Chapter 176 Mom Eats...
"Hey, what are they doing?"
"Standing around a stove and brewing tea?"
"It's not that elegant."
Chen Changyu, Duan Jing, and Qi Zhao were originally following behind Shen Yuqiu when they saw a group of human cubs and animals gathered together, so they immediately ran over to join in the fun.
Upon closer inspection, it became clear that a fire was burning in the middle, with human infants forming a circle inside, and cats, dogs, chickens, and other animals forming a circle around them—a perfect concentric circle.
"What are you doing?" Duan Jing asked as he walked.
"Senior brothers, you're here!" Wen Xingmou exclaimed excitedly.
There's a reason why Wen Xingmou called Chen Changyu and the others her senior brothers. It's said that once, when Lao Zhuang and Lao Shen were both at the orphanage, Wen Xingmou said she wanted to study medicine and that she wanted Lao Zhuang and Lao Shen to be her mentors. When Lao Zhuang came back, he said that a master shouldn't teach half a disciple, and that he was determined to take Lao Shen's half. Lao Shen didn't say anything at the time, but turned around and bought Wen Xingmou a whole set of medical equipment toys, successfully winning her over.
Of course, this wasn't the main reason why Chen Changyu and the others were willing to call her "Junior Sister." The main reason was that after Wen Xingmou recognized Lao Shen as her mentor, she would send him a video call whenever she had something delicious or fun at home, inviting him to join her. The food at the orphanage was truly delicious, and people are easily swayed by kindness. Besides, once they'd eaten, they wanted more, so the group started calling her "Junior Sister" without a second thought.
Besides, who could resist a cute and adorable junior sister? Nobody!
“Since our junior sister personally invited us, we senior brothers have to come and help,” Chen Changyu said.
Last night, when Wen Xingmou called Lao Shen, Lao Shen happened to be treating everyone to a late-night snack. Of course, she wanted to join in on such a good thing!
Wen Xingmou: "Hehe, look what we're doing?"
Duan Jing: "Playing with fire?"
Chen Changyu: "Junior sister, children shouldn't play with fire."
An Shisi asked, "Why?"
Qi Zhao said in a serious tone: "Children who play with fire wet the bed at night."
Instantly, all the children looked at him with a mixture of confusion and shock.
Qi Zhao said with certainty, "It's true."
Li Tianle said gloatingly, "Luckily, I'm not a child."
Chen Changyu glanced at Li Tianle: "How old are you? Do you think you're not a child just because you're tall? Your jawline is still so underdeveloped, it still smells like a baby. Think about it, didn't you go to the pediatrics department last time you went to the hospital?"
Li Tianle lost his composure. "Impossible! I'm not a child anymore!"
Sure enough, if the body develops too fast and takes up too much nutrition, the brain can't develop properly. Duan Jing tried his best to suppress his laughter and said, "This has been certified by millions of people. No child can escape it. It's okay if you don't admit it now, just don't wet the bed at night."
Li Tianle's expression visibly panicked, and his voice lowered, "Impossible, I couldn't have wet the bed..."
Ji Fengnian looked at Li Tianle with great helplessness. How could someone be so stupid?
Shen Yuqiu walked over from behind and found a group of children gathered together quietly, the atmosphere very heavy. He asked, "What's wrong?"
An Shisi: "Uncle, will we wet the bed at night?"
Shen Yuqiu was taken aback. "Why do you ask that?"
An Shisi: "Because, my brother said we wet the bed at night because we play with fire."
Shen Yuqiu: "..."
"No, just be careful."
Li Tianle instantly saw a glimmer of hope, "Really?"
Shen Yuqiu: You believe that too?
Countless eyes stared at Shen Yuqiu, who could only say, "I won't wet the bed, but if I get burned while I'm not careful, it will hurt a lot."
"Great, no more bedwetting!"
“We know that burns are painful, we’re not three-year-olds.”
Shen Yuqiu: "..."
