Hard work after winning the lottery

Her voice was soft and slow, like a deep cello piece.

She talked about her initial motivation for entering the workforce.

Tell me about that absurd night.

Hua An suddenly raised his head, his eyes wide open, staring intently at his sister.

He doesn't believe it was his sister's fault six years ago.

"Later, after I got home, I found out I was pregnant."

The room fell into a deathly silence.

"And... now?"

Hua An raised his head and looked intently at his sister.

"Now that he's appeared, you're accepting him?"

"Just because he's the CEO? Just because he's rich? Does that erase six years of suffering?"

Hua Yun looked at her younger brother's eyes, which were filled with resentment, and her expression became more solemn than ever before.

"No."

"I don't lack money, and I can support my children."

"I chose him not to find a long-term meal ticket."

Hua Yun stood up, walked to the desk, picked up the large bowl, and gently stirred it with chopsticks to let the steam dissipate.

"Because he is the children's father."

"More importantly, because he is a man who dares to take responsibility."

"Xiao An, you can't judge a person by their appearance alone."

"What you can see is his identity."

"But what I saw was him kneeling in the main room of our house, begging for forgiveness."

"It is his determination to give his children a complete family, even if he is misunderstood and neglected."

"It was the respect he showed me, and the tenderness he showed when looking after the children."

Hua Yun turned around and looked directly into Hua An's eyes, her gaze clear and firm, as if it could wash away all the dust.

"My sister isn't a child anymore; I know what I'm doing."

"In these six years, I've met quite a few men, and I know what kind of eyes are genuine and what kind are fake."

"In Zhou Yanjin's eyes, there was guilt, heartache, and even more so, a future I wanted to gamble on."

She paused, her voice becoming even softer, yet carrying a power that struck straight to the heart.

"Xiao An".

"Can you... trust your sister just this once?"

"Just like your sister believed you could get into university."

"I believe that my sister's choice this time is not for money, but for happiness."

The room fell silent again.

Only the table lamp emitted a faint hum of electricity.

Hua An looked at his sister standing under the light.

Bathed in light, her eyes were gentle and her expression serene.

Those eyes, once filled with weariness, now shone with something never before seen.

Hua An felt as if a wad of cotton was stuck in his throat, both sour and astringent.

He suddenly realized how naive he had been.

It's really ridiculous.

All the persistence, all the anger, seemed so pale and powerless in the face of her sister's resolute gaze.

If that man can truly bring my sister happiness...

If that man can truly make up for the six years of neglect...

What reason would he, as the younger brother, have to stop it?

He was just worried that his sister would be wronged.

But if my sister feels that it's happiness, then it's not called feeling wronged.

Hua An took a deep breath of the air, which was filled with the aroma of food.

That stubbornness, like a deflated balloon, completely dissipated.

His tense shoulders slumped, and he slumped onto the edge of the bed as if all his bones had been removed.

He lowered his head, not daring to look into his sister's eyes again.

He sniffed hard and wiped his face haphazardly.

A long time passed.

A muffled sound came from his chest, carrying a hint of awkwardness and a hint of relief.

"...The food is getting cold."

The word "了" was pronounced very lightly.

It was as light as a feather falling to the ground.

But it struck Hua Yun's heart heavily.

Seeing her younger brother's lowered head, Hua Yun remained silent.

She simply and quietly placed the chopsticks into Hua An's hand.

Hua An held his chopsticks.

He took a deep breath and, as if making a firm decision, picked up the bowl.

I ate the first bite very quickly.

It was as if they wanted to swallow all their emotions with this bite of food.

He shoveled mouthfuls of the thick layer of braised chicken, mixed with rice soaked in the broth, into his mouth.

There was no elegance in slowly and deliberately eating.

His cheeks were bulging.

As he ate, something seemed to shatter in those eyes that had been red from holding back his emotions.

A scalding tear fell into the bowl without warning.

Mixed with meat broth.

Silently.

Hua Yun's eyes welled up with tears as she watched the scene unfold. She quickly turned her head away and pretended to tidy up the books on her desk.

The only sounds in the room were the clinking of chopsticks against the bowl and the boy's suppressed chewing.

That night.

That empty, large bowl was like a silent reconciliation between the siblings.

……

The next morning.

Baixi Village was shrouded in a thin layer of morning mist, and the air was filled with the moist scent of soil and grass.

Smoke was already rising from the chimney of the Hua family's house early in the morning.

"Squeak—"

The main door was pushed open.

Hua Shu, wearing his faded old blue cotton jacket, was about to go to the yard to chop firewood.

He had just picked up the axe when his movements froze.

In the corner of the yard.

A slender and upright figure was standing there.

It's Hua'an.

He changed out of the wrinkled shirt from yesterday and put on an old tracksuit for work.

A stack of neatly chopped firewood lay at my feet.

Upon hearing the door open, Hua An paused slightly with the axe in his hand.

But he didn't turn around.

It was just a matter of raising the axe and bringing it down.

A crisp "snap" sounded.

A thick piece of wood was instantly split into two even halves.

The movements were swift and powerful.

Hua Shu stood there, his hand holding the pipe trembling slightly.

When Li Guifen came out of the kitchen carrying a washbasin and saw this scene, she almost burst into tears again.

She was about to call out "Xiao An" when Hua Shuna stopped her with a look.

Some steps don't need to be laid out too obviously.

As long as the person is down, that's good.

At the breakfast table, without the triplets to liven things up, the atmosphere was somewhat dull, but the suffocating feeling of iciness had dissipated considerably.

Hua An lowered his head and drank his porridge.

He doesn't speak.

He didn't look at anyone.

But when Li Guifen pushed a plate of freshly pickled dried radish in front of him, his chopsticks paused for a moment, then he picked up a piece and put it in his mouth.

"Click, click."

The crisp chewing sound finally brought a slight smile to Li Guifen's lips.

After the meal.

The once quiet courtyard erupted into chaos the moment the triplets woke up.

"Uncle! I want to fly!"

"Grandma, where are my shoes?"

"Mom, I'm hungry!"

The three little dumplings, like three energetic little cannonballs, burst out from the inner room.

The trauma of being frightened to tears yesterday seems to have never existed in the child's world.

I saw Hua'an tidying up his things in the yard.

The three little ones' eyes lit up instantly.

That's their favorite little uncle who would take them horseback riding!

Si Tao was the first to react.

He strode forward on his short legs.

He was still clutching something tightly in his hand.

"Uncle!"

That sweet, childlike call made Hua'an, who was bundling hay, freeze for a moment.