Although Xing Zhaozhao had already told the three little ones not to fight, she was still worried. After all, they had just fought, and who knew what kind of trouble they would cause if they got together.
She quickly finished cooking, went over to take a look, and was surprised to find that the three of them were having a great time. They were huddled together, heads close together, keeping Xiao Hongling company. They had the wind-up frog, the little tank, the little hen, and the little rabbit line up on the kang (a heated brick bed) to see who could run the farthest. Every now and then, bursts of laughter would erupt, and even Xiao Hongling would giggle along with them.
Xing Zhaozhao finally felt relieved, smiled and walked over, asking, "Looks like you had a lot of fun?"
"Mom, my little frog won first place again!" Hongyu said happily, holding up his little frog.
"Really? That's amazing." Xing Zhaozhao smiled and patted the little guy's head, then looked at the other two, "You didn't secretly fight while I was away, did you?"
Hongyu hooked her arms around her two older brothers' necks, one on each side: "How could that be? We're very close."
Hongfei and Lingze nodded in agreement.
Xing Zhaozhao raised an eyebrow: "Really? You used to beat him up on the bed, and your relationship has improved so quickly?"
Hongyu puffed out his little chest and said, "We call this 'no fight, no friendship'."
Xing Zhaozhao chuckled and couldn't help but reach out and ruffle her son's hair again: "You seem to know quite a lot."
“That’s right, I’m my mother’s son,” Hongyu said proudly.
Xing Zhaozhao felt incredibly comforted upon hearing this: "Alright, tidy up the toys on the kang, come out and eat." After saying that, she picked up Xiao Hongling and turned to leave.
Seeing that Xing Zhaozhao had left, Hongyu immediately leaned close to Ling Ze's ear and whispered, "Don't tell Mom that we shared cake with you. Mom is afraid we won't be able to eat much later, so she won't let us eat more. If you tell Mom and my brother and I get beaten up, I won't be friends with you anymore. I'll even beat you up with my brother when Mom isn't looking."
Ling Ze: "..." He didn't have this attitude when he asked him for cake just now.
Hongfei: "..." He never agreed to help him beat someone up; at most, he would lend a hand when he saw him getting beaten up.
Before Ling Ze could say anything, Xing Zhaozhao, who had just gone out, noticed that they hadn't followed her out and peeked back in: "What are you whispering about? Hurry up and come out to eat."
The three little ones, caught red-handed, shuddered and turned to Xing Zhaozhao, nodding hurriedly in agreement: "We know."
Xing Zhaozhao didn't notice anything unusual, urged him once, and then left.
Seeing this, the three little ones all breathed a long sigh of relief. They slowly got off the kang (a heated brick bed) and walked outside, continuing to whisper to each other.
“I definitely won’t tell, but if you can’t eat later, Aunt Xing will still find out, won’t she?” Ling Ze said.
Hongyu hesitated for a moment: "Then I'll eat less vegetables later, and I'll be able to finish my rice."
"Aunt Xing cooked braised pork today. I just saw it, and it smells so good!" Ling Ze said, slurping his saliva.
Hongfei and Hongyu: "!!"
Hongyu looked at Ling Ze with a mournful expression and said, "I'm not going to be friends with you anymore, you bad brother."
Ling Ze: "..." He didn't mean it, he was just telling the truth.
At the dinner table, Xing Zhaozhao was surprised to find that Hongyu, who usually ate very heartily, was eating very slowly this time. She asked in confusion, "What's wrong, little feather? Didn't Mommy's braised pork taste good?"
Hongyu quickly shook his head and took a big bite: "Mom's braised pork is the best."
"Then eat more." Xing Zhaozhao picked up another piece for him.
Hongyu was eating the fragrant braised pork, but she was on the verge of tears. The braised pork was delicious, but she couldn't eat any more rice, and she was worried about losing her bottom. What should she do?
Just then, in Xing Zhaozhao's arms, Xiao Hongling, who had just finished drinking milk, set her sights on the braised pork in Xing Zhaozhao's bowl. She let out a "yah" and suddenly grabbed it with one paw, trying to stuff it into her mouth.
Xing Zhaozhao was startled and quickly snatched the braised pork back from the little girl's hands: "No, Nannan, you can't eat this yet..."
Just as Xing Zhaozhao was looking down at the little girl in her arms, Hong Fei and Ling Ze, who were sitting on either side of Hong Yu, swiftly reached into Hong Yu's bowl with their chopsticks, each taking a mouthful of rice to eat for him. Hong Fei was one thing, but unexpectedly, Ling Ze, who had only been there for a short time, also had such a tacit understanding.
Hongyu was stunned for a moment, then her worried little face quickly broke into a smile. Children with older brothers are so lucky.
Unfortunately, his smile didn't last long before he met Fu Lan's dumbfounded face.
I forgot there was someone else at the table.
Hongyu's smile froze for a moment, then he quickly put on a pitiful expression as he looked at Fu Lan.
Xing Zhaozhao wiped Xiao Hongling's little paws clean. When she looked up, she met Hongyu's strange expression. She was stunned for a moment and asked in confusion, "What's wrong?"
"It's nothing." Hongyu quickly lowered his head and focused on eating.
Xing Zhaozhao turned to look at Fu Lan with a questioning look.
Fu Lan glanced at Hong Yu, hesitated for a moment, then shook her head with a smile: "It's nothing."
Xing Zhaozhao: "..." She had a feeling that something had happened that she didn't know about just a short while ago.
After filling his stomach with the fragrant braised pork, Hongyu happily burped and looked at Xing Zhaozhao, saying, "Mom, I want to go to the village down the mountain with my brother and Brother Aze."
"Don't you want to take a nap before you go?" Xing Zhaozhao asked.
Hongyu shook his head: "Not sleepy."
Xing Zhaozhao knew that he had just received a new toy today and wouldn't be at peace if he didn't show it off and make the other children envious and jealous, so she nodded and agreed: "Don't fight."
"Okay." Hongyu replied, then went back into the house to get the toys. He asked his brothers to help him carry them, and he took one in each hand before heading out the door affectionately.
Watching them leave, Xing Zhaozhao couldn't help but sigh, "Kids can be quite fickle. They were fighting like madmen just a moment ago, but in such a short time, they've become as good as family."
Fu Lan chuckled as she recalled what had happened at the dinner table. They had a shared little secret; wasn't that exactly what it meant?
Xing Zhaozhao sensed something was wrong and looked at Fu Lan in surprise, asking, "What's wrong?"
Fu Lan shook her head: "It's nothing."
Xing Zhaozhao: "..." She doesn't seem to be doing anything wrong.
The children had all gone out to play, and Xiao Hongling had eaten and drunk her fill and gone to sleep. Xing Zhaozhao was not idle either. She left Fu Lan to watch the house and went to town. First, she went to the black market to find Brother Fei and inform him to have Wang Xiaofa pick up the goods from her place that night. She also asked him to help send a message to Ling Xiao to come and pick up his son.
Fei Ge readily agreed: "No problem, I'm going to Qingxi Town myself tomorrow."
Fei Ge's face darkened as he spoke: "Some bastard stole a batch of my goods."
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