Rebooting 60, let's go on a rampage with the orange cat!

After Wang Xiuzhi passed away, according to local custom, her body should be kept in the main room for seven days before burial. Later, in order to change customs and avoid inspection of traditional burial, it was decided to simplify the ceremony and prepare to carry her up the mountain for burial in the early morning of the third day.

According to custom, daughters are supposed to comb their deceased mothers' hair and tidy their faces. As Huai'an combed Xiuzhi's hair and wiped her face, tears streamed down her face, and she sobbed uncontrollably. Her mother's body was already cold, and Huai'an's heart sank into an ice cellar.

While the aunt was cleaning the body and changing it into its burial clothes, she secretly pulled off Wang Xiuzhi's only gold ring and earrings from her fingers and ears and put them in her pocket. She then searched under the pillow, under the bedding, and in the wardrobe for cash.

She then feigned concern and tried to coax Huai'an into revealing where her mother hid the money. When she couldn't get any information out of him, she said to Huai'an, "You're still young, so I'll keep it safe for you. Besides, you're eating and living here, and this little bit of living expenses isn't enough for you. How about... you leave your jade pendant with your auntie too!"

Huai'an covered the collar with his hands, choking back tears, and said, "No, this is a keepsake left to me by my mother, and I want to keep it myself."

The aunt reached out to grab her neck, but Huai'an suddenly started wildly swinging her arms and slashing wildly, her bloodshot eyes like a snarling little beast spitting burning flames.

The aunt was afraid that people outside would hear the commotion and start arguing, so she hit her hard twice. Huai'an didn't cry, but the glare she gave Wu Yue'e made her a little scared. She cursed, "What bad luck!" and left unwillingly.

At this moment, Shi Huai'an felt extremely insecure, like a weed that was about to be uprooted by a raging storm. This small pendant was the only memento her mother had left her. She could give up everything else, but she would protect this pendant with her life, because it meant her mother was with her...

As the thin coffin was lowered into the pit, Huai'an cried out in anguish, rushing to the edge of the pit and shouting, "Mom, don't leave me! I'm scared without you..." which moved the villagers to tears.

The forest was silent, the birds and beasts were speechless, and the crowd slowly dispersed. Huai'an remained kneeling on the ground, murmuring to himself, "Mother is just asleep. She's tired. She'll come back..."

Shi Renmei stood silently by the side for a long time. Cigarette butts were scattered all over the ground. After finishing his last cigarette, he straightened up, picked up Huai'an, and left.

After the funeral, Shi Renmei discussed with her younger brother before leaving that it was really inconvenient for a man like her to take care of her adopted daughter alone, so she decided to leave Huai'an in the countryside. She also promised to send 5 yuan a month for living expenses.

As they boarded the bus, Huai'an chased after her adoptive father, clinging to his leg and crying, "Dad, I want to go back to school! Dad, I'll be good, I'll do chores, please don't leave me..."

Her aunt rushed over, forcefully pried her hands apart, and said with a forced smile, "Huai'an, come back with me. Your dad needs to earn money to support you. Be a good girl and listen to me..."

Huai'an ignored him and continued to plead with her father.

Seeing that Wu Yue'e couldn't pull Huai'an away, Shi Renli hurriedly stepped forward to help, forcefully hoisting Huai'an onto his shoulder and saying, "Come home with us."

Huai'an struggled desperately on his shoulder, but could not break free. He could only cry out pitifully, "Daddy, Daddy, I want Daddy..."

Shi Renmei sighed and walked away without looking back.

Huai'an still lives in the house where his mother lived before she passed away, and refuses to live with Xiaoyan.

She cried for days until her voice was hoarse, her eyes were swollen, and her heart slowly went numb. She thought sadly, "Mom is dead, and Dad doesn't want me anymore. I'm a child without a home... Mom, why did you leave?"

Her world suddenly collapsed, falling from a blissful honeypot into a broken jar soaked in bitterness, shattering Huai'an's heart! Why did everyone abandon her in the blink of an eye? This world felt so foreign. Her birth mother didn't want her, giving her away when she was eight months old; her adoptive mother, the only one who loved her, died young; and her adoptive father also abandoned her, not even waiting for her to grow up.

The villagers all say that the adoptive father is going to marry a stepmother, and with a stepmother he will have a younger brother, so he won't need Huai'an anymore.

Huai'an went hungry for three days and finally couldn't hold on any longer. Yaozu secretly brought her a wild vegetable pancake and advised her, "If you want to leave, you need to eat your fill so you'll have the strength!"

Huai'an realized, "Yes, how can I leave here without eating?"

Shi Xiaoyan rolled her eyes and muttered, "She's just pretending to be dead to shirk her responsibilities... If you want to eat, you have to work first. My family doesn't have money to support idlers. Do you think you're some rich young lady from the city?"

……

Her aunt made her wash the whole family's clothes and start doing farm work. She didn't resist, because if she didn't work, she wouldn't get any food. She just secretly looked for a chance to escape. However, her aunt took all the money she had left, and she usually didn't get a single penny.

