was beaten for no reason, although he was a little unhappy in his heart, but after seeing his little short legs, Zhang Jie had to sigh helplessly, it seemed that Zhang Jie couldn't do anything except admit his fate in frustration.

But after his eyes rolled around, he said hello to Wang, who was busy in the house, and Zhang Jie pushed open the door and went out.

It's hot and dry. If there is nothing to do, no one really wants to go out and suffer, but the more no one, the happier Zhang Jie becomes, and after looking at a few closed doors to make sure that no one will disturb him, Zhang Jie bent his waist and began to rummage around the yard.

Under the old locust tree that usually has the most people in the courtyard, around the well on the side, next to the stone platform where the three aunts are usually seen wandering, Zhang Jie checked inch by inch, and when the whole yard was almost turned upside down, Zhang Jie, who was scratching his head, muttered:

"No, did you lose it when you went out?"

"Don't look blindly, you can't find the bracelet of the third sister-in-law even if you dig three feet into the ground." Suddenly, a little girl's crisp voice exploded in her ears.

Zhang Jie was startled by this sudden sound, raised his head, and saw an eight or nine-year-old girl standing in front of him.

"It's like a ghost, and you don't walk with a sound." Rolling his eyes at the girl, Zhang Jie, who found nothing, paid attention to some places where the third aunt often haunted.

"I told you, you just dig three feet into the ground, and you can't find it, and you don't want to think about it, the third sister-in-law usually cherishes that bracelet so much, usually whoever wants to look at it is not allowed to take a look, and the woman carries it in her hand when she sleeps, think about it with a little brain, how can the bracelet be lost." Seeing that Zhang Jie still looked unwilling, the little girl with a sneer on her face said with disdain.

"Sister-in-law, what do you know? Go ahead. Turning his head and carefully looking at the little girl in front of him, although she still looked very young, but she looked very experienced when she spoke, Zhang Jie asked with a little curiosity.

The girl's name is Zhang Xia, Zhang Jie's sister-in-law, but she is only two years older than Zhang Jie, just eight years old this year, of course, Zhang Jie's grandfather's old bones are not old, in fact, this cheap sister-in-law is the grandfather's cleaning up other people's homes.

Zhang Jie's father has four brothers, the cheap father is the boss, there is only one child under his knees, the second uncle is a mute, he can't speak since he was a child, and now he is not married, but he has a lot of strength, and the work in the crops is basically handled by two men, the second uncle and the younger uncle, as for the third uncle, this is the only person in the family who reads, although the age is not young, but since he was admitted to Xiucai more than ten years ago, he has never been able to go further. As the only scholar in the family, the third uncle is still a living bodhisattva-like existence in this small courtyard, and the whole family has to make offerings.

It's the uncle's family, and the most prosperous third-generation population in the family is the uncle's family, three sons, and a daughter, and the problem is that in the generation of the cheap father, four of them are with handles, which makes the grandfather who wants a girl have a pimple in his heart, so even in the year of the sixtieth year, when he met his cheap sister-in-law, the grandfather still adopted the little girl with one shot.

Zhang Jie didn't have much impression of this sister-in-law, because the two were basically the same age, but when they saw this little girl, they were a generation shorter than her, and this little girl was usually very withdrawn. doesn't seem to be good at dealing with people, so basically, even if he sees this girl, most of Zhang Jie chooses to avoid it with his head down, just like today, if she hadn't taken the initiative to talk to herself, Zhang Jie really wouldn't have to pay attention to her.

"After the autumn, the old master in the private school is going to enroll students again, Zhang Hao is exactly five years old this year, just at the age of Mengxue, but think about it, just based on the situation of the third brother's family, without everyone's help, where did Xiao Hao get the money to go to school? Originally, if the third sister-in-law's bracelet was dang, it would indeed be able to exchange Xiaohao for enough tuition, but you don't know how much the three usually like that bracelet, really let her be it, is she willing to do it? Since you are reluctant, you say, what can you do to keep the bracelet and get enough money for Xiao Hao to go to Mengxue? ”

The little adult-like girl rolled her eyes, and then continued in a disdainful tone:

