Chapter 4

Tang Yanhua almost never went out.

Children his age usually liked to run around, but Tang Yanhua was an exception.

He looked like an ordinary child at home and was very naughty, but he actually had a strange illness and was afraid of meeting people.

The reason was that when he was three years old, he had a conflict with the villagers when he went back to Tang Huaijin.

At that time, the brigade was arguing about the private plot of land. Several villagers surrounded Tang Huaijin with sticks, hoes, and iron shovels.

Tang Yanhua was nearby and heard the argument. He saw someone hit his father's head with a hoe and blood gushed out.

At that time, the child was frightened. He screamed and fainted.

That night, he had a high fever and was in a coma for a few days.

The doctor came to see him and gave him injections, but it was useless. They only said that the child could not be saved. His mother cried her heart out.

Later, a neighbor said that he was possessed and introduced an old woman to help him perform the ritual. After three days, he recovered.

The Tang family still did not understand what happened to the child at that time.

They did not know the cause of the illness, so they believed in ghosts and gods.

Later, they found a doctor and said that he had a blood sickness.

There was such a disease?

The villagers had never heard of it. Usually, when his mother hurt her hand while cutting vegetables, he did not faint.

The doctor said that it had something to do with the amount of blood. His father had bled so much that a normal person would be scared when they saw it, let alone a child.

At that time, Tang Huaijin was seriously injured and was bedridden for a few months.

The person who hit him with a hoe went to jail, but Tang Huaijin did not end well.

This person had a bad temper when he was young, but after that incident, he restrained himself a lot.

Tang Yanhua, on the other hand, fell into a strange illness after that fright.

He did not want to go out and only wanted to play at home.

When there were no outsiders, he looked no different from a normal child. But when there were outsiders at home, he would hide and refuse to see them.

Usually, he would not go to the village to play. When others asked him, he would not speak.

He was extremely shy. Other than his family, he did not communicate with outsiders at all.

He did not have any friends. All he did was rummage through the cupboards and drawers at home and play with his poker cards.

Seeing him like this, his parents were very worried, but they didn't know what to do. Seeing that he was healthy and lively, and was quite clever at home, they could only let him be.

Tang Yanhua held Cheng Cheng's hand as they walked in the village.

Along the way, they saw low mud walls, black tiles, and small mud houses scattered in picturesque disorder in the valley. Reflecting the green mountains, green trees, blue sky, and white clouds, there was a kind of extraordinarily tranquil and auspicious.

Tang Yanhua knew the names of these people.

He knew who had an old pear tree in front of their house, who had cats and dogs, who had sweet potatoes and potatoes.

After walking for a short while, they arrived at the center of the village. There was a large stone mill and a small open room without a door beside it. There was a machine inside. This was the place where the villagers grinded rice and flour.

He only heard lively cheers. It turned out that a group of children were throwing sandbags here.

When Cheng Cheng saw the children, he stopped walking and stared at them blankly. He wanted to see what they were doing.

Tang Yanhua didn't have any friends in the village, so these children ignored him when they saw him.

He was afraid of these people, so he pulled Cheng Cheng forward and said, "Let's go, aren't you looking for Mom?"

When Cheng Cheng saw that they were playing, he immediately forgot about his mother.

She didn't go and stopped walking. She stared blankly at the group of children throwing sandbags. This made Tang Yanhua so anxious that his face turned red. He pulled her hand as if she was pulling a cow's nose rope. "Let's go, you're not allowed to play."

Cheng Cheng shook his head, pinched his throat, and hummed, "Mm ~ ~ No ~"

This annoying demon!

Tang Yanhua said, "What are you doing? Let's go!"

Cheng Cheng said, "I'm just looking."

The group of children quickly noticed the two siblings standing there. They heard the children ask each other, "Who are they?"

One child said, "It's Tang Yanhua!"

Another child said, "I don't know. Who's Tang Yanhua?"

"His father is Tang Huaijin."

"His father is Tang Huaijin?

Then let's not play with him!

My dad said that we're not allowed to play with the Tang family! "

"Ignore them."

"But they're still watching."

"It's okay, let them watch."

When Tang Yanhua heard this, he was so angry that his nose became crooked.

Who wants to play? I don't want to play with you!

She forcefully pulled Cheng Cheng away, but who knew that Cheng Cheng would be mesmerized and would not leave no matter what, insisting on staying.

Tang Yanhua ordered, "Hurry up and leave. I said we're not playing."

Cheng Cheng said, "I want to play."

One of the little boys saw Cheng Cheng and said, "Who is she?"

Another answered, "She's Tang Yanhua's younger sister."

That little boy was so bad that he actually suggested to his friends, "Let's ask her to come over and play. We don't want her brother to come over."

After he said that, one of them called out to Cheng Cheng, "Come over here, we'll take you to play."

Cheng Cheng was happy and immediately wanted to go over.

Tang Yanhua was so angry that he stopped Cheng Cheng. "Don't go. I'll take you to play when we get home."

Cheng Cheng said, "No, I want to play with them."

He shook off Tang Yanhua's hand and ran over to play with the group of children like a duckling joining a flock of ducks.

Tang Yanhua went out for no reason and even suffered such a great humiliation. He was so angry that he just wanted to leave.

He walked for more than ten meters with his head down and thought to himself, 'I'm leaving. Let's see if you'll chase after me.' However, Cheng Cheng did not chase after him even after walking a long distance. He turned around and saw that the little boy was coaxing him to eat chestnuts. This made Tang Yanhua so angry!

