Chapter 238: “going To Visit Family”
“Mom, I don’t know them!!” Heng Bao, with his impatient temperament, immediately sought help, his little voice full of grievance, “Mao Dan’er is so annoying, he didn’t write pinyin!!”
Yu Bao nodded his little head, looking very approving.
Lin Zhao couldn’t help laughing.
“Mao Dan’er doesn’t know you two don’t recognize those characters.” she said.
The two little friends’ faces stiffened, their expressions even more aggrieved.
Heng Bao put his hands on his hips, “Mom! Whose mom are you exactly?!”
Qian Bao looked up, saying in his milky voice, “My mom.”
After answering, without waiting for mom and brother to say anything, he lowered his little head and continued looking at his picture book.
Lin Zhao saw her son’s long eyelashes blinking, his side profile round with a little milk pouch, and couldn’t resist scraping her son’s cheek with her fingertip.
“Right, I’m Qian Bao’s mom.”
Heng Bao stretched out his arms and hugged her waist, saying loudly, “You’re my mom too!”
Yu Bao: “You’re still my mom.”
Hearing his brothers’ words, Yao Bao, who was playing with her doll, looked over, her tone soft, “Mom?”
Yu Bao and his younger brothers were competing, and he first felt embarrassed himself. Hearing his little sister make a sound, it was like he had a way to back down.
He said to Yao Bao, “You keep playing.”
Yao Bao didn’t understand, but didn’t mind either, saying “oh” and continuing to change her little cloth doll’s clothes, fumbling around messily but not irritable, taking her time slowly, like an old lady doing needlework.
Heng Bao stuffed the letter written by Mao Dan’er to mom, acting spoiled, “Mom, read it for us.”
“Okay.” Lin Zhao took the letter and started reading.
「Yu Bao, Heng Bao:
Received your letter happily! It’s me, Mao Dan’er. I miss you guys a lot, and I don’t know if you’ve thought of me?
Everything is fine for me in the family courtyard of the military region, and Jing Mo and Guang Bai are good too.
The military region also has a private plot where you can grow vegetables. My grandma wants to plant some too, but my dad doesn’t agree, worried she’d get tired. My grandma says she has nothing to do all day, so my dad still opened a small vegetable patch right in our yard.
We’re slowly getting used to life in the military region. It’s more relaxed than in the village, and everything is very convenient here. Sometimes Jing Mo and I go to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy candy—it’s very close, just a short walk. When you come, we’ll go together.
You must not guess who I saw in the military region—it’s Lu Baozhen.
You haven’t forgotten Lu Baozhen, right? The girl from our village who always clung to you two. You disliked her for crying a lot and didn’t like playing with her.
Now I have a new trouble, sigh, I don’t know how to put it…
Lu Baozhen keeps following me and even comes to my house. I’ve chased her away several times, but she doesn’t listen and cries, making Aunt Wang misunderstand that I’m bullying the little girl. Now when I see her, I just ignore her and pretend she doesn’t exist.
Uncle Meng said your birthday is coming up soon. Jing Mo, Guang Bai, and I went to the supply and marketing cooperative and bought you a gift, which we’ve sent separately. Hope you like it…」
The letter was neither long nor short, all about daily matters, and it didn’t take much effort to finish reading.
Yu Bao frowned, saying indignantly, “Lu Baozhen went to cling to Mao Dan’er again. She’s really annoying.”
Heng Bao raised his little fist, “We should just beat her up. If we make her cry, she won’t dare follow anymore!”
“Beat who?” Lin Zhao narrowed her eyes.
“Can a real man raise a fist to a little girl?”
“I taught you that, and you forgot already?”
She asked word by word, her expression serious.
Heng Bao saw that mom was really angry, so he stood ramrod straight, “I haven’t forgotten.”
“A real man can’t hit girls. I remember.” He seriously repeated what Lin Zhao had said before.
“I just spoke too fast. Mom, don’t be angry.”
Heng Bao nervously looked at Lin Zhao and stretched out his right hand, palm up, “Mom, hit me.”
Lin Zhao knew Er Zai’s personality was careless and sometimes spoke without thinking, but he wasn’t a boy with malice, so she wouldn’t hit the child for this.
“As long as you remember. I won’t hit you, but if you swing a fist at a little girl, I will hit you. Not only me, I’ll have your dad hang you up and beat you.” She gave him a good scare.
There were many bad habits in the countryside, and beating daughters-in-law was the worst. She couldn’t control others, but her own children raising a fist to the weak… absolutely not!
Heng Bao quickly withdrew his arm and stuffed his hand into his pocket, as if a second later he’d get hit with the ruler. He hurriedly promised, “I remember, I really remember.”
Lin Zhao ruffled his hair, “Good as long as you remember. Remembering makes you a good child.”
Heng Bao felt mom’s warm hand, and his head unconsciously rubbed against it.
Seeing Lin Zhao no longer angry, he frowned again, “Then what if brother and I run into that kind of situation again?”
Lin Zhao’s expression grew complicated.
So confident it was inflated, classmate Gu Er Zai.
