The Adopted Cannon Fodder Made a Comeback

Time passed quickly. In the blink of an eye, Gu’er had been selling popsicles for a month and a half.

In that month and a half, quite a few rumors about Gu’er had spread through the village. They said she had a "hard fate" and was a jinx to others.

After Sun Jiaming heard about it, he did some digging and found that the rumors started with Wu Sanduo and were further spread by the Zhou family. As a result, everyone in the village was now talking about Gu’er behind her back.

Although Sun Jiaming managed to suppress the matter, people’s mouths are the hardest things to control; you can’t just sew them shut.

Fortunately, Gu’er didn’t really care.

She felt she had done quite well. Besides paying back fifty yuan to Sun Jiaming, she had also saved seventy-eight yuan and seventy-two fen. Of course, if she included today’s earnings, it would be over eighty yuan. This was no small sum.

Gu’er was happy just thinking about it.

Not only had she paid off her debt and saved money, but her life had also improved.

Every day, besides popsicles, she also sold "Longdan" yogurt. Although the yogurt didn’t sell as well as the popsicles, it was doing much better than before. She could now sell about ten bottles a day.

In addition, she, Sun Jiaming, and Grandma Sun drank it every day. Both her and Grandma Sun’s complexions had improved considerably, and they had even put some weight on their faces.

This was especially true for Gu’er. Though her skin wasn’t fair, her cheeks were rosy, and her skin looked firm and smooth. Her face had a healthier glow than before.

Besides the yogurt, Gu’er would also buy some meat to take home when she had time. Sun Jiaming often went to the river or ponds to catch fish, and the village had no shortage of vegetables. Life was very good.

When they had good food, Gu’er invited her adoptive mother over twice, but Li Hua never came. She had a large family to look after. Although she knew Gu’er meant well, she couldn’t go.

Gu’er didn’t press the issue. She secretly had her adoptive mother drink yogurt twice, gave her a popsicle, and treated her to old-fashioned sponge cake twice. Gu’er made sure her adoptive mother ate these things in front of her; otherwise, if she took them home, she wouldn’t even get to eat the crumbs.

Seeing that her daughter, after leaving the Zhou family, was not bullied, nor was she starving or cold—but was in fact living better and better—Li Hua felt relieved. Gu’er wore new clothes, her face was rosy, she ate better than before, and she even had a bicycle to ride when she went out. Of course, Li Hua still felt a pang of sadness in her heart, but she no longer said anything about Gu’er going back. She never privately asked Gu’er for money either; even though Zhou Mazi had demanded it several times and had even hit her once for it, she never brought it up with Gu’er.

Gu’er felt life was very relaxed. On several occasions, Sun Jiaming seemed to want to say something to her, but she always changed the subject. She had a good idea of what he wanted to say, but she hadn’t made up her mind yet. She didn’t know what to do, so she was avoiding it.

What Gu’er found strange was that Sun Jiaming’s parents had never returned to the village. Sun Jiaming had gone to the city once, and when he came back, his expression wasn’t good. Gu’er asked about it, but Sun Jiaming didn’t say anything, so she didn’t press further. She guessed they probably hadn’t said anything nice.

’Whatever. If they don’t come back, they don’t come back. I get along well with Grandma Sun, and she treats me just like a real granddaughter. I’ll just be a good, filial granddaughter to her. As for Sun Jiaming’s parents, I don’t really have any impression of them. It’s better if they don’t come back; it’ll save a lot of trouble.’ 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

Gu’er rode her bike, calling out her wares. For a while now, no one had bought a popsicle. There were still five or six left in the box.

’Should I sell them all before I go back?’

’Forget it. I’ll head back.’

’Oh, right. Last time, I promised my cousin Li Zhi I’d bring her a popsicle.’

’I’ve been so busy this past month, I completely forgot to visit her and bring her a popsicle.’

