Chapter 8

Coming out of the village chief’s house, Tian Jiao walked to a corner of the group of houses. The ordinary mud ground raised a cloud of dust with each step. The whole village seemed somewhat quiet, with only the sound of her little feet tapping.

At that moment, some people were working, while others were resting. The sun shone brightly, but no one was around. She looked up at the clouds blocking the sun and softly called, “Tian Dao Daddy! Tian Dao Daddy!”

After two consecutive hits, she felt something touch her face.

Narrowing her eyes, she said sweetly, “Dad, this candy is delicious. Jiaojiao left one for you!”

The broad, invisible hand rubbed her head, but the rejection was clear.

Tian Jiao waited a long time, but she didn’t see the two candies in her pocket disappear. She understood, pursed her lips, and asked in confusion, “Dad, why don’t you want it?”

This time, there was no response.

Tian Dao’s father is gone.

She kicked the stones under her feet somewhat disappointingly and trotted back to Old Zhang’s house.

As soon as she entered the door, she shouted loudly, “Dad!”

A gentle breeze blew by, and just as she was about to poke her little face again, she heard a man inside respond, “Hey, Jiaojiao is back?”

The chubby little girl rushed in, took the candy from her pocket, and offered it like a treasure: “Daddy! This is the candy that the village chief’s aunt gave me. Have it!”

Roufeng followed her in but stopped, tapped her forehead secretly, and then disappeared.

Tian Dao said, “…Haha!”

Zhang Rui, the father receiving the treasure, smiled foolishly: “Eat it, Jiaojiao. Dad doesn’t like sweet food.”

“Ah?” Tian Jiao looked at him, puzzled, her big eyes clearly saying: You don’t even like such delicious candy?

Zhang Rui laughed, wanting to pinch her chubby face, but as he reached out, he saw the dirt on his hand, retracted it, buried his head in wiping the newly repaired bed, and asked, “Who gave you this candy?”

Tian Jiao replied, “Auntie from the village chief’s family. I’m going to see Xiao He.”

Zhang Rui’s mind flashed back to the child’s miserable state yesterday. Thinking about how difficult that family was, he wanted to tell her not to go over. However, when the words came to his lips, he swallowed them and waved his hand: “Jiaojiao, go out and play. It’s too dusty here.”

Such a lovely little girl should be carefree. It’s just Sun Hong; he can handle her!

Speaking of which, Zhang Rui remembered seeing Sun Hong when he was out for a walk that morning. He was not seriously hurt from the blow, just got a bump on his head and bled a little. He was truly lucky.

But Zhang Rui was glad that he was fine; otherwise, he might suspect that his new daughter could be a monster from the mountains, and his words would come true.

Tian Jiao nodded, jumped out, and in the living room, she couldn’t help peeling off the wrapper of the candy.

…

This time, she got a red one with fruit printed on it. It smelled deliciously sweet and sour. Just as she was about to put it in her mouth, her second aunt, who had kept the door closed, suddenly opened it and came out, holding Dabao, who seemed to have just woken up, in her arms, smiling kindly.

“Jiaojiao, what are you eating?” Ding Yushu asked with a smile.

Tian Jiao spread her hands, pinched the red candy with her tender little fingers, and proudly said, “This.”

Ding Yushu pushed her son forward, hiding her greed. This was candy; her family was ordinary, and they could only buy such treats in the city. There was none in the county. She had only eaten two since getting married and during the Chinese New Year. The taste was still fresh in her memory, and she couldn’t help drooling at the thought. Her voice softened: “Look, your brother doesn’t have much to eat. Should you give him some?”

Tian Jiao was a little reluctant but nodded and took out another candy from her pocket: “Jiaojiao has another one. For you my brother.”

Ding Yushu was delighted. For the first time, she felt this girl was quite pleasing to the eye, especially since she was easy to deceive. She immediately reached out to take it.

But as soon as she touched it, a dark hand snatched the candy away.

Tian Jiao was caught off guard. Seeing it was her father, she was a little puzzled: “Dad, do you want to eat?”

Ding Yushu also saw it clearly and said angrily, “Zhang Rui, are you sick? You are causing trouble again!”

Zhang Rui rolled his eyes and smiled sarcastically: “Yes, I am sick. Is this the first day you know about it?”

After saying that, he glanced at Ding Yushu, then turned to the confused girl and said, “Your brother is still young; he can’t eat candy. He has to dissolve it in water.”

Tian Jiao nodded in ignorance and put the candy she had been holding into her mouth. Confused by the sweet taste, she happily asked, “Then if we dissolve it in water, can Jiaojiao taste it? Let’s taste it.”

Zhang Rui let out a snort and laughed, “Of course.” He went to wash his hands and then got hot water. Observing his actions, Ding Yushu gritted her teeth and exclaimed, “Just wait!” Angrily, she turned to enter the room. 

However, Dabao did not cooperate; he stared at Tian Jiao’s small mouth, recognizing it as food, and lunged toward it, shouting, “Ahhh! I want it!” His eager expression, as if he had been starved for ages, made Tian Jiao feel embarrassed.

At just over a year old, Dabao didn’t speak much. With busy households, there was little time to care for children. Zhang Zhi left early and returned late, while Ding Yushu rarely interacted with Dabao. He only knew a few words like dad, mom, and grandma. Now, driven by hunger, he managed to say something.

Tian Jiao was delighted and quickly went to Dabao, pulling him back, “Second Auntie, wait! Dabao wants to eat candy!” Ding Yushu glared at Tian Jiao, believing the child had acted intentionally. She pushed Dabao into Tian Jiao’s arms and said unhappily, “Since you like it, you can take care of it.”

