C1 Cause

"285611..."

In the noisy internet cafe, there was a young girl wearing a thin and worn school uniform. She held a crumpled piece of paper in her hand and whispered a string of numbers. Her other hand was carefully pressing the numbers on the keyboard, as if she was afraid that if she pressed the wrong number, the computer would turn black.

"Xiaohu, Xiaohu. Are you done?!" Cao Hui stood behind Lee Xiaohu and poked her anxiously. She did not know what was going on. She clearly wanted to know. After checking for her, she was still hesitating. The online fee was ten dollars per hour. Her heart ached.

"That's good." Lee Xiaohu heard Cao Hui's urging and felt a little awkward. But in the blink of an eye, she saw the inquiry on the computer screen. Her hands did not seem to listen to instructions and just did not move the mouse.

Another voice suddenly sounded in her mind, "Don't check anymore. It's useless anyway." But Lee Xiaohu's heart told herself, "No matter what the result is, after all, after doing it, you must know what it is like."

The two voices interweaved in Lee Xiaohu's mind like this, making Lee Xiaohu feel a wave of torture.

Do you want to know? After all, she had risked her life to take the college entrance exam, and now the result was out. He only needed to look through this narrow screen to know what was going on, and why was he suddenly in such a dilemma? Was it the fear in her heart? Lee Xiaohu asked herself, perhaps she was really afraid. She was afraid that the unknown fate in the future would drive her. She was afraid that the unfair treatment would destroy her beautiful dream of the future.

"Why are you in a daze!" Cao Hui noticed that Lee Xiaohu was staring at the screen like she was in a daze. She did not answer her or express her stance. Cao Hui really felt sorry for the internet fees, even though she knew that Lee Xiaohu was not easy at home. Especially since her parents had only loved that disappointing little brother of hers since she was young, they did not care what Lee Xiaohu thought at all. However, her family's condition was also not very good. It was not easy for her to ask her grandmother for 10 yuan of internet bill. This time, before she even checked her results, she let Lee Xiaohu check. Who knew that she had been doing it for so long. It was really awkward.

Cao Hui watched as the time passed minute by minute and second and felt anxious in her heart. However, Lee Xiaohu remained indifferent. Helpless, Cao Hui pressed the confirmation button for Lee Xiaohu.

"Ah!" Cao Hui stared at the total score column and pushed Lee Xiaohu excitedly. "Oh my god! You got into the exam! You must go!"

Lee Xiaohu was pushed back to reality by Cao Hui. She saw the result of her extraordinary performance. She did not expect that she actually got into the exam!

"Quickly, quickly, quickly, Xiaohu. Let me investigate mine!" Cao Hui quickly sat down and quickly pressed her ticket number and ID card on the keyboard to check her exam results. She kept praying, "You must get into the exam, you must get into the exam!"

Lee Xiaohu lightly patted Cao Hui as if giving her strength.

"Yay!" When Cao Hui saw the results, she jumped up excitedly and hugged Lee Xiaohu, "Great! Really great! We have already gotten into the university that we dreamt of!"

"Yes, that's great." Lee Xiaohu was so excited that the worry in her heart suddenly rose up. She was melancholic.

On the way back, Lee Xiaohu felt uneasy in her heart. She looked at Cao Hui, that lass, who kept criticizing all the things that she had to do in college in the future. When she thought of herself, she could not help but feel a chill run down her spine.

Sensing that Lee Xiaohu was not right, Cao Hui pulled her, "Xiaohu, what are you worried about?"

"Nothing." Lee Xiaohu replied softly.

Cao Hui seemed to have seen through her thoughts. "Don't worry, since you have passed the test. Auntie will definitely let you go. There is no reason for me not to go when there is a suitor in the family."

Lee Xiaohu lifted her head and smiled in response. Then, she lowered her head and sighed softly. In front of her eyes, the things that she could not forget in her third year of high school gradually appeared in her mind.

"Pa!"

The sound of the bowl falling to the ground startled Lee Xiaohu, who was sitting in the corner silently.

"Why did I give birth to a money-losing product!" Ma Cuihua pointed at Lee Xiaohu's nose and scolded. Her heart ached for the money from the matchmaker that Lee Xiaohu had just chased away.

"If you don't want to marry, you don't want to marry!" Lee Xiaohu looked at her mother firmly. No matter how Ma Cuihua cursed, even if she wanted Lee Xiaohu to die immediately, she would not compromise this time.

"You don't want to marry?" Ma Cuihua was frightened by Lee Xiaohu's unusual rebuttal and immediately scolded even more fiercely, "You are still young in the future? That Cui Hua's daughter at the village entrance is the same age as you and she is already married and has children now. Look at you! Not even a fart!" As Ma Cuihua spoke, she took the workbook on the table and fiercely tore it into two." Pui! Compensation lass, I also don't know what kind of sins I made in my previous life gave birth to you! "

"Mother Li, don't scold me so harshly. Since Xiaohu still wants to study, then let her continue reading. Anyway, it's only a matter of one or two years. "

" Old Li! What did you say!? It's only a matter of a year or two! Do you think a year or two is too little!? Xiaohu is not young anymore. In another one or two years, she will be worth nothing!" Ma Cuihua threw the words onto Old Li's face without even taking a breath.