’I happen to have a few left today, so I’ll make a trip over. I’ll give her the popsicles, so she doesn’t think I’m someone who doesn’t keep their word.’

Gu’er rode her bike to her maternal grandmother’s house.

When she arrived at the entrance, she saw her maternal grandfather, Li Shan, sitting on the ground by the door, smoking his pipe.

The ground was dusty, but he didn’t seem to mind the dirt at all.

"Grandpa."

Gu’er stopped her bike.

Li Shan was enjoying his smoke when he heard someone call him. He looked up and saw a bicycle, then he saw Gu’er pushing it.

"Gu’er? What are you doing here?"

Li Shan tapped his pipe and asked Gu’er without getting up. He was, however, quite surprised to see her with a bicycle.

’But he had heard about the matter with the Zhou family. He knew Gu’er had already left them, which meant she was no longer a daughter of the Zhou family. In that case, was she still considered a relative of his family?’

"I came to see you and Grandma."

Gu’er smiled. ’Her grandfather didn’t meddle much, but he had never scolded her either. Her grandmother was always good to her, so she had no issues with the two elders.’

Gu’er propped up the bike with its kickstand, took a popsicle out of the box, and walked over to her grandfather.

She unwrapped the paper from the popsicle.

"Here you go, Grandpa."

Gu’er handed it to Li Shan.

"This? Where did you get a popsicle? You... you eat it. I won’t. I’m too old for this kind of thing, it’ll make my teeth ache."

Li Shan hadn’t expected this. A single popsicle cost several fen. He never imagined Gu’er would give one to him.

"I’ve already unwrapped it. Just eat it, Grandpa."

Gu’er placed the popsicle in her grandfather’s hand.

Li Shan looked at the popsicle in his hand, a complex expression in his eyes.

He looked at Gu’er again.

"Come on, let’s go inside."

Li Shan said as he stood up, motioning for Gu’er to go in.

’This was the first time. In the past, whenever they visited, her grandfather would usually just stay at the entrance and rarely accompany them inside.’

"Okay."

Gu’er replied crisply.

Gu’er pushed her bicycle into the courtyard.

"Huh, Gu’er’s here."

Bai Erni was working in the courtyard. Hearing the noise, she looked up and saw Gu’er, her eyes full of surprise. But seeing Gu’er pushing a bicycle made her even more astonished. ’Didn’t they say Gu’er had left the Zhou family? How did she end up with a bicycle? Our own family doesn’t even have one.’

"Auntie."

Gu’er called out cheerfully.

"Is Sister Gu’er here? Sister Gu’er, did you come to see me?"

Hearing the voice, a figure came dashing out of the main hall. Judging by her cheerful appearance, who could it be but Li Zhi?

"Zhi’er."

Gu’er was also happy to see her.

Li Zhi’er pulled Gu’er’s hands and whispered, "Sister Gu’er, are you okay? I heard what happened to you. I wanted to come see you, but Second Aunt wouldn’t let me. She said our family shouldn’t have anything to do with you from now on. Grandma even had a fight with Third Aunt over it. Third Aunt threatened to go back to her parents’ house, and it was a whole mess. We were also afraid that if we went, Uncle would get mad and hit my aunt, so we couldn’t come. How are you? Are you all right?"

She hadn’t interacted much with Gu’er before; they had only really gotten to know each other last time. When she heard about Gu’er’s situation, she felt very sympathetic and had wanted to visit, but in the end, she couldn’t make it.

"I’m fine, don’t worry."

Gu’er felt that as long as she had the thought, that was enough. Whether she actually visited or not wasn’t important.

"Here, I told you last time I’d bring you a popsicle."

Gu’er pulled Li Zhi over to the box.

"No, I can’t take it. You’ve left your home, so life must be very hard for you. I can’t take your popsicle. It costs several fen!"

Although Li Zhi was fascinated by the bicycle and the popsicle box, her eyes constantly sizing them up, she still refused with a serious expression.