On the tenth day after arriving at Lao Zhang's house, in the afterglow of the setting sun, Tianjiao once again squatted at the gate of the village.
But this time he was not waiting for Zhang Rui, but waiting for the children to come back from school.
After unremitting efforts, Zhang Rui completely convinced his parents and successfully adopted Tianjiao into the Zhang family, even directly placing the child under his name.
Originally they wanted to put it under the name of the eldest brother Zhang Dong. After all, the eldest brother is 32 years old and has not returned for many years. They don’t know if he can come back.
Although he had no news, he was still a soldier and could not do anything directly, so he had to become Zhang Rui's daughter, whose full name was Zhang Tianjiao.
These days, Zhang Rui often took her to play with other children in the village after school in the afternoon, so that she could get familiar with them. Only then did she feel at ease to go out today.
As for the carpenter, he left too quickly and didn't take anything.
So Tianjiao waited here alone.
Looking from afar at the group of half-grown children running back in the sunset, Tianjiao stood up excitedly and waved his hands, "Brother Zhuzi, Sister Huahua!"
The tender and clear voice could be heard from far away.
The group of kids also saw Tianjiao, and their eyes immediately lit up, "Jiaojiao is there, let's hurry up!"
"Hurry up, hurry up!" The children immediately rushed over.
Tianjiao also ran forward two steps, and the flesh on his cheeks began to tremble.
When the two groups met, the skinny seven-year-old girl couldn't help but widen her eyes and reached out to pinch her cheek, her eyes full of envy, "Jiaojiao, you have so much flesh on your face!"
Tianjiao smiled shyly and looked at Zhou Dazhu expectantly.
Zhou Dazhu was born simple and honest. When the pretty little girl looked at him, his dark face turned red. He quickly took out two short, small white cylinders from his pocket and said, "Here, here."
Tianjiao happily took a small piece and said, "Thank you, brother Dazhu, let's go paint."
They brought back this piece of chalk yesterday, and there was only a little bit of it. She looked at it for a while yesterday and felt itchy to have it, but they were reluctant to give it to her.
Unable to bear seeing his little sister disappointed, Zhou Dazhu patted his chest and said he would bring it back to her tomorrow, so Tianjiao looked forward to it the whole day.
"Okay, okay," Zhao Xiaohua and Zhou Dazhu nodded, and the more shy Tian Zhuangzhuang left with them.
The place they went to was an alley in the village where no one usually came. The side walls were very dark in color and had things written and drawn on them with chalk.
Zhao Xiaohua held her hand and said, "Jiaojiao, today our teacher taught us how to draw the sun. I'll give it to you later."
"Okay," Tianjiao nodded with a smile, his neat doll hair was loose and not greasy at all.
Zhou Dazhu kept stealing glances at this side, and when he saw the pretty little girl smiling, he hurriedly said, "I can do it, too. I can teach you."
Zhao Xiaohua pushed him away and said, "We girls are talking, don't interrupt."
"Oh." Zhou Dazhu turned around unhappily and pulled Tian Zhuangzhuang, "Let's play together later."
"Let's compete," Zhao Xiaohua refused to be outdone.
Her family is quite well off in the village. There are only boys in the family, and she is the only girl. She has a lot of labor and eats a lot. She is also the only girl in the village who goes to school so early.
The others have to wait until they are seven** years old.
Maybe after studying for one or two years, you will be pulled back.
Tianjiao can't do anything, so she can only imitate her new father and clap her hands, saying in a baby voice, "Come on, Sister Huahua!"
Zhao Xiaohua raised her chin with a proud look on her face and said, "Don't worry, I will definitely not lose."
A few kids came to the alley aggressively and started drawing.
Tianjiao also took a piece of chalk and learned to draw from them, his little face was tense, as if he was doing something big.
In the end, the wall was covered with traces of their drawings.
The little chalk we had was used up. After everyone finished playing, it was already late. We heard mothers in the village calling out, "Dazhu, come back for dinner."
"Strong"
The timing was just right, so after a while, everyone ran away, leaving only Tianjiao, who was a little slow and had no one calling him, looking happily at the sun in front of him.
She looked around, and there was no one there.
"Tiandao Dad, is Jiaojiao's painting good looking?"
Two "ding ding" sounds rang in his ears, like the sound of tiles breaking. Tianjiao thought it was Tiandao's father responding to him, so he clapped his hands happily and wanted to go back.
