Chapter 88： childhood 3

"I have already eaten."

Unfortunately, as soon as the words fell, the little girl's stomach gurgled.

Xia Ruan's ears turned red immediately, and she lowered her head awkwardly—as expected, she was rejected by QAQ.

The little girl kept blinking her eyes, and smiled awkwardly and politely.

After a few seconds of silence, Xia weakly pulled up the little girl's cuffs: "Actually... I can still cook."

The little girl was stunned for a moment, maybe she didn't want to hurt her heart, so she just nodded expectantly.

So Xia Ruan took her downstairs to buy a pack of instant noodles. He led the little girl to the river beach behind the residential building, and made a "shh" gesture to her.

The little girl didn't understand what Xia Ruan meant, but she still nodded obediently.

Immediately afterwards, she saw Xia Ruan stooped into a plastic shed, and when she came out, she held two tomatoes in her arms.

The little girl's eyes lit up.

Xia Ruan blushed.

The land behind the residential building does not belong to any family. In the past, Wang Xiaoning often brought Xia Ruan here to sow seeds, plow the land, and grow vegetables for food. But after Wang Xiaoning passed away, the neighbors who farmed together directly excluded Xia Ruan, and she was not allowed to touch the land that Wang Xiaoning had planted before, and she was not allowed to eat vegetables from the field. If she wanted to eat something, she could only "steal" it quietly.

After being caught and scolded a few times, Xia Ruan came less often, and only slipped over in the middle of the night to pick some wilted vegetable leaves.

Xia Ruan hadn't picked vegetables during the day for a long time, this time it was like a thief, her heart was beating so fast.

The little girl stared blankly for a while, and immediately realized what Xia Ruan was doing. On the way back, she stood in front of Xia Ruan vigilantly.

Fortunately, they didn't meet anyone after that, and the two arrived home smoothly, cooked a bowl of delicious instant noodles, added tomatoes, vegetable leaves, and sausages, and finally ate until their stomachs were round—a little girl in particular.

Xia Ruan felt more and more that she was like a puppy.

When the little girl was full, it was Xia Ruan's turn to hold the bowl and continue eating, not at all disgusted.

"Sister, what's your name?" The little girl sat across the table and asked with her eyebrows bent.

Xia Ruan took a sip of the soup and said in a low voice: "Xia Ruan, Xia is the summer of the sky, Ruan is..."

"So soft?" the little girl asked.

Xia Ruan didn't expect to be able to form words like this, and couldn't help being taken aback.

"Hey." The little girl shook her legs, "Then shall I call you Ruan Ruan?"

"Yes..." Xia Ruowei nodded and asked, "What's your name?"

"Yun Xiaoxiao." The little girl spoke faster, "But I don't like this name, it doesn't sound good, can you stop calling me by my name?"

"...Yeah." Xia Ruan nodded.

The little girl looked up and smiled for a while, then continued: "Ruan Ruan, can you give me a nickname too?"

"Nick name?" Xia Ruan was puzzled.

"Well...it's a nickname or something, just like I called you Ruanruan..." After speaking, the little girl's voice became weaker, "In school, classmates who have a good relationship call each other by nicknames."

Xia Ruan's eyes froze for a moment, and the instant noodle soup in front of her was shaking, but her mind was full of the words "good relationship".

It seems that apart from her mother, no one has had a good relationship with her since she was a child. She is too timid, the neighbors don't like her, and the children around are always bullying her. But the beautiful and delicate girl in front of him was different.

"Ruan Ruan Ruan Ruan Ruan Ruan Ruan Ruan Ruan Ruan Ruan?" The little girl noticed Xia Ruan's absence, and poked her with her finger.

As soon as Xia Ruan came back to her senses, she saw the little girl's eyes sparkling, like a cute, well-behaved and a little silly puppy.

Moreover, Wang Xiaoning also said that native names are easy to support, so Xia Ruan almost blurted out "dog". But she immediately swallowed back the words in her mouth. Dogs are not pleasant to hear, and the little girl will definitely dislike them, so Xia Ruan thought for a moment: "Cats?"

Little girl, no, Yun Mao Mao's eyelashes are twinkling, and her eyes are getting brighter and brighter.

Xia Ruan called again tentatively: "Cat cat."

Yun Mao Mao nodded vigorously, smiling so hard that his teeth could not see his eyes.

After eating and washing the dishes, Xia Ruan sent Yun Mao Mao home again. When Yun Mao Mao walked to the door of the house, she turned back and waved to her, mouthing happily "see you next time".

This time, Xia Ruan didn't lower her head nervously and shyly, but showed a shy smile at Yun Mao Mao.

From this day on, Xia Ruan and her cat became friends. But at that time, Xia Ruan never imagined that that cute little girl who looked like a dog would become an inseparable part of her soul, and would walk hand in hand with her for the rest of her life.

…

Every day after that, Yunmao would almost go to Xia Ruan's house to find her. Occasionally, Xia Ruan would run outside her small mansion before waiting for Yun Mao Mao, and squat quietly outside.

Their relationship is getting better and better.

Winter is over, spring is coming soon, and Yun Mao Mao has to go back to school, and can't go to Xia Ruan during the day. So Xia Ruan briefly returned to her previous schedule during the day, wandering around every day, trying to make some money.

Then at four o'clock in the afternoon, I stood guard at the gate of the primary school, waiting for the cats to leave school. For the next two hours, Xia Ruan and Mao Mao sat together in the gazebo opposite the school, Yun Mao Mao was doing homework, and Xia Ruan was reading next to her. Then at night, the two finished dinner together, and Xia Ruan took Yunmao Mao home.

