Chapter 20

Mo Yutong and his group staggered towards the brigade headquarters, while Yan Mingli hurried home with his younger brothers and sisters.

His work was not finished yet, so he had to send them back quickly and then lock the door with an iron lock to prevent Li Tiezhu from bringing those children to the house to cause trouble again.

Although there is a saying that there is no such thing as a thief who can steal for a thousand days, but he can only take passive precautions now and is unable to take the initiative.

Three pairs of bare feet trotted along the muddy path. Yan Mingli looked at the two little ones’ bare feet and asked, “Where are their straw sandals? Did they run away?”

“He fell into the Maopolin forest.” Yan Mingcheng, who was walking in front, paused, looked up at Yan Mingli, and said with self-blame.

The eldest brother works very hard, but he still has to take care of them. Now his shoes are lost, and the eldest brother has to stay up late to make straw sandals for them. Yan Mingcheng thought about it and lowered his head sadly.

Seeing Yan Mingcheng was so upset, Yan Mingxue quickly took Yan Mingli’s generous hand and said, “Brother, don’t blame us. It’s Li Tiezhu who is so mean. He didn’t dare to dig out the pheasant nest himself, but when he saw Second Brother find the pheasant eggs, he wanted to steal them.”

Yan Mingxue became very angry when she thought of Li Tiezhu’s arrogant behavior, and her face turned red with anger.

“Aren’t you digging wild vegetables on the north slope?” Yan Mingli lowered his eyes to look at her angry little face and frowned slightly.

“Brother, the pheasant eggs were found on the north slope.” Yan Mingcheng put away his sadness and quickly looked up to explain. He knew that his brother was afraid that they had not listened and went somewhere else.

“It’s that bad boy Li Tiezhu. He coveted second brother’s eggs. When he saw second brother gave two to Erni, he wanted some too.” Yan Mingxue said as she lowered her head dejectedly.

“There were originally five left, but they were all broken into pieces.” Yan Mingxue couldn’t help rubbing his eyes when he thought of the pheasant eggs that fell on the yellow mud and gravel road.

“Brother, I wanted to bring you something to eat, but…” As she spoke, Yan Mingxue could no longer control her tears and began to cry softly. The tears fell on the back of her feet like rolling beans.

Just now, she was thinking that she shouldn’t let her second brother feel so bad, but now it’s her turn to feel bad. Yan Mingxue cried more and more sadly, sobbing with each breath.

Other families can raise two hens and lay one or two eggs every day, but their family can’t raise anything. Even the little rabbit that her eldest brother caught for her last time was taken away by the production team leader.

They also said that people like them who belong to the five categories were not qualified to raise livestock and poultry, and that they should receive ideological education in the midst of suffering.

But the little rabbit is really cute, and rabbit meat is really delicious!

“Brother doesn’t like eggs.” Yan Mingli pursed his lips and held her little hand tighter.

Nine years have passed since they started living through such difficult times. He believes that the darkness will not last forever. One day, they will see the light, and their younger brothers and sisters will be able to eat eggs and wear new shoes as they wish, and go outside in cotton clothes to build snowmen in the middle of winter.

They can run freely in the mountains and fields, go to elementary school like other children in the village, then go to middle school, and maybe even return to the village to become a glorious elementary school teacher.

“Brother, was it Erni who came to find you?” Yan Mingcheng asked carefully as he walked and turned back.

When Yan Mingcheng gave the pheasant eggs to Erni, he noticed that there was something wrong with Li Tiezhu’s eyes.

He immediately asked Erni to go to Yazilin at the foot of the north slope to find Yan Mingli. Erni also knew that the group of kids headed by Li Tiezhu were particularly annoying. Not only did they steal things, they also often bullied girls and made them cry. She immediately put away the eggs and ran towards the north slope.

In order to prevent the group of people from chasing Erni, he quickly took his sister and ran in the opposite direction, then ran out of the village and ran onto the yellow mud and gravel road.

Yan Mingli saw that he didn’t want Mingxue to keep crying and was trying to change the subject abruptly, so he immediately cooperated.

“Well, Erni said you tell her that you will go to the village entrance.” Yan Mingli said in a low voice while holding Yan Mingxue who was still sobbing.

His younger sister is different from his younger brother. When his younger brother cries, he will scold him and tell him that as a man he should not cry so easily. But when his younger sister cries, he has no good solution. He either has to wait until she cries enough or give her something delicious to change her mood.

“Brother, when we passed by the field, Second Aunt also mentioned Li Tiezhu and the others.” Yan Mingxue looked at Yan Mingli with red eyes and said with sobs.

Second Aunt’s family was one of the few in the village that treated them well, but the eldest brother had warned them not to disturb Second Aunt for no reason.

“Second Aunt is kind-hearted. We can’t cause trouble for their family.” Yan Mingli quickly reminded.

He often said this, fearing that they would forget it. He did not want his second aunt’s family to be implicated because of them, so he was reluctant to bother his family unless it was necessary.

“Brother, I know.” Yan Mingxue nodded heavily. Second Aunt is such a good person, she can’t be implicated by them as her brother worried.

Suddenly, Yan Mingxue seemed to have thought of something and said, “Brother, that sister today was also very nice.”

“Yeah, very good.” The pretty little girl was indeed very nice. She was able to hold two strange children in her arms. She was a kind-hearted girl.

“She likes my second brother.” Yan Mingxue said firmly, “It must be because my second brother is good-looking. He is the best-looking child in the village.”

She heard that girls would give handkerchiefs to boys if they liked them. The handkerchief her sister gave to her second brother was the most beautiful one she had ever seen. She could see clearly when her second brother was wiping his face that there were red plum blossoms on the handkerchief, which was extremely beautiful.

“Yeah.” The three children of the Yan family all resemble their mother, with beautiful facial features. If they weren’t so thin, his younger brothers and sisters would have grown even better.

Is she helping Mingcheng just because she’s pretty? Mingcheng is indeed good-looking, but is he really the best-looking? Didn’t those women he hated say that they were the best-looking in the entire team? Okay! Mingxue was talking about children. She was nineteen years old and no longer a child.

“Brother, do you think I want to be my second sister-in-law?” Yan Mingxue’s words shocked Yan Mingli, who was opening the door. Why second sister-in-law, not eldest sister-in-law? Wasn’t this little girl asking him for a sister-in-law this morning?

Sister-in-law? What was he thinking? How could he possibly desire such a soft and pretty girl? He had been misled by Mingxue’s words.

“I’m only six years old.” Yan Mingcheng, who was standing next to Yan Mingxue, looked at his sister in shock.

By the time I was old enough to get married, my sister had already grown into an old maid.

Although his sister was very beautiful, even if she was an old maid, she was still a beautiful old maid, but there was no way he could marry a girl who was at least ten years older than him! Even if that girl had the best looks he had ever seen.

Yan Mingcheng scratched his head. Mingxue’s words made him feel a little distressed.