Luo Yan was hungry, but it wasn't convenient to eat in the car, so she took out a White Rabbit milk candy that Sun Bailing had given her from her pocket and asked Hua Li to help her peel it.
The baby's soft "ba ba ba" sound made Chen Yuanshan and Luo Shicheng misunderstand that he was calling for his father.
Chen Yuanshan suppressed the urge to respond and forced himself not to turn around and tease Luo Yan.
Luo Shicheng remained arrogantly unmoved, only glancing furtively through the rearview mirror.
Hua Li peeled the candy and fed it to Luo Yan, then smelled the milky aroma and became hungry herself.
Fortunately, the supply and marketing cooperative is not far from the military compound; it only takes less than ten minutes to drive there.
Hua Li carried Luo Yan out of the car, and Luo Shicheng followed, carrying a lunchbox into the house.
After placing the lunchbox on the dining table, Luo Shicheng strode away, got back into the car, and returned to the unit with Chen Yuanshan.
Luo Yan was starving. She climbed onto a chair by the dining table and sat down, struggling to open her lunchbox with her little hands.
Both lunchboxes were half full of rice, while the other side contained braised pork and stir-fried vegetables.
The glistening braised pork, the vibrant green vegetables, and the glistening white rice were so tempting, and the aroma was irresistible. Luo Yan's mouth watered.
Hua Li felt sorry for the child and quickly brought out bowls and chopsticks, first setting out some food to feed Luo Yan.
When Luo Yan saw that Hua Li was going to feed her all the good things again, leaving her to go hungry, she couldn't bear it.
"Mom, eat..."
Putting aside the fact that a three-year-old child like her can't possibly eat that much, in this sweltering summer heat, the food will definitely spoil if it's not finished and there's no refrigerator.
The mother and daughter hadn't eaten meat for several months. Hua Li couldn't bear to eat, only wanting her child to stay fed. She shook her head and kept feeding Luo Yan.
Why is she so stubborn? Luo Yan is about to be driven crazy.
Luo Yan brought the braised pork that Hua Li had placed on a spoon to Hua Li's mouth, her little brows furrowed, and gave a command in a cute but fierce manner.
"Eat, Mommy, eat!"
Hua Li then ate it with great relish. The braised pork was so delicious that it left a lingering fragrance on her lips and teeth, and Hua Li almost cried.
Seeing that Hua Li had eaten, Luo Yan clapped her hands happily and pushed the remaining half of the lunchbox in front of Hua Li.
Hua Li shook his head, and Luo Yan burst into tears, throwing the spoon in her hand back into her rice bowl.
"I won't eat."
She refused to eat, and the child threw a tantrum, so Hua Li had no choice but to give in.
"Mommy eats, and Yan Yan eats too."
Luo Yan stared at Hua Li. Hua Li picked up his chopsticks and took a bite of rice, and Luo Yan also took a bite. Hua Li took a bite of vegetables, and Luo Yan also took a bite.
Hua Li was defeated by the little one and obediently finished most of her lunchbox. Luo Yan also finished her food in her bowl.
The remaining lunchbox of food could be saved for dinner, but worried it would spoil, Hua Li took the lunchbox to the backyard.
There was a vegetable cellar in the backyard, with a wooden door at the entrance. The door was covered with a tattered cotton quilt, and on top of the quilt was a sheet of iron for rain protection, with two bricks on top of the sheet of iron.
Hua Li unlocked the door with the key, grabbed the handle on the door panel, lifted it to the side, picked up the rope tied to the entrance of the vegetable cellar, and pulled up a large bamboo basket.
Place the lunchbox in a bamboo basket and suspend it in the cellar. The cool, damp cellar is enough to keep the food fresh until night and prevent it from spoiling.
Luo Yan wasn't idle in the house either; she wandered around, looking at things, trying to adapt to her new life as quickly as possible.
When Hua Li returned, she saw Luo Yan drawing and doodling with paper and pen. She suddenly realized that the child was already three and a half years old and it was time to send her to kindergarten to learn some early childhood knowledge.
But she only had 83 cents in total. She had just started working and wouldn't be getting paid immediately. Besides, even if she didn't send her child to kindergarten for the time being, she and her child still needed to eat.
