Chapter 1 The Burden and the Boy
In the northwest, in the evening, the aroma of rice wafts from every household in Huaihua Village.
Jiang Xiaoxiao, who had just turned five, smelled the fragrance and her stomach started rumbling.
She was standing at the door, eagerly waiting for her aunt and cousin to come back.
The town holds a market every third day, and today happens to be the third day of the Lunar New Year. My aunt took my cousin to the town early in the morning and would not be back until the evening. Before leaving, she left some food for the pigs at home, but she didn't leave any food for Jiang Xiaoxiao.
Jiang Xiaoxiao could only go to the fields to pick up some rotten vegetables that others didn't want, cook them into a paste and fill her stomach. By now, she was already dizzy with hunger.
In fact, there was rice and flour at home, but she was not allowed to touch them.
My aunt said that she was a burden to the family and that her damn parents had stolen the family's money and left her to live happily alone.
Therefore, she has no right to eat at the table and is only worthy of eating and sleeping with the dog.
My aunt also said that she was worse than a dog.
Disobedient dogs can be sold for money, but no one wants her, even the bachelors in the village whose wives have died.
Just as she was thinking, a stone suddenly hit her in the face.
"Look, isn't that the little fool from the Jiang family?"
"She's not a little fool, she's a thief!"
"Yes! Her parents are thieves. A child born of thieves must also be a thief!"
The ones who said these words were a few little boys in the village. They usually liked to tease Jiang Xiaoxiao and liked to see her run away.
Since there was no one at Jiang Xiaoxiao's house at the moment, they naturally became even more unscrupulous.
Jiang Xiaoxiao was indeed frightened to the point of having her eyes turn red. She turned around and ran into the house like a rabbit.
Seeing this, several boys burst into laughter and called her a fool, a thief, a coward, and a slug.
Jiang Xiaoxiao listened to the laughter and scolding coming from outside, tears welling up in her eyes.
She is not a thief!
Her parents are not thieves!
Jiang Xiaoxiao has a very early memory. Even though her mother left when she was one and a half years old, she still vaguely remembers that her mother not only did not steal anything before leaving, but also left a lot of money in a big envelope.
Jiang Xiaoxiao was only one year old at that time. She didn’t understand what her mother was doing, but she just remembered this scene in her mind.
When she grew up and figured it out, no one believed her.
Who would believe that a one and a half year old baby can remember things?
"Jiang Xiaoxiao! You damn girl, where have you been slacking off again?"
The sudden angry shout from the door frightened Jiang Xiaoxiao so much that her hands trembled and the iron basin in her hands fell to the ground with a clang.
The next second, the door slammed open from the outside, and Aunt Jiang Qingmei glared at her with a scowl on her face: "What are you doing? Cheating?"
Jiang Xiaoxiao was so scared that her body was shaking: "I, I didn't..."
Bang!
A hard slap came down, making Jiang Xiaoxiao's head buzz.
"If you're not stealing, why are you holding the pig's bowl? You filthy bastard, I've always been short of food or water for you, but you're stealing even the pig's food!"
Jiang Xiaoxiao's face turned pale: "I didn't, auntie..." She cried and defended herself while squatting down and trying to pick up the pig feeding bowl that fell on the ground.
At this time, the children outside the door who were watching the fun also gathered around.
Watching Jiang Xiaoxiao being beaten is also one of their daily pleasures.
In order to encourage Jiang Qingmei to continue beating Jiang Xiaoxiao, they fanned the flames.
"Aunt Jiang, she's lying! She just ate it secretly, we all saw it!"
"Yes, yes, I saw her stealing the pig food with my own eyes, and she ate it with such relish!"
"Jiang Xiaoxiao is a thief and a liar! Aunt Jiang, don't trust her!"
When Jiang Qingmei heard this, she became even more angry. She picked up the carrying pole next to her and hit Jiang Xiaoxiao with it.
Jiang Xiaoxiao was so scared that she quickly ran away.
This carrying pole is not as good as a slap. A slap will only hurt for two days at most, but if such a thick carrying pole falls on your body, you may not be able to get out of bed for ten days or half a month!
"Aunt! I really didn't steal the pig food!"
But Jiang Qingmei would not listen to her explanation, she grabbed the carrying pole and chased after her.
Although Jiang Xiaoxiao was thin, she was very flexible. She had been beaten since she was a child, so she could definitely dodge it under normal circumstances. But today, because she didn't eat enough, she ran out of strength after a few steps, and soon there were several blue and purple bruises on her body.
In the end, it was only when her cousin Jiang Xiaowei muttered that she was hungry that Jiang Xiaoxiao was freed from under the carrying pole.
But Jiang Qingmei obviously didn't intend to let Jiang Xiaoxiao go just like that.
She threw a basket that looked taller than her to Jiang Xiaoxiao and said, "Go dig some radishes from the field. Hurry up! If you're not back by sunset, you won't have any dinner tonight and you'll have to sleep with Dahei!"
Dahei is the family dog and is usually very close to Jiang Xiaoxiao.
When he heard his name, Dahei let out a roar and came to Jiang Xiaoxiao.
Jiang Xiaoxiao wiped the tears from her face with her sleeve, endured the pain and climbed up, picked up the big backpack, and walked towards the back of the mountain with her body swaying.
My aunt planted those radishes in the back mountain.
The back mountain is actually a cemetery. Whenever there is an elderly person in the village, they will find a piece of land in the back mountain to bury them. Except for sacrifices, no one will come here normally.
Even the little boys who were watching the fun gave up the idea of following Jiang Xiaoxiao to tease her when they heard that she was going to the back mountain. No one wanted to stroll around the cemetery so late at night.
There is a small ditch behind the mountain. It looks narrow, but the water is actually very deep. According to the old people in the village, it is a tributary of the Yellow River.
Jiang Qingmei's radishes were planted beside the ditch.
Although her whole body was in pain, Jiang Xiaoxiao was afraid of not being able to eat, so she didn't dare to delay at all. She quickly pulled out a few radishes and threw them into her pocket, and prepared to get up.
Unexpectedly, the weight of the backpack was far greater than she had anticipated. The moment Jiang Xiaoxiao stood up, she lost her footing and fell back with a thud. Not only did she feel the pain, but the carrots in her pocket instantly fell out.
Jiang Xiaoxiao suddenly became anxious: "My carrot!"
The little girl rolled and crawled, but it was too late.
Watching the big white radish rolling into the ditch next to her, Jiang Xiaoxiao didn't think twice and jumped into the ditch.
thump!
thump!
thump!
Across the river.
The boy in a white T-shirt and black trousers is concentrating on drawing.
When he heard the first sound of someone falling into the water, he thought someone had thrown a stone into the river, so he didn't look up.
When he heard the second sound, he frowned slightly.
The third time...
He finally couldn't help but look up, and just saw a small creature as skinny as a monkey diving into the ditch.
If he hadn't vaguely heard her call out "radish", he might really have thought it was a monkey, and a stupid one at that.
The boy put down the paintbrush, stood up, walked to the edge of the ditch, and pursed his lips into a line.
This ditch was much deeper than he had expected.
It doesn't look like there's anyone nearby.
So, since this little monkey dared to jump down, he should be able to swim by himself, right?
The young man stood on the shore and waited for two minutes, but saw no movement on the river.
Finally, he couldn't sit still anymore, took off his coat, and jumped into the river with a splash...
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