Jiaojiao was asked, "Sweetheart, where did those fruits in the kitchen come from?"
"Brother Xiu Xi brought them back from the hill in front of the house," Jiaojiao answered, afraid of scaring the Ruanlin Family, and didn’t tell the truth.
Hearing this, the Ruanlin Family didn’t suspect anything but was somewhat worried, "Xiaoxi has been away the entire afternoon. I’m afraid he went to the hill again. No matter what we say, he doesn’t listen. I don’t know what he needs so much money for."
As soon as she finished speaking, footsteps came from behind.
Xiu Xi was standing at the door, holding a bag in his hand. He had come through the back yard and entered the inner room directly from the kitchen, so the people in the main room hadn’t seen him.
He was holding a very large burlap bag that was bulging.
"I’m back," he said, looking eagerly at Jiaojiao.
"You child..." The Ruanlin Family turned around, saw the bag at his feet, put down Jiaojiao, walked over, picked up the bag, and asked him in confusion, "What’s in here?"
"What?" The Ruanlin Family didn’t hear clearly, opened the burlap bag, and only then saw that it was filled with several tree saplings about half a meter tall.
"These are fruit trees?" she asked Xiu Xi in astonishment.
Xiu Xi nodded, still looking at Jiaojiao as if waiting for her affirmation.
The Ruanlin Family looked at him covered in dirt and didn’t know what to say. She told him to come out to eat quickly and left with a bowl in her hands.
Xiu Xi walked up to Jiaojiao sluggishly, looking at her cautiously, "Are you still angry?"
She really wasn’t angry!
She just didn’t know how to face him.
But seeing him looking eagerly at her, with a wronged and pitiful appearance, she couldn’t bear it, took the initiative to grab his hand, and said, "Brother Xiu Xi, go have your dinner. Granny has saved some dishes for you."
This meant she was softening her stance, and Xiu Xi should have been happy.
But, looking at her, his face changed dramatically.
Ignoring the dirt on his own hands, he held her small face, his eyes filled with ferocity, "You’re injured."
This wasn’t a question, but a statement, his whole body emitting a chilling aura. Little Wolf, standing at the door about to enter, got so frightened that he turned tail and ran, tripping halfway and landing in an embarrassing heap.
Jiaojiao’s face also changed dramatically. Only then did she remember how unsightly she looked at the moment. She exclaimed, pushed his hand away, covered her mouth, and looked at him with only her big watery eyes exposed.
Covering her mouth and shaking her head, "Mm, it’s nothing."
Xiu Xi’s face still looked quite terrible, and the hand at his side had clenched into a fist. However, because he was unwilling to show his violent side in front of her, he lowered his eyelids, hiding the anger in his eyes, and turned to leave the room.
Jiaojiao called after him with some concern, "Brother Xiu Xi, your meal is in the kitchen, remember to eat it."
Xiu Xi didn’t respond.
He had learned about what happened today from the mouths of the Ruan Family brothers, and his face turned even grimmer, to the point where it seemed water could drip from it. Even Ruan Jie, watching him, felt a chill and didn’t dare to speak for a moment.
As dusk was just falling,
Xiu Xi first went to the place where she had fallen. In the darkness, he searched for a while and found the tooth that had rolled into the soil. He carefully wrapped it in a handkerchief, put it in his pocket, and then went to the hill once again.
That night, as Jiaojiao was sleeping in a daze, she heard shrill screams coming from the next room, as if someone was calling for help. She hazily tried to open her eyes, but then the sound disappeared.