When Li's mother came to her senses and wanted to chase after him, she was stopped by Li Li who came out of the kitchen.

"Mom, I can't handle it by myself, can you help me wash the vegetables?"

"Oh, wait a minute, it's still early, why are you in such a hurry?"

After wasting a few words, when Li's mother chased her out again, Yun Mo had already walked a long way away.

Mother Li was so angry that she just stared blankly.

—

There is an old locust tree with a crooked neck at the entrance of the alley. There is a flower bed under the tree. Usually, the old people and children in the old street like to play under the tree to cool off.

Seeing Yun Mo coming out of the alley, Ling Chunhua, who was sitting under the crooked old locust tree looking after Ling Jiale, came to greet her happily.

"Aunt."

"Yeah, Chunhua."

Seeing Ling Chunhua, Yun Mo's tense face showed a hint of smile.

In the entire Ling family, the only person she likes and feels sorry for is Ling Chunhua.

"Aunt, your two geese are so beautiful."

"Is that so?" Seeing Ling Chunhua curiously staring at the two geese in the bamboo cage, Yun Mo introduced them with a smile: "The one with the big head is called Dabai, and the other one is called Erbai."

Ling Chunhua opened her eyes wide in surprise, "Huh, they have names?"

"Yes."

"Aunt, are you going out?"

This trip to An City took Yun Mo more than half a month. She just came back last night and has to leave again today. She probably won't have much time to see her little niece in the future. A little bit of reluctance welled up in her heart.

She reached into her pocket and pulled out a handful of White Rabbit candies.

"Here, this is food for you. Keep it to yourself. You can only eat one a day, otherwise your teeth will get damaged."

Ling Chunhua looked back at Ling Jiale who was having fun with other friends, happily took the candy and put it in her trouser pocket.

"Thank you, Auntie."

"Be good, go play and come home early."

"Yes, I know."

Yun Mo hailed two taxis. After getting in, she glanced in the direction of the old locust tree and found that Ling Chunhua under the tree was staring at her intently.

Yun Mo waved at the other party from the car window, and then let the driver drive away.

Unable to think of a good place to go, Yun Mo simply asked the driver to drop her off at the door of a hotel.

Yun Mo booked a room, settled Dabai and Erbai, and then went out to look for a house.

There were no real estate agents in this era, but there were "house bugs" who provided services similar to those of an agency and made money by taking the difference between the price between buyers and sellers.

Yunmo’s first choice is of course buying a house, followed by renting one.

However, she is not clear about the housing prices in various districts of Jiang City. She is afraid of being cheated, so she plans to rent a house as a place to stay first.

With the introduction of "House Bug", Yun Mo quickly rented an old courtyard house with a pond.

The house is quite nice, a square courtyard with three large rooms in the middle, two side rooms on each side, an ear room between the main room and the side rooms, and a row of four back rooms in the front.

There are more than a dozen rooms in total, which can accommodate all the Huang family members.

The only bad thing is that it has been vacant for quite some time, and there is a thick layer of dust everywhere. The eaves and corners are covered with spider webs, and the pond has not been cleaned for a long time, so the water has turned blue-black and emits a fishy smell.

After renting the house, Yun Mo first found a restaurant to have lunch, then went back to the hotel for a nap, and prepared to go to the labor market in the afternoon to find workers to clean the courtyard.

—

At the Ling family's side, lunch had already been eaten when Li Zhijie walked in, sweating profusely.

As soon as he entered the door, he shouted that he was starving. Feeling sorry for his son, Li's mother quickly brought out the small half pot of braised pork and rice that she had specially reserved for him.

Li Zhijie ate voraciously, his mouth full of grease. Ling Chunhua sat on a stool under the eaves, watching him eagerly and swallowing quietly.

Li Li weighed a pound of pork belly in total, and only cooked half a pot of it. As Ling Jiale was a grandson, he naturally had to eat meat. Li's mother gave two pieces each to herself and Li Li, and kept the rest for Li Zhijie. Ling Chunhua didn't eat any of it.

Li Zhijie finished the braised pork in a few bites and grumbled in dissatisfaction: "Why did you only leave so little? Why not leave a little more? It's not enough to eat."

Hearing this, Li Li said angrily, "You think meat is free?"

Li Zhijie said with a grin, "Sister, if you don't have money, ask your brother-in-law for it. He works outside every day to earn money. Don't be like mom, who is stingy and reluctant to spend money."

"You think that's how you make money? Earn two and show me."

Mother Li felt sorry for her son. Seeing that he was not full, she quickly said, "Zhijie, wait a moment. I will fry two more eggs for you."

"Two is not enough, fry two more."

"Okay, I'll fry four for you."

Li Li was unhappy when she heard that.

There was a fixed number of eggs in the house. She couldn't bear to eat them herself and only cooked one for Ling Jiale every day. When her own brother came, she had to cook both meat and eggs. Her heart bleeds.

"Mom, that egg is for Jiale to nourish his body. There is still a small piece of pickled cabbage from last time. Cut it up and mix it with some oil for Zhijie to eat with rice."

"How can pickled cabbage be nutritious? You are such a fool. Zhijie is your brother, not a stranger. What's wrong with eating a few of your eggs? Look how stingy you are."

Normally, she couldn't bear to eat pork and rice, but when her family came, she treated them to delicious meat and rice, but they still accused her of being stingy.

Li Li was so angry that her chest felt stuffy and painful.

Without blinking, Li's mother poured half a bowl of oil into the pan, and cracked four eggs into the pan. With the sizzling sound of the oil, the aroma of fried eggs wafted out.

Ling Chunhua, who was sitting under the eaves, smelled the fragrance coming from the kitchen and kept swallowing her saliva.

While no one was paying attention to her, she turned around, took out a White Rabbit milk candy from her pocket, peeled off the candy wrapper, licked it twice, then quickly wrapped the candy in the candy wrapper and put it back in her pocket.

My aunt said to take one pill a day, and she should eat it sparingly, so one pill can last a day.

Savoring the sweet milky flavor in her mouth, Ling Chunhua felt that the aroma of braised pork and fried eggs was not so tempting anymore.

After eating four fried eggs, Li Zhijie wiped his mouth contentedly, his eyes constantly looking towards the room where Yun Mo lived.

Mother Li knew what her son was thinking. She turned to her daughter Li Li and said, "Li, take Jia Le into the house and have some sleep. I'll wash the dishes."

Li Li glanced at her son in her arms, nodded, picked up her son and went back to the house.

After sending Li Li away, Li's mother sent Ling Chunhua, who was squatting under the eaves counting ants, to wash the dishes, and then took her son aside to talk in private.

"Did you get the stuff?"

"I got it."

As he spoke, Li Zhijie took out a small piece of thin incense stick from his pocket. From the color and shape, it was almost the same as a mosquito coil.

(End of this chapter)