Xiaoguo slowed down the donkey cart just to listen to the sound coming from behind.

What do you mean her brother was injured?

Xiaoguo frowned, feeling a little impatient, and increased the speed of whipping with the whip in his hand.

The donkey cart soon arrived at the Qin family's door. Xiaoguo tied up the donkey and led Zhuangzhuang to push open the two dilapidated doors.

Before I even entered the room, I heard coughing sounds coming from inside the house.

Xiao Guo's heart tightened, he took two quick steps and opened the door, his voice filled with nervousness, "Brother!"

Qin Anming suddenly heard Xiaoguo's voice and became a little dazed, thinking he was hallucinating.

Qin Anming came back to his senses and continued to stretch out his hand to grab the water cup on the table. He sat on the bed, reaching for it little by little. He was almost there!

This was the scene Xiaoguo saw when she came in. A face that looked similar to hers was now pale and sickly, with dead skin covering its once rosy lips. He was sitting paralyzed on the bed, trying to reach for the water cup not far away.

Xiao Guo sighed, walked forward, picked up the cup of water and handed it to him.

Qin Anming was stunned when he saw the slender fingers on the cup being handed to him. He was stunned with a look of shock in his eyes. He raised his head and looked at the person standing against the light.

"Xiaoguo?" His voice was trembling, as if he couldn't believe what he saw, and then he started coughing.

Xiaoguo didn't say anything, just looked at him and patted his back when he coughed. Qin Anming didn't dare to look into her eyes and avoided her eyes. When the coughing stopped, he took the cup of water from her hand.

After taking a sip with great effort, Qin An wanted to put down the cup, but he had no strength in his body. He had used up all his strength just when he sat up, so his hand was stuck in mid-air.

Xiaoguo didn't notice his embarrassment. After he finished drinking, she took the cup, put it down, and sat beside him and looked at him.

Qin Anming was embarrassed and didn't know how to start. Looking at his sister whom he hadn't seen for a long time, she was living a better life than he had imagined, so he and his parents felt relieved.

Xiaoguo looked at the relieved man in front of her, and she couldn't help feeling angry and ridiculous in her heart!

"How many days have you been sick? Why didn't you tell me?" There was a hint of tears in his tone.

After hearing what Xiaoguo said, Qin Anming didn't know how to start talking. He opened and closed his eyes but couldn't utter a word. Finally, he saw Zhuangzhuang hiding behind Xiaoguo.

“Is this strong?”

Qin Anming said this while stretching out his hands, wanting Zhuangzhuang to come to him.

Zhuangzhuang looked at Xiaoguo first, and saw no disapproving look on his face, so he obediently walked up to him and held his hand.

Qin Anming looked at Zhuangzhuang happily and excitedly, carefully pinching Zhuangzhuang's chubby hands.

"uncle."

"Hey!" Did you see that, Dad and Mom? Zhuangzhuang called me uncle! Qin Anming thought excitedly.

Xiaoguo did not interrupt the two people's interaction. After they became familiar with each other, Xiaoguo asked Zhuangzhuang to come over to her side.

She reluctantly let go of Qin Anming's hand and went into Xiaoguo's arms.

Xiaoguo gently patted his back a few times, and after Zhuangzhuang was fine, she suddenly looked up at Qin Anming.

Qin Anming was startled by Xiaoguo's sudden action. His throat felt itchy and he was about to cough but was stopped by Xiaoguo's question.

"Tell me about it." Xiao Guo asked in a calm voice.

"I was harvesting crops a while ago, and then it rained. I got wet by accident, and I caught a cold without paying attention."

Qin Anming said it very concisely, summing up everything in just a few words.

Xiaoguo knew it couldn't be that simple. Even though he said it very simply, she knew it wasn't as simple as he said!

"If you don't tell me the truth, I'll ask someone else!"

Xiaoguo's tone was a bit threatening, and Qin Anming panicked when he heard it. However, he still hesitated and didn't say anything, his eyes wandering around without looking at Xiaoguo.

Seeing him like this, Xiaoguo sighed. What else could she do if he didn't say anything? "Have you eaten? If not, I'll cook for you."

Xiaoguo knew that he would never tell her if she asked him like this, so she decided to just take her time.

Qin Anming heaved a sigh of relief when he heard Xiaoguo stop asking questions, but his next words startled him again.

"Eat it! Eat it!"

Qin Anming said this quickly, fearing that Xiaoguo would go to cook for him.

Xiaoguo didn't think there was anything wrong at first, but seeing how anxious he was, she found it a little strange.

Xiaoguo didn't know why, but she had a feeling that something was wrong with him and that he must be hiding something from her. Thinking this way, she followed her intuition and went to the kitchen.

Ignoring Qin Anming's obstruction, he went straight to the kitchen and opened the rice jar. It was empty. Xiaoguo held back the tears that were about to fall and opened the flour jar. It was the same, nothing inside.

Xiaoguo looked around again, and all the bottles and jars on the table were empty, not even a residue could be seen.

It was obvious that there hadn't been any vegetables in the basket for a long time. I didn't take a close look when I first came in, but now that I looked outside, the vegetable field that in my memory was always full of vegetables has been abandoned for a long time, and the ground is cracked.

At this moment, Qin Anming tried his best to come out by holding on to the door frame. He leaned against the door and said stubbornly, "I just didn't have time to buy more, so I just finished eating."

Xiao Guo turned around and looked at him. Only then did she realize that the clothes he was wearing were all patched up, with irregular patches and uneven threads. The color was washed out and it was hard to tell the original color. The shoes on his feet were also patched up...

Xiaoguo couldn't hold it in any longer after seeing this, and tears fell one after another, flowing faster and faster.

"Xiaoguo, stop crying."

Qin Anming didn't know how to comfort Xiaoguo, and stood there at a loss. When Xiaoguo cried harder and harder, he dragged his weak body and walked to Xiaoguo's side step by step. He raised his hands and placed them on Xiaoguo's shoulders, using all his strength to comfort her.

When Zhuangzhuang saw Xiaoguo crying, he felt very sad and started crying along with Xiaoguo.

Xiaoguo hugged Zhuangzhuang, and the tears of both mother and son were like pearls that had fallen off the string, and they couldn't stop at all.

Qin Anming was standing aside. He was a man of over 1.80 meters in height, and his eyes gradually became moist.

Xiaoguo cried for a long time. After her emotions gradually calmed down, she carried Zhuangzhuang, who was tired of crying, to Qin Anming's bed. Then she came out and helped Qin Anming go back to the room to lie down.

After coaxing Zhuangzhuang, Xiaoguo wiped away her tears, looked at Qin Anming, and spoke in a bad tone.

"You still won't tell me the truth?"

Looking at his sister's red eyes, he felt very uncomfortable and there was a struggling look in his eyes.

After a long while, he let out a long breath and told the truth.

There was no food to eat at home, and in order for their daughter to follow them and not suffer, Qin's parents married her to Jiang Shanhe from Taohua Village. This was because they heard that their family was rich before, and although they were poor now, a skinny camel is bigger than a horse, and she would never go hungry. It was much better than following their own family. So without asking Qin Xiaoguo's opinion, the old couple decided to marry her off.