Old Li did not know how to answer. Thinking about it, the people in the village who were the same age as Xiaohu were almost married and had children. Lee Xiaohu, who belonged to her own family, was still studying. What was the use of the little girl reading so many books? Anyway, she was going to get married in the future. Since she was going to marry into another family, why should she suffer so much for her studies?

"Xiaohu, why don't you listen to your mother? I'm not going to study anymore! Anyway, you are going to get married in two years. Marrying now can solve the financial problem of the family. "

Lee Xiaohu, who was squatting in the dark, suddenly looked up. She did not expect that the father who insisted on her studying back then would say such words. This was clearly selling his daughter!

"I am not! No matter what, I have to finish reading!"

"If I don't give you money, I want to see how you read!" Ma Cuihua put her hands on her hips and rolled her eyes.

"If I say I don't want to marry, then I don't want to marry. If you force me to marry, you will only force me to death. When that time comes, you won't get a single cent and still need to prepare coffin money for me." Lee Xiaohu said without caring.

Ma Cuihua was stunned. She really did not know who this girl's character belonged to. She actually dared to be so unyielding. Ma Cuihua did not know what to say for a moment and could only wink at Old Li for help.

Old Li saw that Ma Cuihua could not do anything to Lee Xiaohu and could only sigh, "Then you should finish high school. Maybe you can get our village's top scorer."

"Really?"

"Old Li pointed the pipe at the soles of his shoes and knocked a few times. He poured the ashes on the ground. "I have already agreed. How can your mother not agree? Put down the broken dishes! "

Lee Xiaohu, who had been in the dark, slowly walked out of the haze. She saw blood flowing on her arm. It made people feel a shocking pain. They looked up along her arm. They saw her hand holding the broken pieces of the bowl tightly, and her sharp head was pointed at her neck. With just a slight force, a bloody hole would appear in his throat.

Lee Xiaohu's face was full of tears and the hand that she was holding seemed to be trembling in anger because of what had just happened.

"Xiaohu is back!"

Without realizing it, Lee Xiaohu had already walked to the door of the house and Aunt Faang from the neighboring house called Xiaohu back to reality.

"En, she is back!" Lee Xiaohu displayed a few smiles towards Aunt Faang and when she saw Aunt Faang in the courtyard waiting for her daughter to return home, her heart was filled with envy.

"How is Xiaohu? Did you check her results?" Aunt Faang asked with concern.

"Yes, I did." After hesitating for a moment, Lee Xiaohu did not intend to hide it from Aunt Faang and reply.

"Come, let aunt take a look." Aunt Faang said and took the report card from Lee Xiaohu. "Ya! Your daughter is not bad! Such a high score! Our village has really produced a top scholar!"

" No, no, Aunt Faang, don't laugh at me. " Lee Xiaohu was a little embarrassed and politely replied Aunt Faang.

Aunt Faang naturally saw Lee Xiaohu's condition and thought of Lee Xiaohu's home environment and could not help but worry.

"Damned girl! Where did you go!" Ma Cuihua's voice came from the room. She was the first one to hear her voice before anyone else.

"Hey, I'll be right there!" Lee Xiaohu did not have time to take back her report card and quickly ran back home.

"If you run out all day, who will do all the work at home! If the food is not cooked, let's starve to death together tonight..."

Aunt Faang saw it and her heart naturally ached for Lee Xiaohu. But after all, she was an outsider and it was not appropriate for her to say anything about other people's family matters.

By the time Lee Xiaohu finished all her work and went to find Aunt Faang to get the report card, it was already 11 o'clock in the middle of the night.

"Child, Aunt wants to ask you something."

"Auntie, you tell me." Xiaohu politely replied.

"Aunt saw your grades today. I would like to ask you something. Do you want to read this book?"

Lee Xiaohu was stunned. She did not expect Aunt Faang to ask about this matter. She hesitated for a while and shook her head.

Aunt Faang saw Lee Xiaohu's reaction and immediately became anxious, "Child, listen to Aunt. No matter what, you have to continue reading this book. Not everyone can achieve such outstanding results."

"But..." Lee Xiaohu lowered her head and her hands intertwined uneasily.

"If you have any difficulties, you can tell Aunt. If I can help you, Aunt will definitely help you!"

Lee Xiaohu did not expect Aunt Faang to be so supportive of her. How good would it be if she was her mother? "Thank you Aunt Faang, I... I can't leave my father's illness alone." Lee Xiaohu said in a low and slightly hoarse voice before she turned around and walked back home.

Behind her, Aunt Faang sighed regretfully and watched Lee Xiaohu leave.

In the middle of the night, Lee Xiaohu was tossing and turning on the bed and could not sleep. She did not know what to choose. Today when she came back, she was about to speak a few times but was blocked by all kinds of trivial matters. It was only after her mother said that her father was seriously ill that Lee Xiaohu gave up on the idea of talking about it.

"Old Li, can you say it like this?" A sigh came from the room next door. In the dead of the night, there were no obstacles in Lee Xiaohu's ears...