She needed money, travel expenses, or she could beg her father to take her back when he came again.

Shi Xiaoyan sneered at her, "Stop daydreaming. Your father is getting married. Do you think your stepmother will treat you well after you get married?"

Xiaoyan disliked her, but Huai'an took on the laundry and housework, and even helped gather pig feed to earn work points, otherwise she wouldn't be idle either. So sometimes, Xiaoyan would kindly tease Huai'an, making him give up on leaving. She would also gossip about the miserable lives of children with stepmothers in the surrounding villages, and then conclude: a stepmother is not a mother, there's always a veil between them; the worst thing in life is having a stepmother, most of whom harbor ill intentions.

Huai'an fell even more silent. She simply couldn't believe it. Her parents used to have a very good relationship, and her aunt's body was barely cold. How could her father marry a stepmother?

After enduring another six months, her uncle and aunt discussed it and decided that she should stay in the countryside as their daughter-in-law.

They were calculating every penny they could get. By having Yaozu marry Huai'an, they could not only save on the bride price, but also ask his elder brother for some dowry. Of course, they also had to agree that Yaozu would take over his job in the future, and it was only a matter of time before he went to work in the city. If the job wasn't given to their son-in-law, who else could it be given to? They wanted to keep the good stuff in the family. Who knows, the whole family might even have to move to the city to live in the future!

Shi Yaozu is four years older than Huai'an and is already eighteen years old (by the traditional Chinese age reckoning); Huai'an is also 13 years old and 14 years old (by the traditional Chinese age reckoning).

The aunt said matter-of-factly, "An'an, you'll be 15 after the New Year. You two should get married during the Spring Festival." It was as if Huai'an would burst into tears of gratitude upon hearing this. Everyone in the surrounding area said her son was handsome, and if it weren't for their poor family conditions and lack of formal education, Huai'an would never be a good match for him.

Huai'an was furious when she heard this. She slammed the bowl down on the table and said, "I don't agree. I only see Yaozu as my brother. I will never marry him. Don't even think about it."

Although her cousin treats her very well and is handsome, marrying him is a completely different matter. His parents and sister are all wicked, and marrying her would be like falling into a wolf's den. Besides, Huai'an is still young and wants to go back to school. She originally planned to wait until the New Year when her father returned to his hometown to beg him to take her back to the city, but it seems that she can't wait any longer. Waiting is useless anyway; just as her aunt said, her father will definitely agree to this marriage. It would strengthen family ties and save her father from worrying.

Huai'an turned to go back to her room, but her aunt, furious, grabbed a broom and chased after her, hitting and cursing as she did so: "You ungrateful wretch! What's wrong with my Yaozu that you don't deserve? You look down on us? You think we're poor, but we think you're bad luck! You're born of a mother but have no upbringing. You eat and live in our house and still complain. You're such a heartless jerk..."

Yaozu was conflicted. It was his life's most important event, and he hadn't expected Huai'an to refuse. His mind was in complete turmoil, so he simply hid inside and refused to come out.

Xiaoyan watched the commotion with great interest, but she thought her mother was a bit foolish. Why not wait until after dinner and have Huai'an wash the dishes? Huai'an definitely wouldn't wash the dirty dishes now, and based on her understanding of Huai'an, he was probably throwing a tantrum and refusing to do any work these past few days. Her mother wouldn't be able to do anything about it; after all, it wouldn't sound good if word of abuse spread throughout the village. In the end, Xiaoyan would still have to do it anyway—how unlucky!

Shi Huaili also felt that Huai'an was being unreasonable, but as the head of the family, he couldn't say it outright. It would be better to let his wife teach her a lesson. Huai'an was still too arrogant and looked down on Yaozu. He held his breath and silently smoked his pipe with a sullen face.

Huai'an winced in pain as the broom struck him. These brooms were made of thin bamboo branches and poles, and parents often used them to discipline disobedient children. As the broom swept down, the bamboo branch caught on Huai'an's back, tearing the fabric of his delicate clothes and leaving streaks of blood on his hands.

Huai'an was at a disadvantage. Seeing that he couldn't dodge, he was both ashamed and angry. He simply pushed the broom aside, pounced on Wu Yue'e, and hugged her tightly, biting her arm and refusing to let go.

Wu Yue'e screamed in pain like a pig being slaughtered, and neighbors who heard the noise gathered around to watch.

They rolled on the ground, grabbing each other's hair, hitting and biting. Wu Yue'e cursed and cried out, while Huai'an couldn't utter any more curses. He just stubbornly wrestled with her and refused to give in.

Although Huai'an was at a disadvantage in terms of strength, she fought fiercely and desperately, which made the aggressive Wu Yue'e quite embarrassed. It wasn't until the women's team leader, Sister Zheng, and several other women stepped forward to separate them and tried to mediate the fight.

Huai'an listened to his aunt's accusations without saying a word, but cried and wanted to take Sister Zheng to the village secretary for justice.

