang's eyes was completely extinguished as the door creaked shut.

Yuan followed his parents and before he even reached the front door, he heard a woman's shrill cry coming from inside the house:

"Mother! My child! Wow—"

Yuan was so scared that he trembled and jumped onto his father's lap.

Fu Dabai and Li also looked back and listened with their ears tilted.

Then there was a "slap" sound, as if someone was slapped in the face. Old Yang cursed in the room:

"You are asking for death! You are crying your heart out! If you cry your heart out to death, there will be no feast for you!"

"Second aunt, I made grandma angry and got beaten."

Yuan looked up at his father and said affirmatively.

Fu Dabai sucked his teeth, pulled her off his legs and held her in his arms, then turned around and walked out with Li:

"Don't tell anyone outside! It will make your second aunt look stupid and deserve a beating again!"

"oh."

A Yuan put his head on his father's shoulder and responded. He was not very interested in the fact that his second uncle and second aunt were often beaten.

Li, who had already walked a long way, turned back and urged:

"Tsk, why are you two so dilly-dallying again? You take so long to do anything! What's so nice about getting beaten up?"

"Just listen to the fun, why are you in such a hurry? It's almost here."

Fu Dabai was lazily holding his daughter in his arms as if he was taking a walk.

Yuan imitated Fu Dabai's tone and said:

"It's exciting, why are you in such a hurry? We're almost there."

Li was angry when she saw how the father and son were hesitating. She said angrily:

"No one cares about you."

She carried the child and ran to the village chief's house.

Fu Dabai and the bewildered A Yuan looked at each other.

Yuan scratched his head with his two little hands and said, "Why are you angry again?"

Fu Dabai sighed:

"Ah, women, big and small, are all worrying."

As he said this, he chased after him with big strides.

"Look at you, why are you so angry just by talking? You have to give us some time to gather some strength so that we can follow you quickly."

"Yes~ Don't be angry, give us some time, let's go quickly."

A Yuan tried to learn the words seriously but still clumsily.

Li said to them hypocritically: "Who cares if you follow me?"

The figures of the family walked farther and farther away in the wind and snow, becoming more and more blurred until they disappeared.

The village chief's house is not too far away. Walk to the end of the line of houses where Lao Fu lives, turn back, and the first house at the end is it.

This is a formal blue brick and tile house with a stone wall and two large wooden doors, which are more than enough for an oxcart to pass through.

It was completely different from the old Fu family's leaky mud house, the unevenly-height fences and the gate made of two broken boards.

Fu Dabai held A Yuan in one hand and grabbed the door knocker with the other hand and knocked on the door.

Ding, ding twice

There might be someone in the yard. Two women's voices were heard, and a younger one said:

"Who is it? Here you are."

The older one said, "It's snowing so hard, who is Lian'er's mother?"

Li hurriedly shouted:

"Auntie Mo is me, the eldest daughter-in-law of the Lao Fu family. We have something to discuss with Village Chief Mo."

"Oh, it's from the Fu family." Lian'er's mother, who is also the second daughter-in-law of the village chief, opened the door with a happy face.

Seeing this neat family of three with an extra child in arms, he was stunned for a moment, then greeted them warmly with a smile on his face:

"My goodness, what's going on? You even brought your little girl here. Aren't you afraid that the child will be cold?

Come in and sit down, you, I have asked you to come home to talk many times but you never came. It seems that you have forgotten me, your childhood playmate, after you got married."

Lian'er's mother gave Li a reproachful look.

Then he called into the house: "Mom, Fu Da and his family are here."

The people in the house responded, "Oh, it's Fu Da's family. Come in and sit down. It's cold outside."

As soon as the door of the big house was opened, there was a thick cotton curtain. When I lifted the curtain and entered the house, the warm air rushed into the whole house. How could it be so warm in the middle of winter!

Yuan instantly perked up a little. His lifeless eyes seemed to glow with light and he looked around.

A round-faced old woman on the kang, who was much older than Old Yang, was looking at her with a smile:

"Oh, this must be our little A'yuan. Lian'er and Nian'er have been talking about how well behaved and cute A'yuan is at home these days. They are so happy that they can't play with A'yuan when it snows.

The two little kids were thinking about me so much. They were so cute when I saw them today. I would be thinking about them too.

You two are really stingy as parents. You don't often bring such a fun little kid home to play with. This is the first time an old woman like me has seen one."

Mo Lianniang and Mo Nian'niang are both granddaughters of the village chief, and they often play with A Yuan.

Lian Niang is from the second wife, and Nian Niang is from the third wife, but Nian Niang lost her biological mother not long after she was born, and her biological father is unreliable. Fortunately, the Lao Mo family is relatively united, and she is usually taken care of by two aunts.

They are all Yuan's friends. To be honest, Yuan has a better relationship with Nian Niang, but his relationship with Lian Niang is not bad either.

The parents were naturally happy when their daughter received praise, but they couldn't say it directly and had to be modest:

"Oh, what's so cute about that? You're just kidding. We are just stupid girls. How can we compare to your two granddaughters who are smart and pretty?"

Sure enough, the atmosphere became even warmer after they praised each other.

Lian'er's mother asked Li and Yuan to sit on the kang, and moved a stool for Fu Dabai.

After receiving a look from her mother-in-law, she went out for a while, and soon came back with a plate of fragrant fried peanuts and melon seeds, and also gave Yuan a handful of malt sugar.

Yuan looked at Li, and Li said:

"Aunt Li gave it to you, so just take it."

Lian'er's mother's original surname was Li, and she and the Li family were both from Lijia Village, so they were relatives.

When Yuan saw his mother nod, he took it and said obediently:

"Thank you, Aunt Li."

"What are you thanking me for? Chunmei, let me tell you, your little baby is much cuter than you were when you were a child."

"Go to hell, if I didn't have a baby in my arms, I would have beaten you up."

Li glared at her pretending to be angry and changed the topic to the baby in her arms.

The adults said that we should go back and forth, Yuan licked the candy and looked at Chunmei curiously.

Adults always have many names, such as the eldest daughter-in-law, the Fu family, Mrs. Li, and Yuan's mother, but this is the first time Yuan has heard someone call her mother Chunmei.

Yuan opened his mouth and was about to try to shout.

Two little heads that had poked their heads in from behind the door curtain called out to her first:

"Yuan, Yuan, come and play."

A Yuan and the adults looked over there and saw Mo Lianniang and Mo Nian's mother staring at them eagerly.

Li waved her hand and told Yuan to go and play with them.

Yuan didn't really want to play at the moment, but he also knew that he had to listen to the adults outside, so he had to look at Chunmei, who looked familiar but still somewhat new, reluctantly, and went out obediently.

Li thought her daughter's look was a little strange, but it was normal for children to be weird, and no one could guess what was going on in their little heads. She thought it was nothing serious, so she turned around and started chatting with the person again.

Fu Dabai also started talking to Village Chief Mo, who had just come out from the inner room and seemed to have just woken up from a nap.

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