Chapter 115 Is Xiao Nian still not full?
The family members took turns asking questions about Ji Fengnian's background.
Ji Fengnian is 14 years old this year. His hometown is a rural area in the southwestern mountains. He was originally in the second year of junior high school in his hometown. At the beginning of this year, he came to the city to work with other villagers and stopped going to school. Because he was too young, no one wanted to hire him. The villagers took him in for a while, but after a while, they started to dislike him. He didn't want to go back, so he wandered around the city looking for work.
Although Ji Fengnian's family lives in the countryside, his parents work away from home year-round and are thrifty, so they have saved a lot of money. He is also their only child, so the burden is not heavy. Their family's financial situation is considered quite good in the village. They even built a new house two years ago.
The tragedy occurred at the end of last year. Ji Fengnian's parents were traveling from working in the city back to their hometown in a fellow villager's private car when they were involved in a car accident, and both parents died.
The so-called "fellow villagers' private cars" are actually illegally operated vehicles. Nowadays, apart from the elderly and children, most people in rural areas work outside. Most of them are not well-educated, and some of the older ones are even illiterate. They have lived in the city for many years, but they are actually trapped in the tin factories on the outskirts of the city. They don't know how to buy high-speed rail tickets or train tickets online, and they are even more afraid of the maze-like train stations. They are easily looked down upon by others when they carry large bags of luggage, and they are afraid to take public transportation.
This led to the concept of "fellow villagers' private cars." These fellow villagers are truly from the same hometown. Before holidays, they would drive their private cars to the factory gate to pick up migrant workers and take them home. After the holidays, they would drive them back to the factory gate from their homes. This reduced the uncertainty of taking public transportation for migrant workers. Although the cars were always packed with luggage, leaving no room to put their feet down and often requiring them to carry a bag or two of lighter luggage on their knees, making it very uncomfortable, it was the best way for them to get around.
Although the fellow villager's car strictly adhered to the passenger capacity limit, the vehicle was already overloaded because everyone had a lot of luggage. In addition, business was only available during the few days of the Lunar New Year and other holidays. In order to earn more money, the driver made one trip after another with very little rest, and he was often in a state of extreme fatigue, making car accidents almost inevitable.
After Ji Fengnian's parents were in a car accident, the village asked Ji Fengnian's uncle to raise him. However, because the driver was operating illegally and driving while fatigued, the insurance company was unwilling to pay compensation. The driver also died on the spot. His family was emotionally devastated and could no longer afford to pay them. In addition, Ji Fengnian's parents had spent all their money building a house in the past two years. His uncle had no profit to make and also disliked that Ji Fengnian ate too much, so he was unwilling to raise him.
Although his uncle was unwilling to raise him, he coveted his house. So he looked around for a way, and someone told him that he could send Ji Fengnian to an orphanage. If Ji Fengnian was adopted by the orphanage, his household registration would be transferred to the orphanage, and he would no longer be a villager. Then his house would naturally belong to his uncle.
The house was the only property left to Ji Fengnian by his parents, and he couldn't let his uncle take it. So when the people from the orphanage came to pick him up, he ran to the mountains to hide.
Later, when some people from the village went out to work, he followed them. He thought that everyone in his village would go out to work when they grew up. His parents were gone, so he thought he had grown up. He didn't think there was anything wrong with him going out to work. Besides, if he didn't work and earn money, how would he eat? But when he got here, everyone told him: You haven't grown up yet, you shouldn't go to work.
Because Ji Fengnian was not yet sixteen years old, no factory was willing to hire him.
Ji Fengnian's parents often helped others during their lifetime, and everyone remembered their kindness. When Ji Fengnian first arrived, he couldn't find a job. People in the village who had received kindness from his parents wanted to help him. However, this help was short-lived and limited. In addition, Ji Fengnian was a big eater, and many people took him in out of pity, but they kicked him out in less than three days.
By May, no one was willing to take him in anymore, so he began to wander.
During the day, he scavenged for trash and looked for work, and at night he slept on sofas outside parks and supermarkets. However, he didn't stay in one place for long because he didn't form gangs, so people would beat him up. He would fight back, but sometimes there were groups of people, and he couldn't beat them, so he had to move on to the next place. He wandered around many places like this, until his clothes were all torn. When he went to factories or shops to look for work, he was chased away before he even got close, making it even harder for him to find work.
He had only been in that place for a short time when he met Wen Xinghe.
That day, he was looking for trash outside the school wall when it suddenly started raining. He ran to the narrow eaves outside the security guard's room to take shelter from the rain. The rain was heavy and kept pouring down. Ji Fengnian just stared blankly at the rain all afternoon.
As it was getting dark, Wen Min, holding an umbrella, led Wen Xinghe out of the school. Ji Fengnian saw them. He noticed a little girl wearing warm, clean clothes and high-top rain boots. Most importantly, she was under a large umbrella and not a single drop of water got on her.
One day, he went to pick up trash outside the school again. The weather was nice that day, and many classes had moved their lessons outdoors. Ji Fengnian spotted the little girl. She was walking carefully on the tactile paving. Ji Fengnian wanted to throw a stone in front of her to scare her and see if she would cry. But before the stone could hit her, a fat, mentally challenged man appeared, pushed her down into the grass, and rode on top of her, laughing loudly. Without hesitation, Ji Fengnian threw the stone at the fat man.
Ji Fengnian wasn't the type to help others anonymously. Wen Xinghe always carried a floral cloth bag across his shoulder, as if it were a precious treasure. Ji Fengnian then said, "I saved you, so you have to repay me."
