An old residential area in the south of the city.
On the cramped balcony, a little girl of about three years old slowly sat up in her crib. She seemed to have just woken up, rubbing her eyes sleepily.
Then, I started spacing out.
The little girl's chubby cheeks were fair and tender, like a glutinous rice ball. Her eyes, like black grapes, blinked constantly, and her thick, curled eyelashes were like small fans.
Chaochao stared blankly at the air.
She just had a dream.
What a terrifying dream.
In her dream, just like now, after her grandmother left, her uncle and aunt took her home.
But they treated her very, very badly. Every day she ate leftovers, wore hand-me-downs, and was constantly beaten. When she grew up, she dropped out of school to work in order to pay off her cousin's gambling debts.
One night, bad guys came to the door demanding money.
Only Chaochao was outside the door.
That person got drunk, and then... and then, Chaochao saw that her stomach was bleeding a lot.
It hurts so much...
In the past, when Chaochao had nightmares, her grandmother would hold her in her arms, pat her back, and gently comfort her, saying, "Dreams are the opposite of reality, this won't happen. Our Chaochao is so lucky."
But Grandma is no longer here.
She asked many of the older women in the neighborhood, and they all said that Grandma had gone to a very far place and would never come back.
Chaochao hugged her little rabbit doll, lowered her head, and quietly tugged at the rabbit's long ears, her voice soft:
"Bunny, I miss Grandma."
...
Liu Fang was tidying up the storage cabinet in the living room when she suddenly felt her clothes being tugged down.
She looked down and saw Chaochao looking up at her with her little face upturned, her childish voice full of anticipation, "Auntie, when will you take me to meet the other children?"
My aunt said this morning that she's taking Chaochao to a place where there are lots of other kids to play.
She had already packed her little backpack and couldn't wait to make friends with them.
Looking into the little girl's clear eyes, Liu Fang felt a pang of guilt and turned away impatiently. "I told you I'd wait a bit, wait a bit. Can't you see I'm busy? You keep getting in my way."
Disappointed, Chaochao withdrew her hand and sat obediently on the sofa, hugging the little rabbit.
The Sun couple's son, Sun Yuhang, rushed home in a flurry of activity. He was dark-skinned and chubby, only seven or eight years old, but as strong as a calf, clearly due to overnutrition.
Sun Yuhang shouted loudly, "Mom, I'm hungry! Cook me some food!"
Liu Fang stopped what she was doing, bent down, and looked at her son:
"Are you hungry already? It's only three in the afternoon. How about we have dinner later?"
"No, no, no! I want to eat now!" Sun Yuhang shouted, expressing his refusal. He threw a tantrum and pounded on his mother's shoulder, acting like a spoiled little tyrant.
Chaochao, who was standing to the side, couldn't stand it anymore. She was a little scared, but she still stepped forward.
"Stop hitting her, you're hurting your auntie."
My aunt was in so much pain that she frowned.
Upon hearing this, Sun Yuhang arrogantly retorted, "It's none of your business! She's my mother, not yours!"
As he spoke, he struck a few more times in a provocative manner, looking arrogant and haughty.
The next second, he was pushed to the ground.
Chaochao stood there stunned, her face full of bewilderment.
She didn't do it on purpose; she just wanted to pull her cousin away to stop him from hitting her anymore...
Chaochao twisted her fingers, but before she could say "I'm sorry," she was suddenly pushed to the ground. Her fair little hand rubbed against the rough cement floor, and the back of her hand instantly turned red.
Liu Fang was heartbroken to see her son fall. In her haste, she pushed aside Chaochao who was standing next to her and rushed over to pick up her son.
"Okay, okay, Mom will cook it for you right away."
Enraged by his fall, Sun Yuhang cursed at Chaochao, "You bastard my grandma picked up, get out of my house!"
After Liu Fang pushed her away, Chaochao sat there blankly, only reacting when she heard Sun Yuhang's cursing.
She thought to herself, feeling wronged.
This was my home before you came.
After comforting her precious son, Liu Fang saw that Chaochao was still sitting on the ground, so she pinched her arm and said, "Aren't you going to get up? I'm going to cook, so you can clean the floor!"
Despite the pain, tears welled up in Chaochao's eyes as she silently took the rag and squatted down to wipe the floor.
Suddenly, the little one slid forward and fell to the ground, burying his face in the dirty, smelly rag.
Sun Yuhang, who had kicked her from behind, burst into laughter at her comical appearance, "Silly girl! Hehehe!"
It's okay, it's okay.
Chaochao silently got up and continued to push the rag forward step by step.
...
Sun Yongqiang had just gotten home from get off work at the factory when Liu Fang pulled him into her room.
Liu Fang's tone was unfriendly: "What are we going to do with this girl? We still don't have a clear answer on whether to send her to an orphanage or not?"
Sun Yongqiang waved his hand, his tone resentful, "Today some so-called lawyer came to me, saying that my mother saved 60,000 yuan for that girl's growth fund. That old woman dotes on her, but why doesn't she care about her own grandson? Even I, her son, only found out she had a house in the city after she died."
"Should we send the child away or not?"
"Keep it. Without becoming her guardian, there's no way to access that money. It can also save on dowry money for our son to become her child bride..."
The rest of the conversation was difficult to hear because the bedroom door was closed.
In the kitchen, which is separated from the bedroom by only one wall, Chaochao squatted in the corner, curled up in a ball.
After wiping the floor, Liu Fang ordered her to stand at the kitchen entrance as punishment, but then completely forgot about her. Chaochao's legs were very sore, so she secretly moved behind the door to rest for a while.
Liu Fang didn't notice her then.
Chaochao hugged the little rabbit tightly, tears falling to the ground in a steady stream.
Although there were some words she didn't understand.
But children are very sensitive to malice from others.
Waaaaah, my uncle and aunt are really bad guys. They're super bad guys who will bully Chaochao terribly when she grows up.
After a while, Chaochao wiped away her tears, clenched her little fists, and made a bold decision.
It's dinner time at the Sun family's house.
Liu Fang set all the dishes on the table. Sun Yongqiang had already started eating, and Sun Yuhang, who had just been playing games in his room, was reluctantly pulled to the table as well.
Liu Fang glanced around. "Where's that girl?"
Sun Yuhang disdainfully picked out the green pepper he disliked the most: "How should I know? Probably crying somewhere!"
Sun Yongqiang put down his chopsticks and frowned: "Go find it quickly!"
After checking the entire family's house and finding no trace of the person, Liu Fang finally confirmed the diagnosis.
That little girl ran away!
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