As they were talking, they arrived at the Jiang family’s house.
The Jiang family’s house was built next to the mountain and was adjacent to the He family’s house.
But now, it had already been fenced off to become one family.
This was decided by the team leader.
The team leader took pity on He Nian and He Yi, two young orphans without any relatives, and the Jiang family who adopted them. Even the He family’s house was included in the arrangement and given to the Jiang family.
Huo Xingchao thought for a moment.
It seemed that when the Jiang family divided their property later, the He family’s house was also distributed to their own family, without leaving anything for He Nian and He Yi.
They said they would live there first, and when they grew up, they would build them a new brick house.
He Nian did not express her opinion because she was young and Grandma Jiang did not tell her many things. Mother Huo did not say anything either.
So she was completely unaware of how much “support money” Grandfather Huo in the city had given the Jiang family over the past two years.
In her heart, Grandma Jiang was the kind-hearted person who adopted her and her brother. She provided them with food to eat, paper and pen for school fees, and new clothes every year. They were treated better than Jiang’s own children.
Although she was heartbroken about the two houses, she still felt that she should not do such an “ungrateful” thing.
Therefore, usually, she always responded to Jiang Xiaxia’s requests and rarely refused.
……
As they pushed open the wooden door and walked in, they smelled the fragrance of the food. There seemed to be the aroma of meat, and the smoke from the stove was faintly penetrating into their noses.
Jiang Xiaxia immediately showed excitement on her face.
It was because it was Chinese New Year now, and the team should have distributed pork.
Huo Xingchao looked around.
The houses were built of mud, and there were several rows of large stones that interlocked under the earth wall next to the door. The small wooden shed leaning against the wall was filled with chopped wood and firewood, and the second daughter-in-law of the Jiang family was washing clothes in the courtyard.
When she saw them, she quickly smiled and greeted them, then wiped her hands on her clothes and led them inside.
“Mom, Shuyue is here, and she brought Xingchao!”
“Wow, Xingchao is here too! Come in quickly. Grandma will make you a dish of twice-cooked pork for lunch.”
Grandma Jiang voice was full of smiles inside.
The kitchen was right behind the door.
As soon as Uncle Jiang entered the house, he scooped up a ladle of water from the water tank and drank it loudly.
Grandma Jiang glared at him, then smiled and brought two cups of tea.
A few tea leaves were put in Mother Huo’s cup, while Huo Xingchao’s had sugar water.
“Xingchao, there are fruits on the table. Don’t be polite, take some to eat.”
Huo Xingchao thanked Grandma Jiang politely.
Xingchao?
He Yi, who was sitting behind the stove, concentrating on baking sweet potatoes, heard the sound and looked up. When he saw Huo Xingchao standing at the door, he immediately put down his tongs and ran over with his short legs.
“Xingchao gege! Why are you here?”
He Yi is three years old this year and is at the age of being mischievous and playful.
Previously, Grandma Jiang took him to the city once.
Although Huo Xingchao is rough, he is most afraid of his grandfather.
His grandfather’s top concern is his old comrades’ two grandchildren. Even if Huo Xingchao dares to speak loudly to He Nian and He Yi, he will be spanked by his grandfather.
Therefore, when He Yi comes to the city, he is treated like an ancestor, walking around with a doll in his arms, and all his pocket money is spent on buying snacks for him.
So, even though they only had a short half-day of interaction, in He Yi’s young heart, Huo Xingchao was the best person aside from his sister.
Excitedly, he ran over and hugged his thigh.
“Brother Xingchao, I roasted sweet potatoes, do you want to eat?”
Huo Xingchao did not respond, but dug into his backpack and handed him a jar of fruit candy.
There aren’t many candy jars these days. This jar of fruit candy was brought by his aunt when she married to the provincial capital.
The transparent glass bottle contained colorful candies, looking very beautiful.
At least He Yi was amazed, opening his mouth wide and staring with excitement.
“Can, can I have them all?”
Huo Xingchao nodded generously.
“All for you.”
The child held the candy can, unable to contain his joy, and even forgot about the sweet potato he was roasting.
But before the candy can had a chance to warm up in his hands, it was taken away by his sister.
The little girl looked serious.
“Little Yi, if you eat too much candy, you’ll ruin your teeth. Give it to me, and I’ll give you one each day.”
……
At this age, children have no self-control when it comes to eating and playing with things. If He Nian didn’t hold him back, he could easily finish the whole can of candy in a week.
He Yi pouted, but when he looked at his sister’s serious gaze, he didn’t retort.
His little head drooped.
Huo Xingchao crouched down and whispered to him.
“It’s okay to leave it with your sister. But if she gives your candy to someone else, you have to remember to cry. Next time you come to the city, I’ll speak up for you.”
“Especially Jiang Xiaxia, the glutton. You must not let her coax your sister. If she starts eating, she won’t leave you with even one candy. Do you understand?”
“This sentence makes a lot of sense.”
He Yi immediately nodded, looking cautiously at his candy jar, and then grinned at Jiang Xiaxia next to him.
He looked like a wolf protecting his food.
Unfortunately, although they were whispering, the kitchen was so small that everyone who should have heard it did hear it.
Jiang Xiaxia had already been upset by Huo Xingchao’s previous fierce appearance and was on the verge of tears now.
Mother Huo cleared her throat and kicked her son, glaring at him.
“Go play somewhere else, stop fooling around here!”
Huo Xingchao wasn’t upset and smilingly took He Yili’s hand. “Come on, I have something good for you.”
He Yi’s eyes lit up, and he pulled him towards his own room.
