The bungalow in front of the family compound was the house of a young widow. Her husband was also an employee of a textile factory.

Later, her husband died of illness. She didn't like working anymore, so she bought some Pai Gow, Changpai, and Mahjong, and started a business of providing card games for people to play.

She had a bad reputation, and the women in the family compound hated their men playing cards there.

But who could control it?

As soon as Chuxia approached the bungalow, she could smell the strong smell of smoke coming from inside, and the voices of various men talking excitedly.

The door was not locked, so Chuxia pushed it open and went in.

She hasn't recovered yet, and her face looks pale and thin, a little scary. When people first see her, the first thing they notice is not her appearance, but whether she has a serious illness.

People who play cards just love playing cards. They get so engrossed in the game that they don't care who comes in. When they look up and see that it's not their own wife, they lower their heads and continue to play happily.

There were only five or six tables of people in the yard. Chuxia saw her eldest brother at a glance. He had lost his cowardly look at home. He was smoking a cigarette, staring at the cards in his hand with red eyes, and looked crazy, just like a gambler.

If this was a big casino, he would be the kind of person who gambled without reason and lost everything.

Chuxia walked over and patted Brother Luo on the shoulder: "Brother."

Brother Luo was startled when he heard Luo Chuxia's voice. He looked up and asked in horror: "Chuxia? Why are you here?"

He quickly looked at the door and breathed a sigh of relief when he didn't see his mother and wife.

Then he said impatiently: "What are you doing here? If you have something to say, go find our mom."

"Brother, the house."

Chu Xia said just this sentence, and Brother Luo could not play cards anymore.

He lowered his head irritably: "Second sister, what on earth do you want to do?"

"Are you sure you want me to talk here?"

Chu Xia looked at him with a smile, and then looked at the expressions of the men around the table who were ready to gossip. Brother Luo stood up with a wave of his hand.

"I have something to do today, so I won't play anymore. Let's settle the money. You go wait for me outside."

Chu Xia nodded and walked out, making sure he would come out, but she didn't walk far, just stood at the door and watched.

Just then she saw Widow Yang coming out with a thermos bottle, walking gracefully, with a gentle smile on her face, the look that men like the most.

Chu Xia thought: No wonder she is able to make a living and no one bothers her. Widow Yang is obviously not an ordinary woman.

But this has nothing to do with her.

But the next second, Chu Xia took back her thoughts.

Widow Yang walked up to Brother Luo and asked with a smile: "Brother Luo, why are you leaving so early today?"

Brother Luo actually put away his temper in an instant, and said with a simple smile: "Second sister has something to ask me."

"Then have a cup of tea before you leave. It's just cooled down, and there are tea leaves in it."

When Brother Luo took the tea from Widow Yang's hand, he held her hand and touched it, which earned a charming glare from Widow Yang.

Brother Luo drank the tea in one gulp, and the smile on his face never fell.

Chu Xia: This Brother Luo is still a two-faced person. He is cowardly and weak at home, and looks like he has no ideas at all. He was out flirting with the young widow.

But it was normal. The more honest a man is, the more dishonest he may be.

But this matter was good for her, and it was another handle.

Chuxia didn't have to wait long before Brother Luo came out. As soon as he left the card room, he put on his honest and cowardly face again.

"Second sister, it's useless to come to me. I don't have a penny."

"Then you have money to play cards? Big brother, you are using this to coax a three-year-old child. Where is the TV I want?"

Big brother Luo's body stiffened: "Dad didn't let me send it."

Chuxia looked nonchalant: "I am barefoot and I am not afraid of those who wear shoes. At most, I will go to your factory director and I can still get the things back, and I can also make you lose your house!"

Big brother Luo definitely wants to get a share of the house. There are so many people living in the small house of 70 square meters at home, and there is no place to turn over at night.

If he doesn't get a share of the house, his wife will quarrel at home every day, and he also wants to sleep with his wife happily.

His mother said that the relationship has been found, and he will definitely get it this time.

But if you make trouble in early summer and your reputation is ruined, even if you have good connections, people won't give you points, or they will complain to the union saying it's unfair.

Who doesn't want to be assigned a room? If you catch a little evidence, they can force you to lose your place.

As soon as Chu Xia mentioned this, Brother Luo was frightened: "Okay, I'll go home and ask Dad."

"Wait." Chu Xia stopped him: "Brother, is Widow Yang's tea delicious?"

Brother Luo was confused: "What are you talking about?"

"Is it better than my blood? If sister-in-law knew that you gave money to Widow Yang."

"Don't talk nonsense, I didn't!"

"I saw it. Do you think sister-in-law believes you or me?"

Brother Luo really wanted to cry. No matter whether his wife believed it or not, his wife would make a fuss as soon as Chu Xia mentioned it, because his wife hated him coming here the most, and hated Widow Yang the most.

"Second sister! What else do you want?"

"Money. I don't care what you do, just ask our mother for it. Today I want to watch TV, and there is a hundred yuan of yours in the refrigerator."

After that, Chu Xia left, leaving Brother Luo with a painful face.

He has some private money in his pocket, but where can he get a hundred? Second sister is going to make it very difficult for him!

But if he goes home and asks his mother for it, she should give it to him.

