Chapter 49

Chapter 49

Zhao Xuehai was physically subdued by his father and missed out on the drama of the second criticism meeting. However, he slept early and woke early, and his home was close to where the three red armbands were staying, so he managed to catch another, even bigger spectacle.

Early in the morning, the renovated house of the "five-guarantee household" echoed with pitiful howling and wailing. Zhao Yongjun, fearing something serious had happened, kicked the door open with a few commune members. Inside, they found the three men fighting each other.

Two had flushed faces, likely from fever, and one had feet swollen like radishes, couldn't get out of bed at all.

The door had been properly closed, so no one else could have gotten in. It had to be that the three of them had turned on each other.

After pulling them apart, the three continued to accuse each other, each suspecting they had been sabotaged by the others.

Zhao Yongjun didn't want to deal with their mess, but he couldn't just ignore them. He had no choice but to send someone trudging through the wind and snow to fetch the barefoot doctor from the neighboring brigade.

When the doctor arrived, he examined them: two had bad chills and were already feverish, and one had serious external injuries to his feet, so he couldn't walk for a while. He recommended sending them immediately to the commune clinic or the county hospital.

On such a heavy snowy day, none of the folks there wanted to take these three to the clinic. Soon, everyone came up with various excuses. Left with no choice, Zhao Yongjun had to fetch an ox cart himself, helped get the three onto it, and then accompany the cart to deliver them.

He did send someone to call for Shen Zhenxing, but the messenger was turned back halfway by Shen Zhenhua, who said his brother had been up all night worrying about the brigade's ideological and work-style issues and had just fallen asleep.

"Worrying about the brigade's ideological and work-style issues, my foot!" Zhao Yongjun thought, exasperated. Left with no choice, he set off 'alone.'

With the "five-fingered mountain" pressing down on them now gone, Zhao Xuehai, who had witnessed the whole scene, immediately rushed off excitedly to deliver the news to his friends.

"Hahaha, my mom says they did too many bad things and got what they deserved. It must be some spirit or immortal manifesting to teach them a lesson!" Zhao Xuehai laughed, hands on his hips. "Hmph, the folks in our Xiaodun Brigade aren't so easy to bully."

Shen Banyue, the 'great immortal': "..."

"You really are your mother's good son!" Wang Guizhi chuckled. "But don't say that to others outside. Someone might report your mom for promoting feudal superstition, and then she'd have to write a self-criticism again."

Zhao Xuehai waved a hand. "I won't say it. But I'm not afraid of self-criticism. At most, I'll go write one for my mom."

He drawled, "I deeply criticize myself for thinking it was a great immortal manifesting just because I saw bad people suffering." He even made a face.

Both adults and children couldn't help but laugh.

"Grandma Wang, will those people come back?" Lin Mian asked.

He frowned, his expression unusually worried. "Will they bring many people to hit others and steal things?"

Wang Guizhi patted his head. "Has Xiao Mian seen that before?"

Lin Mian hesitated, then nodded.

Wang Guizhi didn't ask where he had seen it. She just gave his head another pat and said, "I don't know about other brigades, but our brigade split off from the neighboring one years ago. There aren't any families with particularly bad class status here. Besides, everyone in the brigade is related in some way. If things really went too far, others wouldn't just stand by and watch." Hadn't they seen that all the accusations back and forth were based on rumors and trivial matters? Essentially, it was because no one truly wanted to drive anyone to ruin.

The children nodded, somewhat understanding, somewhat not.

"I guess they probably won't come back, at least not before the New Year. It's almost New Year's, after all," Wang Guizhi said with a smile.

The other parts might have been hard to grasp, but the children understood that the people they disliked wouldn't be coming back and that New Year was approaching. They immediately cheered up again, jabbering about going scavenging again after the snow stopped, selling it in a few days, and then buying things at the big market.

Children's minds change daily. Earlier, they had talked about saving money to buy a gift for their uncle. Now, thinking about New Year's, they wanted to buy food and toys again.

Wang Guizhi shook her head and let them chatter. She went to the clutter room to find a broken pot and a wooden stand to make a brazier. She shoveled ashes from the stove to line the bottom, then added some charcoal from the broken jar where they usually stored it. Only then did she carry it back to the room to start the fire.

Their location was right around the border between north and south, slightly to the south. There was no central heating in winter, so on cold days when people didn't go out, they relied on braziers for warmth.

