There was also a little girl named Lanlan, who was seven years old and was wearing a red sweater with several holes in it.
Lanlan has thick short hair and a small round face, like a little apple. She is so cute. If she could wash her hair, she would be even cuter...
You have to be patient when asking questions to a child. Lanlan is obviously not as fluent as Hehua and is a little timid.
Finally, after asking some questions, piecing them together, and using his imagination to connect them, Lian Xiaomin roughly understood it.
It turned out that her parents were framed and died soon after, before they could be sentenced or sent down.
All relatives must have drawn a clear line between themselves and her, and no one cares about her.
There was a grandmother, whom she had never met before, who picked up garbage and supported her for a while. Later, the grandmother died, and she had to beg for food and pick up garbage on her own.
Later, I got to know these kids and we started wandering together.
Lian Xiaomin was very puzzled at first. How did these young children survive? The oldest, Hehua, was only eight years old.
Later, after asking some questions, I found out that there was another older child who was twelve years old this year. He was Shenglai’s biological brother, named Yunlai!
It was Yunlai who had been working hard to feed the five little ones. It was as if he had started the "baby picking up program". He first picked up Xiaohuzi, who was almost starving to death on the road in the suburbs, and Miss Hehua and Miss Xinghua, and later he picked up Lanlan.
He became everyone's older brother and always took care of the younger ones.
Then Lian Xiaomin continued to ask, where did this Yunlai go?
This time, the little ones started crying.
Lan Lan pouted and said, "Brother Yunlai said he would buy me a small cotton-padded jacket in red. I like red the best... But he hasn't been back for two days!"
Sheng Lai also cried: "Brother also said he would buy me some biscuits! I don't want biscuits anymore, I want my brother ~ wuwuwu..."
Eight-year-old Lotus is the oldest and the backbone of the group. She did not cry, but kept her eyes on the "owner of the house" opposite.
"You... Big sister... are you going to chase us away? It's too cold outside. Can you leave Xinghua here for now? I'll go find a place outside. I'm afraid she'll freeze to death. She's not as cold-resistant as I am."
The four-year-old Xinghua in her arms was like a kitten, holding her sister tightly with her little hands but not daring to make a sound. She looked timid and obedient.
Oh, little kids, if I chase you away, can I call someone else? Lian Xiaomin complained in her heart, sighing that they really knew how to find a place.
"Alright, Lanlan, Xiaosheng, come here, both of you stop crying. Um, Hehua, I won't chase you away, just be quiet for a while, little kids!"
"Now I want to know, where could your brother have gone? Think about it quickly, I'll help you find him."
She had a hunch that something might happen to that Yunlai boy.
Based on what these kids just said, Yunlai would not ignore them. How could he disappear for two days?
What's the matter? Why don't you come back at night?
Later, Xiao Huzi "provided a clue", saying that Brother Yunlai mentioned that he knew a man named "Qiao Saner" who was about two years older than Yunlai and was also a teenager.
Sometimes Qiao San would ask Yunlai to move things or do some work, and then give him some food or a few cents.
Lian Xiaomin thought for a moment and realized that the name sounded familiar, as if she had heard it somewhere.
By the way, luckily I have a good memory!
Last year, when she had her first transaction with Dalong, as soon as she entered the yard, Jindou wanted to take her to the bungalow at the back, so he called a boy named Qiao San and asked him to help watch the bicycle.
Then he told Lian Xiaomin that they were a bunch of kids who had no food to eat and they were doing odd jobs in the black market to make a living.
Now that I have a target, I'll go find Qiao San and ask him, in case he knows where Yunlai is.
I didn’t see Qiao San last night. I was the one pushing the cart the whole time, so I’ll go ask Jindou.
After thinking of an idea, Lian Xiaomin stood up and began to give orders.
"Don't go anywhere. Just stay here. I'll go find your brother Yunlai. Don't let anything happen to him again. Do you understand?"
The little kids also realized this and were very worried about their brother, and they all nodded their heads.
"Hehua, put on your clothes first and light up the kang. Can you work?"
Lotus put her little sister down, wrapped her in the quilt and continued to lie down.
"Big sister, I can do anything."
"Well, I'll go get you a load of coal. You light the stove and cook some food. Have everyone eat their fill, and then wait for me to come back."
Lotus was already putting on her coat, and Xiaohuzi jumped up to help with the work. He also told everyone else to lie down and get up after the kang was heated up.
Lanlan crawled over to take care of Xiao Xinghua, got into the cold bed, and used her little body to give her sister some warmth.
Lian Xiaomin went out alone. The yard had three main rooms and a storage room at the back, which was very spacious.
The little bit of food in the utility room was also gone, leaving only the empty bags.
There was running water and an empty water tank in the kitchen, but there was absolutely no coal left, and only a little salt was left in the oil, salt, sauce and vinegar.
She went to the backyard, pulled the cart and walked out. It was already dawn, but it was still quiet and no one was around.
Lian Xiaomin didn't take a few steps, but just thought about it and loaded a cart of coal.
This was the coal ticket she exchanged on the black market. She bought coal and stored it in the space. There wasn't much, but there were three or four truckloads. She would take one truckload first.
He pulled it into the yard and unloaded it to a place against the wall. Then he turned around and went out to load another cart of corn cobs and corn kernels, and also unloaded them aside.
Plant corn in the space. After harvesting, there will be plenty of it and it can be used as firewood.
They repeated this process over and over again, unloading several trucks, enough to last two months, before they stopped.
The last truck carried two more bags of grain, a bag of rice, a bag of millet, five pounds of noodles, ten heads of cabbage, a can of soybean oil, and a bottle of soy sauce.
When the food was put into the kitchen, Hehua and Xiaohuzi had already run out.
When they saw coal, corn stalks, and so much food, they covered their mouths in surprise, afraid to shout out.
It seems that they have developed the habit of keeping quiet when they usually hide here and know not to make any noise.
They hurriedly helped to unload the things, and put away each cabbage with great care.
Lian Xiaomin clapped her hands and asked Hehua to quickly light the fire and cook, as she wanted to go out to find Yunlai first.
Lotus, with two small braids and a sensible look, started to work with little Tiger.
Lian Xiaomin saw that Xiaohu was still wearing sandals in such a cold day. She thought, let's talk about it after we get back.
Before she left, she took out two bars of soap from her bag, two bars of scented soap, and placed them in the wooden basin next to the stove.
Let the lotus flowers warm the water, and take the kids to wash their hands before eating... Oh, it's too dirty, I can't bear to look at it.
She pushed her bicycle out of the yard, locked it from the outside, and then rode straight to the black market near the cannery.
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