Sure enough, Xiao Jian and the others had already returned from the fields.
They're in the kitchen right now, brainstorming dinner ideas.
Tiger became the head chef, while Gao Jian was in charge of tending the fire.
After much effort, they finally managed to prepare two dishes, but looking at their appearance, neither of them had the courage to touch them.
Gao Hu carefully handed a pair of chopsticks to Xiao Jian.
"Brother Jian, you should try it. Although it doesn't look very appealing, I think it will taste pretty good. I made it exactly like Brother Weiguo."
Gao Jian held his chopsticks, stared at the two dishes for a long time, reached out several times, but still didn't have the courage to pick up a piece and put it in his mouth.
"Tiger, you're so confident, why don't you give it a try first?"
Gao Hu swallowed hard. The distrustful look on Xiao Jian's face stirred up his heroic spirit of facing death without fear.
"Let's give it a try."
As he spoke, he picked up a large mouthful of food, closed his eyes, and threw it into his mouth, trying to swallow it as quickly as possible.
But the strong taste made his taste buds reflexively vomit.
"Ugh, ptooey ptooey ptooey."
"It's way too salty."
At this point, Xiao Jian completely gave up the idea of trying a bite and put down his chopsticks.
"How about we stick to the old method and boil everything in hot water?"
Just then, Xiao Jian suddenly heard the gate open and the sound of several footsteps approaching, indicating that someone had entered the courtyard.
Xiao Jian stood up from the small stool, strode out of the kitchen, and immediately saw his older brother. He was carrying several oil-paper packages of cooked food.
"Haha, Tiger, no need to cook, Big Brother is here, he brought a lot of food."
He stopped abruptly at this point.
Because he then saw Zhang Huihui walking behind Xiao Weiguo.
"Hui... Huihui, what brings you here?"
Although Zhang Huihui was in a terrible state, her face was covered in soot and black marks.
But Xiao Jian recognized her at a glance.
Hearing Xiao Jian call for Huihui, Gao Hu also dropped his chopsticks and ran out.
"Oh dear, Sister Hui, what's wrong with you?"
The first thing he saw when he came out was Zhang Huihui's disheveled appearance. He couldn't understand why Sister Hui, who always dressed like a fairy, had become like this.
Before Zhang Huihui could answer, Xiao Weiguo stopped them.
"Tiger, go get a basin of water so your sister Hui can wash her face. I brought some food; we can eat and chat later."
"Ah, okay."
Tiger looked at them with a puzzled expression, then turned and ran to fetch water.
"Huihui, take a quick shower, otherwise you'll feel too uncomfortable. You can talk to each other later."
Zhang Huihui nodded, and Xiao Weiguo had Hu Zi carry a large basin of water into the small single room at the far east end where he used to live, and then sent Zhang Huihui in to wash up by herself.
Taking advantage of this moment, Xiao Jian quietly approached Xiao Weiguo and asked him a question.
"Brother, what's wrong with Huihui? What happened?"
Xiao Weiguo handed the cooked food in his hand to Gao Hu, asking him to place it in several bowls on the stone platform.
Then, she quietly recounted what had happened that day to Xiao Jianhu.
Finally, he sighed and said...
"Xiao Jian, Hu Zi, I really didn't expect that to happen. You won't blame me, will you?"
Xiao Jian and Hu Zi stared at each other, wide-eyed, momentarily speechless.
In truth, Xiao Weiguo couldn't be blamed for this. No one could have predicted that a fire would break out so suddenly. Zhang Huihui's misfortunes were truly endless.
Finally, it was Xiao Jian who spoke.
"Brother, we can't blame you for this. It's something we never expected. It's Huihui's fate. We'll just try our best to take better care of her from now on."
What else can we do now?
The group waited outside for a while longer before Zhang Huihui came out after washing up.
Her face was clean, and much of the mud on her clothes was wiped away.
Compared to when I first arrived, I look much more energetic.
"Huihui, you haven't eaten all day either, come and let's eat."
Xiao Weiguo called out to her, and the group gathered around the stone platform in the courtyard.
"Sister Hui, please sit down."
Gao Hu went up and grabbed her arm, pulling her to sit down between himself and Xiao Jian.
With Gao Hu and Xiao Jian around, Zhang Huihui gradually became less reserved and started talking to them.
"It's been a long time. How have you two been doing here?"
Xiao Jian answered casually.
"Haha, we're having a great time here. The sky's the limit. I feel like a free bird right now, without any constraints, right Tiger?"
"Yeah, we can do whatever we want here. If we don't want to move, we can sleep at home all day and no one will bother us. It's so comfortable."
Hearing them say that, Zhang Huihui thought of the days they spent in Daye and felt a pang of guilt.
"I'm sorry for how my father treated you before. I apologize on his behalf."
The two of them hurriedly waved their hands.
Xiao Jian said somewhat anxiously.
"Huihui, don't misunderstand, that's not what we meant. We just wanted to tell you that we're living very well here, and we were afraid you'd worry."
Seeing that they were getting more and more animated in their conversation, Xiao Weiguo had no choice but to interrupt them.
"Xiao Jian, stop chatting and let Huihui eat. She hasn't eaten all day, just like me and Brother Hu."
Hearing their older brother say this, the two of them finally realized what was happening. One of them helped Zhang Huihui serve rice, and the other helped her pick up some food, pushing a large bowl full of food in front of her.
"Sister Hui, you must be starving. Eat up."
This chapter is not finished yet. Please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
