While Qin was tidying up that little corner, Xiaodoudou was standing nearby. Before long, she was frightened by the terrible environment and started to cry.
Hearing Xiaodoudou's obvious dislike for the place, the people nearby were quite annoyed and on the verge of anger. Qin quickly apologized, sharing the few dry steamed buns she had brought with her, and said apologetically, "I'm so sorry, something happened at home, and the child hasn't settled in yet..."
As she spoke, she raised her hand to wipe away the tears from the corners of her eyes, making her even more pitiful.
"He who takes a gift is bound to be obligated to it," so no one said anything more, no matter how harsh Xiaodoudou's words were afterward.
After all, they were used to a good life, so it's understandable that they can't accept this new environment right away.
After calming everyone down, Qin ignored the still-crying Xiaodoudou and continued tidying up, trying to make herself as comfortable as possible.
Little Bean kept crying, and when she stopped crying, she stood still and refused to move. Anyway, no one came to help, so they just watched her busy herself.
Qin felt a pang of bitterness. If it were You'er and Jiezi, they would have come to help her with chores long ago. How come there's such a big difference between them, even though they're all her own children?
Thinking this way, the mother's heart hardened. After tidying up, she went to fetch some water and came back. She took out the only meat bun she had and started eating it, not wanting to pay any attention to Xiaodoudou.
"Mom, I'm hungry."
Seeing that Qin Shi was ignoring him, Xiao Doudou panicked and took the initiative to go over to get money to buy food.
Qin glanced at him and said weakly, "I'm exhausted and want to rest. You'll have to figure it out yourself."
"Then give me the money, and I'll go buy it myself."
Little Bean hadn't realized the seriousness of the situation and acted as if it were perfectly natural for her to ask for money.
"All the money is with your father. Your mother has no money. The only thing she had was a hairpin, which she used to find us a place to live."
Qin looked very tired, and fell into a deep sleep as soon as she finished speaking.
Someone nearby immediately began to whisper and scold Xiaodoudou: "You child, you look respectable, but you don't care about your mother at all. Didn't you see that your mother has been busy ever since she arrived? You can't help her at all and only cause her trouble. It's really not worth it for your mother!"
"Yes, what a pitiful person. Something bad happened to her family, and her son has no conscience. She doesn't know how she's going to live her life!"
Little Bean got angry and yelled, "What nonsense are you talking about? You're the ones who have no conscience!"
“Look at you, you won’t let me speak anymore. If you had any conscience, you wouldn’t have spoken so loudly and disturbed your mother who had just fallen asleep. The children here, no matter how old they are, always help their parents with chores. In my family, the two kids find the firewood and water, so I don’t have to worry about it.”
The old woman who was speaking lived across from them. She was mending clothes with a needle and thread in her hand. She was quite good at needlework and usually mended clothes for wealthy families, which was their family's main source of income.
"Mind your own business!"
After saying that, Little Bean ran out into the street. Once outside, he felt lost and didn't know where to go.
Originally, after school was mealtime. When there was nothing else to do, everyone would eat in their own courtyards. Sometimes his mother would personally make some of his favorite pastries for him, and there were two maids serving him meals.
But now, it's getting dark, and he's starving but hasn't been able to get a hot meal.
He thought he might as well go back. There, he could continue being a young master, at most go to school, and be served fruits and pastries whenever he wanted to eat. How wonderful!
But then he remembered what his mother had told him on the way out: the General's Mansion belonged to his third uncle, not his family. His family didn't own a house in the country and had always lived with his third uncle.
At the time, he thought it would be better not to live in that awful place, so that the wicked woman would no longer control him and no one would force him to study. But he didn't expect that in less than an hour, he would regret it.
He touched his rumbling stomach and felt helpless for the first time.
Just then, a big yellow dog walked past him carrying a chicken leg in its mouth. The fragrant chicken leg instantly whetted his appetite.
I wish that big chicken leg was his.
So he followed the big yellow dog.
The big yellow dog walked through the crowded street, found a quiet corner, put down the chicken leg, and was about to enjoy its meal when a mischievous child suddenly appeared and snatched the chicken leg from its mouth.
The big yellow dog got angry and took off chasing after it.
Two legs can never outrun four legs. In addition, unlike her brothers who learned martial arts, Xiaodoudou had always been pampered and had no stamina. After running for a short while, her legs began to tremble and she could no longer run.
The big yellow dog had already caught up. In desperation, he quickly put the chicken leg in his hand into his mouth and took a big bite before throwing the rest on the ground.
The big yellow dog barked at him a few times before carrying his leg away.
Little Bean collapsed to the ground. Luckily, he was quick-witted, or he would have been bitten by the dog.
He chewed on the chicken in his mouth, oh, it smelled so good...
On his way back, he encountered several little beggars kneeling and begging. He had a sudden thought that being a beggar was not bad, as he could have money and food without doing anything. He wanted to kneel down as well, but then Xiangxiang asked him if he wanted to be a beggar. He immediately got angry and refused to be a beggar. He turned to leave.
Just then, a young master from a wealthy family passed by. Seeing his pitiful limping appearance, he casually gave him a few copper coins and left.
Little Bean suddenly felt that heaven was looking out for her and wanted to buy some steamed buns to take back and eat with her mother. However, as soon as she turned around, she saw the few little beggars who had been kneeling by the roadside staring at her menacingly.
Little Bean sensed something was wrong and instinctively tried to run away, but several little beggars quickly pinned her down and beat her.
"You dare to beg on my turf? You've got a death wish!"
"I've disliked him for a long time, beat him up!"
The group not only beat him up, but also robbed him of his coins. His body was burning with pain, and he was equally confused.
He couldn't understand why this was happening, so he opened his mouth and howled, going back to find Qin Shi as he howled.
Seeing him being beaten, Qin felt a pang of pain in her heart, but she knew this was something her son had to face. She hardened her heart and said, "Without the protection of your third uncle and aunt, this is how life is outside. Just bear with it, it will be better in a few days."
She had money, but she didn't plan to take her son to see a doctor because she knew the injury was just a superficial wound and wouldn't cause any serious problems. She also wanted to teach her son a lesson.
When Little Bean heard what his mother said, he felt only despair: "I miss Daddy. Let's go find Daddy, okay? Daddy has money and can take us to eat delicious food."
Qin had already prepared her explanation: "But the money your father has was given to him by your third uncle and aunt. Now that you've insulted your third aunt and little sister, your father and I feel guilty and want to return that money to your third uncle and aunt. Our family is originally from the countryside. When your father comes back and finds us, we'll go to the countryside to live a good life. You won't have to go to school, and you won't have to see your third aunt and little sister whom you don't like. The three of us can live our own good life, okay?"
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