"And, more importantly, you have also reached the age of Mengxue this year, even if our family smashes the pot and sells iron, it is impossible for the two children to go to Mengxue, but now that this is happening, even if the bracelet is not taken by you, do you think you still have hope of Mengxue? Therefore, the current situation is that the third sister-in-law lost a bracelet, but asked your family to repay it, which not only nipped you, a competitor, in the bud, but also allowed your family to pay a large amount of tuition, so what do you think the truth of the matter looks like. ”

It's incredible, an eight or nine-year-old little girl, but her mind is filled with strange thoughts that are more complicated than adults, so when the little girl squinted her eyes and made an analysis, Zhang Jie's eyes widened, and she circled around the little girl who should be called her aunt, Zhang Jie was not very interested in bracelets or anything at this time, and looked at the little girl with eyes as if he had discovered a new continent.

Zhang Jie is now interested in this cheap aunt.

"Is there any evidence? Without evidence, these are just your guesses. It doesn't count. After going around the girl, he came to the conclusion that the other party's appearance was indeed just an ordinary Lori, Zhang Jie asked with a little doubt.

"Hmph, fool, look at it, although my father forcibly broke this matter today, but you wait, this year's school will open, most of the cost of Xiao Haomeng's learning must be your father's money, and the rest should be a few together, and I also want to tell you, at most a year and a half, the third sister-in-law's bracelet will be found for no reason, of course, it is not excluded that it will be found in you, and at that time, the third sister-in-law will not only let Xiao Haomeng learn without spending anything, maybe your family will owe her a big favor." Obviously stimulated by Zhang Jie's distrustful eyes, the little girl with a straight face responded with a slight mockery.

"I know a lot under the old locust tree in West Lake, are you interested? I'll take you to dig? Zhang Jie, who found a small hoe from the yard, and then carried it on his shoulder, raised his feet and walked out of the yard, and when he got out of the courtyard gate, he saw that the little girl still hadn't moved an inch, so he asked strangely: "That thing is fried in oil, but it's fragrant, do you want to go?" If you go, I'll get you and I'll take half of you. ”

"Fool!" Gritted his teeth and said, I originally thought that my nephew was very different from other children, but now, I always felt that I was just playing the piano to the cow, and the little girl with a little loneliness in her eyes slowly lowered her head, turned around and was about to go back to the room.

"Let's go, I'm not afraid of getting sick if I'm bored in the house all day, and it's no harm to go out for a walk." Reflexively came to the little girl's side, and then took her hand, Zhang Jie laughed and was about to pull her out of the yard.

"Do you understand what I'm talking about?" stubbornly shook his hand, but found that the little boy held his hand very tightly, and Zhang Xia, who was frowning, reluctantly let the other party pull him forward, looking helpless.

"I understand, I know that you said that the third aunt is framing me, but they are all a family, no matter what, at least maintain the peace on the surface of the family, you must know that a family, if the hearts of the people are scattered, then this family is not a complete home, I just found the warmth of home, but I don't want to give it up so easily, so ah, even if your speculations are true, I don't have the courage to poke it, take your time, one day, I will use my own methods to change this family, change everyone in this family."

When he said these words, what Zhang Jie didn't notice was that the little girl's eyes suddenly lit up when she had to pull her hard to follow her, and then it seemed that a little girl who had met the same kind gently pulled the corners of her mouth, letting the little boy hold her hand, but never tried to break away.

West Lake is not far from home, but after a short meal, two small children arrived, because there are tall trees all around, so although the weather is still very hot and dry, under the shade of the trees, plus the occasional breeze blowing, people feel a lot cooler.

Randomly picked an ancient tree that was enough for two adults to hug, Zhang Jie, who spit on his hand, carried a hoe, and dug it up under the tree, even if he was young and didn't have much strength, but anyway, Zhang Jie, who also had a thirty-year-old uncle mentality, was naturally not too weak, at least not as easy to give up as a child of his age.

After a while, a huge pit appeared in front of him, and when he dug it down with a hoe, his expression suddenly moved, and he threw the hoe aside, and then lay on the ground to seriously observe a small hole in the ground, stretched out his small hand and gently buckled at the entrance of the hole, and after a while, the hole that was originally very narrow became bigger and bigger, and when he dug deeply, the hole was already as big as a finger.

