Chapter 293: Becoming Alone Again
The four of them went out together with three pieces of luggage.
Zhuang Chaoying poked his head out from the table and called out, "Tunan, Pengfei, don't forget to go to Grandpa and Grandma's house to pay New Year's greetings!"
After hearing the two people respond to him, he lowered his head and started reading again.
The four of them separated at the intersection. Zhu Xiu Yu and Hong Bin went to the hospital to pick up their aunt first and then set out to catch the bus. They needed to change cars several times before they could get to their eldest cousin's house.
Tunan took Pengfei back to Huang Ling's home.
Zhuang Chaoying waited until he was starving but Zhu Xiu Yu and Hong Bin still didn't come back.
He thought that she might have gone to the hospital to see her aunt, so he made himself a bowl of noodles with some pickles for breakfast.
However, when the two had not returned by noon, he became anxious. Recalling what happened in the morning, he began to feel that something was wrong.
So he rushed to the hospital first.
After his aunt was injured, he went to see her and found out where she lived. However, when he asked at the place, the nurse said that the old lady had already been discharged from the hospital.
There was no other way, Zhuang Chaoying had to go to the convenience store and call Huang Ling's home, asking Pengfei to answer the phone.
As soon as Pengfei picked up the phone, he asked, "Uncle, what can't you find?"
"Pengfei, do you know where your aunt went?"
Pengfei then realized that Zhu Xiuyu had not told Zhuang Chaoying where she was going.
Zhu Xiu Yu knew that Peng Fei never asked too many questions or talked too much at home. She had told him not to tell Zhuang Chao Ying and that he would tell the story himself. He would definitely not say anything or ask, so he was not afraid of being exposed at all.
Since the person had already left, Pengfei simply told Zhuang Chaoying what had happened.
They only said that they were going to see their aunt off, and did not mention the rest of the process or the address.
"Uncle... do you want me to..." Although Pengfei didn't want to, he was still afraid that Zhuang Chaoying would be angry. If Zhuang Chaoying wanted him to go back, he would be willing to do so.
Zhuang Chaoying certainly wanted Pengfei to come back. Just as he was about to speak, he heard Huang Ling's voice:
"Pengfei, I forgot to bring my cotton-padded shoes. You can wear your Uncle Zhou's old ones today. I'll get you new ones at the department store tomorrow. Hey, should I call your mother?"
Pengfei covered the microphone and replied, "It's my uncle."
"Oh, then you fight."
Zhuang Chaoying didn't dare to mention asking Pengfei to come back, so he could only say angrily:
"It's okay, you don't have to come back, just spend more time with your brother. You won't see him for half a year if you're gone."
Before I hung up the phone, I heard Huang Ling yell:
"Comrade Huailan, that's for meals, not snacks! It's so sour and it hurts your stomach!"
There was a panic on the other end of the phone. I guess everyone went to watch Huailan stealing the pickled radish.
Pengfei asked: "Uncle, is there anything else?"
"That's all, I'm hanging up. Go to your grandparents' house on the second day of the New Year, come early."
"OK."
After hanging up the phone, Zhuang Chaoying was stunned for a long time, then threw the teacup in anger.
After running for most of the day, he only had a bowl of noodles in the morning. Only then did he remember how hungry he was, so he went to the kitchen to find something to eat.
I opened the cupboard and it was empty.
He then remembered that when they had dinner last night, Zhu Xiuyu had cooked the dishes just right, and she scooped some of the remaining two bites into each of her two children's bowls and ate them all.
Moreover, they were getting ready to leave today, so there wasn't even a single onion in the house.
Zhuang Chaoying was so angry that his liver hurt. He didn't want to go buy vegetables or cook noodles at all. He just fell asleep.
He was drowsy until he woke up hungry in the middle of the night. He had no choice but to get up and make a cup of milk powder that Zhu Xiuyu bought for the children.
The water was a little cold, and he was not used to the sweet and fishy taste of milk. He didn't like drinking it in the first place, but he remembered that Zhu Xiuyu had made milk for him before, and it didn't taste like this.
The next morning, he was so hungry that he had to get up and eat.
Upon closer inspection, I realized that I hadn't changed the coal briquettes or closed the fire door last night, and the remaining coal briquettes had long been burned out, and now there was no heat at all.
There was no choice but to start making a fire again.
