"These are the little crabs I found while moving stones."
"This is the little pond I made."
“I did it too, and I found a lot of small stones.”
"I looked for it too."
Listening to the three of them talking at once, Liu Yun felt dizzy and her liver and lungs ached with anger.
"How many times have I told you not to go to the riverbank, the pond, or the water's edge? You can't go to the water's edge without an adult. Did you just listen to me out of your ear? Or did you just let my words go in one ear and out the other? I think I told you a long time ago that if you go to the water's edge by yourselves, your dad will break your legs and you'll never get any more snacks."
"But Mom, we didn't go to the water by ourselves!"
"Yes, yes, they have adults with them! Look, Erzhu's older brother, his older brother's classmate, and Zhuangzhuang's older brother are all here!"
"Yes, yes! Erzhu and Zhuangzhuang are here too. We didn't come alone; adults were with us."
The three of them nodded their heads incessantly and chattered away.
Liu Yun was so choked up she almost couldn't catch her breath. Looking into the river, sure enough, the Erzhu they were talking about was the grandson of their neighbor, Old Mrs. Zheng, and Zhuangzhuang was the grandson of their neighbor, Aunt Wu. The older ones, their older brother and several classmates, were all soaking in the river! Truly, young people are fearless. You know, this river can generate electricity in later generations, which shows how much water it can hold. Good heavens, all the children from three courtyards in their area are here! Three families wiped out! If she remembered correctly, the few remaining children in the river were also from their neighborhood.
Judging from their practiced manner, this was definitely not the first or second time they had done it. Thinking about it, Liu Yun felt dizzy and her vision blurred.
"Wu Zhuangzhuang, Zheng Erzhu, come here." Liu Yun admired the triplets for being caught red-handed and still playing in the water without any sense of tension. She wondered if they were completely fearless or simply oblivious to the danger.
The two who were still playing heard Liu Yun and the others, and since they knew Liu Yun, they grabbed their shoes and ran over excitedly.
"Hello, Aunt Yu."
"Hello, Aunt Yu."
“I’m not feeling well right now. I don’t know if you’re feeling well now, but I know you won’t be feeling well when we get back. Who told you to come to the riverbank to play and even roll up your pants and run into the water? Especially you, Yu Zi, Yu Leng, and Yu Chu, I think you all want a complete childhood. Don’t worry, we’ll make up for what you’re missing when we get back. Come back with me right now.”
The group in the river also heard the commotion on the shore. When they saw Liu Yun on the bank, their hearts skipped a beat, and they quickly swam to shore. After seeing that everyone was safely ashore, Liu Yun led the five Calabash Brothers and pushed their bicycles home, her face as dark as could be.
Although the triplets weren't very good at reading people's expressions, they knew their mother seemed angry, so they obediently followed behind. However, the five of them kept chattering, especially the triplets, who were discussing what their mother would make up for them, whether it was a gift, and what kind of gift it was.
Hearing their conversation, Liu Yun was so angry she almost laughed. She kept telling herself, "Don't be angry, don't be angry. Getting angry will hurt you, and no one will care. It's my own body; I can't get angry. I've already sworn at someone; I can't do that again. The child's safety awareness wasn't taught properly, and the child's father is half responsible. The other half of the blame must be borne by the father."
Upon arriving at their doorstep, they escorted Zheng Erzhu and Wu Zhuangzhuang back to their respective homes and explained the situation. Before the four of them even reached their own homes, they heard shouts of beatings and crying coming from the Wu and Zheng families. The triplets were so terribly distressed by the cries and screams that they shuddered and realized they had made a mistake. They became dejected, pounding their heads as they followed behind without saying a word.
This is normal practice! Getting caught playing in the river without permission doesn't mean you've done anything wrong. It's like you haven't had enough of a beating. One beating is enough. If one isn't enough, give it two. If two aren't enough, give it three. You'll eventually learn your lesson.
People who are only waist-high know to go play in the river. Is that a place where you can just play anywhere?
Seeing the four of them like this, the mother was stunned. "What's wrong with you all? Why do you all have such expressions?"
Liu Yun recounted what had just happened, and the triplets once again received "greetings" from their grandparents and father.
Upon hearing this, Mr. and Mrs. Yu felt a chill run down their spines. Judging from their appearance, this must have been more than once. Their worries weren't unfounded; in the South, let alone rivers, even the shallowest streams are fraught with whirlpools. Whirlpools are almost everywhere there's a drop in elevation, only varying in size. Moreover, the water may look shallow, but once you step in, you never know how deep it is.
It's even more so by the river. The water may look still, but the force of the current is so small that a child with such a small body could be swept away if they went into a slightly deeper spot.
"My dears, what did Grandma tell you? You can't play by the river. It's very dangerous. If something happens, your parents and grandparents will be so heartbroken! You won't be able to see your grandparents, parents, or grandpa anymore. Are you willing to let that happen?"
"But Grandma, didn't you say that we can't go without an adult? We have an adult with us!"
"Yes, yes! We have many adults with us."
“We were just playing on the edge; we didn’t go into the deep water.”
This left Yu's mother speechless. Those boys were indeed adults to the three of them. "Good boy/girl," she said, "the adults Grandma and Mom are talking about are Grandpa, Grandma, Grandpa, Grandma, and Mom and Dad. They are the adults in our family, not the adults outside. Haven't we told you? You can't talk to strangers, you can't eat anything given to you by strangers, and you can't go with strangers. Even if someone you know takes you to an unfamiliar place, you can't go there. You can't go to dangerous places either. Water is a dangerous place. You can't go to any other place except for Mom and Dad, Grandpa, Grandma, and Grandpa. Do you understand?"
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