Age: My Small World

Santoushan Village in the north of Feixian County.

When they reached the foot of the mountain on the thick mud, Yang Jun had already put away his bicycle.

Looking at the road up the mountain, he couldn't help but sigh.

In the blink of an eye, it has been several years since I last came here.

In four or five years, it is easy for things and people to change.

But after climbing the mountain, he found that the place was still exactly the same as he remembered, except that the people had changed.

Amidst the vast white sky and earth, you can see some smoke rising, which is particularly conspicuous in the snow.

As soon as he entered the village, he was immediately discovered.

After all, not many people go out in this weather, and he looks unfamiliar.

"Young man, what are you doing here?"

An old man asked from the window, his hand holding the pipe shaking slightly, probably because of gout from drinking too much.

"Uncle, I came to see Niu Xiaocao. Are she and grandma home?"

"Oh, it's the grass."

The old man nodded in understanding, not seeming surprised at all.

He casually pointed in the direction of Niu Xiaocao's house: "Everyone is at home, it's a good time for you to go there."

Yang Jun was a little surprised, but then nodded and thanked him.

He then walked towards Niu Xiaocao's house.

Behind him, the old man sighed helplessly and shook his head: "These people."

Yang Jun didn't know why the old man sighed. He looked at the familiar path and gradually walked to the outside of Niu Xiaocao's house.

Niu Xiaocao's house has undergone simple renovations and has not changed much until now. It is just as simple as before. A lot of dirt has fallen off the wall, and the gaps are blocked by weeds.

What surprised Yang Jun was that he seemed to be the only one who came to Niu Xiaocao's house today.

There were messy footprints outside the house, and it was obvious that many people had passed by.

"Dong dong dong."

After knocking on the door, a clever and somewhat tired voice came from inside.

"Wait a moment, I'll be right there."

Then, a girl with dry skin and a somewhat malnourished face appeared in front of him.

After opening the door, she subconsciously said, "You have to wait a moment, there's someone ahead who hasn't finished dating yet."

"Ok?"

Then she felt something was wrong. The person in front of her seemed too good-looking, and why did he look so familiar?

The girl looked up at him again, and then her pupils shrank.

"Xiao...Xiaoshan brother..."

"Xiaocao, long time no see." Yang Jun tried hard to smile.

But looking at the malnourished girl in front of him, he felt really uncomfortable and his smile was forced.

Logically speaking, Niu Xiaocao is fourteen years old, but she still looks like a child of eleven or twelve years old.

She was only 1.5 meters tall and weighed less than 70 pounds. You can imagine how thin she was.

"Brother Xiaoshan, why are you here?" She subconsciously blocked the door, not wanting Yang Jun to see into the house.

"Why, don't you invite me in to sit down?" Yang Jun said calmly.

"Ah! How could that be?"

Niu Xiaocao hesitated for a moment, but finally moved aside and took Yang Jun into the house.

Besides grandma, there were two other people sitting in the room, a woman and a teenage boy.

Hearing the noise, they looked back.

The moment the young boy saw Yang Jun, he felt a sense of crisis and couldn't help but say, "It's first come first served. I came first."

"What do you mean by first come first served?" Yang Jun handed the things to Niu Xiaocao and put them away, then came to the front of the few people.

At this time, his height of 1.83 meters was even more oppressive, not to mention his handsome face, which made people feel embarrassed to continue talking.

The boy clenched his fists and finally fell silent.

Niu Xiaocao's grandmother still remembers Yang Jun.

"Young man, it's you. Are you here for a blind date too?"

Her words made Yang Jun pause.

"Blind date? Who? Xiaocao?"

Xiaocao is only fourteen years old, why is she starting to go on blind dates? It’s too early.

"Oh, then you don't know."

Grandma now realized that she had misunderstood.

Yang Jun's gaze fell on Xiaocao.

"Why don't we just leave it at that for today, and they can go back."

He pursed his lips, and the meaning was self-evident.

That little boy is only about fifteen or sixteen years old, how can he start a family? If he really marries Niu Xiaocao home, they will be two half-grown kids, and their life will be a mess. He doesn't believe that the two of them can live a good life.

Niu Xiaocao said to the boy apologetically, "I'm sorry to have made you come here for nothing."

Obviously she didn't like this guy either.

The guy was still a little unwilling, but after taking another look at Yang Jun, he had to face up to the gap between them, so he shook his head and left.

He also took away the gifts he brought with him, unwilling to suffer any loss.

There were three people sitting opposite each other in the room.

Yang Jun sat on a creaky bench, opposite his grandmother and Niu Xiaocao.

"Xiaocao, can you tell me what happened?" Yang Jun asked proactively.

Before she could say anything, grandma spoke up.

"I'm the one who dragged Xiaocao down."

The old man sighed.

"I was sick a while ago and couldn't get up. Xiaocao worked day and night to dig herbs to sell for money, and then took me to the health center for injections. The doctor said one injection wouldn't help, and I might need injections every month, but my family doesn't have that much money."

"So Xiaocao thought about finding someone so that she could borrow some money from them to pay for my medical treatment."

It turned out to be the reason.

Yang Jun took a deep breath and said, "Don't do this kind of thing. How old are you, Xiaocao?"

"Don't worry about the money. I'll lend it to you first. It doesn't matter how long it takes to pay it back."

He didn't say that he didn't have to pay it back, so that might be misunderstood.

"But..." Niu Xiaocao frowned. She felt that she owed Yang Jun a lot and didn't want to owe him anymore.

When they had nothing to eat in the past few years, in addition to mysterious people secretly delivering food to the village, Yang Jun would also send some food every once in a while, allowing her and her grandmother to safely get through the most difficult years.

If she took Brother Xiaoshan's things again now, she would feel embarrassed and couldn't get over it.

But for Yang Jun, he hoped that Niu Xiaocao could live a normal life, rather than getting married early and then starting to worry about the trivialities of other people's lives when she was only in her teens. That would make her little flower wither even more.

"Xiao Cao, if you still consider me your brother, then don't refuse. Besides, this is a loan to you and grandma, not a free gift. Just return it to me when you have the chance, right?"

Niu Xiaocao took a deep breath and knew that Yang Jun was really good to them, so she could only nod movedly and agree.

After that, she started to busy herself with preparing a delicious meal for Yang Jun.

I was busy from the afternoon to the evening and finally finished it.

"Brother Xiaoshan, please try it."

Niu Xiaocao picked up some food for him. (End of this chapter)