Chapter 119
Xia Qingtang was almost scared to death. This was no longer just a scam, this was a direct attack!
She pedaled hard, but it happened to be an uphill slope, so no matter how hard she pedaled, she was much slower than on flat ground. Before she had ridden far, a hand grabbed the back seat of her bike tightly.
This was no joke. The bicycle was pulled so hard that she almost fell to the ground with it. Fortunately, she reacted quickly and jumped off the bicycle to steady herself, but the bicycle was not spared and fell to the ground.
The hand behind him finally loosened, and Xia Qingtang couldn't help it anymore. She turned around and yelled, "What are you doing? Don't you know this is dangerous? My leg injury has just healed. If I fall again today, I'm telling you, I will definitely send you to the police station and sue you in court until you are bankrupt! Are you addicted to extorting money? Why is it endless? Are you crazy? Just because I'm a woman, you think I'm easy to bully, right?"
The man who had just pulled her bike fell to his knees with a thud: "I'm sorry, sorry, sorry... I didn't mean to do that. I didn't know that pulling a bike would be dangerous. I just wanted to stop you and say something to you. You were riding too fast so I had to do this... I'm sorry, sorry, sorry..."
The person was wearing a grey cotton coat and trousers, was very short, and had a grey headscarf on his head, so at first Xia Qingtang thought it was the fifty-year-old aunt from that day, but when she opened her mouth, she actually heard the voice of a little girl.
"Who are you?" Xia Qingtang stared at the dirty headscarf.
The little girl still didn't dare to look up. She just knelt on the ground and whispered, "My name is Li Yatou."
"Why are you looking for me?" Xia Qingtang said, "We don't know each other."
When talking to this little girl who was only in her teens, Xia Qingtang's voice was not so angry.
Li Yatou said: "I...you don't know me, but you should know my brother...a while ago when it snowed, my brother and his men stopped you on the road..."
"Ah, you are the sister of those bad guys."
"My brother is not a bad person!" Li Yatou suddenly raised her head and shouted excitedly.
She was not very old, and looked like she was just in junior high school. She had a pair of bright eyes, which were full of anger and unwillingness. Although her clothes were dusty, her face was washed quite clean. She had a wheat-colored face and regular features, but she was very thin, and her chin was so sharp that it could almost kill someone.
Looking at his facial features, he does look somewhat similar to one of the young men before.
As far as I can remember, the three young men were all quite tall that day, with the shortest probably being around 1.7 meters tall. Her brother should be the one who was neither tall nor short among the three.
Xia Qingtang said coldly: "Your brother and his gang formed an accomplice and blackmailed others on the road. This is what bad people do. Last time, your brother and his gang blackmailed me, and I fell hard to the ground. A large part of my leg was injured. I had a high fever at night and it took a long rest before I felt better. To this day, the wound on my leg has not healed yet. There is still a large scab. When the scab falls off, a scar will be left. My bicycle was also broken last time, and my wife paid for someone to repair it. This was all done by your brother and his gang, so your brother is a bad guy. You can't deny the bad things he has done just because you don't admit it."
When Li girl heard this, her expression was very angry at first, but as she listened, tears began to well up in her bright eyes. When Xia Qingtang finished speaking, she began to cry, "I...my brother has no choice...he is trying to feed me...we really have no choice, we are almost starving to death. If my brother hadn't gone with my aunt and the others to cheat people, I would have starved to death long ago. So...so don't blame your brother, it's all my fault, it's my fault, because I'm a burden, so my brother has to do bad things, it's all my fault, wuwuwuwuwu..."
The little girl was crying very sadly, her voice was crisp, and she was kneeling on the ground, so she quickly attracted the attention of many passers-by. Several older passers-by came over and asked what happened here.
"What's wrong? Why is this child kneeling on the ground?" A kind-hearted aunt walked up to Li Yatou and reached out to pull her up, but Li Yatou broke free.
Seeing that everyone was looking at her, Xia Qingtang said in a deep voice, "I don't know this girl. I was riding my bike just now, and she grabbed my bike. Look, my bike fell to the ground. If I hadn't reacted quickly and jumped off the bike, I would have almost fallen down."
"What's going on? Kid, why are you blocking someone else's car on the road?" the kind aunt asked patiently.
