After my stepmother was shot, I took my brothers to the countryside

Zhang Fengfeng took out some attractively colored fruit candies from her pocket, waved towards Xiaoying, who was playing and laughing with a group of children not far away, and shouted:

"Xiaoying, Xiaoying, come here."

Xiaoying heard the shout and subconsciously turned her head. Seeing that it was Zhang Fengfeng calling her, she hesitated. Her mother had warned her before she left not to get too close to her aunt-in-law and to run away if she got into trouble.

"Xiaoying, your aunt is calling you, why are you just standing there like an idiot? Look, she's holding some candy in her hand!"

Li Erwa stood aside, staring at the candy in Zhang Fengfeng's hand, swallowed his saliva, and said in a low voice.

"But... my mother told me to stay away from my aunt..." Xiaoying was still a little hesitant.

"What are you afraid of? We're all here. Your aunt wouldn't dare do anything to you. Go and get the candy from her first, and then ignore her!"

Li Erwa rolled his eyes and gave Xiaoying an idea which he thought was a "clever plan".

Xiaoying was a little hesitant after hearing what Li Erwa said. After all, that was fruit candy! Although her mother loved her, she didn't buy her candy often.

Seeing Xiaoying standing there hesitantly, Zhang Fengfeng smiled gently.

She walked over, took Xiaoying's hand, pulled her aside, and stuffed the fruit candy into her hand.

Then, her voice softened even more than usual. "Xiaoying, I'm planning to take your brother Xiaocong and sister Xiaohui to town to buy some things. Do you want to come with us? After we finish shopping, we'll go to the city to visit your parents tomorrow."

"Can I go find my parents?"

Xiaoying's eyes lit up instantly, her hands tightly clenched the fruit candies, and her voice was full of uncontrollable surprise.

"Aunt, can you really take me to find my parents?" Xiaoying raised her head and stared at Zhang Fengfeng without blinking.

Zhang Fengfeng looked at Xiaoying's anxious and expectant expression, feeling secretly proud, but still with a kind smile on her face.

She patted Xiaoying's shoulder and said softly, "Of course it's true. You miss your mother, and your aunt misses your grandmother too. It's a good opportunity for us to go see them together."

Xiaoying, who had been so excited that she had forgotten her mother's instructions, suddenly felt a pang in her heart when she looked at Zhang Fengfeng's smiling face.

Her aunt had never smiled at her like this before. It was good enough that she didn't hit or scold her, let alone give her candy and smile, and talk to her so gently.

She stayed at the captain's aunt's house for the past two days, and accidentally heard her aunt and Erwa's mother say that her aunt was too cruel. Her grandmother was bitten by a blind bear and she refused to go to the hospital with them.

How could he be so kind now and take her and Sister Xiaohui to find their parents?

The more Xiaoying thought about it, the more she felt something was wrong. The excitement in her heart disappeared in an instant, and vigilance returned to her heart.

She unconsciously tightened her grip on the fruit candy, her voice trembling but firm: "Aunt, I...I suddenly don't want to go. I still want to stay at the captain's aunt's house and wait for my parents to come back."

The smile on Zhang Fengfeng's face froze instantly, and a hint of viciousness flashed in her eyes, but she quickly returned to her kind look.

"Xiaoying, why did you suddenly change your mind? You don't want to see your parents? I really want to take you there. If you don't want to go now and want to go later, I won't take you with me!" Zhang Fengfeng deliberately lengthened her voice, trying to scare Xiaoying.

Xiaoying took a step back, staring at Zhang Fengfeng with a look of vigilance in her eyes: "Aunt, I'm not going anyway!"

After saying that, she turned around and ran away, fearing that if she ran a step slower, her aunt would ask her to return the candy.

When Li Erwa and his companions saw Xiaoying running away, they were stunned for a moment, then they reacted and quickly ran after her.

Zhang Fengfeng was angry and annoyed. She didn't expect Xiaoying to be as difficult to deal with as her mother.

How dare they disobey her! Although she was angry, the person had already run away. She had no place to vent her anger, so she could only stand there, stamping her feet in anger.

Xiaoying ran all the way, turned a corner, and stopped only after making sure that Zhang Fengfeng could no longer see her. She supported her knees with her hands and gasped for breath.

"Xiaoying, why did you run so far? Your aunt couldn't catch up with you!" Li Erwa stopped and said, also panting.

Xiaoying patted her chest and said with lingering fear, "I... I'm afraid my aunt will ask me to return the candy."

Li Erwa scratched his head and said with a silly smile, "This is indeed something your aunt would do. But Xiaoying, you are too clever. You actually took the candy and ran away!"

At this time, several children who had chased together also gathered around and surrounded Xiaoying.

"Xiaoying, you run really fast. Can you give us some of your candy?"

Several children gathered together, staring at the fruit candy in Xiaoying's hand, and couldn't help swallowing.

Xiaoying looked at the fruit candies in her hand, then at the friends surrounding her, feeling a bit embarrassed. There were only a few candies, not enough to share!

"Xiaoying, are you afraid that there won't be enough to share? It's okay. Just give it to me and I'll hit it with a stone to break the candy into pieces. Then there will be enough to share!" Li Erwa's eyes lit up as he thought of this good idea.

When the other children heard this, they nodded and stared at Xiaoying expectantly.

"Okay! Then when you have candy in the future, remember to share it with me."

Xiaoying hesitated for a moment, but finally handed the candy to Li Erwa, and did not forget to give him serious instructions.

When the children heard that they could eat candy, they immediately raised their hands and promised that next time they bought candy at home, they would share it with Xiaoying.

"Of course! My grandma has been talking about my uncle coming back soon. Every time he comes back, he will bring me White Rabbit milk candy. When the time comes, I will give you a whole one!" Li Erwa licked the tiny piece of candy in his hand and promised excitedly.

At this moment, Chunli blinked her big, curious eyes and approached Xiaoying: "Xiaoying, what did your aunt tell you when she called you over just now?"

Chunli has been thinking about it since a while ago. Her grandma loves to listen to gossip the most. She has to find out more and talk to her grandma about it when she gets back later.

Xiaoying was straightforward and didn't hide anything. She said directly: "She said she wanted to take me to see my parents, but I said I didn't want to go."

"What? Take you to find your parents? Then why don't you go?" Chunli asked with a puzzled look on her face.

Xiaoying frowned and said seriously, "My mother told me to stay away from my aunt and never listen to her."

"Yes, your mother is right. Your aunt is a very bad person! Maybe she just wants to take you away and sell you for money!" Li Erwa quickly said from the side.

He often heard Sister Xiao Nian tell Xiao Le and the others stories about human traffickers kidnapping children, and he himself had heard them a few times.

He remembered it clearly. Sister Xiao Nian said that some human traffickers specifically targeted children from relatives' families. It was scary.

Xiaoying didn't take Li Erwa's words too seriously.

She felt that no matter how badly Zhang Fengfeng treated her, she would never sell her out. After all, she was her niece.