PCJ – Chapter 458 The Way of Repaying Kindness

Zhang Jiaohua was deeply hurt by Liu Qiaoye’s reaction. Which mother wouldn’t recognize her own child? How could she not even recognize her own son? His mouth unconsciously curled into a smirk. “Mom, you don’t even recognize your own son, do you?”

“Son, my dear son, how did you grow so tall? Did you eat 800 or something?” Thankfully, her voice didn’t turn hoarse, and Liu Qiaoye finally recognized her child. But what did she mean by “ate 800”? 800 is pig feed. In rural areas, livestock are fed some feed to help them grow faster.

“I didn’t eat 800!” Zhang Jiaohua rolled his eyes. If it wasn’t for the fact that she was his mother, he would have likely argued by now.

“You brat! Tell me honestly, why did you just leave without a word?” Liu Qiaoye suddenly grabbed Zhang Jiaohua’s ear. Though he had grown a lot taller, his ears were still vulnerable to her grip. Zhang Jiaohua could confirm that she was still the same mother.

“You naughty kid! You left without a word, and it’s been over eight months! Do you know how your mother has been these past months? Wait till I properly punish you!” Liu Qiaoye said, but in truth, she could never bring herself to hurt him. When she twisted his ear and saw him wince, she quickly released it, afraid she might hurt him.

Zhang Youping walked over and glared at Zhang Jiaohua. “Let’s leave it for now. We need to show our gratitude. The officials from Changfeng County worked hard to find you. We must show some appreciation.”

“Do whatever you need to do to thank them. I can’t let go of this brat for even a second. I need to drag him back to feel at ease,” Liu Qiaoye said, suddenly breaking into tears. It had been a difficult time for her while Zhang Jiaohua was missing.

Liu Qiaoye kept interrogating Zhang Jiaohua about his whereabouts during the past months. When she heard that he had lost all his memory and had been running around in Meishan, tears filled her eyes again.

“Son, if something happened to you in the mountains, how would I have found you? Why didn’t you just come back home? Let’s go, we’ll go to the city to buy you some clothes. Who gave you these clothes? They’re all torn like this. How can you wear them?” Liu Qiaoye looked at him with concern. The quality of life in Meizi’ao had greatly improved over the years, and patched clothes had become a thing of the past. Seeing Zhang Jiaohua in patched clothes, she assumed someone in Muyun Village had given him these old clothes.

“Mom, these are Liu Jun’s clothes. He only has two sets of clothes he can wear,” Zhang Jiaohua quickly explained.

“Ah? I must have been wrong,” Liu Qiaoye then looked around and realized how poor the place really was. It was even worse than Meizi’ao before the tea business started.

“Son, hurry up, take me to see Liu Grandpa and Liu Jun. We need to properly thank them,” Liu Qiaoye said.

At this point, none of the officials in Changfeng County were paying attention to Zhang Jiaohua. Their sole focus was on Zhang Youping, the head of the Xintian County Tea Industry Association. Zhang Jiaohua was left with some peace and quiet.

As Zhang Jiaohua had expected, no one would mention Liu Zhaodong, the person who had found Zhang Jiaohua, or Liu Jun, who had given him one of his only two sets of clothes.

Zhang Jiaohua pulled on Liu Qiaoye’s hand. “Mom, don’t give money to Liu Grandpa’s family.”

Liu Qiaoye was confused. “They helped you, how can we not properly thank them? You can’t forget the kindness.”

Zhang Jiaohua shook his head. “If you give them money, we won’t be able to help Liu Grandpa’s family in the future. I can acknowledge Liu Jun as my older brother, and we can teach Liu Grandpa how to grow tea or do other things. That’s more useful than just giving them money, right?”

Liu Qiaoye smiled. “Hmm, that’s very thoughtful. I won’t give them money, but I’ll take you and Liu Jun to the street to buy clothes. How about that?”

“Good. Actually, I already have a way to help Liu Jun,” Zhang Jiaohua said with a grin.

Liu Zhaodong never imagined that the little child he casually met in the mountains was such a big figure. His actions had even attracted the attention of the county’s top officials.

“Liu Grandpa, you’ve hit the jackpot this time. You saved the child of an important person. They’ll definitely thank you properly. From now on, you and Liu Jun won’t have to worry about food or clothing. Today, there were seven or eight cars from Xintian County to pick up the child. They were even more luxurious than the county secretary’s car. If you saved their child, they’ll probably give you 10,000 yuan, and that wouldn’t be too much.” For the villagers of Muyun Village, 10,000 yuan was a huge amount.

Liu Zhaodong shook his head. It was true that he had saved the child, but all he had done was bring him down from the mountains. “How could I accept money from them? Jiaohua only stayed at my house for one night and didn’t even drink a bowl of water.”

Liu Jun was sewing clothes. His only set of changeable clothes had been worn by Zhang Jiaohua. He was planning to alter it for use as a new set, knowing that Jiaohua couldn’t fit into it anymore. Zhang Jiaohua’s family was better off, so he probably didn’t need the old clothes anymore.

“Jun, why are you still mending clothes? Listen to me, just throw them away. When Jiaohua’s parents arrive, they’ll definitely buy you ten or eight new clothes. How could your family get such good fortune? If it were me, I’d ask them for new clothes and money.” The villagers joked, half-seriously.

“I don’t want Jiaohua’s family’s money. I gave him the clothes to wear, not to get money from them. Jiaohua even taught me how to make money…” Liu Jun suddenly realized he had said something he shouldn’t and quickly covered his mouth.

The villagers didn’t pay attention to Liu Jun’s words, so they didn’t catch the secret he almost revealed.

At that moment, a neighbor rushed over with news, drawing the attention of the villagers.

“They’re here, they’re here! The parents of that little boy have arrived. You can tell right away they’re from a rich family. Their clothes are different from everyone else’s. Who would have thought that such a big kid would have such young parents? They don’t look like a mother and son, they look like brother and sister!” The villagers were running towards Liu Zhaodong’s house.

At the same time, Zhang Jiaohua’s voice rang out from the yard. “Liu Grandpa, Liu Jun, my mom’s here!”

The villagers immediately made way for Liu Zhaodong, who stepped out of the house.

“Jiaohua, your parents are here? That’s great! When are you leaving?” Even though they had only spent a short time together, Liu Zhaodong felt a strong bond with the child.

Zhang Jiaohua also felt a bit emotional. “Not in a hurry. We’ll stay here for a few more days. My mom wants to take me to the street to buy clothes. We’re not familiar with the place. We’d like Liu Jun to show us around.”

“That’s fine. Jun, take Jiaohua and his mom to town. I think Jiaohua won’t be used to Jun’s clothes. I don’t have any clean clothes to give him, so it’s perfect to buy some in town.” Liu Zhaodong smiled.

Liu Qiaoye also said, “Uncle, we’re from the same family. One stroke doesn’t write two Li’s. I really want to thank you. And thank Liu Jun too, for giving Jiaohua his clothes. Jiaohua’s been missing for more than eight months. We’ve looked everywhere, even outside the province. Luckily, he ran into you.”

“Jiaohua’s mom, don’t say that. Anyone would take good care of a child they found.” Liu Zhaodong waved his hand.