Cheng Zhenzhu hugged the anxious child tightly and said softly, "Yes, mother is here, here..."

"Wow~ Liu Tiao's mother, Liu Tiao has a mother~" Liu Tiao's eyes were filled with tears. He buried his little face in his mother's arms and arched his back affectionately a few times.

"Of course Liu Tiao has a mother. Liu Tiao also has an older brother and a younger brother..." Hearing Liu Tiao's words, Cheng Zhenzhu felt as if a needle had pierced her heart. It was her fault, she hadn't protected Liu Tiao well, letting those dirty words reach Liu Tiao's ears...

Now that Liu Tiao has grown up, he's no longer naive about many things. She doesn't know how much of Yu Xiaoyue's words Liu Tiao has taken in. She just hopes that Liu Tiao can be happy and carefree, and just cook for a long time. That would be great too...

"Bad guy! Big bad guy! Super bad big guy!" San Tiao held the two little brothers' hands, chattering non-stop and cursing "bad guy" all the way.

"Fuai Dan!" Seven and Eight chimed in, occasionally glancing back to see if the bad woman had caught up with them. If she had, they would say, "Wash, wash..."

Cheng Zhenzhu looked at the three indignant little kids, her emotions swirling. She'd just given Xiaoyue a few too many slaps; even two more wouldn't have eased the resentment in her heart! She just couldn't understand why there were always so many bad-mouthed people in the world.

She remembered that not long after her sister passed away, someone started gossiping about her nephews. They were gloomy all day, and after much questioning, she finally found out the reason. She then took her nephews to the house to settle the score. As for the neighbors, were they on bad terms? There was no point in associating with them.

Yu Xiaoyue, there is no reason to let it go just like that...

"There's Liang, there's Big Brother, there's Hungry Brother, there's Sa Brother, there's Dog, there's Little Brother..." With his mother's comfort, Liu Tiao felt less aggrieved. He counted the people slowly with his fingers, his thin shoulders occasionally shaking with sobs.

"Yes, there are also grandma, grandpa, uncle, aunt..." Cheng Zhenzhu helped count as she walked, and soon arrived at the door of the house.

Sanjo took the key from his little pocket and opened the door, saying softly and comfortingly, "Rokujo, it's okay, we're home."

"We're home..." Liu Tiao repeated softly, his voice still filled with sobs.

Cheng Zhenzhu sat him on the six legs and wiped away his tears. The little fellow had stopped crying, but his nose and eyes were red. He lay limp in her arms, mumbling only a few "dili mulus."

Seven and eight came over and held the hands of their six-legged brother. "It's untied, it's untied, run away~"

"You bullied Ba Tiao and scared Liu Tiao. If you do that again, I'll beat you away!" Liu Tiao thought of that bad woman and got angry. He clenched his fists and hit his palms hard, his eyebrows twisted into knots.

Cheng Zhenzhu paused, "Bai Tiao, did that guy bully you again?"

"The bad guy asked about my mother and arrested my brother," Qi Tiao replied. He heard clearly that the bad guy said my mother's name. Did he know my mother?

It seemed that Yu Xiaoyue was suspicious of the identities of the two little kids. She really had bad intentions. She was wondering why they were suddenly so close to the kids... "Did you tell me?" Cheng Zhenzhu asked softly.

Ba Tiao shook his head vigorously, "Catch Ba Tiao, Brother Liu Tiao will slap you, Brother Liu Tiao will be so fierce..."

"No need to say anything. Just listen to Auntie Zhuzhu." Qi Tiao covered her little mouth tightly, looking well-behaved.

"Yes, we won't tell. Our Seven and Eight are really smart. It will be the same in the future. We won't tell anyone who asks." Cheng Zhenzhu touched the two little brothers and praised the Six who was still clenching his fists in his arms. "Our Six was awesome today. They protected their younger brother like little warriors. The Three was also great. They stood in front to protect their younger brother and comforted him..."

Cheng Zhenzhu rubbed the blinking San Tiao and pulled the little guy aside. "You don't have to listen to the bad guys. Just remember that you are all my precious babies. Seven, Eight, you are also my aunt's little babies. If you are unhappy about anything, just tell me, okay..."

"Hmm~" San Tiao pulled his mother's hands twice and snuggled in his mother's left arms.

"It's my mother's baby, darling~" Liu Tiao nodded like pounding garlic, his eyes sparkling. Bad guys are disgusting, talking nonsense! He has a mother, he is my mother's baby...

"Okay~" Seven and Eight nodded in unison, leaned against Cheng Zhenzhu's legs, and rubbed them twice happily to show affection.

Cheng Zhenzhu was very pleased to see the four well-behaved children. Because Comrade Lu seemed to have taken away some things belonging to the enemy forces, she was afraid that someone would follow the clues and find the children. So she had specifically told the children that if anyone asked, they should say they were relatives.

It turned out that the dolls were very smart and alert, and they remembered everything she said. But she would rather not have had this experience today...

"You all performed very well today, so I've decided to give you a reward." Cheng Zhenzhu planned to use some delicious food to dispel the little ones' bad memories. Each of them would receive a big apple and a bunch of candied haws.

"Sugar Fortune~" When Ba Tiao saw the candied haws, his eyes lit up.

The other little kids were also looking forward to it. Cheng Zhenzhu took them to wash their hands and asked them if they wanted to eat apples now.

"Yes, yes, yes~" Liu Tiao answered simply, then took the big apple away and took a wrinkled apple from his snack jar and asked his mother to help him cut it.

Cheng Zhenzhu looked at the stale apple and felt like laughing. Liu Tiao loved this now. If he was given a fresh apple, he would keep it for a while until it became wrinkled before eating it...

"We'll eat it later." San Tiao had candied haws and didn't plan to eat the apple. Qi Tiao also put away his apple like a treasure.

Eight-legged rubbed the peel of an apple, his face full of hesitation. His eyes rolled around and around, and finally he decided to rub his six-legged brother's. Of course, he didn't rub it for nothing, because when he ate the apple, he would return it.

Liu Tiao thought it was not a bad deal, so he asked his mother to give a small piece to San Tiao and Qi Tiao respectively, while he and his mother ate the big piece.

"Give these to us?" Cheng Zhenzhu felt a little uncomfortable when she saw Liu Tiao, who had always been very protective of his food, suddenly become so generous.

"It has to be returned. Brother San Tiao, and Brother Qi Tiao and Ba Tiao will return it. Mom doesn't need to return it. Give me a big one..." Liu Tiao was holding a string of candied haws and talking in a "woohoo" voice.