Chapter 8: 8. Chapter 8: This Dad is Different (1)

Chapter 8: This Dad is Different (1)

Shuyue’s eyes flickered.

Yesterday, she had already met the grandparents, the eldest uncle and aunt, the two cousins who were returning from elementary school, and Er Ya, who was standing before her now.

Grandpa Bai was a man of few words who liked to puff on his pipe. Grandma seemed kind to her, but she was the "biased one" Er Ya had described.

The eldest uncle was reticent and looked honest and easy to bully; the eldest aunt was sharp-tongued, shrewd, and had a fierce streak; the eldest cousin was mature for his age and good at looking after his younger siblings; the second cousin was lively and slippery; and Er Ya was greedy, always trying to hoard everything for herself.

Oh, and during dinner, she had heard the grandparents and the eldest uncle mention a "Third Uncle." That would be Shuyue’s third uncle, who had finished middle school and was currently drifting around the city, trying to find a job to become a city dweller.

At this moment, hearing Er Ya speak, it was the first time she had heard anyone mention her own father.

Shuyue looked at her, puzzled. "If I tell him, will he snatch your sweet potato and give it to me?" What was there to be afraid of regarding Er Ya?

Er Ya: "..."

That didn't seem likely, did it!

But...

Before Er Ya could come up with a "but," Shuyue asked with some curiosity, "I saw a bow in my room. Is he very good at hunting?"

Er Ya looked blank. "Hunting? Ah, the bow. That broken bow? I think it belonged to an old hunter. The old hunter died, and Second Uncle just picked it up."

Shuyue: "..."

This time, it was Shuyue who looked blank.

"Then..." those furs...

The words were on the tip of her tongue, but Shuyue closed her mouth. If the bow was just something he had picked up, who knew where the furs had come from!

Shuyue swallowed hard, her gaze drifting.

"Then, then is he good at catching fish?"

"Second Uncle is good at catching fish, but he can't come back right now, can he?"

Er Ya didn't know what she was imagining, but she sighed. "Second Uncle should be released in the next two days, but by the time he gets back, the fish in the little river will have long been caught by others. What would be left for us?"

Shuyue: "..."

Shuyue was completely bewildered.

"Re-released?"

"Yeah!"

Er Ya turned her head, peeked around stealthily, her dark, thin face looking like a thief's. She lowered her voice and whispered, "I eavesdropped on my mom and dad last night. Sister Chunhua has already gone to the police station to testify, saying that Second Uncle was acting in righteous defense or something. As long as we stick to the story that he couldn't stand by and watch the hoodlums bully Sister Chunhua, it’ll be fine. We might even get a red flower and an enamel mug as a reward!"

Shuyue: "..."

!!!

No, no, no!

Wait, wait, wait!

Could you say that again?

Hearing Er Ya’s words, Shuyue felt shocked. She nodded mechanically, her eyes wide. As a top student who was well-rounded in morality, intelligence, physical fitness, aesthetics, and labor, now that heaven had assigned her such a father...

Shuyue felt dizzy and lightheaded.

So, the fact was that her father, who hadn't shown his face these past few days, was actually in the police station because he had gotten into a fight with some hoodlums?

Shuyue took two deep breaths, her small face tense, and asked, unwilling to give up, "That Sister Chunhua..."

She had a rather bad premonition.

"Sister Chunhua? She’s our neighbor. She’s so pretty, so gentle, and an educated person who finished middle school. She’s working as a temporary worker in town now, earning over ten yuan a month!"

Er Ya was very envious. Being a temporary worker meant earning a wage, and if she became a permanent employee, that would be an "iron rice bowl." She would become a city dweller, and the state would provide money, grain, and meat!

Shuyue: "..."

Sure enough...

So, the father she had imagined—who could hunt, manage a household, and keep things tidy—was actually someone who used a dead hunter's bow and furs, got into a violent brawl with hoodlums over a woman, and landed himself in the police station...

A father?

Shuyue felt terrible.

She couldn't help but think of the two persimmons she had eaten and used as emergency rations.

The persimmons were round, large, golden-yellow, and very beautiful.

Those weren't meant for her, were they? Were they something her father had set aside, intending to use them to win the heart of that young lady?