Li Yatou said, "This is a matter between me and this aunt. It has nothing to do with you. I want to talk to my aunt. Can you...can you please go away?"
"Hey, you still think we're in the way? Okay, let's go then."
The onlookers really left, and Xia Qingtang said, "Get up first, don't kneel on the ground. You don't think it's ugly, but I think it's an eyesore."
Li Yatou was still kneeling on the ground. She sniffed and said, "I want to ask you for something... I will get up only if you agree to it."
"Ask me a favor?"
"Can you...can you let my brother go?"
Xia Qingtang didn't understand. She blinked her big eyes and said, "What are you talking about? Why don't I understand?"
Li girl said: "How could you not understand? You are dressed so elegantly and have such a nice bicycle, it must be you... Your family has locked up my brother..."
Xia Qingtang now understood that if Li Yatou's brother was really locked up, it was most likely Xie Jinxuan who did it.
But Xia Qingtang still said, "Don't wrongly accuse me. My whole family are honest and good people. We would never imprison anyone. Besides, your brother is cheating here every day. Isn't it normal for him to be imprisoned? What do you think the police do? The police are there to catch bad guys!"
“But…but…they all said that this time my brother and the others were not being held in the police station…but in another place. They said it was different from usual and the situation was very serious. They wouldn’t be released in a few days like usual…I’ve been waiting for a week and my brother hasn’t come home yet…I…I…”
As she spoke, Li Yatou started crying again.
Xia Qingtang said, "This matter really has nothing to do with me. You can tell from my expression that I know nothing. Besides, you don't know me, so why do you think it was done by my family? Your brother and his friends were blackmailing me on the street that day. You weren't there, were you? Then you are also one of the bad guys."
"I'm not here! My brother will never take me with him when he goes out to do something, because he's afraid that I'll be affected... My brother is so good to me!" Girl Li sounded quite righteous.
Xia Qingtang said: "Your brother is a good brother, but unfortunately he is not a good person. Please continue, since you have never seen me, how can you find me?"
"On the day it snowed, my brother and his friends didn't get anything. My aunt even went to my house and beat my brother up, saying that he and his two cousins were useless. Afterwards, I asked my brother what happened, and he said that he met a very powerful female comrade today... She rode a women's bicycle and wore a very nice new raincoat. She was very beautiful and domineering, and looked like she came from a good family. They were afraid of getting into big trouble, so they ran back home. As for my aunt beating him, it was right because they didn't take my aunt with them when they ran away..."
"You found me through his words?"
"Yes, after my brother and his friends were arrested, I went to the nearby police station to ask all the questions. They all said that my brother was detained somewhere else, and that what he had done was not a crime of defrauding others, but a very serious crime, and that he might be detained forever. Then I thought of what my brother said to me that day, a domineering lesbian, who was very beautiful... I think it must be related to this lesbian. Because such a beautiful and impressive person must come from an extraordinary family. My brother also said that they actually regretted it and shouldn't have picked such a person to kill, and he was worried about being retaliated against. As a result, within a few days, my brother and his friends were really detained, and they couldn't be found anywhere! I really had no choice, I had been squatting here for several days, and only saw you today. You are the most beautiful person I have seen today, and you jumped out of the car and started swearing, it must be you!"
Xia Qingtang sneered in his heart. This little girl's analysis was very logical and if she used such a brain on studying, she might achieve something.
Xia Qingtang said: "It was indeed me that your brother and his gang blackmailed that day, but they were arrested and it had nothing to do with me."
"Who else could it be if not you? The passers-by that my brother and his friends found before were all those who looked easy to bully. Only you...only you made them return empty-handed that time. And my aunt also said that after my brother and his friends escaped that day, you grabbed my aunt and wouldn't let her go...How could someone like you let my brother and his friends go? You just said that your leg was injured and it hasn't healed yet. You must still hate them." Li girl whispered.
"Do you have any evidence?"
"What?"
"Do you have evidence that I locked them up?"
Li Yatou said: "Of course not, but who else could it be besides you?"
"That's your business. If you want to find your brother, that's your business too. It has nothing to do with me. Even if I really was the one who locked up your brother, then your brother deserves it. They have harmed so many innocent people, shouldn't they be locked up?" Xia Qingtang said coldly.