Chuxia is sure that Brother Luo has money in his pocket. He earns a lot of money every month, and sometimes he also gets subsidies. Even if he hands it in every month, he will keep some private money.

And Wang Yulan also loves her two sons, and gives them some from time to time, so Brother Luo can come to play cards often.

Chuxia doesn't know whether he has given money to Widow Yang, but this does not affect her using this as a handle to ask him for money.

One hundred yuan sounds like a lot, but for Brother Luo, he can definitely make up the money, and at most it will just make him feel distressed for a while.

Chuxia achieved her goal, and did not stay outside for long, and went home directly.

It was too hot outside, and she had just bought enough food at home, so she might as well go home and read a book.

Who knew that when she got home, she would find that her door was locked, and Cen Huaian was not at home!

Chu Xia was so scared that her heart almost stopped, and she felt panic for the first time.

She was not afraid even to ask Wang Yulan for money, but now she really felt her legs weak.

Chu Xia herself did not expect that after only ten days of getting along, Cen Huaian had become so important in her heart.

She tried hard to control her emotions, took a few deep breaths, and asked the neighbors one by one if they had seen Cen Huaian.

Fortunately, she got good news that he ran away by himself, and no one else took him away.

Chu Xia was also panicked, who would lock the door after kidnapping a child.

Although she knew that Cen Huaian had gone out to play, Chu Xia was still worried and looked for him in the courtyard.

After searching for a while and not finding Cen Huaian, Chu Xia became even more panicked.

Where could he go when he was only five years old? Besides, he had promised not to leave the courtyard.

Chu Xia could not care less and asked the neighbors to help her look for him.

Some people thought that Chu Xia was making a big fuss.

"Chuxia, it's normal for a child to run around. There are textile factories and family compounds nearby. The child can't run far."

"Yes, he should be back by dinner time."

Chuxia shook her head: "If he was seven or eight years old, I wouldn't worry. He's only five years old, so small. If there is a cripple, he won't have the strength to fight!"

Sister Li patted her hands. She could feel Chuxia's fear. Chuxia's hands were shaking.

"We have strength in numbers. Don't worry. An'an is a smart child. He used to run around. He will be fine."

After searching all the family compounds nearby, Chuxia finally heard some news from a mother-in-law in another family compound.

"I didn't see the child you were talking about, but I did see a group of homeless children wearing tattered clothes picking up scraps behind the paper mill."

Cen Huaian's clothes were clean now, so Chu Xia felt that the Cen Huaian her mother-in-law was talking about didn't exist.

But with only this piece of news, she thought she should go to the back of the paper mill to take a look.

At this point, Chu Xia didn't remember how long she had been running. She was weak to begin with, and she had long since lost her strength, and her legs were numb from walking.

She could continue to look for Cen Huaian purely because of the anger in her heart.

Chu Xia didn't hold out hope, but when she really saw Cen Huaian among a group of rag-picking children, she felt angry, happy, and sad, with mixed feelings in her heart, and she was completely out of strength.

"Cen Huaian!"

She sat down on the pile of scraps.

Behind the paper mill is the paper mill's garbage dump.

In the entire Liangzhou Central District, the six largest factories are textile factories, but there are also many small factories, such as the paper mill that Chuxia is looking for now. There

is also the tractor factory where Luo Chuming works, as well as the beer factory and the steel factory.

The garbage behind the paper mill is the favorite place for garbage collectors. As long as the paper mill has unqualified scraps, they will dump them here.

Papers are big and small, and there are adults and children picking up scraps. Everyone is busy picking up, and it depends on who is faster.

When Cen Huaian heard his mother's voice, his first reaction was that he had heard it wrong.

But Chuxia called again, and he turned around and saw Chuxia sitting on the pile of scraps.

The tattered sack in his hand slipped down, and he quickly tightened it, his mind going blank.

After a few seconds of being stunned, Cen Huaian finally reacted. His mother knew that he was picking up rags and came to find him!

His first reaction was not whether he would be beaten, but whether his mother would still let him pick up rags in the future.

Brother Bang pushed Cen Huaian: "Is that really your mother?"

Cen Huaian held the sack tightly and nodded.

Brother Bang made a "tsk" sound, looked at Chu Xia for a few times, and hurried to pick up rags again.

It is not easy to come across such a large amount of good waste paper, you have to pick it up quickly, otherwise if too many people come, it will be gone. Nothing is more important than making money!

Cen Huaian hesitated for a while between picking up the scraps and going to find Chuxia. Seeing that Chuxia's face was getting uglier and uglier, he still dragged the sack laboriously and walked in front of Chuxia.

Seeing Cen Huaian's pitiful look, who was reluctant to put down the scraps he had picked up, most of her anger was extinguished, and she felt more uncomfortable.

But she was still angry.

Chuxia suppressed her emotions, looked at his sack and asked, "Is it heavy?"

Cen Huaian: "Heavy."

"How much can these be sold for?"

"A few cents."

Cen Huaian secretly went to see Chuxia. She didn't scold him or hit him. It was like there was a small ball hidden in his heart, beating "bang bang bang" and couldn't stop.

"How long have you been doing this? Last time you said you were going out to play, you were also going to come here?"