Therefore, he was not the slightest bit interested in the game. He sat by the entrance of the door like a solemn adult, proud of one's age and experience.
Alas, the boy in front of him was a child at heart. He was extremely playful despite being unstable in his running, pulling Zhao Linghua along as he wailed and yelled. He pestered her to play hopscotch with him.
"Lingling, I'll jump first! Watch me, okay? This time, I won't pretend that I don't lose the game if I do!" Doudou smiled at her, revealing a set of pearly white teeth!
The girl said a number listlessly, "Eight!"
He acknowledged it with a huff and began bouncing vivaciously in the squares. He was in an exuberant mood.
Youyou sat by the door, resting his chin on his hand as he basked lazily in the sunlight.
The girl tried to pull him along to play, but he was not interested. His indifference dampened her spirits a little, so she lifelessly decided to play with her brother, instead.
Not long later, the rest of the children started coming over one after another, causing a huge din.
There were disputes, noise, and laughter. They all sounded carefree, their voices sharp and crisp. It was as if they were a nest of free birds—chirping continuously with no knowledge of exhaustion!
He looked at this bunch of noisy kids and let out a sigh.
They were really full of youthful energy!
After a while, the Zhao family's house entrance was crowded with people.
It seemed that the villagers had all come over, curious about what was going on.
They heard that Zhao Xiangjun had saved a young child when he was out hunting on the mountains. The child was covered in blood, scaring everyone to death!
They did not know where he had come from and why he was running around the mountains. They reckoned that his parents had abandoned him heartlessly in such a huge mountainous area!
The villagers here believed that there were many heartless parents in the city!
There were several times when human traffickers would bring children from the city, lying to the guileless and kindhearted villagers that these children were abandoned and unwanted. These villagers were too kind; thus, those who did not have children would spend lots of money to adopt them.
In actual fact? They were abducted and sold by human traffickers.
It was because these villagers were aboriginals and did not interact much with the outside world. Therefore, word had spread, and now, the impression they had of people in the city was that they were rich, deplorable, and heartless enough to abandon their flesh and blood!
As some people believed that Youyou had been abandoned by his parents, they asked, "Child, did your ah ba and ah ma not want you anymore? Is that why you were found on the mountains?"
"No," answered the boy honestly but refused to divulge anything else.
His expression darkened as he enunciated his words clearly, "I don't wanna."
The woman's face stiffened. In reality, she really believed that he was unwanted and abandoned by a heartless couple from the city.
Was it not said that the city had implemented family planning? If that was so, he was most likely abandoned here due to being wanted.
Seeing his handsome and delicate features, she started forming some thoughts in her head.