Chen Dachuan had never been to Xing Zhaozhao's house, but Lin Wan had mentioned it; it was located halfway up the mountain, so it was easy to find.
Not wanting to be seen by the people of Xiaogaozhuang, he deliberately detoured around the village, climbing halfway up the mountain. He quickly spotted the stone house, faintly hidden in the woods, and his eyes lit up immediately. He had finally found it.
However, upon getting closer and seeing the two-meter-high wall, Chen Dachuan's lips twitched involuntarily: "This woman is quite cautious."
A while ago, having nothing to do, Xing Zhaozhao specially hired someone to raise the wall, just in case.
"Heh, you think this can stop me?" Chen Dachuan sneered, circled around Xing Zhaozhao's house, chose what he guessed was an inconspicuous corner of the backyard, stepped back a few meters, took a deep breath, and rushed towards the wall. Then, he stomped hard on the wall with one foot and leaped up, actually managing to climb onto the top of the wall.
Looking down from his vantage point, Chen Dachuan saw that it really was the backyard, and there was no one there.
Right under his nose was a cellar with the door open. Soon, a little guy huffed and puffed as he crawled out of the cellar and ran away without even closing the door.
Chen Dachuan watched as the little guy walked away and disappeared in no time. He glanced down at the cellar below, then jumped off the wall and quietly hid inside.
Not knowing what was going on ahead, he didn't dare to act rashly and decided to hide in the cellar until it got dark.
Chen Dachuan walked into the cellar and saw many baskets stacked in pairs, piled up haphazardly inside.
He curiously peered inside and discovered that it was filled with sweet potatoes.
So, their family can only fill their stomachs with sweet potatoes now? It's true that a family can't function without a man to support it. Look at how they're living. If he could just bring a bag of rice, wouldn't she be able to follow him around without any coercion, just by beckoning him with her finger? Chen Dachuan thought to himself with a smug smile as he walked towards a corner of the cellar, looking for a suitable place to hide.
However, he soon realized that something was wrong.
Behind the baskets of sweet potatoes, he saw stacks of rice and flour, and buckets of something yellow... was that oil? Large chunks of meat were sealed in unidentifiable bags, with no way to tell where the openings were. Various fruits, some he'd never seen before, were haphazardly placed in bags on the ground. There were also many other unfamiliar foods, household items, and children's toys, their packaging bearing foreign writing he couldn't understand—clearly of dubious origin.
After the initial shock subsided, a malicious smile slowly appeared on Chen Dachuan's face.
Inside the front room, Xing Zhaozhao was sorting through the clothes that Fu Lan had made. She carefully checked each set and, after confirming that there were no problems, put them into the matching cloth bags that Fu Lan had prepared. She planned to deliver them to Xiao Xu the peddler in a couple of days after Fu Lan finished the set she was working on.
Hongyu suddenly ran in: "Mom, Mom..."
Xing Zhaozhao turned to look at him, and while continuing what she was doing, asked, "What is it?"
"I can't show any of the toys my brother bought to anyone. I really can't find any gifts to give to my cousins Jiashu and Jiaping," Hongyu said to Xing Zhaozhao with a bitter face.
Xing Zhaozhao realized what was happening and raised an eyebrow: "You went to the cellar again? You've been searching for half a month, you really won't give up."
“Mm.” Hongyu nodded.
"Didn't Mom already tell you this? If all else fails, we can give your favorite ball to your cousins Jiashu and Jiaping. Your brother agreed too..." Xing Zhaozhao said.
Hongyu twisted her little body, looking very resistant: "I like that ball too, and it's already worn out from playing with it. How can I give it as a gift to my cousins Jiashu and Jiaping? Don't I have any shame?"
Xing Zhaozhao: "..." Oh my, she's so young and already knows how to be shameful.
"Then what do you suggest we do?" Xing Zhaozhao asked.
Hongyu excitedly grabbed Xing Zhaozhao's arm: "Mom, next time you go over, can you buy me some gifts to give to my cousins Jiashu and Jiaping?"
"Where's the money?" Xing Zhaozhao spread her hands at him. "You're going to ask Mom to pay for the gifts you're giving to Cousins Jiashu and Jiaping, aren't you?"
Hongyu awkwardly pulled out two cents of pocket money from his pocket.
Xing Zhaozhao shook her head: "This is not enough."
Hongyu's face fell. After thinking for a moment, she said, "Go find my brother to buy it."
Hongfei happened to be carrying the Black General in from outside, looking at Hongyu with a bewildered expression: "What?"
"I wasn't talking about you." Hong Yu quickly turned his head and gave Hong Fei a disdainful look. His brother was a poor wretch like him, unable to afford anything.
However, he suddenly remembered something, looked at Xing Zhaozhao, and quickly shook his head, rejecting the suggestion: "Forget it, my brother won't buy it, he'll just waste money, and the things he buys aren't good to take out to play with. Why don't you ask me, Mom? I'm a bit stingy, I can't afford to buy nice things, but I can definitely give them to my cousins Jiashu and Jiaping."
Xing Zhaozhao chuckled. He's just gotten used to making fun of himself.
"Alright, Mom will take care of buying them for you later," Xing Zhaozhao said.
"You must make me pay," Hongyu earnestly instructed Xing Zhaozhao.
Xing Zhaozhao smiled and patted Hongyu's head: "Okay, I'll definitely come to you to pay later." As she spoke, a barely perceptible glint of tears welled up in her eyes.
"Oh no!" Hongyu exclaimed, remembering something. "I rushed back and think I forgot to lock the cellar door." With that, he turned and ran outside.
Xing Zhaozhao watched him leave and said worriedly, "Run slowly, be careful not to fall."
"Okay," Hongyu replied from afar, and quickly disappeared from sight.
Since she was at home, nothing bad could happen, so Xing Zhaozhao sat there reassured and continued to tidy her clothes.
Fu Lan sat silently beside them, making clothes, her mind still replaying the conversation between Xing Zhaozhao and Hong Yu. What did "you," "me," and "brother" mean? She didn't understand.
Hongfei lay down on the kang (a heated brick bed) and played with his younger sister. While Xing Zhaozhao wasn't paying attention, he secretly brought General Hei up with him.
At this moment, Hongyu had already run to the backyard, stood at the cellar entrance, and was preparing to close and lock the cellar door.
Suddenly, a sweet potato rolled out of the cellar, bumped into the steps, and came to a stop.
Hongyu paused as he closed the cellar door, looked at the sweet potato that had rolled out of the cellar, frowned in surprise, hesitated for a moment, then stepped down into the cellar and picked it up.
Another sweet potato rolled over and hit his foot, stopping him in his tracks.
Hongyu picked it up again, and then saw sweet potatoes rolling all over the ground in front of him.
He assumed it was a broken basket containing sweet potatoes and didn't pay much attention, picking them up along the way.
A pair of feet suddenly appeared in his field of vision.
Startled, he abruptly looked up, only to be met with a pair of grinning eyes. He shuddered in terror and screamed, "Ah..."
A hand reached out and grabbed his neck, silencing the sound he had just made...
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