Chapter 3 I will never make you cry again
It was the sweetest peach she had ever tasted, and it was the most beautiful moonlight she had ever seen.
——Orange Confessions
After Zhen Hao returned home, Grandpa Zhen punished him by making him stand in a circle.
On summer nights, mosquitoes were ferocious and the girl's delicate arms and thighs were bitten with large and small blisters.
Grandpa Zhen's tone was gentle, but his expression was stern: "Do you know where you are wrong?"
"I'm not wrong." Zhen Hao said with his neck stiff, refusing to admit his mistake no matter what.
After dinner, the parents of Zou Xiaowei and Tao Wencan came to the door and complained bitterly about how badly the girl from the Zhen family had beaten their children, which led to the current scene of them being punished by standing in the corner.
Zhen Hao scoffed at this.
Two boys who were taller and stronger than her were beaten black and blue by her. Why didn't she reflect on it at home, but had the nerve to come and complain to her parents?
What a coward, not manly at all.
Zhen Hao watched a lot of martial arts dramas with her grandfather. She was fascinated by the chivalrous spirit and heroism in the world of Jianghu, and often imagined that she was also a chivalrous woman.
However, the reality is cruel. If it were not for the timing, she would not even have the courage to resist.
Because of the three words "I'm not wrong", Zhen Hao stood in the circle drawn by Grandpa Zhen for a whole hour.
Just as Zhen Hao was rubbing her sore legs and stepping out of the yard, a small stone hit her feet accurately.
She was already full of resentment, and she immediately became even more furious. She looked up and was about to curse when she saw Shi Xu's face outside the courtyard gate, smiling at her.
"Are you hungry?" He mouthed something exaggerated to her.
After being reminded by him, Zhen Hao really realized that he was starving and in urgent need of delicious food.
So she nodded, then shook her head.
"You're like this..." Shi Xu said, nodding, then shaking his head, "And like this again... Are you hungry or not?"
Zhen Hao glanced at the small kitchen with dim lights, knowing that her grandparents must have left a hot dinner for her, but because she was not convinced, she didn't really want to accept this kindness.
Her toes, which were originally pointing towards the kitchen, instantly turned towards the courtyard gate and walked a few steps to Shi Xu: "I'm hungry, very hungry."
Looking at the little girl's bright eyes and chubby cheeks in the night, Shi Xu resisted the urge to pinch her and winked at her mysteriously: "Come on, I'll take you somewhere."
He said, extending his hand towards her.
"Okay." Zhen Hao seemed to be bewitched. She handed her hand to Shi Xu and let him jog with her on the country road.
The evening breeze blows by my ears, and the childhood whizzes by with the fragrance of rice flowers. The moonlight shines on the world, and happiness spreads.
Just like Zhen Hao's excited heart at this moment.
After being dragged by Shi Xu for a while, she finally remembered to ask: "Shi Xiaoxu, didn't you have dinner either? Isn't your mother..."
Shi Xu's mother was well-known in the town for her gentleness and virtue, especially her skillful hands. Not only could she cook a variety of dishes, but she could also make desserts and pastries. Although...
She looked at him cautiously and didn't dare to say the rest of the words.
If Zhen Hao is a person with life but no one to support him, then Shi Qi is a person with someone to support him but no life.
On the surface, Zhen Hao had both parents alive, but in reality, he couldn't even remember what they looked like. And on the day Shi Xu and his mother moved to Min Town, within half a day, everyone in the town knew that a beautiful woman had moved into Fuliu Alley...
In this era, orphans and widows are always easily criticized, and beautiful widows are even more talked about.
No one knows who Shi Xu's father is, including himself.
This may be one of the reasons why they can sympathize with each other better than others.
When Shi Xu heard her question, he shrugged nonchalantly: "Just like you, I was punished to stand."
The parents of Zou Xiaowei and Tao Wencan not only approached the Zhen family but also the Shi family. After Zou's and Tao's mothers complained, Shi Xu's mother, Ms. Shi An, punished him by making him face the wall and then gave him two baskets of freshly harvested peaches. Only then did the parents give up.
"mom--"
Shi Xu only shouted one word when she was interrupted by Ms. Shi An's soft and gentle voice: "A Xu."
He then stopped talking quietly.
Before the fat boy Zou Xiaowei walked out of Shi's house, he turned around and made a face at Shi Xu who was being punished to stand, and happened to bump into Shi Xu who was also turning around.
Fatty Zou raised his eyebrows at him proudly, smiling smugly.
The fresh peach juice flowed down to his plump chin, which made people lose their appetite just by looking at it.
Shi Xu turned his head away in disgust and stopped looking at him.
The desire for peaches in my heart disappeared completely because of Zou Xiaowei's ugly eating habits.
"You ran away before you finished standing for the punishment?" Zhen Hao widened his eyes, looking terrified for him.
Shi Xu was amused by her: "There's nothing I can do. There are too many mosquitoes."
"I agree. The mosquitoes are almost moving me away." Zhen Hao nodded in agreement.
Minzhen is a small town that has not been commercially developed. Most of the people in the town are self-sufficient, and rice is a common crop.
Pristine places are always rich in small animals, not to mention mosquitoes, which are creatures that can never be completely eliminated.
"Where are you taking me?" Zhen Hao couldn't help but ask.
"It's coming soon." The time sequence was mysterious. "You'll know when you get there."
Zhen Hao was actually terrified. She was always afraid to go out at night, afraid she'd step on something, or even a snake. She was also afraid a female ghost in white clothes and black hair would suddenly jump out of the darkness...
