Chapter 200

"..."

Chief Ning looked at his son, "I am Maodan's dad."

"Stepdad?" Ye Tie Niu blurted out.

The scene was dead silent.

The little cub didn't realize he had said the wrong thing and looked eagerly at the tall military uncle.

"... No," Chief Ning was silent for a few breaths, finally answered, and emphasized again, "Biological."

Ye Tie Niu's mouth opened into a big O, his face surprised, "Are you human?"

Chief Ning narrowed his eyes.

A bear child who was not at all like an outsider, was he from the village head's family, no, he had become the brigade leader, was he the brigade leader's cub? He wasn't afraid of him at all.

"... Yes."

It was still a calm and waveless voice, but it made Ye Tie Niu smell a dangerous aura.

The little guy scratched the back of his head and smiled as if he were simple-minded, "Uncle, you're not dead."

He was happy for Maodan, "Maodan, you have a dad too, now there's someone to do the heavy work in your family, and you'll have plenty of time to hang out with us."

Chief Ning: "..."

Is the word "hang out" used correctly?

However.

The bear child's words made his heart sour and astringent. While other children were playing, his son had to do heavy work...

He had failed his son.

Maodan pursed his lips, didn't look his dad in the eye, swept a glance at Chief Ning with the corner of his eye, pretending to be indifferent, and said stubbornly: "I'm used to doing it, I don't need anyone else's help."

Chief Ning wasn't angry either, and he wasn't qualified to be angry. He looked at his son with a gentle gaze and said with a very good attitude: "I haven't done housework for many years, I'm afraid I'm rusty, son, you teach me."

The guard parked the car and walked down. Hearing this, he almost couldn't control his expression.

He was a rough man and didn't know how to describe it, it was just... tsk tsk tsk.

The Chief had changed too much!

Maodan raised his little chin, looking proud, and didn't say whether he would teach him or not.

People in the village heard that Maodan's dad had returned alive and had returned in a car with four wheels, so they ran over one after another, afraid of missing the first big gossip of the Harvest Brigade.

Seeing the car parked at the Ning family's door, they couldn't help but get closer.

Some people touched the car body, their eyes bright in an incredible way.

"This big guy—I didn't expect that I could touch this big guy in my life, it's worth it, it's worth it." Yuan Bao's dad was glowing.

"Really grand!" another person said, "How did this thing drive over, it's amazing."

Seeing a bear child climbing onto the hood, he pulled him down, "What are you doing, what are you doing, if you break it, you won't be able to pay for it even if you're sold. A bear cub without any sense of boundaries!"

Gu Hangbao heard this and said: "It won't break. This is made of steel, it's very strong, Uncle, if you punch it, your hand will be the one that hurts."

Man: Why would he punch iron for no reason?

The child touching the car laughed triumphantly, "Gu Hangbao said it won't break, nyah nyah nyah..."

Right in front of the man, he touched it hard again.

The oldest person in the village also appeared.

Looking at the tall and dignified Ning Mingde, his wrinkled old face was full of smiles.

"It's Mingde, it's Mingde lad, Mingde lad has returned alive!"

"I said you didn't look like someone without blessings, it's good that you're back, it's a pity your dad and your wife didn't wait for you..."

"Your mom and Maodan haven't had it easy these past few years, take good care of them."

Old Lady Ning was worried that her son's head wasn't completely better, so she opened the car window and reminded him, "This is your Uncle Youfu."

Chief Ning's eyes were helpless.

He really remembered.

"Uncle Youfu," he called out.

"Aye, aye!"

Chief Ning returned in a jeep, followed by a spirited young man. Anyone could see that he was different now, no longer the little boy of that year.

The people of the Harvest Brigade all belonged to the kind who lived honest lives. There were also some extreme people, but on the whole, the folk customs were simple and honest. Even if the Ning family were outsiders, they had never bullied them. If it weren't for this, they wouldn't have been embarrassed to crowd around.

Several brigade cadres ran over in a hurry, saw the big jeep, froze for a moment, and were full of joy.

A great talent from their brigade!!

Ye Tie Niu and other children had already eaten the candies given by Maodan's dad, and the smiles on their faces were more brilliant than the morning glow.

Seeing his own grandpa from afar, Ye Tie Niu shouted loudly: "Grandpa!"

After shouting, he continued: "Maodan's dad is back, my Uncle Ning is so generous, he gave us a lot of candies!"

The brigade leader glanced over and saw that the boys' pockets were bulging, so it really was a lot.

"Comrade Ning, you've gone to great expense," the brigade leader said politely.

Old Lady Ning was still sitting in the car, "What Comrade Ning, call him by his name. Why be so polite, he grew up in our village, everyone watched him grow up, don't be strangers."

"No matter what achievements he has in his career, back in the village... he is our village's Ning Mingde."

The old lady had been needled by Master Physician Sun early in the morning, and she was in high spirits right now.

Chief Ning nodded, "Yes."

He had talked with his mother for a long time last night and knew that the brigade had taken great care of their family.

If it weren't for the brigade's special care, how could the Ning family, with the old and the young, have survived the famine years?!

