The whole mountain is my hunting ground.

Chapter 1982 The Zhao Family's Children Are All Kind and Righteous

Wang Meilan walked over and gently tapped Li Tongyun's shoulder twice with the back of her hand, signaling her to move away.

Li Tongyun was taken aback. Although somewhat reluctant, she still left Wang Ya's side.

"My child, don't cry." Wang Meilan rubbed Wang Ya's little head. This child has suffered a lot over the years, but she doesn't eat much. Her hair is frizzy, and she is obviously malnourished.

"Go with Madam to that room to watch TV for a while, then Auntie will make dumplings, chive and egg dumplings. The chives she cut today are so tender." Wang Meilan's words were unquestionable. After hearing this, the little girl followed the old lady and Old Lady Zhao.

"What did they say over there, sister-in-law?" Xing San asked. This old mountain dog was always unscrupulous and did whatever he wanted. There were no more than ten people in the world he would care about.

But at this moment, Xing San asked Wang Meilan about the specific arrangements she had made for Wang Ya. And when he asked this question, he was afraid that little Wang Ya would hear him, so he deliberately lowered his voice.

Xing San started the conversation, and everyone gathered around to listen to Wang Meilan relay the attitude of Wang Changyou's family.

"These are inhuman!" Xie Sunshi cursed as soon as Wang Meilan finished speaking, "Damn it, I really want to beat them up."

Upon hearing this, Xing San and Li Tongyun nodded in agreement.

At this moment, Zhao Weipeng pulled Liang Xuemei to Old Master Zhao's side, and the three of them whispered a few words. Then Liang Xuemei said to Wang Meilan, "Sister-in-law, if that Wang family is sure they don't want this child, then I'll go with your brother and we'll raise it."

Upon hearing this, Wang Meilan looked at Liang Xuemei, then at Zhao Weipeng.

Seeing Wang Meilan looking over, Zhao Weipeng nodded vigorously and laughed, "I only have that one brat at home. The last few times I've been to Old Chu's house, I only liked his big, chubby girl, hehe..."

Liang Xuemei smiled and patted Zhao Weipeng on the shoulder, then said to Wang Meilan, "Sister-in-law, this is what I'm thinking. Let's not tell Xiaoya all that yet. After a few days, let her come back and stay with us so we can get used to each other for a few days."

“Okay, that works.” Hearing Liang Xuemei’s words, Wang Meilan felt it was a reliable approach and nodded repeatedly, saying, “Sister-in-law, your arrangement is correct. First, communicate and build rapport. Once the relationship is established, everything will be easier to discuss.”

"What did you say?" A voice came from outside the door just as Wang Meilan finished speaking.

Immediately afterwards, the curtain was lifted, and Li Ruhai entered from outside.

"Auntie," Li Ruhai said to Wang Meilan as soon as he came in, "a fight broke out at my sister-in-law's house."

"Huh?" Wang Meilan's eyes widened upon hearing this, and she asked, "Who did you fight with?"

As she spoke, Wang Meilan walked out. When she first heard Li Ruhai's words, she thought Wang Cuihua had gotten into a fight with outsiders.

If that's the case, Wang Meilan has no choice but to get involved.

"Auntie, Auntie, please don't go." Seeing this, Li Ruhai quickly stopped Wang Meilan and said, "My Auntie Ma has had a fight with Ma Yang."

"You child!" Wang Meilan glared at Li Ruhai and said irritably, "You scared me with those words."

Li Ruhai grinned, and then Xu Chunyan next to him said with a wry smile, "That kid Ma Yang, has he done something wrong? He's always either upsetting his dad or upsetting his mom."

“Absolutely!” Li Ruhai relentlessly tarnished Ma Yang’s reputation, saying, “He’s outrageous! He made my mother so angry she cried her eyes out.”

To Li Ruhai's surprise, as soon as he finished speaking, Jin Xiaomei exposed his past, saying, "You still have the nerve to talk about others? I felt like dying over what happened to you last year."

Everyone burst into laughter at Jin Xiaomei's words.

Upon hearing this, Li Ruhai quickly went over and put his arm around Jin Xiaomei's arm, saying, "Mom, look at you, why are you bringing up things from the past?"

Jin Xiaomei didn't say anything, but just smiled and rolled her eyes at Li Ruhai.

