"Then I'll go home. Please, Grandpa and my little brothers, wait for me here."

"It's not a bother, it's my duty." Yan Guofeng smiled. The little ones thought their sister was going to leave, so they held on to her trouser legs.

Wang Daya and Gong Zhaodi carried them away and explained for a long time before they understood that their sister would come back; so they stared at Nie Xi's receding back, and then turned to look at the old man.

"Grandpa, hold me." Li Ji stretched out his hand.

Li Ming and Li Zhen asked to be held one after another. Yan Guofeng couldn't bear to refuse them, so he held each one and then handed them to Wang Daya and Gong Zhaodi. He was already struggling to hold Li Zhen alone. The little ones were getting heavier and heavier, and their weight was heavy in his hands. If he hadn't held them for a long time and developed a certain endurance, he might not be able to hold them now.

Holding Lizhen, he talked to the three children and comforted them.

On the other side, Nie Xi ran back home. It was a thatched house with a spacious area. It was really simple. There was a bamboo fence around the house, some utensils in the yard, and tables, chairs and benches under the eaves. There was not even a main room.

Logically speaking, with such a large area, having an extra main room wouldn't be a big deal; however, there was a problem: the Nie family didn't really have a main room. They ate outside in the summer and in the kitchen in the winter, so their main room had been converted into a bedroom.

The Nie family's layout consists of three bedrooms, a kitchen, a toilet, and a utility room. Because the bedrooms and kitchen are spacious, they occupy a lot of space.

"Mom, Dad, and brother, I'm back." Nie Xi ran, sweating profusely, straight to the kitchen. Inside, a middle-aged woman was cooking and a middle-aged man was lighting the fire. "Mom, Dad, I got something good today."

"What a good thing! Look how happy you are." The man from the Nie family spoke, and did not forget to stuff firewood into the stove.

The Nie family's mistress looked over and said, "It's just wild vegetables! Is it worth being so excited?"

"They're not wild vegetables." Nie Xi put the wild vegetables on the table and took out three candies from his pocket. "Look, these are given to me by Grandpa Yan because I helped play with his little brother."

"How can you ask for other people's things when you are taking your child to play? You want to play too, it's just a matter of convenience." The hostess of the Nie family frowned.

Nie Xi said, "I know. That's why I promised Grandpa Yan that I would go to his house to play with my little brother. I will come back after my little brother's mother comes back. So, I won't be back for lunch."

"You still want to go to their house for dinner? The food is so precious, forget it! You're playing with them and you're still eating and drinking for free." The mistress of the Nie family was very strict in educating her children, and her words showed it. "Eat your meal first, then go over."

"That won't work. I promised Grandpa Yan, and they are still waiting for me there."

The mistress of the Nie family frowned. "Whose family is the Grandpa Yan you're talking about? Everyone in our village has the surname Yan... Is he the one with the big house?"

"Yes, Grandpa Yan lives over there in the big house. Grandpa Yan is a very nice person. He even smiles at me and is very kind. Don't worry, Mom. At worst, I can find some wild vegetables for Grandpa Yan's house tomorrow." She had already made plans and would find a way to return whatever she ate.

The hostess of the Nie family pondered for a moment and scooped a few bowls of cornmeal from the rice jar, but such a small amount was nothing in front of others; she couldn't show it to others and felt it was rude.

"What good can your wild vegetables do?"

The Nie family man noticed his wife's hesitation and said, "We've got a lot of mushrooms left from the summer we picked and dried them. Let's pack some up and send some to our daughter. People from the city really like these mountain products. Since we're not well off, we'll just give them to Xiaoxi as a gift."

The Nie family's mistress nodded with difficulty, went to the utility room and found a small bag for her daughter to take with her. She also reminded her, "Don't touch or look around when you go to the Yan family. Play wherever you are allowed to play. You are a grown woman now. You must know what you should and shouldn't do. Don't let people gossip about you."

"I got it, Mom. I'm leaving now! You, Dad, and my brother will each have one candy. I can't give all of it to my brother, you guys need some too." Nie Xi left in a hurry, carrying the bag of mushrooms.

The Nie family's mistress shook her head and laughed, "Can't this child be more steady?"

"Our daughter is quite steady. Look at the villagers, everyone says she's well-educated. Only you have high expectations." The Nie family man was already very satisfied with his daughter's manners. "Then why would the Yan family think of asking our daughter to play with the children?"

The Yan family is truly the best in their village and is the object of their envy; they can't find a way to catch up with them and can only envy them.

"Maybe our daughter is sensible," the Nie family's mistress said uncertainly. "Otherwise, why didn't they look for another child instead of our Xiaoxi? Look at the White Rabbit candy they gave us. I heard it's very valuable. In our village, only the village chief's house can occasionally have it."

While Nie's parents were chatting, Nie Xi ran back to the agreed place and stopped out of breath.

"Grandpa Yan, I'm back."

"Run slower, there's no rush. Let's go back after you've evened out your breathing." Yan Guofeng felt a little more distressed for the little girl.

"No need, just a walk will be fine." Nie Xi took a few deep breaths and was able to speak normally. He handed the things to the old man, "Grandpa Yan, my parents asked me to bring this. They said it's a gift for visiting."

Yan Guofeng had an even better impression of the Nie family. "Why do you want a door-to-door gift? I invited you to come and play, and you still want a door-to-door gift. That's not right."

"Then I don't care. My mother asked me to bring it here, and I can't take it back."

"Forget it, kid. Go home first." Yan Guofeng didn't argue with a little girl. At most, he would wait for the little girl to bring some things as a return gift when she went back. If there was a gift for the visit, there would be a return gift.

The group returned to Yan's house and walked into the main hall. Gong Zhaodi put the child down and took out a clean mattress to spread on the floor of the main hall. The floor of the main hall was swept every day, and the mattress was washed every few days. The mattress on the floor was equivalent to a mattress specially laid on the floor for children to play on.

"Mr. Yan, the mattresses are ready, please put the children down."

"Okay." Yan Guofeng walked forward holding the child, bent down and put Li Zhen on it; Wang Daya also put Li Ming on it, and Li Ji was put on last.

Nie Xi carried the bag and handed it to Gong Zhaodi and Wang Daya, "Here, aunties."

Wang Daya and Gong Zhaodi looked at the old man at the same time, and only accepted it when they saw him nod.

Nie Xi smiled with her eyes curved, feeling relieved now that the gift had been given.

"Go to the kitchen and see if lunch is ready. Bring it over if it's ready." Yan Guofeng said to Nie Xi, "Xiaoxi, please keep an eye on little brother. Let's go outside and talk."

"Okay, Grandpa Yan, don't worry, I will definitely take good care of them." Nie Xi knelt on the mattress, took out a red rope from his pocket, and began to turn the rope over for them to see.