"You... I've already told you, my brother is not a bad person. He did those things just to support me... He's not a bad person!"
"He did bad things, so he is a bad person. No matter how many excuses you give, he is a bad person and he did bad things. Since he did bad things, no matter what the reason is, he should bear the consequences."
Li Yatou shouted, "Do we deserve to starve to death?"
"Are your parents no longer alive?" Xia Qingtang said, "Since you live in the city, if your parents are no longer alive, your brother will take over your parents' work. No matter what, he will not be able to support you, his sister."
This is common sense. When parents are no longer alive, their children can automatically inherit their jobs. Even if the parents are doing technical work such as doctors, the hospital will arrange a non-technical position for their children. Even if it is just a gatekeeper, there is a formal position.
With a job, you will have a salary and food coupons. Although it will definitely be tight, if the two of you are frugal, you can always get by.
Li Yatou said: "My mother died, and my father married a stepmother. He gave my mother's job to her son, so my brother lost his job and had to go to the countryside. At first, I could still have a meal with my father, but last year, my stepmother's son got married. She thought I was a nuisance at home, so she scolded and beat me every day and fed me rotten rice, so I ran away. My brother came back from the countryside for me, but he didn't have a job after he came back, and we both needed to eat, so he could only... could only do that kind of thing! My brother and I are both pitiful people, please have mercy on me and let my brother go! Please! If you don't agree to me, I will kneel here and never get up!"
"Then kneel down." Xia Qingtang said, "I told you, you have no evidence, how can you say that my family did it?"
"But... who else could it be if not you?"
"Then you should ask your good brother. He has cheated so many people. Go ask those people. At least, I was not cheated out of my money. I don't have such a deep hatred with your brother and his friends."
"I don't care, it must be you! Please, let my brother go! I'm almost starving to death! After my brother left, there was only a little food at home. I've made it to today, and there is nothing left at home. If my brother doesn't come home, I'm really going to starve to death! Please, let my brother go! Please!" As she said that, girl Li actually began to kowtow to the ground.
But she was probably too hungry, so after knocking twice, she suddenly stopped making any sound and fell directly to the ground, without making any sound.
Xia Qingtang was furious, but she couldn't just ignore a teenage girl who fainted in front of her.
There was no other choice but to call on passers-by for help, and together they took the little girl to the nearby police station.
The police officers at the police station were obviously familiar with this little girl. As soon as they entered, an old policeman asked, "What happened to Li girl?"
Xia Qingtang said: "She stopped me on the road and refused to let me go. Then she fainted due to emotional excitement. She said that there was no food at home. I guess she fainted from hunger, so I asked a few comrades to help carry her here. Police comrades, if you have brown sugar, you can make some brown sugar water for her to drink, and she should wake up."
"Who are you?"
Xia Qingtang then told the whole story, and the old policeman nodded: "So that's how it is. I know this child. Her name is Li Ya and her brother is Li Mu. They both grew up nearby. The siblings have a miserable life. After their father remarried, he no longer cared about his own children. Look at Li Ya, she's already fourteen years old, but she still looks like a primary school student. She was just starving over there."
Xia Qingtang was a little surprised. She thought the girl was only twelve years old, but she didn't expect she was already fourteen years old. She was indeed too short and too thin.
She said, "Since you all know each other, that's great. I've also sent the person here. I have to go back now."
"Hey, wait, comrade, please register. This is the rule here." said the old policeman.
Xia Qingtang registered in the registration book according to the rules, then chatted with the old policeman for a few words before going back.
After she left, the old policeman went to another office to borrow some brown sugar, mixed it with water in a clean cup, and fed it to Li Yatou.
The little girl drank the brown sugar water and woke up after a while. The first thing she said when she woke up was: "I'm hungry..."
The old policeman handed her a coarse flour bun with some fermented bean curd in it. He said, "Eat it quickly. After that, drink a cup of malted milk. It's already prepared and placed there."
"Where's that aunt? Where's that aunt?" Li Yatou looked around, "I can't let her go!"
The old policeman said, "What auntie? Oh, you mean the lady who brought you here? She left after she brought you here. It was getting late, and she said that if you didn't go home, your family would be worried. Eat some steamed buns first. She said that you had no food at home, and you must have fainted from hunger."
