Time Travel: Conditional Wealth

The He family followed the large group of people down the mountain, still muttering: "I don't know where Xiaoxi went at noon. Did she eat?"

"The wound on your head hasn't healed yet. The doctor said it's nothing serious and it won't affect your future, right?"

He's father's words really stumped He's mother. The doctor didn't say anything at the time. He just said that it was not a big problem and she could just go home and take good care of herself. He also didn't say what impact it would have on her future life.

No, it's all Lin Sanni's fault. She can't just let it go. If the village doesn't give her an explanation, she will ask for it herself. With anger in her eyes and a quick step, He's mother gradually left everyone behind.

He's father and He Fei behind him looked at each other in silence for a long time, then jogged after him.

He's mother hurried all the way to her doorstep, took a quick look and went straight to Lin Sanni's house. It was at that glance that she saw a strange face, a male, no, two.

He's mother turned around and rushed back to her home. She wanted to see who the strange males in her home were, and there were two of them at once.

Mother He called out tentatively: "Xiao Xi, are you home?"

The smell of meat wafted intermittently from the house, and He's mother became even more confused. Behind her, the father and daughter of the He family came running. He's father panted heavily: "What did you eat? Why are you walking so fast? You can't..."

Before He's father finished speaking, He's mother waved her hand to signal him to shut up. The father and daughter then realized that something was wrong at home, "Xiao Xi, are you home?"

"Yes, wash your hands and have an meal." It happened that He Xi and the other two came back with pickled vegetables.

The simultaneous appearance of the three attracted the attention of the He family. The three looked at Lu Jinan and Xiao Yan carefully. He's father's eyes were the most aggressive: "Why are all your classmates male? Aren't the female classmates here?"

He Xi opened the lid of the braised pork, and the tempting aroma slowly wafted away. He Fei quickly closed the door to guard the meat that belonged to the He family.

Meat was hard to come by during that period, and it was impossible to ask neighbors for it, not even the smell of it was allowed.

He Xi was sitting there doing the final finishing work, the sweat on his face dripping onto the stove: "Wash your hands and eat, we'll talk at the dinner table."

He Fei washed her face with the smell of meat. Her voice was unclear, but He Xi understood the general meaning: "If you don't explain clearly, our dad won't be able to eat well."

He Fei did not have the decadent air of the times, but had a skin color close to that of wheat. The front of her handmade cloth shoes were stained with dirt. She simply washed her face casually, after all, her flesh was too attractive.

Lu Jinan and Xiao Yan helped prepare the dishes. He's parents stared at the two young people without moving. Being too diligent is not a good thing, and his little girl is not on guard.

He Xi couldn't bear to watch it any longer, so she stood not far away and looked at her parents, "Mom and Dad, one of these two is my childhood sweetheart, and the other is his friend."

Humph, it’s all the same, they’re just trying to steal his little girl.

What? Child marriage?

The He family's parents then remembered what their parents had said before: Xiaoxi's childhood sweetheart came here from the countryside. They immediately felt a little better, as long as he wasn't a wild boy.

He Fei seemed even more shocked than her parents. She held He Xi's hand and said, "You came from a big city like Beijing, and you didn't even take care of yourself. Why didn't you tell me earlier that I would come back to cook?"

He Fei looked at her sister, who was slender and graceful, with her black and smooth hair hanging on one side, revealing a jade-like neck.

Looking at the other person, she felt that she was worthy of any of them.

He Xi looked at He Fei's caring look and suddenly remembered that the original owner had promised to buy her sister a brand new pair of Huili shoes. No wonder the word "shoes" always flashed through her mind.

Looking at her face, He Xi felt a sense of déjà vu. He pulled her into his room and picked up the Warrior shoes on the kang: "Here, I promised you before."

He Fei's face was full of smiles. She let go of He Xi's hand, carefully opened the paper wrapping the shoes, and held them in her hands looking at them with care.

