“I’m sorry uncle, wuwu, I lost the necklace my parents left me… I didn’t mean to…”
Little Goldfish apologized while wiping away his tears. Anyone who looked at this poor child would feel distressed, let alone Luo Lingsheng and Shi Yunnan, who were close relatives.
Luo Lingsheng frowned.
Because of the unexpected deaths of his sister and brother-in-law, he raised Little Goldfish as his “son” very early on. The discipline from childhood to adulthood was strict, but he had always been carefully protected. When has he ever been injured like this?
The redness and swelling on his forehead were bloodshot, and at a glance, it wasn’t a light bump.
Shi Yunnan was also distressed.
He hurriedly hugged Little Goldfish a little tighter and coaxed patiently, “Don’t cry, baby. Let’s take care of the swelling on your forehead and change the dirty clothes first. Your uncle and I will take you to retrieve the necklace later, ok?”
Little Goldfish noticed the mud stains on his clothes and trousers. He was afraid of soiling Shi Yunnan’s clean clothes, so he quickly took two steps back.
His reddened nose snorted as he tried to hold back his tears and shook his head, “I don’t feel pain. I’ll get my necklace back first, uncle. That’s the necklace my mother gave me… wuwu…”
As he talked, the grievances and self-blame broke out all of a sudden. Although his uncle and grandpa Qin didn’t say it clearly, he himself has long understood—
He was different from other children. He no longer had parents. The necklace he had worn around his neck since he was born was a gift from his parents.
Therefore, no matter how much he liked the jade pendant Shi Yunnan gave him, he was reluctant to take off the small fish necklace made of gold.
“Don’t cry.”
Luo Lingsheng carried Little Goldfish to his lap and brushed his teary eyes with his fingers, “Can you bear the pain on your forehead? Uncle will accompany you to get the necklace back.”
If the other things are gone, it doesn’t really matter. They can buy them later. It’s Little Goldfish’s wound that matters.
But Luo Lingsheng understood the significance of the necklace to his little nephew. He was afraid that if he went a little late, he would not know which child took it.
Little Goldfish hurriedly wiped away tears, hugged Luo Lingsheng’s wrist, and nodded obediently, ” I don’t feel pain.”
Seeing this, Shi Yunnan naturally followed the pair of uncle and nephew.
The sun was just setting on top of the mountain.
As soon as the three of them walked out of the Yuan family’s farmhouse, they heard the noise of children coming from the footpath in the field.
“Throw it at me, throw it at me!”
“I want to play too!”
“Here!”
Hearing the movement, Little Goldfish quickly pointed to the group of children, “Uncle, they took it away! Yes, it’s the brother in blue.”
Luo Lingsheng and Shi Yunnan heard their little nephew’s identification and cast their gazes in unison—
There are six boys in total, about six, seven, or eight years old.
However, seeing that everyone was much taller and stronger than Little Goldfish, it’s no wonder that he couldn’t compete with them.
Shi Yunnan and Luo Lingsheng looked at each other and stepped forward first.
It wasn’t until they got closer that they realized the group of children seemed to be throwing a necklace.
Shi Yunnan clapped his hands to attract their attention, “Wait a minute, what are you playing in your hands?”
The children who were playing stopped one after another, unable to understand the sudden question.
Perhaps seeing Shi Yunnan’s relatively unfamiliar face, the young boy in blue who was hiding in the back immediately shoved his hand into his pants pocket.
Shi Yunnan’s sharp eyes caught the action.
The little boy in blue met his gaze and boldly shouted, “Who are you? What do you want with us?”
Before the rest of his voice hit the ground, Luo Lingsheng approached them with his wheelchair.
Little Goldfish, who had been sitting docilely on his uncle’s lap, slid down and stood still on the ground.
Because he was accompanied by two guardians, his voice finally took on confidence, “Give me back my necklace! It’s mine!”
The six children recognized Little Goldfish and couldn’t help looking at each other.
In the end, they were just children. In front of adults, they didn’t know how to hide their true emotions. Shi Yunnan’s eyes swept over them one by one—some were panicked, some were guilty and evasive, and some were in denial.
“You lie, we don’t know you! Which necklace! We don’t know!”
The first person in the group of children to deny it was the little boy in blue.
Shi Yunnan’s eyes finally took on a scrutinizing look and asked, with a smile, word for word, “What’s your name?”
“…..”
The little boy in blue was inexplicably afraid of Shi Yunnan’s sight, so he didn’t plan to answer this question.
It’s a pity that there were other children around who couldn’t hold back and hurried to answer, “His name is Yuan Kewang. He is the eldest among us. He is seven and a half years old, and he is about to start elementary school!”
