When Jiang Shaozhen carried the two wet dumplings into the east wing, Niannian was still giggling, patting her brother's bottom covered in malted milk powder, completely unaware that she had caused trouble.
Zhouzhou twisted her body, trying to slide to the ground, and her tiger-head shoes, covered in frosting, slammed onto Jiang Shaozhen's pants.
The two were already covered in mud, and after rubbing against each other, Shen Mingzhi and Jiang Shaochen were covered in lactose and mud, instantly becoming filthy as well.
"Still making a fuss!" Jiang Shaozhen deliberately put his son on the rattan chair with a stern face.
As soon as Zhouzhou touched the chair, he rolled off and clung to his leg, climbing back up like a clingy koala.
Shen Mingzhi followed Niannian into the house, and burst out laughing when she saw the scene. "Shaochen, I think your lecturing skills need improvement. The two children aren't afraid of you at all."
Niannian, in her arms, imitated her mother, pouting her little mouth and spitting out drool bubbles. Her pink fingers tugged at her mother's collar, and she smiled like a sunflower.
Aunt Wang carried a steaming wooden basin across the threshold. "Madam told me to prepare some water for you so the two children can take a bath and change their clothes quickly, and not catch a cold."
"Okay, you pour it into the basin, and Zhizhi and I will wash them." Jiang Shaozhen was going to give them a good lesson today.
How can siblings fight as soon as they leave!
Jiang Shaozhen grabbed Zhouzhou by the back of his collar with one hand, and the little dumpling was immediately suspended in mid-air, kicking his legs.
She took off her dirty outer shirt, revealing plump, white arms like lotus roots, and her chubby feet still covered in mud.
Niannian, whose clothes were quickly stripped off by Shen Mingzhi and thrown into the basin, excitedly splashed water, spraying water all over Shen Mingzhi's face.
"You little rascal." Shen Mingzhi wiped her face and pinched her daughter's mischievous hands and feet.
The water temperature in the wooden basin was just right, and the two babies started to run around happily as soon as they touched the water. Niannian grabbed the plastic duck and pressed it on her brother's head, while Zhouzhou grabbed his sister's pigtail.
Jiang Shaozhen was wiping his son's back with his sleeves rolled up when Zhouzhou suddenly slapped water all over his face.
Water droplets slid down his chin and into his collar, leaving dark water stains on his gray sweater.
Jiang Shaozhen suppressed his anger, the veins on his forehead throbbing.
Just as Shen Mingzhi was about to laugh at him, Nian Nian chuckled and slapped the paw across Shen Mingzhi's face, almost making Shen Mingzhi swallow a mouthful of their bathwater.
She spat twice, then raised her hand and slapped Niannian's bottom. "Still making a fuss!"
Niannian made a fuss and changed the water, splashing water everywhere, which made Zhouzhou kick his legs along with her.
Jiang Shao-chen and Shen Ming-zhi couldn't hold him down.
Shen Mingzhi's clothes were soaked through in the front, and Jiang Shaochen's trouser legs were dripping wet.
The instigator, however, was completely unaware. Nian Nian lay in the basin, gnawing on her fingers and laughing mischievously, while Zhou Zhou grabbed the edge of the wooden basin and giggled as well.
Aunt Wang brought in another bucket of hot water. Seeing the mess on the floor, she couldn't help but laugh. "They're such little rascals... getting more and more mischievous. What will they be like when they grow up!"
"This is all you need. No need to dilute it. It'll be ready in no time." Jiang Shaozhen picked up his wet son and quickly rubbed him with the baby soap.
Zhouzhou twisted and turned like a live fish, and the twisting became more and more intense, all while laughing.
Jiang Shaochen put him down and then applied soap to Niannian.
It took a lot of effort to wash the two children.
Shen Mingzhi wrapped Niannian in a blanket, wiped her clean, and even smelled her; she was fragrant and soft.
Jiang Shaozhen helped Jiang Zhou put on his clothes, and just as he was about to help Shen Mingzhi, he was pulled by the hand and led outside.
