Chapter 58: Good thing

"Are you that money-obsessed?" Lin Zhao walked into the kitchen and talked to the Seeing Seeing Dazai and Hearing Hearing Erzai through the window.

In the courtyard, the Fourth Cub was chasing Da Huang's tail everywhere, and the Third Cub was squatting in the corner, writing and drawing with a branch; he could stay alone for a long time.

The Hearing Hearing Erzai laughed out loud, accepting his mother's evaluation, and was very proud.

"Yeah, I'm money-obsessed; Ye Tie Niu, Yuan Bao, Tie Chui, Da Zhuang..."

He recited a string of names.

"We are all money-obsessed."

In the end, his tone became old-fashioned: "Having money is good; having money can buy meat, buy candy, buy new clothes."

At this time, he didn't forget to flatter: "And can buy Mother a dress, buy a hundred."

A hundred is a lot for him!

The Seeing Seeing Dazai looked at his brother seriously: "Hearing Hearing Erzai, buying Mother a dress is my goal; why are you grabbing it from me? You buy something else."

He was so angry that, for once, he didn't give in to the Hearing Hearing Erzai, and said loudly: "I'll buy Mom a plane full of dresses."

The Hearing Hearing Erzai was also a bit aggrieved and said: "... But Mom likes dresses the most; I don't know what else I can buy?"

Lin Zhao hesitated.

Does she like dresses the most? How come she didn't know.

The Seeing Seeing Dazai was wavering.

He frowned in entanglement, propped his arms on the windowsill, jumped hard, and stretched half his body inside.

"Mom, besides dresses, is there anything else you like the most?"

Wait a minute.

Lin Zhao's expression was somewhat subtle. "Who told you I like dresses the most?"

The Seeing Seeing Dazai carefully glanced at his mother and said: "Little Aunt said so."

Of course, it wasn't just this sentence; he didn't remember the others.

"Doesn't Mom like dresses?"

Lin Zhao pondered that Gu Xing'er definitely wasn't just talking about dresses; she was probably using dresses to scold her.

This thought only flashed through her mind before she threw it to the back of her head.

Why should she care about irrelevant people?

"It's not that I don't like them, but it's not what I like the most."

"Then what does Mom like the most?" The Seeing Seeing Dazai stuck out his little butt, maintaining the posture of stretching inside.

Beside him, the Hearing Hearing Erzai followed suit.

Two identical faces looked at Lin Zhao expectantly.

What could Lin Zhao say? A flash of inspiration struck, and she said: "I like myself the most."

The Seeing Seeing Dazai and Hearing Hearing Erzai had no objections.

They felt it should be like that.

Lin Zhao scanned the expressions of the little brothers with her peripheral vision and was quite surprised to see them both nodding.

She thought the two cubs would be disappointed.

The Seeing Seeing Dazai smiled at his mother and said happily: "I'm the same as Mom; I like Mom the most too."

Lin Zhao believed this.

A child's world is so small, and Mom's weight is the heaviest.

The Hearing Hearing Erzai also said: "I like Mom the most too, even more than I like White Rabbit Creamy Candies."

"... I thank you." Lin Zhao thanked him absentmindedly.

"You're welcome, then what does Mom like second most?" The Hearing Hearing Erzai continued to ask, his eyes full of expectation, burning with flames.

Lin Zhao said softly: "Of course it's your father."

Without the cubs' father, where would the four cubs come from, right?

Hearing this, the two cubs only felt that the things they cherished in their hearts were shattered again and again, the light in their eyes suddenly disappeared, and a bit of sadness was added.

"Why?" the Hearing Hearing Erzai said in shock.

"Why what?" Lin Zhao didn't know whether to laugh or cry; Comrade Gu Chenghuai hadn't done anything, so how did he provoke the two cubs like this?

The Hearing Hearing Erzai still felt he couldn't accept it and couldn't believe it. "Mom, why do you like Dad second most?"

"Your father is my husband; it's reasonable for me to like him, why can't I like him?" Lin Zhao asked back with a smile, her hands not stopping as she lifted the lid of the pot and put small wontons into the pot.

"Dad doesn't help Mom work, why does he occupy second place? My brother and I didn't occupy second place." The Hearing Hearing Erzai complained aggrievedly, his voice drawn out. "Mom, don't, move Dad down and put me up; I'm the Hearing Hearing Erzai, I should be second."

Before Lin Zhao could respond, the Seeing Seeing Dazai argued strongly: "Hearing Hearing Erzai, I'm older than you; the second position should be mine."

