Xu Yan went to the kitchen to pour the packed food into a plate. When she brought it out, Xie Zhuo and the two kids had already cleaned up the table in the yard.

“Nobody plays with Lin Dong,” Da Bao continued. “Xiao Bao and I saw that he played alone every day and didn’t go out during breaks, so we took the initiative to find him to play.”

"Lin Dong?"

Xie Zhuo took the plate from Xu Yan and placed it on the table. Hearing Da Bao's words, he was puzzled, "How come I didn't know there was such a person in your class?"

“He’s new here,” Da Bao said. “He said he didn’t have money to register, so he would squat by the window and eavesdrop on our classes.”

At this point, Da Bao suddenly reached out and hooked his arm around Xie Zhuo's neck. Xie Zhuo was about to get up to get more dishes when Da Bao hooked his arm around Xie Zhuo's neck, and he almost stumbled.

"Third Uncle," Da Bao said, clinging to Xie Zhuo's neck.

"What's wrong?" Xie Zhuo didn't force himself to straighten up. He held onto the corner of the table with one hand and rubbed Da Bao's head with the other.

"Thank you, Third Uncle," Da Bao turned his head and kissed Xie Zhuo on the cheek, then let go of him and ran over to hug Xu Yan's leg. "Thank you also, Third Aunt, for spending money to send Xiao Bao and me to school."

Xu Yan, who was still holding the dishes she had just taken from the kitchen, exclaimed "Oh!" upon hearing his words, then looked at Xie Zhuo and asked, "Why are you suddenly saying something like that?"

“Because Lin Dong said that going to school would cost a lot of money,” Xiao Bao also hugged Xu Yan, “his grandparents spent a long time scraping together the money to send him to school.”

On the way back, the two kids had already told Lin Dong about his background.

Lin Dong is a child from a village quite far from the town. He made several trips to the school. His grandparents probably saw how much he loved going to school, so they pooled their money to send him here.

"You're welcome," Xie Zhuo put the plate in Xu Yan's hand back on the table, then sat down and pulled the two kids to his side.

"That's not how you talk. It's like you've suddenly gone from little kids to big kids. Don't overthink it."

“The four of us are a family. You two are the most beloved children of Uncle and Aunt. We paid for your schooling, so there’s no need for special thanks.”

Xiao Bao hugged Xie Zhuo's neck and rubbed his little face against Xie Zhuo's. "Third Uncle, Third Aunt, and Da Bao are also Xiao Bao's favorites."

Xu Yan watched as the three of them hugged and talked for a while before lightly tapping the edge of the table. "Eat first, then continue your heartfelt conversation. The food will get cold soon."

Da Bao got out of Xie Zhuo's arms, hugged Xu Yan's neck and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek, "What does it mean to confide in each other?"

Xu Yan was amused by him, "Exchanging heartfelt feelings is like you and your third uncle, hugging each other to express your feelings."

“Then we should also pour out our hearts to our third aunt,” Da Bao said.

"Okay, okay, but we have to eat first, and we'll talk after we finish eating," Xu Yan pinched Da Bao's ear.

The Xie family doesn't have a rule about not talking while eating, and Xu Yan isn't the type of person who can't talk while eating either. As long as you swallow your food clean before you speak, it's fine.

During a break from eating, the two kids managed to chatter away with Xie Zhuo for a few more minutes.

“The classmates say Lin Dong is a dog cub,” Da Bao said, puzzled. “But he’s clearly a human being. Kaixin is the dog cub. I don’t know why they call him a dog cub.”

Xu Yan frowned slightly upon hearing this.

"Is it because he's a bastard that the other students don't want to play with him?" Xie Zhuo asked from the side.

“Yes,” Xiao Bao nodded, “They used to bully him, but now that Da Bao and I are playing with him, they don’t dare to bully him anymore.”

Xu Yan listened attentively, but her focus still shifted slightly. "Xiao Bao, you keep calling me 'Da Bao,' why don't you call me 'brother' anymore?"

Xiao Bao probably didn't expect her to ask that suddenly. He paused for a second before glancing at Da Bao and saying, "We're the same age."

Xie Zhuo raised an eyebrow.

“A classmate asked him why he was shorter than me even though we were born in the same year. He wondered if it was because he called me ‘brother’ every day that he wasn’t growing taller,” Da Bao blurted out.

"……this."

Xu Yan hadn't expected this reason. She wanted to laugh, but seeing that Xie Zhuo was also holding back his laughter, she thought about it and decided not to.

“Although you two were born in the same year, one was born at the beginning of the year and the other at the end, a whole year apart,” Xu Yan explained.

"I don't care, I want to be taller than Da Bao," Xiao Bao said reluctantly, pouting. After saying that, he started shoveling rice into his mouth again, even putting the dishes he usually disliked into his mouth.

“That’s impossible,” Da Bao replied, and then began to eat heartily.

Xu Yan was worried that the two of them would have a conflict because of their height, but after they finished eating, she saw that the two kids were playing together affectionately again.

Except for Xiaobao, who hasn't called me "brother" since.

A few days later, Xie Zhu finished his work early and took some time to go to the commune primary school to see the two kids and Lin Dong, whom they had mentioned.

Lin Dong is quite good-looking, with fair skin. Apart from Da Bao and Xiao Bao, he's the only one in the classroom who doesn't look like a lump of coal.

However, he was shockingly thin, and his clothes didn't look very clean; there was a footprint on his back that looked like someone had kicked him.

Xie Zhuo looked around inside and then looked away, his face expressionless. That's just how it is now; the children of rich peasants and landlords are treated differently.

People hated landlords, so they called their children "dog cubs".

The pup was so badly injured that anyone could kick him on the street, let alone get him into school. He was probably taken in by that old math teacher.

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