This year, the cold had come late. This was the first time Wang Guizhi had brought out the brazier. Once the fire was lit, the room quickly warmed up.

Shen Banyue looked at the brazier and asked Wang Guizhi, "Grandma, shall we roast some sweet potatoes?"

Wang Guizhi smiled. "You're always full of ideas. Go get them."

She didn't need to go. The children had already scrambled up and rushed to the clutter room. They didn't just bring sweet potatoes; they also brought taro and potatoes. Xiao Dizi even carried back a plump, white radish.

"Oh my, what do you plan to do with this radish?"

Wang Guizhi laughed, slapping her thigh. Seeing Shen Dechang bury the sweet potatoes and other things under the charcoal, Xiao Dizi thrust the radish toward him. "Grandpa, roast radish!"

Shen Dechang: "..."

After thinking for a moment, the old man tried to fool Xiao Dizi. "There's no more room to bury it. Let's eat the sweet potatoes and these first. We'll roast this one later."

Xiao Dizi blinked, nodded her little head, her messy hair bouncing. "Eat sweet potato first. Xiao Dizi eat!"

Shen Dechang nodded repeatedly. "For you to eat. I'll give it to you once it's roasted." While the little one wasn't paying attention, he quietly hid the radish under the stool. Children forget easily. Once she didn't see the radish, she naturally wouldn't remember wanting to roast it.

"If only we had fish, we could eat grilled fish," Xiao Jie chattered. "Brother Xuehai said grilled fish is really delicious, crispy and fragrant. It's a pity we went digging for bamboo shoots that time and missed it."

Shen Banyue: "..."

That big mouth Zhao Xuehai!

Wang Guizhi asked curiously, "Grilled fish? When did you secretly eat grilled fish?"

Xiao Dizi licked her lips. "Grilled fish, yummy! Fragrant, yummy!"

With Wang Guizhi looking right at her, Shen Banyue thought for a moment and decided to confess honestly. "One time when we went to catch fish, we grilled two by the stream." She found an excuse for herself. "We got hungry from catching fish, and it's most fragrant when grilled fresh. We were very careful. We dug a pit right by the water to grill them. There definitely wasn't any problem."

Wang Guizhi shook her head, about to seize the opportunity to give these daring children a stern warning to tighten their discipline, when she suddenly heard someone calling from outside.

During the day, people in the brigade generally didn't lock their doors. But today was cold, with no one coming or going. After lunch, Wang Guizhi had bolted the door to prevent the northwest wind from constantly banging it.

Xiao Jie was the fastest, springing up immediately. "I'll open the door! I'll open the door!"

Shen Banyue listened carefully. There seemed to be quite a few people outside—the brigade leader's voice, Dai Xianghua's voice... In such heavy wind and snow, why had Dai Xianghua come to the brigade? Thinking this, she also stood up and walked out.

Wang Guizhi patted her pants and stood up to walk out as well, muttering as she went, "Don't tell me those three red armbands are causing more trouble? Do they really want to force us to eat chaff and swallow vegetables?"

Over there, Xiao Jie had already opened the door. This kid was a chatterbox. He launched right in: "Brigade Leader, you didn't sleep all night. Did you just wake up? Why are you with Uncle Dai? Uncle Dai, it's snowing so heavily! Why did you come to the brigade? And this uncle, I know you. Last time you came, you were with Xiao Zhuzi and Xiao Wei's parents. Then Xiao Zhuzi and Xiao Wei left..."

This kid had a glib tongue, speaking in rapid-fire bursts. He rattled on until here, then suddenly pursed his lips, looking somewhat dissatisfied. His gaze immediately shifted to another man he didn't recognize. "And who are you?"

Shen Zhenxing, who had "not slept all night and just woken up": "..."

Cadre Li, who had come last time to take Xiao Zhuzi and Xiao Wei away: "..."

Yes, last time it was him who accompanied Quan Bin and Zhang Xiaowei's parents. He hadn't expected this child to still remember.

The man whom Xiao Jie asked about had dark skin, a haggard face, a padded jacket covered in patches, pants that were too short, exposing bare ankles, and patched cotton shoes, the toes already soaked.

Under Xiao Jie's stare, he rubbed his hands nervously and said, "I... I'm here to find my son. My son's formal name is Gao Fei, his childhood name is Xiao Shitou."

Xiao Jie's eyes widened.

