Jiang Chunzao was thinking about his two little kids at home and couldn't stay at home for a moment. He turned around, closed the door, and went out to look for his kids.
It was early summer now, and most of the villagers in Lujia Village were taking a nap at home at noon.
Jiang Chunzao left the house and walked along the two rows of large banyan trees on the roadside, looking at them and wondering where his two children might go.
The big banyan tree was full of cicadas, and the sound of cicadas was heard all along the way. Jiang Chunzao searched the village for a long time like a headless fly, and finally found the cubs by the creek at the entrance of the village.
The gurgling brook was flowing. Six-year-old Shitou, with his bare feet and a harpoon in his hand, was concentrating on watching the fish swimming in the brook.
Suddenly, Xiao Shitou saw the opportunity, and he plunged the harpoon in his little hand into the stream and caught a big fish.
“Wow, brother is awesome!”
Little Jasmine, who was standing by the stream with her little face in her hands, saw her brother catch a fish and clapped her hands happily.
Little Stone, who caught the fish, heard his sister applauding him on the shore and a shy smile appeared on his little face.
But when the little boy saw Jiang Chunzao standing not far behind Xiao Moli, he immediately became alert.
Shouldn't this woman be taking a nap at home at this time? Why did she run to the village entrance? Did someone make her angry again so she took it out on him and his sister?
When Little Stone thought of this, he immediately dropped the harpoon in his hand and ran to the shore to protect Little Jasmine behind him. He looked at Jiang Chunzao with a bad tone:
"What are you doing here!
Are you going to beat me and my sister again? "
When the three-year-old Moli saw Jiang Chunzao, she lost her previous joy and timidly hid behind her brother, her little voice full of fear:
"Mom, please don't hit my brother. It's because Jasmine is hungry that my brother came to catch fish."
Jiang Chunzao stood there with tears in her eyes as she looked at the two little kids who were keeping vigilant eyes on her not far away. Her throat seemed to be blocked by something: her stone and little Jasmine.
Little Stone and Little Jasmine by the river looked at Jiang Chunzao, whose eyes were red, with strange expressions. Both cubs were a little puzzled. Little Jasmine spoke in confusion:
"Brother, is mom crying?"
Xiao Shitou pursed his lips but still didn't let his guard down easily. The moody woman in the past also treated him and his sister well sometimes.
But whenever someone in the village mentioned in front of Jiang Chunzao that he and his sister were two burdens, the woman would run home angrily and beat him and his sister to vent her anger.
Little Stone silently warned himself not to believe that woman, as she was just the tears of a crocodile.
At this time, little Moli, who had been hiding behind a small rock, saw her mother crying. After all, she was still a three-year-old child. She saw that Jiang Chunzao was a little different from before, and she couldn't help but run to Jiang Chunzao on her short legs:
"Mom, don't call my brother. He came here to catch fish for Jasmine."
Before Jiang Chunzao could react, Little Stone opened his arms like an old hen protecting her chicks and stood in front of his sister, saying vigilantly:
"I just caught a fish. My sister and I will eat the fish we caught. We won't eat your food!"
Jiang Chunzao understood what Little Stone meant. The boy meant that he could catch fish to feed himself and Little Moli, so he wanted her not to get angry and hit Little Moli.
Jiang Chunzao looked at the deep vigilance in Xiao Shitou's eyes and Xiao Moli's timid face, and suddenly felt heartbroken. It was all her fault!
In the previous life, Jiang Chunzao was not originally a selfish and villainous stepmother in the book.
In her previous life, Jiang Chunzao was the daughter of a rich family that her parents had waited for many years after their marriage. Raised by her parents with pampering since childhood, Jiang Chunzao was a real little spoiled brat who had never been involved in any kind of sexual activity.
Unlike other children who grew up in the countryside, Jiang Chunzao did not have to work in the fields since he was a child. The children in the neighboring families had to wash dishes, sweep the floor and help their families chop firewood, but Jiang Chunzao only had to carry his schoolbag to and from school every day and have a hot meal when he returned home.
Despite this, Jiang's parents were afraid that their eldest daughter, who had been in poor health since childhood, would suffer outside. In order to give their eldest daughter a good future, Jiang's parents worked hard to support Jiang Chunzao's studies.
It can be said that Jiang Chunzao was a very hard-working student. He studied all the way from primary school to high school at the age of 18. With his excellent grades, Jiang Chunzao became the pride of the entire Jiang family.
Jiang Chunzao herself is different from most girls in the countryside who just want to marry a good man because of her desire to study. She wants to study, get into college, leave the mountains, and live a better life.
Because of this, Jiang Chunzao never got married like other girls in the village until she was eighteen years old.
Sometimes fate is so cruel.
That weekend, Jiang Chunzao took advantage of the school holiday to go home from the county to get some dry food as usual. Halfway through his journey, when he passed the creek at the entrance of Lujia Village, Jiang Chunzao, who was hurrying with his backpack on his back, suddenly saw a child struggling in the deep water of the creek and shouting for help.
Jiang Chunzao grew up in the countryside. Although her parents took care of her more, she also knew how to swim. When the 18-year-old girl saw a child fall into the water, she wanted to jump in to save the child without thinking.
At this moment, a young man in military uniform ran out from the village entrance, dived into the water and rescued the child.
The young man was Lu Lin, and the child who fell into the water was Xiao Shitou. Xiao Shitou was only three years old at the time, but he was already an orphan without a father or a mother.