However, she was afraid that Cheng Cheng would get into danger or get lost while playing with the children he did not know. She swallowed her anger and turned back. She shouted unhappily, "We'll leave after playing for a while. Don't you want to look for Mom?"

Cheng Cheng finally came back to his senses when he heard Tang Yanhua mention his mother.

After playing for a while, he was finally pulled away by Tang Yanhua reluctantly.

Before he left, the little boy called out to him, "Let's play together next time. I'll bring you chestnuts tomorrow." Cheng Cheng agreed in a childish voice, "Okay."

Tang Yanhua said, "Don't eat other people's food. What if there's rat poison in it?"

Cheng Cheng said, "Chestnuts are delicious. There's no rat poison in them."

How clever.

Tang Yanhua said, "You're not loyal at all.

We're in the same group. They're in the same group. Don't you understand?

They don't want me, but you still want to play with them. "

It would be strange if Cheng Cheng understood. He was still savoring the taste of the chestnuts.

He had never eaten chestnuts before. Why were they so delicious?

He still wanted to eat more.

Tang Yanhua said, "Talking to you is like playing the lute to a cow!"

There were not many people in the village. It was daytime, and the team members had all gone to work.

After walking along a yellow dirt road for half an hour, they saw a lot of farmland.

In broad daylight, the fields were full of farmers who were bending over to work.

Tang Yanhua walked quickly with her head lowered, afraid to greet anyone.

After crossing a terraced field and climbing up a hill, they saw a large dam pond. Many people were working here.

Some were carrying hoes, some were carrying dustpans, and some were carrying baskets.

Some were resting, some were digging, and some were carrying the soil.

Tang Yanhua looked around and found his mother. His mother was bending over to pick soil at the bottom of the dam pond with a few women.

Tang Yanhua called out, "Mom."

When Cheng Cheng saw his mother, he was elated. He danced around and smiled so widely that his eyes could not be seen.

When the women saw the children, some of them joked, "Whose children are these?

They look so obedient. "Some of them asked all sorts of questions.

Tang Yanhua blushed and did not know how to respond. Just as he was feeling awkward, his mother came over and said, "Why are the two of you here?

It's so hot outside. Don't get a heatstroke. "

Tang Yanhua said with a red face, "It's not me. It's my sister who wants to come."

Cheng Cheng sat in his mother's arms and wanted to be hugged. He said pitifully, "You didn't even tell me that you were leaving in the morning. I thought you didn't want me anymore.

Mom, you were really working. "

Tang Huaijin's wife wiped her tears with her muddy hands. "Nonsense.

If I wasn't working, would it be fake?

Mom just left for a while and you started crying. "

Cheng Cheng said, "Then why didn't you tell me when you left?

You told me all this before. "

Tang Huaijin's wife's clothes were soaked in sweat. Her face was dark from the sun and her wrinkles were full of mud. "Mom left early. You were still sleeping."

Cheng Cheng said sadly, "You should have told me. Otherwise, I would have thought that you were gone. I would have been scared."

Tang Huaijin's wife wiped her sweat and said, "Okay, I'll tell you later.

I'll tell you when I go to take a dump or pee. I'll tell you when I leave for ten minutes. "

Cheng Cheng wanted to hug her. Her mother was covered in mud. How could she hug her? She asked if she was thirsty.

Cheng Cheng said that she was thirsty. Tang Yanhua poured her a cup of warm water with the lid of the kettle and let her drink it, fulfilling her wish to see her mother.

Cheng Cheng made sure that her mother was working and not secretly abandoned her. Only then did she happily go home with Tang Yanhua.

At noon, they had lunch at Wang Yaopo's house.

Wang Yaopo was the Tang family's neighbor. She was old and had no children, so she could not work.

Tang Huaijin's wife took good care of her. There were no old people in the family, so she took care of her like an old person. Every month, she would bring her some rice, flour, and oil. When she was sick, she would help her find a doctor.

Wang Yaopo usually helped the Tang family watch the door, feed the pigs, and take care of the children.

This Wang Yaopo really treated Tang Yanhua and his sister like her own grandchildren.

She was old and raised a pig by herself. If she had no food, she would feed it some pigweed. She only raised about a hundred catties of pigs a year. After killing them, she would make some bacon.

Tang Yanhua and Cheng Cheng went to eat. Wang Yaopo steamed white rice and cooked a strip of bacon. She did not stir-fry it, but directly cut it into thin slices and put it on a plate. She steamed it on top of the rice. It was red and fresh, fragrant, and shiny.

Cheng Cheng looked at it and drooled. "Brother, I'm drooling."

Tang Yanhua said, "I'm drooling too."

Although Wang Yaopo was old, she was not idle. She cleaned the house and the yard all day long. There was not even a blade of grass or a single leaf in the yard.

There was a rattan tree planted by the wall of the yard. It had a history of more than a hundred years. The roots of the tree were very thick. The rattan trees covered the wall and bloomed all over the yard.

The dining table was placed under the rattan tree. There was no sunlight during the day. When the wind blew, it was dark and cool, and the smell was fragrant.

Wang Yaopo kept putting bacon in Yanhua and Cheng Cheng's bowls. "Eat, eat. Grandma made it especially for you two.

I raise a pig alone. How can I finish it? Every year, I kill half of the pork and give it to your mother.

I'm old and can't chew meat, so I give it to the baby. "

"Fortunately, your parents are here."