Time flies and it's summer.

The weather warmed up, and the summer school holidays began, so they could see each other again during the day.

The sunshine in Yuncheng is strong and the temperature is high. Even if she does not move in the room, Yunmao is always too hot to bear. What's more, she has a character that can't calm down, and she will run around after a little rest. Running around, very noisy.

Seeing how pitiful she was in the heat, Xia Ruan simply dragged her to the river, and the two of them played in the water together.

Yun Mao Mao happily jumped up and down in the water, and even splashed Xia Ruan several times.

Xia Ruan's physical strength is not good, she can't dodge, and she is thrown into a daze.

Yun Mao Mao immediately leaned over apologetically: "Yes, I'm sorry Ruan Ruan... I, I won't splash..."

Xia Ruan lowered her head, and suddenly poured a handful of water at Yun Mao Mao, who was close at hand, with a sly smile on the corner of her lips, and her voice was light and light: "...huh."

"Ah, Ruan Ruan, how bad are you!" Yun Mao Mao looked at Xia Ruan's face, but didn't pour it back, but was stunned by her smile.

Xia Ruan blinked in a daze, touched his face, there was nothing dirty. But Yunmao was still looking at her, so she simply covered her slightly hot cheeks, turned around and walked to the river beach, knelt down and drew a stick figure.

Yun Mao Mao immediately caught up: "Ruan Ruan draws really well, can you teach me how to draw too?"

"Okay." Xia Ruan straightened up, hugged Yun Mao Mao from behind, and drew with her hand.

As a result, they were too close, and they were all sweating from the heat. In the end, the two children simply sat in the river and splashed water on each other to play.

As the sun went down, the two slowly emerged from the water. Yun Maomao excitedly held Xia Ruan's arm: "Ruan Ruan Ruan Ruan, my birthday is coming soon, can you celebrate my birthday with me?"

"Yeah." Xia Ruan nodded vigorously.

Yunmaomao smiled "hehe", showing a mouthful of white teeth, and asked doubtfully, "But...how should I live?"

She only saw her younger brother and classmates celebrate their birthdays. Everyone would eat cake, sing birthday songs, and play games. But she has little pocket money and can't afford a birthday cake.

Yun Mao Mao lowered his head in disappointment.

Sensing her loss, Xia Ruan rubbed her head lightly: "Maomao, you just wait for your birthday, and it will be fine. As for how to live... I will figure out a way."

Yun Mao Mao rubbed her fingers and smiled obediently.

On the night of her birthday, Xia Ruan conjured a big white steamed bun out of nowhere, and stuck a small candle in it. At first glance in the dark, it really looked like a crude birthday cake.

"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you..." Xia Ruan had never sung before, her voice was very tight, and she ran out of tune to the horizon.

But Yun Mao Mao felt that this was the best singing she had ever heard.

"Ruan Ruan, when is your birthday? May I help you celebrate your birthday too?" After eating the "cake", Yun Mao Mao asked excitedly.

Xia Ruan shook her head: "It's not my birthday..."

"Ah..." Yun Mao Mao blinked in disappointment, and after a few seconds, she cheered up quickly again, "That Ruan Ruan, my birthday will be your birthday in the future, let's celebrate our birthday together!"

Xia Ruan nodded seriously: "Okay."

Her eye sockets were unconsciously wet, and her heart was extremely warm.

Many years later, after Xia Ruan finally had her own birthday date, her first reaction was to write to her cat. Of course, these are things for later, so I won’t repeat them here.

…

In a blink of an eye, it is another spring.

Xia Ruan is fifteen years old, Yun Mao Mao is also eleven years old, and will be in sixth grade next semester.

One Friday, Yunmaomao came home after eating at Xia Ruan's, but was locked out by her stepmother Li Yue again. The last time she was locked out was when she was ill. If it wasn't for Xia Ruan, she would have died outside. But last time, his father Yun Junying just played cards outside and went home at night. This time he was on a business trip, and he probably won't be back until tomorrow night.

Yun Mao Mao looked at the door of the house depressed, knowing that he would not be able to go back tonight.

Fortunately, she has somewhere to go.

Not far away, after Xia Ruan sent her to the door of the house, seeing that she hadn't entered the door for a long time, she was still standing there waiting for her. Yun Mao Mao turned her head and ran towards Xia Ruan happily.

"Ruan Ruan, can I sleep at your place tonight?" Yun Mao Mao hugged Xia Ruan's arm and shook it.

Xia Ruan looked at the light shining in the small mansion, his eyes sank, and soon became soft again: "Yeah."

After returning home, Xia Ruan became a little nervous after realizing it. In the past two years, although Yunmaomao often came to her house to play, it was the first time to stay overnight. What if the little guy feels disgusted?

Xia Ruan’s house only has a creaky wooden bed, and there is no toilet in the room. To take a bath, you can only wash with well-filled water and set up a curtain in the corner... The further you go home, the lower Xia Ruan’s head is buried .

But Yunmaomao was excited, first jumped on Xia Ruan's bed, and then clamored that he wanted to take a bath with her. In the end, the two of them took a shower together, with the same soapy smell on their bodies, dried off the water droplets on their bodies, put on the loose clothes left by Wang Xiaoning, and lay down on the bed together.

Xia Ruan sleeps outside, and Yun Mao Mao sleeps inside.

Originally, Xia Ruan was still a little stiff because of nervousness, but Yun Mao Mao was not nervous at all, nor did she dislike it at all, so she subconsciously burrowed into Xia Ruan's arms.