The Hearing Hearing Erzai felt his brother's words made sense, pursed his lips, and said dully: "... Alright, then I'm third; third place no one will fight me for."

The two children arranged their respective positions in their mother's heart themselves and were all satisfied, so happy that the invisible tails behind their butts were wagging wildly.

Lin Zhao had nothing to say.

Alright.

As long as you brothers are happy.

This topic just passed like that.

The two cubs slid down from the windowsill, patted the dirt off their hems and pants, and ran into the kitchen.

"Mom, we're here to help you watch the fire," the little brothers said in unison.

Lin Zhao didn't stop them.

Not long after the water boiled.

She said: "It's about time."

"So fast!" the Hearing Hearing Erzai blurted out.

"Because they're small wontons; the skin is very thin, small wontons that you can eat in one bite," Lin Zhao said.

The wontons were drawn last night before going to sleep.

It could be considered a pasta gift package.

Small and large wontons, steamed buns, flower rolls, pot helmets, sesame cakes, brown sugar sponge cakes...

Fortunately, she obtained 200 points for taking photos of the whole family before.

She was closer to the 500-point lucky draw.

"Small wontons?" The Hearing Hearing Erzai stood on tiptoe to look, seeing the bowl with rising water mist, and amidst the floating mist, the appearance of the small wontons was projected into his pupils. "Mom, I've never eaten small wontons; are they delicious?"

"Delicious, they have noodles and meat, how could they not be delicious." Lin Zhao skillfully served the small wontons and carried them to the courtyard.

The twins were still young and needed to be careful, so she mashed the meat and dough skin, and only let the two little ones eat by themselves after confirming it was cool.

The things obtained from the lucky draw were always of good quality, the small wontons tasted very good, and the whole family ate happily and contentedly.

After eating, the Seeing Seeing Dazai went to wash the dishes, and the Hearing Hearing Erzai wanted to follow to help, but was called by Lin Zhao.

"Hearing Hearing Erzai, wait a moment, let me see your hand."

The Hearing Hearing Erzai turned back, walked to Lin Zhao, and stretched out both hands. "See what?"

Lin Zhao ignored him and looked carefully at the tooth marks on his hand.

A night had passed, and not only had the little tooth marks not disappeared, but they still looked a bit swollen, with dark blue bruises.

"Bitten really hard." Lin Zhao frowned, feeling impatient even at the three words Lu Baozhen.

What kind of hatred and resentment was this, being so vicious at such a young age, her worldview didn't know where it had gone wrong!

"Stay further away from Lu Baozhen in the future."

The Hearing Hearing Erzai nodded obediently, not forgetting to explain: "We're far away; my brother and I run when we see Lu Baozhen, and Tie Chui runs when he sees us running. We don't play with Lu Baozhen at all."

Lin Zhao's expression paused slightly.

Not wanting her son to become a bully who bullied the weak, the words about to be spoken turned twice on her lips, and after careful consideration, she said softly: "It's fine if Tie Chui learns from you two; you three are so close you could wear the same pair of pants, but others..."

She placed both hands on the Hearing Hearing Erzai's shoulders, her face serious. "If other children play with Lu Baozhen, don't cause trouble."

The Hearing Hearing Erzai raised a smile. "My brother already said that."

"My brother said, children shouldn't be too overbearing. He also said if I target Lu Baozhen, I'm a bad child, and Mom won't like me."

Speaking of this, his smile faded, and he asked suspiciously: "Mom, I don't have a needle, why did brother say I'm pointing a needle at Lu Baozhen?"

"Pfft—" Lin Zhao burst out laughing.

The Hearing Hearing Erzai looked at her accusingly.

His voice brought out a small wave.

"Mom~~~" he called out resentfully.

"Targeting doesn't mean you're pointing a needle at someone else; targeting means you're specifically staring at one person, deliberately looking for their faults..." Lin Zhao explained, holding back her laughter.

If he didn't "listen to the lecture" well, there would be plenty of opportunities to make a fool of himself.

After finishing speaking, she returned to the room to get the ointment, her shoulders shrugging.

The Hearing Hearing Erzai's expression became increasingly resentful.

Feeling that he had lost face, when Lin Zhao applied the ointment for him, his brain turned fast, and he forcibly saved face. "I know what targeting means; I was teasing Mom."

Lin Zhao didn't expose him, pretending to be surprised. "Is that so?"

"Yes, yes, that's it," the Hearing Hearing Erzai emphasized.

