Chapter 22

Lin Shengnan might have thought the request was a bit forward, so she added: “The firewood on your shoulders, let me help you carry it to your home later, okay?”

It was like sending a pillow to someone who’s already half asleep. Gu Qinghuan had just been thinking that the bundle of firewood was too heavy, but he was afraid to run into someone on the way, so he could only carry it by force.

“Alright then.” Gu Qinghuan didn’t hesitate, throwing the firewood on the ground and casually handing the axe over.

“Then I’ll leave my firewood to you. If even one piece is missing, I’ll ask you for it.” Lin Shengnan said. As for the matter of mutual benefit, Gu Qinghuan had no reason to refuse.

He scanned the group of educated youth with his eyes.

Chen Jianghe and Jiang Xue were sitting on the ground as if on an autumn outing, chatting and laughing. Qiu Shuxia was pretending to look around, and another male educated youth named Wang Chen was picking up twigs.

With this group of people, it was no wonder Lin Shengnan was struggling. Who could manage such teammates?

Fortunately, she decisively chose to be independent. Although she had a family to take care of, she was at least free.

Lin Shengnan took the axe, gratefully saying: “Thank you. I’ll definitely bring it back to you in the same condition.”

Gu Qinghuan dusted off his hands, feeling light as he descended the mountain.

With the axe in hand, Lin Shengnan seemed to gain divine help. She climbed the tree, chopped down some dry branches from the higher parts, and finally managed to gather a few bundles of firewood to take back.

Gu Qinghuan didn’t take the dead rabbit out of his space until he reached the doorstep. He hid it in his arms, along with the bundles of firewood he’d gathered in the afternoon.

The two younger children heard the noise and ran to the door to help. Upon seeing the rabbit in his hands, they were both surprised and delighted. The last time they had rabbit meat was when Dad was still healthy.

“Today is our lucky day. We got a rabbit for free. Da Bao, take the rabbit inside and hide it. Hurry up and boil some water, tonight we’ll have rabbit meat.” Gu Qinghuan said, in a good mood as he carried the firewood.

Da Bao knew that the things from the mountain belonged to the public and that such actions could easily be criticized, so he quickly looked around. After confirming no one was passing by, he grabbed the rabbit and ran inside.

Gu Qinghuan carried all the firewood to the woodpile in the backyard. Looking at the pile of more than ten bundles, he felt a sense of satisfaction that was hard to describe.

Meanwhile, the water in the pot in Da Bao’s side was nearly boiling.

Gu Qinghuan called the two children over and pulled a pair of scissors out from her arms, which frightened them both.

“Mom, you…”

Da Bao quickly moved to protect Bei Bei behind him.

Was it finally time to reveal the hidden knife?

Seeing their reaction, Gu Qinghuan mischievously snipped the scissors a few times, saying: “Da Bao, come sit down, it’s just a haircut. Why are you making such a fuss?”

Bei Bei exaggeratedly patted her chest, terrified.

She thought her mother was about to turn into a bad mom.

Da Bao also let out a sigh of relief and obediently sat on the doorstep, allowing Gu Qinghuan to go to work.

Gu Qinghuan wasn’t particularly skilled at cutting hair, but she had no choice, she had to do it herself. For children’s hair, as long as it was manageable, that would be enough.

Da Bao’s hair had grown quite long, and some parts had been singed, likely from when he was tending the fire and hadn’t been careful.

She first roughly snipped off the long parts, then tidied up the details, and soon enough, a simple little boy’s haircut appeared.

Gu Qinghuan examined the result carefully and felt very satisfied.

Bei Bei immediately showered her with praise: “Mom, you’re so amazing! My Big Brother’s haircut looks great, I want one too!”

“Alright, alright, you wait a minute.”

Gu Qinghuan brought over an old wooden basin from the courtyard, filled it with warm water, and carried it to the outhouse. Then, she grabbed a bar of soap from the villa.

“Go wash up first, make sure you clean your whole body. This is soap. After you’re done, I’ll wash Bei Bei. Be careful, don’t fall into the pit.”

