For the past two years, she hadn't dared to slack off at all in order to study hard and get into university, and going out to play was out of the question. There were four children in her family; her eldest brother had joined the army, and her second brother and youngest brother were both university students. She couldn't bear the shame if she failed the exam.
"Okay, I'll take you up the mountain to play then."
In recent years, she has only visited her parents during holidays when school starts. Most of her holidays are spent at home with her grandparents, and she spends more time in the village.
As they talked, they entered the Sun family's gate. Sun's mother hadn't seen Qian Xiao for over a month, so she quickly grabbed Qian Xiao's hand and glanced behind her.
"Why did you come back alone?" Aren't these two kids always together?
I don't know where this illusion came from. Sun Kaicheng was busy with money and Xiao was also busy. When they were in school, it was common for the two of them not to see each other for several days at a time.
Sun Cheng was displeased: "Mom, can't you see me standing right in front of you?"
Sun's mother glared at her daughter. "You brat, if you don't want to find a boyfriend, fine, but why are you always avoiding me like I'm some kind of monster?" she thought. "Why aren't you hiding anymore? Didn't you go to your grandparents' house for refuge? What are you doing back here?"
Well, this family has been influenced by Qian Xiao; they start to have a strong Northeastern accent from time to time.
"Hehe, I wasn't avoiding you. I just had some things to take care of recently, and I came back as soon as I finished them." This is something I absolutely cannot admit.
"Alright, you brat, get out of here. Xiaoxiao looks thinner. Auntie will make you something delicious to help you recover in a bit."
Qian Xiao touched her face, wondering why everyone said she looked thinner. She weighed herself last night but hadn't lost an ounce: "Maybe it's because I got a tan at home that I look thinner."
"How are things at home?" I heard it's even harder in the countryside.
"Everything is fine, Grandpa Zhou and Grandma Zhou are doing well, so don't worry," even the people in the cowshed are doing well.
Their village is considered the best; at least no one has starved to death yet. This is thanks to the foresight of the officials, who had the villagers prepare well in advance.
"That's good, that's good. Life is tough these days." Even their food rations have been reduced again and again, just enough to keep them from starving.
"Hehe, look what I brought you." Let's not talk about things that are upsetting.
As she spoke, Qian Xiao opened the bag she had brought over and took out a small bag of rice, about ten pounds. Her mother couldn't accept more than that.
Sure enough, Sun's mother quickly waved her hand: "You child, you're here now. I told you not to bring anything with you. Take this food back and eat it slowly. You're at the age where you're growing."
Qian Xiao patted the grains: "Don't worry, I still have some. Auntie, you can keep these to eat slowly. There are also some mountain products and such. There aren't many mountain products on the mountain this year, so I didn't bring many. You can keep them to change your palate."
At this time, no gift is more important than food. People in the city will starve if they run out of food, unlike the villagers who can go up the mountain to find something to fill their stomachs.
Given Sun Kaicheng's family's circumstances, both his father and mother had visibly lost weight, their faces turning sallow, clearly indicating malnutrition.
The Sun family didn't really lack food, but who would dare to go out looking radiant with food at this time? Wouldn't that just be asking to be caught red-handed? But they didn't have much food; they were just a little better off than others. After all, their children were all capable and could always bring back some food.
Sun's mother really couldn't accept it. At this time, grain was incredibly expensive, so how could she possibly accept such a valuable gift from her child?
"Auntie, please don't be so polite with me. Sun Kaicheng has never come to my house empty-handed. If you're so polite, I won't dare to come next time."
"Okay, I'll take it. But you can't bring anything next time." Since the child said that, she accepted it. She would prepare more food for the child later and let him take some with him when he left.
"Okay, whatever you say."
"You two talk first, Auntie will go cook," Sun's mother said, glancing at the time and realizing it was almost dinnertime.
After Sun's mother left, Sun Cheng looked around furtively and asked, "Want to come out with me for a bit?"
Qian Xiao, do you really need to make such a mess in your own home? It's like you're afraid others won't know what you're up to that can't be told.
"Sure, but aren't we going to help Auntie?" It wouldn't be right to just sit around doing nothing and expect to be served, even though we've always done that before.
"Come on, come on, we'll be back in a little while. My mom won't let us help."
That makes sense. Maybe all parents of this generation are like that, so the kitchen has to be their territory.
Sun Cheng furtively pulled Qian Xiao out the door and continued walking along the alley. What Qian Xiao admired most about the people of the capital was that there were basically no dead ends. The winding alleys led in all directions. If she didn't have a good memory, she would have gotten lost countless times.
Qian Xiao counted at least eight turns they had already made: "Where are we going?" Was this guy planning to take him to put sacks on people?
This isn't right. She has no grudge against that Jin Yushu, so it's not right for her to make a move against him for no reason.
Sun Cheng raised a finger to shush and pointed to a spot not far ahead. It looked like the back door of a house, and the wooden door looked dilapidated.
Sun Cheng started looking around again, as if she was afraid of being seen. Only when she felt that her surroundings were safe did she carefully walk toward the dilapidated wooden door.
The two had just reached the wooden door when they heard voices inside. They stopped and looked at each other. Should they leave now, or listen to what they were saying inside?
Before the two of them could decide whether or not to avoid each other, their voices started up again.
"You children, didn't I tell you not to come? I'm fine here, you don't need to worry about me. Don't come again, it's not good for you if people see you," it was an old voice, weak and lacking in strength, clearly indicating that he was not in good health.
"Don't worry, I've made sure no one saw us. How can I be at ease letting you live with Xiaoping? Don't be stingy with the things I brought. Only if you are well can Xiaoping grow up safely."
It was a clear, melodious male voice. Qian Xiao felt it sounded like a young man's voice, definitely no older than thirty, and there was no sense of maturity or world-weariness in his words.
The old lady nodded: "I know that Xiaoping can only grow up smoothly if I live well, but I really don't want to delay you children. If people find out that you are in contact with me, it will bring you danger."
"Don't worry, I'm always very careful when I come here, no one will come at this time."
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