Seeing the ointment on his hand, he frowned. "Mom, I don't like applying medicine; I can't do anything after applying medicine."

"What else do you want to do?" Lin Zhao glared at him. "Just take care of it well, don't use your hands to dig at everything."

The Hearing Hearing Erzai's sitting posture instantly became upright, and he responded honestly: "I know."

At this time, the Seeing Seeing Dazai walked out of the kitchen.

"Mom, the dishes are washed clean."

"Really capable," Lin Zhao praised, and said to the Hearing Hearing Erzai: "Hearing Hearing Erzai, your brother washed the dishes in the morning, you wash them at noon."

The Hearing Hearing Erzai never avoided work. "Good!"

"Woof..." Da Huang suddenly barked.

A little boy with clever eyes stood at the door.

"Ye Tie Niu!" The Hearing Hearing Erzai ran to the door while shouting, not forgetting to say to Da Huang: "Da Huang, this is my good buddy, an acquaintance."

Da Huang recognized Ye Tie Niu, barked only once to remind its owner, and lay in its luxurious wooden kennel to close its eyes and rest.

Lin Zhao had already returned to the room to take out the camera.

"Where does Ye Tie Niu want to take the photo?" she asked softly.

Ye Tie Niu had thought about it long ago. "Under the big banyan tree."

Alright.

Lin Zhao had no objections. "Let's go."

The group went out and walked toward the big banyan tree. When they arrived, they found that the tree was full of people.

What was different from usual was that there were not only aunts and older women, but also grandpas and uncles. There was even a row of little boys, their hair washed, combed smooth, wearing clothes with the fewest patches, rarely seen without dirt on their bodies or mud on their faces.

"... What are you doing?" Lin Zhao asked in surprise.

The captain's wife occupied the best position, ensuring she would be captured in the photo.

She said with a smile: "Oh my, you take your photos, don't worry about us."

What the heck, just take my photos!

The speechlessness on Lin Zhao's face was so great.

She stared at the people in the front row, the kind of staring that lasted more than two seconds per person.

The people specially cared for by her revealed bright smiles, their butts didn't move half a point, which was called calm, calm to the point of being excessive.

Just kidding!

Knowing that photos were going to be taken here, they ran over in a hurry; before coming, they even washed their hair instantly—didn't they see some people's hair was half-wet!

Yuan Bao didn't get to catch it when the photo was taken, so he must catch Ye Tie Niu's.

Photos are expensive; with this money, it's better to buy meat. They couldn't bear to spend money, so they could only come to catch some luck.

Ye Tie Niu: "..."

Lin Zhao retracted her gaze and looked at Ye Tie Niu. "Ye Tie Niu, are you willing to have... so many people standing behind you in the photo?"

Ye Tie Niu looked over.

There were so many people, some of whom he couldn't even name, looking at him hotly, scaring the child into a shudder, almost blurting out a voice-cracking "Grandpa, there are human traffickers who want to kidnap Niu'er."

He barely remembered that this was in the brigade.

"... I want to be alone," Ye Tie Niu said.

Grandpa said he had to pay, so he must take the best photo.

He glanced at the people under the big banyan tree, his face full of displeasure. "There are too many people; I want to be conspicuous."

The people under the big banyan tree heard this and began to show their unique skills one after another.

The uncle with the dog-chewed short hair stepped forward two steps, not knowing where he took out a palm-sized pink hydrangea ball, and tied it to Ye Tie Niu's chest.

"Oh my, wanting to be conspicuous isn't simple; I'll tie a red ball for you, I guarantee you'll be the most conspicuous."

He stretched out his rough hand and affectionately rubbed Ye Tie Niu's head: "Niu, what other requirements do you have, just say it; if you want to climb to the top of the banyan tree, Uncle will help you..."

Ye Tie Niu touched the hydrangea ball, flattered.

Another tall grandpa stood out and, without a word, put Ye Tie Niu on his shoulders. "Is this conspicuous enough? Grandpa will carry you."

Ye Tie Niu hadn't reacted yet, and his field of vision changed; the child was confused.

"These people!" The older women saw these old men break their promises and actually crowded forward, surrounding Ye Tie Niu.

One older sister even brought out a red hair tie that had snapped and been tied back together. "Ye Tie Niu, Auntie will tie a little bun for you; tying a little bun guarantees you'll be conspicuous."

Ye Tie Niu's expression was terrified, and he hurriedly dodged. "I don't want it, I don't want a girl's red hair tie."

