man and boy

"Mom, shall we eat first?" Chen Yang patted Yan Qi's back lightly and said.

"Send him back after dinner, I don't want to have more oil bottles at home."

Yan Qi looked at Chen Yang anxiously, and subconsciously grabbed Chen Yang's clothes.

Chen Shibin coughed and said, "Eat first, we'll talk about something after dinner."

Zhao Juan glared at him, but Chen Shibin ignored her. Instead, he picked a chopstick of eggs and put them in Yan Qi's bowl, saying, "Eat more if you like."

"Thank you, Uncle Chen." Yan Qi said softly, then looked nervously at Zhao Juan.

Zhao Juan didn't speak any more, but ate with a cold face.

Chen Yang patted his head and whispered, "Let's eat."

After dinner, Chen Yang sent Yan Qi home.

It was completely dark, the houses on both sides of the road were dimly lit, and there was the sound of dogs barking in the distance.

From Chen Yang's house to Yan Qi's house, you have to cross a small road, with farmland on both sides of the road, and the smell of mud in the wind.

As if to cheer himself up, Yan Qi kept saying: "Brother Chen Yang, my mother has returned, and she is waiting for me at home now. She bought maltose, and I will give it to you later, okay?"

"Well, your mother must be back."

Hearing Chen Yang say the same thing, Yan Qi felt relieved.

He seems to have seen his mother light up the lights in the house and stand at the door of the house waiting for him to go back.

Yan Qi's footsteps became cheerful, he held Chen Yang's hand, and hummed an out-of-tuned folk song.

When he saw his house, Yan Qi let go of Chen Yang's hand and shouted: "Mom...Mom, I'm back..." trotted over.

However, the house was pitch black.

There was no one waiting for him at the door.

Yan Qi froze on the spot.

Chen Yang smiled wryly, he already knew this would be the result.

If Yan Qi's mother had come back and Yan Qi hadn't been seen, the village must be looking for someone.

There was no movement, which meant that Yan Qi's mother had already left.

Don't know how long it will be back.

Perhaps, never return to this remote village.

Yan Qi's tears welled up, he sniffed, and said to Chen Yang: "Mom is very tired after going out for a day, she may have gone to bed already."

Under the hazy moonlight, Chen Yang saw him looking up at himself.

Chen Yang felt sour in his heart.

Such a young child doesn't know anything yet, so he naively thought that his mother really went out to buy malt candy for him.

He bent down, looked into those big black and white eyes, and said softly, "Well, let's go inside and have a look."

He walked in with Yan Qi.

This is a very simple house, a small house made of red bricks. The outside of the house is not painted, and the inside of the room is simply painted with white wall plaster.In the spacious living room, there is a wooden table and a few wooden stools, two small rooms, and a small kitchen at the back.

Chen Yang turned on the light in the living room. Yan Qi was afraid of the dark, so he didn't dare to go to the room alone, so he took Chen Yang's hand and looked at him eagerly.

Chen Yang led him to push open the door of the room.

Then turn on the light.

Yan Qi raised his feet and ran in, threw himself on the bed and opened the quilt.

There was nothing on the bed.

"Mom..." Yan Qi called out in a low voice, but when he found no one responded to him, he became frightened and shouted, "Mom! Mom!"

Still no response.

His mother is not here.

Standing behind him, Chen Yang watched his little shoulders keep shaking. At first, there was a small choking sound, and then he cried slowly.

"Brother Chen Yang, my mother...my mother hasn't come back yet..." Yan Qi turned around, her white and tender face was full of tears.

Chen Yang raised his hand, wiped the tears on his face, and said, "Maybe your mother was delayed by something outside, and she will come back when things are done."

"Really?" Yan Qi couldn't easily believe that his mother would come back tomorrow after several failed hopes.

Chen Yang nodded and said, "Really, brother won't lie to you."

Children are always easy to believe what adults say. Although Chen Yang is only 17 years old, in the eyes of six-year-old Yan Qi, Chen Yang is already an adult.

Hearing that his mother would come back, Yan Qi was not as sad as he was crying just now, and looked at Chen Yang with wide eyes.

He was very afraid that Chen Yang would go back.

