After returning home with the child, her ex-husband knelt down and gently coaxed her.

Despite the scorching summer sun, not a single inch of sunlight could penetrate this small plot of land.

The lunch was eaten in unusual silence.

An Yucan kept putting pig liver into An Ning's bowl, but he didn't eat more than a couple of bites himself.

An Ning understood. He hadn't had a good appetite lately, and it wasn't that he wanted to eat pig liver; he just wanted to give it to her.

Actually, she didn't really want to eat it that much.

She just wanted to make a request to Li Chunfang, like a daughter sweetly asking her mother for help.

However, she did not get the feedback she wanted.

When An Tianhua entered the house reeking of alcohol, carrying a bottle, the three people at the dinner table remained silent, continuing to eat their meals.

They seemed to have long been used to his drunken state.

An Tianhua glanced at them, kicked a chair beside him, and cursed, "Damn it! This place is so lifeless every day, is someone going to die in this house?!"

Li Chunfang didn't want to pay any attention to him, but those words touched a nerve.

An Yucan is her lifeblood; she won't allow anyone to mention the word "death" in front of her.

"Smash!" Li Chunfang slammed her chopsticks on the table, her face ashen. "Go ahead and die! Die right now!"

Under the influence of alcohol, An Tianhua slammed the bottle to the ground, yelling, "I won't die! If you want to die, then you can die!"

Li Chunfang slammed her hand on the table, pointed at An Tianhua, and yelled, "Yes, we'll die! You'll be happy if the three of us die! Look at you, all you do is drink, and when you drink, you cause trouble. You're not a human being, you're not a family, how can we live like this?!"

An Ning and An Yucan continued eating their meal as if nothing had happened.

After decades of living the same life day after day, you get used to it and become numb to it.

But involuntarily, my hands still tremble when I pick up food.

"If you can't make it work, then don't!"

An Tianhua grabbed a chair and slammed it to the ground. "Get the hell out of here and then it'll be quiet!"

Li Chunfang stood up, pointed at him, and cried and cursed while wiping away tears and snot.

The food in her mouth had long lost its flavor. An Ning looked up and saw that the boy opposite her also had tears welling up in his eyes.

She stood up, said nothing, and pushed An Yucan's wheelchair out.

Behind her, she could hear Li Chunfang and An Tianhua shouting insults at each other, and she didn't want to listen anymore.

She felt that the "home" that had no warmth at all was like an invisible pair of hands choking her, making it hard to breathe.

As I stepped out of the alley, a ray of sunlight shone on me.

An Yucan suddenly spoke, his voice hoarse, "Sister, I don't want to get treatment anymore."

At the age of nine, he was diagnosed with "congenital heart disease." The series of treatment costs and high surgical fees made his already impoverished family even worse off.

At an age when he should have been enjoying his youth, he was confined to a wheelchair.

He sat there for eight years.

That same year, An Tianhua began to drink heavily and became extremely irritable.

Don't talk nonsense.

An Ning forced a smile and pushed him forward into the bustling street.

"You haven't gone to college yet, you haven't seen the outside world, your life has just begun."

"Yucan, you'll get better."

Anning said this to him, but also to herself.

everything will get better.

Even in a lifeless existence, you can always see the light.

The bustling streets were unusually lively, and as they spoke, the roar of motorcycles rose and fell from afar.

A convoy of cool motorcycles sped past her, one after another.

An Ning suddenly stopped and looked at the convoy. The face of an extremely handsome man subconsciously popped into her mind.

Then, he shook his head violently.

They were just strangers who met by chance, only briefly.

I may never meet someone like that again in my lifetime.

Besides, how could a man as handsome as him possibly return to her stagnant life?

the other side.

The speeding motorcycle suddenly stopped at the corner.

He took off the black helmet, revealing a face so handsome it was dazzling.

Lu Xiyan casually brushed aside his messy short hair, adding to his carefree youthful air.

His deep gaze followed the figure not far away.

The slender girl pushed a heavy wheelchair, walking with difficulty, step by step uphill.

He took a few more glances with great interest.

"Young Master Lu, what are you looking at?"

A motorcycle caught up and stopped next to Lu Xiyan's car. Liang Xu followed his gaze and thought he had seen an acquaintance.

Lu Xiyan didn't answer his question, but turned to him and asked, "Liang Xu, have you ever seen anyone sell their blood because they're short of money?"

Liang Xu was taken aback, then laughed and joked, "I say, Young Master Lu, you should read more social news. There are too many poor people in this world, and quite a few people can't afford to eat. The gap between the rich and the poor in the world is too big. Not everyone is born at the peak like you."

Lu Xiyan lowered his eyes and pondered for a moment, then his gaze fell on the spot not far away, where the figure had already disappeared around the street corner.

"Why are you asking this?" Liang Xu asked, puzzled. "Are you starting to care about the lives of ordinary people?"

"It's nothing."

Lu Xiyan put his helmet back on, tightened the throttle, and drove off.

......

When An Ning pushed An Yucan back home, the house had already been cleaned up by Li Chunfang.

It was so clean it was as if nothing had ever happened.

But An Ning knew that there was nothing left in the dilapidated house for An Tianhua to smash.

He used to smash the TV, the refrigerator... and anything of value when he was drunk.

Later, Li Chunfang stopped buying them. If they were smashed, so be it; she could just stop using them altogether.

Over the years, the only things An Tianhua could smash were stools, chairs, cups, and plates.

The broken porcelain shards were easily cleaned up, which was good.

This is what Li Chunfang said.

An Tianhua and Li Chunfang were sitting in the main room, and there was another person sitting in the room, Chen Yumei, who ran the small shop at the alley entrance.

The three people were discussing something.

An Ning assumed that Chen Yumei had come because of the drinking money that An Tianhua owed.

"An Ningyu is back?"

Seeing them return, Chen Yumei stood up, glanced at An Yucan sitting in the wheelchair, and said to Li Chunfang, "Chunfang, think about what I just said. It won't do your family any harm."

Li Chunfang responded, her gaze lingering on An Ning for a second before she beckoned Chen Yumei to leave.

"Mom, have you paid Aunt Chen the money for the drinks she owes?" Anning asked.

"Where would I get the money to pay?"

Li Chunfang rolled her eyes at An Tianhua and said loudly, "Whoever owes it should pay it; I certainly don't have any money to pay!"

An Tianhua didn't say anything, he just kept smoking.

Anning had to go to work in the afternoon, so she left first. When she got to the alley entrance, she ran into Chen Yumei again.

This time, Chen Yumei didn't mention money to her, but instead looked her up and down with a smiling gaze.

From top to bottom, from beginning to end.

Anning felt that her gaze was indescribable.