Chapter 4 Paying the rent to that uncle
The father and son's home is deep in a winding alley.
The landlord was a big man with a big belly. When Xingxing and her father just walked into the alley, they could see from afar that the man had completely blocked the door behind him with his big belly, and was squinting in the surrounding light to identify the person who was coming.
When Zhou Xiangyang came closer with Xingxing in his arms, the landlord confirmed that he had recognized the right person, and took two steps forward. He first stuffed a very expensive chocolate into Xingxing's arms, and then said to Zhou Xiangyang, who was a little embarrassed: "Brother Xiangyang, the rent is due soon this month. I also know that your situation is rather difficult. You still want to save money for Xingxing to go to kindergarten, right? But the rent for this month can't be postponed for you. If I postpone it for you, other tenants will have to postpone it. I also have a family to support..."
Xingxing held the chocolate in her hand, listened to the landlord's words, and looked up in the dark to observe Zhou Xiangyang's expression.
Zhou Xiangyang was not as cheerful as he was in the afternoon. He even had to force a dry smile with great difficulty. He nodded and replied, "That's for sure. I have troubled you a lot before. No matter what, I will pay the rent on time this month. Don't worry."
So the landlord raised his hand and patted his shoulder with satisfaction, his round belly touching Xingxing's skin, and said with a smile: "Oh, I didn't mean to rush you. Nowadays, everyone is under pressure to make a living. But I feel more at ease with your words. I believe you, brother, you always keep your words. You haven't eaten yet, right? Then go home quickly, I won't disturb you."
As he spoke, he moved his heavy body slowly and walked out along the alley.
Watching his back disappear into the night, Zhou Xiangyang's tense body relaxed a little. He lowered his head and rubbed his son's soft cheek, sighing silently.
But he quickly regained his spirits, weighed the child in his arms, and said in a light tone: "Let's go, let's go home too. What does Xingxing want to eat tonight?"
"Tomato and egg scrambled eggs."
Go upstairs, take out the key, open the creaking door...
After turning on the lights, the dim light illuminated the small room with a warm yellow color, allowing Xingxing to see clearly everything in the room.
Things were neatly arranged, and the floor and furniture were all very clean. There was a small sofa, a small low table and three small benches. There was no dedicated kitchen, but there were electric frying pans and dishes.
This small house has no bathroom or toilet, no TV or computer, and is not even comparable to the human house where Xingxing and his uncle lived casually during the apocalypse.
The toilet and bathroom are at the end of the floor and are shared by the tenants on the first floor. Qiuqiu went to take a look and found it was very dirty and had a very foul and disgusting smell.
As far as he could remember, Xingxing had never taken a bath there. Instead, Zhou Xiangyang boiled water, added cold water, mixed the mixture and poured it into a large bathtub specifically for him to bathe in.
Apart from that, this small house, which looked like a snail's nest, was so simple that it only had a bed and an empty wardrobe, and the rest were almost all children's things.
There are a few toys stored in the corner, children's literacy cards and picture books, giraffe stickers on the white wall for measuring height, and several pairs of shoes belonging to children.
It is really difficult to find more things from this house.
Xingxing's eyes swept across the room briefly, then she walked to the low table with her things in her arms, put the chocolate and mineral water bottle in her arms on the table, and took out coins from her pocket and put them on the table.
As for the small stool that the father and son sat on when selling vegetables today, Zhou Xiangyang placed it at a merchant's house on that street. It will be kept for a month, and he will have to pay the merchant ten yuan, but this will save him a lot of trouble.
After putting all the things on his body on the table, Xingxing thought for a while, followed the fragments of Zhou Chenxing's memory, ran under the sofa, knelt on the ground with his butt sticking up, and stretched out his little hands to dig inside hard.
Zhou Xiangyang, who was washing vegetables and preparing to cook dinner, inadvertently turned around and saw this scene, and an invisible question mark slowly appeared in his head.
"Xingxing, what are you doing kneeling there?"
He wiped the water off his hands, walked over and asked, "Did something fall in there?"
As he asked, he prepared to move the sofa with his only hand.
As a result, as soon as the hand was put on it, the child who was kneeling on the ground retracted his hands and stood up by supporting himself on the sofa.
There was something in his hand.
"Dad, come here." The child held the thing with his dirty little hand, and with the other hand grasped his fingers, leading him to the table.
This amount of time was enough for Zhou Xiangyang to see clearly what his son was holding in his hand.
I followed the child to the low table and sat down. The inexplicable premonition in my heart became reality the next moment.
Xingxing stood beside him, put what she was holding in her little hand on the table, and pushed it in front of him along with the coins.
While Zhou Xiangyang was in a daze, the child looked up at him with his fair and clean face and said seriously, "Dad, pay the rent to that uncle."
