Candy's small hands clung tightly to Mo Jingchun's sleeve. Mo Jingchun held Candy in his arms, calming her for quite a while before the little one slowly settled down.

By the time it was dinner, neither of them had an appetite. Even though these were the usual dishes, Mo Jingchun found them tasteless.

Candy, who usually sat on her small stool to eat, refused to leave Mo Jingchun's embrace tonight.

In the evening, Mo Jingchun's tears made the little one feel scared, as if she understood what it meant to fear loss.

With no appetite, Mo Jingchun only managed to eat half a bowl of rice before putting down his chopsticks and stopped eating.

Even though his stomach was hungry, Mo Jingchun just couldn't eat.

At that moment, Grandpa called.

"Hello? Xiaochun, did you eat dinner?"

Mo Jingchun looked at the still half-full bowl of rice in front of him and said to his grandpa on the phone:

"Grandpa, Candy and I just had dinner."

"Grandpa, how's your health?"

"Ah, same as always, can't say if it's good or bad."

"Where's Candy? Why don't I hear her speaking?"

Mo Jingchun gently patted Candy, who was huddling her head, and softly said, "Guoguo, go on and say hi to Grandpa."

Upon hearing this, Candy softly said into the phone, "Hello, Grandpa～"

"Good, good, good～ Has Candy missed Grandpa?"

Mo Jingchun whispered in Candy's ear, "Yes."

"Yes."

"Grandpa misses Candy too."

After chatting about daily matters for a dozen minutes, there was a sudden silence on the other end of the call. After a long pause, Mo Jingchun's grandpa finally said, "This morning, your uncles and I went to your house."

Upon hearing this, Mo Jingchun already knew why Grandpa and the two uncles went to his house.

"Even though you weren't home, today is your mom's anniversary, so someone had to go."

"Your uncles weren't bad. Several families went up the hill together and they spent money for your mom."

"At noon, your uncle insisted that we stay at his house for lunch. Originally, your uncles and I were ready to leave, but seeing your uncle get upset, we stayed for lunch."

Mo Jingchun quickly said, "It's okay. When I come back during the New Year, I'll treat the uncles to a meal."

"Alright, that works."

"You and Candy take care of yourselves out there. Don't worry about things at home. Your uncle goes to your house every month to check."

"Last time it rained heavily, and your field's embankment was washed away by the rain, your uncle also helped fix it."

After saying this, Mo Jingchun silently remembered it, planning to offer money for the work when he returned, but uncle would definitely refuse.

However, since his sister just entered college, whether or not she attends, a celebration gift is needed.

At that time, besides the gift money, Mo Jingchun also planned to give his sister Zhou Yaling a laptop.

"Alright then, Grandpa won't chatter on. Talk too much, and youngsters will get annoyed."

"Hanging up now. If anything happens, call Grandpa. Even though I'm old, I can still manage."

Mo Jingchun couldn't help but hug Candy tighter in his arms and softly said, "Okay."

After hanging up, Mo Jingchun didn't immediately reach for the phone on the dining table. He didn't even know what he was thinking at the time. In any case, all he felt was chaos in his mind.

That night, Mo Jingchun and Candy went to bed early.

Before sleeping, Mo Jingchun lit another stick of incense.

——————

A few days later, Candy had already returned to her usual lively self, though she seemed a bit more dependent on Mo Jingchun.

In the market, Candy clung tightly to Mo Jingchun's fingers, looking around. Whenever she saw something she liked, she would act cute and ask Mo Jingchun to buy it.

Seeing the same monotonous array of vegetables, Mo Jingchun didn't even know what to buy.

Looking at an old lady with white hair sitting at the market entrance, Mo Jingchun slowly walked over with Candy.

Mo Jingchun squatted down and picked up one of the ugly-looking cucumbers, asking the old lady, "Granny, how much are these cucumbers?"

Although these cucumbers looked ugly, growing up in the countryside, Mo Jingchun knew they were likely grown by the old lady herself and not the artificially ripened ones from greenhouses.

Compared to greenhouse cucumbers, these taste naturally better.

"Eighty cents per jin."

Seeing the old lady's already open red plastic bag, Mo Jingchun crouched down and began selecting.

"I'll take this much, granny."

Just as Mo Jingchun finished speaking, the old lady took out an old-fashioned balance scale from behind her.

Not boasting, but many young people nowadays don't even know how to read these scales.

"Young man, it's three jin and seven liang altogether, so three yuan, okay?"

Mo Jingchun didn't have change in individual yuan; the smallest denomination in his pocket was a ten-yuan note. Of course, he only had twenty yuan in cash in total.

The old lady accepted ten yuan and took a while to gather the seven yuan of change, which even included an old one-cent coin with the national emblem that Mo Jingchun hadn't seen for ages.

Walking back with the groceries, Candy suddenly asked, "Brother～ why does Granny care so much about one yuan? Guoguo has lots of small money."

For a moment, Candy truly stumped Mo Jingchun.

Mo Jingchun knew the reason, but how to explain it to little Candy?

After thinking for a long time and missing two green lights, Mo Jingchun finally said to Candy, "Guoguo, if you had ten strawberries, would you be willing to share them with other kids?"

Candy counted on her fingers and said, "Of course, Guoguo is the cutest."

Then Mo Jingchun asked with a smile, "And if Guoguo only had one strawberry, would you still share it with other kids?"

"Of course not. Guoguo only has one."

"Yes, for that granny, one yuan is like one strawberry."

What Mo Jingchun didn't say is that the reality is even harsher.

For some, a few yuan can buy two buns to stave off hunger. If you can't even afford a bun, you'll understand why they care so much about one yuan.

Just like a previously reported story, where someone could only have instant noodles once a year on their birthday, while others said instant noodles lack nutrition.

When your phone battery is at 100%, do you care about losing 1% or 2%?

When your phone is at 10% and there's no place to charge it, will you not care about losing 1% or 2%?

People's attitude toward battery percentage is similar, let alone money for basic living.

Why do some people care about a few yuan?

If you've never been poor, you simply don't know.

Mo Jingchun only knew from his parents about the tough days they had in the past, but after he was born, they never let him lack clothes or food.

PS: Thanks to the book friends 20201108141229866, Ghostly Day Swallow, book friend 20170310203621558, book friend 20180206221330905, Angry Little Milk Dog, HH Snail, Gentle Breeze Fright's support.

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