Shen Banyue, who had just walked over, paused in her steps and glanced at Wang Guizhi, who had also halted.

Wang Guizhi quickly stepped forward, first patting Xiao Jie's head, then smiling at the man. "Are you Xiao Shitou's father? Please come in! Cadre Li, Xianghua, you come in quickly too. Braving this wind and snow for the trip couldn't have been easy. Hurry inside and warm yourselves by the fire."

The others in the house had already heard the sound. Little Stone ran out of the room and stood under the eaves, watching the group of people entering the courtyard. He looked dazed and didn’t make a sound for a long time.

When the father saw Little Stone, he raised his hand to wipe his reddened eyes, his voice hoarse and trembling: “Stone, I’ve come for you!”

Little Stone blinked, as if he still couldn’t believe it. Only when the man walked up to him did he suddenly burst into tears and wailed, “Dad—”

The man stood there at a loss. Little Stone ran over and threw himself into the man’s arms: “Dad, Dad, why did it take you so long to come!”

The man reached out his hand, and after a long while, finally placed it on Little Stone’s head: “Yes, yes, it’s Dad’s fault, Dad came too late.”

After the father and son’s emotions had calmed down a bit, Wang Guizhi quickly ushered everyone inside.

Dai Xianghua plopped down and immediately started taking off his shoes: “My shoes and socks are all wet, just right for drying by the fire. Don’t mind my smelly feet!”

Not only did he dry his own feet, but he also said to Cadre Li: “Cadre Li, you should take yours off and warm them too. Don’t be shy, it’s not your first time here, just treat it like home. In this cold weather, wearing wet shoes will make you catch a cold later. And Brother Gao, your shoes are even wetter than ours, hurry up and warm them, warm them!”

Honestly, the old public security officer’s feet really did stink.

Xiao Dizi pinched her nose and said, her voice muffled, “Uncle, stinky.”

Shen Banyue scooped her up with one hand, snagged two small stools with the other, and moved to the spot farthest away from Dai Xianghua.

Dai Xianghua didn’t know whether to laugh or cry: “Hey, you two little girls, mine isn’t that bad, is it? You haven’t seen anyone smellier than me.”

Wang Guizhi chuckled and shook her head, got up, went to the storage room, and found a chipped enamel basin. She placed some firewood underneath, covered it thickly with stove ashes, brought it back to the room, used fire tongs to add some burning charcoal and wood, making a little fire in the basin. Then she shooed Dai Xianghua, Cadre Li, and Little Stone’s father to one side.

“You three can stink by yourselves, don’t bother others.”

With that, Cadre Li and Little Stone’s father, who had been holding back, also took off their shoes to warm their feet.

Only then did Dai Xianghua explain what had happened: “The county had already been in touch with Brother Gao earlier. He hadn’t said when he’d be coming, so we didn’t notify you. This time he came, we didn’t know in advance either. We only found out when he arrived in the county, and it happened to be during this heavy wind and snow. He had a really hard time getting here.”

What he didn’t say was that this guy had actually arrived last night. Coinciding with the snowfall, he didn’t find a place to stay but bedded down at the bus station until dawn, then walked all the way to the County Public Security Bureau against the wind and snow.

The county staff were worried sick—it was so dangerous! What if he’d frozen to death or gotten sick?

But Dai Xianghua also guessed that the Gao family’s financial situation was probably quite poor. They hadn’t contacted them before leaving, likely because they couldn’t afford the telegram fee.

Little Stone’s father hemmed and hawed before finally saying: “Something happened at home earlier. My wife, my wife fell ill, but it’s okay now, she’s already recovered. I thought, I’d get the child home before New Year’s, to set his mother’s mind at ease.”

Little Stone snuggled up to his father, frowned, and whispered: “Dad, I saved money. I saved a few yuan.”

Little Stone’s father was taken aback. He didn’t ask how he saved it, only said: “Alright, you hold on to that.”

The others didn’t pay deliberate attention to the father and son. Dai Xianghua changed the subject, saying: “So, I heard that the Revolutionary Committee sent three people to your brigade, and as a result, the three were injured or sick, and were sent to the commune clinic early this morning?”

He joked with Shen Zhenxing: “Uncle Zhenxing, your brigade is really something, daring to beat up people from the Revolutionary Committee?”

