"My dad told me that railways are straight. Why do you think they're built so straight?"
Wen'er laughed so hard she bent over, then ran straight behind Er Mao, laughing as she said, "Brother, you're kidding me."
"Is that even a question? The straight path is the shortest."
"Give me a hand," Er Mao said.
Wen'er, supporting Er Mao's bottom, her face flushed red, finally managed to climb the tree. He sat on a thick treetop, his face covered in sweat, one hand gripping the branch, the other reaching downwards.
"Do you dare to come up?"
"What's there to be afraid of?"
Wen'er wiped the sweat from her face, smiled, grabbed Er Mao's hand, and nimbly climbed to the top of the tree.
"Hold on tight, don't fall," Er Mao warned, carefully climbing up the treetop, with Wen'er following quietly behind.
Once in the middle of the tree canopy, Er Mao stopped climbing and reached out to push aside the leaves.
Then a wider view appeared before them. Er Mao looked at Wen'er beside him, pointed ahead, and said with a smile:
"Look, the train is almost out of sight."
Wen'er gazed in the direction the train was speeding by. In a field of golden wheat, the railway seemed to divide the vast plain in two. She smiled and replied, "I can only see a little bit now."
"By the way, bro, I think it runs faster this time than before."
"Really? Then something urgent must have happened." Er Mao looked away and reached out to pick a green plum from under the leaves.
"Run!"
"Run faster!"
Suddenly, Wen'er shouted, which startled Er Mao:
"What are you doing? Why are you shouting like that?" he scolded.
"If there's an emergency, the people on the train will definitely be in a hurry, so of course the train needs to run faster," Wen'er explained with a smile.
Er Mao ignored it, instead picking two green plums, wiping them clean, and handing one to Wen'er: "Try it."
"It's sour, I won't eat it." Wen'er shook her head with a smile.
"sweet!"
"impossible."
"real."
"I don't believe you, you eat first."
"You little brat, you still don't believe me, huh?"
Er Mao took a bite, then immediately turned his face away, his expression contorted in a grimace. It took him several seconds to recover before he finally spoke, drooling:
"Sweet and sour."
Wen'er smiled so much her eyes narrowed into crescent moons, but she still took a small bite of the green plum Er Mao offered, chewing as she said:
"It's sweet and sour."
"Huh?" Er Mao's eyes widened.
"Really? Isn't yours sweet and sour?" Wen'er asked doubtfully.
Er Mao nodded, stuffed the green plum that Wen'er had bitten into his mouth, chewed it vigorously, and then spat it out with a "pui" sound.
"This is what you call sweet and sour?" Er Mao's expression twisted.
Wen'er giggled sweetly.
Amidst laughter, Er Mao plopped down on a treetop, gazing at the endless wheat fields and the train that had completely disappeared from sight. Suddenly, he shook his head with an air of wisdom and sighed:
"This scene truly inspires me to compose a poem."
Seeing her brother's serious expression, Wen'er smiled and sat down beside him, putting her arm around his waist and saying, "Come on, great poet."
Er Mao, with a serious expression, remained silent for a moment before pointing at the wheat field and shouting:
"There's wind! There's wheat!"
At this point, his voice slowed down, and he shook his head as he said:
That is... the wind blows the wheat fields as the Grain in Ear season arrives.
"Good! Good!" Wen'er clapped her hands knowingly, "Next line! Next line!"
Er Mao smiled smugly, pointed to the tree full of fruit, and shouted:
"There are plums!"
He sighed as soon as he finished speaking, "It's a pity there's no wine."
Then, he repeated his old trick, shaking his head, but this time he closed his eyes:
"It's time for plum wine again..."
The words had barely left his mouth.
"Brilliant!"
Wen'er laughed and praised her, clapping even more enthusiastically, which made Er Mao feel very comfortable, and he unconsciously chuckled twice.
"Again! Again!"
But Wen'er's next words put Er Mao in a difficult position. He only remembered the two lines of poetry the teacher had mentioned, but he couldn't remember the rest. However, he was prepared for this.
He opened his eyes, looked at Wen'er with a deep expression, and said, "You have to come up with the next two lines of poetry."
Wen'er blushed and whispered, "I... I don't know how."
Er Mao lifted Wen'er's chin and looked at her, saying:
"You don't know how? That's okay."
"Go and learn."
Wen'er's face turned even redder. She pushed Er Mao's hand away and said coquettishly, "You just know how to tease me. Humph, I'm ignoring you."
Er Mao stopped pretending and chuckled, saying, "Wen'er, Dad said that after the wheat harvest, he will send you to school this summer."
Wen'er was taken aback, then quickly shook her head: "Nonsense."
"real!"
"nonsense....."
"Really! I'd be a coward if I lied to you!" Er Mao patted his chest and assured him.
Wen'er lowered her head, fidgeting with her fingers, and stammered, "But I... but how can I do this...?"
"You? If you were even half as smart as me, you could have come up with those two lines of poetry, but you can't." Er Mao crossed his arms smugly.
"Hmph! Who says I can't! When I go to school, I can compose a hundred poems!" Wen'er pouted defiantly.
"Really?" Er Mao shook his head and continued, "Then let's have a contest. Next year, right here, we'll exchange poems and see who's better. How about it, dare to accept the challenge?"
"Come on then, who's afraid of who?" Wen'er snorted.
“I learned earlier than you, so I won’t take advantage of you. How about this, we’ll have a competition every year from now on. When we’re old and can’t compete anymore, we’ll see who wins more. How about that? Are you scared?” Er Mao said with a pout.
"Who's afraid of who! Come on!" Wen'er readily agreed.
Er Mao immediately stuck out his bent little finger: "Pinky promise!"
Wen'er immediately extended her little finger and hooked it, then the two of them simultaneously flipped their thumbs up and pressed them together, saying in unison:
"Pinky promise, this rule will remain unchanged for a hundred years!"
As soon as she finished speaking, her hands remained clasped. Wen'er leaned against Er Mao's chest and said softly:
"Brother, the sky is so blue today."
"Yes, the weather has been nice these past few days," Er Mao replied without hesitation.
A gentle breeze caressed his face. Er Mao looked up and saw a patch of sky peeking through the lush green canopy, which was indeed a pure and azure blue.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
