Duo Shou stared intently at the comic book in Gao Guojing's hand, pleading, "Uncle Guojing, please let us take a look, just one more look."
Duofu's eyes also filled with longing, and Duoxi and Duolu jumped even more excitedly.
Dorjee jumped along with them, and the group hugged Gao Guojing's legs and acted coquettishly.
Surrounded by several adorable children, Gao Guojing's resolve wavered, and just as he was about to surrender, Yu Rujia walked in and took away all the comic books.
Yu Rujia: "Not only can you not read comic books now, you can't read them today either. From now on, you can only read comic books for one hour a day, and you have to read them twice."
"You are too young. Reading too much can hurt your eyes. From now on, you can only read comic books for half an hour each in the morning and afternoon."
She agreed to add some entertainment options for the kids, but wouldn't let them run wild.
The heartless Yu Rujia ignored the cries of agony, confiscated the comic book, and took it back to her room.
A group of children approached the dining table absentmindedly, glancing at Yu Rujia from time to time.
Duo Shou's eyes darted around, and he took the initiative to put some food on her plate: "The fish is delicious today, Auntie, have some more."
Duofu: "Today's pork liver is fresh, fragrant, and flavorful, it's especially delicious, Auntie, have some."
Duolu carefully placed a piece of tofu into Yu Rujia's bowl: "Auntie, eat tofu. It's made with fresh soybeans and it's especially delicious."
Duoxi picked up a piece of pork belly: "Auntie, the meat is delicious, you eat it."
After his older brothers set an example, little chubby Dorje was not to be outdone. He spun his little hand and scooped a spoonful of soup from his own bowl.
He had only recently learned to use a spoon, and when he brought a spoonful of soup to Yu Rujia's lips, only half a spoonful remained.
The little one looked at her with bright eyes: "Mom, soup, have some soup."
To prevent the soup in his spoon from spilling, Yu Rujia finished the soup in one gulp, patted the little guy's head, and praised him generously, "Dorje is great!"
Gao Shujing, who had just come from the bike shed, said in surprise, "Oh, what's going on here? Everyone's being so attentive."
Yu Rujia: "They read comic books for more than an hour this afternoon. How can children read for so long? I confiscated the comic books and will let them read them again tomorrow."
Gao Shujing understood immediately what the kids were up to; they just wanted to win Yu Rujia's favor and get permission to read comic books.
Gao Shujing: "Listen to your aunt. If you ruin your eyesight, you won't be able to see anything in the future. Your aunt is keeping an eye on your reading because it's for your own good."
Knowing that begging for mercy was useless, the little ones quieted down, but they were clearly not motivated afterward. Their eyes kept drifting towards Yu Rujia, and their pitiful little appearance made Gao Guojing unable to help but plead for them.
Gao Guojing: "Rujia, how about we let them watch for another half hour?"
Yu Rujia glanced in his direction, and the man immediately changed his tune, making up an excuse to back down.
Gao Guojing: "Oh, it's evening now, and the lights are too dim. It's really not suitable for reading. Let them read tomorrow."
His words extinguished the glimmer of hope that had just appeared in the children's eyes, and Duofu and Duoshou each rolled their eyes at him.
Duo Shou muttered, "Traitor."
Gao Guojing pretended to cough, trying to divert the others' attention. He couldn't help it; the look in Sister Rujia's eyes earlier had made him a little scared.
So when Erdan came to ask them to go out and play the next day, none of the little ones moved, because they wanted to read comic books.
Duolu put his hands on his hips and said smugly, "We want to read comic books, we don't have time to go out and play."
Upon hearing this, Erdan's eyes lit up: "Comic books? Where can I find comic books?"
Duofu stared at Yu Rujia's room without blinking, as if he could see through the walls to the comic books inside.
Duofu: "In my aunt's room, we'll have something to see when she gets up."
Yu Rujia usually sleeps until after eight o'clock before getting up, while the other kids get up at five or six o'clock to practice martial arts. They have already finished practicing martial arts and had breakfast, and are just waiting for Yu Rujia to get up and get her comic books.
If it weren't for their long-standing habit, the kids would have all wanted to run into the room and grab the comic books.
The eldest child excitedly pulled Duofu along, asking, "Can I borrow your comic books?"
Comic books were as rare as movies; very few people in the entire brigade had them. Those people hid their comic books very carefully, as if they were afraid that if others looked at them too much, they would damage the books.
The eldest child said that in all his years, he had only read a few pages of comic books.
Duofu: "Let's talk about it after Auntie gets up."
As soon as Yu Rujia opened the door, she saw a long line of children sitting in front of her room.
Upon seeing her come out, Duoshou nimbly got up and rushed over: "Auntie, the comic book."
The other kids also rushed over, wanting the comic book too.
Erdan asked cautiously, "Aunt Yu, can we read picture books?"
A group of people gathered around, and Yu Rujia couldn't go out, so she could only say, "I'll go get you the comic books right now. Each person can only read for half an hour, and you have to return the book after half an hour."
"Anyone who breaks the rules will be punished by not being allowed to read comic books for three days. Any objections?"
After receiving a unanimous "no objection" reply, Yu Rujia readily took out the comic books and gave one to each of the four friends, including Erdan.
The little ones, having received the comic books, finally stopped blocking the door and sat on stools, eagerly reading them.
After Yu Rujia finished washing up and eating breakfast, it was only half an hour before they arrived. Even though the children didn't want to return the books, they were still punished by not being allowed to read for three days, so they returned the books within the stipulated time.
The children were all well-behaved, so Yu Rujia readily announced the next time they could read comic books: "You are all good children, you can read comic books for another half hour after your afternoon nap."
"Oh, that's great."
"Auntie is the best."
"Aunt Yu is the best."
After showering Yu Rujia with flattery, she happily took the comic book back to her room.
Since they didn't have any books in their hands, the group started discussing the contents of the books. Each of them was reading a different book, so each person could take turns talking about it.
The little ones didn't go out all morning, and the stories they had read were told over and over again, until Gao Guojing came over to cook, and then Erdan and the others ran off.
Gao Shujing brought back more than a dozen comic books. Due to time constraints, it took the children many days to finish reading them all.
"Monster, where are you going?"
"Behold my old Sun's golden cudgel."
The other day, we were playing a game of pretending to be kids. After watching Journey to the West, a group of children took on the roles from the story, with Sun Wukong being the most popular.
Even little Dorje, who stumbles over his words, can spout a few lines from Journey to the West.
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