Mentioning those three, Shen Zhenxing was utterly fed up. He snorted before saying: “You’re the Public Security Commissioner here. Without investigating clearly, how can you go throwing accusations around? After those three arrived, our brigade arranged accommodation and meals for them. Even the cured meat my old lady had hidden, I took it to entertain them. I did my best, right?

And them? They’re always nitpicking and fighting with our commune members every day. They not only fight with the members, they fight among themselves too. Their injuries and illnesses are all their own doing, it has nothing to do with our brigade. In this weather, we even hitched up an ox cart to send them to the commune. I was worried the ox would freeze.”

Dai Xianghua: “…”

It was obvious he was still boiling mad.

But he blundered on, tactless as ever: “Well, whose fault is it that your brigade had a Zhu Juncai? The scandal was too major, the impact especially bad. Ask Cadre Li, even the county knows about this. How could the Revolutionary Committee not keep an eye on you?”

Cadre Li smiled helplessly: “I’ve heard a little about it.”

Dai Xianghua: “See!”

He suddenly remembered: “Oh right, their cases have been settled. Zhu Juncai and that Huang Xiuli were sent directly to reform through labor. Also, Fu Ming from the towel factory, and Huang Xiuli’s aunt, Sun Donglian, will be sent to reform through labor in the next couple of days.”

Pausing for a moment, Dai Xianghua chuckled and added: “As for that Hu Caidie, although they had the idea of setting up Guoqing, they didn’t actually succeed, and there’s no solid evidence either. After being detained for so long, she’s been taught a lesson. So she’s going to be sent back to your brigade. My guess is she’ll be back in a day or two, at most no later than the day after tomorrow.”

Wang Guizhi and Shen Zhenxing exchanged a glance.

It wasn’t that they didn’t succeed, but that Guoqing was saved that morning. However, that wasn’t mentioned at the time, and bringing it up now was certainly out of the question.

Hearing that Hu Caidie would be back soon, Shen Zhenxing’s face immediately grew even longer. This female educated youth wasn’t quite as bad as Zhu Juncai, but she wasn’t much better either. When it came to being mean, she was just as bad as Zhu Juncai, just dumber.

Someone who is bad and also stupid—that’s even more frightening.

Shen Zhenxing’s expression tickled Dai Xianghua. His gloating laughter grew even louder. Then, just as Shen Zhenxing was about to angrily storm off, he casually dropped another bombshell: “Oh, by the way, I heard the towel factory recently weeded out some people, mainly those who got their jobs through shady means. That opened up some slots. Your Shen Wenyi helped catch that burglar, right? Later, we investigated and found out that thief was a repeat offender who had fled from the neighboring city. He seriously injured someone during a robbery there, so it was a pretty serious crime.”

He abruptly brought up two completely unrelated matters out of nowhere. Shen Zhenxing was stunned for a moment, not understanding what he meant. He had some vague guesses but couldn’t quite let himself believe it.

Dai Xianghua smiled and continued: “Shen Wenyi made a big contribution this time. Coincidentally, that day I went to brief my superiors, and Director Ma from the towel factory was also there. They put their heads together and decided to give Shen Wenyi a shot at a job. There’s an exam, he’ll have to take it along with the other applicants, but I estimate it shouldn’t be too difficult. With this merit, as long as he passes the exam reasonably well, it’s pretty much secured. They’ll post the notice in three days, and the exam will probably be the day after it’s issued.”

Shen Zhenxing sat there for a long time without saying a word.

When Guo Qiang and Guoqing became workers, didn’t he have any thoughts? Oh, he had plenty of thoughts.

Those three boys of his, they didn’t seem any less capable than Guo Qiang and Guoqing, so how come they didn’t have what it takes?

Who would have thought? Who would have thought it would be the most shiftless third son who finally got such an opportunity.

Although it’s just a commune factory, can’t compare to county factories, let alone Jiangcheng factories, but it’s a worker who eats commodity grain!

In an instant, Shen Zhenxing even thought: Good thing I always thought this kid was unreliable and kept putting off letting his mother find him a wife.

If he becomes a worker, he can find a better wife in the future. At the very least, he could find someone more educated, so the grandchildren could be better educated. Who knows, maybe one or two of them could become even more successful in the future.

Shen Zhenxing suddenly stood up: “You all stay put, sister-in-law, you look after them. I’m going home, I’m going home to keep an eye on that kid and make him study!” Without waiting for the others to respond, he took off at a near-run.

