Learn one small skill every day

After confiding in Bai Miao, Lin Shanshan's mood quickly improved.

She was worried that her classmates would laugh at her, so she kept quiet and didn't dare to speak. If Bai Miao hadn't taken the initiative to talk to her, she probably would have kept quiet for another day.

Lunch break arrived quickly, and just like yesterday, Bai Miao did not choose to eat at the street stalls outside the back gate of the school.

Pay attention to personal hygiene.

These roadside stalls were clearly unhygienic, so Bai Miao bought packaged bread and milk to tide him over.

To make up for the lack of nutrition from lunch, Bai Miao would buy two eggs and a roujiamo (Chinese hamburger) every morning, spending a large portion of his ten yuan on breakfast.

Consuming sufficient nutrients every day is also an important part of healthy growth.

After school in the afternoon, knowing that his parents wouldn't cook dinner at home, Bai Miao didn't go straight home. Instead, he ran around on the playground for a while to exercise before going back.

I got home around 6 p.m., and by the time I finished eating, I was just in time for the 7 p.m. news broadcast.

Bai Miao believes that if he maintains this level of exercise and diet, he will definitely grow stronger than his peers by the time he reaches third grade.

Although my physical attributes are far beyond those of my peers, I am still relatively thin and small compared to them.

Without parents cooking for him and having to eat whatever he wants, Bai An is already thankful that he hasn't become malnourished.

Maintaining this pace of life, and having also learned some skills related to playing marbles and card games, about three days later, Lin Shanshan mysteriously told Bai Miao during a break between classes, "I saw my grandma again yesterday, and she brought me candy again."

"I remember you said it was White Rabbit milk candy last time, what kind of candy is it this time?"

"Wow, the milk candy is really delicious. I'll bring you some next time."

Bai Miao really wanted to suggest that Lin Shanshan stop eating the candy her grandmother gave her.

But given Lin Shanshan's current situation, if he were to say that her grandmother had a problem, Lin Shanshan would definitely get angry with him, and might even burst into tears.

"Next time, you can't eat all the candy by yourself. Remember to bring some so we can share. Don't steal any!"

Bai Miao used a strategy of retreat to advance, first telling Lin Shanshan not to eat indiscriminately.

Lin Shanshan didn't mind, saying that she would ask for more candy next time and wouldn't eat it secretly by herself.

The two even made a pinky promise.

Strangely enough, Bai Miao hasn't seen his grandmother in the last few days since they last met.

From this perspective, Lin Shanshan eating the candy would certainly cause some problems.

Bai Miao realized that this was likely the predicament he was currently facing.

If this problem isn't recognized or resolved in time, growing up safely is just wishful thinking.

Tomorrow will be the first weekend of Bai Miao's trip.

Tonight, Bai Miao saw what his parents looked like for the first time.

Two ordinary-looking young men and women.

The man wore brown glasses, a jacket, and had a long beard.

When he met Bai Miao, he didn't show much enthusiasm for his son. He simply asked how his studies were going after entering the second grade and whether he could keep up.

Bai Miao also symbolically indicated that he had no problem.

The woman had black hair and, as soon as she entered the room, she started clamoring to check whether Bai An had diligently completed his homework these past few days.

After seeing that Bai Miao had completed all the homework, she nodded in satisfaction and went to the kitchen to get busy.

"Oh, let's watch some TV."

Bai An's father took off his jacket, sat on the sofa and watched the game. He glanced at Bai Miao and beckoned to him: "Come over here and give me a shoulder massage. I haven't seen you for a week and you don't even call out to me."

Bai Miao went up and unleashed a flurry of punches on his shoulder, making Bai An's father grimace in pain.

"Hiss! You're pretty strong, kid. If you can't hit, don't press down. Be gentle!"

Bai Miao continued pressing absentmindedly, while secretly using his strength to pinch areas that felt even stiffer.

"Ouch! Stop pressing that button! Go do your homework!"

Bai An's father couldn't bear it any longer and didn't let Bai Miao continue pressing down.

After just a few minutes of interaction, Bai Miao knew exactly what kind of people his adoptive parents were.

Love is about giving birth but not raising children.

"Do your homework over the weekend. Come help your mom cook! Wash the vegetables!"

Before Bai Miao even entered the house, his mother called him over.

Bai Miao sighed and reluctantly walked into the kitchen.

Bai An's mother noticed this expression and scolded her repeatedly: "You act like you're being tortured when I ask you to help with some housework. You don't even bother to mop the floor at home. It's so dirty!"

"Remember to wash the dishes after you finish eating!"

Not only did I have to listen to my parents' lectures while helping in the kitchen, but I also couldn't find peace and quiet at the dinner table.

They talked about how much they had won at cards, how they should have played in different places, who had a better run of luck, and how they shouldn't play at the same table with them next time.

It was only then that Bai Miao learned about his parents' professions.

Gambling addict.

Chapter 234 The Vanished Her

Having gambling parents was bad news for Bai Miao.

