"I have a name, my name is Star."
That's such a pity.
However, Zhou Wufu was still not giving up, saying, "My full name is Xingxing, so my nickname can be Liufu."
The stars remain silent; whatever makes you happy is fine, but I won't respond if you call me Liu Fu.
After breakfast, Zhou Laoda and Zhao Guihua took Xingxing to the village chief. They first told the village chief about Zhou Laosan's evil deeds, and then asked him to testify that Xingxing had been adopted by their family.
“I told you that what happened a couple of days ago was an accident and had nothing to do with Xingxing. She stayed at our house last night and nothing happened,” Zhao Guihua explained.
The villagers' thinking was still rather old-fashioned. After Xingxing came to their village, two families stayed there, and both families encountered misfortune. Although it wasn't a major disaster, it was still quite unlucky.
So now no one is rushing to adopt Xingxing for the reward money anymore; only Old Master Zhou is willing to take her in.
The village chief was also overwhelmed with the roof repair issue, but he still asked Xingxing for her opinion, "Xingxing, would you like to stay at Uncle Zhou's house?"
That's a rather vague question. From beginning to end, Xingxing never made any decisions on her own; whoever wanted to raise her just forced her to come home.
However, Aunt Guihua's family treated her very well, and Xingxing liked them too. She replied crisply, "I do. Uncle Zhou, Aunt Guihua, and their five older brothers are all very nice."
"Heh, our family took the fall last night. Brother and sister-in-law, you'd better think this through. Maybe it'll be your family's turn to suffer tonight." Although Zhang Cui didn't want to raise Xingxing herself, the thought that Old Master Zhou's family might receive a reward made her uncomfortable.
"Pah, stop throwing mud at Xingxing. You and your husband know perfectly well how your bed collapsed. Why should Xingxing take the blame? The trouble in your family is because you and Lao San have done too many bad things. It has nothing to do with Xingxing."
After Zhao Guihua finished speaking, fearing that the village chief would misunderstand, she explained, "Village chief, what I just said was only directed at Lao San's family, not your family. We remember all the things you have done for everyone over the years. Your family are all good people, unlike some people whose families are all bad."
"Zhao Guihua, watch your mouth. Even though we've separated, you're still a daughter-in-law of the Zhou family. Insulting the Zhou family is insulting yourself," Zhang Cui said irritably, clutching her back.
“Our family is different from yours.” When the Zhou family first settled in Yegou Village, they forced Zhou the eldest son to separate from the family, just because they were afraid that their five sons would eat too much and suffer losses.
From the moment the family split up, Zhao Guihua severed all ties with the Zhou family.
"Don't be stubborn. Your family is so poor you can't even afford to eat, and now you have to raise another child. Don't come begging to us later." Zhang Cui said with a hint of schadenfreude.
When the family divided the property, the eldest son didn't get a single copper coin. Of the eight taels of silver his parents carried, the third son got four taels, the fourth son got three taels, and the second son got one tael.
So you can imagine how difficult life must have been for the eldest son's family. With so many sons, they would only make the family poorer and poorer.
"It's not certain who's begging whom yet. What are you so smug about? As long as my family has something to eat, Xingxing will be our first choice. We definitely won't let her suffer."
Unlike some people who even want to eat their own nephews, abandoning a little girl outside in the middle of the night—their crimes deserve to be punished by lightning.
Before fleeing, Zhao Guihua was a rather honest person who always thought it was better to avoid trouble and rarely argued with anyone. However, after fleeing, she realized that in this world, if you don't stand up for yourself, others will want to eat your flesh and drink your blood.
Being kind to others is being cruel to yourself. Even your own brothers are no exception. Kindness is often taken advantage of. She can no longer be weak; she must become assertive.
When the past was mentioned, the villagers looked at Zhou Laosan and Zhang Cui with strange eyes. No matter how difficult it was to escape the famine, the people in their village would rather starve to death than do something like eating each other.
Only the twin brothers Zhou Laosan and Zhou Laosi did this, and they even wanted to exchange Zhou Laoda's child for his, simply because Zhou Laoda had many sons.
While the villagers looked down on Zhou Laosan and Zhou Laosi, they were also a little scared of them. They even dared to eat people, so who knew what other bad things they might do?
Normally, the villagers are unwilling to get close to Zhou Laosan and Zhou Laosi.
Zhou Laosan and his family noticed the strange looks from the villagers and left, cursing and swearing.
Seeing that Zhao Guihua was quite upset, Xingxing patted her hand and comforted her, saying, "Aunt Guihua, don't be sad. Xingxing will help with the chores and won't eat your family out of house and home."
“Don’t listen to that woman’s nonsense. Your Uncle Zhou and I are capable, and your five older brothers can also help out at home. We won’t starve.” After saying that, Zhao Guihua was about to take Xingxing home.
Zhao Xiu stopped her and handed her a small bundle, saying, "These are the clothes Xingxing used to wear. Take them back so the child doesn't have nothing to change into."
After thinking for a moment, she hesitated and said, "The world is too chaotic. Something might have happened to the child's family. They might not come looking for you again. You should think carefully."
“I’ve thought this through very clearly. If Xingxing’s parents come looking for her, I will return her to them. If they don’t, Xingxing will be our daughter, I will be her mother, and my husband will be her father,” Zhao Guihua said firmly.
Zhao Xiu breathed a sigh of relief and whispered, "If no one really comes looking for us, we might as well pawn these clothes and buy Xingxing a couple of new outfits so that she won't keep attracting attention while wearing such nice fabric."
"I know, I'll go back now." Zhao Guihua led Xingxing back to the end of the village.
Seeing the five rascals still playing around at home, he sternly said, "Didn't I tell you to go gather firewood and pick some wild vegetables? Why aren't you working yet?"
“Mom, we’re waiting for our little sister to come back. It rained heavily again this morning. Dad said we can plow the fields and plant the next season’s rice. You all need to do farm work, and there’s no one to take care of our little sister, so we’ll take care of her.” Zhou Wufu snuggled up to her and acted coquettishly.
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