Chapter 21 Unbearable July 15th passed, and the baked...

July 15th passed, and the baked persimmons were really ready to be eaten. The pomegranates were picked with the joint efforts of the two, and they couldn't finish them.

Persimmons must be eaten as soon as they are ripe, otherwise they will rot in the box, and the efforts of the two will be in vain.

He Feng took Song Qingshu to give some pomegranates and persimmons to Teacher Zhu and Mrs. Liu respectively. The rest were okay. There were too many ripe ones in a box, and He Feng would take them to the street to sell.

But Song Qingshu could only eat two persimmons a day at most. He Feng didn't let him eat more, so he took a small red pomegranate and pulled out the pomegranate seeds with a sad look.

He Feng could only touch his head and said that he was worried that his stomach would be upset.

Song Qingshu was just pretending, he didn't have a real temper, and he would be happy when He Feng coaxed him.

After the White Dew, the temperature difference between morning and evening became bigger. He Feng always felt that Song Qingshu didn't have enough clothes, so he planned to go out again on August 15th.

Last time, Song Qingshu didn't let him buy too much candy. He Feng was afraid he'd get a toothache from eating too much, so he only allowed him one or two a day. But they both carried some, and as they shared, they were almost gone.

He Feng didn't have many relatives anymore, and there was no need for those who lived too close. His maternal relatives lived in the city, and He Feng called them in town, but they said they didn't need to come.

He and Song Qingshu were on good terms now, neither too close nor too far away, so it was just right for them to spend the Mid-Autumn Festival together.

There weren't many things on the street, mostly selling food and vegetables. In the next few days, the butchers were going to set up their stalls on the street, saying they'd start selling at 7:30 every morning. After selling,

it was a good time to go home and rest, so

they didn't have to wait all day for someone to come to their house to buy some meat. With this, the tofu sellers, the sesame oil sellers... all set up stalls at the intersection to hawk their wares.

Even the streets used to be a bit deserted during the market, but now they're a bit busier in the mornings.

However, there's been a new development in Hejia Village recently.

Village Chief He Jianping and the village cadres convened a meeting at the brigade. Everyone in Hejia Village, except those under sixteen and over sixty, was required to attend.

Song Qingshu, bored from reading at home, went along. After all, there had been a lot of noise that day, and now the villagers knew who he was when they saw him standing with He Feng.

The village chief stood in front, tapped the microphone tied with a red cloth, and before he could speak for silence, he began to explain what was going on.

Song Qingshu sat on a small bench next to He Feng. Many people stood behind him, all young and middle-aged, with their families standing beside them. Their children were playing together outside the brigade.

At the meeting, the village chief spoke extensively about the problems of the large river to the south. The river wasn't wide enough, but the bridge was long enough. Every year, when the rains were heavy, it flooded.

Two floods had already occurred in recent years, leaving half of the houses on both sides submerged. Waterlogged wood weakened, and all the household items, big and small, had to be replaced.

The families couldn't hide their sadness when they spoke about it.

The village chief promised the work wouldn't be in vain, so all able-bodied laborers came to work. The city approved the funds, and those who worked were recorded and then divided their pay.

The busy farming season was over, and the river had been flooding for the past two years, drowning children as young as three or five, and as young as fifteen or sixteen.

This year, a sixteen-year-old boy, a skilled swimmer, ignored attempts to persuade him and jumped in when

no one was looking. The person trying to persuade him went inside to put something down, and when he came out, seeing no one, he assumed he'd persuaded them to leave.

Then, that afternoon, a figure appeared floating in the river. That evening, when the family came looking for him, they were holding the child and crying. The mother fainted several times from crying.

Finally, with the help of the surrounding villagers, they were able to escape with the child.

Song Qingshu listened halfway when, remembering the rumors he'd heard earlier, he squeezed He Feng's hand and leaned over to whisper, "Did you save someone before the New Year?"

Word had spread throughout the educated youth compound: the girl had a big argument with her family and threatened to jump into the river, only to be caught by He Feng, who was fishing.

"It's not just me, there were many people around there." He Feng also came over and replied in a voice similar to his.

A girl was staring at this side in the distance. He Feng was sensitive to other people's gazes, so he turned to meet her, but he found that he didn't recognize her.

Song Qingshu didn't know he was looking at people, and he squeezed his hand a little harder to express his dissatisfaction, "Oh, and there are rumors that she wants to marry you?"

He Feng subconsciously answered: "How can that be, she is only eighteen, still a child."

These words made Song Qingshu happy and unhappy, because he was only nineteen, one year younger.

No wonder He Feng usually treated him like a child.

He pouted and said, "I want to go out."

He Feng thought he was bored here and wanted to go out for some fresh air, so he asked him to play with the child at the door for a while, and he should be able to take him home soon.

Song Qingshu thought to himself, as expected, he treated himself like a child.

He crouched down and quietly went out through the back door, and saw Erqing holding a child who looked only about eight or nine months old.

The other children were playing, but Erqing was the only one holding the baby. He leaned back from exhaustion, and Song Qingshu quickly took it. "Whose child is this? Why are you holding it?"

He stuffed a candy into Erqing's pocket and said, "We take turns holding it. It's my turn now."

The boy next to him, who looked much older than Erqing, perhaps fourteen or fifteen, chimed in, saying, "Yes, everyone has held it."

