Looking at her daughter’s slender face, Xiu Min felt a pang of heartache.
She had only one daughter and one son. Her daughter had been obedient and sensible since childhood, while her son, although a bit mischievous when younger, had also grown up to be excellent. Relatives and friends envied her, and she and her husband enjoyed a harmonious marriage.
Everything seemed fine until her daughter fell for Wan Dongcheng. Initially, both parents disapproved, but they couldn’t stand seeing their daughter unhappy. After observing for a while, they thought that Wan Dongcheng, apart from being poor, was a good person, and so they accepted the relationship.
They had planned to let the two date for a couple of years, as they were both still young, but Wan Dongcheng was eager to get married, and their daughter was obedient. Seeing that the two were truly in love, they agreed to the marriage.
The Wan family lived in the countryside and they didn’t want their daughter to suffer there, so they bought her a two-bedroom apartment as a wedding house.
Not long after getting married, their daughter became pregnant and couldn’t work. Afraid that she would suffer, they wanted to give her financial support, but were always refused. They didn’t know when their daughter had begun to look more and more haggard, thinner, with fewer smiles.
Sometimes she wondered if letting her daughter marry Wan Dongcheng was the right decision.
If they had been firmly against it at the time, her daughter might still be with He Nan, and life surely wouldn’t have come to this.
Li Julin took a bite of bamboo shoot and nodded with satisfaction. Then he placed a piece of meat into his daughter’s bowl, "This bamboo shoot is quite good; you should eat more."
Li Shiping felt a warmth in her heart and softly expressed her gratitude.
Xiu Min smiled and glanced at her husband. He was always like that, dearly loving his daughter yet not quite adept at expressing it.
Intending to get his daughter to eat bamboo shoots, he ended up giving her meat, and those unaware might think he’d made a mistake, but he was actually concerned about her being too thin.
"Sis, where did you buy these wild bamboo shoots? They’re so delicious; we should get more."
Li Yue ate one after another, finding them especially tasty, and didn’t forget to tell He Nan, "You should try some; they’re really good."
Knowing that He Nan was picky, he chose not to move his chopsticks and let He Nan serve himself. Nᴇw ɴovel chaptᴇrs are published on 𝙣𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙡~𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙚~𝙣𝙚𝙩
He Nan nodded and took a stickful. The bamboo shoots were indeed authentic wild ones, "The taste is good."
Seeing He Nan also praise them, Xiu Min said with a smile, "Your sister bought ten pounds; we have enough for a while."
"It was a brother and sister, around their teens, selling them from an ox cart at the entrance of the community," Li Shiping casually mentioned the incident with Shen Mianmian as they talked.
Li Yue and He Nan exchanged glances.
That description sounded just like Shen Mianmian, didn’t it?
"Sis, the girl you mentioned, was she wearing a military coat?"
"You saw her too?" Li Shiping nodded, "I was holding Yunyun and carrying some apples when the apple bag tore. Thankfully, she was kind enough to help pick them up and gave me another bag to hold them. She even helped bring them to our house, and mom gave her a handful of candy."
Xiu Min followed up with a nod, "The young girl looked pretty sprightly, with big eyes."
Hearing this, Li Yue was very certain that the person they were talking about was Shen Mianmian.
Only, why had she come all the way here to sell things?
He looked at He Nan, "Brother Nan..." Shen Mianmian must have run into some trouble, right? Otherwise, why would she come out to sell bamboo shoots?
He Nan was silent for a couple of seconds, then said indifferently, "Auntie, if you see her selling bamboo shoots again, buy a few pounds for me."
He paused, then added, "I’ll give it to a friend."
Xiu Min didn’t think too deeply and nodded in agreement, "Sure, Shiping likes them as well, I’ll buy more to keep."
Li Julin chimed in, "We still have a lot at home; you can take some to give to your friend."