Wasn't it all the villagers saving a mouthful here and a mouthful there to share food with them?

The brigade leader smiled: "Good, we won't be strangers, Mingde."

After saying that, he asked again: "Mingde, are you leaving this time?"

Chief Ning nodded.

If he was still leaving, it meant he was still in the army, which was a good thing!

Being able to stay in the army for so many years, his rank must not be small.

The brigade leader was overjoyed.

"Good, good!" His dark face was full of smiles.

It's no wonder the brigade leader was this happy—

At this time, the laws were not sound, and there were conflicts between brigades. Previously, two brigades had a fight over water, one person died and two were injured, and in the end, a feud was formed.

Their brigade had a "Glorious Family" with a final verdict from above, and two active-duty soldiers, so people from outside respected the people of this village when they saw them.

There had never been any water-grabbing incidents.

The brigade leader remembered the important matter, patted his forehead, and asked: "Mingde, is your mom okay?"

While speaking, he looked at Old Lady Ning sitting in the jeep.

Her complexion was rosy and her eyes were bright, not like someone who had just fainted yesterday.

"I'm fine," Old Lady Ning said with a smile, "Nothing at all, I'm very spirited."

She was open-minded to begin with, and now that her son had returned, there was nothing she couldn't get over.

"It's good that you're fine," the brigade leader set his mind at ease. Seeing the commune members all coming to join in the fun, surrounding the car, and even looking at the big leader as if he were a gold nugget, his face turned black immediately, "What are you all crowding here for, aren't you going to do the work in the fields? Don't you want your work points?"

With a burst of output that the commune members were accustomed to, everyone dispersed quickly.

Joining in the fun was one thing, but they couldn't afford to lose their work points!

Those who had a good relationship with the Gu family walked with Gu Father and Gu Mu, asking eagerly about the feeling of riding in a four-wheeled vehicle.

Old Lady Li looked at Gu Mu, her expression sour, "I didn't expect that I would fall behind you by another step, you've even ridden in a four-wheeled vehicle."

"Calling it a four-wheeled vehicle sounds so ugly, that's called a jeep." Gu Mu felt that what her good sister said wasn't high-class at all, the word "high-class"... she learned it from the third son's wife.

Old Lady Li: "Hmph."

"Why are you learning to talk like my Yaobao!" Gu Mu laughed, then coaxed her old sister, "Between us, it's all the same whether I ride or you ride."

"Same my foot." Old Lady Li spat at her, "You old hag, you're really bad, using me to coax your granddaughter, isn't that immoral?"

"Cough..." Gu Mu cleared her throat.

Pretending she didn't hear her old sister's complaints, she glared at her, "Look at what you're saying, I'll ride first to help you experience it. When one day my Chenghuai also has an assigned car from the army, can I not call you to ride together?"

That was acceptable.

Old Lady Li thought what she said had a chance, and stared at her, "It's a deal, when your Chenghuai also gets an assigned car from the army, you must let me ride, I want to be the first one to ride."

"That's for sure," Gu Mu said seriously, "Between us, who is who?"

Old Lady Li laughed, "Just remember that I'm your best friend."

"Remember! Remember!"

The brigade leader drove away the commune members who were joining in the fun, and the area around the jeep suddenly became empty.

After the brigade leader and the others left, Chief Ning turned around, held his old mother, and entered the house.

This courtyard was not much different from when he left, only older and much more desolate, no longer lively.

Chief Ning, who hadn't been home for a long time, felt an indescribable sourness in his heart.

"I'm not going into the house," Old Lady Ning patted her son's arm gently and pointed to the lounge chair not far away, "Put me there."

Chief Ning couldn't bear to refuse his old mother.

He put her down.

Maodan went to get a thin blanket, covered it on his grandma's legs, puffed out his cheeks, his eyebrows and eyes serious, "Grandma, you can't catch a cold."

"Good, I'll listen to my grandson." Old Lady Ning smiled exceptionally brightly.

She was a fastidious person, brushing her teeth morning and night, unlike some people in the village whose teeth had fallen out long ago at this age; her teeth were very neat, looking clean and fresh.

Maodan went to pour water again.

Master Physician Sun sighed, "Really sensible."

Chief Ning's voice was hoarse, "I would rather he not be so sensible."

It wasn't that he had no one to rely on, but at this age, which child wasn't a bear, not thinking about playing?

"Grandpa Sun, drink water, Guard Uncle, drink water..." Maodan brewed hawthorn water, which was red in the bowl and looked very appetizing.

When it was his biological dad's turn, he started being awkward again, "You drink too."

After all, the parent-child relationship had just been established, and the father and son weren't that familiar.

Neither of them knew what to say.

Old Lady Ning watched this scene and smiled.

"For me?" Chief Ning's eyes lit up slightly, quite flattered. He took the bowl with both hands and drank a few gulps, "Hawthorn water? Where did it come from?"

The Gu family's twins ran to the Ning family without being strangers, tugging at the branches of the persimmon tree in the courtyard.

