“No, although Kaiyang has returned home and changed his surname, he is still called Kaiyang and hasn’t changed his given name. For us, even if he’s not with us now, he is still a member of the Big Dipper, so there’s no question of filling a vacancy,” Tian Shu said first.
Tian Shu's tone was resolute, leaving no room for negotiation, and his expression was even more so, with his brows furrowed.
Seeing Tian Shu's expression, A Ping quickly looked at the others, only to find that although their expressions weren't exactly the same, he was certain that the remaining five also disagreed with his suggestion.
"We've told you before that even after Kaiyang returned to his family, he still insisted on keeping this name. You may not understand why he would cling to a name even after finding his family and returning home, but we do know that."
The seven of us are the Seven Stars of the Big Dipper; whether we're together or not, we still are.
"Whether you want a surname or a new, nice-sounding name, as long as she agrees, we have no objections. But you can't be called Kaiyang." Tianxuan chimed in.
“Yes, no.” Yao Guang emphasized, her little face tense.
"I was just joking, why did you all take it so seriously? I'll be twelve this New Year, older than all of you, why would I be the sixth one?" A-Ping suddenly laughed.
He smiled, but the other six didn't; they just stared at him intently.
"We've been together for so long, how come I can't even joke around anymore?" Aping said, a little embarrassed.
"This kind of joke isn't funny at all, so please don't make it again." After saying that, Tianji turned and left.
After glancing at Aping, Tianquan and Yuheng also turned to leave.
"It's almost time. Go set out the bowls and chopsticks and get ready to cook the dumplings," Tianxuan said from the side.
Originally, it was called "jiao'er" (饺饵), but Hong Xiaoduo kept mispronouncing it as "jiaozi" (饺子) so everyone just started calling it "jiaozi".
Watching everyone disperse to get busy, A-Ping, standing still, bit his lip and thought, "No matter how well I do, they won't treat me like one of their own."
These little brats always say nice things, like we're family just because we eat from the same pot!
Look at what just happened. He only mentioned wanting to use the name Kaiyang, and they all treated him like dirt.
Aping suddenly laughed self-deprecatingly. He was just stupid to have believed them. Plus, he had the same new clothes, boots, and lucky money as them for the New Year, so he arrogantly thought he was one of them.
Otherwise, why would he have thought of doing something like Kaiyang just now?
It's just a name derived from a constellation, not some extraordinary status symbol! If he hadn't thought it would bring him closer to them, he wouldn't have chosen to be named Kaiyang or anything like the Big Dipper.
Not long after, Yao Guang came over and called Hong Xiaoduo and Quan Jinghuai over to eat dumplings.
Even though they weren't hungry at all, the two of them still went.
Although we were supposed to be having dumplings, there were also a few simple snacks on the table to go with the drinks, such as spiced peanuts, braised beef, and boiled mutton.
Tianquan poured wine for his master, and Yuheng, following Hong Xiaoduo's instructions, ladled her a small bowl of dumpling soup.
The dumplings were filled with beef and shredded radish, and they were very fresh.
Hong Xiaoduo, who wasn't hungry, ate two at a time and couldn't stop. Seeing how much she enjoyed her food, Tianxuan's guilt lessened slightly.
A few days ago, he asked Hong Xiaoduo what kind of dumplings she wanted to eat. Hong Xiaoduo blurted out that she wanted sauerkraut filling, so Tianxuan tried to pickle sauerkraut according to the recipe she gave him.
As a result, when I opened the lid of the pickling jar yesterday, all the pickled vegetables had gone bad.
Hong Xiaoduo said that it might be because the temperature here is not suitable for making pickled vegetables.
"After we finish eating the dumplings, anyone who's sleepy can go to bed. Whoever has the most energy can stay up all night in our place," Hong Xiaoduo said with a smile.
Yao Guang swallowed the dumpling in her mouth and said very seriously, "Mom, we're not sleepy. If you're sleepy, go to sleep. We promise we won't disturb you."
"Okay, anyway, tomorrow is the first day of the Lunar New Year, so we don't need to visit anyone to wish them a Happy New Year, and no one will come to wish us a Happy New Year either. You can sleep during the day."
"Oh no, we should ask your master if we need to practice martial arts tomorrow," Hong Xiaoduo said with a mischievous grin.
Upon hearing this, the younger children immediately looked at their master. "No way, we have to practice martial arts again tomorrow? Did we practice martial arts last year at Dawu Pass?"
Seeing the disciples' serious expressions, Quan Jinghuai said somewhat speechlessly, "No matter how strict I am, I wouldn't make you practice martial arts on the first day of the Lunar New Year, would I?"
When the little ones realized what was happening and looked at Hong Xiaoduo again, they saw that she had already stood up with a smile: "I'm done eating and going to sleep first. I won't clean up with you. Goodnight."
As they walked into the house, they saw Feiyan following them. Hong Xiaoduo said, "You should go to sleep early too. Don't wait for them. Kids have a lot of energy; they can really play all night."
"Xiaoduo, haven't you noticed? They seem to be having a fight," Feiyan whispered.
"Do you know the specifics of what happened?" Hong Xiaoduo asked as she continued walking without pausing.
Feiyan was puzzled by her behavior. She paused and quickly caught up with her, asking in a low voice, "So you figured it out. Then why did you pretend not to know?"
Is it because it's Lunar New Year's Eve this year?
As they were talking, the two had already entered the house.
As Hong Xiaoduo took off her boots and put on the cloth slippers Feiyan had made for her, she said, "It must have happened before we were cooking the dumplings. They didn't tell me, probably because they didn't want me to know."
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