Zhao ii had filled her stomach with roast lamb at her Brother Yangyang’s house, and when she returned ho, she was still carrying half a lamb leg that Shi Yang’s mother had packed for her.
Liu Xiue saw Zhao ii eating and taking things, and she scolded her with a stern face, "How many tis have I told you not to take things from others?"
Zhao ii retorted, "Brother Yangyang is not just anybody."
Liu Xiue glared at Zhao ii, "You’re always so talkative every day."
Zhao ii shifted her gaze, bit her lip, and looked at the sunlight partly covered by the tin shed on the ground.
She had a clear line in her heart; those who treated her well and were close to her were her own people, and those who didn’t were outsiders. She sorted everyone she knew into two categories, one left and one right, with clear calculations in her mind.
Brother Yangyang was so good to her; how could he be an outsider?
He must be considered her own.
Zhao ii officially entered a howork-free sumr vacation. She was practically wild with play; as soon as she opened her eyes in the morning, she changed into the clean clothes her mother had prepared, finished breakfast, and followed her mother to open the shop.
Just as Zhao ii was helping her mother restock the shelves, Da Bao and others were already at the grocery store window, shouting for her, "Zhao ii! Co out and play!"
Zhao ii imdiately threw down what she was doing, grinned at her mother, showing her white teeth, and dashed outside.
Zhao ii led everyone to a spacious little square next to the greenbelt of the community to play war gas.
Zhao ii pointed at Da Bao, "There are ten of us; you take five people, and I’ll take five. We’ll split into two teams and fight!"
Da Bao wasn’t happy, his little face fell, "I don’t want to, I want to be on your team!"
The others imdiately chid in, "I want to be on your team too!"
Zhao ii frowned, "How’s that going to work? If you’re all on my team, who are we going to fight?"
Da Bao stiffened his little neck, "Doesn’t matter, I want to be on your team no matter what! I won’t betray!"
Zhao ii reluctantly accepted him, "Alright then, we won’t play war gas anymore."
Zhao ii’s black eyes darted around in their sockets, brightening up, "How about I take you to dig for snails?"
Next to Zhao Dazhuang’s factory was a power plant, and there was a small path in the plant’s yard that led straight to the Songhua River.
Zhao ii went there several tis last year with her dad. They strolled to the river, carrying two plastic buckets, one large and one small. Once there, they entered the water in sandals to dig for snails along the muddy shore.
The thought of finding snails made Da Bao and the others’ eyes light up, and they were especially supportive of Zhao ii.
Zhao ii assigned a few people, "Can any of you bring so strong plastic bags from ho? If I go ho to get them, my mom will ask what I’m doing with them. If she finds out I’m leading you to dig for snails, she probably won’t let us go."
Imdiately, so kids responded and raised their hands to volunteer.
"!"
"I can!!"
"I have them at my house!!"
Once everything was prepared, Zhao ii raised her little arm and waved, "Let’s go! Set off!"
Even though Zhao ii wasn’t very old, she had a remarkable mory. She had walked the path twice last year with her dad, and she still rembered it clearly, leading her group for quite a long way until she did find the place.
The group joyfully followed Zhao ii into the water.
Zhao ii was still teaching them, "You need to stay close to the water’s edge, dig into the mud, and when you find sothing round and hard, that’s it!"
The kids weren’t good at much, but when it ca to playing, they were quite capable. After finding the first one, they quickly found the second.
Getting more and more excited, they didn’t notice the sun moving gradually from overhead to behind them. With laughter and chatter, they forgot about hunger and tiredness.
While Zhao ii was having a great ti, Liu Xiue and the parents of the other kids were getting increasingly worried at ho.
The kids from several families had gone out to play since the morning, and now it was past three in the afternoon and not a shadow of them could be seen. They hadn’t even shown up for lunch, not even once.
Liu Xiue was extrely anxious. Zhao ii usually lost track of ti while playing, but when she got tired or hungry, she would run back ho, never later than one in the afternoon.
The parents searched all the possible spots around the residential building, even making two trips to the dam.
Everyone gathered in front of Liu Xiue’s grocery store to discuss solutions, all sweating from worry.
Shi Yang didn’t have much to do today, so he visited Qu Chaozong’s house. They chatted for a while, had lunch at his place, and then went to a nearby arcade in the afternoon to play so gas.
Shi Yang had his fill of fun and was leaving with Qu Chaozong, their arms around each other’s shoulders, heading back to Qu Chaozong’s house to get his bike.
Riding his bike not far away, Qu Chaozong shouted from behind, "Hey! Don’t forget to take the shortcut by the river! Or you’ll have to go the longer way!"
Shi Yang, balancing his bike with one hand, waved the other in the air, "Got it!"
Riding leisurely along the riverbank path, Shi Yang was almost past the power plant when he noticed so people playing in the water in the distance. He craned his neck for a look, but it was too far to see clearly.
He pedaled a couple of tis faster, planning to turn onto the path leading into the power plant yard.
Just as he was about to turn the handlebars, he suddenly heard a loud shout, "Zhao ii! Look how big this one is!"
Shi Yang suddenly squeezed the brake, turned his head incredulously toward the riverbank where the figures were, and he imdiately recognized Zhao ii’s bent-over silhouette among the kids.
Shi Yang planted his foot on the ground to stop the bike and shouted at the top of his voice, "Zhao ii!"
Zhao ii, happily busy picking snails, suddenly heard a familiar voice calling her na.
She quickly straightened up and looked toward the bank, seeing her Brother Yangyang standing there with his bike.
Zhao ii bead, waved, and shouted, "Brother Yangyang!"
Shi Yang parked his bike directly at the roadside and quickly ran down to the riverbank.
Jogging her way over from the water, Zhao ii bounded towards her Brother Yangyang, not realizing her mistake and still basking in happiness.
"Brother Yangyang!" Zhao ii held up her bag of snails to show Shi Yang, "Look, I’ve collected so many snails!"
Wearing a light yellow short-sleeve top and a pair of white dungaree shorts, Zhao ii was soaked through, with mud stains all over her clothes.
Beaming, Zhao ii proudly showed her haul to Brother Yangyang, "What do you think? There’s a lot, right?"
Among them, Zhao ii had collected the most and largest ones. She squinted her eyes, a little rascal’s smile on her face, expectantly waiting for praise.
Shi Yang frowned at Zhao ii’s dirty appearance, "Who ca here with you?"
"With them!" Zhao ii pointed at Da Bao and the others.
Shi Yang’s face gradually darkened, "Does your mom know you’re here playing?"
Zhao ii: "......"
Shi Yang: "What ti did you co here to play?"
Zhao ii: "In the morning."
Shi Yang: "Do you know what ti it is now? It’s almost four in the afternoon!"
"Huh?" Zhao ii was dumbfounded; she hadn’t realized ti had flown by so quickly, "What, what should we do now?"
Seeing her crumpled little face and eyes filled with fear, Shi Yang knew Liu Xiue must be frantic with worry. He quickly called the other kids over, "Co on, stop playing now; I’ll take you all ho!"
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