Hua Li pondered for a long time without finding a solution, then went into the bedroom, opened the table drawer, and took out a small cloth bag from the deepest part of the drawer.
Opening the cloth bag revealed a uniquely shaped jade pendant carved with a phoenix, the type of jade of which was unclear, as well as two gold bracelets worn by children.
Luo Yan found it strange that Hua Li hadn't come out of the bedroom for a long time, so she peeked out from behind the door.
Luo Yan's eyes lit up when she saw the jade pendant in Hua Li's hand.
The book mentions that Hua Li was not the biological daughter of the Hua couple, but rather their adopted daughter.
When the Hua family found Hua Li, she was wearing a jade pendant with a carved phoenix, two gold bracelets, and an embroidered quilt used to wrap a baby.
Before she died, Hua's mother told Hua Li the truth and gave him all her belongings.
After Hua Li married Luo Shicheng, she was so busy making a living that she had no energy left to look for her biological parents.
Later, Liu Jingqiu encountered Hua Li on her way to work. She bumped into Hua Li while riding her bicycle, but ended up falling and injuring herself. She then falsely accused Hua Li of pushing her down. Luo Shicheng believed her and took Liu Jingqiu and her daughter home to be cared for by Hua Li.
While Hua Li was away from home, Liu Jingqiu found the jade pendant and gold bracelet, and used the jade pendant to reunite with Hua Li's biological parents.
After becoming the daughter of a high-ranking official, Liu Jingqiu relentlessly suppressed Hua Li, making Hua Li's already precarious life even more difficult.
Furthermore, Liu Jingqiu discovered that the carved phoenix jade pendant had a spatial dimension, which he used to make a fortune.
No, given Hua Li's personality, she definitely won't be able to keep the jade pendant; she has to get it back.
Luo Yan pushed open the door and ran to Hua Li. Peeking in, she saw the jade pendant and bracelet Hua Li was holding in her hands. Pointing at the jade pendant with her little finger, she exclaimed, "So pretty, so pretty..."
Hua Li was considering whether to sell the jade pendant to tide her over when she saw that her daughter liked it, so she picked up the jade pendant and put it around Luo Yan's neck.
“Yanyan likes it, so Mom will give it to her.”
As Hua Li spoke, he cupped Luo Yan's little face and gave her a quick kiss.
The mother's kiss was sweet and fragrant, and Luo Yan smiled so much that her eyes curved into crescent moons.
"Yanyan loves her mother."
My daughter actually said she loves me! No matter how hard or bitter life gets, that one sentence is enough.
Hua Li's tears streamed down her face. "Baby, Mommy loves you too."
Hua Li took out a gold bracelet and put it in her pocket, wrapped the other one in cloth again and put it back in the drawer, and also put in the ten large coins that Luo Shicheng had given her.
Hua Li locked the drawer and coaxed Luo Yan.
"Yanyan, Mommy is going out for a bit. Will you be a good girl and wait for Mommy at home?"
Luo Yan guessed that Hua Li probably sold the gold bracelet to earn money for living expenses.
Before Luo Yan transmigrated here, the price of gold had already risen to four figures per gram. Luo Yan really didn't want Hua Li to sell the bracelet, but the mother and daughter were truly destitute, and if they didn't sell it, they wouldn't even be able to afford food.
Alas, even a hero can be brought down by a single penny.
Luo Yan nodded. "Yan Yan is a good girl."
The more obedient her daughter was, the more guilty Hua Li felt. She wiped away her tears, got up, and went out.
"Comrade Hua Li..."
Hua Li turned around and saw that it was Liu Jingqiu, and immediately frowned.
"What's up?"
Liu Jingqiu held An Xiaotong's hand, her eyes filled with hatred that seemed to pierce through Hua Li.
"Please, please spare my daughter and me so we can live."
After Hua Li left, Liu Jingqiu also took leave and went home to bring An Xiaotong to find Hua Li, in order to force Hua Li to give up on getting his wages back.
Liu Jingqiu suddenly knelt down in front of her house with An Xiaotong, leaving Hua Li at a loss for how to respond.
“Say what you have to say, stand up and say it. What kind of behavior is this?”
Liu Jingqiu knew that Hua Li was shy, so she decided to make a scene in public.
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