"Huh?" Li Ruhai reacted quickly, changing the subject to a more appropriate one, "What about that little girl we picked up yesterday? Did her family come to pick her up?"

Li Ruhai had barely uttered a word when Jin Xiaomei slapped him, his attempt to change the subject failing...

"Keep your voice down, what nonsense are you spouting!" Jin Xiaomei smacked Li Ruhai again, then told him about Xiao Wangya's ordeal.

Upon hearing this, Li Ruhai slammed his fist on the table in anger and exclaimed, "Outrageous! This is outrageous! I'm going to Changling right now to make sure Wang Changyou and his family pay the price!"

"You better shut up!" Jin Xiaomei grabbed Li Ruhai and said, "If you run around showing off in other villages and get caught, I'll break your legs!"

Hearing Jin Xiaomei's words, Li Ruhai raised his head and said defiantly, "Mom, you underestimate your son! I can go anywhere in the world with just my mouth!"

"You're kidding me!" Li Tongyun retorted, looking at Li Ruhai with disdain. "Last month, Yong Sheng fought with the Pang family. Their kid is two years younger than you and a head shorter, and you still couldn't beat him."

"I..." Li Ruhai was choked and couldn't speak.

After defeating Li Ruhai, Li Tongyun stood up and said to everyone, "If you ask me, let Xiaoya learn martial arts from me. Once she's mastered good skills, I'll let her fight her way back to Changling..."

"Go away! Go away! Go away!" Li Tongyun was interrupted by Wang Meilan before she could finish speaking: "You girl, you never teach the child anything good!"

“Exactly!” Zhao Youcai chimed in, “That explains why my Xiaohong is always getting into fights at school; she learned it from you.”

"No, that's not it, Uncle, it's with..." Li Tongyun dared not take such a big blame and was about to refute it. But when she was about to refute it, she looked at Xing San and Xie Sunshi.

Sensing Li Tongyun's gaze, Laoshan Gouzi and Hu Mazi both narrowed their eyes, and Li Tongyun ultimately didn't utter the second half of her sentence.

After working together with Xing San to suppress Li Tongyun, Xie Sunshi quickly changed the subject, saying, "Alright, let's hurry up and make dumplings. Xiao Hong and Lingdang will be home from school soon."

Upon hearing Sun's words, everyone hurriedly got to work. Some kneaded the dough, some washed the chives, and Wang Meilan went to the backyard to fry eggs.

Many hands make light work; in less than an hour, more than 400 dumplings were made.

Amidst the laughter of children and the barking of dogs, Zhao Hong and her group of children ran into the Zhao family compound.

"Hong, Lingdang, come here, come here!" The old lady called the group of children to her side, and then introduced Wang Ya to them, saying, "Hong, this is your little niece, her name is Wang Ya, you can call her Xiao Ya."

"Niece?" Before Zhao Hong could react, Xiao Lingdang's eyes lit up. Zhao Hong's niece? Then she must be of the same generation as her?
For a long time, Xiaolingdang had been worrying and working hard every day with her aunts and uncles. Finally, someone came who could help share the burden.

"Little Ya," Zhao Hong looked Wang Ya up and down and said, "Why are you so thin?"

Wang Ya looked timidly at Zhao Hong. She had an older brother who was two years older than her, but the treatment he received at home was something she couldn't compare to.

The boy went out to play with his friends, and she stayed home to help with housework. When the boy came back covered in mud, she had to wash his dirty clothes right away.

So Wang Ya grew up without having any playmates or playing with other children.

She had seen countless children playing and laughing in the yard. But she was never envious, because she knew she was different from the other children.

As for why they were different, Wang Ya didn't know, nor had she thought about it.

Looking at the group of children, Wang Ya felt filled with fear and inferiority.

"Xiao Hong," Liang Xuemei said softly to Zhao Hong as she came over, "Go wash your hands, we'll eat right away. After we finish eating, take Xiao Ya out to play."

"Hey!" Zhao Hong answered and ran off. As soon as she ran, the other children followed and ran towards the hand pump.

"Come on, little girl, let's go wash our hands too." Liang Xuemei took Wang Ya's little hand, which was skin and bones like a chicken claw, with no flesh at all.

Wang Ya obediently followed Liang Xuemei. After taking a few steps, the child turned back to look at the old lady.