Chen Yang touched his head and said, "Go to my house to sleep tonight, okay?"

Yan Qi nodded immediately, grabbed Chen Yang's hand firmly, and said, "I want to sleep with you."

Chen Yang smiled and took his hand back.

When he walked to the door of the room, Chen Yang caught a glimpse of a paper bag pressed by a comb on the dressing table.

The paper bag is a bit bulging, it looks like someone pressed it here deliberately.

Chen Yang walked over and picked it up to have a look.

Inside the paper bag was money and a gold necklace.

Chen Yang roughly counted it, and there was a full 3000 yuan.

In this village, 3000 yuan plus a gold necklace is a lot of wealth, worth five or six years' income of many families.

Seeing the paper bag just on the table, he was worried that someone would take it away, so he put it in his pocket, and took Yan Qi home.

On the way back, Yan Qi was very depressed and didn't say a word.

When he was almost at the door of the house, Yan Qi stopped in his tracks.

Chen Yang asked in surprise, "What's wrong?"

Yan Qi lowered his head and looked at his toes, and whispered, "Brother Chen Yang, your mother...does she hate me?"

Chen Yang immediately understood what the child was thinking.

Although this child is still young, he is already able to distinguish the tone and emotions of others.

Under the moonlight, Yan Qi kept his head down, his toes gently rubbed against the yellow mud, and he grabbed Chen Yang's hand very restlessly.

Chen Yang didn't know what would happen in the future, but at this moment, he couldn't bear to push the child away no matter what.

He held Yan Qi's hand tightly and said, "No, my mother doesn't hate you. Don't be afraid, I'm here."

When Chen Yang brought Yan Qi home, Zhao Juan was naturally unhappy, and insinuated in every sentence that Yan Qi's mother didn't want him anymore.

Standing beside Chen Yang at a loss, he didn't really understand why Zhao Juan said that her mother didn't want him anymore.

Mom said he was her baby, and she hugged him and kissed him when she went out in the morning, how could mom not want him.

Although Yan Qi was very afraid that Zhao Juan would drive him out, but hearing Zhao Juan kept talking bad about her mother, Yan Qi braved up and said, "My mother won't let me go. Brother Chen Yang said that my mother went out to do other things. I'll be back when things are done."

"Do other things? I think it's to seduce the man..."

"Shut up." Chen Shibin came over, glared at Zhao Juan, and said, "What nonsense are you talking about in front of the child!"

Unwilling, Zhao Juan threw the rag in her hand on the table, turned around and entered the room.

Chen Shibin glanced at Yan Qi, who slowly hid behind Chen Yang, showing a small face.

Chen Shibin didn't speak, just looked at Chen Yang, and went back to the room.

Seeing that there was no one in the living room, Yan Qi asked in a low voice, "Brother Chen Yang, can I sleep with you tonight?"

Chen Yang nodded and took him to wash up.

When washing his face, Chen Yang wet the towel for him, and wanted to help him wash his face, Yan Qi waved his hands and said, "I wash it myself, and I also wash it myself at home."

Chen Yang watched him hold the towel in his two small hands, and began to wipe his forehead seriously.

After wiping his face, Yan Qi handed the towel to Chen Yang, a little embarrassed, and said, "Brother Chen Yang, help me wring the towel, I won't do it."

Chen Yang looked at his chubby hands, took the towel, put it on his face, washed it, wrung it dry and hung it up.

When sleeping, Yan Qi was lying on the bed wearing only a pair of shorts.

His skin was fair and his body was fleshy, looking soft and tender.It can be seen that his mother usually pampers him.

It's a pity that the woman couldn't hold on in the end.

"Brother Chen Yang..." Yan Qi turned over, blinked his big eyes and looked at Chen Yang expectantly.

"Ok?"

"Is my mother coming back tomorrow?"

Chen Yang fell silent.

He didn't know what to say.

He can lie to Yan Qi that his mother will be back tomorrow.

However, tomorrow always comes.

Chen Yang couldn't bear to watch the child hope again and again, and then be disappointed again.

Yan Qi was in a hurry, his long eyelashes fluttered, and he was about to cry.

Chen Yang said vaguely: "Your mother will come back after finishing her work. If you don't come back tomorrow, maybe you will come back the day after tomorrow."