Li took the coarse flour bun with fermented bean curd in it and whispered, "What's the use of eating this? If my brother doesn't come home, I will continue to be hungry."
The old policeman said, "I'm still asking about your brother's situation for you. Don't worry, I'll tell you when I get the news. If you don't have any food at home, why don't you come to my house for dinner in the next few days?"
"No, I won't go. You have a big family and there won't be enough food."
"and you……"
"I'm going to find that lesbian. I know she must be the one who locked my brother up! It must be her!"
The old policeman said: "I talked to that comrade for a few words. She is a very upright person. It can't be her."
"But she is capable. Look at how pretty she is, with such fair skin. She must come from a spoiled family. Her family must have the ability to lock my brother up!"
"But...if her family is really that powerful and really locked up your brother, what can you do? Even if you go to her, she won't pay any attention to you. Your brother hurt someone, and if someone really catches your brother, it's your brother's fault."
Little girl Li started to cry: "But...but my brother is a good man..."
"He is a good man, but he has gone astray..."
Li girl cried even more sadly: "What else can I do? Will I starve to death with my brother?"
"Don't cry for now. The female comrade just talked to me for a while, and I think what she said is quite correct."
"What did she say?"
"She said, your brother has the courage to do evil things, why doesn't he have the courage to fight for your mother's former workplace? Your mother passed away, and as a son, he should take over your mother's position. If the other party does not give the position to your brother, then you should use all kinds of methods to argue and fight for it. In the end, you two siblings did not fight your father, but only thought about harming innocent passers-by. She said she really couldn't understand this."
Girl Li was stunned and completely speechless.
The old policeman patted her head gently and said, "Eat first. After you are full, I will take you home. We have some cornmeal and a handful of candy here. You can take them back later. But this will not work in the long run. I don't know where your brother is. You have to go to your father's house."
"Uncle Wang, that job...can my brother really get it back?" asked Li Yatou.
The old policeman said, "If it was in the past, we might have been able to get it back if we thought of a way, but now, it's hard to say, because your brother has been arrested several times, and there are records of it. No legitimate unit would want someone like him again."
Li girl suddenly screamed and started to cry loudly: "Why is it like this? Why? Why are we so stupid? Why didn't my brother go to that post to make trouble when he just came back? Why? Uncle Wang, why didn't anyone tell us about this! My brother... my brother doesn't know anything..."
The old policeman also sighed a little. He said softly: "When your brother came back from the countryside, he should have had more contact with the street and us. Finding decent people to give him advice is the right way."
Girl Li cried so hard that she fainted. When she was woken up, she stopped crying.
She obediently ate the coarse flour bun, drank the malted milk, and asked the old policeman to take her home: "I want to go back to Li Dashun's home."
"You're going to your father's house?"
"I'm starving to death. I'm his daughter, and he won't support me. Don't you police officers care?"
The old policeman nodded and smiled. "That's the right way to think. You are his daughter. He gave birth to you and he must raise you. Don't worry, after I send you there, I will try to find time to visit you. If they beat you, scold you, or don't give you food, just come find me."
"Okay, I'll come find you. Thank you, Uncle Wang. Now, take me there." Girl Li narrowed her eyes. She still looked very weak, but her look was completely different from before.
Xia Qingtang had just arrived home. Xie Jinxuan asked, "Why are you so late today? Is there anything wrong?"
"Something happened. I want to ask you, were you the one who had locked up the people who blackmailed me on that snowy day last time?" Xia Qingtang didn't care about anything else and asked about this as soon as he entered the door.
Xie Jinxuan said: "How do you know they were locked up?"
"Did you really do this?"
"No, it wasn't me. To be honest, I originally wanted to find someone to teach them a lesson, but when I found them, they had already been arrested and locked up in a special place. I don't know who arrested them, and I didn't dare to ask."
Xia Qingtang said: "If even you don't dare to ask, then it must not be an ordinary place. No wonder the police don't know where they are being held."
"How do you know this?"
Xia Qingtang then untied her scarf and other items and hung them up, then went to wash her hands.
After washing, she told the story of Li Yatou.
Xie Jinxuan said: "I know this Li Ya, she is Li Mu's sister. They have the same father, who remarried a long time ago. I don't know why, but Li Mu's mother's job was given to someone else, so Li Mu can't find a job."
