The first rays of light shone in the morning, and Xu Fan's figure was no longer on the bed.

It turned out that Lin Ru was going to work in the fields at this time, and he would come back after a while.

And although Xu Fan is terminally ill, it is not that he can't pick his shoulders and lift his hands, at least it's no problem to cook.

Therefore, a small figure can be seen sitting quietly in front of the stove in the stove room, and there is a pair of firewood in his right hand.

The flames in the stove flickered, reflecting on the young man's resolute face, flickering and dimming.

Soon, the sweet aroma of rice porridge and the gurgling sound of boiling came from the pot.

Xu Fan stopped and continued to add firewood inside, and the residual fire in the stove was enough to keep the rice porridge warm.

He stood up, stretched, let out a breath of turbidity, and whispered to himself, "It's time for my mother to come back." ”

So, he picked up a book and sat there reading.

Half an hour passed, Xu Fan looked up at the door, and Lin Ru did not come back.

An hour passed, and Lin Ru still hadn't returned.

Xu Fan put down the book in his hand and coughed lightly, his physical condition was not too bad.

Because of Xu Fan's health, Lin Ru usually comes back on time. After an hour, the rice porridge was cold, and she was still missing, so something must have happened.

Xu Fan pressed the anxiety in his heart, put the lid on the pot again, and walked out.

Zhang Min, who was playing outside the door, saw Xu Fan, who didn't go out easily, and said happily: "Brother Fan, are you out to play with me?" ”

Xu Fan smiled and asked, "Xiaomin, did you see my mother come back?" ”

The little chubby girl shook her head like a rattle and said, "I haven't seen Aunt Ru, not even my aunt." ”

Hearing Xiao Zhang Min's words, Xu Fan's heart relaxed slightly.

Although there are a lot of medicinal herbs in Yaoshan Town, the medicinal herbs can't be eaten to a full stomach after all. The main business here is still the fields, and all the people in the family will get up early in the morning to go to the fields, and when they come back, the moon will rise.

After all, the people take food as the sky, and they really wear the stars and the moon.

Since Aunt Zhang didn't come back either, something must have happened.

Xu Fan is still too young, and his body is weak, and he really can't help with things in the fields.

At this time, when Zhang Butcher walked out and saw Xu Fan at the door, he was shocked and said in his heart: This child has a knot in his heart because he is alienated by his friends, and he usually doesn't come out, what's wrong today.

So, he smiled and asked, "Xiaofan, is something wrong?" ”

When Xu Fan saw Zhang Butcher, his heart was warm, and every time he slaughtered dogs, he was mostly a scholar.

This sentence is seen from the book, and whether the second half of the sentence is true or false remains to be examined, and the first half of the sentence is absolutely correct.

"Uncle Zhang, my mother comes back for dinner every hour, but I haven't seen anyone since the end of the day. I was in a hurry, so I came out to have a look. ”

Zhang Butcher looked at Xu Fan's anxious appearance, touched Xu Fan's head with his rough and wide palm, and said slowly: "I see." ”

Although Xu Fan has suffered from a terminal illness since he was a child, this child is definitely filial. Also because of physical reasons, he is more sensible than other children in the town.

If it weren't for the fact that he would die at any time, Zhang Butcher even wanted to marry Lin Ru. He watched Xu Fan grow up, so he was naturally satisfied with him in every way.

And her own girl is in the town, but she likes to play with Xu Fan.

Therefore, God is destined to be a family member, so you can only take care of it as a relative. No matter how strong Lin Ru is, she is a woman after all.

Now that they have become neighbors, they should still be more supporters.

The butcher's mind is as simple as that!

Then Zhang Butcher said: "Xiaofan, I heard that there was a flood in the neighboring state, and many crops were submerged. So since the last few days, there have been many more people in the town who have fled and passed by. Originally, the people of the town were on the principle of helping as much as they could, and they tried to help those refugees as much as possible. But then there were more and more refugees, and many of them even went to the fields to steal. So after discussion, everyone went to the fields and looked at the crops, otherwise we would have been ruined before they were ripe. ”

Hearing this, Xu Fan knew it in his heart.

Zhang Butcher's family has more livestock, so only more than two acres of land are left, and the other acres of land are given to Lin Ru to plant, and Aunt Zhang will usually go to help.

It's nothing to help the victims, but if there are too many victims, it will become a disaster. Those who are hungry and crazy, as long as they have food and can eat their stomachs, they can do anything.

With them, there is no reason to talk about it.

After knowing what happened, Xu Fan was not so anxious, because Butcher Zhang said that Aunt Zhang brought cakes and water when she went.

Since this is the case, Xu Fan said goodbye to Zhang Butcher and turned around and prepared to go home.

Zhang Min shouted behind him: "Brother Fan, don't go home yet, let's go to the grove to play hide and seek, okay?" ”

Hearing the little chubby girl's words, Xu Fan was very moved in his heart. After all, they are still children, and it is their nature to play that cannot be hidden.