"That's right, hawthorn water," Gu Hangbao answered, and said proudly: "My mom made it, is it good? My mom cooks the best food!"

"It's not bad," Chief Ning said.

He quite liked this pair of twins from the Gu family.

Before, when sitting in the car, the atmosphere was awkward.

If it weren't for these two little treasures, he wouldn't have known when he would have been able to say the first sentence to his son.

No wonder his mother and Maodan pulled these two along to come back; they were good at livening up the atmosphere.

Getting the approval of Maodan's dad, the twins' little chests puffed out even straighter.

Gu Hangbao had many ghost ideas in his stomach, leaned over to Maodan, and whispered.

"Maodan, shall we go find Wang Yaozu?"

Maodan looked over suspiciously, "What for?"

"He laughed at you before," Gu Hangbao looked at Maodan, "He bullied you before and mocked you for having no dad or mom. Your dad is back, let's go mock him back."

Maodan: "..."

"Let's not."

He was older than the twins and precocious; revenge wasn't just a small prank for him.

Wang Yaozu had pushed him into the river at that time, almost drowning him, and his grandma was so worried that she couldn't sleep that night.

Maodan was very angry. After his body recovered, he borrowed Gu Hangbao's slingshot and practiced hard for several days.

He found an opportunity to teach the bad child a hard lesson.

For those few days, people in the village were still whispering, not seeing that golden egg of the Wang family. Some people said he was probably feeling guilty, afraid of being chased by the Ning family for compensation, so he didn't dare to show his face...

Gu Hangbao thought Maodan was afraid of Wang Yaozu, his little face serious, "Don't be afraid, your dad is back, he's so tall, as tall as my dad, and his fist is that big, he can definitely beat Wang Yaozu to a pulp."

Xiang Yubao nodded in agreement, "Yeah! My dad said, we are still small, and using the power we can use to vent our anger is a smart way to do things."

Maodan saw that the twins were trying to persuade him, was silent for a few seconds, and couldn't help but say: "... Wang Yaozu didn't appear in the village for several days before, that was my doing."

Xiang Yubao blinked, aha?

Gu Hangbao: "!!!"

Maodan's words opened the door to a new world for the twins, and the two boys reached out at the same time, grabbing their good brother's sleeves.

"Maodan, how did you do it?!"

The little brothers asked in unison.

Maodan didn't expect them to react this way, his tight mouth relaxed, and the corners of his mouth lifted slightly.

"I borrowed a slingshot from you, do you remember?" he asked back.

The two cubs nodded like garlic pounding.

"Remember, remember, you hit several sparrows and even roasted them for us to eat," Xiang Yubao said.

Gu Hangbao hummed twice, "Maodan, the roasted sparrow meat you made was really delicious, let's go hit some more another day."

When saying the last sentence, his tone had a little wave.

Maodan agreed, "Okay."

Gu Hangbao grinned.

The topic was led astray again, but fortunately Xiang Yubao was there, and he continued to ask: "Maodan, continue telling us."

Maodan stood on his tiptoes, drawing circles on the ground, his expression calm and steady, "I used the slingshot to hit his leg, his leg was injured, and he couldn't leave the house for several days."

What he didn't say was that he hit him many times.

Xiang Yubao didn't think Maodan was excessive; it was Wang Yaozu who bullied Maodan first, and Maodan was almost drowned.

If Maodan had drowned, his dad wouldn't have been able to see him when he returned...

Thinking this, Xiang Yubao hated Wang Yaozu even more.

Gu Hangbao's eyes were full of admiration, "Maodan is really amazing."

It's a pity that Mom and Dad wouldn't let them learn the slingshot.

The children's shoulders drooped.

Maodan hung out with the twins all day and could roughly guess their thoughts.

Seeing Gu Hangbao's frustrated mood, he comforted him: "When you're seven, I'll teach you how to hit."

Hearing this, both children's eyes lit up.

"It's a deal," Gu Hangbao reached out to hook fingers with him.

Maodan smiled and handed his hand over.

Xiang Yubao hesitated for a moment and said reluctantly: "My grandma said, you and your grandma are going to leave with your dad, can we still play together?"

The smile on Maodan's face froze, and he felt a bit uncomfortable in his heart.

He didn't want to be separated from the twins.

This was the first pair of good friends he had made since he was born.

"I don't know."

Xiang Yubao was also reluctant to part with Maodan, but he knew that all children wanted to be with their parents.

Maodan's mother had turned into a star, and he only had his dad left. His dad could protect him, and with his dad there, bad children like Wang Yaozu wouldn't dare to bully him!

"You go, we'll write to you," Xiang Yubao looked at Maodan seriously, "When Gu Hangbao and I grow up, we'll come find you to play, and you can come find us too."

Gu Hangbao smiled, like a little sun, "It's better for my brother and me to come find you, I'll have a big car by then, it'll be convenient to find you.

There are two of us, we won't be afraid if we run into bad guys, what will you do if you run into bad guys alone..."

Just as he was speaking, a voice emerged from behind him.

Li Bao puffed out his cheeks unhappily, his little voice aggrieved, "... You guys didn't take me."