He Xiyan said, “Yes, Jiahang said that his father had not gotten married, then who is his mother?”
She asked, only feeling puzzled.
Aunt Wang thought for a moment, then frowned and shook her head. It seemed that she did not want to answer this question.
She turned to look at He Xiyan, smiled and said, “I don’t know, Yanyan…”
“Oh!” He Xiyan was surprised.
She looked at Aunt Wang and wanted to see something on her face, but Aunt Wang just smiled at her.
“Yanyan…” Aunt Wang patted her hand and sighed. Then she said with great gravity, “Jiahang is a good man. Although he can’t speak and he is not smart, he is actually honest without any insidious ideas. I can see that he’s really good to you, so don’t hurt him.”
He Xiyan nodded. After getting Aunt Wang’s meaning, she said, “I know, Aunt.”
She had never thought of hurting Chen Jiahang, because in her heart, he was just like her family and he was her only family member now.
“It’s good that you know.” Aunt Wang continued, “Yanyan, I know you are smart and you must have read a lot of books. I think you must have some thoughts in your heart and do not want to stay in our small village. Or you want to run away and leave here like the wife bought by Uncle Li. But I want to say that if you leave, Jiahang will be left with nothing. He has the same IQ as a kid, thus if you abandon him, he may become a complete fool or go mad.”
Speaking of this, Aunt Wang sighed again. Having no son, she treated Jiahang as her own son.
Jiahang was also very good to her. Some heavy work, such as fixing the house or something, which the old couple could not do themselves, Jiahang would help them.
He was hardworking, honest and very kind to others.
He Xiyan smiled and patted aunt Wang’s hand, assuring her that she did not have to worry.
“I won’t abandon him, Aunt. You really don’t have to worry about that.”
Besides, even if she was going to leave the village, she would take Jiahang with her. After all, they were a family.
“That’s good, that’s good.” Aunt Wang was a little relieved.
He Xiyan said good-bye to Aunt Wang, and then put the nine jins of chili peppers she picked into the bamboo basket behind the bicycle.
These peppers were enough for her to make 20 bottles of chopped peppers, which, together with more than a dozen bottles at home, would be sold for more than 100 yuan.
It was not easy to earn even 100 yuan in this countryside. She had to find more ways to make money.
When she got home, she kept working. Compared to staring blankly, she preferred to work and do what she could.
She should have been a hard worker before, she thought. Otherwise, why couldn’t she stop to idle around?
—-
Nine days later, merchants came again to buy farm and sideline products and herbs.
Their truck arrived at the entrance of the village very early, at about seven a.m.
On this day, many villagers rushed to the entrance of the village. All the things on their carts were what they were going to sell to merchants. Although the price was very low, it was also one of the most important sources of income for them.
He Xiyan also accompanied Chen Jiahang here. They only had a few things, dozens of bottles of chili peppers and five to six jins of dried fish. They came by bicycle, and everything was in the bamboo basket.
When they arrived, there were already dozens of people there. Merchants were busy weighing the things that villagers had brought and calculating the price.