It was freezing cold, and both of them wore thick cotton-padded jackets, but when they came out, they were still shivering in the wind.
Song Zhi silently tightened her clothes and regretted not bringing a headscarf when she came out.
The biting wind made my ears hurt.
Song Zhi looked up at the gloomy sky and felt that the weather was getting colder and colder.
The road in the village was very rugged, winding, and there were countless small forks. The two were afraid of taking the wrong path, so they asked for directions as they walked. It took them more than an hour to find Ran Qiu's house.
Ran Qiu's house has its own entrance and yard. The house looks okay, but the yard is very dilapidated, especially the wall, which is broken and there is a pile of broken bricks and tiles in the corner.
There were two chickens roaming in the yard. When they saw a stranger, they were frightened and started cackling and ran into the house.
"Is anyone home?"
Nie Jinmei held Song Zhi's hand, shivering from the cold, and shouted twice inside.
After a while, the door creaked and was opened from the inside.
Hearing the noise, Ran Qiu, wearing a coat, limped out to check the situation. Seeing that it was Song Zhi and Nie Jinmei, he paused and asked, "Why are you here?"
Ran Qiu glanced at the two of them warily.
Song Zhi took a step forward and looked behind him.
"Where are Dabao and the others? Their injuries aren't serious, are they?"
The three little guys were in the room. When they heard Song Zhi's voice, they shouted in surprise.
"It's Big Sister's voice! Big Sister is here!"
Then there was a rustling sound, and the two little guys, Dabao and Erbao, quickly ran out of the house.
They were not even wearing clothes, their upper bodies were exposed, and the bruises and purple marks on their bodies were very obvious.
As soon as they got closer, they smelled a strong smell of medicinal oil, which made Song Zhi and Nie Jinmei breathe harder and frown subconsciously.
They were obviously very happy to see Song Zhi, and greeted her with grins.
"Big sister, why are you here!"
When Ran Qiu saw that they ran out without wearing any clothes, his face suddenly darkened and he told them to go back to the house with a stern face.
"Hurry back."
The wind outside was so cold, Song Zhi was also worried that they would catch a cold, so she quickly said, "Why did you come out without any clothes on? It's so cold outside, hurry inside, don't catch a cold."
The two little guys responded sullenly, feeling embarrassed all of a sudden, and quickly ran into the house.
Song Zhi had just helped them today, so Ran Qiu didn't want to be too cold to them, especially when he saw the two of them shivering from the cold, so he invited them into the house.
The room was covered with tattered newspapers, but they still couldn't block the gaps between the wooden boards. As soon as you came in, you could feel the draft everywhere, which was not much better than outside.
The furnishings in the room were even simpler, with only a table with a broken leg, a wardrobe with one door broken, and two wooden beds that were not very sturdy.
Dabao and Erbao had quickly put on their shirts and were standing beside one of the beds.
It can be said that the family is penniless.
It is really difficult for a rural teacher to support three half-grown children.
Only then did Song Zhi see San Ya lying on the bed with a pale face.
"What happened? Are you seriously injured?"
Song Zhi hurried over and asked with concern.
When this was mentioned, Dabao and Erbao's eyes turned red and they nodded in silence: "Sanya was injured the most seriously."
When Song Zhi walked in, he found that San Ya's face was very red and swollen, and she was even bleeding from her nose.
When San Ya saw Song Zhi, she was so happy that she wanted to get out of bed.
Song Zhi hurriedly stopped her: "Don't move, why is your nose bleeding again?"
"It's okay, it's not bleeding anymore. I just accidentally bumped my nose and it bled a little."
San Ya shook her head and explained firmly.
She wiped the blood off her nose nonchalantly and looked at Song Zhi with sparkling eyes that flashed with a different light.
Song Zhi handed over a handkerchief: "Don't wipe it with your hands, use this to wipe it."
San Ya took it gently, but was reluctant to use such a good handkerchief to wipe her nosebleed, so she just held it tightly in her hand.
Song Zhi looked at the hard bed and the paper-thin quilt beneath her and sighed in her heart.
The life of Ran Qiu and their three little ones was much poorer than she had imagined.
"I brought you some food."
Song Zhi held a large ceramic cup filled with dumpling soup, turned to look at Ran Qiu, and asked, "Teacher Qiu, where is the bowl?"
The aroma of the dumpling soup filled the entire room. The three little guys swallowed their saliva cowardly, and their stomachs growled uncontrollably.
Song Zhi is off today and they have no work to do.
They had finished the food Song Zhi had given them a few days ago, and they had only drunk some watery vegetable porridge in the morning. They hadn't had lunch yet, and the little they had eaten in the morning had already been completely digested.
Ran Qiu was silent for a moment, then limped out and brought back three broken bowls.
Song Zhi poured a bowl for each of the three little ones.
"Eat something while it's still hot."
After dividing it, she handed the large ceramic cup directly to Ran Qiu.
"There's still some left in the cup, Teacher Qiu, you can eat it."
"No, I'm not hungry." Ran Qiu shook his head and refused.
Seeing this, Song Zhi didn't care. He just put the ceramic cup aside and took out the meat buns from the flowered bag.
"These are the buns we just steamed, specially sent to you and the children."
Nie Jinmei also quickly took out the crispy candies.
"I brought some snacks for the kids."
Ran Qiu frowned and looked at Song Zhi and Nie Jinmei in confusion.
They are not related to them, so why should they be so nice to them?
Noticing Ran Qiu's resistance, Song Zhi sighed softly. She knew that Ran Qiu was a very suspicious person and was probably still on guard against her.
Then she explained: "Don't worry, we don't have any other intentions. You know my situation. I came from the city and can't do any work. I relied on Dabao and the others to help me with the work these days, and I was able to earn some work points."
Hearing this, Ran Qiu's expression eased a little, but his frown remained tight.
"I've spent several days with Dabao and the others, and I know they're all good kids."
Song Zhi observed his expression and continued.
"These foods are not worth much to us. Dabao and the others are injured and they are in the growth stage. They need more nutrition, otherwise they will develop chronic diseases."
Nie Jinmei also noticed that the thin young man seemed a little wary of them, and quickly followed suit, "Yes, these things are all made by us, they are not worth much."
Speaking of children, Ran Qiu looked at the three skinny children, his eyes dimmed a lot. He clenched his fists, did not refuse again, and thanked Song Zhi in a muffled voice.
"Thanks."
After saying that, he went into the kitchen and took out a basket of eggs, which contained about five or six eggs.
"Thank you for helping us today. We don't have much at home, so I hope you don't mind."
"Okay, then we'll take the eggs back and eat them." She accepted them without refusing.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