"Why? It's useless. If it were me, I would get this job even if I tried every possible way. But he only knows how to do bad things with others. Now he is locked up in a place where no one knows where he is. I wonder what his sister will do!" Xia Qingtang said, "But this matter has nothing to do with me. I hope that girl won't look for me again. I get a headache when I see that kind of person. He looks smart, but he is actually stubborn and it's impossible to communicate with him."
"I'm sorry to have wronged you." Xie Jinxuan said, "Drink some hot water and eat a piece of jujube paste cake."
"Did you go buy snacks today?" Xia Qingtang said with a smile.
Xie Jinxuan said: "I didn't buy it. Sister Tan sent it to us. First, she wanted to apologize to us for almost causing us to eat poisonous mushrooms. Second, she wanted to thank me for lending the review materials to her eldest son."
"This jujube paste cake is not cheap, but it's a good thing she is willing to spend it." Xia Qingtang sat down, took a sip of hot water, and then took a piece of jujube paste cake and started eating.
While she was eating snacks, Xie Jinxuan also brought out dinner: "This is the noodle dumpling soup that Aunt Liu sent over. I also went to the cafeteria to get a few steamed buns. Let's have a simple meal tonight."
"It's not easy to eat these." Xia Qingtang said with a smile: "You don't know, that little girl fainted from hunger today. Looking at her, I feel that I am still very lucky."
The Laba Festival is over and the holiday will soon be here.
All departments in the factory have entered the final stages of their work for the year. All production lines have stopped and the union office has begun its final cleaning.
Li Yue said: "Another year is coming to an end, and I am getting another year older."
Feng Xinhui said: "Xiao Li, you are only in your early thirties, you are still very young."
"What do you mean young? Xiao Xia is the real young one. She's only 22 after the Chinese New Year."
Xia Qingtang said: "It's all a matter of time. Everyone has been young before."
Wu Feng laughed: "That's right, everyone has been young before, Xiao Li, you were also 22 years old."
"I'm just sighing. I'm a little older now, and I'm obviously different from when I was young. There has been too much rain and snow recently, and my waist is always aching." Li Yue said.
Feng Xinhui said, "Let's find an old doctor to check you out. Only after you've been checked out can you enjoy the New Year. Didn't you say last time that you wanted your wife to take you to visit relatives somewhere else this year? You'll be happy if you're in good health and want to go out and play."
Li Yue said: "I want to go, but the tickets are too hard to buy, so I might not go."
Wu Feng said: "Ask Xiao Xia's wife to help you think of a solution."
Li Yue immediately looked at Xia Qingtang: "Xiao Xia, is this possible?"
Xia Qingtang said, "I'll go back and ask. Director Li, where are you going and what day do you want a ticket? Please write it down on a piece of paper and I'll let you know whether I can buy one or not. Also, please write clearly whether you want a hard seat or a hard sleeper."
Li Yue was very happy. She quickly put down the rag and ran back to her desk. She took a piece of paper and started writing. As she wrote, she said, "I haven't made a sleeper berth yet. If I buy one, will it be too expensive?"
"Sleeper berths are definitely expensive. Even if you don't have connections, you can still buy one. But this is the first time you've traveled far away in so many years. It doesn't matter if it's a little expensive. The most important thing is that it's comfortable." Zhang Ning said.
Li Yue thought about it and nodded, "Yeah, if we can buy sleeper tickets, we can go there by sleeper."
She placed the half-written paper on Xia Qingtang's desk and said, "Xiao Xia, I'll leave it to you. Thank you."
"You're welcome. It would be great if I could buy it." Xia Qingtang smiled.
When she got home, she gave the note to Xie Jinxuan and asked him if he could help her buy the train ticket. Xie Jinxuan said, "It should be possible. The ticket is for the tenth day of the first lunar month. It's still early now. I will ask for her tomorrow."
The cotton mill was closed on the 17th day of the twelfth lunar month, which happened to be Sunday. On Saturday, no one was in the mood to go to work. Everyone gathered together with melon seeds and peanuts to chat and drink tea.
Xia Qingtang also brought sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds from home, as well as the train tickets bought by Xie Jinxuan, and handed them solemnly to Li Yue.
Li Yue was overjoyed: "Did you really buy it? And it's a hard sleeper! Oh my god, I can take a sleeper!"