This means that his family could be gambled away by these gambling addicts at any time.

Back then, let alone food, even finding a place to stay was a problem.

To get through elementary school safely, I really have a lot of troubles to solve.

However, the biggest problem recently is that I can see my grandmother's ghost.

Bai Miao always kept the milk candy in his pocket, carrying it with him whether he was going to or from school.

Of course, Bai Miao also observed the candy repeatedly more than ten times. Not only its appearance, but even its aroma was exactly the same as the White Rabbit candy in his memory.

Bai An's parents would only stay at home for a short time on weekends. After reminding Bai Miao to do his homework, they would leave home immediately after lunch to go to a teahouse or mahjong parlor.

Since they hadn't left any money on the table for Bai Miao before they left, Bai Miao asked, "Are you coming back for dinner tonight?"

Bai An's mother replied directly, "Come to Jinsheng Teahouse around 6:30 pm. We'll be playing cards there. The teahouse will prepare dinner, so come and eat with us."

Bai An's father chimed in, "From now on, you can come directly to our place after school. There's a place for you to do your homework, and we'll also have freshly cooked meals."

Bai Miao pursed his lips. Originally, with 15 yuan a day for food, Bai Miao could save 2 yuan for emergencies while ensuring his nutritional intake. Now that he wasn't paid at night, he could probably only save 1 yuan.

Jinsheng Teahouse is not far from Bai Miao's house, about a 20-minute walk.

However, to get to Jinsheng Tea House, you have to go through a small alley or take a long detour, which adds up to twenty minutes of walking.

This alley was actually opened up under a building specifically for people to pass through, which resulted in the fact that apart from the entrance and exit, there were basically no lighting facilities inside this alley, which is more than 100 meters long.

For an adult, such a short distance is easily endured, but for Bai Miao, this dark alleyway of just over a hundred meters was no less than an abyss that would devour anyone who dared to approach him.

Bai Miao set off at around six o'clock. Upon seeing this dark alley, he immediately abandoned the idea of ​​crossing it and chose to take a detour.

This resulted in Bai Miao arriving at the teahouse to find that most of the dishes had been eaten up by the group of card players, leaving him with only leftovers.

Fortunately, we were able to eat our fill.

Bai An's mother also scolded Bai Miao: "You must have been watching TV and playing games at home and lost track of time again. If you come any later, there won't be any leftovers."

Seeing that his parents were still playing mahjong on their own after scolding him, not caring whether Bai Miao stayed there or went home, Bai Miao had to think about how to break away from them and live independently.

Otherwise, you might find yourself being sold off as gambling money by a gambler without even realizing it.

After having dinner here, it was almost 7 p.m., and the area outside the teahouse was basically completely dark except for the streetlights.

Taking the detour home would take more than forty minutes, which is not safe.

Staying at the teahouse offers some degree of security.

Looking out the teahouse window, Bai Miao discovered that under the streetlights, his grandmother was standing there, staring intently at him.

Thankfully, I didn't choose to walk home alone at night tonight.

So Bai Miao found an empty mahjong table, sat there alone, and started stacking mahjong tiles to relieve the boredom.

Around 9:30 pm, Bai Miao started to doze off.

Bai Miao found the landlady and asked her if she had any blankets or sofas where he could sleep.

The landlady felt sorry for Bai Miao, whose parents only knew how to gamble and didn't care about his life or death, so she vacated a few chairs for Bai Miao and put them together to make a makeshift bed.

Bai Miao drifted off to sleep amidst the sounds of mahjong tiles and noisy voices.

I woke up in my own bed the next day.

Stepping out of the bedroom, Bai An's mother was making breakfast. She yawned and said to Bai Miao, "Next time you're sleepy, go home and sleep by yourself. Don't wait for us at the teahouse."

Bai An's father scratched his head and said, "Why don't you just come back after you finish eating? There's nothing fun at the teahouse. You can watch TV or play on the computer when you get back."

As he spoke, he seemed to remember something, and beckoned Bai Miao into the master bedroom and turned on the computer.

"The games on your computer are a bit old. I'll tell you about a website where you can play games from now on."

He opened his browser and typed in the number 4399.

"You're allowed two hours to play after dinner on weekends. On weekdays, you have to do your homework when you get home, and you can only watch TV until 9 p.m., understand?"

Bai Miao nodded, somewhat unable to understand whether his adoptive parents truly cared about him.

This feeling is more like they're too lazy to care; as long as the child is at home, has things to do, goes to school and goes to bed on time, and completes the homework assigned by the teacher according to the standards, that's enough.

The second time, Bai Miao was more experienced and left half an hour earlier, arriving at the teahouse just as they were opening for dinner.

After quickly resolving the issue in ten minutes, Bai Miao rushed home without stopping.

This time, I didn't see my grandmother on the road.

But as winter approaches, it gets dark faster and faster, and this can't go on forever.

I need to make some money...

Seeing the group of elementary school students squatting in the courtyard of the opposite residential area playing with cards, Bai Miao had an idea.