Jingjing

Ye Huan sighed over it too. He and Ye An had gotten along pretty well. Ye An had lost his parents early and was willing to endure hardship. As long as he could earn money, he would do any kind of work.

As for Ye An's younger brother, Ye Gou, Ye Huan couldn't even be bothered to criticize him. A year younger than Ye Huan, he had been a lazy glutton since childhood. After his parents died, he had sponged off his grandparents for food and drink, yet somehow still managed to grow up looking presentable.

Ever since they were little, Ye Huan and his two childhood friends had called him Wild Dog, and he never got upset. His skin was incredibly thick. He was crafty, loved taking petty advantages, had sticky fingers, and liked stealing chickens and dogs. Ye Huan didn't like dealing with him.

"Wild Dog just took his brother's compensation money and spent it? He didn't give Sister-in-law Bai any?" Ye Huan asked.

"Ah, what can anyone do about it? Don't you know what your Eighth Grandpa and Eighth Grandma are like? Your grandpa's beaten him who knows how many times, but it hasn't done any good. He says the younger one still has some hope of giving their branch of the family a son, while the eldest's family has no hope at all." Ye Huan's mother sighed too.

"What? His branch of the family? Does his branch have a throne to inherit?" Ye Huan scoffed contemptuously.

"Stay out of other people's business. Now that we're making money, I'll give Xiao Jie a hand. Look at that little girl Jingjing. She's so thin! That old couple really are good-for-nothings. She's their granddaughter, after all, yet they just watch without lifting a finger. Ah, what a sin."

"I couldn't care less whether they live or die. How about this, Mom? Tell Sister-in-law Bai we'll hire her long-term. She can help you out during the day too. Forty-five hundred a month, with a bonus at the end of the year," Ye Huan told his mother.

"Oh, that could work. Things at home are on track now anyway, and we really are short-handed. Your dad has to drive, so we can't let him get too worn out." Ye Huan's mother's eyes lit up, and she nodded.

"Okay, that's settled, then. Have them eat with us too. Whoever has time can come back an hour early to cook. It's only two extra bowls," Ye Huan said. "Otherwise, even if we pay her, I reckon she still won't bear to spend on food or drink. When will my little niece ever put on any weight?"

"All right, I'll go see her in a bit." Ye Huan's mother nodded in agreement. Ever since her son came home, their meals had improved day by day. There was always wild game, and they never ran out of meat. She had even put on weight herself.

"Okay, I'm going out for a stroll, then. Let's start tonight. Stew some more of that deer tonight. It was pretty tasty." Ye Huan got up and headed out with Saihu and Xiaobai.

"All right, I'll go see Xiao Jie once I've cleared up." Ye Huan's mother began clearing the table too.

It was summer, and quite hot outside. Lu Huan followed the shade of the trees until he reached the river that flowed down from the mountains. Seeing several children having a water fight, he sat beneath a tree to watch the fun.

"Brother Huan!" "Uncle Huan!" The children all greeted him when they saw him. After all, he had been back for quite a while and was fairly generous, often giving them little snacks and things.

Ye Huan greeted the children too, reminding them to stay safe while playing in the water, not to play in it alone, and so on. Then he spotted a skinny little girl sitting on the riverbank not far from her, watching the older children playing in the river with envy.

"Jingjing?" Ye Huan hadn't expected to run into her right after talking about her. In fact, he had hardly seen her in the village lately, mainly because Bai Jie often kept her shut inside the house.

She was too young, and Bai Jie worried she wouldn't be safe outside, but she also had to work. Today, Bai Jie was washing bedsheets by the river nearby, so Jingjing was sitting there watching the other children play.

"Come here, Jingjing." Ye Huan beckoned to the little girl. Jingjing timidly walked over to him. "Uncle."

"Mm, here, have some candy." Ye Huan took a White Rabbit candy from his pocket, peeled off the wrapper, and popped the milk candy into her mouth. "Not bad. You still recognize me, hehe."

"Thank you, Uncle." With candy in her mouth, Jingjing's words came out muffled.

"Such a good girl." His heart aching for her, Ye Huan stroked her head of yellowish hair. She really was thin and small, and malnourished too.

"Xiao Huan." Bai Jie had finished washing the sheets. When she came over and saw Xiao Huan, she greeted him.

"Sister-in-law, my mom was just going to look for you. I didn't expect you to be here," Ye Huan said with a smile.

"Oh? What does Auntie want to see me about?" Bai Jie asked curiously.

"I don't know. You should run into my mom on your way back. Leave Jingjing with me. I've got nothing to do this afternoon." Ye Huan shook his head. It would be better to let his mother bring it up.

"All right. Jingjing, listen to Uncle and don't run off, okay?" Bai Jie reminded her daughter, then headed home carrying the basket of bedsheets. Her house was at the entrance to the village, still some distance away.

"Come on, Jingjing. Uncle will take you fishing." Ye Huan had nothing much to do anyway. Although this wasn't a good time to fish, would he care about that? What a joke. The life of a cheat user needed no explanation.

"Okay! Uncle, Saihu's good." Jingjing seemed very familiar with Saihu from Grandpa's house. Saihu stood quietly beside the little girl too, not daring to move around.

Ye Huan picked Jingjing up, went home for his fishing rod and bucket, then returned to the river. This time, he chose a bend where a mound of earth jutted out, with a large scholar tree growing on it-a naturally cool spot.

Ye Huan set his things down and took out his phone. After filming the surroundings, he posted it to his Moments, then to his video platform. As it happened, the video he had filmed in the mountains earlier had gotten over ten thousand likes.

Then he started a livestream on his phone, set it on a stand, and aimed it at the big tree. He put Jingjing on a smaller stool and sat on another, larger stool himself, baited his hook, and began fishing.

Ten minutes later, the livestream's viewer count finally passed twenty. He couldn't see it now, though, and just carried on fishing. He didn't know what was going on today-whether the fish were hungry or this spot really was that good.

In just over ten minutes, he had already caught two fish: a crucian carp weighing seven or eight liang, and a bream weighing a little over one jin. He had no idea what was going on. He had been planning to cheat and put in some spirit spring water if there really weren't any fish.

Now it seemed there was no need. Still, he hadn't seen any big fish, so he leisurely brought in a fish every few casts. None were huge, but they were all pretty decent.

This had the livestream's viewers frantic. The streamer wasn't even reading the comments. Looking at his follower count, he had quite a few, didn't he? Was he just livestreaming for fun, since so few people were watching?

These were followers Ye Huan had gained since returning to the village. He often posted videos of growing vegetables, heading into the mountains, and catching fish, and his followers had slowly grown from three to as many as he had now.

No matter how the viewers cursed or pleaded, Ye Huan seemed to have forgotten all about the livestream on his phone. Every so often, he gave Jingjing a little snack and played with her, then lifted his rod now and then and brought up a fish. The viewers were so annoyed that they followed him outright and sent him private messages.