I used the tongs to pick up the coal balls, but my hands were shaking from hunger, and the first coal ball fell to the ground and broke into pieces.
The lighter is missing.
The fire starter cannot be found.
After finally getting the fire started, I went to clean up the broken coal slag.
After being busy for a long time, I finally got to eat a bite of noodles.
He let out a long sigh.
Only then did he remember that what Zhu Xiuyu said about not having to worry about it was true.
Even though he was alone, Zhuang Chaoying still didn't want to go to the Zhuang family to suffer. He waited until the morning of the 30th before buying meat and vegetables and going to the Zhuang family.
As soon as I arrived at Zhuang's house, I heard my neighbor Aunt Zhang sticking her head out to look around. When she saw Zhuang Chaoying coming, she looked worried, but she didn't say anything to Zhuang Chaoying.
Zhuang Chaoying clearly sensed something was wrong, so he hurriedly pushed the door open and entered the house.
There was a guest in the room, and he saw Zhuang's mother handing a stack of money to the guest:
"I'll leave it to you. It's New Year's Day, thank you for coming here."
The man was dressed neatly. He took the money politely with both hands and said:
"I have to go tomorrow, so I can only come today. Don't worry, the people I know are reliable. You guys can hurry up..."
Zhuang Chaoying's heart skipped a beat. He rushed over and snatched the money from the man's hand. Then he pointed at the door and said angrily:
"Get out! If you don't, I'll call the security department!"
Zhuang's mother rushed over and tried to snatch the money from Zhuang Chaoying's hand. Zhuang Chaoying put his hands behind his back and continued:
"Get out! Do you hear me? You liars! How dare you come to my house!"
The man saw Zhuang Chaoying furious, looked at Zhuang's mother again, and hurried away.
Zhuang's father was so anxious that he stood up suddenly, dragging one leg and whimpering, trying to chase after him. However, before he reached the door, his left leg tripped over his right leg and he fell heavily to the ground.
His face hit the ground, and when he raised his face, his nose was broken and immediately covered his mouth and chin with blood.
Zhuang's mother was only concerned with snatching the money from Zhuang Chaoying's hand and didn't even look at Zhuang's father lying on the ground.
"Zhuang Chaoying! Give it to me!"
At this time, Zhuang Chaoying had achieved his goal, so he returned the money to Zhuang's mother and then blocked the door.
"Get out of the way!" Zhuang's mother roared.
"Mom! How could I be fooled again after being fooled once? It's useless. It's useless to look for anyone! If we can really find someone, then there are family members who are richer and more powerful than us. Why don't they look for them? How can others know that there is a labor camp prisoner in our family?"
"This is our own money, don't bother with us! We'll try it out whether it works or not. He didn't say he could get it out, but he said he could reduce the ten years to eight! That's fine, even if it means saving two years!"
"Mom, you might as well go and see Gan Mei and persuade him not to think too much, reform himself and strive to make meritorious contributions, so that he can have a chance to get a reduction in his salary! Can't you save this money and give it to him for future use?" Zhuang Chaoying was really angry.
"Pa!" Zhuang Chaoying's mother slapped her in the face. "You're just worried that we'll spend our money and then be out of work when we get out of the US. We'll have to spend your money again, right?"
Mr. Zhuang finally got up from the ground, and he also raised his crutch and hit Zhuang Chaoying hard.
Zhuang Chaoying couldn't dodge in time and was hit several times.
"Get out!" Zhuang's mother cursed.
"Mom, don't be angry, I..."
Father Zhuang raised his cane and hit Zhuang Chaoying again.
Zhuang Chaoying had no choice but to quickly escape from the banker's house.
He was hit several times with sticks and was in excruciating pain.
But he still endured the pain and knocked on Aunt Zhang's door.
He pleaded, "Aunt Zhang, we've been neighbors for so many years. If someone like this comes to our door again, please help persuade my parents."
"Chaoying, we really don't dare to persuade you." Aunt Zhang waved her hands quickly.
"Then can you give me a call?" Zhuang Chaoying asked again.
"No, no, your parents will definitely come to my house. Most importantly, we can't run into each other every time. What if someone comes to our house when we're not around? So you'd better do your parents' work."
Zhuang Chaoying had no choice but to go home alone.
He couldn't understand why he was once again alone.
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