Chapter 647: Extra Chapter: Childhood 4

Extra Chapter: Childhood 4

One-and-a-half-year-old Mu Youyu and Mu Xin were smaller than other kids their age, and they often had to stay in the hospital.

The elders felt heartbroken; as soon as they got home, they kept the two little ones in the center of their sight.

The older brothers surrounded them even more tightly, leaving no gap.

Mu Xin and Mu Youyu had also grown accustomed to the smell of medicine; whoever handed them something would take it, whoever reached out to hold them would be allowed, but the next second they would both be snatched away by another older brother.

At one and a half years old, the difference between them began to show.

Mu Xin woke up early without fuss, learned things extremely quickly, and before he was one and a half he could already recognize all the characters and pictures in the children's books.

In the evening, Song Ningsheng would read him a storybook; after hearing it once, he could point to the repeated characters on the second page, though his pronunciation was a little unclear.

At first the family thought it was a coincidence, but as it happened more often they realized this child's memory was unusually good.

Mu Yunshuo happily drank a few more cups, lifted his son up and spun him around, saying, "This child is just like Mu Yichen's two kids! So smart, no wonder he's my offspring, hahahahaha!"

Song Ningsheng glared at him, and only then did he sheepishly put the baby back into the cradle.

Mu Youyu also learned quickly, but she lacked patience and her attention was often scattered.

She sat on a soft mat, with a large cloth book spread before her; Song Ningsheng pointed at the animal picture and said, "Youbao, what is this?"

Mu Youyu glanced at it and said, "Duck."

Song Ningsheng turned to the next page, pointed at a round, plump panda, and asked, "How about this one?"

Mu Youyu tilted her head toward her mother, reaching for the edge of the page, and said, "Cat."

Song Ningsheng corrected: "It's a panda, a little panda."

Mu Youyu mimicked: "Cat."

Song Ningsheng repeated once more: "Panda."

Mu Youyu persisted: "Cat!"

"Yes, yes, yes, cat." Song Ningsheng laughed and gave in, turning to her husband and sighing, "Our daughter is really cute."

Mu Yunshuo leaned over to kiss her, saying, "Yes, yes, yes, especially cute."

Song Ningsheng pushed him, saying, "The kids are still here…"

……

Mu Nian started school relatively early; at eleven he was in first year of junior high, and he only came back to keep his sister company in the afternoons after school or on holidays.

Mu Xi every day after coming home from kindergarten would unfailingly drag his little stool over, sit beside the cradle, and solemnly read storybooks to his sister.

For his age, he already knew quite a few characters, but he still loved to look at the pictures and make up stories: "Once upon a time there was a little bear who had an older brother, and every day he had to eat honey… Does the little sister want to eat some too?"

Mu Youyu blinked her eyes and said, "Second older brother, eat honey!"

Mu Xi nodded seriously, "Yes, honey, I'll get Mom to fetch it for you."

Having said that, he bounced off to find Song Ningsheng.

Mu Xin silently looked at the book.

That year, Mu Xianqi managed to get into the upper grades of elementary school.

He was far more curious about his sister than feeling responsible, often taking advantage of when the two domineering brothers weren't around to bring her ants, bugs, and strange toys.

Mu Xi hated it intensely, and each time he would warn his younger siblings not to touch those things.

Another time, Mu Xianqi shoved a glass marble of unknown origin into her hand; the sister couldn't hold onto it, the marble rolled all over the floor, clacking loudly.

Mu Yichi came over on a children's toy car, roaring, "Mu Xianqi! You're bringing those junk toys to bother my sister again!"

Mu Youyu clapped her hands enthusiastically, "Yichi brother, drive the car!"

Mu Xin covered his ears, refusing to listen to the brothers arguing.

Mu Yichen said nothing, picked up the younger siblings, and retreated to Mu Xi's room.

The two brothers Mu Yichen and Mu Yichi started professional Taekwondo training at age four, and this year at seven they have already won many consecutive martial arts championships.

Mu Xianqi only started learning this after his sister was born; knowing he couldn't beat them outright or sneakily, he hid his head behind the sofa, saying, "I'm just sharing…"

Mu Yichi snapped, "How disgusting! You're already this big, yet you grab any bug—why don't you just eat it raw? It'll give you some brain food."

Seeing Mu Yichi get closer, Mu Xianqi started to run outside, saying, "Grandma said we can't fight."

Mu Yichi flipped off the toy car and chased after him, saying, "Grandma also said, whoever deserves a beating gets beaten."

……

After Mu Xianqi started school, Mu Yichi and Mu Yichen turned their attention to Jiang Liangjin, regarding him as the prime suspect in "abducting their sister."

Whenever Shen Ningmu brought Jiang Liangjin over for a visit, Mu Yichi would circle him once, then lower his voice to tell his brother, "Brother, he's here again."

Mu Yichen also gave a solemn nod, "We need to keep a close watch on him."

