After transmigrating, he supported his family by working at a garbage dump.

Compared to Xu Zhuzhu, who was younger and less inclined to go out, Xu An was actually more lively in Qingzhou.

Although he was not old enough to go to school, he often had neighborhood children of the same age to keep him company.

They moved to Laoya Village, a place they were unfamiliar with and far from, where almost no children played with Xu An.

He could only recite his lessons and read books to relieve his boredom, and he would stay around Xu Zhuzhu or his parents.

Upon seeing Deng Tuanyuan, Xu An's usual quiet, boyish liveliness was instantly awakened, and he became much more talkative than usual.

Xu Zhuzhu smiled, somewhat relieved, as her brother had finally relaxed a bit.

Because of this exquisite little pig, Xu An's admiration for Deng Tuanyuan is now second only to his father's, especially when Xu Zhuzhu says that Deng Tuanyuan's handwriting is quite good.

After hearing this, Xu An eagerly followed Deng Tuanyuan and asked him to write some words for him to see.

“It was Zhuzhu who exaggerated.”

Deng Tuanyuan smiled awkwardly, "I've never written with a brush; I always write with a stick used for burning firewood. If I were to write with a brush, I'm afraid it wouldn't look good."

Xu An thought he was afraid of making a fool of himself, so he encouraged him, "Zhuzhu doesn't know how to use a brush either, so her writing won't look bad. Brother Tuanyuan can just use charcoal to write."

Xu Zhuzhu blushed when she was suddenly mentioned and turned her head away embarrassedly. The main reason was that she felt that holding a calligraphy brush was tiring for her hand, and she was used to writing with charcoal because she was used to ballpoint pens.

However, she still spoke up for Xu An, "Brother Tuanyuan, my brother really likes people with beautiful handwriting. He just wants to be friends with you and learn from you."

When they were in Qingzhou, his brother was good at choosing friends to play with. Each friend had to have a strength, otherwise they wouldn't be able to play with his brother.

Is this a form of admiration for the strong?

In Xu An's own words, "Among three people walking together, there must be one who can teach you something."

Seeing Xu An's enthusiastic expression, Deng Tuanyuan really couldn't refuse.

He was silent for a moment.

Finally, he dug out a piece of charcoal from the brazier, calmed himself down, and began to write on the ground, stroke by stroke.

The charcoal in his hand moved like a dragon, fluid and graceful, its strokes unrestrained, displaying a genuine and uninhibited spirit.

Xu An, who was squatting to the side, kept his eyes fixed on the black charcoal marks on the ground. He then looked at Deng Tuanyuan's hand holding the charcoal, his eyes filled with admiration and envy.

What followed was his heartfelt praise.

"Brother Tuanyuan is really amazing, he writes much better than me!"

He felt inferior to them, as both of them were taught by his father. He had started learning much earlier than Deng Tuanyuan, but his writing was not as good as Deng Tuanyuan's.

Of course, he was not discouraged, nor did he feel jealous. Instead, he secretly resolved to write more words every day from now on, and to write even better.

Deng Tuanyuan smiled modestly.

He rolled his eyes and immediately replied politely, "Uncle Xu often says that An'an writes very well."

For a seven-year-old, this answer shows a high level of emotional intelligence.

Xu Zhuzhu thought to herself.

You should know that her brother admires her father the most.

Nothing makes her brother happier than hearing from others that her father often praises her in front of others.

Based on these two sentences, perhaps because they were both lonely, or perhaps because they cherished each other, the two boys immediately became good friends.

Xu Zhuzhu opened her mouth several times, but couldn't get a word in edgewise.

Xu An asked Deng Tuanyuan for advice on writing techniques, while Deng Tuanyuan asked Xu An for advice on reading and writing. The two had a warm and friendly exchange.

The room was instantly filled with an atmosphere of thirst for knowledge.

Xu Zhuzhu was getting sleepy listening to this, so she propped herself up with her hands and dozed off. But she was swaying and lost her grip. Suddenly, she slipped and her upper body fell uncontrollably into the fire pit.

Seeing that Xu Zhuzhu hadn't made a sound, Deng Tuanyuan glanced at her and saw Xu Zhuzhu shaking her head and dozing off, about to be thrown into the fire pit.

He caught his breath and immediately reacted, quickly grabbing Xu Zhuzhu who was about to fall into the fire pit.

Xu Zhuzhu was startled when she was suddenly pulled, and her drowsiness vanished instantly as she stood up.

Upon seeing Deng Tuanyuan, he felt both fearful and extremely embarrassed.

She expressed her gratitude, saying, "Thank you so much, Brother Reunion."