"Try it." He Xi urged her, "If it doesn't work, I can change it tomorrow."

She put them on her feet as if they were treasures and showed off her new shoes to her parents: "Mom and Dad, look at my new shoes. My sister bought them for me."

He Xi explained at the dinner table that she and her classmates had started a small business of weaving bracelets.

The parents didn't care about the amount of money, but they were scared by He Xi's boldness.

However, no one cared about the meat. The braised pork was stewed until soft and not greasy, with just the right thickness. Potatoes and bean curd were added, and it was salty enough to eat.

In addition, there are tomato egg soup, cucumber cold skin mixed vegetables, garlic eggplant, and pickled vegetables, which are common home-cooked dishes in Northeast China.

He Xi looked at the delicious food on the table and saw no one was eating. She reminded them quietly, "Mom and Dad, eat first, or the aunts in the front and back yards will come and grab your food."

At this moment, someone's stomach started growling at the right moment, "Gurgle, gurgle..."

Only then did He's father give the order to eat. The father picked up the first piece with chopsticks and gave it to his wife, and then the younger generations could eat with relish. What curious them the most was the cold noodles in the mixed dish. He Xi said it was made of white flour. The He family members widened their eyes, and lamented how much work He Xi had put in.

The daylight hours are short in the mountains, and as dusk gradually deepens, the sky and the earth become one color, turning dark. Now is the time when the smell of dinner is the strongest. Before you get close, the aroma of various dishes is already overwhelmed.

Under the gaze of others, He Xi coaxed his parents to stop asking about his small business. He had just eaten a few mouthfuls of food in peace when Aunt Hua in the front yard leaned over the fence and shouted, "Hey, I was wondering why you closed the door. Turns out you were secretly eating meat."

In the original owner's memory, none of the aunts in the front and back yards were good people. They were always changing with the wind, being cunning and taking advantage of others.

He Xi smiled, picked up a piece of meat calmly, shook it in the direction of Aunt Hua, and then ate it. Aunt Hua's face changed, and she pointed at He Xi: "You little bastard, just wait for me..."

Mother He quickly found a tomato from somewhere and threw it at Aunt Hua's face: "Clean your mouth, get out of here, it's none of your business when we eat meat."

He's father was standing behind his wife with a few tomatoes that had rotted due to excessive rain in his hands. He Xi was wondering when they prepared them and why he didn't know about it.

Aunt Xie, who had just sat down in the backyard, also climbed over the wall. She probably didn't see Aunt Hua's miserable appearance, but she noticed the two young men in the yard and said jokingly, "Oh, these two are sons-in-law, right? They are so handsome, and they must be from the city, otherwise how can they afford to buy meat to eat."

He Fei replied directly: "Don't worry, Auntie. My family won't give the meat to others."

"What you said is not right. We all have meat in our village. Why is your family special?"

"Why is my family so special? Whose family has everyone eating together? Your family?"

"Let alone eating a bite of your meat, you won't even let me smell the aroma of your meat. How shameless of you."

"Wait a minute, I'll go find the village chief to judge the case."

He's mother was happy to see this: "Okay, I also have something to do and need the village chief to give my little girl justice. Let's go, let's go now."

He Xi stood up and hit Aunt Xie in the face with a rotten persimmon, saying confidently: "Aunt, you haven't settled the score for stealing my dried meat last time, and you're here again today? You have a shameless attitude."

"Who is shameless? I..."

She must have slipped. It was unsafe to talk while clinging to the fence. She was in a hurry to jump up and curse at He Xi, but she ignored her feet. Her feet slipped and the fence scratched her chin, and she lost her voice.

He Xi raised an eyebrow, stared at the place where Aunt Xie disappeared and blinked, thinking that this fighting ability was not good enough.

He Xi sat down and waved his hand: "For the sake of the braised pork, I won't bother with you."

Xiao Yan looked up at Lu Jinan who was concentrating on eating, and exchanged glances with him, "This family is not easy to deal with."