After that, she stormed into the room, slamming the door behind her. Tian Jiao thought the door wouldn’t last long before it broke. With Dabao’s weight suddenly on her, she stumbled back but held him tightly, complaining, “Oh, Dabao, you’re really heavy.”

Dabao smiled and blew a bubble, then started to pick at his mouth, exclaiming, “Yes! Yes!” Tian Jiao sat down on the floor, supporting Dabao with one hand. Just then, Zhang Rui returned with hot water. The candy dissolved into the water, creating a strong sweet and sour drink. 

The sugar was yellow, mostly sweet but with a noticeable sourness, and the resulting liquid had a light yellow hue. 

“Here, just sit and play. Daddy’s going to work,” Zhang Rui said, glancing at the closed door, feeling pleased with himself. Tian Jiao held the cup and looked up at Zhang Rui with happiness, saying brightly, “Thank you, Dad!” 

Zhang Rui’s smile broadened as he went back to work. Hearing her call him Dad filled him with energy, motivating him to keep busy.

Later, Dabao scrunched his face at the sour taste of the sugar water, refusing to take another sip. Curious, Tian Jiao tried it and found it tolerable, though still too sour. She stood up, leaving Dabao on the ground, and rushed to Zhang Rui, her eyes sparkling as if she had made a remarkable discovery. “Dad, this is sour! Give it to you!”

Wiping sweat from his forehead, Zhang Rui caught the familiar scent of the drink. He hesitated, recalling he had mentioned not liking sweets and wondered if he should drink it. But looking at Tian Jiao’s innocent face stirred a sweet and sour feeling in his heart.

When he didn’t move, Tian Jiao urged him again, explaining, “I’ve tasted this. It’s sour. Dabao doesn’t like it either.” This time, Zhang Rui accepted the drink, gulping it down like wine. The intense sourness made him grimace; he preferred sweeter flavors.

Once he finished, Tian Jiao took the cup and walked away. Zhang Rui watched her cheerful figure retreat and murmured, “Don’t worry, my girl; I’ll make sure you live well! We’ll have plenty of this candy in the future!”

After a busy day, they finally completed the room before dinner. It was still warm that night, so Tian Jiao only used a thin blanket. Thus, she stayed there overnight.

Zhang Rui couldn’t go alone; his room was next to his brother and sister-in-law’s, and the old house was poorly soundproofed. Who knew what he might overhear? As long as the child slept soundly, there would be no issues.

That night, Tian Jiao lay in bed, hearing clear complaints from next door. 

Ding Yushu exclaimed, “Is your brother really sick? Or is he mentally unstable? Do you know what he did today?” 

In a calm tone, Zhang Zhi replied, “What did he do?” 

Ding Yushu grew more agitated, sitting up: “He threatened me and took my vanishing cream! Why?!”

Zhang Zhi continued to coax her, “I’ll buy you a new bottle tomorrow.” 

Ding Yushu snapped back, “Is this Yiping’s fault? He’s sick, and you let him bully me? Zhang Zhi, I didn’t expect you to be like this! Do you even want to live well? Your whole family bullies me…” 

The commotion was considerable. Previously, Tian Jiao had heard similar sounds through the main room, but they were vague, and she couldn’t understand everything. Now, even though her bed was against the wall, she could hear everything clearly since the wall was thin and just a wooden panel separated them.

The more she listened, the angrier she became, especially when Zhang Zhi attempted to soothe her. When he mentioned beating Zhang Rui, she couldn’t help but get out of bed. Puffing up her back, she walked to the wall separating the two rooms and shouted, “Second Aunt, you are so mean! You ate the eggs Dad left for me first, and that’s why Dad got mad! In the afternoon, Dabao couldn’t eat candy, so Dad dissolved it into water. You’re talking nonsense!”

The five-year-old’s tender and loud voice was clear and distinct. 

The shock of her outburst made everyone in both rooms sit up. Ding Yushu fell silent, momentarily at a loss for words. It was one thing for her private conversation to be overheard by a maid, but to have a child interrupt and summarize everything was embarrassing. She flushed, struggling to respond.

Zhang Zhi held his forehead in embarrassment, realizing he had been dismissive, knowing his wife’s temper. He knew Zhang Rui was not the type to act carelessly. Also, he recognized that his wife had a greedy side and usually just bought her everyday treats, with most of their meager finances going to the government.

Besides, Ding Yushu would eat anything she could get her hands on.

Thus, he was merely being perfunctory, trying to play peacemaker and avoid confrontation. He certainly wouldn’t actually hit Zhang Rui.

The result was…

Tian Jiao remained standing there. Seeing their lack of response, she thought they didn’t believe her and angrily slapped the wall: “Second Uncle, don’t listen to aunt! She’s lying! If you hit Dad, I will… I will…”

She wanted to threaten him with something harsh, but she couldn’t bring herself to do it. Although her second uncle rarely spoke to her, he was generally kind and secretly gave her tasty treats, which made it hard for her to upset him.

Zhang Zhi: “…”

Ding Yushu couldn’t help but shout, “Zhang Tian Jiao! Go to sleep! Why are you, a child, interrupting a conversation between adults?”

Tian Jiao groaned in annoyance, and the next moment, a loud “bang!” echoed from the room on the other side of the wall, followed by Dabao’s cries and Ding Yushu’s furious voice: “Why did the bed collapse?!!!”

In the room across the main hall, Zhang Rui couldn’t help but laugh and slap the bed: “Hahahaha…”

Wow, my daughter is amazing!