Thus the two of them stood one on each side, keeping Jiang Liangjin at a safe distance.

That day, Jiang Liangjin picked a few small wild flowers in the garden and then headed toward Mu Youyu's baby carriage.

Mu Yichi immediately darted over and blocked the carriage, saying, "Be careful! Don't bump into my sister!"

Mu Yichen also stood behind him with arms crossed.

Jiang Liangjin was taken aback by this show of force; he lowered his head to look at the few small wild flowers he held, then at the little girl in the baby carriage reaching out toward him, and hesitantly handed the flowers over.

Mu Yichi snatched it away, "... I'll give it to her for you."

Having said that, he awkwardly placed the flower into his sister's hand and then pushed the baby carriage away.

Mu Youyu grabbed the small wild flower, stuck it into the baby carriage, pointed at it, and said, "Brother, flower."

Hearing the word "brother," Jiang Liangjin's short legs took a step, pattering after them, "Youbao, wait for me."

Mu Yichi quickened his pace.

Song LuXiao was the one among the brothers best at taking care of people, and also the one who most vied for affection.

Three-and-a-half-year-old Song Lujing is still a spoiled darling, usually held in the family's palms, with no one daring to snatch things from him.

Until Mu Youyu was born, he first discovered that a 'little sister' could actually divert everyone's attention.

So whenever someone praised the little sister and ignored him, he would sit on the ground, looking up eagerly, with his mouth pouting.

Until Song LuXiao came over and patted his head, saying, 'You're also an older brother; you should yield to the little sister.'

Seeing he was about to cry, Song's grandma promptly noticed and scooped him up, saying, 'Oh dear, don't make a fuss—you were just begging for a little sister earlier, and now that I've gotten you one, you're not happy; tell me, what do you want?'

Song Lujing cried, 'Wuwuwu, grandma, the little sister, the little sister won't play with me...'

Song's grandma also had no way: 'She won't play with you; looking for me is useless—see, she doesn't even play with grandma? You have to go find the little sister yourself!'

Song Lujing cried even louder, 'I just want the little sister to play with me!'

Unable to soothe him, Song's grandma silently handed him back to her eldest son.

What a worrisome child!

The twins Song Huaiyu and Song Huaixian from Second Uncle's household—one steady, one lively.

Song Huaiyu isn't good at vying to express himself, but he silently watches the little sister and loves feeding her tasty food.

Song Huaixian is different; he goes straight up to the little sister's face, 'Little sister, little sister, call me older brother! Hurry up and call me older brother!'

At that moment, Mu Youyu was being fed rice porridge by Song Huaiyu, had no time to pay attention to him, and only murmured an indistinct 'uh'; Song Huaixian happily turned to report, 'She called me!'

Song Huaiyu: 'Mm-hmm.'

Compared to Song Huaixian, Song Yusui talks so much that even the little sister learned to cover her ears.

After receiving the little sister's praise, he went to bother Mu Xin, who was reading.

Lu Yuchu, meanwhile, sat quietly at the side doing homework, or passing snacks to the younger brothers and sisters.

Song Yan was the quietest among them.

He always followed behind Lu Yuchu—when Lu Yuchu didn't move, he didn't move; when Lu Yuchu passed snacks or toys, he followed suit, then retreated behind the older brother, yet couldn't help poking out half his head to sneak a glance at the little sister's reaction.

In the eyes of several adults, Song Yan's demeanor was that of the most considerate older brother—no quarreling, no fighting, truly good.

Between the ages of one and a half to three, the life paths of Mu Youyu and Mu Xin quietly diverged.

Mu Xin's cleverness could no longer be hidden in the family; before age two she recognized all common characters, and before three she could recite an entire classical passage of over two hundred characters.

Mu Nian once pointed to an elementary olympiad math problem in an extracurricular book.

Mu Xin lowered her gaze, thought for a moment, silently counted the squares on the diagram, then said lightly, 'The answer is thirty-six.'

Mu Nian's pupils dilated slightly.

The others were both surprised and delighted, praising her in a chorus.

Mu Youyu also clapped along, 'Wow, Xin Xin is so smart.'

Mu Xin: 'The little sister is also smart.'

……

One Saturday morning, several steady‑mannered guests who looked like scholars sat in the Mu family's living room.

One middle‑aged man spoke extremely fast, his conversation with Mu's grandma interspersed with foreign language, occasionally pointing toward Mu Youyu.

At that moment Mu Youyu was sitting on the carpet playing with blocks, and after being sized up repeatedly by these adults, she couldn't help but lift her head.

She mumbled, 'Grandma grandma, they're looking at me!'

Mu's grandma laughed as she walked over, picked her up onto her lap, and said, 'It's fine; they're here to see you, and they want to take you to their lab to look at nice things.'

The middle‑aged man also spoke in Z Country Language: 'Teacher Tang, this is your granddaughter, right? I see her eyes are especially spirited; if she comes with us to the lab, she might become interested in those things.'

