At this time, in a remote courtyard in Fengchuan County.
The earthen walls on all four sides of the courtyard were broken, and now the wind was blowing in, making the old wooden door creak.
A pale and handsome young man walked out of the house, carrying a tattered bamboo basket and limping to the vegetable garden to pick vegetables.
It is called a vegetable garden, but it is actually just a small piece of land about three feet wide, with some cabbages planted in it, but because there is not much fertilizer, they do not grow well.
The young man reached out and picked two green cabbages, and was about to go into the house when he was suddenly stopped by someone.
"Teacher Qiu, wait."
Neighbor Aunt Zhang walked over quickly carrying a basket of vegetables.
"I picked it right from the field. It's grown in my own home. Take it home and eat it."
She handed over the basket in her hand.
Ran Qiu looked at the eggs hidden under the vegetable basket, frowned, and quickly returned the things.
"Auntie, I can't accept this. You can take these back and eat them. I just picked some vegetables and can't eat these anymore."
After saying that, he lifted the basket in his hand and said.
Aunt Zhang looked at his cabbage, which was not yet ripe, sighed silently, and stuffed the food in his hand again.
"Teacher Qiu, please don't be polite with me. We still have a lot of land."
Aunt Zhang was very firm in her attitude, and Ran Qiu couldn't refuse, so he had to accept the two cabbages, but he refused to accept the eggs.
"Auntie, take these eggs back. If you can't finish them, you can sell them for some money."
He was not a naive person. He could not accept such a precious thing as eggs.
"Oh." Aunt Zhang patted her thigh helplessly and put her hands behind her back. No matter what he said, she refused to take the egg.
"We're all neighbors, why are you being so polite? Just take it and take care of yourself. Get well soon so you can go back to school and teach the kids."
Ran Qiu saw that he couldn't refuse, and his expression froze for a moment.
Aunt Zhang is kind-hearted and always helps them.
Having received so much kindness from her, Ran Qiu really didn't know how to repay her.
"Where are the three little ones?"
When Aunt Zhang saw his expression, she knew that he was feeling guilty again, so she simply changed the subject.
"He went out and hasn't come back yet."
Ran Qiu replied.
When he mentioned this, he glanced towards the door and couldn't help feeling a little worried.
Dabao and his friends went out early in the morning and haven't returned home yet even after a whole day.
Seeing this, Aunt Zhang sighed again and couldn't help but give him a bitter and nagging advice: "Ran Qiu, I know you have a good heart, but there is something I still want to say. It's enough for you to support one person by teaching at school, but it's not enough to support three children. You have raised them for so many years and have done your best. They are older now. Isn't it time for you to think about yourself?"
When she mentioned this, she looked at Ran Qiu's injured leg and sighed again.
This time his leg was injured and he couldn't go to school to teach, so his life became even more difficult.
"Thank you, Auntie. I understand all of this."
Ran Qiu lowered his eyes and nodded silently, saying that he understood, but he obviously could not agree with Aunt Zhang's statement.
Aunt Zhang had dealt with him for so many years, how could she not see what he was thinking?
"You're already 20 years old, it's time to get married. Erniu from the village is one year younger than you, but he's already married and will have a son in two years."
Aunt Zhang knew the situation of Ran Qiu's family well and usually treated him as her junior. Now that she saw him being so stubborn, she couldn't help but say a few more words.
"If it weren't for these three little brats, there wouldn't be any girls willing to marry you."
Ran Qiu lowered his head in silence, without saying a word.
This made Aunt Zhang even more anxious.
Although Ran Qiu's parents are both dead, she is indeed very good-looking. If she didn't have those three burdens, she would have no problem finding a matchmaker.
"Auntie, I know. I'm still young and not in a hurry to get married." Ran Qiu explained lightly.
He knew in his heart that Aunt Zhang was doing this for his own good, but Dabao and the others had been with him since they were young, and they were only five or six years old now.
As they were talking, the three little ones came back happily.
"Brother Qiu!"
Their shouts could be heard from far away.
Watching them coming back in the twilight, Ran Qiu felt relieved.
The three little guys only realized that there was someone in the house when they got closer.
After recognizing that it was Aunt Zhang from next door, they immediately stood in a row uncomfortably, greeted her timidly, and dared not say anything else.
All three of them knew that Aunt Zhang never seemed to like them.
"Since they are all back, you guys should go in and cook. I'm going home too."
Aunt Zhang looked at their expressions, sighed helplessly, and left.
"Go and boil these eggs."
Ran Qiu looked at the three of them, who looked pale and thin, and took out the eggs from the basket and handed them to them.
When the three little cubs saw the eggs, their eyes lit up.
Dabao took the eggs and carefully put them back into the basket. Then, like Erbao and Sanya, he happily pulled Ran Qiu's clothes and dragged him into the house.
"Brother Qiu, come in quickly and show you something good!"
Looking at the mysterious looks of the three little ones, Ran Qiu shook his head helplessly, thinking that they must have gone to dig potatoes in other people's fields again today. It seemed that the harvest today should be pretty good.
After entering the house, the three of them took out the big Northeastern steamed buns and milk candies given by Song Zhi from the cloth bag and handed them to Ran Qiu like presenting treasures.
"Brother Qiu, look at this big steamed bun. It's so fragrant and delicious. And this candy is also very sweet!"
A few big white flour buns were placed in front of him, and Ran Qiu's pale face turned red with anger.
"Did you guys steal from others again? Didn't I teach you that no matter how hungry you are, you can't touch other people's things?"
Ran Qiu was so angry that he was shaking all over. He raised his hand but couldn't slap him.
"No, no!" San Ya quickly shook her head.
Dabao and Erbao also shook their heads like rattles.
Seeing Ran Qiu's face turning blue with anger, they quickly explained: "We didn't steal these, we got them as rewards for helping others!"
Ran Qiu didn't believe them, but was so angry at their words that he trembled all over, his face turned ashen, and the veins on his forehead bulged.
"Now you've learned to lie, haven't you?"
Doesn’t he know what’s going on in the village?
Now everyone is eating steamed corn bread, who would give such good white flour steamed buns as a reward?
He looked at the three little guys he had raised with disappointment, and was so angry that he almost vomited blood. With trembling hands, he picked up the stick on the table and was about to hit them.
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