"Okay! Let's go!"

"Let's go, let's go."

The group of children were a little scared when they saw Tiedan coming with a big child.

Tiedan waved his hand and said, "Don't be afraid. My sister is dressed beautifully, so she must be from the city. Erya's mother likes to curry favor with city people the most. If she comes back and catches us, she won't beat Erya."

Zhou Xiang laughed when he heard that. "So, you weren't really treating me to fish and soup!"

"I'm sincere. I'll give you the biggest one later. If Erya's mother comes back, you can protect Erya and tell her that you wanted to try this fish soup."

Tiedan's dark face was full of innocence.

"If Erya's mother hadn't come back, and the biggest one belonged to me, wouldn't you feel at a disadvantage?"

"No, no, sister, you are so beautiful, you should eat the biggest one."

"You're quite sweet, alright! I'll be your shield for once."

"oh!"

"oh!"

"Come on, Erya, you don't have to be afraid. Sister has agreed."

Zhou Xiang was infected by their simple happiness and smiled as well.

Tiedan held the wooden barrel in one hand and held Zhou Xiang's hand with the other.

Zhou wanted to feel the thin claws on his hand, and without feeling any discomfort, he let him pull it.

The direction they were heading was Beihu Lake. At the tattered wooden door of a house at the west end, Erya stretched out her thin, dark hand, went around through the big gap in the door, and opened the gate.

Then he whispered, "Come in quickly!"

The four children and Zhou Xiang sneaked into the kitchen like thieves.

"Why are we being so gentle?"

"Because Xiaohua's mother next door likes to complain, we can't let her hear it."

"Didn't you say you wouldn't be afraid as long as I was around?"

"Yes! I'm used to it, I'm used to it."

Then, the friends stopped working in slow motion and started working quickly.

Erya was making a fire, Tiedan and another boy were squeezing Xiaoyu's intestines, and the little girl named Xiaohua was peeling two cloves of garlic.

“Why not ginger?”

"Jiang Gui, my family didn't buy any. The garlic is grown in our own fields, and it can also remove the fishy smell."

Well, these children were better at housework than me, so I sat by and waited for my meal.

When the water boils, wash the fish and shrimp and put them in the pot, add garlic and salt, and cover the pot.

After it gurgled a few times, he removed the firewood and let it sit for a while longer.

Suddenly, a woman's voice came from outside, "Erya, is my Xiaohua at your house?"

Xiaohua suddenly panicked, and the other three children put their fingers to their lips and said, "Shh!"

Then he pointed behind the door, where there was a water tank, forming a triangular angle with the door panel.

Tiedan moved the door panel forward, Xiaohua squatted beside the tank, and Tiedan moved the door panel backward.

Looking at the door panel with a big gap, Zhou Xiang said nothing. The child's thoughts were decades away from his own.

A sturdy woman walked into the yard, "Erya, have you seen my Xiaohua? You were wasting firewood and salt again, let me tell you... "Your mother.

When I saw Zhou Xiang, I was stuck on the last two words.

"Fifth Aunt, why are you here?"

"I'll have fish soup."

Zhou thought indifferently that this person followed him and his group to his great-grandfather's house, so she must know him. As for who she was, he didn't want to know.

Tiedan was confused. What is the Fifth Aunt?

Zhou Xiang shouted to Xiaohua behind the door, "Don't hide, your mother won't beat you, come out!"

Xiaohua behind the door stood up, pushed the door and walked out.

"You stupid girl, I've been calling you for a long time, but you're playing dumb and not saying a word."

When the woman saw Xiaohua, she cursed and reached out to pull Xiaohua's ear.

"Ahem." Zhou Xiang coughed forcefully twice. "I told her to ignore you. Why are you looking for her? Is dinner ready at home?"

The woman's hand was stopped by a cold cough and she put it down. "Isn't it time to cook? I told her to go back and light the fire."

"Before you gave birth to her, did you eat raw food?"

"What's the meaning?"

"Humph! What I mean is, without her to light the fire, you can't cook, right?"

"I, I am..."

"Does Xiaohua have a brother?"

"have!"

"Then why not ask her brother to light the fire?"

"Don't girls have to do housework since they are young?"

"Who told you to make her a girl? She wants to go out and play like her brother and have food to eat when she comes back. You made her a girl, so she can't take advantage of it. Don't you feel you owe her something? Shouldn't you compensate her? Why do you still make her work?"

"I, I, I don't know either." The woman was confused by Zhou Xiang's theory and didn't know how to answer.

"It's your fault that your belly is not doing well. Go back! From now on, either the children should do things together, or you should do it alone. Don't always boss girls around."

"Okay, okay, I'll go back right away."

Tiedan and the others looked at Zhou Xiang in admiration, "Fifth Aunt, you are so awesome! Xiaohua's mom is such a badass. She always twists her ears and brings her home."

"Cough cough cough." Zhou Xiang almost choked on his own saliva. What is the Fifth Aunt?

"This is all crooked logic. I'm deliberately using bad habits that everyone has agreed on to distort the facts. Don't learn from me, and don't use this kind of argument in the future. Otherwise, you will get beaten even harder."

"oh!"

Tiedan's tone was very depressed.

"When you grow up and go to school, you'll understand more and even be able to render others speechless with your own twisted logic, just like what happened just now."

"Fifth Aunt, what grade are you in?"

"Fifth Aunt is what Xiaohua's mother calls me. So, Xiaohua should call me Fifth Aunt Grandma."

"Fifth aunt? Such a young aunt?"

"This is a question of generation. As I said before, study hard. I'm in junior high school now."

"What grade is junior high school?"

"Well, junior high school should be considered seventh grade!"

“That’s amazing.”

"Sister, Auntie, oh! I can't say it."

"Just call me Zhou Xiang, my name."

If we ask them to call her sister, the villagers will definitely not agree and it will cause chaos. It is best to call her by her name directly.

"Okay, call Zhou Xiang, let's drink the soup quickly! It's time to go home, otherwise the adults will be looking for you everywhere."

"Yes! Sometimes, they're looking for you because they're worried about you. Not only do you always go to the river, but there are also bad people out there who will take children away and sell them. So, when adults call you, just tell them where you are and then go home. That's the safest way."

"Yeah, we know. There were children missing in the village before. Everyone said they were kidnapped."

"That's good to know. Don't hide next time. The harder the adults can't find you, the angrier they'll be, and the harder you'll be beaten."

The four people nodded. Zhou Xiang drank half a bowl of fish soup. It had a strong smell of mud, but they drank it with great joy.

Just after finishing drinking, Erya's mother came back. Before she went home, she was dragged away by Xiaohua's mother and talked to. She knew that today's Fifth Aunt was at her home.

"Oh! Fifth Aunt, are Erya and the others bothering you?"

"No, they are all very well behaved."

Erya's mother pulled Erya over and said, "Erya, this is your fifth aunt, call for help."

"Fifth Aunt."