Another, younger researcher quickly added: 'Right, Teacher Tang, we currently have a project lacking a research direction……'

'Or you could visit our school; maybe she'd like to be my junior.'

Someone spoke up, intending to directly lure Mu Youyu: 'Little friend, our lab has a color‑changing liquid; add different substances and it turns from blue to pink, like magic! If you come, Auntie will let you drop the reagent yourself, okay?'

How scary—Mom said not to go with strangers, and Mu Youyu warned, 'No!'

Mu's grandma's smile didn't fade as she drew her granddaughter closer, saying, 'Our treasure is still young; let's wait until she's a bit older to talk about it.'

The middle‑aged man, sensing the situation, stopped insisting and instead chatted with Mu's grandma about another student's recent situation.

In Mu Youyu's eyes, they were strange uncles and strange aunts.

In the afternoon, Mu's grandpa routinely took her to visit the Jiang family.

Jiang Liangjin was reading on the living‑room sofa; seeing her arrive, he hurried to his room and brought out his little car, saying, 'Youbao, here for you to play.'

Mu Youyu sat in his car with a 'nie nie nie' sound, saying, 'Drive the car!'

Jiang's grandma thought the scene was a perfect match, gave Mu's grandma a glance, and said, 'Look, they get along so well—our A Jin never talks at home, only with A Yu.'

Mu's grandma smiled gently, 'Yes, yes, yes.'

After enough car rides, Mu Youyu took the blocks and built a crooked little tower on the table.

Jiang Liangjin sat beside her, helping with the building, occasionally reaching out to steady a block about to fall.

Jiang Ye Ye came over and said, 'A Yu, do you want to go fishing with Grandpa? Grandpa has many big fish.'

Mu Youyu looked up, blinked, thought a moment, and said, 'Grandpa, will the fish bite people?'

'No, no!' Jiang Ye Ye beamed with delight, 'If you like it, Grandpa will scoop them all out and put them in front of you so you can look your fill.'

Mu's grandpa exerted all his strength, 'Cough Cough Cough!'

Jiang Ye Ye: 'Get over there, don't infect my precious granddaughter!'

Mu's grandpa: 'What do you mean my granddaughter?!'

Mu Youyu put down the blocks, ran over and grabbed Mu's grandpa's cuff, 'Grandpa~ look at the little fish.'

Mu's grandpa softened, took her hand, and said, 'All right, all right, let's go.'

Jiang Ye Ye asked gently, 'Hey, A Yu, would you be willing to be Jiang Ye Ye's granddaughter?'

Mu Youyu was about to respond when Shen Ningmu interrupted: 'A Jin, take A Yu to play in the room.'

What granddaughter? She still wanted to go with Sheng Sheng over New Year to pull a toy cart! This person better not ruin her plans.

Jiang Liangjin was obedient, taking her soft little hand and went inside.

Grandfather Mu was satisfied; his granddaughter cannot belong to another family.

Jiang Ye Ye was unhappy, but he didn't say much.

Hmph, even the daughter-in-law began to despise this little old man...

Before the New Year this year, the maternal grandfather came back from Y Guo for a visit, staying at home for several days.

Every day he observed Mu Xin's reading habits and memory; after several considerations, he made a decision.

He wanted to bring Mu Xin back to Y Guo to personally nurture him.

The grandfather has gradually grown old; he hopes to pass on all his lifelong accumulated knowledge and Art Resources to Mu Xin, so that he can quickly become familiar with the connections and circles there in Y Guo, paving the way for the future.

Mu Yunshuo and Song Ningsheng were initially reluctant, but the grandfather also made it quite clear.

"For a child at this age, exposure to the aristocratic education system is the best; once they grow a bit older and their thinking patterns set, even the best teacher can only trim branches and leaves, unable to reshape the foundation."

Several elders finally nodded in agreement.

After the New Year, Mu Xin will be taken to Y Guo; this is his last New Year spent in the homeland.

This year, the four families discussed spending New Year at the Mu Family, and afterwards they would take turns celebrating.

Finally, the order of New Year celebrations for the four great families was set: Mu, Jiang, Song, Shen.

That day, the four families gathered at the Mu Family; the hall was bright with lights, filled with red lanterns.

Mu Youyu wore new clothes, pulling Jiang Liangjin to watch fireworks in the courtyard; when the fireworks burst, she pointed one hand at the sky and covered her ears with the other, saying, "How bright!"

Jiang Liangjin looked up at the sky, then lowered his head, reaching out to help her cover her ears.

Mu Xin also looked at his sister, saying, "Yes, it's beautiful."

The brothers gazed resentfully at the three little ones.

The elders smiled.

Shen Ningmu sat beside Song Ningsheng, tilting her head and saying, "What do you think about the two children getting married when they grow up?"

Song Ningsheng was amused by her words, stammering, "You mean a childhood betrothal?"