Da Bao stared at her in surprise. He had thought the hot water was for skinning the rabbit, but it turned out it was for their bath?

But he actually liked the new haircut a lot.

“Mm, I’ll be careful, I won’t let it fall into the pit.” Da Bao carefully held the soap that Gu Qinghuan gave him.

“Silly, I meant don’t fall into the pit yourself!” Gu Qinghuan said, poking his forehead with annoyance.

What was this kid thinking?

Da Bao went in to take a bath, and Gu Qinghuan pulled Bei Bei over to cut her hair.

Bei Bei’s hair was longer than her big brother’s and seemed to have never been cut. Some of it was even tangled. After trying to comb it for a few minutes without success, Gu Qinghuan, after consulting the child, simply took the scissors and snipped it off.

In the end, she gave her a mushroom cut, which would later become a popular style, and it looked very cute on the little girl.

Bei Bei happily examined herself in the water.

“Mom, you’re amazing! I really like it!”

Gu Qinghuan patted her little mushroom cut and, while putting the scissors away, suddenly noticed the new clothes on the bed.

She remembered that she had forgotten to bring Da Bao his new clothes to change into.

She didn’t want him to end up putting on his old clothes after his bath, making it all for nothing.

She quickly grabbed the new clothes and headed to the outhouse door. “Da Bao, are you done?”

“I’m almost done.”

“Then open the door a little, I’ll give you your clothes.”

Da Bao, confused, cracked the door slightly. He remembered that when he came out of Old Xu’s house, he didn’t have any clean clothes to change into.

Dad used to buy them new clothes, but his Grandma had taken them, so all they had to wear were their torn clothes.

Gu Qinghuan handed him the new clothes and shoes.

“I bought these for you in the county yesterday. Try them on, they should fit.”

Da Bao didn’t even know how he had taken the new clothes from her.

By the time he realized what had happened, tears were already blurring his vision.

He hadn’t cried in a long time.

Since his Dad’s health declined and he and his little sister had suffered so much, he had forced himself to be strong.

Tears never solved anything; in fact, they only made others look down on him.

But at this moment, seeing the new clothes, he just couldn’t hold back anymore.

It was like a tightly wound string had suddenly snapped.

He let himself cry wholeheartedly.

Bei Bei heard her big brother crying inside and wanted to rush in to find him, but Gu Qinghuan stopped her.

“Shh, be good. Big Brother needs some time. Let him vent, okay?”

Bei Bei snuggled in Gu Qinghuan’s arms and silently shed a few tears as well.

After a while, the crying gradually stopped, followed by the sound of rustling, and then the door opened.

Out came a boy, clean and bright, with a fresh, radiant appearance.

He was very thin, so the clothes were a little loose, but they still fit well.

His eyes were slightly puffy, but his facial features still held a certain youthful vigor, with an air about him that was hard to ignore.

This child didn’t look like Xu Huai’an at all. He had a very healthy and upright appearance, though it was unclear who he resembled.

Da Bao noticed Gu Qinghuan and Bei Bei both staring at him, and feeling a little embarrassed, he tugged at his sleeve.

Biting his lip, he shyly said: “Thank you, Mom, for buying me new clothes. I really like them.”

“It’s nothing, as long as you like them.”

When Gu Qinghuan heard Da Bao call her “Mom.” she felt a bit happy.

It meant the child had accepted her in his heart.

But she also knew it didn’t mean much, so she didn’t take it too seriously.

The title wasn’t important to her.

Whether Da Bao called her “Mom” or “Auntie.” she would continue to care for him just the same, driven by her respect for life, and doing whatever felt right.

She didn’t place any particular expectations on them.

As long as they grew up healthy, that was enough.

The truth was, there wasn’t much deep emotional connection between them.

The two children, now isolated and helpless, had developed a sense of dependence and trust in her because of her care—nothing more.

In two years, once the social environment stabilized and Xu Huai’an recovered, they would surely part ways.

For these two years, as much help as she could offer, she would.

She’d teach them as much as possible to help them become independent.