Xu An quickly pulled Xu Zhuzhu to his side to check on her, asking worriedly, "Are you alright?"

Xu Zhuzhu shook her head. Luckily, Deng Tuanyuan pulled her back; otherwise, falling into the fire would have been a real disaster.

Seeing how tired he was, Xu An asked her if she wanted to go to bed. Xu Zhuzhu refused without thinking. With guests around, how could she sleep soundly next to them?

Deng Tuanyuan wasn't stupid; he knew that since he was the guest, Xu Zhuzhu couldn't stay in bed to rest. So he made an excuse that it was getting late and took his leave to go home.

Xu Zhuzhu immediately saw what Deng Tuanyuan was thinking. Her brother finally had a playmate, and she wouldn't be so tactless as to disturb them, so she quickly tried to persuade them to stay.

Deng Tuanyuan paused for a moment, pursed her lips, but ultimately did not speak and insisted on leaving. Xu An felt regretful, but made an appointment with Deng Tuanyuan to play together sometime.

Before leaving, Xu Zhuzhu told her father about Deng Tuanyuan giving her a piglet.

After hearing this, Xu Wenjie gave Deng Tuanyuan five eggs, not saying it was payment for delivering the piglet, but only saying that he wanted to ask his grandfather to do something for him.

Deng Tuanyuan never gave Xu Wenjie's words much thought and walked home with the eggs in her pocket.

Xu Wenjie offered to take him home, but Deng Tuanyuan quickly and firmly refused, saying, "No need to trouble Uncle Xu. It's still light out today, I can manage on my own."

The snowfall was indeed less, and it was still quite bright outside.

Xu Wenjie thought about it for a moment, and since he had nothing to worry about, he saw Deng Tuanyuan off at Yagutan and watched her enter the village before turning back.

Unexpectedly, as soon as they turned around, they suddenly caught sight of a figure swaying in the wind and snow walking towards their house from the village entrance.

Xu Wenjie was very familiar with that walking posture. Without even guessing, he knew it was his wife. Without thinking, he quickly ran over to meet her.

As they got closer, they saw Zhang He with a beaming smile on her face. "Why have you come, my husband?"

At that time, Zhang He carefully held the bamboo basket in her arms, which was covered with a thick layer of thatch.

"Could it be that they brought back chicks?"

Xu Wenjie took the bamboo basket and guessed.

Zhang He smiled brightly, but instead of answering directly, she said softly, "We'll talk about it when we get back."

However, his tone betrayed his excitement.

……

Beside the stove in the kitchen shed, the whole family stared intently at the bamboo basket on the ground.

Everyone's eyes were full of anticipation.

Seeing this, Zhang He mysteriously moved the thatch aside. The moment she opened it, Xu Zhuzhu and the others' expressions of surprise turned into astonishment.

Instead of chicks, a thin, brownish-gray old hen was sitting or lying in the bamboo basket, dozing off with its eyes half-closed.

This chicken looks really thin.

Xu Zhuzhu reached out to poke it, "Mommy, why has it turned into a hen?"

Zhang He cried out "Ouch!" and grabbed her hand, saying anxiously, "Don't touch me like that! If a chicken pecks your hand, don't cry."

Xu Zhuzhu awkwardly withdrew her hand. She had never raised chickens before, but she was a little curious. Why was this chicken, which seemed so listless, pecking at people?

"It has just hatched its chicks and is very protective of them. It pecks at people and it hurts a lot. You must not mess with it."

After saying that, Zhang He took a stick and pried open the hen's rear end.

Beneath the soft, greyish-white feathers, several fluffy chicks peeked out. There were yellow, white, and off-white ones; three were yellow and white, one was pure white, and one was off-white. They lay wobbly in their feathers, barely able to stand, and looked incredibly cute.

However, the chicks, disturbed from their sleep, chirped angrily.

When the mother hen heard the chicks chirping, she half-closed her eyes and made a hoarse "clucking" sound in her throat.

Upon noticing the stick, it immediately looked up warily, pecking around before finally pecking fiercely at the stick.

The harder the hen pecked, the happier Zhang He laughed; the fiercer the hen, the easier it was for the chicks to grow.

Xu Wenjie took the stick and poked the hen's rear end, marveling at how well the chicks looked; it seemed Li Ersao was raising them very well.

However, she was unwilling to send the hen over as well.

Upon hearing this, Zhang He's lips unconsciously curled up into a smile.

"Sister-in-law Li said that it's not easy to raise chicks when it's cold. Luckily, she has a hen at home, so she brought it over and asked me to raise these chicks a bit and then return them to her."