Old Yuan was tricked into becoming Zheng Ya's henchman, and they were waiting for Old Yuan to be taken back to the enemy to conduct experiments on supernatural abilities and spiritual arts.
Old Yuan took over thirty of his century-old medicinal herbs and, feeling guilty, yielded.
After reaching an agreement, the two returned to the planting base. It was dinnertime, and more than 600 people were gathered outside the kitchen tent queuing for food.
The cooks are different today. It turns out to be Sha Zhu and Ma Hua. That's weird. What's going on?
Zheng Ya slowly approached the kitchen tent, somewhat puzzled as to why the two of them were there. Zheng Xiaoya pounced on him like a tiger, and before Zheng Ya could dodge, she hooked him onto her back and whined, "You naughty brother, you've been hiding from me all day! You're so mean, I'll bite you to death..."
"You've grown dog teeth, huh? It hurts so much when you bite. Get off me!" Zheng Ya was afraid she would pounce on him, so he dodged away and threw her down, but she stuck to him and his shoulder hurt.
People born in the Year of the Dog are different; they'll bite anyone they catch.
The key is that this girl is very determined; once she sets her mind on something, she won't compromise and she has to get it done.
Bao'er ran over on her little feet to protect him: "Come down, come down quickly, don't take advantage of my dad, go away!"
"Tch, he's your dad, but he's also my stinky older brother. So I'm your aunt. How do you treat your aunt?"
"Stand at attention for your aunt, and answer the questions!" Zheng Xiaoya clung to Zheng Ya's back and wouldn't get down, even scolding her in an elder's tone.
Bao'er immediately covered her mouth and shook her head, refusing to accept it. "Where did this elder come from? Bullying a child, how shameful!"
Zheng Ya was amused by Bao'er's adorable appearance, bent down and hugged her, saying, "Bao'er, be good, don't learn bad things from your naughty aunt!"
"When our little darling grows up to be as big as your aunt, she definitely won't cling to anyone and whine like that, right?"
"Mmm, Auntie, you're so shy..." Bao'er nestled in Zheng Ya's arms, dodging left and right, trying to avoid Zheng Xiaoya's pinching hands on her face.
Zheng Xiaoya felt unloved and pouted, acting spoiled: "You stinky old man, how dare you team up with your daughter to bully me?"
"As expected, you've forgotten your sister now that you have a daughter. You heartless, ungrateful older brother, are you going to make it up to me?"
"Zheng Xiaoya, where have you forgotten the rules of the Zheng family?" Fu Qingyao threatened, raising the iron ladle she used to serve food to the soldiers.
I didn't want to get involved with this rebellious adopted daughter.
Unfortunately, Tian Juan came to my door this afternoon to sell my daughter. I couldn't refuse even if I wanted to, and I regretted it as soon as I agreed.
Tiger Girl is a million times harder to raise than Bao'er.
She refused to go to school no matter what, constantly clamoring to learn martial arts and farming from that stinky old man Zheng Ya. Fu Qingyao was almost driven half to death with anger. How could she teach this tiger child?
Unfortunately, the other woman's mother, Tian Juan, was watching from the side, silent and unsmiling. It was infuriating to watch. What kind of mother and daughter are they?
The eccentric mother and daughter are difficult to please.
Right now, Zheng Xiaoya looked up and stuck her tongue out at Fu Qingyao, then turned her head away, refusing to look at her, and continued to cling to Zheng Ya's back, saying, "I forgot the Zheng family rules. I'll remember them later, hehe."
"You brat, what kind of behavior is it to climb on my back in front of so many people? Get off!" Zheng Ya was getting angry. Did she want to get a beating for not giving her mother face?
Is that polite?
Zheng Xiaoya pouted and pretended not to hear. Fortunately, Xu Qi handed the serving spoon to Ma Hua, walked over, picked Zheng Xiaoya up, and said, "Xiaoya, you're a little adult now. Listen to your sister-in-law and go eat."
"Sister-in-law, does my brother not love me anymore?" Zheng Xiaoya cried in grievance. It wasn't that she was being unreasonable, but that she missed her father and grandmother and had nowhere to confide in.
