Chapter 10: Accepting Without Exception

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“Big Sis, please don’t throw me out! I promise I’ll listen to you from now on!”

Hua Hao suddenly threw himself down before Hua Ning and knelt, sobbing miserably.

Hua Ning merely watched the boy, who had quickly learned which way the wind was blowing.

She had no intention of driving him into a corner without mercy.

But if Hua Hao continued behaving as he had before, then she certainly would not play the saint and tolerate his antics.

Looking at Hua Hao crying his eyes out, Hua Ning found her feelings toward this younger cousin difficult to put into words.

His parents had only just died, and his grandmother had been paralyzed. The moment his support vanished, he had immediately recognized his own situation and lowered his head in submission.

To see such a calculating, flexible nature in a child was enough to make anyone wary and cold at heart.

But with Hua Ning here, even if Hua Hao were the Monkey King himself, he would never escape her grasp.

“All right, stop crying. I never said I was going to throw you out.”

Five minutes later, Hua Ning finally spoke.

“From now on, no one in this household eats unless they work. Do you understand?”

Hua Hao nodded repeatedly. “I understand, Cousin.”

“Get up.”

That night, Hua Hao slept in the same room as Grandma Hua.

Su Qiuxin went to the room where Grandma Hua had previously lived, while Hua Ning returned to her own former room.

After a simple tidying-up, the Hua household soon fell silent.

Hua Ning rose early the next morning.

First, she went to Li Qingxi’s house and borrowed fifty pounds of coarse grain from the production brigade. Only then did she hurry home.

When Hua Ning arrived, Hua Hao was already awake.

She could not honestly say she was unsurprised to find that he had thoughtfully prepared everything she needed to wash her face and brush her teeth.

“Cousin, wash up first. I’m going to help Auntie light the stove.”

Watching Hua Hao enter the kitchen, Hua Ning brushed her teeth while pondering inwardly.

He was barely ten years old, yet already so capable of bending without breaking.

It seemed she would have to devote a little more attention to this younger cousin in the future.

After drinking half a bowl of sweet-potato tea, she could not manage another sip.

She asked Su Qiuxin to straighten up the house, then went out.

She had barely left home when she encountered Deng Zicong, one of the educated youths in the village.

“Comrade Hua Ning, are you going to… the brigade leader’s house?”

Deng Zicong had come to the Xin’an Production Brigade two years earlier as an educated youth sent to work in the countryside.

He was considered the most handsome among the educated youths.

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However, after enduring the hardships of rural labor, Deng Zicong no longer possessed the fair, striking appearance he had when he first arrived. His skin had darkened considerably, and even his spirit seemed wilted, like a flower struck by frost. His former confidence and swagger were long gone.

Over the past few days, he had heard about the Hua family’s misfortune, and that was what had stirred his interest in Hua Ning.

In her previous life, Hua Ning had loved playing games, but she had grown up in elite circles. She naturally knew how to judge people.

She saw through Deng Zicong’s sudden attempt to strike up a conversation as clearly as through glass.

“Educated Youth Deng, are you heading out to work?”

Hua Ning replied politely.

Before Deng Zicong could answer, she put on an anxious expression and hurriedly added, “I still have something to discuss with the brigade leader. You’d better hurry to work, Educated Youth Deng!”

With Hua Ning’s departing figure disappearing in haste, a vicious glint passed through Deng Zicong’s eyes.

He could hardly be blamed for being ruthless.

The hope of returning to the city was so faint, while the labor in the fields was unbearably grueling. He truly felt he could not hold on much longer.

Hua Ning naturally knew she had been watched by Deng Zicong’s burning gaze.

What surprised her was that, no matter the era, there were always plenty of people dreaming of taking shortcuts.

If she had not staged the appearance of the Hua family being robbed, the future life of mother and daughter would have been far more eventful.

After all, an orphaned widow with a fortune in her hands—whoever married her would be marrying a golden treasure.

The thought gave Hua Ning another headache.

It was only their first day back, and Deng Zicong had already taken the initiative to approach her.

If this continued for any length of time…

No. She must not think about it.

Hua Ning shook her head, cleared her mind, and hurried toward the brigade leader’s home.

“Uncle Captain, I’ve been thinking about how to handle the arrangements for my second uncle and aunt.”

Although the bodies of Hua Ershu and his wife had already been torn apart and devoured by wild beasts in the hills behind the village, the villagers who had discovered their clothing had still accompanied the brigade leader and searched the mountain.

Only after confirming that not even their bones remained did the brigade leader take Hua Hao to the county hospital.

Hua Ning had come today because she wanted to build a symbolic grave for the couple and leave it at that.

“Ning girl, it’s good that you can think things through this way. How about this? I’ll give you three days off. Use the time to take care of everything at home.”

Li Qingxi said this partly because the current circumstances did not allow for an elaborate funeral ceremony.

But another reason was that the Hua family was poor.

If they kept borrowing money from the brigade, he feared the other villagers would grow dissatisfied.

Hua Ning obediently agreed.

She had not yet fully worked out how they were going to live from then on.

Now that the brigade leader had given her three days off, she could use them to make some plans.

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On her way home from the brigade leader’s house, just as Hua Ning expected, she encountered quite a few young men from the village, all greeting her.

Fortunately, she could now use the family tragedy as an excuse to leave with a blank expression, and no one could criticize her for it.

What troubled Hua Ning was what she would do after the three days were over, when she and Su Qiuxin had to return to work.

Never mind. She would deal with things one step at a time.

Two days passed in the blink of an eye.

The symbolic grave for Hua Ershu and his wife had long since been completed.

As for her younger cousin Hua Hao, he had more or less settled into Hua Ning’s home.

“Mother, I’m going to the county hospital today. When I was discharged last time, Auntie Qiao told me to make another visit.”

Su Qiuxin was a thoroughly traditional woman.

When she had a man in the house, she listened to him.

Now that the man was gone, she listened to Hua Ning.

Fortunately, Grandma Hua was paralyzed. Otherwise, Su Qiuxin would still have to swallow her grievances and endure Grandma Hua’s bullying.

“Ningning, our family has nothing left now. If you’re going to the county…”

Su Qiuxin was not trying to stop Hua Ning.

She simply knew that the family was so poor that they had not a penny to their name.

The thought of her daughter going to the county with no money in her pocket was truly painful.

The more Su Qiuxin thought about it, the more heartbroken she became, and her eyes reddened before she even realized it.

Seeing this, Hua Ning could not help sighing inwardly. She offered her mother a small hint.

“Don’t worry, Mother. Your daughter is a woman of great ability. By the time I return, our family will have money.”

“Really?” Su Qiuxin’s eyes brightened, but they quickly dimmed again. She looked at Hua Ning with a complicated expression. “Ningning, you’re the only family I have left. If anything were to happen to you…”

“What are you saying, Mother? You should know that I am…”

As she spoke, Hua Ning winked at Su Qiuxin.

Some things were better left unsaid. It gave others more room to imagine.

Sure enough, after seeing Hua Ning’s meaningful look, Su Qiuxin remained stunned for two seconds before giving a silent, bitter laugh. Her voice was filled with grief.

“I suppose I was thinking too narrowly.”

Though she said that, Su Qiuxin still repeated her warnings countless times before Hua Ning left.

What could Hua Ning do in the face of such sincere maternal love?

Naturally, she accepted every bit of it.

As mother and daughter bid each other farewell, neither noticed the dark, resentful gaze lurking beside the woodpile.