Stretching out his finger and pulling it back and forth in the hole, he didn't know how to do it, and when the little hand came out again, a larva that knew it was pulled out.

"Hey, I finally caught one, this place really has it, take it, we're going to have a good mouth tonight." Put the caught knowledge in the little girl's hand, and then pick up the hoe again Zhang Jie dug it up again, perhaps because the ground was already very deep, so this time it didn't take much effort, and the second one was dug out.

Now that there is a harvest, Zhang Jie's motivation is even more sufficient, regardless of the bubbles on his little hands, Zhang Jie, who is pouting, knows that he digs and digs hard, and his hard work pays off, with Zhang Jie's efforts, the third, the fourth, until he dug a big handful, Zhang Jie, who stopped to catch his breath, looked at the little aunt who was full of knowledge in both hands, sat on the ground very gracelessly, and asked breathlessly:

"Did you count? How many are there? ”

"Thirty, thirty!" The little girl with a little flush on her face suddenly said: "It's almost, it's going to be dark soon, now send these things back, just in time for the night to be fried." ”

"Thirty, wait, I'll do the math, my father is not here, my family is just me and my mother, the second uncle is alone, the third uncle's family is four, the younger uncle's family is six, plus grandparents and you, a total of sixteen people, if each person divides two, it will take thirty-two, wait for me for a while, I'm working harder, digging two, enough for our family to divide equally."

Just do it, spit and foam on his hands, regardless of the fact that a pair of small hands have been scratched off the skin, Zhang Jie, who picked up the hoe, jumped into the big pit he dug and dug it hard, maybe because this large area was dug again, in short, when the last two dug up, the sun was already in the west, and Zhang Jie was so tired that he no longer had any extra strength.

Zhang Xia, who was carrying a lot of knowledge with her clothes on the side, looked at the little boy who was holding his body and did not fall, opened his mouth, but finally said nothing.

Zhang Jie, who lacked even the strength to carry a hoe, pulled the hoe and followed behind the little girl, and after seeing the other party's desire to speak and stop, he smiled and said: "What's the matter, just say what you have to say, why do you always hold it in your heart." ”

"You're so stupid." Without a head or a brain, the little girl walked on tiptoe, and then suddenly said: "You obviously know that two of the four children of the little brother's family are still breastfeeding, how can those two children eat fried food?" And do you think your grandmother will give it to everyone fairly? ”

"My grandma? Why, that's my grandmother, not your mother? It's as if we're not a family. Pouting, Zhang Jie, who was too lazy to bother with a little girl, simply stopped talking and walked towards home by himself.

When I got home, because the sun had set, there was no scorching sun, the weather was a little less hot, and the people who were originally hiding in the house also came out of the yard to enjoy the shade, and under the shade of the big tree in the yard, the third uncle with a book in his hand was teaching Zhang Hao to read and write, and several children of the uncle's family were running crazy all over the yard, glancing towards the kitchen, and just saw the third aunt who came out of the kitchen with a basin of water.

When she saw Zhang Jie coming back from outside, the third aunt, who seemed to be muttering something in her mouth, turned her head and went into the kitchen.

Zhang Jie didn't care, and threw the hoe into the yard, which really didn't have any extra strength, and turned around to go back to the room to rest.

As soon as she entered the yard, she was surrounded by a group of children, clamoring to see what the sister-in-law was doing.

Waiting for Zhang Jie to shrug his head and enter the house, Zhang Xia, who was wide-eyed, stopped for a while, until the cuffs were pulled by the children of the little brother's family, and then the girl who came back to her senses went into the kitchen.

Entered the house, just lying on the bed, I heard a slightly happy voice from the kitchen, too, for this family that may not be able to occupy the meat for a month, dozens of know, although it is enough to plug the teeth in everyone's hands, but for the family, it is more or less an unexpected joy, and it will naturally feel excited.

The corners of his mouth hooked up a sweet smile, squinted his eyes, and after a while, Zhang Jie, who was really tired enough, fell asleep.