The others naturally understood. In times like these, getting a job was no easy thing—this was a top priority.

Xiao Jie suddenly said: “If Brother Wenyi also becomes a worker, will he buy us milk candies too?”

Xiao Dizi rummaged in her pocket for a long time, pulled out a crumpled five-mao bill, and handed it to Xiao Jie: “Brother, buy some candy for us to eat.”

Xiao Jie was immediately delighted: “Xiao Dizi, you’re so nice! Are you going to buy me candy? No need, no need, we’ll ask Brother Wenyi to buy us some later.”

Xiao Dizi shook her head firmly: “Brother buy candy, Xiao Dizi eat!”

Xiao Jie: “…”

The others immediately burst into laughter.

Little Stone whispered to his father: “Dad, I have milk candies too, for you and Mom to eat.”

Little Stone’s father gave a simple, warm smile: “You eat them, you keep them and eat them slowly.”

Shen Dechang, who had been silent all along, glanced at the father and son, then dug out the buried sweet potatoes, taro, and potatoes from the charcoal fire, calling out: “Little Stone, give your dad some sweet potato.”

Dai Xianghua turned his head: “Oh, I thought I smelled something delicious. Uncle, you can’t favor one over the other. Come on, come on, Brother Gao, Cadre Li, let’s eat sweet potatoes.”

Shen Banyue, quick as a flash, grabbed two sweet potatoes first. She tossed one to Lin Mian, telling him to break it and share with Xiao Jie. The other she broke open herself and handed half to Wang Guizhi.

Xiao Dizi watched the half sweet potato with eager eyes, growing anxious. "Xiao Dizi wants to eat!"

Shen Banyue couldn't help but laugh. She broke off a small piece from her own half, waited for it to cool slightly, and then stuffed it into Xiao Dizi's mouth. "Your eyes are bigger than your stomach. Could you really eat half of it?"

Xiao Dizi savored the sweet potato in her mouth and happily declared, "Sweet!"

The kid was content as long as she had something to eat, never demanding or taking more than her share. Shen Banyue booped her nose and took a bite herself.

Mmm, fragrant and sweet.

Especially with the snow falling outside, sitting indoors by the fire, eating sweet potatoes—it felt like a warm, cozy happiness.

With the heavy snowfall, Wang Guizhi invited Dai Xianghua and Cadre Li to stay overnight. They left the next morning with the Gao father and son.

The goodbye happened so suddenly. The little ones chattered and played excitedly all evening. When seeing them off at the village entrance, they cried so hard their tears almost froze on their faces.

Gao's father had arrived with just a cloth bundle containing some dry rations and luggage. When leaving, Wang Guizhi stuffed a stack of freshly made flatbreads into his bundle, found two of Shen Guoqiang's old clothes, and packed some items sent by the Zhang and Quan families for them.

Gao's father wasn't much of a talker. His face flushed red as he repeatedly insisted he couldn't accept these things. But how could someone of his temperament refuse someone like Wang Guizhi? In the end, he set off on the road carrying a bundle stuffed full.

The sun came out after the snow. Their figures on bicycles gradually receded into the distance, soon shrinking to mere black dots against the vast white landscape before disappearing entirely.

Xiao Jie clung to Wang Guizhi's leg, crying his heart out.

Compared to Shen Banyue and Lin Mian, Xiao Jie was actually closer to Xiao Shitou, Xiao Zhuzi, and Xiao Wei. Now that they had all left one by one, leaving him behind, he felt both the loneliness of losing his friends and felt wronged. Why hadn't his parents come to find him yet?

Wang Guizhi gently patted the little boy's back.

Beside them, Zhao Xuehai asked wistfully, "Why does everyone have to leave? Can't they just stay in our brigade? Shen Wendong, have your uncle allocate a plot of land for Xiao Shitou's family so they can live in our brigade. Anyway, I don't think Uncle Gao can earn much money in their own brigade."

Shen Banyue gave him a speechless look. Honestly, his reasoning sounded quite logical.

Shen Wendong frowned and sighed, saying seriously, "The brigade's land belongs to everyone, not my uncle. My uncle can't just allocate land for Xiao Shitou's family. Besides, my uncle probably doesn't have time for that. He woke Brother Wenyi up at dawn and has been watching him study ever since. My dad says Uncle might be obsessed."