Although she had spent less than 24 hours with the old woman, the care and attention she received was something Wang Ya had never experienced before.

The old lady kept watching Wang Ya, who was being led away by Liang Xuemei. She couldn't understand how anyone could be so heartless as to mistreat their own flesh and blood.

The old lady and Jiang Hua had no children of their own. Although Wang Ya was a girl, the old lady dared to say that if the two of them had such a child, they would definitely cherish her like a treasure. Therefore, she could not understand the behavior of Wang Changyou's family.

Seeing Wang Ya looking at her, the old lady waved her hand, indicating that Wang Ya should go with Liang Xuemei. She was too old to keep Wang Ya by her side.

Moreover, after spending time with them, the old lady knew that Zhao Weipeng's family were good people, and if Wang Ya could really stay with them, it would be a blessing for the little girl.

When Liang Xuemei and Wang Ya finished washing their hands, Zhao Hong and the other children had already sat down at the table.

"Xuemei, you take Xiaoya and you guys eat first." Wang Meilan brought over two plates of steaming dumplings and called out to Liang Xuemei.

Normally, Liang Xuemei would wait for Wang Meilan and Jin Xiaomei to take their seats. But at this moment, Liang Xuemei knew that Wang Meilan had asked her to take care of Wang Ya.

Two tables were set up in the courtyard, and men, the elderly, and children were all seated.

Chive and egg dumplings are incredibly delicious this season. Dipping them in vinegar elevates the flavor to another level.

After eating two dumplings, Zhao Youcai felt unsatisfied, so he pulled a basket out of the cellar, took out four bottles of beer from the basket, and distributed them to Zhao Weipeng, Xing San, and Old Master Zhao.

Zhao Weipeng is overweight, and in the summer he has to soak his rice in cold water before eating it. But he eats dumplings piping hot, and after a few, sweat is beading on his forehead.

A cold beer at this moment might upset your stomach, but it's incredibly refreshing.

At this moment, Wang Meilan, Jin Xiaomei, Yang Yufeng, and Xu Chunyan each brought over two plates of dumplings from the backyard. By then, all four hundred-plus dumplings were ready.

Following the four people was Liu Lanying, carrying a large basin. The basin contained dumpling soup, which was placed on the low wall of the vegetable garden. She used a spoon to scoop the soup into small bowls, a practice called "using the original soup to digest the original food."

Wang Meilan and the others had just sat down when Ma Ling returned.

If it weren't for trying to persuade her mother, Ma Ling would have come back long ago. After running around all morning, Ma Ling was starving, so she sat down and wolfed down her dumplings.

After dinner, Zhao Hong and a group of children took Wang Ya to a shady spot to play jump rope.

These kids are together every day, going in and out together, eating and playing together, so they have a very good relationship.

Although it's true that they liked to fight with classmates when they were in school, they were very harmonious internally, and they loved and respected each other.

Zhao Hong also took care of Wang Ya, who was newly joined, and took her to jump rope.

"Second Aunt, I don't know how," Wang Ya said. Zhao Hong looked at Wang Ya in surprise and said, "You don't even know how to play with a small ball?"

A small ball, kicked with a foot, the iris blooms at twenty-one...

I don't know how this set of nursery rhymes managed to be standardized across the country in an era without the internet.

Not to mention Zhao Hong and the others, even Zhao Chun danced this when he was a child.

Under the watchful eyes of a group of children, Wang Ya blushed and shook her head. She had seen others jump, but she had never jumped herself.

"Come on, let's practice our strength first, and I'll teach you later." These were the words Xiao Lingdang said to Wang Ya. The so-called "stretching" is actually two people standing on either side of a rubber band without jumping.

Wang Ya excitedly looped one end of the rubber band around her calf. Although she couldn't jump, just being able to participate was enough to excite her.

"Little ball, kick it with your foot, the iris blooms at twenty-one, two eight two five six..." The cheerful nursery rhyme rang out in the Zhao family courtyard, and a little lynx lazily yawned on the low wall.

The happy lunch break was short-lived. At one o'clock in the afternoon, Wang Meilan's voice came from inside the house: "Stop playing, go to school."

Zhao Hong pouted upon hearing this. Wang Ya, meanwhile, looked at the group of children preparing to go to school with a blank expression.

