Chapter 110 Agreement

Seeing that Leilei's eyes softened, she added, "When your new teeth grow in, they will be white and strong, even better than your current teeth. Then you can bite into your favorite big apples."

"Really?" Lei Lei finally let go of his hand covering his mouth, his eyes filled with anticipation.

Lu Mingyue nodded vigorously: "Of course it's true. These are little marks of each of us growing up, showing that Leilei is slowly becoming a man."

As soon as he finished speaking, Leilei quietly raised his head, the grievances hidden in his eyes dissipated a little, and he couldn't help but touch the cleft at the corner of his mouth with his fingertips.

Yao Yao shook his arm from the side and shouted in her clear voice, "Brother is going to be a man!"

Lu Mingyue took the opportunity to ruffle her son's hair and added with a smile, "When your new teeth grow in, you'll be able to help Mom carry heavier baskets of vegetables, and you'll be able to take Yao Yao to run further in the yard. These are skills that only a real man can do."

Leilei's eyes lit up, and he suddenly puffed out his little chest. Although his speech still had a bit of a lisp, he said earnestly, "Then I will eat well so that my new teeth can grow quickly and protect Mom and my sister in the future."

In the end, the child agreed to go to school, and Leilei was taken to the school gate.

He lingered for a while, clutching Lu Mingyue's clothes, before finally walking into the school gate with his head down, even his greeting to the teacher was listless.

Throughout the morning's classes, he kept his lips pursed and spoke very little. During the break, Niu Niu came over and poked his arm.

"Leilei, are you not feeling well today? Why aren't you saying anything?"

Leilei quickly turned his face away, shook his head, and refused to answer.

He was burying his head on the table when a shout came from the classroom door. It was his friends from the next class coming to play jump rope.

Leilei looked up and his gaze immediately fell on Erdan in the crowd.

The kid grinned, his two front teeth were missing, even more noticeable than his own gap-toothed cleft, and his speech was even more lisping than his.

Leilei's eyes lit up immediately, and most of his previous embarrassment quietly disappeared.

He couldn't help but stand up and stare at Erdan's mouth, feeling both surprised and curious.

Turns out I'm not the only one losing teeth; there are people who lose even more!

Lei Lei hesitated for two seconds, clutching the hem of his clothes, before finally mustering the courage to move closer and ask in a low voice, "Er Dan, did you lose two teeth?"

Erdan was chatting and laughing with his friends when he heard the sound and turned around. He saw the small cleft at the corner of Leilei's mouth and immediately laughed: "Yeah, I lost two last week. I've been eating less lately."

He deliberately opened his mouth wide, revealing his missing front teeth, which made everyone around him laugh.

Leilei's face wasn't so red anymore, and he leaned closer: "Does it hurt if you lose two teeth? I only lost one, and I was too scared to speak yesterday."

"It doesn't hurt at all!"

Erdan patted his chest and said, "My mom says this is how you grow skills. Only when you lose a tooth can a new one grow, and the new tooth is hard enough to crack a walnut!"

The two chatted back and forth, getting more and more animated as they talked.

Before the school bell rang, Leilei held Erdan's hand and made a promise: "When our new teeth grow in, we'll compare whose teeth are whiter and stronger!"

This time, he didn't purse his lips when he spoke; even his slurred speech was filled with joy.

As soon as the school bell rang, Leilei ran towards the school gate with his schoolbag on his back. In the distance, he saw Huo Zheng standing under the old locust tree, holding an oil paper bag in his hand.

He paused, remembering how he had chased after his father a few days ago, yelling "Daddy's bad!" and slowed his pace.

"Leilei, come here." Huo Zheng smiled and waved to him, handing him the oil paper package. "Open it and take a look."

Lei Lei lifted the paper, revealing a greasy sponge cake, his favorite sweet treat.

"It was wrong of Dad to tease you, so I'll buy you a cake to make up for it." Huo Zheng ruffled his hair.

Leilei held the sponge cake, his cheeks a little hot, and whispered, "Dad, I was wrong too. I shouldn't have said bad things about you."

After saying that, she quickly took a bite of the cake, and the sweet taste spread in her mouth.

Huo Zheng bent down, picked him up, and walked towards the family compound: "We're father and son, no need for such formalities. By the way, did you listen to your teacher and study hard at school today?"

Huo Zheng carried Lei Lei home. As soon as they turned the corner of the residential compound, Lei Lei wrapped his arms around his neck and started chattering, "Of course! I saw Erdan lose two front teeth while I was studying today, and they're even bigger than my gap!"

As he spoke, he deliberately grinned, mimicking Erdan's lisp.

"He told me that losing a tooth doesn't hurt at all, and the new tooth will be able to crack walnuts!"

The ambiguous yet earnest tone made Huo Zheng burst out laughing, and he reached out a hand to gently pinch the boy's little nose.

"Then you two should have a good competition to see whose new teeth grow in first and whose are stronger."

Leilei got even more excited when he heard this, and patted Huo Zheng's shoulder with his little hand.

"We've already made a promise! Once our new teeth grow in, we'll go to Grandpa Wang's house together to have a walnut-buying contest!"

Grandpa Wang sells dried goods at the market; the walnuts from his stall are big and plump.

The laughter of the father and son drifted away along the path, even causing the leaves of the trees by the roadside to sway.

After arriving home, Lu Mingyue had just put the stir-fried vegetables on the table when she heard Leilei gesturing to Yaoyao.

"When Erdan and I grow our new teeth, we'll chew on walnuts together!"

She put down the spatula and came over, smiling as she ruffled her son's hair: "This agreement is good, but we have to wait until the new teeth have grown in properly."

Seeing Leilei pout, she added, "When new teeth first grow in, they're very tender and can't withstand the grinding of hard walnuts. Once they're strong, Mommy will personally go to Grandpa Wang's house to pick the most fragrant walnuts and compare them with the two of you."

Huo Zheng chimed in, "Your mother is right. Let's eat well and take care of ourselves so that our new teeth can grow in faster and we can keep our promise sooner."

Leilei nodded, picked up his chopsticks, and shoveled a big mouthful of rice into his mouth, his eyes full of anticipation: "Then I want to eat more eggs so my new teeth can grow in faster!"

A few days later, Leilei woke up groggily, touching his face. His finger accidentally brushed against the gap in his front teeth and he suddenly felt a hard little bump.

He instantly snapped out of it, leaned over to the small mirror on the table, and carefully examined his mouth. In the middle of the gap, a tooth tip the size of half a grain of rice was emerging, with a faint pinkish-white hue.

"Mom! Dad! Come quick!" Leilei grabbed the mirror and ran into the main room, his voice filled with barely concealed excitement.

Lu Mingyue was setting out breakfast when Huo Zheng finished fastening his military trousers belt, and the two of them quickly gathered around.

Following the direction Lei Lei pointed, Lu Mingyue saw the tiny tooth peeking out timidly. She couldn't help but laugh: "Our Lei Lei's new tooth has really grown in!"

Yao Yao also tiptoed over and pointed her little finger at the tooth in the mirror: "Brother has teeth! He can play with Yao Yao now!"

Huo Zheng lifted Lei Lei up and shook him with a smile: "Good lad, your new teeth are growing fast. In a while, you'll be able to fulfill your promise to Erdan about the walnuts."