Xiao Shitou's biological father was Lu Lin's classmate. His biological mother died of dystocia, and later Xiao Shitou's biological father died in the line of duty.
The orphaned Little Stone was adopted by Lu Lin and taken back to his hometown. However, Little Stone ran away from home and while playing in the water by the stream, he accidentally fell into the stream.
Lu Lin discovered that Xiao Shitou was missing and searched everywhere in the village. When he found the entrance of the village, he saw Jiang Chunzao who was about to go into the river to save people.
After Lu Lin rescued Xiao Shitou from the water, Jiang Chunzao rushed over to help. At this time, the villagers of Lujia Village also heard the news and rushed over one after another.
Old Mrs. Lu also followed the villagers to watch the fun. At that time, Old Mrs. Lu didn't like Lu Lin, who was not her biological son. As a result, Lu Lin brought Xiao Shitou, a burden, back home.
Old Mrs. Lu was so angry that she was fuming, but she could do nothing about it. When she saw Lu Lin saving people with a stranger girl, she became even angrier.
Judging from the way the eldest girl talks to the third brother, you can tell she is not from a respectable family!
Whose good girl is flirting with a man she doesn’t know in broad daylight!
Old Mrs. Lu curled her lips in disdain and a thought flashed through her mind: since the third son had made up his mind to adopt this burden, she, an old woman, had no time to take care of this burden!
Since the third brother wants to keep this burden, he might as well take this opportunity to make a big deal out of this matter. He can tell the villagers that this girl is the third brother's girlfriend. When the matter gets out of hand, the girl won't be able to get married.
When the time comes, let the third son marry this girl, and then there will be someone to take care of the burden.
Old Mrs. Lu thought her idea was good. She glanced at Jiang Chunzao who helped rescue the man and thought that this girl was not a decent person anyway.
Isn’t stinky fish and rotten shrimp a good match?
Thinking of this, Old Lady Lu started yelling at the top of her voice in front of the whole village, saying that the girl who saved the man was the girlfriend of her third son, and that they were about to get married.
Jiang Chunzao almost fainted when he heard this. Lu Lin also frowned and told Mrs. Lu not to talk nonsense.
When Old Lady Lu saw this, she simply shouted even louder in front of the villagers. It happened that some people in the village knew Jiang Chunzao, and within a day, the news about Lu Lin and Jiang Chunzao spread to several nearby villages.
When Jiang's parents heard about the young lady's affair, they were furious and took their family to Lujia Village, where they gave Old Lady Lu a good scolding.
Old Mrs. Lu regretted deeply when she thought about how difficult it was to deal with Jiang Chunzao's family, but it was too late to regret. No matter how Lu Lin explained, Jiang Chunzao's reputation was tied to Lu Lin, and because of this incident, Jiang Chunzao was forced to drop out of school.
Although Lu Lin and Jiang Chunzao were both victims of the incident, Jiang Chunzao still hated everyone including Lu Lin.
Jiang Chunzao and Lu Lin were forced to get married amid the urging of the crowd. After marriage, Lu Lin treated Jiang Chunzao as well as he could.
Jiang Chunzao still made life difficult for the Lu family. Shortly after she dropped out of school, the Ten Years of Turmoil began and universities across the country stopped recruiting students.
But in Jiang Chunzao's heart, his hatred for the Lu family has not diminished at all.
This hatred even angered her own daughter, Xiao Moli.
In his previous life, Jiang Chunzao hated Xiao Moli, who had Lu family blood flowing in her veins, as well as Lu Lin and his stepson Xiao Shitou.
Jiang Chunzao lived her whole life in hatred. She abandoned herself and hated others all her life, but she never thought that Lu Lin, Xiao Shitou and Xiao Moli were just like her, the most innocent people in that society.
This is not their fault.
Jiang Chunzao blinked his eyes, forced back the tears in his eyes, and gave Xiao Moli a warm smile that he had never given her before:
"Mom has made steamed buns at home. Jasmine, do you want to go home with Mom?"
When the skinny little Jasmine heard that there were steamed buns at home, she opened her beautiful eyes wide in surprise:
"Can Jasmine really eat steamed bread?"
"Of course you can." Jiang Chunzao suppressed his sadness, smiled, took Jasmine's hand, and smiled at the little stone not far away:
"Shitou, go home with your mother."
Little Stone looked at the hand that Jiang Chunzao stretched out to him. Just as he was hesitating, Little Jasmine beside him spoke in a baby voice:
"Brother, Jasmine is hungry."
When Little Stone heard that his sister was hungry, he silently picked up the harpoon on the ground, carried the big fish he had caught, and followed Jiang Chunzao silently. Seeing Little Stone lowering his head, Jiang Chunzao shamelessly reached out and held his little hand.
Little Stone's hand was held softly. The boy stiffened for a moment but did not let go.
Jiang Chunzao smiled and went home with his children.
After the mother and her two sons returned home, the aroma of steamed buns soon wafted out from the Lu family's courtyard.
In the yard of the old Lu family compound next door, Liu Hongyan's son Lu Mutou was playing in the mud. He smelled the fragrance of steamed buns and looked into the Lu family's small yard. He happened to see Xiao Shitou, the burden in his grandmother's mouth, and Moli, the maid, each holding a big steamed bun and eating it sweetly.
Lu Mutou was not convinced and started to yell:
"Grandma, why should a burden eat steamed bread?
I want to eat steamed bread too!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com