When Yang Donghu was a child, he never wore clothes or shoes that fit him. His clothes were either left over from his older sisters or his younger brother's discarded clothes. His shoes were always one finger bigger than his feet.
Wang Dujuan didn't care about him, and Yang Dali was a hands-off boss who didn't care about anything. Yang Donghu grew up day by day wearing old clothes and old shoes.
Yang Donghu has been shorter than his peers since he was a child. When he was only five or six years old, he was not even as tall as the stove, but Wang Dujuan asked him to stand on a bench to cook for the family.
Even after cooking, the food could not be served on the table. At that time, the family had sheep, and Yang Donghu had to feed the sheep first before he could eat the leftover food of the family in the kitchen.
After finishing the housework, I still have to go to the river to pick grass for the sheep. Such a small person can't even straighten his back because of the big backpack.
The family had too many people and the house was too small, so Old Lady Yang and Yang Donghu lived in the same room. Then one day, Old Lady Yang fell ill and was in a coma for several days. Wang Dujuan beat Yang Donghu severely, saying he was his nemesis and that if it weren't for his grandmother, he wouldn't have fallen ill. She threatened to kick him out.
But Yang Donghu was no longer a baby, so how could he be thrown away so easily? Wang Dujuan used wooden boards to separate a space as big as two tables in the sheep pen and let Yang Donghu live in it. She also warned him not to sleep in his grandmother's room again, otherwise his grandmother would never wake up again.
Yang Donghu was young and didn't understand anything, let alone what death meant.
He sneaked in once when no one was home, but his grandmother lay in bed and could not be woken up no matter how hard he tried. He panicked, tears falling one by one, but his grandmother was still asleep, and she did not wipe his tears like she used to, nor did she call him "good boy" like she used to.
He was afraid that his grandmother would really be like what Wang Dujuan said, and that as long as he lived with her, she would never wake up again.
He willingly moved to the sheep pen, secretly wiped away tears at night, and prayed to the Bodhisattva to appear and make his grandmother get better soon.
Later, when grandma recovered, she got very angry when she found out that Yang Donghu was sleeping in the sheep pen. It was the first time that Yang Donghu saw his good-tempered grandma so angry. Even Yang Dali and Wang Dujuan were scared.
Yang Donghu refused to live with his grandmother no matter what. Coincidentally, a sheep died of illness at that time and the family had no other livestock, so Wang Dujuan converted the sheep pen into a house and let Yang Donghu live there.
His family bullied him, and outsiders bullied him even worse.
Sometimes children's innocent words can be more hurtful. The children in the village didn't like to play with him. As soon as Yang Donghu approached them, they said that he had a very stinky sheep smell, and they covered their noses with their hands while saying it.
Yang Donghu had to do everything alone.
Once, Yang Donghu went to the mountains to collect firewood and came across a wild peach tree that was full of juicy peaches. He picked a few big and soft peaches and planned to bring them back to his grandmother to taste.
Unexpectedly, as soon as he entered the village, he was snatched away by a kid who often bullied him. Yang Donghu threw down the firewood and started fighting with them.
Adults in the village saw the fight and came over to separate them. By the time the two children were separated, Yang Donghu's body was covered with bruises.
The child didn't get any advantage, so Yang Donghu got angry and scratched the child's arm, leaving a long bloody mark.
Of course the child's parents were not happy and demanded an explanation from the Yang family.
When Wang Dujuan heard about this, she rushed over and slapped Yang Donghu to the ground, cursing, "You're such a jinx, you only know how to cause trouble. Eat, eat, eat, that's all you do. How can you not die of your stuffiness?"
The child's parents asked Wang Dujuan to pay compensation, but Wang Dujuan refused. She said, "I'll compensate you. If you're not satisfied, just beat me to death and I won't care." Then she hurried away.
The parents probably had never seen such a scene before. They cursed and thought they were unlucky. Their child also scratched Yang Donghu's arm, and then they took the child home.
Yang Donghu's head was buzzing from being slapped, and for a moment he couldn't hear anything. He lay on the ground for a long time before he recovered. When he got up again, there was no one around. There was only scattered firewood and crushed peaches on the ground.
It was the first time that Yang Donghu did not go home before dinner. He walked to the river alone, staring at the river surface quietly and crying. He thought, why not just jump in.
Yang Anjin appeared at this time. He was passing by the river with his mother and saw Yang Donghu squatting alone by the river. He walked over and kindly reminded him not to fall in.
Yang Donghu heard someone talking and turned his head away with sobs.
When Yang Anjin saw his face covered in bruises, he was so scared that he screamed "Ah" and kept calling for his mother.
His mother, Zhang Lanzhen, came over and cried out, "Oh my God, how could you be beaten like this? Where are your family members?"
Yang Donghu stopped crying, said nothing, and just stared blankly.
Zhang Lanzhen muttered, "What a sin." She took out an egg from the basket she was carrying and told him to finish it and go home quickly.
Yang Donghu held the egg in his hand and watched the two figures, one big and one small, slowly walking away, and tears suddenly fell again.
He dragged his aching body back home. His family had already finished their meal and gone back to sleep.
Wang Dujuan didn't leave any food for him, so Yang Donghu scooped a bowl of water with a ladle and drank it down in one gulp. This was his usual method. Sometimes when he was punished and couldn't eat at night, he would drink a lot of water so that he wouldn't be too hungry to sleep at night.
He was drinking when his grandmother came in from outside with half a mixed flour bun in her hand.
Old Lady Yang didn't see Yang Donghu at dinner, and guessed that Wang Dujuan had punished him again, so she secretly hid half a steamed bun, hoping that Yang Donghu would come back and give it to him.
It was already dark, and Wang Dujuan did not allow him to light the oil lamp. Yang Donghu was very grateful at this time. Fortunately, his grandmother could not see it, otherwise she would be worried.
Yang Donghu was eating a steamed bun. He took out the egg Zhang Lanzhen had given him, peeled it and fed it to his grandmother.
The old lady smiled and praised him for being a good boy and let him eat by himself.
It was the first time that Yang Donghu had eaten eggs in his life. His mouth was constantly drooling. He couldn't resist the temptation and ate the eggs bite by bite.
From then on, Yang Anjin often came to find Yang Donghu and play with him.
Whenever someone in the village bullied Yang Donghu, he would stand up for Yang Donghu and help him fight back. If there was anything delicious, he would take it and eat it secretly with Yang Donghu while hiding aside.
They grew up together slowly, until the Yang Donghu of this world rolled down the mountain and died, and another Yang Donghu came.
Yang Donghu came back to his senses from his memories and looked at Yang Anjin's face. He had been here for more than half a month, and the scene on the first day he arrived seemed like a lifetime ago.
He paused, a faint smile on his face: "An Jin."
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