Stepmother Reborn: Dad, my mom hasn't hit me for three days

Zhang Xiuhua walked up to the little girl, bent down to greet her, and as not to scare the child, she showed the most beautiful smile of her life.

The little girl was about seven or eight years old and a little timid. When she saw a stranger approaching, she stepped back timidly, her black and white eyes full of vigilance.

Zhang Xiuhua stopped two meters away and took out two sorghum candies. The bright yellow wrapping paper immediately attracted the little girl's attention.

Perhaps because she was young, no one had taught her to be wary of strangers. When she was sure that Zhang Xiuhua was going to give her the candy, she quickly snatched the candy away, fearing that Zhang Xiuhua would go back on her word.

"What's your name?"

"Zhao Di."

Zhang Xiuhua asked her which village she was from.

Zhaodi pointed to a village not far away, "Meihua Village."

Zhang Xiuhua was delighted that this girl could actually speak Mandarin.

She thought so and asked, but Zhaodi disagreed, "My teacher taught me that when I was in first grade."

When she said this, a trace of loneliness flashed across her face.

Zhang Xiuhua guessed that she must have dropped out of school. She pointed at the candy in her hand and said, "Who in your village has two sons? The older one is seven years old. The younger one is two years old."

Zhaodi thought for a long time and answered, "I know, Hongbing's family. Hongbing's brother is two years old."

"What row and what number does he live in?" Zhang Xiuhua's heart was almost beating in her throat as she waited for the other party to answer.

Unexpectedly, Zhaodi kept silent. She looked her up and down with vigilant eyes, "Are you a bad person?!"

"No. That older boy is my nephew. He was bought by that family. They treated him badly." Zhang Xiuhua was afraid that she would have psychological problems at such a young age, so she said, "If you don't believe me, you can ask him if his name is Jidong. But you must ask secretly. If his adoptive parents find out, they will definitely beat him. You may also be implicated."

In her previous life, Jidong had always wanted to find her relatives, but at that time she had married and moved to another province, and she went out to work. When Jidong came to her house, Xu Dayong rejected her because she was dressed too shabby, and he even didn't tell her about it. She didn't know until they met again later. Otherwise, why did she hate Xu Dayong so much?

Zhaodi was in a dilemma, her brows were almost twisted into a knot. After a long time, she got up from the ground, picked up the sickle and wanted to leave.

Zhang Xiuhua was not willing to let go of such a good opportunity. "If you tell me which row and which room that family lives in, I will give you five dollars. I keep my word. This candy is the deposit. I will never regret it."

In fact, she should have spent less and given only one or two yuan. But she only had one chance. If the child thought the money was too little and was not interested, and told the villagers about it, she would never be able to take Jidong away. So she gave five yuan. She had read a sentence in the newspaper before: "If there is a 100% profit, the capitalists will take risks; if there is a 200% profit, the capitalists will defy the law; if there is a 300% profit, the capitalists will trample on everything in the world." In fact, this sentence still works for ordinary people. People will take risks for high returns, but they will not take risks for small profits.

Zhaodi was stunned. Zhang Xiuhua continued to persuade her, "With money, you can go to school. You can also buy your favorite food. You see other children are playing hide-and-seek in the village, but you are the only one cutting grass for pigs in the hot sun. Do you think it's fair?"

How could such a young child have seen money? Five dollars is a huge sum of money in the eyes of many adults, not to mention a little girl. You know, her tuition for one semester is only one dollar and thirty cents. Zhaodi couldn't believe it, "Really?"

"Really." Zhang Xiuhua took out a banknote and showed it to her.

Perhaps the temptation of money was too great, Zhaodi didn't think for long and finally agreed. But to be on the safe side, she had to ask Hongbing first.

Although this child is young, his IQ is not low at all. Zhang Xiuhua recalled that when she was eight years old, she seemed to only know how to catch fish behind her big brother.

Zhaodi asked Zhang Xiuhua to wait for her here. She carried the basket and walked back to the village along the path.

Zhang Xiuhua returned to the main road and told Li Jianguo what had just happened.