"That's great. I don't want to be bullied by others."

"Aren't you afraid that they will use this trick on you?"

The He family members were concentrating on eating and watching the two people's eye contact. Lu Jinan suddenly put down the bowl, leaned back in the chair, looked up and smiled: "Sorry, my silly son, please forgive me."

He Xi replied, "It's okay. There are many stupid sons in the landlord's family."

Lu Jinan smiled and said, "For the sake of the braised pork, don't bother with him."

"Yeah." The He family nodded.

Near the kerosene lamp in the courtyard, moths fluttered recklessly, again and again, hitting it tirelessly.

The courtyard gate had been opened a long time ago, but after waiting for a long time there was still no sign of Aunt Xie. He Xi couldn't help but feel curious. Has she changed her personality?

He's parents were talking to Lu Jinan, and their main purpose was to interrogate him, which was something He Xi could not help with.

Suddenly, the village chief's deep voice came from the door: "Is He Ji at home?"

"Yes." Father He stood up from the stool and looked at his wife. "It seems that the village chief has come to settle the matter."

Sure enough, the village chief brought Lin Sanni and her parents with him. Lin Sanni's face was still stained with tears and slap marks, and she looked at He Xi with resentment.

The hostility in Lin Sanni's eyes could be felt by everyone around her. She said perfunctorily, "I'm sorry, He Xi, I shouldn't have framed you, let alone pushed you down the hill. I was wrong."

He Xi stood there without saying a word. Lin Sanni's words were too fake and lacked any sincerity. The original owner paid the price of his life because of her ignorant behavior. Why should she be forgiven with just a few words?

Later, many people came to watch the fun. They felt that He Xi was a bit mean. Lin Sanni had been beaten and apologized, so how could she be so cold-blooded?

He Xi felt that they were unreasonable. She narrowed her eyes, stared at Lin Sanni and asked, "Why should I accept your apology? Can't I be angry if you ruin my reputation? You pushed me down the hill to kill me, but I can't hate you if I'm not dead?"

He Xi looked around at the people watching the excitement and asked them, "What are you doing to criticize me from a moral high ground?"

"It's her fault, not mine. I'm the victim of the whole thing. Why do you ask me to forgive her as if nothing happened?"

He Xi pointed to the scar on his head and asked everyone present: "You can't feel it, but I know the pain and the feeling of despair. I advise you not to be so selfish."

He's mother hugged her little daughter lovingly, and He Fei also came over to pat He Xi.

He's father waited quietly for the village chief's next words, trying to suppress his anger with pity in his eyes, but to no avail.

The dusk is deep.

For the sake of the village's rating, the village chief chose not to leave any room for criticism and asked He Xi to accept Lin Sanni's apology.

Although Father He didn't say anything, he showed disappointment on his face: "Don't worry, our family will not hinder our village from being evaluated as advanced, but we will not forgive Lin Sanni for what she did."

The village chief was a little surprised that some villagers dared to disobey the collective interests.

Finally, the Lin family left thirty yuan and took Lin Sanni away.

He Xi picked up the money and handed it to He's mother: "Pay back the money I borrowed for medical treatment tomorrow."

He's mother also had an angry look on her face: "Doesn't accepting the money mean you forgive her?"

A magnetic and clear voice came: "Aunt, uncle, the money is the compensation that He Xi deserves. Forgiveness is a matter for later." Lu Jinan looked at He Xi and said.

Xiao Yan interjected, "Yes, whether they forgive or not, they should compensate He Xi. Just take it. It's just that thirty is a little too little. They should be forced to pay with their entire fortune."

"belch."

Father He felt that it was inappropriate and quickly covered his mouth. He turned his head to the side embarrassedly and said vaguely: "For the sake of the braised pork, forgive them temporarily."

He's mother rolled her eyes at him. If you are a loser, just eat your fill. Why are you embarrassing yourself in front of your new son-in-law?

Although they were angry, everyone slept soundly because of the braised pork.