“Mom! Don’t look down on us!” Heng Bao felt mom’s gaze was strange and fell into a self-justification trap, saying indignantly, “Brother and I are good-looking, our clothes and schoolbags are nice, and we have little snacks. Lots of little girls like playing with us.”
Lin Zhao just said, “Little girls like your clothes, schoolbags, and candy, not you. What are you so proud of?”
Heng Bao was speechless.
His brother said weakly, “But our clothes, schoolbags, and candy are ours.”
They’re part of them, so how aren’t they theirs?!
Yu Bao’s little brain popped up with a big question mark.
“Yes.” Lin Zhao didn’t know what to say.
“You don’t want to attract too much attention, so maybe in the future when you go out… be a bit low-key?” She made a small suggestion.
In fact, the twins had rosy cheeks and bright eyes. One look and you could tell they weren’t lacking materially, and they always had candy in hand. Not just little girls, even little boys liked to come play with them.
Whether it was personal charm or not, candy’s appeal was tremendous.
“No way!” Heng Bao shook his head like a rattle, “I think I heard grandma say something about first respecting this and then that, meaning clothes are important.”
…Yes, first respect the clothes, then the person, right?
“That was before. Who dares now?” Lin Zhao said.
No matter what you think in your heart, at least on the surface now, the more patches, the more honorable.
But the children didn’t understand. They envied… the little friends who had it good.
“They all dare.” Yu Bao got so angry his hair was almost standing up, “The grandfather who came to mom to sell eggs… was bullied by the mean salesperson before!”
Just thinking of the grandfather being bullied made the little friend’s eyes blaze with anger.
Lin Zhao: “…”
Ever since learning about the old man selling eggs, Yu Bao had been a bit melancholic, working even harder at his studies, saying he needed to make something of himself, bring honor to his grandparents, and not let anyone look down on his family…
“That’s because she didn’t run into the leader, or she’d have been out of luck long ago.” she explained.
Yu Bao said with a serious face, “I still need to work hard. Dad says people need to take the initiative, pinning hopes on others… is not smart.”
Lin Zhao was both amused and exasperated, “You’re only a few years old. Why think so deep and far? You have your dad.”
“My dad is so far away, out of reach.” Yu Bao said in the tone his grandfather often used.
The smile deepened in Lin Zhao’s eyes, “Then you work hard.”
She wouldn’t be the stumbling block stopping the child’s progress, right.
However.
How did the conversation turn to this?!
While she was pondering, Heng Bao pulled the topic back, “Mom still hasn’t answered me. If a little girl sticks to me and brother, what do we do?”
Lin Zhao said casually, “Either use her momentum against her, or run, what else can you do.”
The two treasures exchanged a glance, as if reaching a tacit understanding, nodding vigorously at each other.
Lin Zhao: “?”
“Made some decision?” she asked.
Yu Bao blinked his eyes, “Run.”
Heng Bao nodded.
Right.
Using momentum against her was too much trouble, run first.
“…You two really deserve to be Mao Dan’er’s good friends. You make the same choice.” Lin Zhao commented flatly.
The two boys suddenly got excited, nodding like pounding garlic.
Lin Zhao: “…”
“Mom, I’m going to write back to Mao Dan’er!” Heng Bao excitedly rushed back into the room.
Yu Bao steadied Qian Bao who was almost knocked over and rushed in too.
Lin Zhao shook her head helplessly, picked up Qian Bao, and held the milk-scented little child in her arms, “Your brothers run fast. I’ll read dad’s letter to our Qian Bao first and let them regret it.”
Qian Bao looked at mom and bared his little teeth.
Lin Zhao kissed her son’s soft little face, “So obedient.”
“Read.” The child said softly.
“Okay, read.”
Lin Zhao started reading.
She read what could be read.
She didn’t read what Gu Chenghuai wrote to her.
Qian Bao listened attentively, his little face puffed up.
The twins only learned after finishing their letter that dad had also sent a letter, and mom had read it to their little brother first. The two little brothers looked like the sky had fallen.
Lin Zhao couldn’t help chuckling, “Why this expression? The letter is still here. It’s not like it disappears after one read.”
Yu Bao said, “We weren’t the first to see it.”
Lin Zhao countered, “The letter your dad sent back, can’t I read it first?”
The little friend shook his head hurriedly.
“No.”
Yu Bao couldn’t argue with mom, sighed, picked up the letter, and sat on small stools with his brother, obediently reading the letter.
The two boys seemed sulking, and when they encountered unfamiliar characters, they didn’t ask Lin Zhao anymore, checking the dictionary themselves.
Lin Zhao didn’t mind, took out that little notebook recording life, and wrote and drew beside them.
She drew a scene of two five-head-body little boys with red cheeks reading the letter.
The children’s expressions went from sulking, to brows relaxing, to smiling broadly, then to giggling…
Beside them were two even younger children.
“Dad misses us.” Heng Bao said, “I miss dad too.”
Lin Zhao said casually, “When the weather warms up a bit, I’ll take you two to visit relatives.”
The twins’ eyes lit up.
