Before the car had even come to a complete stop, an eleven or twelve-year-old boy jumped out of the back seat and ran to them in an instant.
"Auntie! Jingjing!"
The boy picked up Liu Jing, who was sitting on the ground, and helped Lu Ying up, leading the two of them toward the electric scooter.
As Liu Jing was held firmly in the boy's arms, her face slightly stunned, distant memories began to be awakened, and two blurry outlines appeared.
Even though she had long forgotten what they looked like, at this moment she quickly recognized them as her maternal uncle Lu Jun and her cousin Lu Chengyang.
Lu Jun followed closely behind Lu Chengyang. From parking the car to getting out and walking over here, his movements were quick and smooth. He kept his thick eyebrows furrowed and his stern face was dark and gloomy.
"Liu Fengming, my younger sister has already agreed to divorce you, so why are you coming to see her again?"
The man had his hair shaved very short. It was summer, and he was wearing only a dark green tank top, dark gray trousers, and camouflage canvas shoes. Both his shoes and trousers were covered in cement dust.
His skin was tanned, and his exposed shoulders and arms showed clearly strong and muscular muscles. Just by standing there, Liu Fengming, who had been shouting just moments before, instantly lost most of his temper.
"Um, big brother, I came to pick up Jingjing today, I didn't mean to do anything, but Xiaoying is holding onto Jingjing and won't let me touch her, so I..."
The man seemed too lazy to waste words with him. His expression darkened further upon hearing this, and he spoke in a deep voice, "It's entirely up to Jingjing who she chooses to stay with. If she doesn't want to go with you, then she can live with my younger sister at my Lu family's house! Jingjing is still my own niece, and our whole family will spoil her even more than you do!"
"I won't say anything too harsh because you call me 'Big Brother.' Back then, my family wasn't happy about my little sister getting together with you. You know your family's situation best. It's a good thing that my little sister is getting a divorce now. Jingjing won't suffer if she stays with her. If you really care about Jingjing, you should think about her future!"
"Tomorrow I will take my younger sister to the Civil Affairs Bureau to get a divorce from you. Jingjing's attitude has already made it clear that you should stop harassing our family in the future!"
After saying that, the man turned around and walked towards the electric scooter without paying any attention to Liu Fengming's reaction.
As Liu Jing was leaving, she saw Liu Fengming still standing there, his face gloomy, his hands clenched so tightly with anger and resentment that the veins bulged.
Recalling the bitter and sorrowful life she had endured with Liu Fengming in her previous life, she turned away without hesitation, nestled in Lu Ying's arms, and followed the electric scooter away from the man's sight.
Watching the electric scooter disappear quickly, Liu Fengming couldn't understand it at all.
In the past few days, in order to coax Jingjing to go with him, he had been using the excuse that he wanted to spend more time with his daughter since their divorce was imminent to try and get Lu Ying to see Liu Jing. Last night, he also used this excuse to force Liu Jing to stay, spending the whole night trying to persuade her. This morning, before Lu Ying came to take Liu Jing back, he confirmed it again. The little girl had clearly agreed to go with him, but now she had suddenly changed her mind, glaring at him with undisguised dislike!
"What an ingrate!" the man cursed, and quickly fled the scene, ignoring the onlookers' stares.
*
The Lu family lives in a village on the outskirts of the city. It's only a ten-kilometer journey from the city to the village. There are few traffic lights on the outskirts of the city, so it only takes half an hour to get home.
When they arrived home, Lu Yongkang, Cai Min, and Chai Shuhua were already waiting at the gate. They rushed over to greet them as they saw them return.
"Mom and Dad, sister-in-law!" Lu Ying greeted everyone in turn.
Liu Jing, who was being carried down, obediently greeted everyone, "Grandpa, Grandma, Aunt!"
At this moment, Liu Jing was chubby, and her already fair skin appeared even whiter and more delicate. When she obediently called out to people, she was incredibly adorable.
"Oh dear, my little Jingjing! Let Grandpa take a look, her face is still covered in smears!"
The old man, in his fifties, picked her up and tenderly wiped away the remaining tears from the corners of her eyes, his rough fingers gently wiping her tear-streaked face.
Looking at this face she had long forgotten, Liu Jing felt a surge of emotion.
Grandma Cai Min and Aunt Chai Shuhua pulled Lu Ying aside and expressed their heartache. Lu Jun then briefly recounted what he had seen, and both women couldn't help but shed tears.
The atmosphere became somber for a moment.
Lu Chengyang, a teenager, was indeed feeling a bit aggrieved, huddled in the gap at the front, rubbing his legs that had gone numb from squatting. Upon seeing this scene, he immediately began to "seek attention," saying, "Grandpa and Grandma! Don't you care about me? My legs are numb from squatting in front!"
As he spoke, he limped along, grimacing and groaning, which instantly made everyone laugh.
He interrupted the conversation, and the group didn't linger at the entrance, entering the courtyard one after another.
The Lu family's courtyard was very large. The kitchen on the east side was right next to the gate. In front of the kitchen was a small vegetable garden with a fence, and next to the vegetable garden was an old-fashioned hand pump well. On the west side, there was a tiled shed divided into three enclosures. The smallest one, next to the gate, housed many chickens, ducks, and geese. Further inside was the sheep pen, and beyond that was the cattle pen.
The rest of the courtyard was paved with red bricks, arranged in a wheat-ear shape to fill the empty spaces.
Facing the courtyard is the large living room, which is neatly filled with wooden chairs. Rooms are located on the east and west sides. The house has two floors, with many empty rooms upstairs.
In fact, Liu Jing had almost no memory of anything here, only vaguely remembering a few things.
After all, her parents divorced early, and she was young at the time. In her previous life, she never saw Lu Ying again after she left with Liu Fengming, let alone came here again. As time went by, all the people and things were forgotten, leaving only a vague outline.
In her past life, she didn't remember what happened today. Later, whenever she tried to find Lu Ying, Liu Fengming and everyone in the Liu family would say that her mother didn't want her anymore, that her mother was heartless, and that she shouldn't want Lu Ying either.
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