Song Qingshu patted the baby's back, half-convinced. Babies that big were rare in the orphanage; they were usually taken care of by the director.

He had only helped hold the baby a few times. Although sensible, his health was poor, and the director couldn't bear to ask him to help all the time. Song Qingshu understood and tried to ease the director's burden in other ways,

like playing games or drawing...

The little baby in his arms was sweet and soft, and Song Qingshu was in a good mood. "Let me teach you a game."

The children, who had been fighting cockfights, stopped. He Jingchun asked, "What are you playing?"

He was the oldest, and he always won at cockfights, so it wasn't very fun. Seeing him stop, the other children looked at Song Qingshu.

Song Qingshu was a gentle and handsome man, his fair face and gentle voice endearing to the children. Even if they were unfamiliar with him, they didn't feel repulsed.

He didn't speak with a local accent, and his aqua shirt was much brighter than the other children's. He looked clean and pure, but he did seem a bit distant.

"You all stand in a circle around me, holding hands and spinning around. I'll ask you, 'Looking for friends, looking for friends. How many good friends have you found?'

Then I'll randomly say a number, and everyone has to find the number of their friends that make up that number. No more, no less."

"The extra person can take my place and call out the next number."

The baby in his arms was blowing bubbles, and Song Qingshu took her finger away to prevent her from biting it. He

looked down at the other children, "Do you understand?"

When he didn't get an answer, Song Qingshu didn't react, but smiled. "Let's try it first."

The children actually held hands and spun around Song Qingshu. Erqing happily took his friend's hand, his eyes shining as he looked at Song Qingshu, convinced he was amazing.

"Looking for friends, how many good friends did you find?"

"I found three good friends!"

The children, originally gathered in a large circle, suddenly rushed towards each other, quickly squeezing out three more to form a new group.

Finally, two children remained. Instead of standing there, they ran over to hug Song Qingshu.

Song Qingshu was stunned as two children hugged his thighs. The children had a slightly higher body temperature, and after playing wildly, their warm hands pressed against Song Qingshu's body.

He suddenly remembered his time at the orphanage.

"Okay, no one's eliminated this round."

"I won't be eliminated in the next round. Let's start over."

Song Qingshu called four people for this round. One was left alone, a chubby little boy who stood in the middle, laughing with his friends.

He Feng had been out for a while. From the moment the two children hugged Song Qingshu, he stood by, his arms folded, watching. He

Jianping had actually discussed what he was talking about with He Feng a few days earlier, and He Feng had agreed at the time that he could become a team leader when the work was divided later.

But Song Qingshu couldn't go; he could do enough to support the two of them.

He Jianping didn't say much, just that he was quite nice to this little brother he had gotten for free.

Song Qingshu held the baby for a while, his arms felt a little sore, so he was ready to switch to the other side. The baby looked chubby, and it still felt a bit heavy on his arms to hold it.

He Feng then walked over and took the baby from his arms, only to notice how soft the baby's arms were, and the baby started crying before He Feng even took the

baby into his arms. It was as if he thought He Feng was being snatched away.

The other children were having fun, and they tilted their heads to look over, but when they saw it was He Feng, they didn't dare to say anything.

Fortunately, the meeting inside was over, and Song Qingshu was about to take the baby to comfort him when the baby's mother ran over to pick him up. "Oh, why are you crying?"

He Feng stood there a little embarrassed, and it was Song Qingshu who stepped forward to explain, "He just woke up after taking a nap. I don't know if he's fussing or hungry." "

Yes, he fell asleep at noon and didn't feed him. Thank you for helping me hold the baby." She held the baby in front of her, but she couldn't just feed him like that, and she wanted to leave quickly.

"It's okay, it's okay. Go back and feed the child first."

After saying that, the other party smiled, quickened his pace and left without calling his eldest son.

He Feng took Song Qingshu's wrist and went to push the bicycle. When he turned around,

he saw the girl again, peeking at Song Qingshu. His Adam's apple tightened, "Zizi likes children?"

Song Qingshu didn't hesitate, "Yeah."

He Feng's eyes darkened a little. This answer was normal. He asked Song Qingshu to get on the bike and rode the bike very fast.

As if taking out his anger on the wind on the road, Song Qingshu grabbed his flying clothes for no apparent reason. He was about to be blown into a balloon by the wind.

Song Qingshu was patting the air out with his hands, but He Feng braked suddenly and he stuck to He Feng.

"What's wrong?" Song Qingshu asked, rubbing his nose.

"Zizi, do you want to have a cat?"

He Feng supported himself with his feet. Song Qingshu tilted his head to look ahead and didn't see anything.

"You can come down and take a look. It's a little pitiful." Song Qingshu got out of the car. There was a kitten on the roadside in front of the car. It looked very small, a small calico cat with beautiful patterns.

It meowed very quietly, staring at Song Qingshu with its wet eyes, very lovable.

Song Qingshu squatted on the ground, turned his head and asked: "Can I keep it? Where's Xiao Hei?"

He squatted next to the kitten, and tilted his head to look at He Feng with it.

He Feng couldn't resist, but he would not refuse him, "Sure, put it in the basket in the car, Xiao Hei won't bite it."

In this way, when Song Qingshu goes to work alone at home, he will have a companion.