Qiuqiu said that rent is to pay money to the owner of the house so that they can continue to live in the house, otherwise they will be homeless.
Xingxing didn't want to continue being a homeless cub.
He also recognized coins and recalled the money that little boy Zhou Chenxing had secretly saved, so he took it out after entering the house.
Qiuqiu said that Zhou Chenxing had 32.5 yuan in savings, plus the 2.5 yuan left from buying water today, he had 35 yuan left.
Xingxing didn't know how much the rent would be, but she had already taken out all the money she could.
Looking at the crumpled money and coins piled in front of him, Zhou Xiangyang opened his mouth and asked his son in a hoarse voice after a long while: "Xingxing, are you going to give me all this money... to pay the rent?"
Xingxing didn't understand why he asked such an obvious question, so she blinked and nodded slightly at him, "Rent, Xingxing lives here too."
In the world of stars, there is no logic in requiring others to devote themselves completely to you.
In the doomsday, the uncle taught Xingxing common sense, held Xingxing in his arms, and took care of all of Xingxing's life. Xingxing then protected his safety and prevented any zombies, mutant creatures, or humans from harming him.
In this new world, Sunflower Dad will also hold Xingxing, take care of Xingxing's life, cook for Xingxing, and save money to send Xingxing to kindergarten...
Now that Dad is being asked for rent by that big-bellied uncle, Xingxing can only give all the coins she can get so that Dad can pay the rent quickly, avoid being kicked out, and stop having that awkward expression he had just now.
Qiuqiu said that the amount of money was very little, and Xingxing looked at the money and felt a little helpless.
It seems that it is difficult for children to make money...
Just as she was thinking about it, Xingxing was suddenly hugged by her father in front of her.
His head was rubbed hard several times.
Xingxing frowned her little face, pursed her lips and glared at him unhappily with her messy hair.
This made Zhou Xiangyang smile even more happily. He rubbed his son's head lovingly again, and then in front of the child, he picked up the 35 yuan in scattered coins on the table and put them into Xingxing's pocket.
"Dad can earn money. He has already earned enough to pay the rent. He won't let us be kicked out by the landlord."
Zhou Xiangyang smiled and said to his son, "Hide this money somewhere else. This is the money you will get when you return home. Don't use it carelessly, understand?"
The word "go home" was like a bolt of lightning that suddenly struck Xingxing's mind.
He finally captured more relevant memories.
This money was pocket money and New Year's money that Zhou Xiangyang gave to Zhou Chenxing. Zhou Chenxing saved and hid the money bit by bit like a little hamster, just to find his biological parents when he grew up.
Zhou Xiangyang did not hide the fact that the child was adopted, because when Zhou Chenxing had just learned to speak when he was a child, he came home crying for his mother after playing outside. From that time on, Zhou Xiangyang told the child that he was adopted and would have to wait until he grew up to find his real parents.
So from then on, the child was like a hamster, saving and hiding every penny and not willing to spend any.
Thinking of these memories, Xingxing pursed her lips, lowered her head and took out the money from her pocket.
This time, he pressed his hand into his father's rough palm with more force and more seriously than last time.
Zhou Xiangyang looked at his son in surprise, holding the money.
I unexpectedly met the child's clear and transparent eyes, but I couldn't understand the child's inexplicable emotions at the moment.
"Don't look for them."
Xingxing spoke word for word, leaving Zhou Xiangyang stunned and dazed. The two looked at each other, and the child's soft voice was particularly cold at the moment: "Xingxing already has a father named Sunflower. She doesn't want a mother, nor does she want another father."
He is not the original Zhou Chenxing. All the tenderness and kindness he has received since he came to this world came from the Zhou Xiangyang in front of him.
In the plot, little Zhou Chenxing doesn't have parents who love him.
"..." Zhou Xiangyang fell silent.
He held the dusty money in his hand and half-huggled Xingxing for a long while before he asked softly, "Xingxing, are you feeling unwell? Or did you have a nightmare during your nap today?"
Starting from the afternoon, my son became different from usual.
Zhou Xiangyang couldn't think of any more possibilities. He could only guess that the child had a nightmare and that was why he was so dependent on him and resisted the topic of his biological parents.
Xingxing looked at him, and faced his worries and doubts without flinching.
Just when Zhou Xiangyang raised his hand to touch his forehead, he took a small step back and reminded him with a stern face: "Dad, if you don't eat, I'll starve to death."
Human babies are fragile.
It's easy to die if you're not careful.
It is not easy for stars to support themselves.
The topic was suddenly changed, and Zhou Xiangyang swallowed back all the words in his mind. After staring at his son for a few seconds, he took a deep breath, put the money in his pocket, and got up to cook.
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