Li Huan is back. Today he went to register for Goudan, but the principal said that Goudan is a nickname and his full name must be written.
But Goudan didn’t have a real name. In order to make it easier to raise him, he was given a cheap name since he was young. Originally, the plan was to wait until the child was three years old before giving him a real name and registering him.
But before the child was three years old, the bad news came. Goudan's grandmother was almost so shocked that she died with him. If Goudan had not been so scared that he cried heartbreakingly and pulled his grandmother back, Goudan would have become an orphan long ago.
Li Huan had little education, and even his son Xiao Cheng Li was named by Cheng Qiao. He had no idea how to name a child. When the old principal learned that Goudan was the only son of a martyr, he was filled with respect.
"Goudan, can the principal help you come up with a name?"
Goudan shook his head. He remembered that Mother Cheng had told her father, also his Grandpa Cheng, to help him choose a name, so he would rather wait until Grandpa Cheng gave him a name before going to school.
"I'm sorry, principal. How about leaving the name blank for now? Anyway, school starts after the Chinese New Year. I'll get the child's name and household registration done after the Chinese New Year. What do you think?"
The principal nodded. Ever since Cheng Qiao sold his job to Qianlongxin and donated 200 yuan to the school, the old principal had a good impression of Li Huan and his wife. At least they were not the kind of people who were greedy for money.
And that two hundred yuan helped a lot of children, those children whose families were poor and could not afford to go to school, but who were particularly good at studying, were finally able to carry schoolbags again with the help of this money.
"Okay, when school starts, bring your household registration book with you."
"Goudan, the principal wanted to give you a name just now, why didn't you refuse?"
"Dad Li, I'm waiting for Mom Cheng's dad to give me a name."
It was then that Li Huan remembered that he had told Goudan about this matter. After thinking about it, he decided to go to the post office to ask if there was any letter from Cheng Liguo.
Fortunately, Cheng Liguo's letter happened to arrive. It felt thick and probably contained a lot of words. He quickly and carefully put the letter into the inner pocket of his cotton-padded jacket and took Goudan home.
Goudan got off his bicycle and was about to go look for Cheng Qiao, but when he pushed open Cheng Qiao's door, he was so scared that he screamed "Wow" and ran away.
"Dad Li, the house, the house..."
When Li Huan saw Goudan’s face changing color, he felt something was wrong. He casually left his bicycle in the yard and quickly ran to the door of his house.
The room was damp, the entire kang was almost burnt, and the door that had just been repaired also had traces of being hit by a shovel.
"Qiao, wife, where are you?"
Li Huan suddenly felt a pain in his heart, and then he seemed to have lost something, and he shouted nervously.
"Squeak"
The door of the next room opened, and Cheng Qiao came out holding little Cheng Li. Seeing Cheng Qiao and her son safe and sound, Li Huan finally breathed a sigh of relief and rushed over to hug Cheng Qiao and little Cheng Li.
"Pa pa"
Little Cheng Li was being hugged a little tightly, but he knew his father was worried about him and his mother, so he wanted to remind his father to loosen the hug a little, as it was too uncomfortable.
"Son, you can call daddy now. Come on, call daddy again."
"Pa pa"
Li Huan took little Cheng Li and lifted him up high with joy. Little Cheng Li was startled and then started to giggle. Cheng Qiao saw Goudan's lonely look and couldn't help feeling distressed.
She pulled Li Huan's clothes, snatched Xiao Chengli away, and winked at Li Huan. Li Huan turned around and saw Goudan looking listless, so he walked over and lifted Goudan up as well.
"ah… "
Goudan was startled by Li Huan's action, and then he laughed happily, but tears flowed down his face.
Many times, he saw Gousheng’s father holding Gousheng up high. If his father were still alive, he would definitely hold him up high as well.
Now Dad Li actually picked him up and held him high. So this is what it feels like to be held high. Although he was scared, he hoped that Dad Li would not stop and not put him down.
"Here, a letter from your father."
Li Huan seemed to have heard what Goudan was thinking. Although he did not lift him up high again, he still held Goudan in his arms. It was okay to hold a child who was only six or seven years old.
"Goudan, my father named you Chen Xuhui. He also said that little Cheng Li is the dawn of the Cheng family, and Xuhui is the glory of the Chen family. Do you like it?"
Goudan wiped his tears and nodded. He liked them. He liked them very much. His younger brother was Liming and he was Xuhui. It was great.
"It's just one day short, otherwise Goudan, no, Xuhui's name would have been reported. Oh, by the way, wife, what happened to the room? There's water everywhere."
"It's on fire."
"What? It's on fire. Are you hurt? Is Xiao Chengli hurt?"
Goudan, no, Xuhui was also anxious. He quickly got off Li Huan, walked to Xiao Chengli and started checking.
"Xiao Chengli and I are inside, so it's okay."
Li Huan let out a breath. He understood what "inside" meant, but he didn't know why the fire broke out. The house he built and the kang he made were absolutely guaranteed not to catch fire unless someone deliberately set it on fire.
Thinking of this, Li Huan walked into the house, took out the earthenware bin from the partition, and then started to check the house. The bedding on the bed had been burned to ashes, and after being doused with water, no trace could be found.
Li Huan looked at the slightly opened window with a frown on his face. He turned around and came to the backyard. He saw two sets of footprints on the snow in the backyard and followed the footprints to the wall of the backyard.
There were a few stones next to the wall, but these stones were not mine. I stepped on the stones and stuck my head out to see that there were also a few stones piled up outside.
He quickly jumped over the wall and followed the footprints on the ground until he reached the threshing ground. When there were more and more footprints, he sat down on the ground and looked at them in deep thought.
He still has a good reputation in the village, but he has offended many people, including Fenqiu and Chen Weimin, as well as other scattered families.
For example, Chen Tiezhu, but based on his understanding of Chen Tiezhu, this guy would not dare to do such a thing, and these two lines of footprints do not look like Chen Tiezhu's footprints, because Chen Tiezhu's feet are very big.
Li Huan followed the footprints to search again, but to no avail. Since it started snowing, he organized people to clear a path to the county town, so in order to earn work points, the villagers cleared the snow in order.
Therefore, the footprints on both sides of the trail were disorganized. It seemed that the two arsonists were also smart people and knew how to destroy the evidence of their crimes as quickly as possible.
Seeing Li Huan being so cautious, Cheng Qiao also carried little Cheng Li to the backyard. Only then did she see several sets of footprints extending from her window to the wall. She was so scared that she broke out in sweat.
Who is it? Who on earth wanted to kill her and Xiao Chengli? Xu Laidie died, Chen Chunhua died, Chai Jianmin went to repair the river, and even Miao Qing followed his eldest brother.