Preparations

After Li Xiao finished washing his hair, his entire face was flushed red. Jiang Ru thoughtfully found his clothes and prepared the bathwater for him.

The man wiped his damp hair. Seeing this scene, he calmly walked into the room, tested the water in the tub with his hand, and then, with an unchanged expression, carried over another half-bucket of cold water for himself.

Jiang Ru even smiled at him to take credit, "I already adjusted the warm water for you, it's just right."

"..."

The man looked at her in silence for a moment, then quietly picked up the bucket and left.

Jiang Ru had a puzzled look on her face, but she didn't think too much about it. She sat by the stove to continue heating water, thinking that after he finished bathing, she would take one too, so he would probably wash her clothes together with his.

Hehe, she was indeed a smart person.

And Jiang Ru's guess wasn't wrong. Once Li Xiao finished bathing and came out, Jiang Ru asked him to empty the bathwater, saying she also wanted to bathe.

By the time Jiang Ru finished bathing and came out, the rain outside had stopped. The man directly scooped up her clothes and took them to the well in the yard to wash them together.

Jiang Ru cooked dinner. She braised two crucian carps, made steamed eggplant, and lean meat soup with tofu.

Of the three dishes, she hadn't expected Li Xiao's favorite to be the steamed eggplant. The method for making steamed eggplant was very simple: cut the eggplant into pieces, place them in a small bowl inside the pot to steam along with the rice, and pour a small bowl of seasoning over them. The seasoning wasn't much—just sesame oil, lard, chili powder, and salt. Once the rice was cooked, the eggplant in the small bowl would be soft and tender. Mixed thoroughly with the soy sauce and spicy flavor, it was extremely appetizing.

Perhaps because the two of them had cooperated earlier in the afternoon, Jiang Ru felt their relationship had grown a bit closer, and she no longer felt so constrained.

While eating, the man remained as silent as before. The house was very quiet. Jiang Ru was someone who liked a lively atmosphere and found it a bit hard to bear. After thinking for a moment, she finally couldn't help but take the initiative to speak. But she didn't have much to say, and after pondering for a long time, she only managed to squeeze out one sentence: "Mother hasn't come over for a few days. When you weren't here, she came to bring food every day."

The man, who was eating with his head down, suddenly raised his head to look at her upon hearing this.

Jiang Ru didn't know what he meant and stared back with wide eyes.

The man looked at her calmly. Not knowing what he was thinking, he suddenly let out a soft chuckle and reminded her: "It's summer break."

Then he lowered his head to continue eating.

Jiang Ru's hand holding the chopsticks paused, and it took her a long time to realize the meaning behind his words.

Summer break meant that the son of Li Xiao's stepfather had also returned.

Regarding Li Xiao's mother, the files had mentioned her quite a bit. After Li Xiao's father passed away, she remarried twice.

A few years ago, she was still a worker at a shoe factory. After being coaxed by an older man in the village, she not only gave her job to his daughter but also went to the village to work like a beast of burden for them. Who would have known that before long, the man showed his true colors, beating and scolding her at every turn. In the end, the thirteen-year-old Li Xiao led some people to beat him up, obediently making him bring his mother back.

After returning to the county town, Li Xiao's mother found a job selling food, and then she met her third husband, who was Li Xiao's current stepfather. He was in poor health but had a son who could study, and he was very good at sweet-talking. He coaxed Li Xiao's mother into earning money to support the family, raising his son as if he were her own.

In her previous life, when Jiang Ru had secretly eaten with some criminal police officers in the team, she had heard one of them mention that he had been to Li Xiao's hometown. The stepfather and his son were both up to no good. He suspected that Li Xiao dropping out of school back then was due to the father and son playing tricks. After all, as a criminal police officer with over a decade of experience, his eyes were very sharp; whether someone was lying or feeling guilty, he could tell with just a few questions.

After all, they were very poor back then, and only Li Xiao's mother was earning money. Li Xiao and his stepfather's son were attending high school at the same time, which was definitely a heavy burden. When Li Xiao dropped out, the only beneficiary was the stepfather's son.

After Li Xiao moved out, his life got better, and the neighbors said they often smelled the aroma of meat.

Of course, it wasn't just that. Jiang Ru even had a terrifying speculation from the files: when "Jiang Ru" ran off with someone, it was during the critical period of Li Xiao's business venture in the South. Initially, he left his daughter with his mother to raise. But when the child was four years old, she suddenly passed away. Li Xiao hired a nanny and beat his stepfather half to death. The stepfather lay in bed for more than half a year, and from then on, the two sides had no further contact.

Everyone guessed that the child had been abused, but Jiang Ru suspected that the stepfather might have abused his daughter.