Chapter 3 Favorability is negative
Without waiting for Zhou Beibei to finish her words, Su Cheng quickly caught up with the Xie brothers and returned to the Xie family yard.
Xie Chen disappeared, leaving Xie Cuicui alone squatting in the yard, holding a small branch in her hand, writing and drawing on the mud.
"Cui Cui."
Hearing the voice, Xie Cuicui looked up and saw that her two uncles looked even more miserable than the other. Her expression immediately changed. She dusted herself off and ran over, "Second Uncle, Third Uncle, what's wrong?"
Xie Suzhou helped his brother into the house and changed him into dry clothes. Then he turned around and instructed the little girl hiding outside the door, "Cuicui, go get the medicine on the outer table. Boil it and feed it to your Third Uncle. I'm going out for a while. Remember to take good care of your Third Uncle and don't let...that woman get close to him. If you have any problems, go to the next yard to find Aunt Liu."
Xie Cuicui nodded repeatedly, treating her second uncle's words as an imperial decree.
Xie Suzhou walked to the door and rubbed her furry little head, his eyes softening slightly.
This child is precocious and more stable than Xie Chen, so he is naturally relieved.
Xie Suzhou glanced at the woman who was sweeping the yard, pursed his lips, and strode out of the house.
Only when the man's footsteps could no longer be heard did Su Cheng carefully raise his head and meet the eyes of the little girl at the door.
Seeing her stepmother looking at her, Xie Cuicui's small body trembled violently. She closed her uncle's door, moved to the table with small steps, quickly grabbed the herbs on the table, and ran into the kitchen like a frightened little rabbit.
...Su Cheng couldn't help but feel ashamed.
Does the little girl think she is a man-eating beast?
"Why can't I see that boy?" Su Cheng looked around, confusion in his eyes.
The Xie family's house was not big, with only three rooms. Su Cheng occupied one room, the two children occupied one room, Xie Suzhou slept in the academy every day, and the room facing east was shared by Xie Jinyu and the fourth son Xie Ming who had not yet returned home.
Looking around the entire yard, there was no sign of Xie Chen.
"Little girl, where is your brother?" Su Cheng leaned against the kitchen door frame, watching the little girl sticking out her butt and blowing on the fire, trying to make the fire bigger.
Hearing her stepmother's voice, Xie Cuicui's hands trembled, and she almost poured the water in the ladle onto the newly lit flames, "I... I don't know."
She really doesn't know.
Her brother just asked her to stay at home and didn't say anything else to her.
Su Cheng looked at the little girl's thin body and her arms as thin as dead branches swaying in her fat sleeves, feeling a bit pitiful. Suddenly he remembered something, walked to the front of the original owner's house, took down the bacon hanging on the rope, and went straight to the kitchen.
Sensing her approaching, Xie Cuicui curled up into a ball. Although she was extremely frightened, she still used her small body to protect her uncle's medicine. "What...what are you going to do?"
Su Cheng shook the bacon in his hand, raised his eyebrows and asked, "Aren't you hungry?"
Xie Cuicui looked at the thing in her hand, swallowed unconsciously, and spoke carefully, "Isn't this the gift that Second Uncle received as a gift? Didn't you... not let us touch it?"
"Would you do it if I let you touch me?"
Xie Cuicui was stunned and shook her head slowly.
"That's it, isn't it?" Su Cheng curled the corner of his lips and reached out to rub her little head.
Seeing her raise her hand, Xie Cuicui turned her face to the side and closed her eyes subconsciously, but the imagined slap did not fall. The woman's gentle touch made her open her eyes quietly.
"Go wait over there for dinner." Su Cheng raised his chin towards the door, motioning her to go over there. "Without you seeing it with your own eyes, I'm afraid the rest of the family won't dare to eat the food I cook."
Xie Cuicui clutched the corner of her clothes, walked outside obediently, sat obediently on the doorstep, and watched her stepmother's every move.
Su Cheng's cooking skills were not very advanced, but they were good enough. She walked to the rice jar, opened the bamboo lid, and saw that the wheat bran inside was almost gone.
Su Cheng sighed softly, resigned himself to his fate and scooped out the last bit of wheat bran, then boiled water and cooked rice.
Xie Cuicui suddenly opened her eyes wide, unable to believe what she had just seen.