Wen Xinghe asked, "How can I repay you?"
Ji Fengnian: "Give me your bag."
Wen Xinghe thought for a moment, then took the bag off his body and slipped it through the gap in the fence.
Ji Fengnian rummaged through the bag with great anticipation, only to find tissues, a towel, a water cup, a card...
So when he finally found a small bag of cookies, he acted like he'd discovered a treasure. He stuffed all the cookies into his mouth, then threw the bag back, chewing the cookies and mumbling, "Give me all the food from now on."
Wen Xinghe: "Didn't I just repay you?"
Ji Fengnian: "I saved your life, a few cookies will do?"
Wen Xinghe felt that it wasn't quite enough, so every day after that she would obediently give him her snacks, and sometimes she would also give him a glass of water.
...
There was no evidence to corroborate what Ji Fengnian said, and it was unknown whether it was true or false, but his grandparents believed him.
Grandma wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes: "Poor child, you've really suffered."
Grandpa helped him up from the ground. "Did Grandpa pinch you too hard? Come on, Grandpa will take you to take a bath and change your clothes. We'll eat in a little while."
...
"Bang!"
The first cannon shot rang out; it was already midnight.
Wen Min and Lou Lan did not stop their grandparents from having Ji Fengnian stay for dinner. An Fusheng also said nothing more. With so many people in the family, he wouldn't dare to do anything bad. Besides, his grandmother might be right. There are no good or bad people in this world; they are all just people with unfortunate lives.
...
An Fusheng and Wen Yue went back to the kitchen to cook, while Wen's mother took the children to the dining room to set the table. Lou's mother helped bring the dishes from the kitchen to the table one by one.
All the dishes were served, and Ji Fengnian came downstairs after taking a shower. He looked thin, but his grandfather's clothes and pants didn't look too big on him, perhaps because he had a large frame.
A string of firecrackers must be set off before the New Year's Eve dinner.
Wen Xinglin had already brought out the firecrackers and spread them out on the ground. An Fusheng took a lit incense stick and came to the yard, chasing away the onlookers and animals to the front of the restaurant before asking, "Have you all covered your ears?"
"Keep it covered!"
"Meow~"
An Fusheng lit the fuse, and after a burst of sparks, the crackling of firecrackers rang out, and the joyous New Year's Eve began!
After setting off the firecrackers, the family sat down for dinner.
Wen Min prepared red wine for the adults, while An Fusheng prepared freshly squeezed peanut milk for the children.
When Grandpa was distributing the wine, he poured half a glass for An Fusheng without even asking him. But when he got to Ji Fengnian, he smiled and asked, "Little Nian, would you like some wine?"
An Fusheng: "Grandpa, drinking alcohol when you're underage will make you stupid."
Grandpa: "Oh, I see. Then we'll drink it again later."
Although Ji Fengnian had just eaten something, it was gone before it even reached his stomach, and it had even whetted his appetite. With large platters of delicious food in front of him, he had no desire to drink. Only when An Fusheng called him a fool did he come to his senses and shake his head, saying, "I don't drink."
Wine is no match for meat, but he knew his manners. It was the New Year, and someone had taken him in, so he tried his best to refrain from reaching for a piece of meat.
Suddenly, a cup of peanut milk appeared in front of him. Ji Fengnian looked at An Fusheng in surprise. An Fusheng was placing another cup of milk in front of a girl, who smiled sweetly and said, "Thank you, big brother."
After pouring the red wine and milk, everyone started toasting.
Those kids kept going, as if the cup had never been emptied, and Ji Fengnian was about to reach his limit. He felt like he was losing his mind and might grab anything on the table and shove it into his mouth at any moment. Luckily, he had a glass of milk. He gulped it down. The peanut milk was sweet and smooth, so delicious that Ji Fengnian's eyes started to sting. He finally regained a little bit of his sanity.
Knowing that Ji Fengnian must be starving, after finishing her drink, Grandma said, "Let's eat, let's eat," and then pairs of chopsticks started poking into the food bowls.
The child didn't move?
Grandma looked at Ji Fengnian, her eyes practically glued to the food. Was he afraid to take any food because there weren't serving chopsticks at home?
Grandma was both heartbroken and touched. She ladled a bowl of radish soup and placed it in front of Ji Fengnian: "Here, have some soup first. You haven't eaten in a long time, so eat something light first, otherwise you'll easily get an upset stomach."
Ji Fengnian: "Thank you, Grandma."
After thinking for a moment, Ji Fengnian said to An Fusheng, "Thank you."
An Fusheng neither confirmed nor denied the statement.
Throughout the meal, Ji Fengnian was exceptionally well-behaved. When his grandparents asked him to pick up some food, he refused and just ate a bowl of white rice. If his grandparents hadn't occasionally given him some food, he would have just eaten the white rice.
When everyone assumed he was actually a refined gentleman, Ji Fengnian asked, "Has everyone eaten their fill?"
Everyone put down their chopsticks, which meant they were all full. Grandma said, "You're full? Haven't you eaten enough for the Little New Year?"
Ji Fengnian: "Hmm."
Then everyone watched as Ji Fengnian's chopsticks flew quickly towards each of the dish bowls.
With a series of crackling sounds, the dozen or so dishes on the table that looked untouched disappeared rapidly from near to far, with Ji Fengnian as the coordinate point.
Grandma's mouth dropped open in shock: So he was afraid he wouldn't be able to stop eating just now?
-----------------------
Author's note: I worked late and almost missed it, but I made it in time, hehe [hugs]
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com