It's like sticking to Zheng Ya, that smelly old man, allows me to experience the scents of my father and grandmother; I just want to savor those memories a little longer.
Years have passed since I left, and when I returned to my hometown, everything had changed!
In addition, she studied in a classified unit where she was strictly controlled in all matters, and she spent little time with her biological mother, which fostered her withdrawn personality.
Actually, it was because she lacked familial love and care, and her endless longing for her family made her taciturn.
Zheng Ya sensed her unusual emotional fluctuations, so he used his right hand to pull her into his arms and walk out, saying, "Alright, come with me!"
"Hey, you old bastard, you can't kick me out!" Zheng Xiaoya was never close to her biological mother, Tian Juan, but she was powerless to change her right to live with whomever she wanted. Right now, she was really afraid that Tian Juan would take her to a secluded place.
In fact, she had been putting on an act, playing the rebellious Tiger Girl and distancing herself from Tian Juan, all to avoid going into seclusion.
Despite his small stature, he was incredibly cunning and couldn't keep up the act when he caught Zheng Ya.
Zheng Ya didn't understand her thoughts, but he couldn't rule out her closeness. It seemed that she was influenced by her predecessor and was very close to Zheng Xiaoya: "Alright, I'll protect you from now on, okay?"
"Okay, then it's settled. You can't just have me, your little sister, now that you have a sister-in-law and a niece, pinky promise?" Zheng Xiaoya ignored Bao'er's protective embrace of her brother's neck and extended her right index finger to make a pinky promise.
Zheng Ya rolled her eyes: "How old are you? Still making pinky promises..."
"No, pinky promise?"
"Okay, okay, pinky promise!"
"Pinky promise, a hundred years from now, yay!" Zheng Xiaoya insisted on pinky-pinching with Zheng Ya, and happily danced around in celebration.
At thirteen, youth takes flight in an instant, like a butterfly fluttering in the sunset, radiating a dazzling youthful glow.
This prompted Bao'er to snuggle in Zheng Ya's arms and clap her hands to join in the fun.
Xu Qi followed closely behind, carrying the food, and together they walked to the central pavilion of the planting base. They sat around the wooden benches around the round table in the center of the pavilion. Fu Qingyao also arrived: "Eat up, everyone. If we wait any longer, the food will get cold."
"It's the rule to start eating only when the whole family is here!" Zheng Xiaoya retorted to Fu Qingyao, her words harsh but implying that she knew the Zheng family's rules.
Fu Qingyao said with a smile, "Now that you've been promoted to aunt, you should set a good example for Bao'er, right?"
“Bao’er, call her Auntie and let me hear it?” Zheng Xiaoya turned to Bao’er and shifted the blame. She wouldn’t even call her Auntie, so why should she set a good example for her?
Bao'er didn't want to call her aunt in the first place. If she did, she would feel like she was the youngest in the family, and as the youngest person, she would have the least rights.
However, Xu Qi offered a gentle smile and nodded slightly, Fu Qingyao nodded with a smile, and Zheng Ya also nodded in acknowledgment.
Now Bao'er said pitifully, "Auntie, Auntie... Humph..."
"Ha, you whole family are something else, ganging up to bully Bao'er, isn't that right, Bao'er?" Zheng Xiaoya started forming cliques. "You won't let me have my way, so I'll rally the younger generation to deal with you."
Bao'er nodded and saw that the others were still smiling at her, then shook her head shyly: "Bao'er is hungry, shall we eat?"
"Ugh, I give up! Time to eat rice!" Zheng Xiaoya decided to let loose, picked up the porcelain bowl full of rice from the table, and started eating.
Xu Qi added some food to her plate: "Xiaoya, this is chicken stew with mushrooms. Do you want to try it and see if you like it?"
"Waaah, sister-in-law, you're so good to me!" Zheng Xiaoya couldn't remember the last time she had eaten rice; right now, her mind was completely focused on the rice.
Zheng Ya scolded her impatiently: "Eat slowly. We won't lack rice in the future. Eat more vegetables."
"Was this cooked by MCA?"
"Hmm, the taste is alright, isn't it?" Xu Qi explained, which was actually true; at least it was a bit better than Sha Zhu's cooking.
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