However, the boy didn’t forget to tug on He Nian’s sleeve before leaving.
“Don’t play with your broken rock, I brought something else for you.”
Jiang Xiaxia was left alone in place.
But she looked at their three figures for a while, hesitated, and finally couldn’t help it, running after them.
…
Grandma Jiang chuckled, “They’re just kids joking around. They actually get along well.”
“Yes, this kid Xingchao is sometimes happy and sometimes sad. Luckily Xiaxia doesn’t argue with him.”
Mother Huo agreed for a while and then asked in surprise, “By the way, where are Anhua, Anye and the others? Why haven’t we seen them?”
Grandma Jiang had three sons.
The oldest had three children. The eldest son Anhua was two years older than Huo Xingchao, but because he started school late, he was in the same grade as Huo Xingchao in junior high school.
The only daughter Jiang Xiaxia was about the same age as He Nian. And coincidentally, the youngest son An Ye was the same age as He Yi.
The second son also had three children, but they were all girls. Because of this, Grandma Jiang didn’t like her daughter-in-law very much.
As for the third son, he got married two years ago.
His wife was now seven months pregnant and sitting next to the table chatting with Mother Huo.
When she heard the question, she smiled and replied, “They went out to play. They will come back to eat when it’s time for lunch.”
“That’s good. I prepared red envelopes for them…”
…
Adults were chatting in the kitchen, and He Yi, with his short little legs, eagerly dragged him into his own room.
He now lives with his sister.
In the room, there is a not-too-big-not-too-small bed, a severely damaged cabinet, and a small stool.
A nail is nailed to the wall, with a backpack hanging on it.
Other than that, there is nothing else.
He Yi reached out to open the cabinet. The cabinet was not locked, but because his hands were too short, he couldn’t open it and could only turn his head to ask his brother, Huo Xingchao, for help.
Huo Xingchao opened it for him and casually asked, “What do you want to take?”
“I want to put the candy jar in there! I want to lock it up!”
Helpless, He Nian could only hand over the candy jar while He Yi wached with eager and vigilant eyes.
There were not many things inside the cabinet.
Just a few clothes and socks, a small box, a few stones, and some other miscellaneous things that look particularly worthless.
The small cabinet seemed unusually empty.
Huo Xingchao immediately raised his eyebrows. “Is this all you have?”
He Nian didn’t understand why he suddenly got angry and hesitated, “What’s wrong?”
“What about the things my grandfather asked me to bring to you?”
The boy frowned and sounded very dissatisfied.
“And my mother, the Jiang family comes to collect things every month. Money, cloth and tickets. Did they give it all to the dogs?”
He Nian didn’t understand his meaning for a moment, and forgot to close the cabinet door, just standing there.
But He Yi, who only partially understood, looked up curiously and asked, “Brother Xingchao, did the dog eat what you brought us? Was there a lot?”
Huo Xingchao snorted, “Enough to fill this cabinet.”
…
He widened his eyes and stomped his feet, very angry.
“Whose dog is this? How can it be so bad!”
At this point, He Nian finally realized and was surprised, “Did Grandfather Huo send us things every month?”
“What do you think? We give so much money and tickets to the Jiang family every month. Why do you think they want to raise you two? Can they afford it?”
…
In fact, at the beginning, the Jiang family only adopted He Nian and He Yi out of guilt.
But Huo Xingchao felt that their hearts were already rotten, so he just turned things around and made it worse.
He Nian frowned and looked up at him, “Brother Xingchao, does your family really send them so much every month?”
Mm-hmm.
With just these two words, Huo Xingchao judged that in He Nian’s heart, the Jiang family wasn’t really that close to them.
So he simply nodded, “A lot.”
“Enough to raise two of me.”
…This sentence shocked He Nian too much.
She always thought that the Jiang family had kindly adopted her and her brother. For the past two years, she had been sharing her food with them.
So, even though she sometimes felt wronged, she endured it.
Because she thought it was the right thing to do, the least she could do to repay them.
But…
But now she was told that the people who had been supporting them all this time weren’t the Jiang family, but the Huo family.
And every month, Grandma Jiang goes to the city and brings back big and small packages of things, which she didn’t buy for herself but were asked by the Huo family to bring back for them.
Suddenly, something snapped in He Nian’s heart.
She felt like all the knowledge and impressions she had developed over the past few years were collapsing.
She stood there in a daze, unable to speak for a long time.
“He Nian, are you stupid?”
The young man frowned and waved his hand in front of her eyes.
“Wait for me, I’ll go ask them and make them return everything!”
“Brother Xingchao!”
The little girl immediately stopped him, her voice anxious. “You can’t go!”
Huo Xingchao stopped and turned around. “So much food, drink, clothes, and things were taken away like this, and they’re still pretending to be innocent. Don’t you feel heartbroken?”
“I… feel heartbroken,” the girl pursed her lips. “But I want to think about it myself.”
Her mind was still in chaos.
After all, He Nian was just an elementary school student who had not yet graduated.
Many things forced her to mature and think.
Today, Huo Xingchao’s few words had brought her too much shock.
She didn’t know how to react for a moment.
But no matter what.
“Brother Xingchao, thank you.”
The little girl bowed seriously. “Thank you for being so good to me and He Yi. I will repay you in the future.”
If all of this was true, she would definitely repay the Huo family.
……
The young man cleared his throat and patted her head.
His tone was arrogant. “You don’t need to repay us.”
“Your grandfather saved my grandfather’s life.”
“My grandfather said that even returning your life is just what we should do.”
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