Chapter 158: 158 China good neighbor_1 Chapter 158: 158 China good neighbor_1 Hearing that they were going to Granny Zhang’s house, the little one nodded happily.

“Good, Granny Zhang’s house has little bunnies.”

Children are naturally fond of animals, especially cute ones.

Tangtang’s favorite were rabbits.

Seeing that his daughter didn’t seem unhappy, Gu Chen finally breathed a sigh of relief.

He got out of the car and lifted his daughter down as well.

Only then did he turn around and take all the things he bought out of the car.

Once in the yard, he patted Tangtang’s head before squatting down to open the bag that contained crabs.

The crabs weren’t tied up, and their claws were still, which looked quite intimidating.

Gu Chen wasn’t afraid; he quickly picked out five of them and put them into another bag.

Then, holding the bag in one hand and Tangtang in the other, he walked towards Aunt Zhang’s house next door.

In the village, it wasn’t customary to lock doors when it wasn’t dark yet, so the main gates were usually open.

Gu Chen led Tangtang inside.

Upon entering, Tangtang called out in a childish voice.

“Granny Zhang, Granny Zhang.”

Hearing Tangtang’s voice, Aunt Zhang, who was busy kneading dough inside, immediately stopped her work and turned to walk out of the kitchen.

She had wanted to reach out and hug Tangtang.

But remembering that her hands were covered in dough, she could only smile at Tangtang.

“Tangtang, be good, Granny’s hands are dirty, can I hug you later?”

The little one nodded with a beaming smile.

“Okay, I’ll go see the bunnies!”

Saying this, she quickly ran towards the rabbit cage and squatted down to feed the rabbits with grass.

Seeing his daughter playing with the rabbits, Gu Chen smiled.

“Aunt Zhang, Pian Ran fell ill and needs to undergo surgery. I’m the only one at home, so I must trouble you to help look after Tangtang for a while.”

He really couldn’t manage cooking and watching the child at the same time.

If something happened to Tangtang, like a fall or a bump, his heart would undoubtedly break.

Hearing that Ji Pianran was sick, Aunt Zhang’s expression turned grave immediately.

She looked at Gu Chen with concern etched on her face.

She asked, “What happened? Is it serious?”

After all, Aunt Zhang truly doted on Ji Pianran as if she were her own daughter. Hearing about her illness made her genuinely worried.

“She has a polyp in her stomach, the doctor said it’ll be fine once it’s removed. It’s just a minor surgery. Don’t worry,” Gu Chen reassured.

Although he also felt heartache for Ji Pianran, Aunt Zhang was older, and since she really cared for Ji Pianran, he didn’t want her to worry as well.

So he had to speak as if it were no big deal.

Hearing his words, Aunt Zhang could somewhat relax.

After thinking for a moment, she said, “Well, there’s not much I can help with. You’ve got to harvest the crops and your wife is in the hospital – you’re busy enough. How about this: leave Tangtang with me and go take care of your things with peace of mind.”

Hearing Aunt Zhang offer to help with the child, Gu Chen hurriedly said, “How could I impose like that? We’ve troubled you enough over the years.”

Really, they owed a lot to Aunt Zhang over the years.

At his words, Aunt Zhang’s face immediately darkened, looking somewhat displeased.

“What are you talking about? We’re all neighbors; isn’t it natural to help each other? Besides, Pian Ran really has had it tough over the years; she truly deserves sympathy. If I don’t support her, I just don’t feel right!” she declared, and then she added, “That settles it. Leave Tangtang with me, I assure you the child won’t suffer the slightest grievance here.”

Tangtang was cute and smart, plus she was good-looking and adorable.

From a young age, she was likable to everyone.

Especially when she called herself Granny Zhang, Aunt Zhang’s heart would just melt.

She genuinely loved this child from the bottom of her heart.

Seeing how Aunt Zhang insisted, Gu Chen stopped refusing, after all, it was true that Tangtang always found it tough to follow him to the hospital.

Moreover, the hospital was full of viruses, and children’s immunity was not as strong as adults’.

If Tangtang were to fall ill, that would be even more troubling.

Gu Chen said, feeling somewhat embarrassed, “Then I’ll have to trouble you. You really care about me.”

His words were sincere. The only person who was willing to help and support him was Aunt Zhang. When everyone was talking behind his back and distancing themselves from his family, only Aunt Zhang had always silently been good to his family, to Ji Pianran and the child.

He had etched all of this into his heart, never daring to forget it for as long as he lived.

After saying this, Gu Chen handed over the crabs he was holding.

“Auntie, I went to buy vegetables today and by chance, I found a shop that sold seafood, so I bought some crabs for you to try.”

Everyone was from the village, and Haicheng was situated somewhere between the north and the south, leaning a bit more to the north.

Although it was called Haicheng, it actually had no sea.

Crabs were indeed not cheap.

Not to mention the people in the village, even ordinary families in the city wouldn’t usually buy them, not even during holidays or festivals.

After all, the price was there for all to see, and nobody wanted to spend that much, feeling it wasn’t worth it.

Hearing that it was crab, Aunt Zhang quickly pushed Gu Chen’s hand back.

“What is this for? These things aren’t cheap. Take them back for Pian Ran to eat. Pian Ran is going to have surgery. She should eat something good!”

This was too valuable for her to accept!

How could Gu Chen possibly take it back? He just smiled.

“These aren’t expensive, and besides, I still kept five for Pian Ran, which is enough for her. You should just accept it without worry!”

“You just said that distant relatives are not as good as close neighbors. It’s only right for us to be good to you. How come it’s fine for you to be good to us, but not the other way around? That’s quite a double standard.”

Aunt Zhang might not understand what ‘double standard’ meant, but she gathered the rough idea from his words.

It meant that only she was allowed to be good to them, and they weren’t allowed to return the favor.

Since he had put it that way, she felt it would be impolite to refuse.

Aunt Zhang cracked a smile, showing off her teeth.

“Alright then, I’ll accept it. Tonight, Tangtang and I will enjoy a good meal!”

Having lived for so many years, it would be an exaggeration to say she had never eaten crab before, but she’d only had it two times before: once when she was young at her grandmother’s place, and another time at a relative’s house in the city.

This third time, she never expected that it would be Gu Chen bringing it to her.

Carrying the crabs that Gu Chen gave her, her heart felt warm, filled with an ineffable sense of contentment.

This child, he truly had a conscience.

Her affection was not in vain!

Gu Chen walked over to Tangtang, tilting his head as he watched her concentrating on feeding the rabbits.

“Can you stay over at Granny Zhang’s house today? That way, Daddy can focus on taking care of Mommy.”

Actually, Tangtang didn’t really want to stay over at Granny Zhang’s house. Although Granny Zhang was very kind to her and she liked Granny Zhang very much, she had never slept over at Granny Zhang’s house at night.

Compared to Granny Zhang’s house, she still preferred her own home, sleeping with Daddy.

But hearing that Daddy was going to take care of Mommy, the little girl couldn’t help but feel swayed.

After all, Mommy was ill and needed someone to care for her. If Daddy was with her, then Mommy would be alone.

Tangtang didn’t want Mommy to be alone.

She hesitated for a long time before finally saying, “Okay, but Daddy, you have to think of Tangtang.”

Having said that, she smiled at Gu Chen.