Lin Mian coolly added, "A young idler, an old beggar. If you don't work hard usually, you'll just cram at the last minute!" He suddenly paused and sharply turned to look at Shen Banyue.

Shen Banyue: "?"

Lin Mian: "I forgot to remind Xiao Shitou to study hard every day!"

Shen Banyue: "..."

Xiao Jie, sobbing, shouted at Lin Mian, "You're a devil!" He had learned this phrase from Xiao Yue, but at this moment, Xiao Jie felt it was perfectly suited for Lin Mian. He was like a devil whose mind was only ever on studying!

Wang Guizhi burst out laughing at the group of kids, and soon the children were laughing too.

Xiao Jie wiped his tears. "Let's go home. I want to write a letter to Xiao Shitou! I wonder if he's found the gift we gave him. I'll remind him in the letter."

Zhao Xuehai asked curiously, "What gift did you give him? Why didn't you say anything? Shen Wendong and I didn't get to give him anything!"

Xiao Jie grinned. "We gave him money! Sister Yue said when giving gifts, you should give what others need most. We all thought Xiao Shitou needed money more than we do."

Having lived with Xiao Shitou, he knew best how his little friend would touch the few dollars he had saved every day.

Xiao Shitou had even said he would take the money home to his parents.

So, if they gave Xiao Shitou lots and lots of money, he would surely be very happy.

Shen Wendong and Zhao Xuehai exchanged a glance and said in unison, "Then we'll write letters to Xiao Shitou and put money inside to send to him."

The group chatted and laughed as they walked back. Wang Guizhi glanced back at the road leading out of the village and sighed softly. They were all such good kids!

Shen Dechang walked slowly at the very back. Passing the village entrance, he couldn't help but look towards the old Shen family house in the east end of the village. Thinking of his own little grandson, who always wanted to snatch any good thing for himself, the old man's eyes dimmed slightly.

But then, looking ahead at the kids laughing and playing up ahead, he unconsciously smiled again.

On the other side, the Gao father and son traveled from the commune to the county town.

Considering the weather, the county authorities arranged a vehicle to take them directly to Jiangcheng. After dropping them at the train station, the staff, still concerned, helped buy their tickets, waited with them for the train, and saw them onto it.

There was no other way; they were afraid the family might try to save money and run into trouble again.

Once on the train, Xiao Shitou pressed his face to the window, watching the unfamiliar city grow farther away. His eyes gradually reddened. He turned to his father. "When can we come back to see them? Xiao Jie, Sister Yue, Xiao Dizi, Lin Mian, Brother Xuehai, Brother Wendong, Grandma Wang, Grandpa Shen, Uncle Guoqiang, Little Uncle, Brother Wenyi, Uncle Zhenhua, the Brigade Leader, and Sister Zhou... wuwuwu... they are all very, very good people."

Gao's father remained silent.

The travel expenses for this trip had been borrowed by begging left and right. He dared not think when he would ever have enough money to bring his child on such a long journey again.

Xiao Shitou fell silent for a while, not pressing further. He wiped his tears, took out a fountain pen from the small cloth bag he was clutching, and smiled. "Dad, look. This is what Sister Yue gave me. It even has my name engraved on it."

Gao's father also smiled. "We've met good people!"

Xiao Shitou rummaged in the bag again and pulled out a small cloth pouch. "This is the money I saved, Dad. It's all for you."

Thinking it easy for a child to lose money, Gao's father took it. "I'll keep it safe for you for now."

As he took it, he casually opened it for a look. Catching sight of the rolled-up ten-yuan notes inside, he quickly wrapped it back up. Not daring to examine it closely for fear of drawing attention, he stealthily tucked it into the inner pocket of his padded jacket's lining.

He couldn't help but wonder, though. Hadn't the child said he'd only saved a few dollars? How could there be ten-yuan notes?

Amidst the rhythmic "clackety-clack" of the speeding train, this honest, simple man instinctively touched his chest over and over. The roll of money felt quite thick, as if there was more than one ten-yuan note. He frowned, unable to figure out how this had happened.

It wasn't until the person in the adjacent seat took a box of biscuits from their bag that Gao's father glanced over, then looked down at his own bundle.

Inside were still many flatbreads given by Auntie Wang. These flatbreads were not only made with white flour, but the filling also contained meat. They were so delicious you'd want a second one after the first.

He seemed to understand then. Holding Xiao Shitou a little tighter, he murmured once more, "We really have met good people."