As soon as he turned around, he saw a thin boy staring at him with big eyes. He was skinny, with a sallow face and sparse hair, which made his eyes look even bigger. Tianjiao was startled when he saw him out of nowhere.
After a closer look, she found that the boy was not looking at her, but staring at the painting on the wall.
He took two steps forward, and the tiles under his feet made a familiar sound. Tianjiao pouted, a little disappointed, but at this time her attention was on the boy.
This child is so skinny. Although the people in the village are also hungry and cold, they have never seen anyone so skinny. And looking at the clothes he wears, as well as his dirty hair and face, no one would doubt that he is a beggar. Is he an orphan?
Thinking of this, Tianjiao felt a little soft-hearted. She touched her pocket, where there was a piece of steamed bread. She didn't finish it at noon but she didn't dare to leave it, so she hid it in her pocket. She had planned to wait for her new father to come back and eat it.
But now, she held the steamed bread forward and asked softly, "Do you want this?"
The little girl's voice was clear and tender, and it seemed to bring the scent of sunshine to this already dim courtyard.
Xiao He's gaze, which was attracted by the chalk writings and drawings on the wall, trembled and slowly moved to the girl in front of him.
But the fair skin seemed a little dazzling, so he didn't dare to look at it for long. He quickly took the yellow steamed bread and ran away.
There was not a single unnecessary movement, which left Tianjiao dumbfounded.
Then she stamped her feet unhappily and said, "That's too much. You didn't even say thank you?"
A soft breeze blew by, as if to comfort her. Tianjiao didn't react and was still a little angry. But the next second, it was as if her face was poked. She immediately smiled and forgot what happened just now. "Dad Tiandao, I want to go back. Dad said he was going to the county to buy me a pen and notebook today. Jiaojiao can go to school soon."
She didn’t know what going to school meant before, but after playing with Sister Huahua and Brother Dazhu, she realized that going to school means playing with many children.
It was really wonderful and she was looking forward to it very much.
With a creak, the old courtyard door was pushed open.
A thin little boy slipped in and quickly closed the door.
The woman who was washing clothes in the yard looked up when she heard the noise, and a faint smile appeared on her beautiful face under her messy hair. "Xiao He is back."
The boy pursed his lips, walked up to the woman and extended his hand.
A small yellow steamed bun lay in the dirty palm of my hand.
The woman was shocked and asked, "Where did this come from?"
The boy said nothing and walked forward.
The woman forced a smile and asked softly, "Xiao He, was this given to you by someone else?"
After waiting for about five seconds, the boy nodded slowly.
The woman breathed a sigh of relief and pushed the food back. “Eat it yourself. I don’t like this.”
Xiao He pursed his lips tighter, approached the woman again, and held her hand. His attitude was very stubborn, but he still didn't speak.
Seeing this, the woman had no choice but to take a small bite of his hand before giving him the food and saying, "Eat it."
Xiao He then withdrew his hand, held the steamed bun, took a bite, and tasted a hint of sweetness. He sniffed, his eyes were dazed for a moment, and the image of the little girl appeared in his mind.
His eyes were staring straight ahead, dull and sluggish, and he looked not very smart. The woman was washing clothes, and seeing this, she could not help but look at him, and slowly, a hint of resentment appeared in her eyes.
If this child could be a little smarter, wouldn't she have any expectations at all?
The woman bit her lip, feeling sad and bitter. Facing the road ahead that seemed to never see the light, she felt like crying.
Suddenly, there was a cough in the room, and then a man yelled in a hoarse voice, "Is the meal ready? Didn't I ask you to cook? Why are you washing clothes?"
The woman shuddered, and all her sadness disappeared. She stood up and hurried to the kitchen, saying, "It's ready. I'll serve it right away."
Looking closely, she walked with a limp, as if she had been injured before and has not recovered yet.
Seeing the man come out, Xiao He stiffened instinctively, and the speed of eating the steamed bun suddenly increased.
But he was still too late, and saw the tall man in front of him walked over directly, slapped the remaining half of the steamed bread in his hand, and said fiercely, "You little bastard, you are stealing things again, I will beat you to death."
The woman quickly put down the plate in her hand and hurried over to stop him, "No, no, this was given to him by someone else."
The man was tall and not very good-looking, but he had more flesh on his body than most men in the village, so he was naturally very strong. He was stopped but didn't care, and waved the woman away lightly, "Who gave it to this brat now? Who has extra food to give to this brat?"
