On the fifth day of the sixth lunar month, the busiest time of year arrived in Nanjing.
Just as dawn was breaking, Er Mao, who was fast asleep on his bed, was slapped on the bottom.
The slap was forceful and the sound was exceptionally loud, causing Er Mao, who was still dreaming, to let out a low groan.
"Get up now!" The scolding followed, and then another slap landed, but it was much lighter than the first one.
Even so, Er Mao was still very dissatisfied. He reached out and scratched his butt, muttering sleepily:
"What are you doing, Dad... it's not even dawn yet..."
"You're lying through your teeth! Get up right now!"
The man grabbed Er Mao and forcefully turned him over. Only then did Er Mao fully open his eyes. He rubbed his eyes with one hand and wiped the drool from his mouth with the other, saying with increasing dissatisfaction:
"Why did you wake me up so early in the morning...?"
The words had barely left his mouth when a shout, accompanied by spittle, sprayed all over Er Mao's head and face:
"You brat! I told you yesterday to go to bed early."
"What kind of sneaky things did you do last night? You're still sleeping in, don't you know you have to get up in the fields today?"
Faced with his father's scolding, Er Mao lowered his hands, sighed helplessly, and muttered, "There were so many mosquitoes last night, they kept me from sleeping."
As he spoke, Er Mao lay down, closed his eyes again, and waved his hand, saying, "Dad, let me sleep a little longer..."
Before he could finish speaking, the man reached out his strong hand and lifted Er Mao off the bed, pulling up Er Mao's pants that were dangling halfway up his buttocks.
"Get up and come down to the ground with me."
"You brat, you have no manners at all. Can't you learn from your sister? Wen'er went to boil water early this morning."
"You, on the other hand, eat like a fat pig and sleep like a dead pig."
"Of course mosquitoes will bite you."
The man frowned as he looked at his son, who had gotten increasingly fatter over the past year, feeling both annoyed and angry.
Er Mao, while buttoning his undershirt, pouted and said, "Dad, you're so vulgar. We're supposed to be educated men, you can say that at home, but you can't say it like that outside. If other people hear us, I'll..."
"Wow, that's amazing!"
"After attending school for a few months, you really think you're a scholar?" The man rolled his eyes.
"Why doesn't it count?"
Er Mao tilted his head and retorted, then said, "Dad, we are scholars. You, on the other hand, are forcing me to work in the fields. Even though there are no classes these days, I still have to stay home and review my lessons."
"The teacher wants us to... review the old to learn the new."
Seeing his son winking and deliberately speaking in a pretentious, literary voice, the man raised his hand and slapped Er Mao on the bottom.
"You brat! You've been to school for months and haven't learned anything new, you've just forgotten what you were taught."
"Even scholars have to work in the fields. Now that it's busy farming season, you have to work even harder."
Er Mao snorted, pulled up his pants, and got out of bed: "Okay, okay, I'll go then."
"Where's Wen'er, Father?"
While making the bed, the man replied, "I was boiling water just now. It should be in my room now. Go wash your face quickly; you have a lot of work to do today."
"Go quickly!"
Er Mao grunted an "oh," then, still half-asleep, went to the well. He didn't fully wake up until he washed his face with a ladle. Just as he shook the water off his face, a clear, cheerful laugh rang out behind him:
"You lazybones, you're finally up."
Upon hearing the words "lazy pig," Er Mao's face, which was as round as a full moon, immediately turned red. However, he remained silent and stood motionless on the ground.
"What are you doing?" The voice behind him grew closer, but Er Mao remained silent, his head hanging low.
"Brother?" A clear, melodious voice, like that of a nightingale, rang out again, right next to him.
Without further hesitation, Er Mao turned around with lightning speed and grabbed his younger sister Wen'er who had come close.
"What did you just call me? You're asking for a beating!"
"Behold my Shadowless Hand."
Er Mao stuck out his tongue and laughed loudly, his left hand tightly holding Wen'er, while his right hand kept tickling her armpit.
Wen'er, who was being tickled, giggled and laughed until she was breathless, and could only beg for mercy repeatedly:
"Good brother... good brother... please spare me..."
Er Mao, however, wouldn't let it go, shouting, "You little brat, do you dare to do it again!"
"No, no..." Wen'er had only called out twice when she looked up and saw her mother coming out of the house. She quickly shouted:
"Mother! Look at my brother!"
The woman had come out after hearing the noise, and seeing her son doing something to her daughter, she immediately grabbed the broom by the door and ran over with a livid face.
The woman didn't say a word of reprimand, but Er Mao, with his sharp eyes, panicked the moment he saw his mother's ashen face.
He quickly released his grip, took a few steps back, and then called out:
"Alright, Mom, I was just kidding."
It was too late.
The old man appeared from behind without anyone noticing. Er Mao was retreating into his father's arms when his hand was grabbed. Just as he was about to struggle, his mother ran over with a broom.
"Mother! No..."
Before he could finish speaking, there was a "smack".
"Wow!"
"Waaaaah........"
The woman lost her temper and Er Mao cried out in despair.
——
Before we knew it, it was morning. Under the clear blue sky, the weather was fine and sunny.
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