"I never expected that Sister Qiao An would be so kind to me! We're just nodding acquaintances."
Zeng Yiming laughed after hearing this: "Don't forget about me!"
Ding Xunye looked at him for a long time and then smiled: "My parents said back then that with your relationship with Brother Shen, I wouldn't suffer if I followed you. Now it seems that they are both very shrewd, and I've benefited from it."
Zeng Yiming couldn't help but turn pale. Although he knew it was true, it was still too much of a blow.
"Wife, can you give me some face?" He looked so aggrieved, it was really endearing.
Ding Xunye reached out and tugged at his slightly weathered face, smiling as she said, "Having such a capable friend is quite an achievement. Keep it up, I believe in you!"
"Hehehe!" Zeng Yiming shook his head and admitted it.
Indeed, he benefited greatly from Shen Yanming's influence. Having such a friend is truly fortunate!
November arrived in the blink of an eye, and Shen Yanming and Bi Qiaoan hid at home to hibernate. An'an and Nuannuan went to school every day, and although they were cold, they didn't give up.
The couple wore oversized cotton coats, which, although ill-fitting, were still much better than last year's.
The temperature in the classroom was not high; there was heating and a stove was lit, so it barely reached around zero degrees Celsius.
The children's hands were frozen stiff, but they persevered. They had no choice; although the classroom wasn't warm, it was even colder at home. Rather than going home and experiencing temperatures of minus ten or twenty degrees Celsius, or even thirty or forty degrees, it was better to stay in the classroom, where at least it wasn't so cold.
Because of the low temperature, all of Qi Xili's classes were canceled. Behind the children's cheers and excitement lay the adults' hidden worries.
An'an and Nuan'nuan received extra tutoring. Although they didn't learn much at school, Lao Qi often came to their home to teach the children martial arts.
The cramped living room simply couldn't fit them all in, yet Qi Xili never once mentioned bringing the two babies home. Although his place was bigger and more spacious, well, it just didn't seem right for a grown man like himself to be with two little toddlers.
Regardless of whether you have bad intentions, being alone with someone can easily lead to misunderstandings. It's better to leave it with the couple so everyone can feel at ease.
An'an and Nuannuan are still young and haven't thought that far ahead. But Shen Yanming and Bi Qiaoan are very satisfied with Qi Xili's character.
So he always managed to subsidize him whenever he had a spare moment, which made Qi Xili almost suspicious. But the things were just ordinary radishes, cabbages, and potatoes, so he could only comfort himself by thinking that the couple grew a lot.
With expert guidance, An'an and Nuannuan have made great progress. Although practicing in the living room isn't convenient, they have the space at home.
Since the two younger children started practicing martial arts, the couple has relaxed their restrictions on the time their kids spend in the space. They're allowed to practice for at least one or two hours every evening, and after practice, they can take a hot bath. But if they want to sleep there at night, that's not allowed anymore.
The temperature outside is getting lower and lower. If they don't hurry up and adapt, they might be eliminated.
Take our goose, for example. It came out once in September. It only stayed in the living room for two hours before developing a fever. The temperature outside made it very uncomfortable, and it was listless after being brought back inside. It was only after Shen Yanming gave it medicine that it slowly recovered.
Seeing this, An'an and Nuannuan dared not cause any more trouble. At the same time, they were impressed with their parents, who became even more eager to sleep outside every day.
At the end of December, Zeng Yiming came again.
The couple thought Ding Xunye had gotten into trouble again, but to their surprise, Zeng Yiming was talking about the Xiao family.
"The daughter-in-law of that family is gone. The old lady of their house didn't fix the stove properly at night, and the whole family of three suffered carbon monoxide poisoning."
"Huh? How did you know?" Bi Qiaoan asked.
Zeng Yiming didn't hide anything: "That Jin girl is no longer a good one. I forgot to mention it when I came last time. She was sold off, right? She made a fortune for Brother Long at first, but after a while, the customers got bored."
But she had many customers before and didn't clean up much, you know, she got sick over time. Brother Long didn't want her and returned her to the Xiao family. But the old lady locked the door and wouldn't let her in, saying that the Xiao family didn't want such an unfaithful daughter-in-law.
Many people were furious at the time, but they dared not speak out. The old lady had only one principle: if anyone wanted to do good, they should go themselves; her family couldn't afford to support idlers.
The neighbor went to find Old Man Xiao, but when Old Man Xiao found out, he just squatted on the ground and kept sighing.
"You can probably imagine, the Xiao family just wants to get rid of him. It's strange, they didn't abandon him on the way to Haishi, but now that everything is settled here, they want to throw him away. They're heartless."
"Oh, how did that person die?" Bi Qiaoan didn't feel much sympathy. She just thought that someone like Chen Jin should be like an unkillable cockroach, so how could he suddenly be gone?
"When Brother Long saw that the Xiao family wouldn't take her in, he couldn't just throw her away, so he brought her back to the shack. He left her there alone, feeding her a little bit each day and then ignoring her. It's said she froze to death in the snow, but I heard that when the young woman was found, her clothes were disheveled and her limbs were twisted."
But because it happened outside the base, and no one stood up for her, Brother Long just buried her hastily. He didn't even investigate, and even said it was bad luck.
"Alright then." Bi Qiaoan nodded, thinking that perhaps her luck had been completely worn away.
Zeng Yiming continued, "A couple of days ago, the person next door to the Xiao family woke up in the morning and found that the old lady hadn't started cursing. They thought the old lady had changed her ways and didn't take it seriously. But by noon, the door still hadn't opened, and that person realized something was wrong."
They called out to knock on the doors of several neighboring households, only to be met with a strong smell of coal smoke. The neighbors quickly kicked open their doors and found the old man and woman, along with the simpleton from the Xiao family, already unconscious.
With the help of the guards, everyone took the person to the base hospital. An examination revealed that the poisoning was severe; even if the person survived, they would be unable to care for themselves. The hospital was at a loss, and the base was also worried.
If the person had just died, that would be one thing, but they're half-dead, with no family members. Who's going to take care of their basic needs? But we can't just abandon them; after all, it's three lives at stake.
The guards had no choice but to hire a housekeeper to provide meals for the family of three. The housekeeper wasn't very dedicated, but she didn't want the three of them to die so soon. So they just dragged it out, taking it one day at a time.
The couple nodded without saying anything. They thought to themselves that under these conditions, the Xiao family of three wouldn't be able to hold on for much longer.
Sure enough, before the end of the year, the entire Xiao family of three passed away.
It is said that he froze to death, and when the guards were cleaning up the body, they found that the whole room smelled terrible.
The three men's pants were covered in yellowish-brown excrement, and no one had cleaned them.
The aunt was criticized a few times for being irresponsible, but that was the end of it.
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