Li Jianguo glanced in the direction of Zhaodi and saw only a small dot. He was a little worried, "Will this child tell the adults?"

"I told you again and again not to tell the adults." Zhang Xiuhua smiled bitterly, "I can only rely on her now. If she is unreliable, I will call the police."

After much thought, Li Jianguo had no choice but to believe it.

The two stood on the roadside waiting until their legs and feet were numb, and people passing by would look at them curiously.

Afraid of being suspected by these people, the two of them could only follow the girl's example and go to the rice field to pick pig grass.

When the pig grass had piled up into a small hill, Zhaodi finally arrived. She almost trotted back, her dark face flushed, and she was breathing heavily.

She knelt on the ground and reminded them quietly, "Hongbing asked me to tell you something. He will sneak out at night. You can wait for him at the entrance of the village."

Zhang Xiuhua was stunned for a moment, and then she was filled with great joy.

She was just thinking that if the girl told her the address, she would secretly bring the person out in the middle of the night. Unexpectedly, Jidong had already made a plan.

Zhang Xiuhua gave Zhaodi five yuan and told her, "Don't tell anyone. If you tell others about this, they will ask your parents for compensation, and then you won't be able to go to school."

"But if I don't give the money to my parents, they won't let me go to school." Zhaodi hesitated.

"After a while, tell them that you found five yuan." Zhang Xiuhua immediately gave her advice. At that time, farmers were poor, and there were only a few people who returned lost money. Moreover, parents who favored sons over daughters could not do good deeds.

Zhaodi thought about it carefully and felt that her idea had the least risk as she would not get beaten and still be able to go to school.

Zhang Xiuhua stuffed the pig grass she had just picked into her basket and repeatedly reminded her not to tell anyone.

Zhaodi nodded and agreed.

Because they were going to pick up their nephew in the evening, Zhang Xiuhua and Li Jianguo hurried back to town first.

They came back at an inopportune time, as it was past mealtime. Fortunately, Zheng Ping had bought them some buns in advance.

Zhang Xiuhua explained the situation to Zheng Ping while eating buns.

Zheng Ping immediately said, "Then I'll go buy the train ticket this afternoon, pick up the child, and then we'll leave. There are also tickets for the evening train here."

He was afraid that the longer the night went, the more trouble he would have, especially since the village was very united. If the whole village was mobilized to look for him, he would also be implicated.

His idea was exactly what she wanted, and Zhang Xiuhua nodded decisively, "Okay. Let's do as you say."

She gave Zheng Ping thirty yuan and looked at Li Jianguo, "Are you going home directly, or are you going back with us?"

Li Jianguo thought for a moment and said, "Let's go back to your village. I have something else to do."

Zhang Xiuhua nodded. She finally understood that Li Jianguo came to Muxi County specifically to help her. Because when she was waiting for Zhaodi, she made small talk and asked him where his home was.

He said he was in the northeast. But Muxi County is in the south. If he really came to see his comrades, how could he go back? And he came to Muxi County, but he didn't go to see his comrades. Does this mean that he is interested in her? Or does he just want to do good things?

It shouldn't be a good person or a good thing, right? She didn't come alone. There was also Zheng Ping.

Could it be that he was interested in her? She was not bragging, her appearance was in line with the aesthetics of the time, with big eyes, double eyelids, a slightly dark skin, but relatively fair among rural women, and black hair in two big braids, which everyone was happy to look at.

Her thoughts were in turmoil until Li Jianguo suddenly interrupted, "I'm going to meet my comrades later and will be back in two hours."

Zhang Xiuhua: “…”

It turned out that she was just being sentimental. He really came to see his comrades.

Two hours later, when Li Jianguo came back on his bicycle, she was even more certain that she was being too sentimental. Bicycles these days are like BMWs and Mercedes-Benzes thirty years later. If you don't trust someone very much, you won't lend them out.

"Let's go! We'll go pick them up on our bikes. By the time they find us, we'll have already run far away."

Zhang Xiuhua burst out laughing, "You are really thoughtful!"

She just felt a little embarrassed that he owed her a favor. When they returned to the village, she would definitely cook a delicious meal to express her gratitude.