Miao Xiaohua, holding one child in each hand, walked towards Zhou Shuixian's rented place, answering Zhou Wenxin's question in a gentle tone:

"Yes, Mom is busy. Let's go back and make dinner and wait for her to come back!"

The three of them hurried back to the courtyard where the Zhou sisters lived, bathed in the afterglow of the setting sun.

When they arrived, Zhou Shuixian and her two younger sisters had not yet returned. However, the husbands of Zhou's other two sisters were cooking in the yard while carrying their children on their backs.

Zhou Yuzhu's husband, Lin Xiangdong, was carrying a nearly one-year-old child on his back. He was hunched over washing bamboo shoots sent from his hometown at the makeshift stove in front of the window, preparing to make soup for dinner.

Zhou Guihua's husband, Wu Xuejun, was holding a baby who was only a few months old and soothing him. There was a sleeping basket on the ground next to them, and the baby inside was about two years old. He looked somewhat like Lin Xiangdong, and it was easy to tell that he was Lin Xiangdong's child.

Upon seeing Miao Xiaohua leading two maids in, she immediately greeted them warmly:

"Oh, Xiaohua, you're picking up your older sister's child again today? Don't go back yet, someone from my hometown sent over some freshly picked bamboo shoots from this spring, and I finally managed to snag a chicken today, so let's have a good meal together as a family!"

Wu Xuejun, who was standing to the side with his two children, was afraid that Miao Xiaohua would be shy, so he comforted the children while echoing Lin Xiangdong's words:

"Yes, Xiaohua, you often help my older sister pick up and drop off the kids. Thanks to you, my second brother-in-law and I aren't so busy. You absolutely have to stay for dinner. Let me tell you, the chili powder we just bought smells amazing. It'll be delicious making dipping sauce later!"