"Hahahaha..." Seeing Seeing Dazai, Hearing Hearing Erzai, and Tie Chui and the others laughed loudly.

Ye Tie Niu heard his little friends' laughter and blushed with shame.

"Click!" A sound.

"Alright," Lin Zhao said calmly, putting away the camera.

She didn't charge for this one; she just felt it had vitality, which was why she pressed the shutter.

Hearing that "click," everyone turned to look at Lin Zhao.

Everyone knew Chenghuai's wife was not to be trifled with, so they didn't dare to complain loudly, but they muttered in their mouths, saying all sorts of things.

"Ah? That's it? I didn't even fix my hair."

"Me too, my collar is crooked."

"I'm even worse, I was just blocked by someone, even standing on tiptoe I couldn't see Seeing Seeing Dazai's mom, I couldn't see her, the camera definitely couldn't capture me either, sigh, the first time in my life to take a photo, and the opportunity was missed just like that."

Several people beat their thighs in annoyance.

Hearing about the matter here, the captain ran over in a hurry, and seeing his grandson's face full of life-is-meaningless, there was nothing he couldn't see.

"No wonder you were so efficient at work today; your minds were all here! What business is it of yours, go, go, go." The captain drove people away irritably.

The brigade members knew it was their fault, smiled awkwardly, and hurriedly left.

In just a few breaths, the people under the banyan tree disappeared completely.

The captain knew Lin Zhao had a bad temper, so he hurriedly explained: "The people in the village have never taken a photo in their lives, they wanted to come and catch some face, excuse the laughter."

"It's nothing," Lin Zhao responded casually, giving Ye Tie Niu a gesture, signaling him to stand under the tree. "Ye Tie Niu, you can stand over there."

The unhappy Ye Tie Niu was suddenly happy, jumping and running to under the banyan tree, standing still, a bright smile blooming on his face.

"Click!" A sound rang out.

"Alright."

Ye Tie Niu thanked her politely: "Thank you, Auntie Lin."

"You're welcome." Your captain grandpa paid, Lin Zhao added in her heart.

After taking the photo for Ye Tie Niu, Lin Zhao let Seeing Seeing Dazai and Hearing Hearing Erzai take their younger siblings, and she headed straight to the Gu family's old house.

When she arrived, Gu Mu was directing Gu Dasao and Gu Ersao to clear out a room.

"Third daughter-in-law is here; stay a little further away, the dust is too big, don't get your clothes dirty."

The room they were clearing out was originally the third room, which was Gu Chenghuai and Lin Zhao's wedding room; after the family split, Lin Zhao insisted on moving out to live alone, and Gu Qingzhou was living in this room.

"Why clear out the room?" As soon as Lin Zhao asked, Gu Lan moved the best stool for her third aunt.

Lin Zhao sat down, didn't say she would help, and watched from far away.

The three women of the Gu family didn't think there was anything wrong; the third daughter-in-law loved cleanliness and beauty, and they all knew she would never touch this kind of dirty work.

"Move the things out first, and tidy up later." Gu Mu instructed the two daughters-in-law in the room and explained to Lin Zhao: "It's for you and the four cubs; aren't you going to build a house? I thought about it and thought about it, and still feel it's better for you and the four cubs to live at home."

At the end, she didn't forget to confirm again: "Is that okay?"

Living in the old house was indeed convenient, so Lin Zhao nodded. "That's fine."

"When do you plan to move?" Gu Mu pursued.

"Move after eating in the afternoon." The job at the supply and marketing cooperative only had one day off a week; she had to go to work tomorrow, and after work, she wouldn't have the heart to do anything else, just wanting to lie down.

"Alright," Gu Mu responded, and said to Huang Xiulan and Zhao Liuniang: "Eldest daughter-in-law, Second daughter-in-law, after eating, you two take the eldest and second eldest to help. The third one isn't at home, the whole family has to help each other."

Huang Xiulan smiled: "Do you even need to say it? It's just a matter of giving a hand; we'll go over after eating."

"No need to rush, I have something to find Big Sister at noon, I should be going out," Lin Zhao said in a light tone.

"A-Chan?" Gu Mu looked hesitant.

"Mm."

"You're looking for A-Chan..." Gu Mu wanted to say something but stopped.

Lin Zhao drank a mouthful of cool boiled water poured by Gu Lan and said casually: "It's not a bad thing."

So there was no need to be so nervous, right.

"What good thing?" Gu Mu couldn't think of it even if she racked her brains; what good thing could the third daughter-in-law have to find A-Chan for.