He took Xiao Zhang Min's hand and said, "Go, snotty girl, I will definitely let you not find it this time." ”

Zhang Min muttered dissatisfiedly: "If my brother makes fun of others, I won't pay attention to you." ”

Although he said this, he looked very excited with his short legs, and he was obviously in a good mood.

Within a radius of a few miles from Yaoshan Town, Xu Fan's family and Zhang Min's family are in the easternmost part, and a few dozen meters further forward is a small forest, the grove is at the foot of Yaoshan Mountain, and then to the east is Yaoshan.

The people of the town often go up to the mountains to collect medicines, and some of them go to the market to sell them.

Therefore, both children and adults are extremely familiar with this place. The grove at the foot of the mountain is a paradise for children.

Once, Xu Fan and other children spent a happy childhood here at the age of five or six. It's just that later, as Xu Fan's condition worsened, those friends gradually became estranged, and basically never came here again.

Returning to this place again, breathing in the fresh air, Xu Fan felt that all the pores on his body were opened, and it was indescribably comfortable.

Xu Fan closed his eyes and whispered in his mouth: "Ten, nine...... Two, have you hidden it, snot girl, I'm going to read one. ”

"Good, one!"

After speaking, Xu Fan opened his eyes. It turned out that after the two came to the grove, the little chubby girl shouted that she wanted to hide first, and according to the rules, Xu Fan could only open her eyes to look for it after reading ten numbers with her eyes closed.

In fact, with only a few breaths, where can a five or six-year-old girl hide. What's more, the grove was played by Xu Fan and them, and they could walk out with their eyes closed.

Soon, Xu Fan saw a corner of flower clothes exposed under a big tree.

Xu Fan was secretly funny, the little girl was really simple, and she hid in the same place every time.

He crept forward slowly, and quietly walked behind the tree, and sure enough, the little girl was squatting there, her hands clenched, her eyes closed, and the words in her mouth: Heavenly spirit, earth spirit, fairy is not as smart as me; Heavenly spirit, earth spirit, if my brother can't find me, it's fine. Can't see it, can't see it, can't see it......

Xu Fan laughed in his heart, don't look at the chubby girl, but she is also stupid and cute, very cute.

Xiao Zhang Min hid for a long time, chattered for a long time, and couldn't hear Xu Fan come to find him, he was happy, could it be that he could really win once this time?

Well, but I can't let Brother Fan not find it, then it's not fun, I'd better change the place, change the place where Brother Fan can see.

The little girl thought.

Do it if you want to, so Zhang Min opened his eyes, but found that what greeted him was a face that seemed to be smiling, who was not his brother Fan?

Zhang Min was angry and annoyed, snorted his nose, and then hammered Xu Fan a few times with her chubby little hand, and said dissatisfiedly: "Brother Fan hates it to death, hates it to death." ”

Xu Fan laughed, and the haze in his heart a few days ago was swept away.

At this moment, Xu Fan heard Zhang Min exclaim, her voice trembled, as if she was crying, and said, "Brother Fan, there seems to be someone over there." ”

Xu Fan was also taken aback, and following the direction of Zhang Min's finger, he looked over.

Under the big tree, one by one, there was a young man reclining, only about fifty paces away from where they were.

Thinking of what Zhang Butcher said before, there were many victims passing by recently, and Xu Fan immediately connected the young man with the victims.

When I walked in, it was indeed a person. It looks slightly bigger than Xu Fan, but it looks worse than Xu Fan.

Although Xu Fan was terminally ill and his face was sallow and his hair was dry, he still looked alive.

The young man in front of him is a little miserable, and it is best described as skin and bones. His hair was disheveled, with a few weeds woven on it, and his face was dirty and full of dirt.

And his fingernails were also full of mud, if it weren't for the faintly undulating chest to prove that he was still alive, Xu Fan and Zhang Min would probably feel that they had run into a dead person when they went out.

At least, the two of them have never seen a dead person since they were children.

It is true that some elderly people in the town are 100 years old, because of some rules, except for their own children, other children are not allowed to appear at the funeral.

Xu Fan and Lin Ru's mother and son depended on each other, and Zhang Min was born before Zhang Bu's father and mother passed away one after another.

Looking at the young man in front of him, Xu Fan didn't think about him, and said to Zhang Min: "Xiaomin, you go ahead and open the door for me, and I will carry him home." ”

When talking about business, Xu Fan will call Zhang Min's name. Other times, they call her snot and chubby.

Of course, Zhang Min never noticed this detail.

After all, he is still young, and the book also says: At the beginning of man, his nature is good. So neither Xu Fan nor Zhang Min had any other ideas, and only one word was left in their minds: saving people is important.

So, Zhang Min ran in front, and Xu Fan leaned down and carried the beggar-like boy on his back.

Fortunately, the young man was so hungry that he was skinny, otherwise he was a little taller than Xu Fan, and Xu Fan himself had a very poor physique, how could he carry him home.

In just half a mile, Xu Fan was stunned and stayed more than a dozen times, basically every few steps, Xu Fan coughed a few times and stayed for a while.

In this way, Xu Fan endured great pain, and finally carried the little beggar he picked up to his home.