Seeing that Li Yue was very happy, Xia Qingtang smiled and said, "Congratulations, Director Li. It is true that you won't feel tired when you sit in a sleeper berth. You can sleep all the time."
"Thank you so much, and thank you my love even more. It's great that you married into such a good family!" Li Yue said, "I don't have any money in my bag now. I'll bring you the ticket money this afternoon."
"Okay." Xia Qingtang nodded.
They all work in the same office, and Li Yue will not default on the money, so Xia Qingtang feels more at ease.
In the afternoon, Li Yue really brought the ticket money and four salted duck eggs, wrapped them in newspaper, and quietly handed them to Xia Qingtang.
"My wife asked me to give this to you. It's just four salted duck eggs. They're not good, but they were made by my mother-in-law. They're really delicious. Each one is juicy. If you've had a greasy meal during the Chinese New Year and want to change your taste to some porridge, this is the best way to go with it."
Xia Qingtang had known Li Yue for such a long time, but this was the first time she was so generous, so she accepted the salted duck egg with a smile and said, "Then I'll take it back and try it with my lover. Thank you."
"What are you thanking me for? We're colleagues, so don't be polite." Li Yue looked beaming.
Her children are getting older and don't need much care in life, so she has actually had a relatively easy time this year. She doesn't have to work too hard. With both of them working, her family has enough food and clothing, so she naturally lives a comfortable life. Now that she has encountered something that makes her happy, she seems even more proud.
When it was almost time to get off work, Chairman Qin came over and held a small meeting with everyone. He said a few words of encouragement and expressed a beautiful vision for the coming year.
"Okay, that's all I have to say. Comrades who are on duty later, don't forget to do so. I wish you all a happy Spring Festival." Chairman Qin smiled and stood up. "I wish you all a happy New Year in advance. Okay, everyone, go home quickly."
Everyone cheered. Xia Qingtang quickly put on her messenger bag that had been packed long ago, locked her drawer, and walked out happily with everyone else.
When they walked downstairs, they met the office clerks. Wu Jinfeng was among them, chatting and laughing with her colleagues.
The two sides greeted each other, and Wu Jinfeng walked up to Xia Qingtang and said with a smile: "Sister-in-law, it's a coincidence that I met you. This is for you."
As she spoke, she took out something flat from her bag and handed it to her.
Xia Qingtang was stunned for a moment, and seeing that it was a piece of imported chocolate, he said, "This is very expensive, sorry."
"Don't be embarrassed. It's not expensive for you. Take it and eat it. I have more." Wu Jinfeng said.
She was much fuller than before marriage, with some flesh growing on her face, looking fair and rosy. Her hair had also grown longer and was tied into a low ponytail, making her look much better than before.
It seems that her married life with Xia Qinghai is still very happy.
Xia Qingtang said: "Thank you then."
She took the chocolate and put it in her bag.
Wu Jinfeng waved her hand: "It's okay, I'm leaving now."
As she said that, she caught up with Secretary Wang and walked away with her. Xia Qingtang also rode her bike and rushed home.
There has been a lot of rain and snow this year, so the whole winter seems wet. Today is a good day, with clear weather and no clouds in the sky.
It's time to get off work. Although the sun is almost setting, there are still many people on the streets and the various stores are full of people.
Since Xia Qingtang met Li Yatou last time, she has completely changed her cycling route. Now she would rather take a detour than pass by that road.
Taking a detour will take a few minutes longer, but you will pass a street selling things. In addition to the things sold in state-owned stores, many private vendors also take the risk of squatting in the corners, waiting for customers to patronize them.
Xia Qingtang was in a good mood today. When he passed this road, he slowed down and planned to buy something to eat.
A skinny little boy was squatting in an inconspicuous corner with a large bamboo basket in front of him. As usual, it was covered with an old blue cloth so that the contents could not be seen.
It seemed that no one was visiting his stall, and the young boy squatted there, almost crying.
Xia Qingtang rode over and asked in a low voice: "What are you selling?"
The young boy's eyes lit up: "Selling small dried fish, do you want to take a look?"
"Take a look." Xia Qingtang became interested immediately when he heard about the small dried fish.