"Are you going to school?" Zhao Na asked Wang Ya. Seeing Wang Ya shake her head, Zhao Na muttered, "It's so nice not to go to school."

"Let's go, little sister." Zhao Hong called out to Zhao Na, then looked at Wang Ya, who seemed a bit lost. She remembered that after dinner, Wang Meilan had secretly pulled her aside and told her that Wang Ya was pitiful because she didn't have a mother, and asked her to take good care of Wang Ya.

Zhao Hong looked again at Wang Ya's floral shirt, which her mother had made for her, while the children around her and she were all wearing brand new sailor shirts.

Although her floral blouse was nice, it looked out of place among the group of people in sailor shirts.

Suddenly, Zhao Hong seemed to have made a decision. Amid the puzzled looks of the other children, she ran into the house.

When Wang Meilan, who was in the outer room, saw Zhao Hong come in, she asked directly, "If you're not going to school, what are you doing?"

Zhao Hong didn't say a word and ran into the East House.

At this moment, Zhao Youcai was sleeping on the kang (a heated brick bed). Zhao Hong climbed onto the kang, opened the cabinet, and took out her brand-new red and white striped sailor shirt.

Zhao Hong grabbed her clothes and ran out of the kang (heated brick bed). As she passed the outer room, Wang Meilan saw her and shouted, "What are you doing? How many clothes are you wearing?"

Zhao Hong ran outside without stopping, and ran to Wang Ya.

"Take off your clothes." Zhao Hong's words startled Wang Ya.

Although Wang Ya is only six years old, her experiences have made her much more sensible than children her age. She knew that the clothes she was wearing belonged to Zhao Hong, so when she heard Zhao Hong say this, Wang Ya thought that Zhao Hong wanted the clothes back.

When Wang Ya's eyes dimmed and her eyes welled up with tears, Zhao Hong shook the sailor shirt in her hand and said, "You can put this on now."

"Huh?" Wang Ya was stunned. Her eyes stopped stinging instantly, and she stared blankly at Zhao Hong with wide eyes.

"Hurry up!" Zhao Hong said, and started to take off Wang Ya's clothes.

This is not bullying!

These kids, from Xiao Lingdang to Lin Xiaobao, are all very innocent; they have no concept of gender differences.

It was because Xu Chunyan slapped Lin Xiaobao that day; otherwise, the boy would have stripped naked in public if he had gotten hot.

Zhao Hong stripped Wang Ya of her cloth shirt and then put a sailor shirt over Wang Ya's head.

At this moment, Wang Ya was still dizzy and felt like she was dreaming.

"Here, take this too. Keep it and wear it in rotation." Zhao Hong stuffed the floral shirt in her hand into Wang Ya's arms and said, "After this, we'll go to school first and come back in a bit. If anyone bullies you in this village, just mention me."

After saying this, Zhao Hong puffed out her chest and added, "It works!"

As she spoke, Zhao Hong patted Wang Ya on the shoulder.

After withdrawing her hand, Zhao Hong shouted "Let's go to school!" and then ran off with a group of children.

Wang Ya looked at the departing group of children, then looked down at her own sailor shirt, and truly felt that this was all a dream.

Outside the Zhao family's house, Wang Meilan watched the children running out of the yard, a smile spreading across her face.

Zhao Youcai, with his hands behind his back, stood behind Wang Meilan and murmured, "We Zhao family kids are just so kind and righteous."

Upon hearing this, Wang Meilan's lips curled into a smirk, and she glanced back, saying, "Yes, all the people in our Wang family are bad, huh?"

Zhao Youcai laughed heartily, and Wang Meilan laughed too. Then she quickly walked towards Wang Ya.

"Little girl," Wang Meilan said, "take off those clothes first."

"Huh?" The little girl was taken aback when she heard this. Then she hurriedly took off her sailor shirt and said anxiously, "Grandma, I don't want this shirt."

“What do you mean you don’t want it?” Wang Meilan laughed. “She put it on you backwards.”

Wang Ya: "..."

I owe you one chapter. I'll write it early tomorrow morning and make it up then. I didn't sleep much last night, and this morning I ate some steamed egg custard, and then I had vomiting and diarrhea all morning.

I felt better at noon, so I took a nap all afternoon... I didn't get up until six o'clock.