Wu Yue'e was initially quite calm; after all, she was an elder, and since Huai'an dared to lay a hand on her, she wasn't afraid of anything. But Huai'an, in tears, recounted the whole story to the village secretary, crying and demanding to go back to the city to find her father. Given that her mother had only recently died, it was hard not to feel sorry for her.

Free love is now encouraged, and arranged marriages are not allowed; Huai'an is only 14 years old, not yet of legal age.

Although the village party secretary knew that the villagers still practiced arranged marriages, he was a party member and a conscientious cadre, so he naturally couldn't openly support Wu Yue'e's reckless behavior and cause a bad influence. As for Huai'an wanting to return to the city, that would naturally have to wait for her father to come back and make a decision.

After the village held a meeting, Wu Yue'e was publicly criticized over the loudspeaker. Only then did Wu Yue'e dare not act recklessly and could only hold her breath and wait for her older brother to come before bringing it up again.

They started another cold war, each doing their own thing and never communicating. Auntie would often grit her teeth and, unable to bear it any longer, make veiled insults, smash dishes, and not call her to eat. Huai'an would still do her chores and eat on her own when it was time to eat, but they both had cold faces and looked like they owed each other eight million.

Xiaoyan secretly instigated Huai'an, saying that she wasn't working properly, that her clothes weren't washed properly, and that she wasn't cutting enough pig feed... Her aunt was so angry that she chased after her with a broom and hit her. Huai'an was so reckless that she fought back. Anyway, reputation didn't matter. She just needed to do her job well in the moment.

But after the village chief's warning, the aunt didn't dare to go too far. She only hit her twice and that was it. After all, she was a little afraid of Huai'an, fearing that she would fight back and complain to the village again.

Clutching her chest, she said to Shi Renli with heartache, "I'm about to vomit blood from holding it in, I'm so angry I'm about to explode, what am I going to do!"

But she didn't dare to cause any trouble or make a scene. The rumors in the village were terrible; they all said that she abused and treated Huai'an harshly. If things continued like this, no one would dare to come and arrange a marriage, and Yaozu would not be able to find a wife. Although she still felt that Huai'an could not escape her grasp.

At the end of the year, Shi Wenbin and his wife returned to their hometown to celebrate their father's birthday. He is the third child and also a cousin of Shi Renmei. He now works at a pharmacy under a pharmaceutical company in Jingshi. In the past, they would have held a banquet for their father's 80th birthday, but now they advocate frugality, so all five children came back to gather together for a meal to make their father happy.

During casual conversations, the village's happenings naturally come up.

When Shi Huai'an's family brought up the matter, Shi Wenbin and his wife felt deep sympathy and regret when they learned that Huai'an was not doing well. After all, they often met when Huai'an was in Jing City, and it could be said that they watched Huai'an grow up.

Shi Wenbin's wife, Wu Chunli, said sympathetically, "What a pity for this child. What good future can he have living under someone else's roof?"

Shi Wenbin sighed, "Fate is fickle... but it's not right for outsiders to interfere in other people's family affairs."

They had a habit of taking a walk after dinner. Since they rarely returned to their hometown, they would stroll around the fields and mountains, reminiscing about the past and discussing current gossip.

Suddenly a small, thin figure ran out of the woods and stopped them, calling out, "Hello, Uncle and Aunt."

Looking at Huai'an, who was dressed in tattered clothes, Wu Chunli couldn't help but feel her eyes well up with tears: "Huai'an, how did you end up like this?"

Shi Wenbin was also a little surprised, not expecting Huai'an to be so bold. He looked Huai'an up and down and said, "You've lost weight and grown taller. You must have suffered a lot, right?"

Huai'an held back her tears and said stubbornly, "It's nothing, Uncle and Aunt. I just want to borrow a dollar from you. I want to go back to the city, but I don't have money to buy a train ticket."

The couple exchanged surprised glances, hesitant to agree immediately. Shi Wenbin asked hesitantly, "Have you discussed this with your father?"

Huai'an said, "I don't have money to buy stamps to send letters. I won't lend you this money for nothing. I will definitely ask my dad to pay you back when I get back. Please, Uncle and Aunt, I want to go back to school. I don't want to stay here and get married. You have a kind heart. Please lend me a dollar. Even if my dad doesn't pay it back, I will definitely pay you back when I make money in the future. I will kneel down and kowtow to you..."

Wu Chunli quickly stopped Huai'an, who was about to kneel down, and comforted him, "Huai'an, don't say that. We will definitely help you. Don't worry."

Shi Wenbin was initially a little hesitant, as it wasn't appropriate to meddle in other people's family affairs. Seeing his wife, Ma Chunli, readily agree, he went along with it, saying, "Huai'an, it's not safe for a young woman like you to travel alone. You'll have to change buses along the way, and it would be troublesome if you got lost. How about this: we'll leave early tomorrow morning, and you wait for us at the tractor station at the village entrance. We'll take you to change buses back to the city. Is that alright?"

Huai'an remained silent and did not leave, seemingly wanting to say something but holding back, worried that they were just trying to appease her.