Feeling his hand being held tighter and tighter by the girl, Shi Xu looked sideways at Zhen Hao somewhat helplessly.
When he saw her little face tensed with fear, he suddenly smiled mischievously.
"Okay... okay... guess who I am..." He said, imitating the creepy tone of voice from horror movies, "Okay... I'm behind you..."
The timid Zhen Hao had no idea that it was Shixu who was deliberately scaring her. When she heard the ghostly voice, her back stiffened instantly and even her teeth trembled slightly.
The next second, her crying and Shixu's cries of pain sounded at the same time, the former drowning out the latter, completely drowning out the endless series of "pain, pain, pain".
Because he was too scared, Zhen Hao almost broke Shixu's palm. It was his own fault.
He didn't expect that such a sentence would scare the person to tears, and he was immediately at a loss: "Okay, don't cry. It's my fault. I shouldn't have pretended to be a ghost and scared you. Please don't cry, okay?"
His clumsy comfort had no effect at all, and Zhen Hao cried even louder.
If they had not run to the fields far away from people, someone would probably have been attracted by her crying.
In desperation, Shi Xu could only hug the girl who couldn't stop crying, and reached out to gently touch her head and smooth her back.
Fortunately, this trick worked, and Zhen Hao gradually calmed down in his arms.
Seeing that she stopped crying, Shixu finally breathed a sigh of relief.
No wonder Ms. Shi An likes to coax her neighbor’s children in this way. It turns out it really works.
"Okay, I'm sorry." Shi Xu apologized sincerely.
Ms. Shi An often taught him that if he made a mistake, he should admit it and not be afraid of losing face.
He did make Zhen Hao cry, and he was wrong.
Zhen Hao was still sobbing, his eyes clearer now that they had been washed by water, and he looked even more guilty. He apologized again and promised, "I'm sorry, I won't scare you again."
"That's what you said. Burp—" Zhen Hao burped softly before continuing, "Don't scare me anymore."
"Well, that's what I said." Shixu imitated what they did on TV and raised three fingers to the sky. "I, Shixu, swear, I will never let you cry again."
Seeing his funny swearing action, Zhen Hao burst into laughter.
Seeing her smile, Shixu breathed a sigh of relief.
After all this commotion, Zhen Hao felt even hungrier: "Shi Xiaoxu, I'm starving."
Shi Xu brought her to his own peach orchard, which was the orchard that Ms. Shi An had grown from seedlings to fruiting to supplement the family income.
It was the peach harvest season at that time. Two baskets of peaches that had just been picked at home were already in Zou Xiaopang's mouth before he had time to taste them. He was so greedy that he reached over and wanted to eat them himself.
He stood on tiptoe and picked the peach that was lowest to the ground. He then wiped it with his clothes and gently patted the loose hairs on it before handing it to Zhen Hao: "Here, you eat first."
"Shi Xiaoxu, is it really okay to steal peaches?" Zhen Hao asked hesitantly.
"This is my family's peach orchard, it's not called stealing." Shi Xu disagreed with her.
"But Aunt Shi doesn't know. It would be bad if she was discovered." Zhen Hao still felt that this was not right.
Grandpa had read many books of sages and often taught her some principles of life. Although she didn't understand many of them, she still...
"If you don't tell me about this and I don't tell my mother, she won't know." Shi Xu comforted her.
There are so many peach trees in this orchard that Ms. Shi An won't notice if one or two are missing.
"Grandpa always said that if you don't do something, it's stealing..." Zhen Hao said seriously, "Although I forgot what Grandpa said, that's what he meant to us now. Don't eat well, and don't be a thief."
Shixu was almost pissed off by her, but looking at her serious face, he couldn't say anything harsh. He could only hold up the peach in his hand and said worriedly, "What should we do with it?"
The light green peaches have a faint pink tint in the moonlight and look very delicious.
Zhen Hao stared at it, swallowed unconsciously, but his expression was very serious.
In fact, she really wants to eat it.
The only fruits grown at home are longan and bayberry, and occasionally she can eat wanglai and guava. There is also one fruit that she doesn’t like to eat - olives.
Olives taste sour and astringent, and she felt like her teeth were going to fall out just thinking about them.
She loved to eat peaches, plums, sugar cane, loquats and mangoes, but her family didn't grow any of them. Every time the season came, she could only watch the neighboring children eat them.
Adults certainly don’t know what children are thinking. In addition, Zhen Hao has been a thoughtful and sensible child since he was young, and he never asks for it on his own initiative.
"How about we each take a bite and eat it." Zhen Hao quickly found an excuse for himself, "We've already picked it, we can't waste food."
Shi Xu finally grinned: "That makes sense."
They did it right away. The two little heads quickly came close together, and a sweet fragrance floated in the air.
After sharing the peaches, Zhen Hao smiled contentedly and said, "The peaches are so sweet. Thank you, Shi Xiaoxu."
Shi Xu replied with some pride, "You're welcome."
Under the moonlight, beauty continues to spread.
A small peach was not enough for two growing children, so Zhen Hao woke up hungry that night.
But she didn't dare tell her grandmother, and fell asleep again because she was hungry.
She had a sweet and fragrant dream. In the dream, there were so many peaches that they formed a small hill. Behind the hill of peaches appeared a smiling face with small canine teeth visible. A beautiful double rainbow appeared in the high sky.
Her sweet dream was interrupted by Grandma Zhen's urgent shout: "Okay, follow Grandma quickly, follow closely."
Zhen Hao didn't know what was going on, and let his grandmother lead him walking in the dark, not knowing where to go.
The Zhen family was deserted overnight.
The people in the town all knew why they ran away, but they couldn't explain it.
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