Chapter 241 I can't care about you!
As the young man deftly rekindled the fire, he grumbled irritably, "I'd rather you freeze to death than keep making me worry about you every day!"
He picked up the fire hook and poked the stove hard, sparks crackling and popping instantly: "Where did this dead dog come from? It's filthy and obviously unwanted, throw it away quickly!"
Dafu, however, held the puppy tightly in his arms, looked at the young man with a silly grin, and muttered, "Someone wants it, Dafu wants it!"
The young man paused, turned around and glared at him, his tone still sharp, but his actions were very considerate.
"Yes, yes, yes! If you want it, then raise it yourself!"
"I don't care about you!"
"Honestly, you're just causing me trouble every day, and I already have a ton of my own problems to deal with!"
He was cursing and swearing, but he turned around and skillfully pulled a tattered blanket from the closet and threw it at him: "Look at this! I've told you eight hundred times to throw it away, didn't you listen?!"
"Hurry up and dry your hair, it's all wet. I won't care if you catch a cold!"
He threw the blanket with perfect aim, landing it on Dafu's and the puppy's heads.
Dafu wasn't annoyed. Instead, he chuckled at the young man, pulled down the blanket, and haphazardly wiped his wet hair. Then, he carefully wiped the trembling puppy in his arms.
His movements were clumsy, but they were full of affection.
Seeing his expression, the young man sighed helplessly, turned around and walked to the rice jar in the corner, scooped out a small half bowl of rice, added some hot water, and put it on the stove.
Looking at Dafu, he said irritably, "Keep an eye on it, don't let the porridge overflow."
Although Dafu is somewhat mentally challenged, after all these years, he can still cook some porridge for himself.
The young man then left reassured.
Before leaving, he looked at Dafu and reminded him, "Let it cool down before you eat. Eat something if you're hungry, or feed the dog if you're not. Also, you're not allowed to go out in the snow. I'll have Xiaoming come and call you after school so you can finish your meal."
Dafu, holding the little black dog, looked obediently at the young man, her eyes sparkling as she gave him an even bigger and brighter smile: "Thank you... Brother Stone!"
Stone Bro... Xiao Ming...
Zhong Wan murmured those two names, a thought flashing through her mind.
She was quite familiar with this name; it belonged to a pig butcher in the village who had a bad temper but was quite skilled at slaughtering pigs. I think his name was... Shi Lei?
Zhong Wan was also a little unsure, after all, the other person was of the same generation as her parents, or even a few years older than her father, right?
But what she was certain of was that Shi Lei's son's name was... Shi Xiaoming.
She clearly remembered that when she was in second grade, a fifth-grade senior was almost swept away by the water. It must have been him.
She didn't know much after that, but she did know that the senior was lucky to be rescued.
And it seems that it was after that that Dafu, who used to be a loner, gradually started to associate with the Shi family father and son.
In the end, Dafu shared the porridge with the dog.
Suddenly, a creaking sound came from the doorway, and the old wooden door was pushed open a crack.
A chubby-faced little boy with a schoolbag on his back peeked in; it was Shi Xiaoming in his teenage years.
"Uncle Fu?"
He peered around curiously, and his eyes lit up instantly when he saw Dafu and the puppy.
Shi Xiaoming ran in with a grin and took a bag out of his schoolbag.
"Uncle Fu, here you go!"
"There are even roasted sweet potatoes at the school gate today! Come and try some."
Before Dafu could react, Xiaoming shoved the steaming hot roasted sweet potato into his hand.
Then, curiously, she squatted down and looked at the little black dog nestled at Dafu's feet, reaching out her little hand to tease it: "Uncle Fu, where did you get this little dog? It's so cute."
Dafu smiled even more brightly as he looked at Xiaoming.
He carefully opened the bag and broke the sweet potato apart.
The larger piece was handed to Xiaoming. He took the smaller piece, then broke the smaller piece in his hand into two pieces, blew on one of them, and offered it to the puppy.
"Eat...let's eat together."
Dafu's voice was a little muffled, but his eyes were full of pure joy.
Xiao Ming didn't stand on ceremony and took a bite of the sweet potato: "I'm really hungry, Uncle Fu, you should eat less, it's almost time for dinner."
"I wonder what delicious food my parents made today, Uncle Fu. After we finish eating, let's go to my house for dinner."
The scene in the memory becomes warm and bright here: a man, a dog, and a boy sharing a simple roasted sweet potato, which is a rare brilliance in Dafu's life.
The scene before Zhong Wan's eyes began to shift again.
"Haha, Shi Xiaoming actually plays with idiots?! Shi Xiaoming is an idiot too!"
"Shi Xiaoming's gone mad!"
Zhong Wan didn't know how much time had passed. Dafu in front of her seemed to have changed, but the dog had grown a lot.
The little black dog, which was only the size of a palm a moment ago, has now grown to be more than half the height of a person.
Dafu happily stood at the village entrance with his dog, looking expectantly at the end of the cement road.
Soon after, the green car that Zhong Wan recognized appeared.
The bus slowly came to a stop at the village entrance.
Shi Xiaoming, who had grown considerably taller, got off the bus with his schoolbag on his back. Now in junior high school, he had not only grown taller but also bigger.
Upon seeing this, Dafu happily clutched the candy in his hand and ran over, shouting, "Xiaoming... have some candy!"
Shi Xiaoming reached out and took it, but before he could say anything, he heard a strange sound coming from behind him.
His face darkened, and he turned around to look.
Looking at the heads peeking out of the window, he saw some of his classmates and some younger than him.
The little boy's face flushed instantly, his hand gripping the candy tightened, and his eyes were filled with embarrassment and awkwardness.
He glared at them and yelled, "Shut up! What do you know?!"
Only a fool would laugh at someone else for being foolish!
"I, Uncle Fu, am not stupid; you are the biggest idiots!"
After yelling, he turned and glared angrily at Uncle Fu, looking into his worried and confused eyes, and then at the big black dog that had come close to his leg and was rubbing against his trouser leg affectionately.
The anger on Xiaoming's face vanished instantly, replaced by a complex sense of resolve.
Shi Xiaoming took a deep breath, as if he had made up his mind, and firmly put his arm around Dafu's shoulder, comforting him, "Uncle Fu, let's go home and ignore those idiots."
Zhong Wan didn't know how he adjusted his mindset, but she knew clearly that a child in his teens is at the age when his self-esteem is at its strongest.
But he always treated Dafu with the same attitude he had before, without any reservations.
Gradually, under his influence, some of his friends also began to accept Uncle Fu's existence.
The final frame of the image shows a brightly colored windmill spinning in the wind.
A little girl in a pink dress and with pigtails ran up to Dafu with a smile, shoved the windmill into his hands, and said in a childish voice, "Grandpa Fu, I'll play with you again next time I come back."
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