However, as too much time had passed, she had completely forgotten about these things.

"What do you mean by ’has nothing to do with you’?" Shen Ting pressed his forehead; at this moment, his mind was completely unable to think due to dizziness caused by the fever.

"I can’t even feed myself, how could I have anything to give to others? If I did give something, it was because the Ruan Family asked me to bring it over. Grandma Ruan used to love making things for Ruan Jiaojiao to eat. Ruan Jiaojiao, stupid as a pig... couldn’t eat so much and would share it with others."

A sharp beep suddenly sounded in Shen Ting’s mind, and the next second, he finally succumbed to the double blow to his body and mind, rolled his eyes, and fainted.

——

1986.

Early spring, accompanied by the rumbling thunder, was the sharp cursing of Liu Mei from the Xiu Family: "You little bastard! I caught you stealing food! You’re just like your mother, so cheap! Get out of here!"

Liu Mei held a thin bamboo stick in her hand, whipping it relentlessly on Xiu Xi. Although the bamboo stick was thin, it hurt especially when used to hit people, leaving deep red marks on the body.

Xiu Xi dodged left and right, but years of malnutrition made him as frail as a four or five-year-old child. He couldn’t dodge it; he could only roll back and forth on the ground. But no matter how he rolled or hurt, he didn’t utter a single plea or cry.

Liu Mei stopped only when she was tired from hitting, threw the thin bamboo stick onto him, spat in frustration: "Mute bastard, can’t even let out a peep! Just seeing you makes me angry. Get, get away, don’t loiter around in front of me! If you’re going to die, do it elsewhere!"

Cursing as she went, Liu Mei walked back into the house and then slammed the gate shut.

After the thunder came pouring rain, large raindrops mixed with mud splashed onto Xiu Xi, causing his face to lose all color from the pain. He got up from the ground, staggered, and crawled into a nearby woodpile, skillfully burrowing into a small hole in the middle.

Though this woodpile couldn’t completely block the rain, and it was wet everywhere, it was still better than being drenched directly outside.

Once inside, Xiu Xi curled up and hugged himself tightly. Perhaps it was hunger, or maybe pain, but he gradually closed his eyes, and in a daze, he smelled an aroma drifting to his nose.

He wanted to open his eyes to sniff more as if that would fill him, but he was too exhausted, until footsteps came in front of him.

He barely opened his eyes to see Wa Yiting standing before him, handing him a yellowish-brown item: "For you!"

He did not know when the rain had stopped, and the sun after the rain was especially blinding. Xiu Xi squinted, seeing Wa Yiting standing before him, glowing all over. She handed him a mugwort cake, and there was another blurry figure behind her. But she stood in front, and with the glaring sunlight, he couldn’t see the figure behind her clearly, or had the mind to care to look, so he ignored it. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

In fact, Xiu Xi rarely accepted food from others. For instance, Grandma Ruan from next door occasionally sneaked him something, but he never took it.

But he didn’t know why he made an exception that time, perhaps because he was extremely hungry, or perhaps Wa Yiting’s gleaming appearance was too stunning.