"Look at Xiaobao's eyes." As if wishing he could see through.

"This can't be given to the little baby to eat. Maybe around the same time next year."

If it weren't so hot, Mo Jingchun could finish the moderately sized roasted sweet potato in just a couple of bites, right in front of the little guy.

"Xiaochun, are you dating anyone at school? Still seeing your high school girlfriend?"

"Cough, cough, cough~"

Mo Jingchun almost choked on the sweet potato. Why does everyone keep saying he had a girlfriend in high school? Why doesn't he know about it?

Where is she? At least let me, the person involved, see if she's pretty or not.

"No, it's not that easy to find one." Mo Jingchun didn't want to back down, so he casually asked Aunt Wang, "What about Fei? Is he planning to bring his wife home for the New Year this year?"

As soon as Mo Jingchun said this, everyone burst out laughing, except Aunt Wang, whose expression didn't look very good. But in the dim light, Mo Jingchun didn't notice.

A few days later, Mo Jingchun found out that Fei did have a girlfriend this year and was planning to bring her home for the New Year. But the girl ran away without a word, wasting a lot of money.

"Eh? Did you hear Old Liu from the village entrance passed away last night? How about we go give our respects together tomorrow?"

Mo Jingchun had learned his lesson and decided it was better to be a listener. If he said something wrong, it could become a big issue.

"How could you not hear? It's been spreading around. Every year, someone dies from carbon monoxide poisoning because they fall asleep with the stove burning and forget to ventilate. And yet, every year someone forgets."

"Everyone says Old Liu passed away last night. But I say, who knows when it really was. They said when they found Old Liu, his body was already stiff. It took over ten strong men and they almost couldn't manage to get him into the coffin."

"When Old Liu's family got the news, they rushed back overnight from out of town. It's said Old Liu's son was in such a hurry, he didn't even have time to change out of his cement-stained clothes."

The Old Liu everyone was talking about, Mo Jingchun knew of him, but wasn't very familiar. He didn't remember ever speaking to him.

Just then, Mo Jingchun's uncle, Mo Changyou, spoke up.

"Xiaochun, tomorrow you come with me to Old Liu's house to give a gift. When your parents passed, his family came to us as well. Go check the accounts."

Mo Changyou looked at the little one in Xiaochun's arms and reminded him, "Tomorrow, let the gift master enter it into the accounts. I'll hold your sister, and you go into the main hall to pay respects."

"Candy is too young to see the big red coffin."

(In the countryside, when an elder passes away, it's a tradition for the younger generation to show respect by bowing. In return, the deceased's relatives will also kneel with them.)

"Alright." Mo Jingchun nodded in understanding.

"Let's not talk about Old Liu. Haven't you noticed that around this time, and just after the New Year, someone almost always passes away? It's really strange."

Hearing Aunt Wang bring up this topic again, Mo Jingchun couldn't help but twitch the corner of his mouth.

Elderly people passing away in winter, isn't that quite normal?

Older folks already have weaker resistance, and it's even more so in the winter. Plus, their bones are more brittle. Many older people can't recover from a fall within a couple of months, and that's the reason.

Mo Jingchun let everyone indulge in their imaginations, with no intention of explaining anything.

Under the warm heater, Candy unknowingly fell asleep in Mo Jingchun's arms, occasionally furrowing her brows adorably.

Once the little one fell asleep, Mo Jingchun wrapped her in his down jacket and said to the others, "Uncle, Candy's asleep. I'm going home first."

"Go on, don't let Xiaobao catch a chill on the way."

"Mm, alright."

Walking along the dark path, the sound of water flowing in the stream was loud, and Mo Jingchun occasionally turned to look back.

Although Mo Jingchun believes in science, every time he hears about someone nearby passing away, he can't help but feel there's something following him on the night road.

With his heartbeat growing louder, Mo Jingchun quickened his pace.

Only the big gate of his home could give Mo Jingchun a sense of security.

After turning on the air conditioning, Mo Jingchun removed the little one's coat and carefully tucked her into bed.

With the little one settled, Mo Jingchun then opened his suitcase, took out the account book, and began looking for Liu Tao's name.

Just as his uncle said, when his father and mother passed away, Old Liu's family came to give gifts, each time exactly 200 yuan.

Mo Jingchun thought about it a bit. Returning 500 tomorrow would certainly be enough. For the exact amount, he'd still consult his uncle, as he really didn't know the customs around these things.

Suddenly, Mo Jingchun froze completely. He discovered a shocking truth.

All the household cash was stored in a bank account before he went to school, and for the past half a year, he'd only been using mobile payments and hadn't had cash in hand.

Without cash, how could he give a gift tomorrow? It's not like he could tell the gift master, "Uncle, can I scan the QR code?"

It seemed he still needed to find his uncle.

Mo Jingchun thought to himself silently, when nothing's wrong, find Uncle; when something's wrong, find Uncle; anyway, finding Uncle is always right.

Without feeling sleepy, Mo Jingchun soaked his feet in warm water, comfortably climbed into bed, put on his headphones, and started watching short videos.

"Hey buddies, the second wave of the matchmaking army has gone home. The village belles from each place are also almost back. If you don't hurry, are you planning to stay single?"

Originally, Mo Jingchun was going to swipe to the next video, but he accidentally touched the comments section.

Seeing the comments from netizens, Mo Jingchun laughed.

Liangliang: "It's so fast, only ten days left until the New Year. Let me quietly ask, does everyone have money for the festivities?" Liked 13k.

And the replies to this comment were the reason Mo Jingchun laughed out loud.

Very Carved: "How can you say something so cold with a 36.5-degree body temperature??? " Liked 32k.

After laughing, Mo Jingchun had a bit of resentment towards the recommendation algorithm of short videos.

Whatever short videos you like, it will endlessly send you similar ones, yet those with millions of likes seem impossible to find.

What's even more annoying is, whatever content you search for, in the days that follow, the short video platform will continuously push videos related to your search.

In the morning, Mo Jingchun was woken up by the little guy. After the little one woke up, regardless of whether you're still sleeping or not, he would keep going "ah~" "ah~" "ah~" until Mo Jingchun was woken up.

Looking at the little guy with a tuft of unruly hair sticking up after sleeping, Mo Jingchun pinched the little one's cheek.

"Once you're awake, all you know is drinking milk, you need it five times a day."

With the morning gift presentation still ahead, after making milk for the little one, Mo Jingchun got dressed, got up, washed, and even took extra care to wash his hair.

Half an hour later, looking at the cowlick that wouldn't go down no matter what method he used, and the little one's relentless laughter, Mo Jingchun fell into deep thought.

"Candy, it's not that brother isn't strong enough, it's just that your messy hair is beyond brother's capabilities."

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