Chapter 293

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Protagonist:

Lin Xiyu

The babies are one and a half years old.

In the season of bright spring sunlight, Lin Xiyu planted a long row of loofah and pumpkin at the west wall root of the Old House.

Seeing Mom planting vegetables, the babies all perked up too, vying to help.

Dabao Pingping was the most enthusiastic, using a small shovel to dig and scrape haphazardly, sending soil flying everywhere.

"Pingping, are you sure you're helping? Or are you making things worse?"

Lin Xiyu got a mouthful of dirt clods flung by her darling son, and feeling both exasperated and amused, she gave his little bottom a slap.

Pingping was stripped by his mother, exercising her supreme privilege as Mother, of the fun of continuing to make things worse.

Lin Xiyu took the small shovel from his hand and gave it to Anan.

Anan was much smarter and more obedient.

He first used a small bucket to fetch water from the fish pond, poured it on the ground, waited for the soil to become moist and soft, then used the small shovel to dig holes.

This way no dust would fly up, the soil also became loose and easy to dig, achieving twice the result with half the effort per shovel.

"Anan is so clever, much better than Pingping."

"This kid has so many schemes, he could sell his big brother out."

"Hahaha......"

Grandma Gu and the nannies watched with delight, their mouths not idle either, teasing and joking with the children.

Xixi watched with envy, also wanting to dig holes, and crowded up to Anan to snatch the small shovel.

Anan liked quiet and disliked activity; he wasn't really wanting to work in the first place. Seeing his younger sister want it, he put up a token resistance for less than a second, then let go and gave her the small shovel.

Xixi thought she had won because of her great strength, waving the small shovel, grinning happily hee-hee.

"This girl, just like the eldest daughter, her brain isn't too bright either; her brother yielded to her and she couldn't even tell."

"They're just children, they don't have that many schemes; Xixi's temperament is quite good, she likes something so she grabs it, doesn't wrong herself."

"When she grows up and fancies a boy, she'll snatch him back too, to be your great-granddaughter-in-law."

"I think it's fine, as long as the children themselves like it, I raise both hands and both feet in agreement."

Grandma Gu and the nannies still not having enough of the amusement, continued joking and teasing.

——

Lele was frail and delicate; Lin Xiyu and Guben were especially attentive to this daughter, never letting her do high-intensity exercise.

Like using a small shovel to dig holes — labor that would expend energy — as long as their precious daughter showed the slightest desire to try, the couple would quickly say something else to divert her attention.

"Lele, come, help Mommy sow seeds."

Xixi dug holes in front, and Lin Xiyu taught Lele to sow seeds with a beaming smile.

Lele's chubby little hands pinched up the sesame-seed-sized seeds one by one, sprinkling them into the already-dug small soil pits.

Seemingly very boring, but for a little cutie just encountering something new, it was also full of fun.

The pair of sisters cooperated with tacit understanding, busy for a whole morning, before all the seeds were sprinkled into the pits.

The final step of covering with soil: Pingping, who had been aggrieved all morning, finally got his wish with Dad's support, snatching the small shovel back from his sister's hand.

This time he had learned his lesson, no longer working blindly; following Dad's direction, he filled the pits with a thin layer of fine soil.

Lin Xiyu then had Xixi water the seeds with an appropriate amount of water, and the wonderful experience of the babies personally participating in vegetable planting for the first time was considered complete.

——

Before long, the vegetable seeds, nourished by the spring rain, broke through the soil.

"Mama, Mama......"

"Sprouts, sprouts have come out."

Xixi was the first to discover the little vegetable sprouts, pulling at her tender little voice, excited beyond measure.

"Really? They've sprouted this fast?"

Lin Xiyu was sitting under the Pomegranate Tree doing paper-cutting; seeing her daughter come running over eagerly, insisting on dragging her over to look, she indulged her, letting her little hand pull her along to the wall root.

The little vegetable sprouts had just poked out tiny tender buds from the soil; without squatting down to look closely, they could hardly be seen clearly.

One must also credit the little girl's sharp eyes, to have spotted traces of such tiny buds.

"Xixi is so great."

Lin Xiyu pamperingly pinched her daughter's little cheek, smiling and praising: "First to discover the little vegetable sprouts, better eyes than both big brothers."

"Heehee."

Xixi was happy, her eyes smiling into little crescent moons.

——

With the little vegetable sprouts, the babies had a new pastime, circling the sprouts all day long.

The watering cans became hot commodities; the three babies, except Anan, vied to water.

Guben had no choice but to buy four watering cans of the same model but different colors, one per baby, fulfilling their beautiful wish to be little gardeners.

The little vegetable sprouts grew vigorously under the babies' careful care.

Although there were occasional small mishaps, like a certain especially naughty baby accidentally stepping on one, leaves falling off, but roots and stems still there, still growing tenaciously, putting out new shoots.

