After Ye Man brought her daughter home, Xiao Ting clung to her neck and wouldn't let go. He Zhangcheng's eyes were full of heartache. He and his daughter rarely saw each other, and Xiao Ting was very cold to him because of family matters. He Zhangcheng had been carefully trying to repair their relationship.
Xiaoting has been here for so long, but she doesn't usually give him a kind look. She rarely even calls him "Dad." Sometimes, when she needs his help, she'll give him a cold look and secretly glance at him. Whenever this happens, He Zhangcheng's heart softens, and he quickly goes over to help.
She was terrified today, and kept crying into his neck. He Zhangcheng's heart ached, and he couldn't bear to scold her anymore.
Ye Man waited until Xiaoting finished crying before putting her down; she was more anxious than anyone else about not seeing her child.
"Tell your mother if there will be a next time, and you're not allowed to cry!"
Ye Man had never been so fierce before. Xiao Ting silently shed tears as her bottom burned with pain, and quickly shook her head.
She cried her eyes out, and Ye Man couldn't bear to hit her anymore, so she let her take a bath.
He Zhangcheng breathed a sigh of relief. Ye Man found it somewhat amusing. He couldn't bear to hit her, but how could she, as his mother, bear to?
Xiaoting still went to sleep hugging her mother that night. She was terrified today and wouldn't let go of Yeman. Yeman was also terrified. The mother and daughter whispered to each other in bed that night.
He Zhangcheng sat silently in the living room, staring at their bedroom door for a long time without moving.
Perhaps it was the first time her father had discovered them, because Xiaoting treated He Zhangcheng much better after that day, occasionally calling out to him. One day, after He Zhangcheng finished get off work, he passed by the battalion commander's house, where he and a few other children were playing together. When Xiaoting saw him waving, she even came over.
Ye Man could also see that their relationship had grown closer over this period of time, and she was increasingly happy.
“An’an, I…”
After what happened that day, although all four of them got a beating, their revolutionary friendship deepened. Zhuangzhuang realized his mistake; if he hadn't chased after the pheasant, he wouldn't have run in.
"It's all my fault for going on the adventure by myself..."
They didn't blame him; the four of them held hands and began to whisper about how their parents had beaten him that day.
“My mom used such a big stick to hit me and spanked my bottom.”
An'an still felt lingering fear when she talked about that night. Her mother was so fierce, and her bottom still hurt the next day.
Because of the constant reminder of her injury, she has been much more well-behaved these past two days, staying obediently at home and not daring to cause trouble by going to see her uncle.
Zhuangzhuang was the one who was most seriously injured among them. He snorted and said, "My mom hits me harder, slap slap slap. I'm going to tell Grandpa when we get home."
Sui Sui sighed. She was alright; her mother had gone easy on her.
Xiaoting didn't say anything, but suddenly realized that she was the one who was injured the least. Her mother hit her a few times and then stopped, and her father didn't hit her at all.
Xiaoting, what about you?
"...My mother hit me."
Everyone suddenly realized that it was always the mothers who did the dirty work, and all three mothers were usually very gentle.
Only a deep revolutionary friendship can withstand the influence of petty emotions. Sui Sui no longer gets jealous of An An and Xiao Ting, and the three of them officially become good friends.
Zhuangzhuang remained his little shadow, and the three of them became typical examples in the family compound. Many families used them to intimidate their disobedient children, and they were no longer allowed to go out and play freely.
An'an rolled up her trousers to her knees and stepped into the stream. Small fish were hiding under the slippery pebbles. Since she couldn't go to the mountains, she could only stay in the stream.
"Look!"
Three cobblers are equal to one Zhuge Liang. Whenever the four of them get together, they always cause trouble. Even though their mother told them not to get their clothes dirty, they still come home filthy every day.
Lu Yang glanced at his wife's face, afraid that Song Qing would scold An An, so he could only take her to take a bath first, and he naturally washed her clothes as well.
An'an knew her dad would help, so she played even more wildly.
My clothes are covered in mud, and my face is filthy. I'll have to rinse them off in the river later.
When Sui Sui saw that An An was holding a fish the size of her palm, she exclaimed, "An An is the best!"
Zhuangzhuang bit her lip and kept searching, refusing to believe she would lose to her!
"How about we grill the fish and eat it?"
An'an's eyes lit up immediately. "Great idea!"
But to grill fish, they needed a fire. Where were they going to get one? An'an immediately came up with an idea: "We have one at home."
The matches were kept in the kitchen, so An'an could find them. One fish wasn't enough, so Zhuangzhuang and she caught a few more, and the four of them carried the fish to An'an's house.
Behind their yard is the hill behind their house. There are now several vegetable plots on that flat land. It's usually the territory of the goslings. Every day, the goslings drive the chickens out to graze and then start patrolling. Occasionally, the cats also come out for a snack.
"I've got the matches!"
There was plenty of dry grass and firewood in the open space, so they simply carried the fish over there. Xiaoting and Suisui were in charge of logistics, which naturally included gathering firewood.
An'an retained a sliver of reason. Her mother wouldn't let her touch the knife, and since she didn't know how to gut the fish, she threw it into the still-unlit firewood while it was still jumping.
"...They're still jumping."
An'an tried to light several matches but couldn't. Sui Sui and Xiao Ting were whispering to each other around the little fish. The little fish was jumping around in the firewood, making it all wet and even harder to light.
Fortunately, Lu Yang returned home quickly today and happened to run into An An who had run home to tear up some books. She attributed the inability to light a fire to the fact that the ignition source was bad. Remembering that her mother sometimes used books to start fires, she thought she should go home and tear up some books as well.
Lu Yang saved his daughter's bottom once again today, and sighed as he told them not to play with fire again.
An'an was still a little unconvinced, since she hadn't done anything wrong.
"...If your mom finds out you're in trouble, you'll need an adult's permission—no, you can't light a fire in the wild!"
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