Chapter 35

Meng Dangni zi looked surprised at the wet nurse, and the wet nurse shook her head.

Qinger usually played in the Houyuan, rarely going out, and I haven't seen her playing with this boy.

Shitou had been silent since entering the courtyard, but now he suddenly spoke, "Qinger didn't lie."

Gu Xixi thought of something and said, "The wall hole in the Houyuan?"

Shitou nodded.

A few days ago he accidentally discovered this wall hole, and curiously poked his head to see what was inside.

He ended up seeing a little girl all alone, squatting there watching ants move.

Shitou muttered, "Qinger asked me to play with her, and it just so happens no one outside wants to play with me."

The wet nurse suddenly understood, "I was wondering why the young master always squats by the back wall; it turns out..."

Meng Dangni zi said, "So you often come over and play with Qinger through the wall hole?"

Shitou nodded again.

"I know you." Meng Dangni zi looked at Shitou.

"Your family name is Zhang, and you specialize in selling fruit tree saplings."

Shitou averted his gaze. "Heh, you already know everything."

Gu Xixi was stunned.

She had never seen such a complex expression on a child's face.

Mixed with hurt, mockery, and fear hidden beneath unwillingness.

At this moment, a servant brought out chilled drinks for the guests.

Meng Dangni zi personally picked up a small bowl from the tray, raised it, and extended it toward Shitou.

Shitou flinched, tightly shut his eyes, and loudly said, "If you want to splash, splash; if you want to scold, scold."

"Anyway, I haven't done anything wrong!"

Meng Dangni zi laughed, "It's a perfectly good perilla peach drink; splashing it would be wasteful."

She shoved the small bowl into the boy's hand, "This sweat on your forehead, drink to quench your thirst."

Shitou seemed startled by the coolness in his palm, and abruptly lifted his head to look at Meng Dangni zi.

"Ah?"

He then subconsciously glanced at Gu Xixi.

Gu Xixi sighed in her heart, truly not knowing what this child had previously endured.

She smiled, pulled him to sit, and said, "Meng Dangni zi told you to drink, so just drink."

Shitou looked at Gu Xixi, who gave him a smiling nod, and then hesitantly lifted the bowl and took a sip.

The perilla peach drink was mixed with honey and crushed ice, extremely cool and refreshing.

Shitou's brow relaxed abruptly, his eyes bright, and he gulped it down like a calf.

Gu Xixi and Meng Dangni zi watched and both laughed.

No matter how he tries to act like an adult, after all he's still just a child.

Shitou drank the drink in one go, wiped his mouth, still wanting more, stood up, and said, "Thank you for the hospitality."

"This time I was in the wrong, I'm sorry."

Having said that, he bowed to the ground, "I won't come to disturb you again; farewell."

But Meng Dangni zi called out to him, "Wait."

Shitou had no choice but to turn around.

Meng Dangni zi smiled and said, "In the future, when you have time, could you still come play with Qinger?"

"I'm usually busy and have no time to accompany her, and she has no peers of her age, so she's inevitably lonely."

Shitou found it hard to believe, "You… you let me play with Qinger?"

"Yes." Meng Dangni zi nodded, "But next time come through the front door, don't sneak through the wall hole again."

Before Shitou could answer, little Qinger clapped her hands happily, "Great!"

"Qinger still wants to play with Shitou gege!"

Shitou's tense lips finally showed a hint of a smile, "Mm! I'll come another day to play with you; you have to be good and listen to your mother."

Gu Xixi was very interested in Shitou's livelihood, "Your family sells fruit tree saplings, right?"

"I don't know what kinds of fruit trees you have."

Shitou suddenly became wary, "Why are you asking about this?"

He was like a puffed-up little hedgehog, his whole body on guard.

Gu Xixi smiled amiably, "You're in business; surely you don't forbid customers from inquiring?"

"Just don't ask!" Shitou said fiercely, "Not selling, not selling; whoever asks, I won't sell!"

Saying that, he ran out.

While Gu Xixi was puzzled, Meng Dangni zi sighed and began to talk about Shitou's family affairs.

The Zhang family started the fruit tree business from Shitou's great-grandfather's generation.

They have their own nursery, and the saplings are all self-cultivated.

Among them, peach and pear trees are the most famous; because business was booming, the family's circumstances were once quite prosperous.

But in the year Shitou was born, for unknown reasons, within just a few days over half of the fruit trees in the nursery died.

The loss itself was severe, and as the news spread, gradually fewer people came to his family to buy saplings.

After another two years, Shitou's mother fell gravely ill, and several clinics in the city couldn't cure her.

Shitou's father, to treat his wife's illness, sold half of the nursery, and the family's wealth was also depleted.

But in the end, he still couldn't save his mother's life.

Gu Xixi sighed, "At such a young age he's been through so much, no wonder his temperament is so strong."

She then asked, "Now does he and his father depend on each other for survival?"

Meng Dangni zi sighed, shook her head, and said, "It's no wonder this child's life is so hard."

"At the beginning of the year, his father helped a relative repair a house, when a falling tile struck his head, and that very night he died."

"Some say his fate is hard, that anyone who gets close suffers; not only do his relatives dare not look after him, but the surrounding adults also refuse to let their own children play with him."

"A six-year-old child alone at home—no one knows how he gets by, sigh."

Gu Xixi's heart shook—Shitou turned out to be an orphan.

No wonder he said he used to go to school, but now he doesn't.

No wonder, whenever anything concerning his family comes up, hearing it makes his whole body bristle.

No wonder he only dares to play secretly with Qinger.

On the way here, he even braced himself for being beaten and scolded…

Gu Xixi rose to bid farewell to Meng Dangni zi.

The two returned to where the donkey cart was parked; Gu Xixi had intended to take the driver's seat herself, but Mu Nan Zhao beat her to it.

"Hurry up—we still have time to go to the bun stall and ask for directions."

Gu Xixi startled, "The bun stall?"

Mu Nan Zhao still had no pleasant expression, "You weren't planning to go see that child's family's fruit trees, were you?"

"Oh, okay!" Gu Xixi hurriedly sat on the cart bed, steadied herself, "Let's go."

The donkey cart swayed leisurely through the bustling market.

Gu Xixi stared at the back of Mu Nan Zhao's head, hesitated several times, then asked, "How do you know where I want to go?"

Mu Nan Zhao said lightly, "Even Meng Dangni zi can see that you've felt pity for that boy."

Gu Xixi refused to admit, "I just want the fruit trees."

Mu Nan Zhao paused, then sneered, "Quite right—you never work for nothing; everything you do must bring a return. In this regard, we at last have something in common."

The fire in Huachi Du Cun village helped the farmers improve their land.

The former would cause mutual loss for both it and Gu Xixi herself, leaving her no choice but to go ahead.

The latter earned Gu Xixi a flatbed cart.

Gu Xixi gave no reply to Mu Nan Zhao's words, "Only with gain can one have the ability to continue doing good deeds."

"If one only does good deeds without seeking reward, one will eventually burn out completely—what else could one do then?"

The bun stall was still there; Gu Xixi bought a basket of mutton buns and a basket of fragrant eggplant vegetarian buns.

Have the boss divide them evenly into three paper bags.