——

The weather grew hotter day by day, and the loofah seedlings and pumpkin seedlings climbed all over the entire wall.

Delicate flowers swayed in the breeze; bees came drawn by the fragrance, flying back and forth around the blossoms.

The babies saw bees for the first time and found them extraordinarily novel, staring with wide eyes, curious as they watched them busy among the flowers.

"Bees are diligent little gardeners; without them to pollinate the flowers, melons and fruits cannot set fruit."

Lin Xiyu taught on the spot, explaining the knowledge of pollen fertilization to the babies.

"Wow."

The babies listened very seriously, letting out exclamations of wonder from their little mouths from time to time.

"Mama, want bee......"

Dabao had the heaviest curiosity, stretching out his little hand wanting to catch a bee.

"Bees must not be touched......"

Lin Xiyu feared he would be stung by a bee and hurriedly stopped him: "There is a tail sting on its tail; a sting hurts a lot."

It would have been fine if she had not said it; saying it only aroused the little darling's curiosity even more.

Dabao took advantage of the adults' inattention, slipped alone to the wall, tiptoed and grabbed the loofah vine, wanting to pick a flower.

There was a bee in the flower; the result was predictable.

The little darling's head was stung; he cried miserably from the pain.

Grandma Gu was both annoyed and amused; while coaxing the child she did not forget to hold her beloved camera.

"Click."

The camera shutter gave a soft, slight sound, capturing the tear-streaked little face.

In Dabao's countless black history entries, another vivid stroke was added.

——

Autumn arrived, and the small courtyard also harvested.

The pomegranate tree, persimmon tree, and grape vine all bore fruit heavily, weighing down the branches until they bent.

The loofah vine at the west wall root grew vigorously at the slightest breeze, climbing the entire wall and extending from the wall top onto the eaves.

Looking west from under the pomegranate tree, as far as the eye could see, the eaves and wall tops were hung with fresh, tender green loofahs.

The pumpkin vine was crowded out by the loofah, few in number, but that did not mean the fruit was also small.

On the contrary, several long large pumpkins grew exceptionally well; not yet fully ripe, they had already grown to the size of a washbasin.

"Your pumpkins grow really well; how much fertilizer did you use? For them to grow this big......"

Wu Meng brought her precious daughter for a visit; seeing the large pumpkins, she could not help but click her tongue in wonder.

Lin Xiyu smiled leisurely: "Our vegetables are purely green and pollution-free; not a bit of fertilizer was used."

"No fertilizer used, and they can grow this big?"

Wu Meng did not believe it: "Don't you try to fool me just because I read little; it's not that easy to deceive me."

"Really no fertilizer used, not deceiving you."

Lin Xiyu smiled with an inscrutable expression.

"Then tell me, how do you grow your vegetables."

Wu Meng unwillingly pressed: "I want to learn some tricks too, go back and tell those seven aunts and eight aunts in the countryside, so they can also grow such big pumpkins without using fertilizer."

Lin Xiyu raised an eyebrow: "You really want to hear?"

"Of course it's true....."

Wu Meng hurriedly urged: "Don't keep me in suspense; hurry up and tell me."

"Fine, I'll tell you."

Lin Xiyu covered her mouth and laughed, teasing her own little stinker in front of her: "Pingping, how do you usually fertilize the pumpkins? Perform one for Auntie Meng."

Dabao believed it, toddled on his short legs to the west wall root, and peed a stream.

Wu Meng: "......"

——

Nuan Nuan was a warm-hearted little sister; seeing Anan sitting alone in a corner of the bamboo mat, not making a sound, as if isolated by someone, she found it a bit pitiful.

So the little sister moved with intent, wanting to secretly comfort the little brother.

The little brother did not speak; the little sister used toys to coax him, deliberately teasing him to speak.

The little brother did not appreciate it, still did not speak; she then switched through various toys, persistently teasing him.

Anan was very speechless.

He just wanted to sit quietly alone for a while.

Bask in the sun, supplement some calcium, isn't that good?

This little sister who doesn't look too smart, why does she have to come and mess with him ah ah ah!

——

"Little brother, shall we play with the windmill together?"

Nuan Nuan did not know what Anan was thinking in his heart; beaming, she held up the small windmill Mother newly bought her, showing it off before the little brother.

She wanted to tease the little brother into playing, and even deliberately blew on it with her mouth, wanting to make the windmill spin faster.

There was wind in the yard; just turning the windmill a slight direction would make it spin faster; there was absolutely no need to blow with the mouth!

Anan watched her puff out her cheeks, blowing with great effort, helplessly rolled a white eye, tilted his head back, and lay down on the bamboo mat.

"Little brother, do you want to sleep? I'll keep you company......"

