Chapter 347

"Mother!"

While Emma and Li Ang talked, little Ellie behaved well and didn't disturb them, only occasionally glancing longingly in their direction.

When Emma finished talking and entered the garden, Ellie, unable to wait any longer, finally ran over and gently tugged at Emma's skirt, holding out her hand as if presenting a treasure.

"Look, look!"

This… holly berries?

After identifying the small orange-red fruits before her, Emma smiled softly, bent down, and plucked a leaf hanging from Ellie's cap.

"That's wonderful—I thought all the holly berries in the garden had already been eaten by little animals… where did you find them?"

"Over there!"

Pointing to a small patch of bushes that had been pushed aside, little Ellie, her forehead slick with sweat and specks of dirt on her nose, beamed with excitement.

"Melanie took me to peek inside, and there were exactly these red little berries—and lots of footprints like little dogs'!"

Dog-like footprints?

Emma paused slightly, puzzled.

"Are there dogs in the garden?"

"I don't know… but there really are lots of little footprints!"

Ellie shook her head, eyes sparkling.

"I've checked every corner of the garden many times, but I never knew there were little dogs! William and the others are so clever! They just looked and spotted the footprints behind the bushes—and even found a secret passage!"

Secret passage? Is there a secret passage in the garden?

"Really! There really is a secret passage!"

Seeing Emma's skeptical expression, Ellie grew anxious.

"I'm not lying! After we found the passage, Melanie tried to crawl in, but Aunt Anna wouldn't let her—so William went around to the other side, climbed a tree, and tricked Aunt Anna… oh no!

No! That's not it… it wasn't tricking! It was just… just that…"

"…."

Got it—you two pulled the old "feint and flank" trick, luring Anna away, didn't you?

These two troublemakers are coordinating now!

Watching Ellie panic and clamp her hand over her mouth after accidentally revealing too much, Li Ang sighed inwardly, then stepped quickly into the garden and circled to the front of the bushes.

Sure enough, a small wiggling bottom was half-stuck in the bushes; Melanie, her upper body shoved into the so-called secret passage, was twisting desperately and groaning:

"It stinks! It stinks! Pull me out!"

"Eww! It's disgusting! Ellie! Ellie, help!"

"…."

I knew you two would cause me some trouble!

After yanking apart the bushes and pulling Melanie out of the passage, Li Ang glared at his muddy, dirt-caked sister.

"What did you promise me yesterday? Forgotten?"

"Huh? Big brother?"

Seeing Li Ang's darkening face, Melanie's excitement faded; she'd been caught red-handed. She forced a nervous smile and pointed behind her.

"There's… a secret passage! And there's something inside—I grabbed a handful! Maybe it's treasure!"

Treasure?

Watching Melanie eagerly offer her small hand, Li Ang hesitated, then extended his palm. Seeing her bright expression, he let her place the so-called treasure in his palm.

Hmm… dark brown, fairly hard, slightly flattened cylinder, about one centimeter in diameter, and it smells foul…

"These look like badger footprints."

After examining Li Ang's "treasure," Emma, who had followed with her daughter, pointed to the prints on the ground and chuckled.

"These footprints aren't like dog paws—they have five toes, and the front paws are much larger than the hind ones, just like badger prints. So what they found isn't a secret passage, but a white-striped badger's den.

As for the treasure in your hand… hmm… maybe you should wash your hands?"

"…."

Treasure dug out of a badger's den… isn't that just dried feces?!

After hearing Emma's assessment, Li Ang's hand jerked involuntarily; he frantically shook off the dried dung, his face darkening several shades further.

While little Ellie rushed to give Emma the berries she'd found, Melanie had crawled through a dog hole and handed her big brother a handful of badger poop.

The contrast was truly stark…

As Li Ang glared at his scheming sister and rubbed his palm vigorously with a handkerchief, Anna, having been distracted, arrived with William, slightly out of breath, coming around from the other side.

"I knew you two were up to something!"

Seeing Melanie covered in dirt, Anna—who had spent years outwitting her younger siblings—immediately realized she'd been fooled. She grabbed William's ear and, gritting her teeth, glared at Melanie's sheepish face.

"Your gift is canceled! And your allowance for next week is cut too!"

"No! Don't!"

Though she'd guessed the gift might be canceled, she hadn't expected her allowance to be cut too. Melanie turned pleading eyes to her favorite brother, blinking desperately for someone to "stand up for justice." But…

"Don't look at me!"

Recalling the feel of those dried fecal pellets, Li Ang hardened his heart.

"Your allowance is definitely cut—and not just that. You'll wash your own dirty clothes today. No asking Anna for help!"

"Waaah!"

…

After the minor chaos caused by the "secret passage treasure," Li Ang's family accepted Emma's invitation and entered the small wooden house beside the garden.

After brushing the dirt off the three children, Emma took out two slightly damp towels, handed one to Anna, then held Ellie close and gently wiped her face.

Anna, meanwhile, pinched her mischievous sister's cheek with her left hand and scrubbed her face vigorously with the wet towel.

"Gentle… gentle! It hurts!"

"Tough it out! I can't be gentle!"

"Then… um… just wipe me like you did Ellie!"

"No!"

Anna scrubbed Melanie's forehead hard until her little head turned bright red, then snapped:

"Ellie only had dust on her face. Your sweat mixed with dirt into mud—how else are you going to clean it off?"

"But… it hurts!"

With her face pinched, Melanie fought against her sister's brutality and made one last plea:

"Could you… wipe William first? I can wait until after Aunt Emma finishes with Ellie…"

"Hold still!"

"O… okay…"

Hmph, my foolish sister!

Seeing Melanie still trying to drag him down even now, William—who was just as dirty—glanced sideways at her, then turned away with his hands behind his back and smirked triumphantly, basking in intellectual superiority.

Even though the mud on my face was uncomfortable, I knew Anna was furious, so the first one to get wiped would suffer. So I stepped back half a pace, letting you go first—waiting until Anna's anger cooled a bit before…

"William, come here!"

Watching his sister and Emma caring for the children, Li Ang felt slightly awkward, so he took a handkerchief from the Mirror World and waved to William.

"Don't wait for Anna—I'll wipe your face!"

Big brother?

Hearing Li Ang's call, William paused briefly, then decided it wasn't so bad—so he nodded, walked over with a cool expression, and tilted his face up toward Li Ang.

"Puke!"

"Big brother, your handkerchief smells kind of bad…"