Could it be that the stepmother was willing to feed them wheat bran?
[Xie Cuicui's favorability +1]
Su Cheng was stunned and subconsciously looked at the small figure squatting at the door.
Seeing her stepmother suddenly looking at her, Xie Cuicui froze, but she didn't expect that the next moment, her stepmother smiled at her.
Xie Cuicui was dumbfounded. She had never seen this stepmother smile before. When she saw her today, she realized that she was actually quite pretty when she was not frowning or angry.
[Xie Cuicui Favorability +1]
The corners of Su Cheng's lips rose unconsciously, and he had more strength when working.
After all, children are easy to fool. Just smile and the favorability value will go up. Isn’t it easy to fill it up?
[Xie Cuicui's current favorability value is -28]
Su Cheng couldn't laugh anymore. He cut the meat with more force, trying to vent his resentment. He grabbed some vegetables from the basket beside him, stir-fried them with bacon, and handed them to the little girl. "I cooked rice and made porridge with hot water. Bring it to your uncle's room and eat with him."
Xie Cuicui was holding the plate, and the heat from the bacon made it difficult for her to open her eyes. "So...what about you?"
"I won't offend Xie Jinyu, so I'll leave some food for myself." Su Cheng pointed at the food behind him, looking relaxed, "You guys go eat."
Xie Cuicui glanced at the direction of her finger. The bowl contained mostly vegetables and few pieces of bacon. She felt a little reluctant and said, "Pick some more meat..."
"I can't finish it. Okay, you've been hungry all day, go eat quickly." Su Cheng waved at her with a casual smile on his face.
Seeing that she was determined, Xie Cuicui stopped forcing her and went to her uncle's room with the fried bacon.
Su Cheng sat alone in the yard, eating his meal in small bites. There was no meat oil at home, but fortunately the bacon could still be fried to produce some oil.
"Xie Xiucai! Xie Xiucai, something terrible has happened!"
A familiar voice came from outside the door. Su Cheng turned around and saw Aunt Liu jogging over. He frowned immediately, "What happened?"
When Aunt Liu saw that it was her, she stopped talking and looked into the yard, "Where is Mr. Xie?"
"I don't know where he went." Su Cheng frowned and asked anxiously, "It's the same if you tell me. What's the big deal?"
Aunt Liu felt disgusted with Su Cheng, the evil woman, and naturally didn't want to talk to her any more. She stammered, "It's Brother Chen, Brother Chen..."
Su Cheng was furious when he saw her slow pace. "What's wrong with Xie Chen? Tell me now!"
"Aunt Liu? Why are you here at the Xie family?" Zhou Beibei's confused voice came from outside the yard.
Seeing Zhou Beibei, Aunt Liu breathed a sigh of relief and hurriedly grabbed her sleeve. "Beibei, you've come at the perfect time. At noon, our Uncle Liu went up the mountain to hunt and saw Chen'er going to the ditch alone. Your Uncle Liu thought the child loved to play, so he told him to stay away from the ditch and continued up the mountain."
"Just now, your uncle Liu rushed home and said that he found a piece of clothing deep in the mountains. It was exactly what Brother Chen was wearing at noon, but he didn't see the boy!"
"What..." Zhou Beibei exclaimed, covering her mouth with her hands, her face looking panicked.
While she was stunned, Su Cheng had already rushed out of the yard and ran towards the ditch.
"Stop!" Zhou Beibei quickly grabbed her clothes and stared at her with wide eyes. "Tell me! Is it you, a wicked woman, who is behind this? You can't stand Chen Ge'er and deliberately want to kill him, right?"
Su Cheng simply couldn't understand her train of thought. After struggling a few times but failing to budge his arm, his face immediately turned furious. "Let go! If you keep dawdling, Xie Chen will really die!"
"You're so bold in asserting this, it seems like you really did it." Zhou Beibei's face turned cold, and she clutched her sleeve tightly. "You can't leave. If you leave, where will Brother Suzhou go to find the real culprit?"
Seeing that she was deliberately causing trouble, Su Cheng simply raised his hand and slapped her hard, "Idiot! If you dare to stop me again, believe it or not, I will..."
The next moment, she was suddenly pulled away.
Su Cheng turned around and saw Xie Suzhou's cold eyes.
"Su, why did you hit someone?"
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