It's really hard to fit into the world of young people when you get older. Shen Yuqiu withdrew from the group of children and walked towards An Fusheng.
When An Fusheng saw Shen Yuqiu walking over, he greeted her, "Teacher Shen, you've arrived."
"Hmm." Shen Yuqiu said, "You finally get a day off, why don't you go out and play instead of staying home to grow vegetables?"
An Fusheng: "There's nothing fun about it."
An Fusheng has been here for over a year, and apart from occasionally taking his younger siblings to the nearby park, he hasn't really been anywhere else.
Perhaps due to his personality, he preferred to stay in one place. Back in the village, during festivals, the young men would invite him to go to the city. When they came back, they would always talk about the city in glowing terms, but An Fusheng couldn't imagine it and had no expectations. The few times he went to the city, it was to see a doctor. The city hospitals were crowded and lively, but he didn't like them. He preferred the mountains and fields. The mountains had all kinds of wild fruits and vegetables, and the fields had soft soil and thriving crops. In the mountains and fields, he could do whatever he wanted. The land and plants were always quiet and wouldn't call him a fool.
Shen Yuqiu: "Aren't you tired?"
An Fusheng: "Cooking and farming are things I enjoy doing, and I don't find them tiring."
Shen Yuqiu: "That's true. It's a blessing to be able to do what you love in this life."
An Fusheng: "Teacher Shen, Wen's mother is sleeping. Please don't disturb her unless it's absolutely necessary."
Shen Yuqiu was taken aback, then laughed and said, "I was invited here to help you with the farming."
Yesterday, Wen Xingmou used An Fusheng's phone to make a video call to Shen Yuqiu in front of An Fusheng. Of course, An Fusheng knew that he had been invited by Wen Xingmou, but if Shen Yuqiu said that he came to the orphanage only because of Wen Xingmou... An Fusheng would only believe him if he were blind.
An Fusheng stared intently at Shen Yuqiu.
Shen Yuqiu: "Alright, it's partly because of your mother, Wen."
An Fusheng: "Wen's mother doesn't like you, so why do you keep pursuing her?"
Shen Yuqiu retorted, "You were still wearing open-crotch pants when she liked me."
An Fusheng: "She doesn't like you anymore."
Shen Yuqiu fell silent.
An Fusheng's words pierced Shen Yuqiu's heart, and she felt a little guilty. "My mother-in-law is too busy. She won't have time to catch up on sleep if she's in a relationship."
Shen Yuqiu sighed, "She has always had low energy. When we were in school, she would come to see me on weekends but she would never go out to play. She would either sleep in my dorm or sleep in my lab. I never expected that someone with such low energy would do the most demanding thing. But she has always been excellent and does everything very well."
An Fusheng: "If you like Aunt Wen so much, why don't you stay with her all the time?"
Shen Yuqiu fell silent again.
An Fusheng: "As expected, it was you who wronged my mother, Wen."
Shen Yuqiu: Speechless.
An Fusheng: "I will soon be able to take good care of Aunt Wen, so you don't need to pursue her anymore."
Shen Yuqiu: "What kind of talk is that?"
An Fusheng: "Have you ever thought about it? You're a great teacher, a great doctor, but what do all that have to do with Aunt Wen? She's neither your student nor your patient. Your kindness has nothing to do with her. For her, your companionship is the most important thing, but later you stopped wanting to spend time with her..."
“I didn’t,” Shen Yuqiu interrupted An Fusheng. “I didn’t refuse to be with her; I regret it so much…”
"What's the use of regretting it? What's done is done. Wen's mother doesn't need your company anymore. You're of no use to her now. Since you're of no use, what's the point of your existence? Loving someone takes a lot of effort, and she used up all her strength to love you last time."
Shen Yuqiu remained silent for a long time.
"Big brother! Come and eat some sweet potatoes! The sweet potatoes are cooked! They're so delicious!"
Li Tianle's loud voice carried from a great distance.