"Are you alright on your own?" Jiang Shaozhen asked Shen Mingzhi with concern.
Shen Mingzhi nodded: "Okay, that's fine."
Shen Mingzhi dressed Niannian in pretty spring clothes and then dried her hair.
Holding Niannian as she walked out, she saw Jiang Zhou playing with Jiang Shaochen in the yard.
The sheets drying in the yard fluttered in the wind. Zhouzhou pulled Jiang Shaozhen under the sheets, as if playing hide-and-seek with them.
"Slow down." Jiang Shaozhen protected him while watching him walk to the locust tree, then bent down and caught his son who was trying to climb the stone bench.
Zhouzhou was picked up in one scoop, and before he could stop, he reached for the locust blossoms on the treetop, exclaiming in his childish voice, "Smells good! Smells good!"
By the time the two little devils were finally settled, the sun was already setting.
Shen Mingzhi slumped into a rattan chair, looking at the water stains on the floor with a wry smile: "What do you think they'll be like when they're three years old?"
Jiang Shao Chen wrung out his soaking wet trouser legs, looked up at the sky upon hearing this, and said, "We can overturn the malted milk powder can right now, and then we can run away..."
He recalled his son's previous feats and then sighed, "A few days ago I saw Zhouzhou secretly putting milk candy into the thermos. Luckily I found out in time."
As Shen Mingzhi approached them, Niannian suddenly cried out "Ya!" and grabbed Shen Mingzhi's clothes, snuggling into her arms.
Upon seeing this, Zhouzhou immediately struggled, crawling towards her mother's lap with both hands and feet, the two little bundles of flesh huddled together, their four little feet kicking wildly in the air.
"See that?" Jiang Shaozhen reached out to protect Zhouzhou, who was about to fall. "If they run away, one will go east and the other will go west. We won't be able to catch them."
He flicked his finger lightly on his daughter's forehead, "Especially this one, so clever."
Shen Mingzhi hugged the two warm little bodies tightly, inhaling the milky scent as she murmured, "I'm actually looking forward to them making a fuss, so they can start talking and chasing after me calling for Daddy and Mommy..."
Before he could finish speaking, Zhouzhou suddenly yelled "Wow!" and punched his sister in the hair with perfect accuracy.
Niannian was so angry that she reached out and grabbed his face.
The two little ones almost always pinch each other whenever they meet.
Shen Mingzhi was speechless. "Did you see that? Did you see that?!"
Jiang Qing carried the dishes out and bumped into the young couple talking about their child.
Jiang Shaozhen held down Zhouzhou, who was still twisting around, with one hand, while Shen Mingzhi held Niannian, who wanted to hit her brother.
"It's time to eat." Jiang Qing put down her porcelain bowl, suppressing a laugh. "You all go and change your clothes, be careful not to catch a cold."
When the two returned to the courtyard after getting ready, the food was already served.
The two children, sitting in the stroller, were restless, staring at each other with displeasure.
Shen Mingzhi leaned against the doorframe and chuckled softly, "You said you'd wait until they're seven or eight years old..."
"I'm afraid they'll be climbing on the roof and tearing off the tiles," Jiang Shaozhen replied quickly, but his eyes were filled with tenderness.
He reached out and wrapped his arms around his wife's waist, his calloused fingertips caressing her abdomen. "When we're really old enough that even dogs wouldn't want us, we'll sit side by side in the wicker chairs and watch them chase each other under the locust tree."
Niannian seemed quite unconvinced when she heard Jiang Shaochen's words, and she started babbling in the direction of her parents.
Zhouzhou imitated him, patting the board in front of the stroller, babbling "Papa" and "Mama" in his babyish voice, and it was unclear what he was saying to himself.
After watching for a while, Shen Mingzhi said to Jiang Shaochen, "It's quite an accomplishment to raise children for the first time and watch them grow up little by little. Look, they can already talk slowly."
Jiang Shaozhen paused for a moment, then his expression softened even more. "Yes."
Although things are getting more and more chaotic, this is also a time when life is full of vitality.
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