"Rumble..."

"Ta-da...Ta-da..."

The train roared past and gradually disappeared down the hillside, its sound fading into the distance. Wen'er's raised face slowly turned as the train departed.

The white mist floating in the air had not yet dissipated, and the wind blowing across the hillside carried the smell of coal. Wen'er sniffed and gradually withdrew her gaze, lowering it.

It was only then that she belatedly realized that her brother was sobbing while grabbing her arm, which immediately made Wen'er panic.

"Brother! Why are you crying!"

Upon hearing Wen'er's voice, Er Mao buried his face in the grass and sobbed, "I've been looking for you for ages, where have you been?"

Wen'er sat up straight, and with a look of pity, gently touched Er Mao's big head: "You didn't go anywhere, don't cry, brother. Is your body still in pain?"

"I'll rub it for you and it won't hurt anymore."

Er Mao lifted his face slightly, wiped away his tears, and then lifted his face completely: "It doesn't hurt at all."

"Wen'er, did you hear what I just said?"

Wen'er helped wipe away the tears on Er Mao's face and asked in confusion, "What?"

"I shouldn't have said that about you..." Er Mao had just opened his mouth when Wen'er reached out and covered his mouth with her hand: "Okay, brother, I won't take it to heart." She said with a smile.

Er Mao lowered his head in shame: "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have..."

"Oh dear! You're so fussy and tearful, you have no manliness at all." Wen'er grabbed Er Mao's hand and tried to pull him up.

But Er Mao has gained a lot of weight in the last six months, and Wen'er can't pull him up anywhere. Er Mao deliberately doesn't get up, and even grabs Wen'er's hand and pulls her onto the grass.

Wen'er gritted her teeth and pulled hard, but in the end, Er Mao still managed to pull her down onto the grass. Annoyed, she pinched Er Mao's arm.

"Brother! You're too fat! You're going to turn into a fat pig!"

Er Mao immediately started tickling Wen'er with both hands, saying as he did so:

"say what?!"

"Say that again if you dare!"

"Hehehe... I'm not afraid of you at all."

"Fat pig...fat pig...hahaha." Wen'er giggled as she was tickled, but she still shouted back defiantly.

"Will you surrender or not! Surrender and I'll spare you!" Er Mao said with a sneer.

"Hahaha... I won't surrender... I won't surrender..." Wen'er started tickling Er Mao too.

Er Mao was extremely ticklish, and he tried his best to suppress the urge to laugh, but his facial expression was extremely comical. He still put on a gritted-teeth look and said:

"Hurrah!"

"Not only did they refuse to surrender, they even dared to fight back against me!"

You're in big trouble!

The two of them played around and eventually collapsed on the ground, laughing hysterically.

After resting for a few minutes.

"Brother, the train is going so fast!" Wen'er said, lying sprawled on the grass, looking at the sky.

"Of course it'll be fast," Er Mao replied, looking at the plum tree canopy overhead.

"More wheels mean faster speed. It has so many wheels, I didn't count them carefully just now, it's all your fault," Wen'er continued.

"Silly girl, more wheels don't necessarily mean faster speed." Er Mao sat up.

Wen'er remained motionless, but turned her face toward Er Mao: "Nonsense, it's because there are more wheels that it's faster."

“No, you don’t understand at all.” Er Mao slowly got up from the ground.

Wen'er also sat up from the ground, supporting herself on the grass with both hands, tilting her head and looking at him, saying, "Then tell me why it's fast."

Er Mao patted the grass clippings off his backside and walked towards the plum tree beside him, saying as he went:

“Because the road was repaired, it’s called something like that…” He scratched his head.

Wen'er shouted loudly, enunciating each word clearly: "Railway!"

Er Mao slapped his forehead, turned to look at her, and said with a smile, "That's right! The railway."

"It runs fast because this straight and long railway was built."

Wen'er shook her head and pouted:

"Brother, you're talking nonsense again. What does a train's speed have to do with this?"

"Silly girl, without a straight and long road, that thing can't go fast even with a thousand wheels."

"Think about it, if there isn't a good road, it will definitely fall into the river or crash into the wall. How can it run fast then?"

"Without a railway, it can only run around aimlessly, hahaha." Er Mao laughed heartily, looking up at the lush canopy of trees.

Wen'er casually plucked a handful of grass, tossed it into the air, and said:

"Brother, what you said makes some sense, but even without a railway, with so many wheels, it could still run very fast."

Er Mao shook his head and said, "No, no."

“Look at that thing, it’s so big, and it’s full of people. It must be really heavy, maybe tens of thousands of pounds. Without a suitable road for it to travel on, how can it go fast?”

"If you ask me, without a road built specifically for it, it probably couldn't even outrun a horse-drawn carriage, and who knows... hehe, it might not even be as fast as me."

Upon hearing this, Wen'er smiled so much that her eyes narrowed into slits:

"You're bragging. You can't outrun a horse-drawn carriage, but you can outrun me?"

Er Mao wrapped his arms around the tree trunk and began to climb, saying, "I'll ask you a question, let's see if you can answer it."

"Hmm? Go ahead and say it." Wen'er stood up and brushed the grass clippings off her clothes.

Which came first, the train or the railway?

Without a second thought, Wen'er smiled and replied, "Of course it's the train, is that even a question? Am I right?"

Er Mao, who was climbing the tree, had a flushed face. His excess fat made him less agile. Half a year ago, he could climb up easily, but now his arms and legs were weak and he couldn't get up no matter what he did. But in response to Wen'er's answer, Er Mao asked again:

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!