"Yes, it's me," Hesta replied calmly, "I originally wanted Eleven to go to Vera Nursing Center again, but why didn't she pick up the call?"
The man laughed, "We had a wrestling match here yesterday, and the bets were pretty big. All of us went out to watch the fun, and no one stayed at home. If you had come here during the day yesterday, you wouldn't have been able to find anyone. .”
"Really?" Hesta glanced at the man, "Who are you from Eleven? Her brother?"
"Hahaha, that's right."
"Then the lady in the yard is Shiyi's mother?"
"Yes." The young man pointed to his head, "But there is something wrong with her, so ignore her."
Hesta looked at the courtyard again, "What's the problem?"
The man didn't answer. He stood up and said, "Wait a moment. I'll get you a glass of hot water and we'll talk again."
Hesta watched the young man leave, then withdrew his gaze and looked at the old house, which was not spacious, again.
From the moment she stepped into this room with extremely poor lighting, she smelled a musty smell.
A slight noise came from deeper in the house. Hesta followed the sound and looked behind the curtain in the innermost room - two naked little boys poked their heads out from behind the curtain.
They looked at this stranger who suddenly appeared in their home, with disgust and fear in their eyes.
"Here, have something hot to drink."
The man who greeted Hesta before appeared again, wearing an extra coat. He placed a teapot next to Hesta's hand and glanced at the suitcase next to her.
The man touched his nose and said, "What kind of commission is this? Can you tell me?"
"It's for the introducer." Hesta replied, "Eleven introduced us to a very important client."
"This thing... I've heard about this. A few days ago, Mihailo sent a message to my family, saying that he left a commission for Xiao Shiyi, but he said at the time that he only gave three thousand. , how could it cost you...tens of thousands to bring this box?"
The man's eyes turned from the suitcase to Hesta's face. Hesta saw him make a few swallowing movements before speaking in a low voice, "A bit... too much?"
"This is the first time I've met someone who thinks he has too much money," Hestad looked directly into the man's eyes, "But having said that, sometimes it's okay to have too much money, but it's dangerous to ask too much."
The man immediately burst into laughter, "Yes, I understand, you are in big business, and you are doing things that low-class people like us don't deserve to hear - Hey, but what if Eleven doesn't come back today? You... aren't you?" Was the trip in vain?"
"I can wait until night," Hesta patted the dust on his trousers expressionlessly, "She is so young, where can she go if she doesn't go home at night?"
"Then you don't understand our family, Eleven. This little brat is wild and often stays away from home at night - she didn't come back last night."
"You didn't look for it?"
"What are you looking for? We've long been used to it."
"She has a child running around outside, aren't you worried?"
"Our little Eleven is quite capable..." The man bared his teeth and held a cigarette. "She dares to shame others when she's unhappy. She runs out and doesn't come back for days and nights - she's used to being wild. Lord, you can’t stand it unless you control her, just let her go.”
"I can't make the decision about money anyway," Hesta looked at her watch, "Let's wait for now. If she doesn't come back, I'll ask Mr. Mihailo what to do."
"Actually, you can transfer the money directly to us——"
"No," Hesta replied, "Mr. Mihailo repeatedly emphasized that it must be handed over to Eleven himself and cannot be taken by anyone else."
"Hey, what... does he mean?" The man scratched his head again, "How about I go to the Vera Nursing Center and talk to him clearly now -"
"It's useless, he is not in Mei County now." Hesta replied, "You won't see anyone if you go."
The man was startled, "Not here? Where can he go now? The entire Mei County is sealed off!"
Hesta was about to answer when she suddenly heard a banging on the door in the yard.
Both people in the room turned to look outside - a drunken old man had returned.
The young man felt something was wrong and immediately went out. Hesta stood by the window and observed every move in the yard.
I saw the balding middle-aged man staggering through the door and about to slip. The woman who had been working in the yard immediately went to help her, but the handle of the hatchet hit the old man in the lower back. , the old man screamed strangely, grabbed the woman's hair and slapped her twice on the spot.
The woman was furious and started fighting with the old man. The drunk man was no match. The woman quickly grabbed the sparse hair on his head. In the next moment, the old man's entire face was pressed hard into the mud.
The young man who ran out let out an exclamation and mumbled to help the drunken man up. The woman sat on the ground and watched all this with cold eyes. After she regained her breath a little, she wiped the sweat from her forehead, got up and went to the well to get a bucket of water and wipe the man's face.
The scene seemed so ordinary, as if it was just an ordinary wife helping her son take care of her drunk husband.
Hesta's eyes were full of questions. It wasn't until the young man carried the drunkard into the house that Hestad looked back and looked down at the phone - she heard the young man calling the drunkard "Dad" several times.
There were some murmurs and the shouts of boys coming from the back room. With the young man's scolding, everything fell silent.
The sun had risen a little outside, reaching Hesta's feet. About twenty minutes later, the man came out again.
"It's funny," the man shrugged, "The situation at home is like this, there's nothing we can do about it."
Hesta responded, her eyes still falling on the woman working in the yard.
"By the way, why does Mr. Mihailo insist on you handing the money to Eleven?" The man sat on the corner of the table opposite Hesta, "Can you ask now, don't delay, this Is there really no room for accommodation?"
"The commission for the clients she introduces should be handed over to her. What's the problem with this?"
"The problem is, our family is in a special situation."
"How to say?"
"Strictly speaking, Shi Yi is not a serious member of our family at all. One winter, my dad went to Orange Town to do business, and someone threw her in the basket of the car. When my dad saw it, he saw that it was a girl, and he kindly picked her up. Come back and give her a mouthful of food, so she has grown up to this point - without our family, she would have died long ago, you know!"
Hesta narrowed her eyes slightly, "So, Eleven is not your biological child, she was picked up."
"Yes." The man said with a smile, "But sooner or later she will also be a member of our family. When she is older, she will become my brother's wife, won't we still be a family? So it is right to give her money to us. Those The money is her dowry.”
Hesta raised her hand and scratched her cheek.
At this moment, she suddenly understood many things.