Nuan Nuan saw Anan lie down and also lay down following him, still holding her beloved small windmill in hand.

The windmill direction was wrong; it spun very slowly; she kept blowing hard.

Anan listened for a while, truly unable to endure it, opened his eyes, and used his hand to flick the windmill's direction.

The windmill spun in the wind, its rotation speed increasing geometrically.

"Wow, the windmill is spinning so fast......"

Nuan Nuan's little eyes brightened; holding her small windmill, she laughed very happily.

——

"Xiyu, how about this then."

Seeing this scene, Wu Meng secretly harbored another thought: "We two aren't engaged in a childhood engagement? I think Anan is very good; let's engage Anan to my family's Nuan Nuan."

Lin Xiyu's eyes revealed surprise: "How come you suddenly took a liking to Anan again?"

"I think Anan is quite smart; he can just improve our family's genes."

Wu Meng didn't conceal her little scheme at all: "Liangzi and I added together aren't as smart as Guben alone; his son, the IQ is definitely high, it's either Pingping or Anan, they're sure to take after him."

"Why don't you choose Pingping?"

Lin Xiyu laughed and countered: "Maybe Pingping takes after his dad, and Anan takes after me."

The scene of Pingping peeing on the pumpkin vine just now flashed before Wu Meng's eyes; two drops of cold sweat fell on the back of her head: "Forget Pingping then; Anan is very good, we'll just choose Anan."

"That child Anan has a bit of a cold personality......"

Lin Xiyu, with her built-in birth-mom filter, felt her son was good in every way, but still gave a fair assessment: "In my view, he and Nuan Nuan aren't very suitable; they can't play together. Even if we have the heart to matchmake, feelings would be hard to cultivate. Rather, Pingping, though he looks carefree, is actually a little warm boy; Lele likes Pingping the most, and Pingping also protects his younger sister, letting her have any good thing first......"

"Both sons have their pros and cons; it really is hard to choose......"

Wu Meng knitted her brows, worried again.

"You're worrying about this now; isn't it a bit too early?"

Lin Xiyu found it funny and poked her forehead with a finger.

"Not early......"

Wu Meng followed the pressure of her hand and tilted her head, then continued on her own: "Once when my mom held Nuan Nuan to come play, Grandma Gu didn't say she'd give Nuan Nuan a gold bracelet? Just then Ruirui came back, the old lady was so happy she forgot about this matter."

"You're still thinking about the bracelet?"

Lin Xiyu almost laughed spray: "How long ago was that? I can barely remember."

"Put the bracelet on first......"

Wu Meng laughed cheerfully: "Tie him with the bracelet, then Anan can't escape."

"You really took a liking to Anan?"

Lin Xiyu hadn't taken it seriously before; hearing her mention Anan again, she actually showed a few points of surprise.

"I feel Nuan Nuan is willing to get close to Anan; this is fate."

Wu Meng glanced again at the direction where the two little ones were lying, and said composedly: "Anan's cold personality doesn't matter; my family's Nuan Nuan is a little sun; no matter how cold the ice, she can melt it."

"You as a mother......"

Lin Xiyu was amused, laughing and teasing: "Aren't you afraid your daughter will be wronged? I remember clearly, someone cursed and swore, saying she'd never let her daughter walk her old path, that if she dared actively pursue a man, her legs would be broken."

"Uh."

Wu Meng was embarrassed, patching it up: "That was then, this is now; wasn't it because Anan hadn't been born yet? If I'd known you could give birth to such an excellent son, I definitely wouldn't have said that."

"Alright then."

Lin Xiyu truly liked Nuan Nuan from the bottom of her heart; satisfying her little scheme, counting it as accumulating blessings for the children: "If you want to engage Anan, then Anan it is. As for the bracelet, no need for the old lady to provide it; I have one right here. Let's put it on Nuan Nuan first, so her mother won't keep thinking about it all day."

"That's great then......"

Wu Meng covered her mouth and laughed: "Rare for you to be so generous; I'll thank her mother-in-law on behalf of my family's Nuan Nuan first."

"You calling her mother-in-law......"

Lin Xiyu stood up from the horse stool, laughing and teasing: "Even smoother than your daughter."

"Hahaha."

Wu Meng herself also found it funny, laughing until she couldn't close her mouth.

——

Lin Xiyu kept her word; she truly picked a suitably sized small gold bracelet from her jewelry box and put it on Nuan Nuan's wrist.

"Hee hee."

Nuan Nuan didn't understand adults' thoughts; she only knew the gold bracelet looked shiny and bright, very pretty.

Little girls all love beauty; Nuan Nuan was no exception. She shook her wrist delightedly, laughing very happily.

"It's put on just like that?"

Liu Jie and Xu Jie were experienced; one look and they knew what was going on. Their joking gazes kept darting toward Nuan Nuan and Anan.