An Fusheng turned off the tiller and left, leaving Shen Yuqiu standing there, stunned.
What are you standing here for?
Shen Yuqiu looked up abruptly, and Wen Min was standing opposite her. Tears streamed down Shen Yuqiu's face.
Wen Min: "..."
Shen Yuqiu quickly wiped away her tears: "No...it's nothing."
Wen Min: "Why are these little brats all gathered around making a fuss?"
Shen Yuqiu: "Roasting sweet potatoes."
Wen Min: "Really? I'll go take a look."
After saying that, he walked towards the group of children. After a few steps, he saw that Shen Yuqiu was still standing there motionless, and asked curiously, "What's wrong with you?"
Shen Yuqiu turned around and walked towards her. "It's nothing, I just got some dust in my eyes."
Wen Min noticed his eyes were red and asked, "Do you ophthalmologists also wipe your eyes with your sleeves when you get dust in them?"
Shen Yuqiu: "Huh? What else can we do?"
Wen Min: "I thought there would be some more professional solution."
...
When Wen Min and Shen Yuqiu arrived, the children's faces were covered in smears like cats', and each of them was holding a burnt sweet potato and munching on it, shaking their heads as they did so.
An Shisi: "Brother, do we get to eat fragrant sweet potatoes if we work?"
An Fusheng: "Mm."
Bai Mangmang: "All food is earned through labor."
Wen Xinglin: "That's right, so everyone should cherish food."
An Shisi: "Why?"
Wen Xinglin: "Because labor is very hard."
An Shisi: "It's very hard work."
Wen Xinglin: "Wasting food is wasting hard work."
An Shisi seemed to understand but made a hasty conclusion: "Yes, you can't eat food without working hard."
"Hahahaha!" Duan Jing couldn't help but burst into laughter.
An Shisi: "Brother, am I right?"
Duan Jing: "Very right, absolutely right, and it's also very philosophical."
An Shisi: "What is philosophy?"
Duan Jing: "Is philosophy... is philosophy just reason? If there is philosophy, then there is reason, and reason is always right."
An Shisi: "So, does everything I said have that... philosophical meaning?"
Duan Jing: "Yes, every word you say is philosophical. You're practically Aristotle XIV."
An Shisi then asked, "Then why do people who are civilized and polite not work?"
Duan Jing: "Who?"
An Shisi pointed to two chickens that were furtively picking up sweet potato peels nearby.
Duan Jing: "Because they are animals, and animals don't work."
An Shisi: "But Afu, Xiaobai, and Yi Er San Si Wu Liu all found sweet potatoes, didn't they?"
Duan Jing is going crazy.
Ugh! I'm not a humanities student, I can't answer such a philosophical question!!!
Ugh! Why did I have to answer An Shisi? Why? I've already been stumped by this question so many times, why am I falling into the same trap again? Why?
Duan Jing ran a hand through his hair and looked to An Fusheng for help.
An Fusheng: "If you ask again, your sweet potatoes will be pecked up by those who are civilized and polite."
An Shisi realized that he only had a tiny bit of sweet potato left, which he was holding in his hand. His lips trembled, and he burst into tears.
An Fusheng was prepared and handed him the peeled and cooled sweet potato in his hand, saying, "Here, there's more here."
An Shisi tearfully accepted the sweet potato, saying, "Being civilized and polite is too mean. I'm not going to associate with them anymore."
Wen Min squatted down in the gap: "Weren't you two like brothers yesterday? You fell out over a sweet potato? Your brotherhood is a bit weak."
An Shisi: "Hmph!"
When Wen Xinglan saw Wen Min coming over, she happily crawled towards her and gave her the sweet potato she had half-eaten.
Looking at the half-eaten sweet potato that had just been rubbed on the ground, Wen Min said earnestly, "My son, your old mother appreciates your filial piety. You can give it to the civilized and polite ones; they want to eat it."
Wen Xinglan held up the sweet potato with all her might: "Mom, eat."
Wen Min: "..."
...
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com