Yan Qi already understood the meaning of Chen Yang's words.

Brother Chen Yang meant that his mother didn't know when she would come back.

Thinking of the way my mother put the only bag of maltose in his hand when she went out in the morning, and then hugged him and kissed him a few times, Yan Qi's nose was sore, and he couldn't help but burst into tears.

His eyes are big and bright, and when he looks at people with tears in his eyes, he can soften people's hearts into a mess.

Chen Yang was silent for a long time, raised his hand to stroke his head, and said, "Before your mother came back, you lived at my house and slept with me."

"I want my mother...Brother Chen Yang, I miss my mother. My mother tells me stories every day and sings to me. My mother sings very well..." The more Yan Qi spoke, the more sad he became, and his crying became louder. But he was worried that Zhao Juan would hate him even more if he heard about it, so he covered his mouth with his hands, tears streaming down his face.

Chen Yang was not good at coaxing children, seeing him crying sadly, he could only put his arms around him and pat him on the back.

"Brother Chen Yang, can you help me find my mother? From now on, I will give you all the candy my mother buys for me."

"it is good."

"Then let's go out to find mom tomorrow, shall we?"

"Ah."

……

However, more than ten days have passed, and Yan Qi still hasn't waited for his mother to come back.

Chen Yang took him out on a bicycle to look for it, but he couldn't find it.

As the days passed, Yan Qi gradually understood that his mother would not come back.

On this day, Chen Yang was called out by his classmates.

Chen Shibin went to do farm work in the fields, Yan Qi and Zhao Juan were the only ones at home.

"Yan Qi, come here." Zhao Juan said.

Yan Qi was very afraid of being alone with Zhao Juan, he knew that Zhao Juan didn't like him.

Hearing Zhao Juan's words, Yan Qi moved over and called out, "Aunt Zhao."

"Aunt Zhao will take you out to find your mother, okay?" Zhao Juan handed him a hard fruit candy, trying to maintain a smile, and said.

Yan Qi opened his eyes and looked at Zhao Juan. It was Chen Yang who always found time to take him out to find his mother. He never thought that Zhao Juan would also help him find his mother.

"Don't want to go?"

Yan Qi shook his head vigorously and said, "Thinking about it!"

Every day he imagined what his mother would look like when he came back, and he also thought about it when he dreamed.

Zhao Juan smiled with satisfaction.

She packed a small backpack for Yan Qi to carry on his back. Seeing Yan Qi's bewildered expression, Zhao Juan said, "We're going to find a day to go out with something to eat, so we won't be hungry. I'll put it on for you." A pack of maltose, would you like to taste it now?"

Yan Qi hadn't eaten maltose for a long time, remembering the sweetness of maltose, he couldn't help sticking out his tongue and licking his mouth.

Zhao Juan gave him a piece of malt candy and said, "Eat it."

Yan Qi's eyes widened, and seeing that Zhao Juan really wanted to feed him, he took it and eagerly put it in his mouth.

Very sweet, as sweet as the malt candy my mother bought.

Zhao Juan took him out of the village.

After leaving Chenjia Village, it was a very, very long winding road around the mountain. After the [-]th bend of the mountain road, Yan Qi could no longer find the path he had come from.

Moreover, Zhao Juan walked very fast. He was panting with short legs, and couldn't keep up with Zhao Juan's pace.

Zhao Juan turned around and said to him: "Yan Qi, you sit here for a while, I'll go over there to have a look, you sit here and don't move, wait for me to come back."

Surrounded by mountains, Yan Qi was a little scared here alone. Although he really wanted to rest, he still wanted to follow Zhao Juan.

"Aunt Zhao, I can go, I'll go with you." Yan Qi wanted to raise his hand to pull Zhao Juan's clothes, stretched out his hand, then slowly retracted it, and said cautiously.

Zhao Juan took out two candies from her pocket, put them in the palm of his hand, and said, "You are walking too slowly, and it will be dark in two hours. I am walking fast, go and have a look first. You wait here, I will be back soon."

Yan Qi didn't dare to speak anymore, and stood there holding two candies, watching Zhao Juan's back getting further and further away until she could no longer be seen.