After his mother went to Wang Ma's house, Feng Mingshu was about to sit on the kang (a heated brick bed) to rest for a while when he suddenly heard a noise outside.
She stepped out of the room and saw her younger siblings running back, asking in surprise, "Why are you back so soon?"
"Sister, let's go in quickly." Li Mingyu grabbed her, his face showing urgency.
Feng Mingshu was a little puzzled and was about to ask when a young man appeared from behind, greeting her with a smile: "Miss is back?"
"Don't call me 'sister' like that!" Li Mingyu picked up a stone from the ground and threw it at the young man.
The young man nimbly dodged, grinning and saying, "Young Master, you certainly have a temper."
Feng Mingshu stopped her younger brother, who was about to pick up stones again, and looked coldly at the young man: "There are no young masters or young ladies here, but there are military family members. Do you want to come with me to the brigade headquarters to talk to the brigade commander about how you humiliated the military family members?"
The young man wasn't bad-looking, but he had a roguish air about him. He raised an eyebrow: "Where did this military family member come from?"
"Isn't it right in front of you?"
"You mean you? You got married so quickly?"
The young man looked her up and down in disbelief: "Wait a minute, why would a soldier marry a capitalist's daughter like you? Aren't you afraid it will affect his promotion?"
"You know quite a lot, but your brain isn't very sharp. I advise you to go back and read the newspapers more often, and you'll realize how stupid you've been saying."
Feng Mingshu coldly left those words behind, then took her younger siblings back to their room and closed the door.
The young man's expression shifted between anger and uncertainty before he turned and left.
Inside the house, Xiaomingxue tugged at her sleeve: "Sister, can we go home sooner?"
"What's wrong?" Feng Mingshu asked.
"The village isn't fun," Xiaomingxue pouted.
Feng Mingshu then looked at her silent younger brother beside her and roughly guessed what had happened to them.
Adults have their own rules and know what they shouldn't say, but children don't. If someone eggs them on, they might say anything.
In a few months, the situation will become even more serious.
She understood once again the good intentions behind her mother's decision to change her younger siblings' surnames and take them to Uncle Li's hometown.
Compared to the Feng family's wealth, the superior life in the city and the fact that her younger siblings wouldn't be ostracized and would grow up healthy were the most important things.
Feng Mingshu sighed inwardly and reached out to hug her younger siblings: "If it's not fun outside, then let's not go out. Stay and read with your sister."
"Sister, I want to read a comic book." Xiaomingxue immediately raised her little hand.
"Sister, I want to hear Little Trumpet tell a story," Li Mingyu said, expressing a different opinion.
Feng Mingshu shrugged: "We didn't bring any comic books or a radio."
The twins immediately wilted and became sullen.
Seeing this, Feng Mingshu cleared his throat: "Beep beep beep, beep beep beep, the loudspeaker is about to start broadcasting! Children, please sit down, today we're going to tell the story of 'Journey to the West'..."
The twins' eyes lit up instantly, and they immediately sat cross-legged in front of their older sister.
"In the first chapter, the spiritual root nurtures and gives birth to the source of the mind and nature, cultivating the Great Dao. The poem says: Before chaos was divided, heaven and earth were in turmoil, vast and boundless, unseen by anyone. Since Pangu broke the primordial chaos, the distinction between the pure and the impure has been established..."
Feng Mingshu has a good memory. She has read the original work many times and listened to the original radio broadcast. Now, as she slowly recounts the story, it has a certain charm.
The twins had heard the radio before, but they never tired of this story. They were listening intently and didn't notice the few little heads that had quietly appeared outside the window.
Feng Mingshu saw it, but didn't call it out and continued telling the story.
When Feng Mingshu heard the children crying outside, she went out to see what was happening. She found a village woman holding a broom, whipping her own children as she came to apologize to the twins.
The children outside the window scattered in a panic.
“Young lady, my Erniu is slow-witted and doesn’t know any better. When he heard the second son of the Qian family call him ‘Young Master,’ he started making a fuss too. I disciplined him as soon as he came back.”
As the woman spoke, she raised the broom again and hit her son, scolding, "Erniu, are you stupid? Apologize now! Have you forgotten what your mother taught you?"
Erniu dodged the slaps and sobbed, "I'm sorry, I was wrong, I'll never shout like that again."
Feng Mingshu did not overstep her bounds, but smiled at the twins: "Xiaoyu and Xiaoxue, Erniu has apologized to you. You can decide for yourselves whether to forgive him or not."
The woman was clearly taken aback. Wasn't this just a polite gesture from the adults, with the adults saying on behalf of the children that it was okay and that the two families' children would continue to be friends and play together?
Are the rules different in the city?
Feng Mingshu paid no attention to the woman's hesitation and continued to wait for his younger siblings' response.
The twins exchanged a glance, then looked at Erniu, who was crying with tears and snot streaming down his face. Li Mingyu stepped forward, pursed his lips, and said, "It's okay, we forgive you."
Erniu stopped crying immediately and even sniffed.
Feng Mingshu then took out a handkerchief from his pocket and handed it to the woman with a smile: "The children have made up, wipe Erniu's face."
“How can you use a young lady’s handkerchief? I’ll just wipe his face with my sleeve.” The woman kept refusing, so Feng Mingshu simply took it upon herself to wipe Erniu’s face.
"Sister smells so good!" Erniu, now clean, immediately became a sweet talker.
Feng Mingshu smiled and handed him the handkerchief: "If you wash your face every day, you'll smell nice too. This is for you."
Erniu immediately clenched the handkerchief, refusing to even give it to his mother.
The children who had run away came back and apologized to the twins. After being forgiven, they surrounded Feng Mingshu and asked excitedly, "Sister, can you continue telling the story of Journey to the West?"
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