"Jiandong, you’re a good man. Taking them in during tis this hard... Sweet Girl and Xiao Yang will have to repay your kindness well in the future."
"Those two are sensible children. You’ve got good days ahead of you!"
The neighbor wasn’t wrong. Sweet Girl and Xiao Yang were very capable. If she didn’t already have several children at ho, she would have wanted to take them in herself.
Lin Jiandong put on an honest smile.
"Yes, you’re right. Sweet Girl and Xiao Yang are truly good kids. Their father and I were close brothers. Now that he’s gone, Sweet Girl and Xiao Yang are like my own children."
The neighbor nodded.
Turning, she saw the thin clothes on Sweet Girl and Xiao Yang and couldn’t help but ntion it.
"Those children’s clothes are too thin. They offer no warmth at all. It must be agony wearing them in this cold. You should figure out a way to make them a new set of clothes."
In the past, the neighbor wouldn’t have said such a thing.
But now that Lin Jiandong had adopted them, he was their father. Naturally, he couldn’t let Sweet Girl and Xiao Yang wear clothes that weren’t warm enough.
Lin Jiandong quickly agreed.
"We’re making them!"
"It’s just not that fast. The fabric is old, but the cotton filling is brand new. I wanted to buy them a new set, but it was too expensive."
Tis were hard for everyone.
Even the biological children of well-off families didn’t necessarily get to wear new clothes. Having old ones to wear was already quite good.
The two of them chatted for a bit from a distance, and by then Sweet Girl had already brought Lin Daya and Lin Tie Dan over.
Seeing them, Lin Jiandong ended the conversation.
They went inside and began to eat, everyone gathered around a single table.
Lin Daya and Lin Tie Dan each got a bowl of stead egg custard drizzled with sesa oil, and they also each got a two-flour stead bun.
The adults also had two-flour stead buns, along with two griddle cakes each.
Sweet Girl and Xiao Yang each got one cornbread bun.
When the soup was served, each mber of the Lin Family got a bowl of thick corn grits porridge, while Sweet Girl and Xiao Yang only received a bowl of the thin broth, without a single grain of corn.
Sweet Girl and Xiao Yang were already used to this.
After the al, Chen Shulan ordered Sweet Girl to wash the dishes and Xiao Yang to feed the chickens.
If she weren’t afraid they would steal food, she would have loved to make Sweet Girl do the cooking as well.
In fact, since Sweet Girl and Xiao Yang’s arrival, the family had not only gained a significant amount of grain and an extra courtyard, but they also had free labor for all the chores.
All Chen Shulan had to do every day was boss people around, beat them, and curse at them.
Sweet Girl had just finished washing the dishes when Chen Shulan ca out with a pile of dirty clothes and threw them into a back basket.
"Sweet Girl, go wash these clothes by the river."
Sweet Girl didn’t dare refuse. Hoisting the basket onto her back and grabbing a wooden basin, she headed for the river.
The village river was flowing water, so it didn’t freeze easily. Even if the temperature dropped low enough for ice to form, it was only a thin layer that could be broken to get to the water underneath. It was just a little chilly, that’s all.
Since Xiao Yang was young, he wasn’t assigned too many chores.
When he saw Sweet Girl go out, he followed her.
Once Sweet Girl and Xiao Yang had left, the Lin Family closed the door, sent Daya and Tie Dan out to play, and the three adults gathered together.
"Mom, how did it go? Did you find anything out?"
The weather was good today, so Jin ifeng had made a special trip out to ask around about families looking to adopt a boy.
Jin ifeng had just gotten back when Sweet Girl returned, so they hadn’t had a chance to talk about it yet.
Now that they had sent everyone away, it was ti to discuss Xiao Yang.
A smile appeared on Jin ifeng’s face as she lowered her voice.
"I found soone. There’s a couple in the County Town. They’ve been married for several years without any children, so they’re thinking of adopting."
"But they couldn’t find a suitable child. So I ntioned Xiao Yang. At first, they were hesitant because of his age, but luckily I’m smart. I told them his story, and as soon as they heard he was an orphan, they imdiately agreed."
People looking to adopt don’t like older children because they can already form mories. They worry that after raising the child, he’ll just turn around and go looking for his birth parents. Then all their effort would be for nothing.
Xiao Yang’s birth parents were both dead. Once the couple heard he had no parents, they were naturally delighted.
Even when the boy was grown, no one would co to take him back.
Chen Shulan didn’t care about any of that. What she cared about was how much money they would get.
"Mom, what about the price?"
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