After school in the afternoon, Gou Dan took Tian Hongbing home. As soon as they entered the yard, he shouted, "Mom, I'm home!"
Hearing the noise from inside, Zhang Hongyan immediately came out. Seeing a strange little boy standing next to her son, she smiled and said, "This must be Hongbing. Come in and sit down."
"Hello, Auntie," Tian Hongbing greeted politely.
The three of them went into the main room together. There were some candies and biscuits on the table. Zhang Hongyan told Tian Hongbing to eat whatever he wanted, and then she went to the kitchen to pour him a bowl of sugar water.
When Zhang Hongyan returned, she saw her son eating cookies by himself, while his classmate watched from the side.
She frowned slightly, somewhat displeased: "Lele, why are you eating all by yourself? Let Hongbing eat with you."
Dog Egg swallowed the biscuit in his mouth before speaking, "I called out, but Hongbing said he didn't like these things."
Gou Dan thought Tian Hongbing was quite special; he didn't even like candy and cookies. He had never seen a child who didn't like snacks before. Maybe city kids were different.
Tian Hongbing quickly explained, "That's right, Auntie, I said I wouldn't eat it myself."
Zhang Hongyan wasn't as easily fooled as her son. She knew the child was just being shy and wasn't eating. She smiled and placed the two bowls of sweet soup on the table.
"Red Soldier, have a bowl of water first."
"Thank you, Auntie." Tian Hongbing thought the cold boiled water in the bowl was just what he needed, so he picked up the bowl and took a big gulp. It tasted sweet, which made him subconsciously widen his eyes.
"Auntie, is there sugar in this water?"
Zhang Hongyan nodded and said with a smile, "I put in a little bit. In my hometown, guests always drink sweet soup when they come to visit."
Upon hearing this, Tian Hongbing didn't refuse anymore. After all, he had already drunk it, and he couldn't very well spit it out.
Zhang Hongyan grabbed a few candies from the table and stuffed them into Tian Hongbing's hand: "These candies and cookies are snacks that Auntie prepared for you two little ones because she knew you were coming to visit. Auntie will be sad if you don't eat them."
"This...I," Tian Hongbing stammered, unsure how to refuse. His parents didn't allow him to eat food from other people's homes, but Zhang Hongyan had put it that way, and it seemed impolite of him not to eat.
“Hongbing, Lele has only been in Beijing for a short time. You are the first good friend he has made here. Auntie likes you very much. Don’t be so polite with Auntie, okay?” Zhang Hongyan continued to persuade him.
Dog Egg chimed in, "Yeah, if you feel bad about me going to your house next time, you should treat me too."
"Okay, thank you, Auntie," Tian Hongbing was finally persuaded, mainly because the mother and son were too enthusiastic for him to handle.
After sitting in the main room for a while, Gou Dan took Tian Hongbing back to his room, not forgetting to take the candy and biscuits from the table with him.
Tian Hongbing followed Gou Dan into his room and looked around. "Jiale, do you live in this room by yourself?"
He noticed as soon as he entered the yard that Xia Jiale's house was very big. He had heard from the other party that there were only four people in their family.
"Yes, my parents and sister live in the main house, and I live alone here."
Tian Hongbing looked at Gou Dan with some envy; Gou Dan still slept in the same room as his parents.
However, last year, his mother said that he had grown up and there was not enough room in the bed, so she made him a small bed by himself, and he finally didn't have to squeeze into a bed with his parents and younger brother.
Gou Dan understands this feeling: "I used to sleep with my parents back in my hometown, but I only got a separate room after I moved to Beijing."
Tian Hongjun suddenly noticed a stack of comic books on the desk and exclaimed in surprise, "Jiale, are these all comic books? Your parents actually allowed you to buy so many comic books?"
There were at least a dozen or twenty comic books on the table. Tian Hongjun flipped through them and found that many of them were ones he had never read before.
"Yes, my sister bought these for me. She said it's okay for me to read these extracurricular books occasionally, as long as my grades keep up," Gou Dan said, praising his sister endlessly.
That wasn't all. He then pulled out all the toys Xia Jingjing had bought for him from the drawer: "Look, these were also bought for me by my sister. We can play together."
Tian Hongjun was extremely envious. What an amazing sister she was! Why didn't his mother give him a sister?
Gou Dan was used to the envious looks from his friends. Back in the village, Da Niu often envied him for having such a wonderful older sister.
The two little ones were reading comic books in the room. It wasn't until Zhang Hongyan called them to come eat that Tian Hongjun realized he hadn't forgotten the time and would get scolded if he didn't go home soon.
Zhang Hongyan said with a smile, "Hongjun, why don't you just stay at Auntie's house for dinner today?"
Tian Hongjun quickly declined her offer: "No, Auntie, my mom has probably already cooked dinner. They'll be worried if I don't go back soon."
"Alright, let's come again next time. Dog Egg, you see your classmate off."
Tian Hongjun jogged home and arrived just in time to see his mother setting the table.
Tian Hongjun's mother looked to be in her early thirties, with neat, short hair. When she saw her son running back breathlessly, she subconsciously frowned and asked, "Where did you go to play? Why are you back so late today?"
"Mom, I went to Xia Jiale's house to play today. He invited me to play with him." Tian Hongjun had told his parents last night about a new classmate who had transferred to his class, so Tian's mother knew about Xia Jiale.
"Alright, stop talking about the child. Hongbing, go wash your hands and eat," said Tian's father, taking the initiative to help his son out of the awkward situation.
After finishing dinner, Tian Hongjun remembered that he still had the candy Zhang Hongyan had given him in his pocket.
He carefully took out all the candy and put it on the table, saying, "Mom, this is candy that my classmate's mom gave me. I brought it back to eat with my little brother."
After saying that, he glanced at his mother's expression, afraid that she would be angry.
Mother Tian's expression was indeed not good: "Hongjun, how could you take so much candy from other people? Didn't I teach you not to take things from other people?"
She disliked people who liked to take advantage of others, so she taught her two children from a young age never to develop these bad habits.
When Tian Hongbing saw that his mother was angry, he quickly explained, and also mentioned that he planned to invite Xia Jiale to his house to play next time.
After hearing this, Tian's mother's expression softened: "Okay, let me know in advance when you're inviting your classmates over to play, and I'll prepare some food for you."
Seeing that his mother was no longer angry, Tian Hongbing felt relieved and shared the candy with his younger brother.
Then he peeled two more candies and put them into his parents' mouths: "Hehe, Mom and Dad, you've worked hard, have a candy to sweeten your mouths."
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