Chapter 172 Garlic Bird, Garlic Bird, It's Not Easy for Anyone

Zhenwei was completely baffled.

Wasn't this a good deed? Why deny it now?

With just one sentence, he successfully exposed the children's lies.

Zhizhi and Gansu's expressions immediately became indescribable.

Zhizhi slapped her forehead speechlessly, clearly defeated by the young man's adorable foolishness.

This is bad. Let her think of a way to cover it up.

Deng Qiu snorted coldly, a hint of displeasure on her pale face. "If you confess honestly, you might be able to get lenient treatment. Passive resistance will only result in harsher punishment. Think carefully about what you're going to say!"

The moment the mother spoke, it carried the oppressive air of a people's teacher.

Although the three children in front of them had not yet received formal schooling, they still couldn't help but feel nervous when they saw their mother's expression.

Jiang Anchao raised his voice from the side, "That's right! Look how angry you've made your mother! Aren't you guys just making a scene? Quickly tell the truth!"

As he spoke, he turned slightly to the side and winked at the children.

'Confess, or you'll get your father arrested.'

Zhizhi pouted and frantically winked at her father.

"Please, Daddy, you just have to take care of it!"

Jiang An shook his head slightly, his eyes full of rejection.

"Your dad just got yelled at by your mom, and there's nothing I can do about it."

He pursed his lips again, looked in Deng Qiu's direction, and then casually pointed to his cheekbone.

"Look at how badly she beat you. If Dad takes the blame for you, Mom will definitely think I'm scheming, that I orchestrated this to trick her."

"My dear daughter, there's nothing I can do to help you. Good luck to you."

Deng Qiu's brows furrowed. "Jiang Anchao, what are you doing here?! Are you exchanging glances with them?"

"No, no!" Jiang Anchao was startled and raised his hands in denial. "How could I dare? I wouldn't dare even if you gave me a hundred lives!"

Deng Qiu's patience was wearing thin. She stared intently at the three children. "I'll ask one last time, who is it? If none of you tell me, you won't get breakfast. You'll all get slapped!"

Zhizhi quickly exchanged a glance with her older brother, and to Zhenwei's utter bewilderment, the two clever children reached a high degree of consensus.

"Alright... Since we've come this far, I'll be honest."

Zhizhi stepped forward and sighed, feigning helplessness, "Actually... it was Xiaoge who suggested it!"

Gan Su nodded in agreement. "Zhenwei said the most effective way to make you two reconcile is to lock you up. Zhizhi and I both advised him that this wouldn't work, but he still did it himself while we were sleeping. Now he might even have the key to your room."

Zhenwei stood there, stunned, his expression blank for a long time.

"... ... ah?"

He resembled a hamster that had lost its biscuit, displaying an adorable and silly demeanor.

After a long while, Zhenwei asked with a mournful face, "It's me again?"

Zhizhi turned to Zhenwei and asked, "Yesterday at Yuanhui's house, was it what you said about locking Mom and Dad in one room?"

Zhenwei nodded, "Yes."

Gan Su, standing nearby, asked again, "Do we think your method is stupid?"

"Yeah!" Zhenwei said, hands on his hips, unconvinced. "But this method is just a matter of whether it works or not!"

“So…” Deng Qiu added quietly from the side, “the culprit was actually our little Zhenwei?”

Zhenwei's mind went blank for a moment, "Ah, this..."

Oh right, if I ask that, it seems like I have a problem with my sister?

He blinked and walked up to his mother in a flattering manner, "Mom, are your legs sore? Let me massage them for you."

Deng Qiu, unable to bear it any longer, shouted, "Go stand over there as punishment!"

"... ...oh."

Although Zhenwei didn't understand the logic behind it, he was obedient.

They obediently moved to the side and started standing as punishment.

Gan Su stepped forward, "Mom, I'll go get the vegetables!"

Zhizhi looked around, wanting to find something to keep herself busy, "Then I'll go sweep the floor!"

When people feel guilty, they often pretend to be very busy.

Deng Qiu could tell at a glance that Zhenwei was just taking the blame, but she didn't say anything and let Zhizhi and Gansu clean the house inside and out.

Hmph! You like to shift the blame to the dumbest Zhenwei, don't you?

Alright! Then let Zhenwei stand over there and rest, and let these two little brats do all the chores around the house!

Zhizhi climbed up and down the stairs, wiping the table and sweeping the floor, and even helped her mother start the fire to cook.

Gan Su was the same; despite her small size, she had a lot of energy and managed to tidy up all the more than one hundred cabbages in the yard in one go, ready to set up a stall later.

They only realized what was happening after the two children were almost exhausted.

"That's not right..." Zhizhi looked at the young man suspiciously, her tone full of uncertainty, "Why do I feel like Mom already knows we're plotting this together, but she just doesn't say anything?"

Gan Su sighed and rubbed Mei Bao's head. "Be content. It's already a blessing that Mom doesn't beat us. Otherwise, you can choose: do you want all three of you to get beaten together, or do the two of us go and do the work so Zhen Wei can stand and rest as punishment?"

Zhizhi rubbed her fingers together, her little head turning back and forth, but she couldn't figure out which punishment was more painful.

She shook her head violently. "It's not easy for anyone. I'll go get some food for my brother. He's taking the blame for us, and he's quite pitiful."

As she spoke, she took out a large box of delicious snacks from her snack cabinet and walked up to the young man.

"I'm so sorry, bro, you got punished for us. Here, have some crispy noodles. You've been saying how good Fangfang noodles are, haven't you? You can just crush them up and eat them directly. They're really delicious."

The little cub smiled ingratiatingly at Zhenwei, its dimples appearing and disappearing, looking cute and soft.

Zhenwei took it blankly, chewed it for a while, and then honestly said, "It's okay. Compared to you two working like dogs, I can just stand around and watch TV. It's pretty cool."

He stood and watched the entire episode of the TV series. Aunt Xiaoqing's acting was really good. Even ordinary clothes looked very elegant on her.

Upon hearing what the young man said, Zhizhi's conscience ached even more.

She simply stuffed the whole box of snacks into his hands, saying, "These are all for you, buddy, you've worked hard."

The guy who pushed the other guy to take the blame not only doesn't blame himself, but he's also comforting himself here.

Is this what older brother's care is like?

Zhizhi clutched her chest, inwardly condemning herself; she felt she was about to become a major villain.

"—Zhizhi, is Zhizhi home?"

Grandma Li's voice rang out from outside the courtyard. She walked in with practiced ease and, upon seeing Zhizhi, immediately said, "It's so good to see you! I heard you have fresh vegetables and fruits here, right? Your Aunt Cuiping is having terrible morning sickness. Do you have any fruit here? Share some with Grandma, here's some money!"

Zhizhi blinked and thought carefully for a moment, "There are still some apples and oranges, but not many. You don't need to pay for them. I'll take them for you."

She picked up the small fruit basket from her room and handed it to Grandma Li.

"You choose."

Grandma Li looked at the dazzling array of fruits and said, "How can I not charge you? I'll pay you whatever price you sell them for. We're all neighbors, it's not right to take advantage of each other like this, okay?"

As she was picking up the fruit, she suddenly noticed the white eggs next to the fruit basket.

"These must be free-range eggs, right? I heard they're the most nutritious. Zhizhi... where did you get these eggs?"