The young boy lifted the old blue cloth to reveal what was inside. It was indeed a basket full of small dried fish. All of them were as long as a finger. They were of different species and so of different thicknesses. They were all dried in the sun and looked very attractive.
"These are all small fish I caught myself. They are delicious no matter how they are cooked." The young boy added: "Look, I washed them very clean. We live next to the reservoir and our whole family likes cleanliness."
Xia Qingtang picked up a small dried fish and looked at it. It was indeed washed very clean, so he asked, "You live near the reservoir? Then how do you get home at night?"
"It'll only take a few hours to get back. It'll be quick."
"No matter how fast we go, it will be night when we get home. Won't you be scared?"
"I can't help it. I've been squatting here for a long time, but no one buys my stuff." The young boy asked eagerly, "Do you want to buy it?"
"Buy, how much is this?"
The young boy named a price, Xia Qingtang thought about it and said, "I'll buy the whole basket."
The young boy's eyes widened: "Really?"
"Really, there are many people in my family, and these won't last long," said Xia Qingtang.
"It'll cost... a lot of money. Do you have enough?"
"Don't worry, it's enough."
They had just received their wages, food coupons and holiday allowances, so everyone could have a pretty good Spring Festival.
Xia Qingtang paid the money, took out a cloth bag from her bag, and asked the boy to help her put all the dried fish into it. It looked like a big, bulging bag.
"Please take it carefully." The young boy handed over the cloth bag carefully.
"Okay, I will. By the way, this is for you." Xia Qingtang took out a few fruit candies from his pocket and said, "Eat some of this, and you won't feel dizzy when you walk."
The boy's eyes brightened: "Can you really give it to me?"
"Really? Take it and eat it."
Only then did he take the fruit candy and put it in his pocket with profuse thanks.
Xia Qingtang said: "Go home quickly."
Such a young child will have to walk for several hours before returning home, and it will be night time afterwards, with no lights on the road. Even if there is a moon, he will probably be scared, so it is better to go home early.
The young boy turned and left: "I'll go home now, thank you."
Xia Qingtang couldn't help laughing as he watched his thin figure running away briskly.
She adjusted the basket and tied the bag tightly. Just as she was about to ride away, she heard a familiar voice coming from the other end: "Enough! Stop pestering me! Your son, daughter-in-law, and grandson have all been arrested. If I don't run away, am I going to die with your whole family?"
This was Fang Manman's voice. Xia Qingtang immediately looked over there.
Another voice that had not been heard for many years also rang out: "Xiao Fang, I know that my grandson has let you down, and he is not a good person, but grandpa has been kind to you, right? Grandpa gave you money and things, and he was so good to you. You can't just leave with the bloodline of our Kong family!"
This was Grandpa Kong's voice. Xia Qingtang hadn't heard it for at least ten years.
Many people stopped and started to gather around to watch the fun. Xia Qingtang also pushed the cart over, but did not get close. He just stood far away on the periphery.
Fang Manman said, "This is my son. I am divorcing Kong Liangchao. My son belongs to me alone and has nothing to do with you! Also, your grandson will soon be a father of a father who is a father of a father who is a father of a father?"
From a distance, Fang Manman looked very healthy and had gained some weight. She was wearing a very stylish tweed coat, cotton-padded shoes, and had shiny hairpins in her hair. She looked much more fashionable than many passersby.
But Grandpa Kong looked so haggard that he was almost unrecognizable. He was not very old at the moment, and as a cadre for many years his diet was not bad. In Xia Qingtang's memory, Grandpa Kong at this age was in good health. The appearance of the man in front of him was almost incompatible.
Grandpa Kong whispered, "No matter what, Yuanyuan is our Kong family's child. You can't take Yuanyuan away without letting me see her. Our Kong family...maybe she is our only child..."
Onlookers couldn't help asking, "What happened?"
"That's right, what are you talking about? Tell us and we will help you judge!"
Fang Manman ignored the passers-by. She stared at Grandpa Kong, sneered, and said, "Old man, what do you mean by only one child? The only child is also my only child. The child is born by me and belongs to me alone. No matter who I ask for justice, I can take Yuanyuan away by myself."
"Then at least let me take a look... Also, you and Xiaochao haven't divorced yet, how can you... how can you live with another man?" Grandpa Kong couldn't help but blushing as he spoke.
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