They rushed over suddenly.
Stopping in front of Lin Zhao.
“Mom?” Yu Bao called uncertainly.
Heng Bao: “What did you just say? Are you taking us to accompany the army?!”
His excited tone was almost flying to the sky.
“Not accompanying the army, just visiting relatives. If there’s opportunity, we’ll go. If not, we’ll see. Don’t get so excited about uncertain things.” Lin Zhao patted the two boys’ little heads.
The two boys’ minds were all buzzing with excitement about exploring the world, unable to calm down.
Yu Bao asked, “Mom, when are we going?”
Lin Zhao: “…”
Her tone helpless, “Didn’t you hear what I just said?”
“I heard.” Yu Bao said, “Mom said taking us to visit relatives isn’t guaranteed. If there’s opportunity, we go; if not, we don’t. I heard.”
“So when are we going?”
“…” Lin Zhao met her son’s sparkling eyes and saw they really wanted to go. After a moment’s thought, she said, “When the weather warms up.”
“Spring?” The two little brothers held hands, leaning together, looking nervous.
“Mm.” Lin Zhao nodded.
Heng Bao pulled his brother and bounced around, “Bro, after the new year, mom’s taking us to visit relatives! Visit relatives! We’ll see dad and Mao Dan’er, and fourth uncle, Jing Mo and Guang Bai, hehehehe…”
He was so happy his mouth wouldn’t close for a long time.
Lin Zhao: “…”
Yu Bao bounced a few times with his brother, then stopped and ran to Lin Zhao, looking at her and lowering his voice, “Mom, are we all going?”
While speaking, he glanced at Qian Bao and Yao Bao with the corner of his eye.
Lin Zhao pursed her lips and shook her head gently.
The dragon-phoenix twins were too young and definitely couldn’t all go together. Besides, she couldn’t manage four children.
Yu Bao sympathetically and reluctantly glanced at his younger brother and sister, then said, “Bring them back some good food when we return, okay?”
“Of course.” Lin Zhao wouldn’t stop her son from being good to his siblings.
Heng Bao asked, “Mom, what good food is there?”
Lin Zhao hadn’t been there, of course she didn’t know.
“Don’t know. When we get there, you can explore yourselves.” she said.
The twins became even more expectant.
When they came back to their senses, Lin Zhao had taken Qian Bao and Yao Bao back inside.
The two didn’t hurry in, but ran off to collect dog fur.
“Heng Bao, you pick first. I’ll go get the bag.” Yu Bao said and rushed inside.
Heng Bao said loudly, “Okay.”
He put a cushion at the dog kennel entrance, stretched his little body out halfway, gathered the fur Da Huang and Amber had shed into piles, and pushed them outside.
Yu Bao took it and stuffed it into the little bag.
“So much.”
Heng Bao: “Mom said dogs shed fur but won’t go bald. They won’t feel cold when it gets colder.”
Yu Bao didn’t speak, seriously working, cleaning out all the fur from the dog kennel cushion spotlessly.
After finishing, he climbed out and brushed off the dog fur on himself.
He put the bag of dog fur back in the cabinet in the room.
The two boys came to mom and dad’s room.
“Mom, we’ve cleaned up Da Huang and Amber’s fur.” Yu Bao reported to Lin Zhao.
“So capable.” Lin Zhao praised.
Collecting dog fur was a long story. Mainly, the twins felt it was such a pity to throw away Da Huang and Amber’s shed fur, like throwing away their own warm clothes, making them all downcast.
This was the pure innocence unique to little children.
Lin Zhao then said they could keep it, and when they had enough, make a fur cushion with the dog fur.
The two boys gladly accepted this opinion.
They collected every couple of days.
“We have a lot now, mom.” Yu Bao said.
“Not enough yet.” Lin Zhao said, “Handicrafts take time and patience. Wait until it’s warm to make it.”
It was too cold now, time to use hot water bottles, not for crafting.
“Okay.” The twins agreed obediently.
…
After it got cold, school was out.
After a heavy rain, the temperature dropped sharply.
Pedestrians on the street put on cotton-padded clothes; those with means wore hats and scarves. A cold wind made people want to flee back indoors.
Gu family’s four children no longer went outside, only willing to stay inside.
Lin Zhao still had to go to work and envied the four children hard every time before leaving.
Yu Bao woke up early every day, supervising mom to put on her hat and scarf properly, and take the hot water bottle, before feeling assured.
“Mom, go slow on the road.” He sat up from the bed, calling softly in his just-woken voice.
“Got it.” Lin Zhao responded, walked to the bedside, ruffled Da Zai’s hair, “Watch your younger siblings, don’t let them go out. Only open the door for family… ” She instructed steady Yu Bao as usual.
Yu Bao nodded seriously, the tuft of bedhead hair on top bobbing.
Lin Zhao touched her son’s warm little face.
“It’s too early, don’t get up in a hurry. It’s cold outside. Wait for the sun to come out. Breakfast is warming in the pot. Be slow getting it with the stool. If anything, have Da Huang call me.”
Yes, Da Huang could probably do it now, even calling people.