“Yes, that’s right! The small hotel behind you is his home!” Another child shouted, “And he’s going to school in the city soon!”
In their perception, Yuan Kewang was the richest boss among them.
The other party would often share with them the leftover fried crispy meat and peanuts they had at home. They would have delicious food when they “mingled” with him every day, and he could cover for them when “danger” came.
“…..”
Yuan Kewang didn’t expect to be “betrayed” by his little friends. For a while, he pulled a long face and was completely offended.
Little Goldfish was also a little angry and said clearly, “You lied, you stole my necklace!”
“Uncle, Little Uncle, I was just squatting there watching the ducklings play in the field, and then they suddenly ran over and took a stone to hit the ducklings…..”
Little Goldfish was watching when he saw one of the ducklings being hit in the head while dodging, so he persuaded them when he saw the “injustice.”
His uncle had told him to be polite when going out, so he spoke very politely.
Just as soon as the words of dissuasion were spoken, Yuan Kewang and the other five children came back to laugh at him, confront him, and even deliberately hit him with small stones.
The more Little Goldfish said, the angrier he got. His face was trembling with anger, “I asked them to apologize to me, but they pushed me down again…”
Little Goldfish fell from the cement floor onto the ridge and his forehead hit the stone on the roadside.
JJust as he was covering his forehead dizzily, the other party took a fancy to the necklace around his neck.
—What is this? Show it to me!
—This is my thing. Just look at it, don’t grab it.
—This land is mine; you have to listen to me!
Little Goldfish clutched the necklace tightly, but how could he compete with several of them in a tug of war? In the end, there were red strangulation marks on his neck and the necklace was also snatched away by the other party.
Little Goldfish helplessly watched them run away and then sobbed all the way back to find the two uncles.
“My uncles are here! Hurry up and return the necklace to me!”
Little Goldfish looked around for a while, and became more confident, “Or else, we’ll call the police and arrest you!”
Shi Yunnan and Luo Lingsheng looked at each other and didn’t say a word.
Now that the child who “grabbed the necklace” had been found, it could be confirmed that the necklace was in their hands. As long as the other party can take the initiative to return the necklace and sincerely apologize, then this matter can pass.
The Luo family wasn’t short of this medical compensation fee, and they didn’t want Little Goldfish to develop the dependency habit of “crying for their uncle whenever things go wrong.”
Occasionally, it’s okay to have such support, but for conflicts and problems between children, it’s better to let them solve them by themselves.
Yuan Kewang didn’t expect Little Goldfish to repeat it so clearly, and he couldn’t answer for a while.
When the other children heard the word “police,” they obviously panicked, and even timidly slipped away on the spot.
“Hurry up and give me back. If you steal something, you will be arrested by the police!” Little Goldfish repeated again and again.
Whether it’s the kindergarten class or the storybook that his uncle read to him, they all say this.
Yuan Kewang strained his neck and denied, “We didn’t rob! Not if I say we didn’t.”
As soon as he finished speaking, a female voice came from behind him, “Xiao Wang, what are you all doing here? It’s time to go home for dinner.”
“Mom! They’re going to call the police and arrest me!”
Seeing the familiar figure, Yuan Kewang felt as if he had seen a heavenly savior. He immediately sprinted to Chen Fang’s side, finally showing a hint of fear at his age.
Chen Fang had always loved her young son, and when she heard this, she quickly hugged him and patted him, “Necklace? What necklace?”
“This little brother’s necklace is missing, and he insists that I robbed it. Mom, I didn’t rob this little brother; he’s the one lying!”
Yuan Kewang pushed the blame on others with just a few words.
“….”
Seeing how wicked this child was, Shi Yunnan frowned.
Chen Fang looked at Luo Lingsheng and Shi Yunnan and immediately recognized their identities. She then protected her young son with a hypocritical smile.
“Two bosses, is there any misunderstanding? My son wouldn’t lie. Maybe the kid lost it himself and lied for fear of being scolded by you.”
Little Goldfish took Shi Yunnan’s hand and retorted, “I didn’t lie.”
“Good boy, Little Uncle knows you didn’t lie.”
The confrontation here had just begun when five or six villagers walked over together.
They were all neighbors.
Just now, Erbao, the child of the Li family, came back crying and reported that the other children were about to be taken away by the police.
The villagers, who were parents, were worried and rushed over to check the situation.
The children who remained on the ridge saw their own parents and immediately ran over one by one in a hurry. They imitated Yuan Kewang and talked about things like “police” and “necklace”.
“Where did the police come from? Nonsense!”
“That’s right, who said they wanted to call the police and arrest you? With Grandpa here, let me see who dares to arrest you!”
Each child was spoiled by their own families. After going back and forth, the matter inexplicably got bigger.