He was about to reach out to grab Xiao He, but saw the boy suddenly push him, quickly took the steamed bread that rolled on the ground and stuffed it into his mouth, and was about to run out.
The man immediately felt offended, and rushed over and pulled his hair steadily, "You little bastard, you dare to push me!"
Xiao He, whose hair was being pulled, said nothing, but his face turned pale instantly. He grabbed his big hands and hung up with his hands, struggling desperately with his feet off the ground.
"Don't hit him, don't hit him, he really didn't steal anything," the woman pleaded and came over to hold the man's arm to protect him. The house suddenly became lively.
"Then I'll go and see who gave it to him. This little mute definitely won't tell us. Let's go directly to the captain." The man sneered and walked away.
The woman followed with tears on her face, crying.
Soon, the whole village became lively.
Tianjiao is pestering Zhang Rui to teach her how to read. In a short time, she has learned how to write her own name. She shakes her head proudly and says, "Jiaojiao is smart, isn't she?"
Zhang Rui flicked her forehead and saw the little girl wrinkling her face and covering her forehead and glaring at him. He smiled and said, "You are smart and beautiful, Jiaojiao is amazing."
"Hehe" Tianjiao was coaxed by just one sentence, and she immediately started to smile foolishly.
Zhang Zhi was holding his son Dabao and teasing him, and saw that the boy was going towards the newly-formed father and daughter.
Zhang Zhi patted his son's butt and took him over. "You little brat, isn't it enough for your dad to play with you?"
Dabao kept reaching out to the beautiful girl in front of him and said "Ahhhh"
Zhang Rui unhappily hugged his nephew and said, "He will definitely be a bad boy who likes pretty girls in the future."
After saying that, he was hit on the head.
Zhang Zhi glared at him.
Tianjiao arranged the new notebook on his knees, and took Dabao who rushed over with a smile. Of course, he didn't hug him completely, but he rushed over and said, "Oh, slow down, sister can't hold him."
"Ahhh" Dabao was held in the arms and was so excited that he kept shouting.
Tianjiao had no choice but to take him and put him on his lap.
Dabao stopped making a fuss and pulled her hand and shook it, looking like a good baby. He looked at Tianjiao with his big, sparkling eyes and smiled foolishly, revealing his little mouth with two front teeth. “Ahhhh”
"Yeah, be good, sister likes you." Tianjiao nodded in cooperation and kissed him. Her pretty face was filled with a big smile, which was very pleasing.
Dabao, who was kissed, smiled even more happily and held her hand tightly.
Zhang Rui was extremely jealous. Alas, this was his daughter, and he had only raised her for a few days, but he already had the illusion that she might be snatched away by some bad boy.
Zhang Rui wiped his tears, and his old father felt sad.
Li Mizhen was busy passing by and saw this scene. She curled her lips unwillingly. The eldest grandson was a naughty one who liked to make trouble for others. She couldn't even hold him and stand still. He had to move, otherwise he would cry non-stop. But why was he so obedient in the hands of this girl?
She looked at it twice with a strange expression, but had to admit that the doll was so pretty. If it weren't for this face, she would not have compromised.
Just then, there was a commotion outside.
A middle-aged woman who was close to Li Mizhen came over and waved at her, with a typical look of watching a show, "Aunt Zhang, Old Sun is causing trouble again, why don't you go and watch?"
"What's the matter?" Li Mizhen was confused.
The woman frowned, with a vivid expression on her face. "What else could it be? Old Sun said that the child stole someone else's steamed bread and refused to admit it. He wanted to criticize him in public and resolutely not let the landlord take advantage of our blind date again."
The woman even imitated it, dancing and gesticulating, and after doing all this, she said, "I came here specially to find you to watch the fun together."
Li Mizhen had a guilty look on her face, and was about to look at it, "Let's not do it. That child is really pitiful. He lost his father when he was young, and his mother remarried. He has never had a good life."
Suddenly, there was a gust of wind, and the third child and the new daughter ran out, leaving her eldest grandson in the yard staring blankly, and then he burst into tears.
Zhang Zhi had a headache and hurriedly held his son to comfort him, with a puzzled look on his face. Just now, after hearing what the aunt said, Tianjiao's face changed, as if she remembered something, and she ran away with her third brother in a gust of wind. What was she doing?
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