An Hongdou directed Shen Xiangzhi to move the table out, and the two took advantage of the good weather to do a thorough cleaning of the house in preparation for the upcoming New Year.
Just as they worked together to lift a table out, they heard the old man's furious voice coming from outside, "Is anyone home?"
Shen Xiangzhi quickly replied: “Someone, who is it?”
"It's good to have someone here. Xiao Shen, come out and take care of your child." After saying that, an old man with a goatee came in from the door, holding Erbao's arm in his hand, with an angry look on his face.
An Hongdou knew this old man, Uncle Zhang from the next alley, a pretty nice old man.
But looking at the situation now, An Hongdou knew at a glance that the children must have gotten into trouble again.
Shen Xiangzhi had the same idea, and hurriedly said in a flattering tone: “Uncle Zhang, don’t be angry first, you see, I don’t know what happened yet, can you tell me about it?”
As soon as he talked about it, Uncle Zhang's beard trembled with anger. "Xiao Shen, you should at least call me uncle. I have watched you grow up. It's not that I, Uncle Zhang, want to make trouble, but this kid of yours really should be taken care of. Your aunt just brushed my cotton shoes yesterday. They were hung at the door waiting to be worn during the New Year. These kids put firecrackers in my shoes. My shoes are so smokey and the inside is rotten. How can I wear them?"
Although Uncle Zhang only caught Erbao, he saw a large group of them and did not blame all the responsibility on Erbao.
But this matter is really infuriating.
Shen Xiangzhi also knew that his child had done something bad and they were wrong, so he could only apologize more politely.
Seeing how polite he was, and since they were an acquaintance, Uncle Zhang didn't want to take it too seriously. He just told him angrily to discipline his child well, and then left.
Erbao kept his head down and didn't say a word the whole time. As soon as Uncle Zhang left, he didn't even dare to look at Shen Xiangzhi.
This appearance looks pitiful.
But when you think about what they have done, you can't really feel sorry for them.
"Come in." Shen Xiangzhi shouted coldly, and Erbao became even more scared, and hurriedly explained, "No...it wasn't me, it was...some other kid who did it. My eldest brother and I ran over to watch the fun, and I sprained my ankle while running, and that's when Grandpa Zhang caught me."
Erbao felt so unlucky. Everyone else ran away, but he was the only one who didn't escape.
Shen had already taken out a ruler from the house and hit him on the butt. "You are not at fault if you didn't do it? What did I teach you normally? You dare to do such a thing as setting off firecrackers in someone's shoes..."
After a lesson, Erbao was punished to stand in the corner and reflect on his mistakes.
Chen Xiangzhi went out to look for Dabao.
Although Dabao is a bit naughty, he is nimble and agile. As soon as Uncle Zhang came out, he ran away. After running for a long way, he realized that Lao Er did not catch up with him.
When Shen Xiangzhi pulled him out, he was lying on the corner of Uncle Zhang's door, looking around furtively, trying to see if Erbao had been caught so that he could find a chance to rescue his brother.
When Dabao was taken home by Shen Xiangzhi, he shrank his head, looking the same as Erbao.
Of course, he didn't escape a beating.
After the fight, when he and Erbao were standing facing the wall, Shen Xiangzhi asked An Hongdou, "Is Sanbao back?"
An Hongdou was calmly cleaning the house while he was taking care of the children. After hearing his words, she shook her head and stopped the work in her hands.
Only two of the three children came back. An Hongdou must have been worried, so she walked to the corner and asked them, "Where is Sanbao? Why didn't he come back with you?"
"Erbao and I ran away secretly, and Sanbao is still studying at my grandfather's house." Dabao answered with red eyes, but in his heart he was thinking, it's over, it's over, I'm afraid I'm going to get beaten again.
As expected, after hearing Dabao's answer, not to mention Shen Xiangzhi, even An Hongdou felt that the two of them really deserved a beating.
With a helpless sigh, Shen Xiang knew: “I’ll go to my grandpa’s house to have a look.”
After saying that, he pushed his bicycle in the yard and left.
An Hongdou then began to ask them, "Didn't we agree to study with grandpa together so that we can go to elementary school next year? What happened to you two? Why did you run out to set off fireworks again and blow up Grandpa Zhang's shoes?"
"I've been learning for the whole morning, I just can't sit still anymore." Dabao pouted aggrievedly, "Besides, there were fireworks outside, so Erbao and I sneaked out. I promise that we didn't cause any damage in Great Grandfather's house this time, and Erbao and I didn't blow up Grandpa Zhang's shoes. We were just unlucky. As soon as we arrived, Grandpa Zhang came out, and Erbao, the idiot, was caught before he could run away."
"Then you two are also wrong." An Hongdou said, "No matter whether you two set off the fireworks to blow up the shoes or not, you two knew that this behavior was wrong, but you still stood there and watched the fun. You should also be punished."
An Hongdou lectured them again, and finally said, "How about this, use your pocket money to buy Grandpa Zhang a new pair of shoes, and then have your dad take you two to Grandpa Zhang. If you two set off the firecrackers, apologize properly. If you two didn't set them off, you have to explain clearly to Grandpa Zhang. Got it?"
"Ah?" Erbao said with a sad face, "I don't have much money left."
Then, he counted on his fingers how much he had left.
Dabao didn't say anything, but looking at his expression, he looked like he was in pain.
When Chen Xiangzhi came back, Sanbao was sitting in his arms.
An Hongdou quickly asked, "How is Grandpa doing?"
"Grandpa heard about the firecracker incident and said that we have been neighbors for decades. Regardless of whether it was the two children who did it, we should compensate Grandpa Zhang with a pair of new shoes. Grandpa and Aunt Zhang only have one daughter and they are not around. Their life is very hard. A pair of shoes is nothing to us, but they are preparing to wear them for the New Year. And Grandpa Zhang is not an unreasonable person. The two children were there to watch the fun. The firecrackers were not set off by them. We have to talk it out. We can't let the two children take the blame."
There is a big difference between watching the fun and causing trouble. Grandpa Su is a man who values his reputation. If it wasn't done by his own children, he would never let his children bear the moral problems.
An Hongdou said, "Grandpa thinks the same as I do. I've just told them both that I'll use their pocket money to buy shoes and see if they learn their lesson next time."
Shen Xiangzhi and An Hongdou continued to clean up, Dabao and Erbao stood together as punishment, Sanbao walked up to them with a look of contempt, "Can you two be any more stupid? You're just watching the fun and you're getting yourself involved, what a shame."
"Old Third, you're going too far." Dabao said angrily, "It's all because of Erbao that he didn't run away. Otherwise, how could I stand here and be punished!"
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